I had some old pending amount with Anup since my last attempt at Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher attempt at Panvel with Doc Bedekar. That attempt was a washout due to super heavy rain last season. We abandoned the trip which was a good decision in the end. So back to the present and I checked with Anup and decided to do two sessions for the ODKF at Panvel. The last I had spotted the ODKF was on the trail at Nagla block, SGNP. That was in Jun 2010!
There are three hides this season and each one has a predominant background colour, the black, green & brown respectively. We did the black and the green hides.
Reaching the place is not difficult and Anup provided me with a map point which was quite easy to get to. I am deliberately avoiding the location so that I don’t add to the possible disturbance of the setup. Just remember that the restaurants close by 4PM and that nothing was open on the highway at 6AM. So get some small eats and a flask of warm whatever along !
The black hide is setup inside a nullah and there is water flowing very near your feet. It takes about a 20 min hike through a very pretty, rolling hill, verdant green landscape to get to it. The walk itself is totally refreshing and one has to cross some large puddles and a small stream. Loved it totally.
The Swish of the Kingfisher, an arty one.
As I got to the hide I had this feeling that we would see a snake. And lo behold, after about an hour inside the hide a gorgeous long grey coloured rat snake went by after briefly stopping to survey the scene. The kingfisher had been gone a long while and we realised that this was the reason it did not show up earlier.
Once the snake went away, the kingfisher promptly showed up 🙂 I tried my hand at some video for the first time. Used my Nikon Z50 mirrorless. Does a fine job the Z50.
The Z50, 50-25mm Kit lens shot. Pretty good , I like it ! ISO 900
We wrapped up the shoot by 6PM and headed back to Mumbai. The only place one can stay nearby is Balaji Lodge and right next door is a Sai Krupa restaurant where we stopped for the mandatory Pav Bhaji and Vada Pav along with some hot milky tea. My second trip with ODKF and again with Doc Bedekar. The earlier one being to Chiplun again for the ODKF.
The next morning Sundar picked me up and we started from home at 0430H, in pouring rain. It rained hard all the way to Panvel but the rain was thankfully much less once we hit Panvel. We tried Vittal Kamat highway restaurant but at 0600H, it was shut. We parked at the location and Anup guided us to the fields, this time to the green background hide.
This hide is taller since its setup in the fields and one can stand. As we got into the hide the ODKF made its prompt appearance. My gear was still in the bag so decided to watch it and fix the camera once the birdie went for its “sortie”. The rain was intermittent and since the hide was larger it felt more airy and less humid that the earlier day. Anup had organised some tea and poha for a light breakfast served inside the hide which was most welcome.
I tried to grab both still and video and gave up to concentrate only on any one at a time ( Sundar thanks 😉 ).
My technique was to prefocus and trip the shutter with my cable remote once the bird took off from the perch towards the nest. Aim was to grab a few flight shots. I just mentioned to Sundar that these were super fast fliers and wish it came out of the nest with something heavy so that it slows a tad and I could have a better chance at snagging a flight shot. Then that exactly happened ! WOW ! The birdie flew into the nest with a skink. Then to everyone’s surprise came out and sat on a branch a bit. Then it flew back inside the nest and came out back tot eh branch and we saw it bashing the skink. Seemed like the skink was not dead and it brought it back out to a branch to bash it dead. It then flew back into the nest with the skink, to feed its chicks. So two days and two wishes manifest, right here right now ! I am ecstatic ! YEEHAA… !!!
How I Planned this shot:
Carefully analyse the flight path. Its mostly the same and pre focus a bit before the nest. Thats where I thought the bird has to slow down a bit. Even so, its fast, bullet fast.
You must start your burst shot as soon as the bird leaves the perch much before its anywhere near the frame. And pre focussed cable release means you don’t look through the viewfinder but you are watching the action normally and tripping the shutter in burst mode as soon as the bird leaves the perch and the camera is already firing as the bird enters the frame area and continues to fire as it transits the frame.
Vertical orientation to maximise the bird travel through the frame. Bird approaches the nest from below. And I chose F10 to get more Depth Of Field and get more area into some kind of focus. Id go with even smaller aperture when possible. That would give me more depth of field and more chance of a sharp capture over a larger frame depth.
Auto ISO with max ISO 102400, Exposure Mode set to Manual, Shutter speed 1/8000th, Aperture at F10, Pre Focused, AF-OFF, VR-OFF ( I have it on back button focus so unless I touch that, AF stays OFF) , Highest burst mode. in Nikon CH mode, Cable release shutter.
Click on image to see it larger. This is the uncropped 100% of the frame.
All this time I was pre focussed on the flight path near the nest and I kept tripping bursts of shots. I snagged two almost impossible shots of the birdies with a skink in flight and that too facing the camera and away from its usual route which is towards the nest.
It took a lot of trials to figure things out. Here are some shots that didnt work and were misses 🙂
Who says ISO 36000 is bad on the Nikon D5?
About 11AM we decided to call it quits and headed back. We felt a little guilty at the ease with which one gets shots in a hide. Both of us prefer the field birding. Nevertheless this is a good change once in a while, especially if you want to test drive some equipment.
Luckily the rain had subsided. On the way back, the Sai Krupa restaurant was closed and not yet open for “jevan” (lunch). So we looped back to Vittal Kamat and grabbed some hot tea.
Sundar uses a Sony A9II with the Sony 200-600mm. Thats a versatile compact combo definitely. I love this video especially.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CRYmTV4AZK1/
Here is Sundar’s Insta link for more of his pics https://www.instagram.com/sundark.photography/
Another super trip with Sundar !
Photo Tips
Both hides one can use even a normal 300mm ish lens and still get good shots.
Must have a Tripod
A poncho
Sandals
Bring a towel. Its humid in there !
A bottle of water
Video settings for a video noob like me
Frame Rate set to 4k 25p ( Important )
Forget slow motion in camera ( Try that in post production )
White Balance Same as Still
AF-F Auto Area
VR – ON
Exposure set to Manual
And yes video chews battery on the mirrorless, get additional charged batts along
More pics from this trip
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Relived the excitement while reading the blog,ur tips and encouragement to shoot in manual mode made my day !!
Hope we can do another trip real soon.
A superb writeup. Best for the person who is new to this field. Good luck for your upcoming Photography sessions. ??