Vultures in India Nov 24.

Indian Long-billed Vulture

Continuing my review of the birds I photographed on my recent trip to India I'm now looking at vultures.

We re-visited the foothills at Trilok cliff, Bayana where there is a colony of nesting Long-billed Vultures. We were here before in 2003 but only photographed the birds from ground level, this time we clambered up the slopes so we could get on a similar level to the flying birds. It was quite a climb but I was pleased to have done it and in fact we went back again a second time, a week later in the hope of getting late afternoon light on the birds. The light was great but the birds weren't!

Spotted a vulture from leaving the car but it looked a long way up!

Bit of a scramble

Good excuse to stop

Our guide Harish setting the pace

We met some local kids on the track

At long last level with the vulture nests on the far cliffs

Selfie, Just to prove I was there!

Indian Long-billed Vulture with nest material?

Indian Long-billed Vulture

Indian Long-billed Vulture

Indian Long-billed Vulture

Indian Long-billed Vulture

 

We also encountered some Egyptian Vultures soaring above us as we climbed and it was a useful comparison of the 2 species.

Egyptian Vulture

 

 

 On our trip to the Chambal River we spotted 3 Egyptian vultures scavenging at the water line and managed to talk our boatman into getting the boat quite close so we could get some photos.

Egyptian Vulture

 

 Another species we got close to was the Red-headed Vulture, this time in at Panna Tiger reserve when our guide took us out to the edge of the plateau in search of vultures. 

Red-headed Vulture

Red-headed Vulture

 

We got lucky with this individual which perched in the sunshine for us as we photographed it from the back of an open top jeep.

Many vultures have died from ingesting veterinary drugs in India and it is now being looked at but may well be too late for some of the species.

Long-billed Vultures

Spotted Owlets and Scops Owls in India Nov 24.

Spotted Owlets

 As I sorted through my photos taken in India last month I thought I'd do a blog post on Birds of Prey. Well it seems I took lots of them so I've decided to split them up into Owls, Vultures, Eagles, Buzzards and Falcons.

So to start with here are some Owl images, predominantly Spotted Owlets (that is the name of the species and doesn't specify young birds ie. owlets).

Also included are a couple of Collared Scops Owls that we found roosting in a palm tree and despite trying on a few occasions were still difficult to get a clear shot at.

Spotted Owlets are very common in the Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur and can also be found all around the outskirts of the park in the grounds of farms and temples. We were lucky enough to watch many different pairs thanks to our expert guide Harish Chand.

On a previous trip we found Dusky Eagle Owls and despite a search of a known location it remains a species that eluded us on this trip. However I've included a photo of one I took back in Nov 2005 out of interest.

Spotted Owlet

Spotted Owlets

Spotted Owlet

Spotted Owlet

Spotted Owlet playing peek-a-boo with me!

Spotted Owlet

 

 

Spotted Owlets

Spotted Owlets

Spotted Owlets

Spotted Owlets

5 Spotted Owlets from November 2005 when we had to rent a boat to get to them!

The Collared Scops Owls were a lot easier to find back in 2005 when we were treated to viewing one in its nest hole. This time it was 2 birds but in a dense palm tree.

 

Collared Scops Owls in a Palm.

Collared Scops Owl at its roost / nest hole back in November 2005

 Despite searching for a Dusky Eagle Owl and being told 'it was there yesterday' we failed to locate it so here is a shot of one I took deep in an acacia forest in Bharatpur back in November 2005.

Dusky Eagle Owl