Behind the lens

a blog every Friday on a specific species of animal or bird and jungle lore

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Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee

Plain Prinia

The Plain Prinia is a common prinia with drab gray-brown plumage that varies in tone across its range. Note the pale, wide eyebrow and the long tail that appears as if it is loosely attached to the body. Common in various habitats, especially farms and wetlands, but avoids woodlands with a canopy. A somewhat bold species, it often skulks in the undergrowth but sings from exposed perches.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Birdinginthewild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #your_best_birds, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #photo_pond, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #yesbbcearth, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, @globalcapture, #prinia, #plainprinia, #plainwrenwarbler, #whitebrowedwrenwarbler

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Robber Fly/ Assassin Fly

The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called Assassin Flies. It is one of the largest families in Diptera Brachycera. The adults and larvae are predaceous on other insects, especially on plant-feeding insects, and thus help in the natural control of insects. They are world wide in distribution, represented by about 5000 species belonging to over 400 genera. Only about 750 species under 80 genera are known from the Oriental Region, of which 300 species and 45 genera are from India. Stenopogon is a genus in the family Asilidae with at least 200 described species. Today is about one of them from the Kawal Tiger Reserve.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Wildlife, #naturephotography, #earthcapture, #conservationphotography, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, #Kawal, #KawalTigerReserve, #hyticos, #wildtelangana, #telanganawildlife, #telanganaanthropods, #Insectsoftelangana, #Asilidae, #Stenopogon, #robberfly, #assassinfly,

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Wildlife, Amphibian Photography, Herping Siddhartha Mukherjee Wildlife, Amphibian Photography, Herping Siddhartha Mukherjee

Indian Skittering Frog

The Indian Skittering Frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) is a common dicroglossid frog found in South Asia. It is known under numerous common names, including Indian Skipper Frog or Skittering Frog. They are often seen at the edge of bodies of water with their eyes above the water. They noisily move away from the shore when disturbed, giving them their common name. They are rarely seen outside water.

Of the eight species of skittering frogs found worldwide, seven exist in India, and one new species was discovered only in 2016.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #herping, #Wildlife, #naturephotography, #earthcapture, #BBCWildlifePOTD, #conservationphotography, #yesbbcearth, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, #india, #kawaltigerreserve, #hyticos, #TelanganaWildlife, #TelanganaFrogs, #Frog, #telanganaamphibians, #amphibian, #taillessamphibian, #amphibianphotography, #frogphotography, #IndianSkitteringFrog, #CommonSkitteringFrog, #SkitteringFrog, #FrogWatchIndia,

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Kuregad - A Tale of Water

Hidden in the deep recesses of the Kawal Tiger Reserve are a number of Gond villages having a close relationship with nature and its management. Closely linked with each individual of the Gond clan is a lineage of Pardhans, bards and chroniclers, who play a vital role in the worship of the clan deity and many other ritual activities. Today is about one such village which depended on their solitary well for water but when the water started to make them sick, they left to settle at a different location. Life in the forest isn’t always a bed of roses.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Kawal, #KawalTigerReserve, #hyticos, #wildtelangana, #telanganawildlife, #gondvillage, #waterscarcity, #lifeintheforest, #gondlife, #telanganagonds, #adilabad, #kumurambheemasifabad, #gundala, #kuregad,

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Indian Bark Mantis

The Indian Bark Mantis (Humbertiella ceylonica), is a species of praying mantis found throughout India. It is well-known for its excellent camouflage, resembling tree bark, hence the name. As its name suggests it generally lives on the bark of trees and its color and texture closely match the bark of trees, allowing it to blend seamlessly into its environment. Like other mantises, they are ambush predators, patiently waiting for prey to come within reach before striking primarily feeding on insects and other arthropod.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Wildlife, #naturephotography, #earthcapture, #conservationphotography, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, #animalsofinstagram, #prayingmantis, #mantids, #insects, #preyingmantids, #indianbarkmantis, #barkmantis, #Mantodea, #Gonypetidae, #anthropods, #bugs, #Kawal, #KawalTigerReserve, #hyticos, #wildtelangana, #telanganawildlife, #telanganaanthropods, #Insectsoftelangana,

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Dark Skies of Gundala

There are few views as awe-inspiring as seeing the Milky Way from a dark site. If someone unfamiliar with it sees a picture of the milky way without a terrestrial reference point, they might assume it was taken with a telescope. But the scale of the milky way is huge!

Once again in collaboration with HyTiCos I was at the Gond village of Gundala in north Telangana. The light pollution here is a Bortle 2 and allows for some beautiful views of the night sky. Read more in the Blog.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #PromediagearTR424L, #MilkyWay, #MilkyWayPhotography, #Longexposure, #ETTR, #LightPollution, #MilkyWayTimelapse, #LongExposureTimelapse, #Timelapse, #alpinepulse, #Astrophotography, #TelanganaDarkSkies, #TelanganaAstrophotography, #hyticos, #Tiryani, #Gundala, #Asifabad #WildSoundWorks, #Bortle2, #Bortle2MilkyWay, #2025, #May2025

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Nirmal - Star Trails

Continuing from last week, today is about photographing Star Trails at Nirmal. I explored some dark sky sites at Nirmal, in collaboration with HyTiCos, which could be leveraged for star gazing and astro photography. This location has spectacular naked eye visibility of some of the major constellations and is a prime location for Star Trails photography.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #PromediagearTR424L, #MilkyWay, #MilkyWayPhotography, #Longexposure, #ETTR, #LightPollution, #MilkyWayTimelapse, #LongExposureTimelapse, #Timelapse, #startrailphotography, #startrails, #Astrophotography, #nighttodaytransition, #TelanganaDarkSkies, #TelanganaAstrophotography, #hyticos, #Nirmal, #WildSoundWorks, #Bortle4, #meteors, #NirmalMeteor, #PochamPahad, #GodavariRiver, #SriRamSagarProject, #SriRamSagarDam, #PochampadDam, #Velmal, #ChinnaGanga, #2025, #March2025

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Nirmal - Chasing the Milky Way & Meteors

In the last week of February, in collaboration with HyTiCos, I had the opportunity to explore some areas in Telangana which could be leveraged as dark skies for star gazing and astro photography. This is a location in the district of Nirmal which has spectacular naked eye visibility of some of the major constellations and star clusters as you can see in this timelapse.

At 18 minutes past midnight we also saw and photographed a brilliant meteor which lit up the sky. In total 9 separate meteors were captured throughout the night which I have composited into a single image with the Milky Way. Read more in the Blog.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #PromediagearTR424L, #MilkyWay, #MilkyWayPhotography, #Longexposure, #ETTR, #LightPollution, #MilkyWayTimelapse, #LongExposureTimelapse, #Timelapse, #alpinepulse, #samyang14mmf28, #Astrophotography, #nighttodaytransition, #timelapseplusview, #TelanganaDarkSkies, #TelanganaAstrophotography, #hyticos, #Nirmal, #WildSoundWorks, #Bortle4, #Bortle4MilkyWay, #fallingmeteor, #NirmalMeteor, #PochamPahad, #GodavariRiver, #SriRamSagarProject, #SriRamSagarDam, #PochampadDam, #Velmal, #ChinnaGanga, #meteor, #2025, #March2025

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