Saturday, 22 March 2014 00:00
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It’s 4 February, and we are celebrating Sri Lanka’s independence from British Rule. Being a public holiday, I decided to make the most of the holiday and try and do something productive. I called up my friends, and discussed where we could go. Finally we settled on Kitulgala, as it is close to home and only two hours’ drive from Colombo.
All set we made arrangements with Sisira’s River Lounge, a place which I have frequented a couple of times. This place is legendary for its birdlife, and Sisira the owner has ensured to keep the surrounding rainforest intact. This is a model which all tourist locations need to take into example, where the accommodation is built around the environment and not the other way around. The manager Chaminda keeps in touch with me on a regular basis with regards to the bird sightings.
My last visit during November last year ended in disappointment as what I realised was that the lens I had back then the Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L USM lens could not capture photographs in the dark corners of a rainforest. Thus I missed out on many of the sightings which we saw that day. Now armed with my new Canon 200-400mm F4 L lens I can get the images I want in good quality, even in low light conditions.
We left Colombo at 4 a.m. in order to reach Sisira’s at 6 a.m. at least. We arrived there on time, and were welcomed with a cacophony of bird calls. Most of the species I could not identify, but I knew of one, which was the distinct hoot of the Chestnut Backed owlet, one of the species I was keep to find that day.
By around 6:40 when the sun was out, the calls suddenly died down. We walked around the property looking for some signs of life. We came across a few familiar species like the Emerald Dove, Black Bulbul, Orange Billed Babbler, Scarlet Minivert, Yellow Browed Bulbul, Tickels Blue Flycatcher and Asian brown flycatcher.
By lunchtime, I was a little frustrated as I did not get any glimpse of the Chestnut owlet, nor the other star of this location – the beautiful Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher or Three Toed Kingfisher. I came across this fireball of colour on my last visit, but because it perches in dark corners, it was virtually impossible to photograph with my old lens. I was determined to find this elusive bird and photograph it.
This is a small, red and yellow kingfisher, averaging 13 cm (5.1 in) in length, yellow underparts with glowing bluish-black upperparts. This is a widespread resident of lowland forest, endemic across much of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The preferred habitat is small streams in densely shaded forests. It begins to breed with the onset of the Southwest Monsoon in June.
The nest is a horizontal tunnel up to a metre in length. The clutch of four to five eggs hatches in 17 days with both the male and female incubating. The birds fledge after 20 days and a second brood may be raised if the first fails. The young are fed with geckos, skinks, crabs, snails, frogs, crickets and dragonflies. Suddenly I spotted a ball of colour in the undergrowth of a ravine; the little bird had finally arrived. I scrambled to the other side of the ravine, and clumsily positioned myself with the big lens and tripod. I managed to get a few shot through, but the angle wasn’t perfect. It lasted a few seconds and the little one flew out of sight. Frustrated, I went back to the dining area and waited.
After about an hour I heard the faint call of the kingfisher. Looking around I caught sight of it once again. This time it was out in the open and ditching my tripod I handheld the camera, resting on the bare ground, and managed to get some good images. My scramble brought the attention of a large family of guests who were having lunch. They were amazed at the crazy colours on this bird, and helped me to keep track of the bird during the entire time. The additional eyes helped me in getting the shots I wanted.
After awhile I realised the call was not coming from the bird I was photographing, and came to the understanding that there were two birds. Then we saw both kingfishers, possibly the male and female, perched on the same tree. The position was not ideal to frame the shot, but I managed to get a video of the encounter.
After a few hours, the birds rested on some dark corners of the ravine. Satisfied with what I had captured I patiently waited for some closer encounters. Suddenly Pathum showed me one of the birds which had caught something. Using my lens I realized that it was a large frog, which was almost the same size as the bird. The kingfisher dashed the frog on the side of the branch it was perched on repeatedly before swallowing it whole. Afterwards the bird just sat there for two hours unable to move.
I was over the moon, I managed to photograph a bird which I have been struggling to capture for a very, very long time, and has been an object of fantasy for years. The diversity of colours on the bird, from light blue, dark blue, black, purple, orange, yellow and red, makes this the most beautiful bird I have ever seen, and will remain my favourite bird of all.
(Read more from Rajiv at www.wildlifediaries.blogspot.com. You can view his photography portfolio at www.flickr.com/photos/rajivw and contact him via email on [email protected].)
