Indian Paradise Flycatcher- Black & White Plumage

[Murugan Anantharaman]

While in Masinagudi in December, we would often walk around the hotel where we stayed as it was more or less open shrub jungle. However, we were instructed to only follow the cattle trail as otherwise there is a chance of encountering a wild elephant or other jungle inhabitants. In these trails we often saw the chital, sambar , langurs and in a couple of occasions the Indian hare. In one such trail we walked into another resort which was in the boundary of the buffer zone. There were electric fences around the resort and the manager told us that very often the resort guests would hear or see elephants, so to safe guard them from these pachyderms the fences were required. A couple of days earlier a leopard had made its presence felt just near the fence (around 10 ft away) when it managed to secure a langur kill. When we moved closer to the fence (during the day the fence is not electrified) to see the leopard's pug marks, a white bird suddenly flew past and settled a couple of yards away. The Indian paradise flycatcher was looking for food and kept hopping on branches near the fence without once settling on the fence. We managed to make this image, the light was very harsh as it was post noon.

Nikon D7k, f/9, SS 1/250, ISO 800, ec +.3ve, 420mm (300mmf4+1.4xTC)