Day 6 — The lure of the Sea Eagle!
We were ready at 0630 sharp and caught up with Karthick at the dining hut. A quick cuppa tea and we moved towards the jetty. Just as we neared the jetty I spotted a White Bellied Sea Eagle (WBSE) juvenile brilliantly lit by the rising sun and managed to grab a few quick shots.
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We went a little ahead and then stopped. Our naturalist ( who is actually the
night watchman) rushed, back with info that there were four WBSE’s again. We doubled back and Karthick was able to manage a beauty shot of them all four two adults and two juveniles on one single branch. Just as I caught up with Karthick, and set down my tripod, the formation broke and the guys flew away. Dang…must come here next morning I told myself. Besides I noticed at that instant, the WBSE nest on the same tree.
Right beside the jetty and on the left as you faced the jetty, there was another tree with a Brahmini Kites nest. I did get a few shots but the Brahmini was a bit too far and too high up the casurina tree.
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As we crossed over to the beach beside the jetty, I spotted a small coconut on the sand and I made this pic.
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On the trail we did see the Golden Flameback Woodpecker but to far away for any pictures. Although a little far away and high up the tree, I got a few nice grabs , of a Golden Oriole with a catch. The bird was bashing its catch against the tree and gave us wonderful views.
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On the trail Karthick stopped by a spidy web and I tried the 105 VR handheld. Me being the tripod guy ( the Sigma 50-500 was mounted on the tripod) tried but, the DOF is so shallow that it is tough to do serious macro handheld. I managed one decent sharp shot after several tries and switched back to the Sigma 50-500 for my money shot! That
done I had to collapse the gear and crawled underneath the web, to get past the spidy’s home !
The 105 VR Shot
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And the Sigma 50-500 shot
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A little further Karthick pointed out an ants nest and got a clean one again with the Sigma 50-500.
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We came on back to the beach and saw a Green heron fishing. But, the perch was really terrible with a plastic bulrap bag fluttering that, I didnt bother with a shot.
Just as we approached, the Green Heron took off and flew away.By now Karthick’s tummy was seriously grumbling but , he asked if Id like to continue and, I replied to his surprise in the affermative! Karthick mentioned to Manju how I could keep going with all the weight of the gear, tripod and all in the sweltering heat . For me, photography is food enough!
A little down the beach, Karthick was intent on getting some pictures of some crabs. Try as he might, just as he approached them, the crabs dived into their holes. Karthick soon spotted a hermit crab and I pulled out the 105 VR and got down to eye level. With my back to the sea, I almost got splashed over by a wave but, I was able to move away just
in time and avoid a catastrophy of dunking my camera. Deja vu here actually..already dunked my gear once trying to help an oveturned kayaker on a whitewater expedition on the Zanskar. Yes the guy made it and, my camera ( at that time I was using a Pentax ME-Super and a Tamron lens) made it to the camera mechanic at Chandni Chowk , New
Delhi. I had got it back as good as new, at an expense of only Rs 600 !) But, if it is this baby the D2X had to do anything like that I might as well use it as a paperweight or something, absolutely no chance of repair on these modern marvels I guess.
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Just as we were nearing the jetty point I spotted the Black Capped Kingfisher at about 80 meters distance. The guy sat a moment ,and flew away before I could react. Geeze what a pretty birdie! I just had to get this one in my frame. By now we really sweaty tired and hungry, we scurried back to the dining hall for some late breakfast.
After breakfast, Karthick and I opened up our laptops and oogled each others collection. Karthick has an absolutely stunning macro collection. Hope he gets his stuff on to the web fast. Well, hmmm macro seems pretty interesting now to me!
Evening we decided to walk towards the fishing village in the hope of snagging a few WBSE shots. On the way to the WBSE point, a Brahmini Kite literally sat posing for me in the golden light.
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My recce from the previous day paid handsome dividends and sure enough there were WBSE lazily cruising over the tall casurina trees. We did get a lot of lazy WBSE coasting kinda flight shots. Maan what flight control, wish my Paragliding was just ten percent of what these guys do and Id be a pro! Waaahhh..I wanna fly now now now was what came to mind! Totally inspiring to watch these huge raptors, so supremely elegant and so supremely confident and efficient in every movement. Mama…I want my paraglider now ( stomping Dennis the Menace style on the sand)!!!
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As the evening progressed, we started to walk back to the resort and I got this Brahmini takeoff.
