When I visited the Sultanpur National Park, I thought I would be able to beat the fog and the mist in the morning. The light wind had dissipated the smog and I believed that I would have a one hour window from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. But then this was not to be as the smog returned with a vengeance masking the rising sun in a thick blanket of smog. Strangely enough, I have noticed that this year there have been fewer birds. One reason could be the poor air quality in the region.
Looking at the poor visibility I decided to make do with the birds within closer reach, those that would somehow not require much light. In fact, I was attracted to a parrot that was peering into a bird-house from which peeped a squirrel. It seemed to be glaring at the squirrel probably because it wanted the bird-house for itself!
I have taken umpteen numbers of photographs of common pond Herons but this one caught my attention. The fluffing of its feathers and the contortions that it went through gave it a well, "different look"! The image of a Redstart clinging on to a cage for a sapling was a consolation for not getting to photograph the Northern Shovellers that simply stayed out of bounds.
The Cormorant trying to catch whatever warmth it could get from the weak sun made it lazy enough to allow me to approach it easily. Its eye-make-up seemed to loom large in the view-finder.
And if that was not enough, I have decided to add a snap of a Jacobin Cuckoo from my previous visit to the National Park. I had not been able to identify it previously but then after browsing through my book, I felt I should add it to this post.
Seeing green pigeons was a rare treat as I was seeing them after quite some time. Green Pigeons used to be a common site in Gurugram in times when there were more trees. It is believed that Green Pigeons rarely alight on the ground, preferring to perch on the branches of trees out of reach of predators.
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