Thunderstorm in Las Vegas

It normally doesn't rain in Las Vegas but when it does, it pours cats and dogs.

Next Day

Next day, it rained again, but this time the rain was confined to the hill tops. The setting sun illuminated the rain on the mountains into a golden glow:

Clouds signal the end of summer as they splatter colors on the sky's vast canvas:

A Normal Day

Everyday the rays of the morning sun, first illuminate the mountains on the west:

This night, I zoomed into the Las Vegas Strip and tried to capture Luxor Hotel and Casino - the casino is shaped like a giant pyramid and shines a light many miles into the sky. This light can be seen from anywhere in Vegas. You can also see this light illuminating clouds at night. I don't have a tripod which resulted in a shaky image at 20x zoom and low light:

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 5

You can view the first 4 parts of this photo blog here: Part1 Part2 Part3 Part4

In this part of the photo blog on Himalayan birds, I shall showcase the birds shot at Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand, India. Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for its Himalayan bird species. It is said to inhabit 200 bird species. The average altitude of the sanctuary is 2412 metres. Binsar is also famous for its panoramic view of the Himalayan peaks like Kedarnath, Shivling, Trisul and majestic Nanda Devi from a place called 'Zero Point'. Zero point is a 2 Km trek inside the sanctuary along an abandoned jeep trail. You would be safer relying on your legs than a 4 wheel drive anyway :-)

Grey tit Flycatcher

Shooting this small bird was a challenge especially as the clouds/fog had engulfed the Binsar forest. Our guide helped identify this bird as Grey tit Flycatcher.

Oriental Turtle Dove

This bird was about 100 feet away on a branch. Keeping the camera steady was a challenge at 46x optical zoom (2 MP). However the image stabilization on Canon Powershot SX10 helped as I got a decent shot.

Binsar Forest

Starting at this altitude (7000 feet) you will find plenty of Rhododendron trees. You can see their red flowers below.

The forest was steep, dense and dark.

Zero Point

This is the summit of our trek. From here you can get great panoramic views of the Himalayan peaks. But on this occasion there were clouds blocking the view. However, we got great views from Nainital. You can view those wonderful pictures here: Uttarakhand Himalayas - Best views of the Himalayas

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Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 4

The birds featured in Part1, Part2 and Part3 of this photo blog were shot in Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand. Some of the birds I showcased there could be found in Bangalore as well - as I guess both places share a similar altitude. However, the birds I am going to showcase below are true Himalayan species as they can be found only in these parts. The altitude is 1900m. The place is Ranikhet. Our stay in Holm Farm Heritage in Ranikhet offered a splendid photo opportunity.

Red-billed Blue Magpie

What a beautiful bird! Unfortunately I could not capture this bird in flight. Just like the Asian Paradise Fly-Catcher, this bird looks even more beautify when it flies. Its a multi-colored bird - the body is blue and white, the head is black and the beak is red. I saw this bird from the balcony of our hotel room. Determined to locate this bird and take a shot, we ventured into the surrounding hilly forest on foot. We were able locate it and shoot some pictures and videos.

Scarlet Minivet

The beauty of this bird is not its size or the length of its tail but its color. True to its name this bird is scarlet colored. Wikipedia defines scarlet color as "bright shade of red that is slightly toward orange". Perfect color! Shooting this bird however proved a challenge - the bird made regular appearances on the Silver Oak tree outside my bedroom balcony. It was a good 60 feet away. Utilizing the 560mm (20x optical) zoom lens on my Canon Powershot SX10is, I managed a decent hand-held shot. The light was not too good - it was an overcast day and the portions of black on this bird meant that exposure had to be compensated accordingly.

 Green-backed Tit

Another tiny bird - this time bright yellow.

Himalayan Bulbul

After the Red-whiskered Bulbul and the Red-vented Bulbul, here's another Bulbul, the Himalayan one. I like this one the best among the three. What do you think?

