Saturday, April 4, 2015

After the rain

It has been the wettest March hereabouts, says the weather guy. April come and still there is some unseasonal, unexpected rain. So this was what the sky looked like the night before, the night before the rain


It rained at night. And it rained in the morning as well. And then, little puddles in the garden, and the hollyhocks flattened and raindrops glistening on the flowers 








And that is where I could catch a glimpse of the purple sunbird, glad to see that it has regained its beautiful colours 


The resident coppersmith barbet made an appearance too, and it seemed quite reluctant to let go of whatever it got for itself between its beaks


It is extremely difficult to shoot the sunbird, for it is so hyper active that the moment you try to focus, its flitted away. On the other hand, the barbet relies upon an efficient natural camouflage and knows exactly what you are trying to do. Sometimes, I really think that you can shoot pictures of these birds only when they allow you to do so. 

It is also advisable to find out a good vantage point and keep waiting for the birds to appear. Sometimes, they may not, and even if they do, you may be hard pressed for time. I hope to be able to get a decent picture of the purple sunbird though, one of these days

  

5 comments:

  1. Oh such glorious glorious photos...........thank you so much. I feel like I just walked through your garden.

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  2. p.s. The most amazing bird shot I never got was once, in Tofino, I had one shot left on my film, and I walked out onto a viewing platform looking to the right, wanting to snap a shot of the refracted light through the clouds. As I did so, on the railing on my left, two feet from me, a gigantic eagle lifted up and flew away. Had I been OBSERVANT, (and not an idiot) , I would have had the closest-up photo of an eagle ever. ARGH.

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    1. Well, at least you got the picture you wanted, that of the light through the clouds. And maybe the eagle picture is still there, looking out for you

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  3. The flowers with the rain droplets on them—so beautiful! Many of us don't take the time to go out after a rainstorm and photograph the beauty of nature.
    That said, we certainly could use some of that rain here in Utah!
    And, speaking of Utah, I have lived here for 16 years but I don't have any connections to the Mormon church!

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    1. Thank you Rita. Glad that you liked the pictures of raindrops on those flowers, reluctant to drop down!

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