Rainbow Lorikeet Family

Whenever I passed a particular tree along the Princess park footpath I used to hear the calls of Rainbow Lorikeet chicks. And now, they are grown up and ready to explore the world. Today I saw them moved to a branch and probably they are having their preliminary flight lessons from their parents. What an adorable family?!

Happy family

"Are you photographing us?"

Since I didn't want to disturb their lessons, I kept moving with two quick snaps.

Birds of Dandenong Ranges, Australia

Grants picnic area of Sherbrooke in Dandenong Ranges is one of the best places in Australia for bird lovers, where people can closely watch and feed brilliantly coloured Australian King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas, as well as Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. In addition, Galahs and Long-billed Corella are also frequent visitors to that spot. The Lyrebird trail through lush green ferns and trees offers a wonderful trekking experience and the lucky ones get siting of Superb Lyrebirds if they walk without disturbing the serene environment.

Here are some of the shots I took during my 1/2 day visit to the park.

Australian King Parrot (male)


Crimson Rosella


Crimson Rosella (Juvenile)


Galah


Sulphur-crested Cockatoo


Long-billed Corella


Superb Lyrebird

Lyrebirds are ground-dwelling Australian native birds, and well known for their extraordinary mimicking ability of both natural and artificial sounds. Like Peacocks, male Lyrebirds perform a beautiful courtship display with their tail fanned out.

There is an interesting clip of Lyrebird from BBC wildlife hosted in youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y .

The Lyrebird trail

See also:

• Bird photography,
• Birding at Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and
• Birds of Melbourne.

Bird Photography

One of my favourite genres of photography is bird photography as I admire these beautiful creatures entertaining us with their songs, joyful and swift activities, colours and shapes. Though I consider myself an amateur in this area, I have learned some essential skills of the trade over the last few years.

Being a nature lover I love to watch and photograph birds in their natural habitats. Though it is generally harder to photographs birds in the wild when compared with shooting them in aviaries or cages, the great experience of interacting with the nature itself is great. 

The following are the essentials of bird photography.

1. PATIENCE. Hours and days of waiting, returning with no worthy photographs are not uncommon in bird photography.
2. Knowledge about birds such as bird families/species, their food, behaviours, habitats and migration patterns, and the environment like places of fruiting trees, water resources and perches.
3. Sharpening the senses, especially sight, hearing, and smell.
4. Getting close without spooking the birds -
• Understanding birds' body languages to identify whether bird/birds is/are alarmed by our presence or movement
• Moving slowly and smoothly
• Lowering the apparent height (kneel/crawl if possible)
• Avoiding movement straight towards the bird, and moving in a zigzag manner
• Wearing camouflaged clothes (colours that go with the environment)
• Using blinds (existing places to hide / portable blinds / cars)
5. Timing: weather, season and time of the day are important factors to consider. Morning and evening times are the most suitable for birding in general.
6. Practice with the camera to use the necessary controls swiftly.
7. A fast camera with quick auto focus and burst mode. Manual focus would certainly be an added advantage.
8. Telephoto lenses with focal length of 400mm or more are generally used by professionals. Extender/teleconverter tubes are also used to extend the effective focal lengths.
9. Flash with Fresnel lens extenders are useful to have sufficient light levels and/or to increase the shutter speed under dark conditions. 
10. A monopod or a tripod based on the movement requirements. It essential that the head of the stabilizing device allows smooth movements in all the directions with ease and has a quick release plate. For those who wish to wait for birds behind the blinds a tripod is ideal. On the other hand, for those who move around a monopod is very handy.
11. A good camera bag and/or photographer's vest to store and retrieve your gears with ease while on action.
12. Avoiding (whenever possible) taking photos of birds against harsh light in the background.
13. Learning composing skills such as rule of thirds and applying whenever possible.
14. Having a pair of binoculars to locate birds from the distance.
15. Staying alone or in small groups, away from crowded and noisy areas. A mate who has the passion of birding would make the day successful.

Here are my captures with very basic photographic gears.

See also

• Birds of Dandenong Ranges
• Birding at Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
• Birds of Melbourne
• Common birds of Jaffna
• My albums on birds in Picasaweb and Flickr
• Butterfly Photography

மேலும் எங்கள் ஊர்ப் பறவைகள், யாழ்ப்பாணம்.

Butterfly Photography

Nature has got a lot to entertain the people who love to admire it. A good news for nature photographers who would like to spend whole days clicking on the nature's beauties is that while birds and animals are more active during the morning and evening hours, butterflies are there to fill the hotter mid-day hours for keeping the cameras engaged throughout the day.

In addition, butterflies can also be photographed in the early morning or in the evening times at their resting places such as grass, underneath of leaves or flowers if you are ready to put little effort (as it is a bit difficult to locate those places) and it would be certainly rewarding.

Essential technical tips:

1. Use burst mode. In DSLRs, shooting in JPEG mode helps to increase the burst rate.
2. Use faster shutter speeds (on or above 1/250) by inceasing the ISO, widely opening the aperture (keeping 'f' number low) and/or by using a fill flash (better through a diffuser if shooting at close distances).
3. Since butterflies are small in size, move swiftly and can not be approached, fast telephoto lenses are required for better results.
4. Careful usage of shallow depth of field (DOF) would result in excellent shots.
5. Use appropriate lens hood to prevent glare and lens flare.
6. Move around to get a natural background. Having artificial objects such as buildings would ruin the beauty of butterfly photographs.

Butterfly behavioral tips:

1. Some flowers with high amount of nectar attract the butterflies. Identify such flowering plants and where they are found in your environment.
2. Butterflies are sensitive to movements specifically when some one is trying to approach them. It is always rewarding to wait patiently near a bunch of fresh flowers without casting any shadow on them.
3. Mud puddling is another behavior of butterflies, where flocks of butterflies gather at some points near water resources to obtain nutrients such as salts and amino acids. In some nature parks / forest reserves of tropical countries, hundreds or even thousands of butterflies gather at a single place for mud puddling in the post-monsoon season. So, look for mud puddling points near streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, etc.

Mud Puddling Butterflies @ Khao Kaeng Krachan, Thailand.

See also Bird Photography.