|
Kingfishers at Hebbal Lake
Hebbal lake and the gardens around the lake are a paradise for any bird watcher or nature
photographer. There is quite a wide variety of birds to be watched and photographed, and the
ample space enables a photographer to take his time over the shots and photograph the birds
in leisure.
From a friend photographer, for whom Hebbal is a regular haunt, I became aware of a favorite
perch of a pair of kingfishers. He used to set up a portable hide along the bank of the lake,
facing a small dead tree, where the kingfishers always used to come and perch in the mornings,
and many times during the day, in their daily routines.
I didn't have a hide for the purpose, but I had a small two man tent that could serve the
purpose. Deciding to try out the tent as a hide, I too set it up one cold misty morning at
the same place as my friend, and after an hour's waiting, as the morning sun began to dissolve
the mist in the air, the kingfishers came and perched on that tree, a few feet from my lens.
The tent worked, and the kingfishers didn't seem to be aware of a human being so close to them,
and nonchalantly went about their business of fishing, preening themselves, and generally
enjoying the early morning sun. Needless to say, I clicked away to my heart's content for the
next one hour that they remained there.
I, however, wasn't very satisfied with the background colour that the perch offered, and
subsequently visited Hebbal another day in the same week to try out different angles for
other background colors. But I found out that it is just not possible, so again contented with
the same line of view, and the kingfishers rewarded me again with excellent poses, with and
without fishes in their beaks. A dream of any photographer!
Some of the kingfisher shots feature in the gallery, and a big print of one of them adorns my
office desk.
|