Paddyfield Pipit

I had earlier written about Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus). I had another opportunity to meet this bird. It was well camouflaged in the tall grass. I was shooting at a playground. Despite people around playing cricket near it, the bird was busy foraging along with its companion.

Paddyfield Pipit

I was using Canon EOS 1D Mark IV fitted with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM & Canon EF 1.4x III Extender. Last time when I photographed it I had used Canon EOS 7D fitted with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM & Canon EF 1.4x II Extender. So this is also a good indicator of the performance these two bodies; 1D Mark IV being Professional camera body and 7D marketed as semi professional. The results are on expected lines. Canon 1D Mark IV far surpasses the 7D. Even though bulky and heavy the result 1D Mark IV gives out is astonishing. Its focusing ability is phenomenal. Mastering that ability takes quite a lot of learning curve. Even at higher ISO the noise profile is excellent as compared to 7D.

Paddyfield Pipit

This time grass was greener as compared to earlier version. These birds are usually found in pairs. Paddyfield Pipit is smaller and dumpier, has shorter looking tail and has a weaker fluttering flight. The usually uttered characteristic tsip-tsip-tsip call. It is a wide spread species found in open habitats, especially short grassland and cultivation with open bare ground. It runs rapidly on the ground, and when flushed, does not fly far. It feeds principally on small insects but consumes larger beetles, tiny snails, worms etc. while walking on the ground, and may pursue insects like mosquitoes or termites in the air.

Paddyfield Pipit Camouflaged

A month before this shoot I had spotted these birds nesting in the same grass where I was photographing today. As a ethical policy I don’t photograph nests and will not publish one. Nest was at the edge of a bush. It was woven out of grass and leaves and was cup shaped. There were 3 eggs with greenish ground color and small brown specks. Now the nest is not to be seen and I could not see the young ones too. Since it was about a month since I last saw the nest, I am not sure either they fell prey for the predators or grew up and flew away. That playground is full of people playing around. They also haphazardly set fire to the grass around that playground to clear the grass on that playground.

Kadambi Waterfall

Waterfalls are some of the most beautiful natural wonders you can photograph. But though they can look simply stunning, photographing waterfalls is not easy to do well. That Sunday I had gone to Kudremukh National Park hoping to photograph some birds or animals. It was drizzling on & off. As I couldn’t get any good sighting that day, I thought I will try my luck photographing tried and tested Bonnet Macaques at Kadambi falls which were featured in my blog earlier. Even they were on holiday. All I could get was a fleeting glimpse of Female Grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) on a very vertical slope of the waterfall.

Female Grey Wagtail

So disappointed I turned towards the waterfall. To make matter worse the rain increased in intensity. After few minutes of a heavy rain there was brief break. That is when I tried to take few photos of the waterfall. For the waterfall photography light was perfect. There was no need of any ND filter as the light was very low intensity. I only used circular polarizer filter. I used my newly purchased Canon EOS 5D mark II with Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS Lens. As it was raining I did not have time to setup tripod. The bridge across the waterfall gave a nice view of the waterfall. So I opted to support the camera on the bridge railing to take shots. Aperture was kept at f/22. Shutter speed varied from 1/2 to 1.5 seconds.

Kadambi Waterfall

When we need photograph waterfall you need to understand that water can be photographed in two ways. One using fast shutter speed which freezes water droplets make the waterfall looks like that it is suddenly frozen. Better way to photograph a waterfall is to use slow shutter speed. The key to getting a silky water effect is to use a slow shutter speed. Balanced and diffused light is great for waterfalls because it helps bring out details in the shadows and amplify the contrast. The best diffused light occurs on overcast days (the clouds act as natural diffusers). It is better to walk around the waterfall and explore different angles and camera positions. Shoot at an angle instead of directly in front of the falls. As it was a restricted national park and since it was raining I did not have liberty to do those. So I stuck to the common front of the waterfall picture.

