Pale Blue Flycatcher | Record

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Pale blue flycatcher Cyornis unicolor (male). A lifer for me from Pakke Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh.

After a few glimpses of this skittish bird in dense vegetation, I finally got a clear, relatively close sight of it on the premises of Pakke Jungle Camp. It was not my SX10 superzoom camera that made this image, but the 100mm Macro. The bird landed in a clearing when I was least prepared (I had set the equipment to 1:1 insect macro standards). Quickly scrolled down to a wide aperture, dialed in a positive EC, upped the ISO and managed to click one single image before it flew off.

This bird has habits very similar to its relatives. Can be distinguished from the Verditer flycatcher (the only visually similar species found here) by the much greyer belly and the longer bill, both visible here. Found in the Himalayas and northeast India in moist broadleaved forest and secondary growth.

Canon 500D, Canon 100mm Macro USM
SS 1/50
Av 4
ISO 800
EC +1.3
Shot hand held, very big crop.

Thanks.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Lovely sighting of this rare bird. Good eye contact. You have captured it nicely, in the given short time and difficult conditions. Thanks for sharing.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice record abhishek.

TFS
Roopak

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lovely record Abhishek! Nice colours of this bird. Were you trekking? Thanks for sharing.

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Sabyasachi: This was at the start of a trek from the camp to an empty great hornbill nesting site.