Himalayan Swiftlet

These tiny birds are quite common in the Himalayan region but for 'plain' folks like us, they are different and need to be captured on camera :-)

You may be interested in this related post:Uttarakhand Himalayas - Best views of the Himalayas

 

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Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 3

You can read the first 2 parts of this photo blog here:

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 1

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 2

All the birds I post here were shot in Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.

 

Jungle Babbler

The Jungle Babbler (Turdoides striata) is an Old World babbler found in India and parts of Asia. I got a really good shot. While shooting I dint realize that there was a spider in this bill:

 

 Flycatcher

 

Although this small bird might belong to the Flycatcher family, I am not sure. Please help me identify this bird by posting a comment. 

 

Red vented Bulbul

 

The Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) is a common bird found in Bangalore too. This particular shot was taken in Jim Corbett National Park. You can see it is just about to take off. I was waiting for it to turn its head so that I could get a good shot. You can see the red spot under its tail wig (near the left wing) which gives the bird its name.

 

Red-whiskered Bulbul

 

The Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), unlike its cousin the Red-vented Bulbul has a red spot just under the eye.

 

 Here is another shot of the same bird, again a common resident in Bangalore.

 

Ring-necked Parakeet

There were several of these birds on the trees. Quite common in India. Getting a shot proved difficult as these birds generally prefer tall trees to perch.

Green bee eater

 

Another beautiful bird. This bird is also quite common in Karnataka although you need to get out of Bangalore city to be able to spot this. This picture is from Jim Corbett National Park.

 

You may be interested in this related post:

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Best views of the Himalayas

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 2

You can find the 1st Part of this photo blog here:Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 1

Chestnut-tailed Starling

This bird is also called Grey-headed Myna (Sturnia malabarica). It is a resident species found in wooded habitats in India and parts of Asia.

Ashy Prinia

This bird is also called Ashy Wren-Warbler (Prinia socialis). I managed a good capture with my Canon Powershot SX10is.

Common Tailorbird

The Common Tailorbird ( Orthotomus sutorius) is classified as a song bird. It is popular in India for its nest made of leaves "sewn" together and immortalized by Rudyard Kipling in his Jungle Book. These birds are quite shy and are difficult to capture on camera. Good luck, a long lens (560mm) and lots of patience finally paid off as I got this shot:

Hummingbird

Another difficult to shoot bird - as most small birds are. I saw this bird feeding on nectar of flowers in the resort garden in Corbett National Park. I managed a decent shot:

Asian Pied Starling

The Asian Pied Starling (Gracupica contra), is also known as Pied Myna. Nice looking bird. Not too shy. Easy to get close and shoot.

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Best views of the Himalayas

Few sights in nature are as magnificent and striking as panoramic views of the Great Himalayan Range. For great views of the Himalayan range you need 2 things - heavy rain the previous day and clear skies on the day you are viewing. Heavy rain is required for clear views because in dry weather dust from the ground rises into the atmosphere hindering far-reaching views.

In Uttarakhand, the best views of Himalayas are available during the months of October and November - just after the monsoons. This is the time when the dust has been locked into the soil by the rains and the skies are clear from the monsoon clouds. The views get progressively worse from November onwards. June and July are the monsoon months. During the rest of the year if you get heavy rain you may stand a great chance of Himalayan views the following morning if the sky clears.

Time of the day is another factor you need to consider. The best time to see Himalayan peaks is early morning - when the first rays of sunlight kiss the top of the highest peaks resulting in a golden glow. After about 9 AM, clouds start forming just below the peaks blocking their view. This is because the sunlight evaporates water from these snow clad peaks and forms clouds which rise higher during the course of the day and block the top of these peaks.

