| A Blue Beauty from the Foothills----
We were busy photographing a crimson sunbird on a
Chinese hat tree in the Mahananda Wildlife
Sanctuary. Suddenly we noticed a splash of blue
amidst the greenery on the hill slope and our
attention was diverted towards that bird bird. We
were certain that it was not a Niltava, as the
size was larger. At first the bird was not clearly
visible, as it was hiding behind a bush. So we
decided to wait at that spot quietly for sometime,
anticipating to get some good shots of that
unidentifiable "blue bird". Much to our
surprise, the bird revealed itself and perched in
the open. Thankfully the light was also perfect
and the foliage in the background created a lovely
bokeh. Before I cud tell my companion the name of
the species, I started taking shots, and asked him
to do the same, becoz any conversation might scare
away the bird.
This was however not my first meeting with this
beauty. Its quite interesting that I spotted this
species for the first time, not in the hills (its
usual habitat), but in a Sal forest near the Kopai
river of Shantiniketan and managed to take few
distant shots with a super-zoom camera during my
early birding days . I spotted it again at
Latpanchar during an hornbill-oriented tour, but
it flew away before i cud click the shutter. At
last fortune smiled upon me and after a long wait,
I am able to get some decent shots of this
gorgeous Himalayan beauty.
Blue-capped Rock Thrush- male
Sc. name: Monticola cinclorhynchus
Location: Mahananda WLS.
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