BY 2022 - Soukous (even if there are no birds, you can still enjoy the music)

[Soukous]

12 hours ago, Galana said:

The whole point of bird names is, or should be, telling it as it is.

 

Not always

A couple of years back I heard that they wanted to rename the Bataleur as a Short-tailed Eagle and the Secretary Bird as a Long-legged Snake Eagle. Toooo far!

[Soukous]

# 461 - Asian Koel - Eudynamys scolopaceus

Goa. Nov 2022

 

Male

 

Female, (taken by @xelas when he was playing with my camera)

 

and a juvenile male that has not yet developed the distinctive red eye

 

# 462 - Crested Treeswift - Hemiprocne coronata

Maharastra, India. Nov 2022

 

 

# 463 - Rosy Starling - Pastor roseus

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

# 464 - White-browed Fantail - Rhipidura aureola

Maharastra, India. Nov 2022

 

 

# 465 - White-spotted Fantail - Rhipidura (albicolis) albogularis

Maharastra, India. Nov 2022

 

 

 

[Soukous]

# 466 - Indian Robin - Saxicoloides fulicatus

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

female, I did not manage to catch a male

 

# 467 - White-breasted Waterhen - Amaurornis phoenicurus

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

 

# 468 - Jacobin Cuckoo / Pied Cuckoo - Clamator jacobinus

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

# 469 - Common Greenshank - Tringa nebularia

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

 

# 470 - Velvet-fronted Nuthatch - Sitta frontalis

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

 

 

[Galana]

3 hours ago, Soukous said:

Toooo far!

Too right. There are limits. And if you parle Francais Bataleur works anyway.

Is it my machine or is there a problem with your pictures after Tree Swift?

[Soukous]

2 minutes ago, Galana said:

Is it my machine or is there a problem with your pictures after Tree Swift?

 

They all look OK on my machine, so I think we need a 3rd party to arrive at a conclusion

[Galana]

4 minutes ago, Soukous said:

They all look OK on my machine,

Mine too now. So it must have been 'leaves on the interweb' as they all came up on my return.

[TonyQ]

All look fine on my iPad 

[Peter Connan]

Congratulations on screaming past both the 400 and the 450!

Some really lovely shots of very interesting birds.

[pedro maia]

It took me a while to catch up here, too many species to choose favourites, great pictures after a dramatic trip start, that must have been stressful.

 

By the way, congrats on #400.

[Soukous]

The next 2 are birds I was tempted not to bother with at all. In fact I spurned several opportunities for better shots but then I remembered - it is BY and they all count

 

# 471 - Indian Jungle Crow - Corvus (macrorhynchos) culminatus

India. Nov 2022

 

 

# 472 - House Crow - Corvus splendens

Maharastra, India. Nov 2022

 

 

 OK, now we can move on to more attractive birds

 

# 473 - Emerald Dove - Chalcophaps indica

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

By the time this bird put in an appearance at the watering points at Old Magazine House the light was well & truly gone

 

 

 # 474 - Greater Spotted Eagle - Aquila clanga

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

# 475 - Thick-billed Flowerpecker - Dicaeum agile

Maharastra, India. Nov 2022

 

[Soukous]

# 476 - Golden- Fronted Leafbird - Chloropsis aurifrons

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

 

 

# 477 - Jerdon's Leafbird - Chloropsis jerdoni

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

 

 

 # 478 - Sirkeer Malkoha -  Taccocua  leschenaultii

Maharastra, India. Nov 2022

 

Once again I was a few seconds too slow and missed a much better shot. The curse of the second vehicle

 

# 479 - Orange Minivet - Pericrocotus flammeus

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

 

# 480 - Small Minivet - Pericrocotus cinnemomeus

Goa. Nov 2022

 

[TonyQ]

@Soukouslovely additions.

The Emerald Dove photo came out really well for such poor light 

[Soukous]

Just now, TonyQ said:

@Soukouslovely additions.