Kadambi Waterfall

To get that silky water effect you see in all the waterfall photographs, you’ll need a long shutter speed. So, set the camera to Manual mode. Use a small aperture which helps you get a longer shutter and it helps keep everything in sharp focus. I recommend starting with f/16 and then going smaller if that doesn’t give you a slow enough shutter. Some photographers will tell you to always use the smallest aperture possible on your lens, but I avoid this because lenses usually lose sharpness at their smallest apertures due to diffraction.

Use the lowest ISO speed on your camera. This also helps you get a longer shutter, but it has another benefit too: lower ISO speeds will produce less noise and capture more dynamic range. Since you’ll be using a long shutter speed, your image will be much more sensitive to noise, so a low ISO will help prevent that noise. Start with a shutter speed of a few seconds. When photographing waterfalls, finding the right shutter speed involves a lot of experimentation, but a speed of 2 seconds is usually a good place to start. Be prepared to use shutter speeds ranging from 1 to 30 seconds. Unfortunately since I could not use my tripod I used relatively faster shutter speed of 1 second.

Kadambi Waterfall Fast shutter speed

Common mistake is to use faster shutter speed. Just to show you what happens I used a commonly used shutter speed of 1/90th of a second in this last shot before I ran to cover to escape from the rain. See the water droplets which are frozen and falls does not look as silky as it should. I plan to go there again once rains are reduced so that I can get the really long exposure and the subsequent really silky effects.

Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus)

Strolling in the evening in grassy field in Mangalore can be sometimes rewarding. Other than catching ticks & fleas left by domestic animals, we can catch glimpse of some of the native grassland birds. On that evening I saw this Paddyfield Pipit near half burnt dry grass patch. As it was surrounded all around by tall grass, falling flat on the ground to capture the best pose of the bird ( with sky as the background) was out of question. So used my Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM fitted with Canon EF 1.4x II Extender on Canon EOS 7D camera lowered myself to get the best view possible of the ground dwelling bird. The bird being not so shy gave me plenty of time to capture before it ran away to nearby bush.

Camouflage

Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus) is a small passerine bird in the pipits and wagtail family. It is a resident breeder in open scrub, grassland and cultivation in southern Asia east to the Philippines. It is one of the few breeding pipits in our region.

Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus)

This is a large pipit at 15 cm, but is otherwise an undistinguished looking bird, mainly streaked grey-brown above and pale below with breast streaking. It is long legged with a long tail and a long dark bill. Sexes are similar. Summer and winter plumages are similar. Young birds are more richly coloured below than adults and have the pale edges to the feather’s of the upper parts more conspicuous with more prominent spotting on the breast. This pipit seems to be malayensis subspecies described by Eyton in 1839. It is the larger, darker and more heavily streaked than the nominate form of Anthus rufulus. This subspecies is seen in the wet zone of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka.

Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus)

Paddyfield Pipit is smaller and dumpier, has shorter looking tail and has a weaker fluttering flight. The usually uttered characteristic tsip-tsip-tsip call. It is a wide spread species found in open habitats, especially short grassland and cultivation with open bare ground. It runs rapidly on the ground, and when flushed, does not fly far.

Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus)

Breeds throughout the year but mainly in the dry season. Birds may have two or more broods in a year. During the breeding season, it sings by repeating the note during its descent from a short fluttery flight, a few feet above the ground. It builds its nest on the ground under a slight prominence, a tuft of grass, or at the edge of a bush. The nests are woven out of grass and leaves and are normally cup shaped. Exposed nests are sometimes domed or semi-domed, the long grass at the back and sides extending over the top.Nests are lined with finer grass or roots and sometimes with a little dry moss, bracken or other material at the base of the nest. The usual clutch is 3-4 eggs with greenish ground color and numerous small brown specks at the larger. When disturbed near the nest, the birds flutter nearby with weak tsip-tsip-tsip calls. Parent birds may also feign injury to distract predators.

Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus)

It feeds principally on small insects but consumes larger beetles, tiny snails, worms etc. while walking on the ground, and may pursue insects like mosquitoes or termites in the air.