Male Kestrel with a kill/Bandipur

I have photographed loads of pictures of Common Kestrel (Female) at Hessarghatta on the outskirts of Bangalore, however never was lucky to see a male and it was in my wish list for this year. However it never happened at Hessarghatta during my last 2 visits recently. Finally last weekend while tracking two new tigers at Bandipur, we were lucky to spot a male kestrel at Bandipur forest, unusual to spot a Kestrel in the forest woods, the kill was definitely a bonus. Honestly I was so much involved in tracking the 2 new tigers that we even gave up on shooting this kestrel which had killed a Barred Button Quail. Later on our way back fortunately the kestrel was still perched on the same tree with the kill and I made few images under extreme low light. More action coming up next....

I wish I had connected the TC, but was expecting a tiger to appear close by hence didn't.


Camera - Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, 500mm

Av 4
Tv 1/250
ISO 1250
EC + 0.7 step
Focal length 500mm
Cropped
Bean Bag Support
Date and Time : 21st Jan'12 @ 5:52pm

Quite a rare sighting. Nice to see it with a kill. I liked the way it is holding the kill. Seems it has caught a myna. Nicely captured. Thanks for sharing.

Nice image Praveen. Good that you captured it on your way back. Definitely an image for keeps. Sometimes in pursuit of larger things we miss out on the small pleasures. Lucky it was there when you returned. :)

Lovely praveen.I like the compo and the kill is a big bonus.If i was you i wudnt have moved an inch from this spot.The two tigers can wait..:D

TFS
Roopak

Thanks guys for the comments, I am fully in agreement with your views. Any action in forest is important & must be documented, in this situation I was so much involved that even this image could have been better but I shot with the intention of a record and documentation. Sometimes we have to prioritize, i remember a very good situation.

14th April 2011, I was at Kabini and a large male tiger was spotted on the backwaters infact the tiger was resting there for almost an hour. I had got this information as soon as the tiger was spotted and i was in opposite direction near tiger tank. We drove towards the backwaters and on the way at segur junction we spotted a leopard with her cub.

I preferred to spend time in photographing leopard and her cub with some exceptional behavioral shots. Also the tiger that was spotted was too far and would have been just a record shot.

My situation here at Bandipur was different, there are two beautiful sub adult tigers male and female and their mother named Ganga who is blinded in one eye. I was really keen in photographing them for several reasons, even with one blind eye the mother has bought up the cubs well, they are healthy, jointly hunting well, the male is much bold than the female.

I will share images when I have some decent shots of both:D

Mrudul - the kill is Barred button quail and not a Myna

The kill does look like a barred button quail. Two of them rare sightings at bandipur, one dead and one alive :D A very worthy moment. Thank you for sharing this.

I agree that it would have been nice to actually concentrate on this sighting and not be behind the tigers, because from what I know, I think you didn't see the tigers that safari :P Or am I wrong? I remember that incident you mentioned about kabini but that was different in the sense that you actually had the two leopards in front of you and hence decided against the tiger that was far away, which was the right thing to do :) Here though, I feel that the scenario was different because you were only trying to track the tigers and had no idea where they actually were.

Cheers

Nice sighting. It is good that the bird is clearly visible without any intervening vegetation. Since this image is cropped, it would have been better to use the Teleconverter here.

It would be prudent to concentrate on other species rather than just keep on speeding the vehicles like in car rallies in side the sanctuary. Also how long one will continue to click images of tiger crossing the road. One can always create nice images of other species.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Very nice image, Praveen. Lovely documentation. I like the composition too, neither too tight nor too loose. This shot serves many purposes- the male kestrel itself, the kill (again a species worth noting) and also a portrait of the habitat and behaviour.
All in all, this image is a real winner for me and definitely worth the time spent in clicking it. In your place, I would have stretched the limits of my patience and waited at that spot. Agree with Roopak, the tigers can wait :).

Guys thank you again for reminding and alerting me on the situation. I was only honest enough to narrate the facts. I am glad you all liked this image, I have plenty of shots that I will share of this kill including feeding on the prey.

Sabyasachi - I am not happy with your remarks, without knowing the details one should not make such statements. I would have appreciated it if you had doubts you could request for clarifications. But let me clear your doubts and the reason behind why we were so keen in tracking the new tigers.

