Blue Throated Barbet

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Its been a long time in Indiawilds. I was out of country for a couple of months followed by a month in Uttaranchal across different places. This picture was taken near Gupt Kashi. It was evening and the light was fading. Managed to get this shot of the Barbet.

Sadly the situation in Uttaranchal is far from acceptable. All funds have been misappropriated and the loss is immense. We couldnt spot a single happy soul in our month there. Many greeted us with tears and stories of loss and despair. The situation is indeed grim.

Nikon D7000, f/5.6, SS 1/100, ISO 1000, ec +.3, 420mm (300mm f4+1.4xTC). Cropped image.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lovely scene of this barbet. Did you click this on a trek or near the hotel.

Sad to hear about the state of affairs in Uttarakhand. The damage was unprecedented and the moment the army operations for removing survivors was over, it was back to the incompetent state government agencies to deal with or turn a blind eye.

Myself and Mrudul were there shooting for our film when the first landslides started. We came back to rudraprayag and then back to Delhi. Within three days everything was washed away. There were long traffic jams with bumper to bumper traffic. Every vehicle was filled to the brim with tourists. So I don't believe that the official death toll of 10,000 is true. And as far as local people are concerned there are many many illegal settlers and migrants who had either come to work in the many dams or in the industries or for the tourism industry. Compare this to the cyclone evacuation in Odisha where about 7 lakh people were evacuated by the administration. Unless the Government seriously makes up effort to tackle the core issues that cause devastation in Uttarakhand, the problem will continue to haunt us. For the benefit of our readers, I am again sharing the link to our Newsletter which had dealt with the Himalayan tragedy http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-5-issue-vi/
Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Good to have you back murugan..Nice compo and lovely looking bird. Imagine what Colonel Corbett would say if he saw this land he loved today. Even he wouldn't have bargained for this when he wrote Lost paradise...

TFS
Roopak

[Mrudul Godbole]

Welcome back :). I remember Uttarakhand trip, we were luckily we came back before the tragedy. We have surely destroyed paradise :(.

Nice head turn and eye contact. The flowers add to the composition. The clean background looks nice. Thanks for sharing.

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Sabyasachi: We visited Kali Mata, a temple village near Gupt Kashi which houses a Maa Kali temple. On our way back stopped the car when I spotted this bird. It was dusk and we noticed a lot of birding activity. A white paradise flycatcher almost kept us company for about 200-300 meters, which is a lot in the mountains.

[Prasad Dingankar]

Nice capture Murugan,... This bird is in my wish list.. Wish to visit the Kedarnath Shrine once in lifetime. I pray nature for the better upbringing of the dwellars of uttrakhand...