[amolpol]

Dear NeoOnWheels,

I'm glad you like my work, it's always a great feeling when that happens!

As far as sharing my knowledge is concerned, I'd not be able to critique every photograph but I'm planning to write a small guide on shooting birds. You can find it on my thread here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...gujarat-2.html

Hope this is going to be helpful.

[neoonwheels]

Update

Visited Bhigwan on 4th Jan 2013. The roads are excellent except a small section between Hadapsar and first toll and then in between 2nd and 3rd toll. This time it took us only 1.25 hrs to reach Bhigwan from Hadapsar, Pune which is 100 KMs.
No more diversions in your lane like it was the case last time. I felt much safer this time while travelling at 5 AM and I could constantly and safely keep 80-100 KMPH.

Now, since this year we had good amount of rain in and around Pune, the water level in the dam (Ujjani) is quite good and so as a side effect the migratory birds are yet to arrive in large numbers. These birds prefer shallow water so that they can thrive on the food. Last time our boat could go under the bridge which now is barely visible. I guess, the birding would be great during Feb end - Mar end. So people who are planning a visit, please reschedule accordingly.

Even though we (Me and friends) could spot many birds, the number is not that good and we had to go deep inside to see Flamingos. The number is around 40-50, which last year during same period was around 200. Following are few of the birds that I could spot and identify. The pics would follow soon. I have to sort them first and the count as of now is around 1200 pics , so its going to take around a week to get selected few.

Gear used:
1. Canon 7D (Rented)
2. Canon 400mm f5.6 (Rented)
3. Hoya UV filter (Came with the lens)
4. Canon 400mm lens hood (Came with the lens)
5. 32 GB CF memory card

Canon 7D is a mighty choice when it comes to birding since it has 8 FPS speed and when attached to the 400 5.6 lens, the auto focus worked quite well.

Birds spotted:
1. Pond Heron, Grey Heron, Purple Heron
2. Cattle Egret, Little Egret
3. Bee Eater
4. Sunbird
5. KingFisher
6. Plover
7. Sandpiper
8. Snipe
9. Greater Flamingo
10. Black Ibis, Velvet Ibis
11. Painted stork, openbill stork
12. Marsh Harrier
13. Kite
14. Wagtail
15. Notingale
16. Bulbul
17. River Tern, Whiskered Tern
18. Shoveler
19. Cormorant
20. Brahmini duck
21. Guls

Stats:
Run: 100 KM (From Hadapsar)
Toll: 125/- (Includes Return)
Eatery: Not many. You wont get food in the morning till around 8. Packed food is recommended. Road side eatery available in Bhigwan but be careful as they are not good. Stick to something like Poha/Misal. Carry water bottles and dont risk local drinking water.
Places: Diksal, around 4-5 KMs from Bhigwan. The road goes through Bhigwan.
Boat charges: Around 800-1000/- for an hr trip

A teaser pic....

[AkMar]

Some fantastic pics there, neo! I too visited this place in February last year. The pics are not as good as yours though! Attaching a couple of them. Was able to shoot a video of flamingos in flight too. Here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_wj14_emq0

[neoonwheels]

They are nice shots AkMar. If you plan to visit the place this year, make sure you go there by end of Feb.

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

Update

Visited Bhigwan on 4th Jan 2013.

It should have been Jan 2014

[neoonwheels]

Few of the clicks...

Whiskered Tern, looking out for a catch



Aahhh, time for breakfast !



Marsh Harrier - The only raptor that I could capture in this trip.

[neoonwheels]

Some other clicks from the Bhigwan 2014 visit

[neoonwheels]

Here are the pics from my Jan 2015 visit to Bhigwan...


1. Painted Stork



2. Little Grebe


3. Purple moorhen


4. Yellow Wagtail


5. Black winged Stilt


6. Whiskered Tern


7. Sandpiper


8. Greater Flamingos


9. Black headed Gull

[neoonwheels]

Few more:


Yellow Wagtail


Brahminy Starling


Laughing Dove


ID - required


Indian Silverbill

[reverse_gear]

Good pics.

My guess for bird without ID is large grey babbler. Typically found in forests or wooded areas. But I am not an expert in these things, so you may want to verify online.

[ampere]

Beautiful captures ! Especially the colour rendering of the images are perfect! The same 100-400L?

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by ampere

Beautiful captures ! Especially the colour rendering of the images are perfect! The same 100-400L?

This time took 300mm + 1.4 TC with my Canon 1100D

[justwheels]

Beautiful captures NeoOnWheels. Amazing timing of pics I must say. Bhigwan surely seems to be a nice place to visit and will surely be in my "to visit" list.

Thanks for a nice photologue!

[neoonwheels]

I visited Bhigwan for the fourth time (2nd in 2015) and I was a bit disappointed. Paid up 1000/- for the boat ride which lasted full 3 hours. Could not spot Flamingos, there were hardly 20-30. Got to know from my friend that today (1st Jan), he could spot around 500 .

Anyways, I will keep this short and sweet by uploading few of the clicks. I am planning to visit it again on 10th Jan.

1. Seagulls



2. Openbill Stork



3. Spoonbill



4. Upland Sandpiper



5. River Tern



6. Godwits



7. Sandpiper



8. Black Headed Ibis



9. Glossy Ibis



10. Brown Headed Gull

[neoonwheels]

This time (10th Jan 2016) went with a large group of photographers. A big mistake I would say as I could hardly get some space for composing my shots.

BTW, this time, I visited 'Kumbhargaon' instead of 'Diksal' in Bhigwan. The new place has MTDC which looks after the boat rides and all. Diksal has private boats and a bit expensive than MTDC.

I am yet to process pics for contrast but below are two pics from this pic: