Behind the Lens

a blog every Friday on a specific species of animal or bird and stories of photos

Search for a specific species, genre or even a location or use the directory for a complete list of species I have photographed and written about till date.

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

Slaty-backed Gull

The slaty-backed gull is a large, white-headed, thickset, short-winged, pot-bellied gull that breeds on the north-eastern coast of the Palearctic, but travels widely during non-breeding seasons. It is similar in appearance to the western gull and the glaucous-winged gull. Often looks rather frosty by the first winter; starts to develop a gray back and whitish eye in its second year. Primarily an Asian species, found in coastal regions from Japan and South Korea to Russia. Regularly occurs in western Alaska, but very rare elsewhere in North America.

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#wildartworks, #Canon, #PromediagearTR424L, #Bird, #Birdsinwild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #exclusivewildlife, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #wildlifeseekers, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #Hokkaido, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #slatybackedgull, #gull,

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

Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler

The Old World Babblers are a family of passerine birds diverse in size and coloration, characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. This group is among those Old World bird families with the highest number of species still being discovered. Featured here is the Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler from Doi Luang in Chiang Mai.

A large brown babbler of scrubby edges, second growth, and open forest in hilly and montane regions. Seen in groups of up to a dozen during the non-breeding season, but pairs off in the spring and summer. Gray-brown from the crown down to the tail, ochre-colored on the face and flanks, and white on the throat, breast, and belly. Lacks any strong streaking or spotting. Like other scimitar-babblers, frequently duets, giving clear, gulping phrases, often with a liquid quality. Also gives harsh, aggressive chattering typical of the genus.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Babbler, #rustycheekedscimitarbabbler, #birdinginthewild, #birdphotography, #Timaliidae, #thailand, #DoiLuang, #DoiPhaHomPokNationalPark, #scimitarbabbler,

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

Hawfinch

The Hawfinch is a unique, chunky finch sporting a massive bill (steely gray in summer, pinkish in winter), blue-gray hindneck, like a shawl on an orangey head. Despite its distinctive appearance, it is shy and easily overlooked. It favours mixed & deciduous mature woodland, especially with beech, oak, & hornbeam, where it tends to feed and perch quietly, high in the canopy. It also feeds on the ground in autumn and winter, sometimes forming single-species flocks.

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#wildartworks, #Canon, #PromediagearTR424L, #Bird, #Birdsinwild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #exclusivewildlife, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #wildlifeseekers, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #Hokkaido, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @globalcapture, #hawfinch, #finch,

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

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta

The brown-cheeked fulvetta is a resident breeding bird in Bangladesh, India & Southeast Asia. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight. Its habitat is undergrowth in moist forests and scrub jungle.

An unapologetically drab and unmarked fulvetta, it is often seen in association with mixed-species foraging flocks. Brown with a gray wash to the head; Southeast Asian birds have a thin black brow line that Indian birds lack. Lacks the bright white eyering and more prominent brow stripe of Nepal and Yunnan Fulvettas.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Bird, #Birdinginthewild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #your_best_birds, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #photo_pond, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #yesbbcearth, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, #browncheekedfulvetta, #birdinginthewild, #birdphotography, #thailand, #KaengKrachanNationalPark, #babbler, #DoiInthanonNationalPark, #fulvetta,

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

Large Scimitar Babbler

The Old World Babblers are a family of passerine birds diverse in size and coloration, characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. This group is among those Old World bird families with the highest number of species still being discovered. I also included Pnoepygidae as they have long been placed in the babbler family Timaliidae. Featured here is the Large Scimitar Babbler from Kaeng Krachan National Park.

The Large Scimitar Babbler is a handsome and slightly primal-looking babbler of wooded areas, thick fields, and bamboo tangles, wherever there is extensive cover. Angular chestnut crescent behind the ear, combined with the smattering of silver spots behind it, a white throat, and dark eyes, is unique. Forages on the ground and in the understory, usually in pairs or small flocks; does not usually form large flocks as do many other scimitar-babblers.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Babbler, #largescimitarbabbler, #birdinginthewild, #birdphotography, #Timaliidae, #thailand, #KaengKrachanNationalPark, #DoiInthanonNationalPark, #scimitarbabbler,

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

Marsh Tit

The marsh tit (Poecile palustris) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae and genus Poecile, closely related to the willow, Père David's and Songar tits. It is a plain tit with a grayish-brown body and contrasting black-and-white head pattern. Very similar to the Willow Tit and rather difficult to separate, but note the general lack of a prominent wing panel, smaller-headed appearance, and smaller, neater bib. These criteria, however, are generally more reliable in western European range than in Asian range. They inhabit deciduous woodland, older orchards, and gardens; sometimes visits bird feeders. Voice is diagnostic in western Europe, but much less so in Asia; song is a repetitive series of “chew” notes (essentially a slow trill) and calls include a bright “pitchu, pitchu” and “tsiptsip.”

#wildartworks, #Canon, #PromediagearTR424L, #Bird, #Birdsinwild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #exclusivewildlife, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #wildlifeseekers, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #Hokkaido, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @awpc.hk, @globalcapture, #marshtit, #tit

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

Giant Nuthatch

The critically endangered giant nuthatch is the largest species in the genus at 19.5 cms, and is largely grey in colour except for a faintly rufous underpart in the female, whose eyestripe is also duller than the male. The bill is much bulkier than other Sitta. They are found in the mountains of southwestern China and northern Thailand, and may be extinct in Myanmar.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #PromediagearTR424L, #Bird, #Birdsinwild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #exclusivewildlife, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #wildlifeseekers, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @awpc.hk, @globalcapture, #giantnuthatch, #nuthatch

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

Chestnut-vented Nuthatch

The chestnut-vented nuthatch is a species of the nuthatch family found in south-eastern Asia from Tibet to southern Indochina. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

A typical nuthatch usually seen clambering around on trees, it is gray above & white below, with a wedge-shaped head & a thin black line extending from the bill base to the shoulder. Its deep rust red on the flanks & red-edged scaling under the tail serve to distinguish this otherwise plain species from similar nuthatches. Active and social and often following mixed flocks it inhabits both broadleaf and coniferous forests in foothill and submontane areas. Listen for its song, a loud ringing series of trills. Calls include nasal caws, a bright-sounding “pewpewpew,” and high-pitched chittering.

Read More: https://wildart.works/behindthelens/chestnut-vented-nuthatch

#wildartworks, #Canon, #PromediagearTR424L, #Bird, #Birdsinwild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #exclusivewildlife, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #wildlifeseekers, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #Thailand, #DoiLuang, #DoiSanJu, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @awpc.hk, @globalcapture, #chestnutvented, #nuthatch

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