Our own quest for great Himalyan views did not have the advantage of season - we planned our Uttarakhand trip in early May. However, we were optimistic of our chances and picked resorts that boasted great panaromic views of the Himalayas. We stayed at Holm Farm Heritage in Ranikhet and Mountain Resort, Khali Estate in Binsar. Both places offer great views of the Himalayas. But we were disappointed at both places as the dry dusty weather did not offer us any views. Our luck changed in Nainital when it rained cats and dogs during our first day there. Next day the sky cleared up and we set out to Dorothy's seat (7000 feet) on horse back along a steep winding horse-track. This is the view we got from Dorothy's seat in Nainital (click on images to enlarge):

Here is a close-up of one of the peaks:

Words cannot describe the majesty of the Himalayas. They were massive, snow covered and seemed to float in the air, high above other mountain ranges in the foreground - effectively dwarfing them.

From Dorothy's seat, we proceeded to another viewpoint - called Himalaya darshan. Thankfully, to reach this viewpoint one doesn't need to climb a horse as it is accessible by road. There was pandemonium on the narrow road at 7000 feet as everybody stopped to view the Himalayas:

 This is the view we got (The Trishul and Nanda Devi peaks are visible clearly):

Here is a closeup of Trishul, which is shaped like Lord Shiva's trident:

I used Canon Powershot SX10is for photos and videos. A super-zoom camera and a pair of binoculars will help you get close up views:

Have a look at this video which was shot from the same place:

Pictures cannot describe the beauty of what one sees with the naked eye. Start planning your trip to the Himalayas soon. You can post comments below.

Uttarakhand Himalayas - Birds of Kumaon - Part 1

The incredibly beautiful Asian Paradise Flycatcher - with its long white forked tail, black head and blue eyes returned again and again to its nest on the mango tree outside our cottage on the fringes of Jim Corbett National Park.

I had seen this beautiful bird once before while camping at Jungle Lodge's Bheemeshwari Camp on the banks of the Cauvery. At that time I missed a photographic shoot of this elusive bird. However, Corbett National Park not only gave me an opportunity to capture this bird in photographs and videos but also allowed me to observe how it constructed its nest, how an Oriental White Eye pair stole nest building material from the Fly-catcher's nest and how different the female Fly-catcher looked as compared to the male.

I will talk about our resort later. Let's get down to the birds first!

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

I managed real-close up shots of this bird as I had discovered its nest right outside our cottage. On occasions, I did not even have to use the full 20x optical zoom of my camera - Canon Powershot SX10is.

Here are 3 shots of this bird:

 You can see it seated on its nest-under-construction in this shot:

What a beautiful bird:

This is the female Asian Paradise Fly-catcher:

Here is a video of the fly-catcher building its nest. Unfortunately, blogger does not support a higher resolution of this video:

Streak-throated Woodpecker

We spotted this beautiful bird while on jeep safari in the Lohachaur area within Corbett National Park.

It seemed unperturbed by our presence as it went looking for insects under the leaves:

Kalij Pheasant

The Kalij Pheasant, Lophura leucomelanos, is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills.

The female Kalij Pheasant looks quite different from the male:

I managed to capture a brief video of this bird using my Canon Powershot SX10is, the same camera I used for the pictures:

Oriental Magpie Robin:

This bird, when found on the ground, holds its tail upright. The Magpie Robin is famous for its songs. The bird was about 10 yards away from our jeep, I had to use all of the 20x zoom my camera had to capture this shot:

Oriental Turtle Dove:

This bird with colorful feathers appeared in between 2 trees. I stopped the safari jeep and got a good capture:

Spring in Bangalore

Its late march - the spring season in Bangalore and most of the trees lining the roads are in full bloom. They are an absolute treasure to watch.

One of the most beautiful tree flowering in spring is the Jacaranda which is said to have originated from Brazil. It has purple flowers and when if full bloom, its spectacular. During February the tree sheds all its leaves and the flowers start appearing in March. Post March, the tree starts regaining its leaves. These trees are found along airport road in Bangalore. Here's a picture of several Jacaranda trees in Lal Bagh botanical gardens:

Jacaranda trees

Jacaranda flowers

The Pink Tabebuia is another spectacle to watch during spring in Bangalore. It is common along the main thoroughfares of the city.

Here are some other pictures of spring:

Bougainvillea

Multiple colours

Fresh new leaves

Lotus bloom

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