![[#Beginning of Shooting Data Section]Nikon D2XFocal Length: 500mmOptimize Image: Color Mode: Mode II (Adobe RGB)Long Exposure NR: OffHigh ISO NR: On (Normal)2007�315 17:35:19.0Exposure Mode: Aperture PriorityWhite Balance: Color Temp. (5900 K) Tone Comp.: Less ContrastRAW (12-bit)Metering Mode: Center-WeightedAF Mode: AF-CHue Adjustment: 0°Image Size: Large (4288 x 2848)1500 sec - F8Flash Sync Mode: Rear Curtain SlowSaturation: NormalColorExposure Comp.: 0 EVAuto Flash Mode: i-TTLSharpening: Medium highLens: 50-500mm F4-6.3 DSensitivity: ISO 400Image Comment: (c)Krishnan V [#End of Shooting Data Section]](https://www.krishphoto.com/wp-content/gallery/20070424_devbagh/20070310_0398.jpg "[#Beginning of Shooting Data Section]Nikon D2XFocal Length: 500mmOptimize Image: Color Mode: Mode II (Adobe RGB)Long Exposure NR: OffHigh ISO NR: On (Normal)2007�315 17:35:19.0Exposure Mode: Aperture PriorityWhite Balance: Color Temp. (5900 K) Tone Comp.: Less ContrastRAW (12-bit)Metering Mode: Center-WeightedAF Mode: AF-CHue Adjustment: 0°Image Size: Large (4288 x 2848)1500 sec - F8Flash Sync Mode: Rear Curtain SlowSaturation: NormalColorExposure Comp.: 0 EVAuto Flash Mode: i-TTLSharpening: Medium highLens: 50-500mm F4-6.3 DSensitivity: ISO 400Image Comment: (c)Krishnan V [#End of Shooting Data Section]")
When I looked back i the region of the tall casurina trees, I spotted a WBSE on a perch. I halted Karthick and walked back, taking shots every few meters. The birds back was towards me and I would have to walk underneath, to the otherside almost three hundered meters to get the full frontal figure of the bird. Luckily for me, my subject co-operated and I did get pretty good shots, only problem being that the guy was almost overhead.
Looking back ( Full Frame)
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Nearer now ( Full Frame)
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As I crossed underneath the bird and came up on the otherside. (Full Frame)
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I then backed up a little, positioned to get the WBSE full figure and got that shot!
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Whoopee! I then got greedy and decided to wait for the guy to take off and get another take off shot. Luck was on my side and was able to get that too. The second frame in the take off sequence was deleted since a branch obscured the bird but I did get a good first and a reasonably ok third frame. The third frame is the turn and bank and I had to re-accquire the bird and ,I think the AF grabbed on to the tail and missed the head. Pretty fast these guys are and, its not an easy task to maintain the AF reticle on the bird ( more practice!) so I guess that would have to do for the day!
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For a WBSE shoot at Karwar, the best lens would be a 400mm handheld.
Day 7 —
We woke up to the low pitch “wooden door opening” like screech of the Brahmini and the “cack cack” of the WBSEs. I went straight to the jetty point hoping to get the kind of four eagles on a branch kind of shot. But, all I got was the two juveniles and that too, one facing the other way. Waited a while, no luck and I trooped in for breakfast. But, I did get this super sun rise shot of the Karwar Bridge from the jetty.
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After breakfast we took a motorboat out to the backwaters to scout for the Black capped Kingfisher. The motor boat in retrospect was a bad idea since the kerosene engine and its sound scared away most living things and woke up some of the dead ones too !
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As we turned back the boat driver suggested we try the prawn pens on the opposite side of JLR near the railway bridge. We docked at a place and walked in a little and my boatman pointed out to me a Brahmini nest. The bird was sitting on its eggs by the look of it. I used the lightmeter and got a few shots.
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If you look carefully at the first photo on the left below, you can clearly see the head of the snake lodged between the wings of the bird ( look behind the neck ).
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The prawn pans are favourite hunting grounds for the WBSEs and the Brahmini Kites. We did see a few of the birds dive in for their catch. Good place to note for the next time and I definitely want some fishing action shots of these magnificient guys. We were getting late already and had to head back to JLR, so no fishing action shots this time.
I hung around the jetty in the afternoon but, no sight of the black capped kingfisher and finally decided to head back to the hut and grab a quick nap at two!
Evening, we went back to the jetty point and I saw the two male WBSEs sitting on one branch. Try as I might I just could not get to a position where I could get a clear shot of them. The was one branch which was kind of obscuring the bird on the left. The best I could manage was where the offending branch was just touching the shoulder of the bird.
Full Frame Shot below
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Dang..it really was a nice shot but for that branch ! This was the time to now let go the camera and just enjoy the beauty of this magestic raptor and that is exactly what I did !
Soon I noticed the local fishermen diving for mussles. Grabbed a few shots of that and then Manju suggested we walk the beach by the jetty to try for the Black capped kingfisher.