The Emerald Dove photo came out really well for such poor light 

 

The wonders of modern technology

[Galana]

Ditto. And what is this curse of a second vehicle. How many were you?

[Soukous]

11 minutes ago, Galana said:

Ditto. And what is this curse of a second vehicle. How many were you?

 

You'll have to wait until we get to that point in @xelasTR

[Soukous]

# 481 - Blyth's Starling - Sturna (malabarica) blythii

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

 

# 482 - Purple Sunbird - Cinnyris asiaticus

Goa. Nov 2022.

 

eclipse plumage

 

 

 

# 483 - Loten's Sunbird - Cinnyris lotenia

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

 

# 484 - Crimson-backed Sunbird - Leptocoma minima

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

 

# 485 - Purple-rumped Sunbird - Leptocoma zeylonica

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

This bird was very much in love with his own image. Mirrors, windows, any reflective surface would do

 

 

[Soukous]

# 486 - Ashy Woodswallow - Artamus fuscus

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

# 487 - Blue-capped Rock Thrush - Monticola cinchlorhynchus

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

 

 

# 488 - Orange-headed Thrush - Zoothera citrina

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

 

 

# 489 - White-browed Wagtail - Motacilla maderaspatensis

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

# 490 - Black-hooded Oriole - Oriolus xanthornus

Goa. Nov 2022

 

 

# 491 - Oriental White-eye - Zosterops palpebrosus

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

 

 

and so I reach the last bird from the India trip; one of the most sought after and one of the lovliest.

 

# 492 - Malabar Trogon - Harpactes fasciatus

Karnataka, India. Nov 2022

 

male

 

 

female

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Soukous

[Soukous]

The India trip was intense. Dawn to dark birding was a new experience for me. If I'm honest I prefer a more leisurely pace.

The variety of birds was terrific but the light was not always kind for photographers.

One aspect of the trip that I had not really anticipated was the competition. I felt under almost constant pressure to up my game because I knew that the dynamic duo would be missing nothing at all. So thank you Alex & Zvezda for preventing me from being lazy.

 

My tally of birds seen was 260. I think Alex had more.

My tally of birds photographed was considerably lower at just 197. There were some occasions where I did not bother taking a photo because Iknew I would not be happy with the result.

Once again I know Alex & Zvezda got far more.

of those I photographed 33 were already in my BY, either from UK or from Australia and could therefore not be added again .

 

My final BY tally for 2022 sits at 492.

If I had tried a bit harder I might have grabbed the 8 species I need to reach 500. But I didn't and I am unlikely to find them in my garden so 492 is it.

 

I'm happy with 492, it is my best BY total so far and in amongst those were 184 species that I had never photographed before

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Soukous

[Tdgraves]

Don’t give up just yet @Soukousyou never know what the next 10 days may bring….

[TonyQ]

A very productive trip to India, If hard work

A lovely bird to finish with 

[Kitsafari]

184 lifers is not a number you can sniff at for a veteran birder like you!

did you check into the folder for perhaps a handful more birds you may have missed?  There is also another 10 days so you never know what you will get on your walks!

 

what a gorgeous trogon to end an excellent Indian haul - i just love those blue eye-rings. 

[Soukous]

10 minutes ago, Kitsafari said:

a veteran birder like you

 

🤣🤣🤣

 

If you mean I'm old, then yes I'm a veteran, but I ain't been birding for very long

[Kitsafari]

14 minutes ago, Soukous said:

 

🤣🤣🤣

 

If you mean I'm old, then yes I'm a veteran, but I ain't been birding for very long

longer than me for sure!!

 

[PeterHG]

A truly gorgeous bird to finish your India collection with! It may seem a bit harsh to get so close to 500 and not reaching it but it’s a very good score anyway. Far more than I’ll finish up with ;). In spite of the less than ideal photo conditions, you managed to take a lot of beautiful shots and I really enjoyed seeing them!

[BRACQUENE]

Those eyes of the Malabar Trogon are simply stunning as are your pictures  Martin