This is about my experience of photographing the oriental dwarf kingfisher in the forests of Panvel near Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra, India. To photograph this bird, I went to the hide owned by Mr. Samadhan Pawar. The hide was located in the forests of Panvel, somewhere along the Mumbai Goa highway.
This kingfisher, which is only a little bigger than the humming bird is one of the smallest in the kingfisher family. Brightly coloured and quite a beauty to look at, this bird breeds in the forests of western ghats of India during the monsoon season. The Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher or ODKF as it is known in the bird watcher fraternity, is also called the black backed dwarf kingfisher or three toed kingfisher as it has three toes on either foot.
It mates, nests and raises a brood making the forest of Western Ghats its home for a few months during the rainy season. As it is relatively easier to sight the bird during this season, it is an object of interest to many a photographer.
The ODKF builds its nest in dense forests in mudbanks that run along streams. Despite its brilliant colours, the ODKF is tiny and moves very swiftly in the forest while perfectly blending with its surroundings in the forest. And may prove to be extremely difficult to spot even for the most trained eye. That is where hide photography comes in and is a good way to see, experience, photograph and appreciate the tiny ODKF without disturbing it.
The growing chicks in the nest are perpetually hungry and the parent kingfishers hunt at regular intervals throughout the day coming back with plenty of prey or food for the babies. Despite its tiny size, the ODKF is a ruthless hunter and hunts down prey of all shapes and sizes starting from lizards, crabs, frogs, grasshoppers, skinks, etc.
The hide was strategically built near the nest of the ODKF with a perch placed at a distance from the hide. At regular intervals, the parent kingfisher would disappear into the forest and return with a different kill after a gap of an hour and sometimes even two. Before it flew into the nest with the food, it sat on the perch with the kill, bobbing its head up and down. Bobbing its head up and down is a very typical behaviour of the kingfisher when it is tries to assess its surroundings to check for potential predators. Once it has ascertained that the area is safe with no threat, it swiftly flies back into the nest.
Links to check for more information on the ODKF:
ebird.org/spec...
a-z-animals.co....
The location of the hide may change every year depending on the place where the nest is built.
Samadhan Pawar may be contacted at 9665749193.
28 сен 2024
