Indian Courser

[Tushar Dixit]

These are one of the comic winter visitors due to their habit of running in spurts and looking towards you in a bit of squinted manner :001_smile: These birds are usually seen in small flocks (have seen them in 30 strong flock) and mainly feed on insects mainly beetles, crickets and grasshoppers. Usually spotted in dry grasslands, they are tricky to photograph due to poky grass around. This grass also make it difficult to get them cleanly in open with their legs visible. Their body hugging plumage (reducing the feather details) and black eye band (with no contrast with eyes) make them a kind of difficult subject to click :confused1:

Clicked in Pune with EOS 7D, 400mm f/5.6L @ f/7.1, 1/400, ISO 100, ground level shot. I wanted to remove the distracting grass blade in front but left it as it is. C&C most welcome.

[Amit Kalele]

thats super shot Tushar. I would remove the blade touching his bill and one growing out of his neck. And a tad more room at the bottom for the virtual feet :)

[Tushar Dixit]

Hey Amit, thanks for your suggestions :) I agree with them. Will reprocess and post.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Tushar,
Nice image. Where in Pune? Why ISO 100? I won't mind a narrow aperture here. Thanks for sharing. Look forward to more images of this beauty.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Dr. Kalpamoi Kakati]

Nice eye contact & details.I think colour of the grass has added to the image.TFS

[Mrudul Godbole]

Good eye contact and details. The grass shows the habitat nicely. I am fine with the grass blades as it displays its habitat and is not obstructing the eye. Agree about the space below. Where was this photographed in Pune? Thanks for sharing.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice image. Good eye contact.the colours and details have come out well.Agree that greater DOF wud hve brought out more of the habitat.

TFS
Roopak

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Beautiful image Tushar! In my view I wouldn't want to clone the grass that you feel is distracting. The grass all over portrays its habitat nicely. The more natural the image, the better is the feel & impact. Great work!
tfs

[Gautam Biswas]

Very well created image. I like your narration of the subject and the photo creation process.