Safilguda Lake continued

The excitement of seeing and capturing so many birds, especially in flight, made another visit mandatory. Some more photographs from the same location.

These are Grey Herons (Narayana Konga in telugu) and are relatively large, but very graceful in flight. They sometimes perch on  the upper sections of trees. There were some instances of a pair of these Herons flying together probably in coutship, but I could not get a clear enough shot.

This bird is a Black crowned Night Heron (Chinta Vakhi in telugu) and has red eyes and a small tuft on it's head. On the ground or branches, it looks somewhat like a penguin. However, as with most birds, it looks very handsome with it's body tucked in very straight and streamlined and it's wings spread out.

This is the Spot Billed Duck (Mukkuchukka Batu)and is probably the most colorful bird at this lake.Other than the spot of color on the beak, it has a bright blue splash under the wings which only shows when it is in flight. Despite it somewhat overweight appearance, they fly quite easily and sometimes reach a good speed and height. Their landing is almost comical as they just slow down and drop into the water with a splash.

This is the Common Coot (Nalabuli Kodi) is quite common in most ponds and lakes.

This is called the Little Grebe also called Dabchick (Chinna Munugudi Kodi) is usually associated with pollution in the lakes.

This is the Bronzed Winged Jacana (Kanchurekkala Jacana) is known for walking on water or more accurately, on broad leaves using it large spidery feet.

The female of the Asian Koel is quite different from the dark blue/back color of the male.



For the rest of my bird photographs, please visit Birds Around Hyderabad.

As always, I would love to hear your comments or suggestions.

Birds at Safilguda Lake

The visit to Safilguda Lake (north of Hyderabad) proved once again that we have a wide variety of birds all around us, but we need to take a little effort to look for them. The first visit was very fruitful as I saw many species for the first time. There were birds flying all around us, some of just having fun and others in what could have been a courtship ritual. Since the time was around 8AM in the morning, the light was strong and clear enough for some good shots. I even managed to capture a few on the wing.

This is a Pond Heron standing absolutely still until it strikes to catch a fish.

This is called a Dabchick (common name) and even the fully grown adult is relatively very small and rather plain looking. It is supposed to survive in polluted water bodies too, though this lake is not too bad in that respect as compared to other similar lakes in Hyderabad.

This is called the Black Crowned Night Heron probably due to the back shade on it's head. It has a rather funny look when it is on the ground, but it can be very graceful when flying.

This is a Spot Billed Duck and there is a good population of them in this lake. It is a very interesting sight when they take off and land. Hope to capture some good shots of it next time.

A large flock of Teals sunning themselves.

For the rest of my bird photographs, please visit Birds Around Hyderabad.

As always, I would love to hear your comments or suggestions.