Bandipur Tiger Reserve lost 2 for sure could be even 4 tigers on 31st Dec'11. I have been visiting this forest regularly and have recorded almost all tigers that exist in tourism zone. At this location I spotted one tiger it was a female and we are yet to confirm if she is the sub adult cub of a tigress that is seen in the same location. Since we tracked 2 pug marks of male and female we were keen to know which male it is. We are documenting every tiger we see at Bandipur and we have the right to question the forest dept if any tigers are missing.

The male tiger that you too photographed in July 2010 and I photographed it several times in July'11 (Prince) is also missing. He was last seen on 31st Dec'11 and since then no one has seen him. We had a reason to go after this mission, we were not on a car rally, another concern in this location is lot of human interference & cattle grazing is happening, however I and few friends have alerted this to the forest dept and soon some action will be taken.

We were clearly on a mission that had some serious concerns on our Tigers at Bandipur. I hope this clarifies your doubts.

Praveen sir,

I remember this conversation we had a couple of days earlier about the issue of cattle grazing, and its possible impact on the two tiger cubs of Ganga that seemed to have taken that very area as their temporary territory. Also, given that there was controlled burning of forest that was on for the last week or so at bandipur, I believe it was quite natural of you, who have been visiting bandipur more than anyone else for the last couple of years at least, to be curious about the tigers :) It is not a bad thing at all :) Also, I think you are on another interesting mission of photographing all the tigers present in the tourism zone of bandipur and are quite excited about this prospect working out sooner than expected, so again, it is understandable that you went ahead looking for the tigers :)

I am inspired by how much enthusiastic you get about shooting and observing tiger behavior no matter how many times you have sighted the same tigers. I wish I will someday share the same enthusiasm and excitement of sighting and photographing tigers, even if the sightings are of the same tigers and at same locations :) However, like I have mentioned to you earlier as well, I am longing to see images of many many bird species from you, given you have the skill and equipment needed.

Cheers

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sabyasachi Patra

It would be prudent to concentrate on other species rather than just keep on speeding the vehicles like in car rallies in side the sanctuary. Also how long one will continue to click images of tiger crossing the road. One can always create nice images of other species.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

---

Praveen,
I looked at my comment and I guess you have taken offence to this part of my comment. Please rest assured that this was not intended for you. Rather it was a general comment for all the readers as most of the photographers prefer to zoom ahead without stopping to click other species. There have been many instances when photographers have tried to block the path of the carnivore or drove fast in a mad scramble to get the image of the tiger or leopard.

The very fact that we haven't been in a safari in the same forest patch at the same time, so it is impossible for me to accuse of encouraging the driver to drive like car rally in the forest. (And I don't accuse somebody just on the basis of hearsay)

On hindsight, I should have read your comment about kabini. I have been heavily travelling and didnt have the time to read all the comments. My part of the quoted comment, when read along with your two comments may give an impression of you rallying inside the forest. However, rest assured that my intention was not to point a finger at you. If so, I would have directly called you up and told you.

Sad to hear that tigers are missing confirming our suspicions.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Thanks Sabyasachi, it eases my concerns and a pressure a bit.

Patraji

I appreciate your observation and agree with you.

Regards

Anand

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sabyasachi Patra

Praveen,
I looked at my comment and I guess you have taken offence to this part of my comment. Please rest assured that this was not intended for you. Rather it was a general comment for all the readers as most of the photographers prefer to zoom ahead without stopping to click other species. There have been many instances when photographers have tried to block the path of the carnivore or drove fast in a mad scramble to get the image of the tiger or leopard.

The very fact that we haven't been in a safari in the same forest patch at the same time, so it is impossible for me to accuse of encouraging the driver to drive like car rally in the forest. (And I don't accuse somebody just on the basis of hearsay)

On hindsight, I should have read your comment about kabini. I have been heavily travelling and didnt have the time to read all the comments. My part of the quoted comment, when read along with your two comments may give an impression of you rallying inside the forest. However, rest assured that my intention was not to point a finger at you. If so, I would have directly called you up and told you.

Sad to hear that tigers are missing confirming our suspicions.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

---

Very dramatic. Like the look of the subject.