Photography Reveals a World of Beauty Rarely Seen Before!

Nothing can beat the joy of seeing a Yellow Wagtail sing its heart out celebrating the Autumn season, the end of rains and the ushering in of cooler times. Or, for that effect, it is a wonderful moment when you can capture a Mongoose running towards you even as you keep pressing the shutter-release button to know you have captured a unique moment! Sure, the Mongoose did not know you were there because you were perfectly still, and not greedy about getting closer to it. The moral? Let the animals and birds come close to you, not the other way round!

Apart from getting that perfect pose, it sometimes pays to be proactive! Walk an extra mile, and who knows you might get that perfect landing! Cormorants are ideal birds to photograph while taking off and lading. And so a short walk took me to a spot where Greater Cormorants were eagerly feeding on small fry and sure they were hungry! Photographing Animal or bird behaviour can sometimes be most satisfying.

Sometimes it is amazing to see how tolerant birds belonging to different species can be to each other, like a little Egret standing close to a Pond Heron, waiting patiently for breakfast! But then the little Egret can be as friendly with a greater Cormorant too!

When I am not looking for flying birds or landing birds, I love to photograph reflections and this Sandpiper makes for an amazing shot!

And with that, I'll take my leave, happy birdwatching!

My Encounter with Wild Boars in Gurugram

Yesterday, I almost came under attack from a female wild-boar in the Chandu-Budhera location! This happened while I was returning from the Najafgarh lake when I decided to make  look-see in the area where the reservoirs are located. I had just parked my motorcycle under the shade of a tree and was waking down a narrow trail when I spotted horizontally striped creatures. I froze on the spot and was shocked to spot a huge female wild boar, and then another two chaperoning their offspring. They were huge monsters, and I knew that they could tear apart. It was a big surprise to find wild boars in the area. Wild boars, incidentally, are ferocious beasts and they can provide a tough fight even to large predators.

Anyway, the three females and their offspring crossed over and I continued on my trek. A little later I came to an abrupt halt, having spotted the larger of the three female wild-boars. She was a menacing dark monster of a beast with a ferocious expression, part of one ear torn away, a testimony of one or more deadly duels! I froze to the spot once again, and even as I stood my ground, the huge beast took a couple of steps towards me! Somehow, I managed to stand still, knowing well that the moment I fled, she would be on my back! After a few moments of the standoff, she left the scene, however, I did not move from the spot as a sixth sense warned me not to move away. A little while later, the same wild boar returned to the spot. She glared at me for a couple of moments and then left.

I made haste to where my motorcycle was parked and made good my exit from the area. Later when I thought about the whole episode I reasoned that the wild boar would have attacked me had I turned my back on her. She would have sensed my fear and attacked me. This was an important lesson for me. Apparently, most animals would attack human beings once who fled the spot riven my fear and panic. The moral of the lesson is that one needs to stay calm, never to panic and if possible stay still.