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Enroute I managed a few shots of a pond heron and fiddler crabs.
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A small blue kingfisher was fishing in the vicinity but, always just out of lens reach to get anything worthwhile. I had pretty much given up on the Black Capped Kingfisher when Manju suggested we climb over to the backwater-side of the beach. Hardly had I placed my tripod on the ground that a Black capped Kingfisher flew in about 70 meters away and sat on the sand. I had just started to focus on the bird ( which was smaller than my AF reticle) when, the guy took off. I instinctively panned and shot a few frames trying desperately to keep the AF reticle on this fast moving bird. I did get for the effort, a not so great flight shot! So finally see the Black Capped Kingfisher we did , thanks to Manju!
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We came back to the jetty and I looked out for the family of four WBSEs .I did get them all four in one frame finally but they were on different branches. But hey, persistance pays !
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We then sauntered off to catch the sunset for our last night at Karwar.
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![[#Beginning of Shooting Data Section]Nikon D2XFocal Length: 50mmOptimize Image: Color Mode: Mode II (Adobe RGB)Long Exposure NR: OffHigh ISO NR: On (Normal)2007/03/16 18:30:41Exposure Mode: Aperture PriorityWhite Balance: Color Temp. (6700 K) Tone Comp.: Less ContrastJPEG (8-bit) FineMetering Mode: Multi-PatternAF Mode: AF-CHue Adjustment: 0°Image Size: Large (4288 x 2848)1/100 sec - F/8Flash Sync Mode: Not AttachedSaturation: NormalColorExposure Comp.: 0 EVSharpening: Medium highLens: 50-500mm F/4-6.3 DSensitivity: ISO 400Image Comment: (c)Krishnan V [#End of Shooting Data Section]](https://www.krishphoto.com/wp-content/gallery/20070424_devbagh/20070310_0490.jpg "[#Beginning of Shooting Data Section]Nikon D2XFocal Length: 50mmOptimize Image: Color Mode: Mode II (Adobe RGB)Long Exposure NR: OffHigh ISO NR: On (Normal)2007/03/16 18:30:41Exposure Mode: Aperture PriorityWhite Balance: Color Temp. (6700 K) Tone Comp.: Less ContrastJPEG (8-bit) FineMetering Mode: Multi-PatternAF Mode: AF-CHue Adjustment: 0°Image Size: Large (4288 x 2848)1/100 sec - F/8Flash Sync Mode: Not AttachedSaturation: NormalColorExposure Comp.: 0 EVSharpening: Medium highLens: 50-500mm F/4-6.3 DSensitivity: ISO 400Image Comment: (c)Krishnan V [#End of Shooting Data Section]")
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Day 8 —
Last morning and we were to leave for Goa after breakfast and I headed out to the jetty to get some of my last pics of the trip. There was one WBSE adult sitting on a branch and I setup HSC and raked back to 320mm to try to get a takeoff sequence. I also additionally dialled in -0.3 EV so as not to blow any whites. I was cursing myself for not bringing along my light meter since I left the room with just the camera and lens on the tripod.
I did get a takeoff sequence finally. Sequence is numbered above each frame…
1.
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And here is a composite of the complete sequence ( Right to Left it goes).
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Here is the analysis on action shots. Maintaining the bird in the AF reticle takes huge practice. The other thing I noticed was that the Sigma 50-500 was a tad slow on the AF. Now I want the Nikkor AF definitely.
I also got the juvenile WBSE in its nest and its takeoff too! Not bad at all a wrap up to the trip !
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In the shot above I clipped the lower wing tips. I did a little restore job and I have rebuilt the lower three primaries in the shot. More about that in another blog entry!
We then headed for Goa and sacked out at Candolim at “Angela’s shack”. No cameras now, just the sea and Kings beer. Maan this was life Goa for me is equal to “shacking” !! Had some wonderful sphagetti and prawn curry with rice. The banana pancake with honey was just out of this world!
We stayed at Per Avel Resort at Fort Aguada, Candolim. Tele: 91-832-2479074 / 2479566, peravel@sancharnet.in . Clean, not expensive and recommended.
Evening after dinner, Manju decide to do some last minute shopping at a nearby shop and picked up a few tops et al.
Just one day at Goa was just not enough but, Manju had to head to get on a business trip so we decided to head back to Bombay the next morning.
All in all , what a splendid trip this has been, made new friends, lots of kick ass photography, great drives and food, just wish we had a coupla days in Goa “sacking” too. Now I have to sit and process those tons of pics !
Good Photographs !
Great trip report ! a lot of nice pics. it would be great to see PP workflow somewhere on the website.
Rahul