Chestnut-bellied rock thrush (Male) : Monticola rufiventris

Chestnut-bellied rock thrush (Male)
Monticola rufiventris

Chestnut-bellied rock thrush : Monticola rufiventris

Gender: Male

IUCN Status: Least Concerned

 

Pangot, Utttarakhand, 4.4.2015.

 

There may be times during birding when one is petrified to take another step. Having trudged up metres of winding mountain paths barren for birding, one may unexpectedly happen upon a tree or an arbour where there are mind-boggling number of birds of various species in that condensed area. You can hear them sing all at once, and one's advancing foot is left hanging in the air, unmoving, statuesque, lest the clap of the boot striking stone may send the symphony rippling away into a mountain of solitude. For me, this was one such moment. A variety of arboreal birds were deep into a performance in that small arbour. Unfortunately, the rain and hail having just let up a short while ago, it was difficult for me to spot them all in the interplay of slanting sunlight and shifting leafy shadows. A couple of hours at most was at hand before the mountains wore the night and went off to sleep. It's not like in the plains - light comes on and goes early in the mountains.

 

This male of the species was sitting on an outward branch swaying in the breeze - lilting in and out of light and shadows with the rocking of the bough. I had to shoot into the sun from darkness. I couldn't get a better shot than this. And not due to lack of trying. Ask any birder - sometimes photographs just do not happen the way one wants them to. We call such a 'Record Shot' meaning exactly what it says - a shot for the record stating that the species has been spotted in a particular ecosystem unit.

 

My attention was swaying too anyway, trying to spot as many birds as I could. At least I spotted this gent's missus in the bargain. I'll put up her photo in a subsequent post.

 

Photographed in forests beyond Pangot, Uttarakhand, India on 4.4.2015.

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm lens

 

 

Photographed in forests beyond Pangot, Uttarakhand, India on 4.4.2015.

Camera used: Nikon D5100 DSLR with Tamron 150-600mm lens