Some More Birds Species of Keoladeo NP
A few more images of the over 300 species of birds found in Keoladeo National Park.
Indian Peafowl at Sunrise
The image above was captured on the first morning. The following four images are a sequence of a male Indian Peafowl flying toward a snag and then instantly departing. These were captured on the following morning. I selected all the images to have the wings in the same/similar position. These were shot with the Lumix G9 and the Leica 100-400mm lens. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/1600 sec ISO 250 and 200 for the last image.
Barbets of Keoladeo NP
Barbets are a species of tropical birds in the family Capitonidae (order Piciformes). Barbets are named for the bristles at the bases of their bills that they use to dig holes in rotting trees where there will nest. They have large heads and short tails and are not agile fliers. They eat insects, lizards, birds' eggs, fruit, and berries.The Keoladeo NP has three species of Barbet. I was able to photograph only the Brown-headed Barbet Psilopogon zeylanicus and the Coppersmith Barbet Psilopogon haemacephalus, The third, White-cheeked Barbet was not found.As these birds sit in very dense leaf trees the light is hard to work with and high ISOs become mandatory.
Kingfishers of Keoladeo National Park
On this very short visit to India, my wife and I spent three days in Bharatpur, Rajasthan at the Keoladeo National Park to photograph wildlife. These three images are of the three species of Kingfisher that can be found in the region this time of year. The Stork-billed and Black-capped are known to be around but I have not been lucky to ever see or photograph them. Of the three, the Common Kingfisher is the most elusive and least common. The White-throated is easy to find and easy to photograph. The Pied kingfisher can be seen at many locations but is very elusive for photography. It hovers with a very rapid wing beat so requires high very shutter speed.For these three days, I used the Panasonic Lumix G9 with the Leica 100 - 400mm lens and the Leica 200 mm f/2.8 and the 1.4X tele-extender. I can not say enough about how much I enjoyed this kit and its performance truly excels.
