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White-cheeked Bulbul II


White-cheeked Bulbul II
Photo Information
Copyright: Ram Thakur (ramthakur) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2970 W: 108 N: 7691] (24902)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-04-20
Categories: Birds
Camera: Nikon D200, Sigma 70-300 4-5.6 APO DG MACRO, 58mm UV
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/800 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-04-20 7:22
Viewed: 679
Points: 28
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
WHITE-CHEEKED BULBUL
Pycnonotus leucogenys

Friends, I shot this bird this morning. It was perched high on a date palm in our compound. It was alone and crying itself hoarse with loud calls. I could see only a part of it through the thick tangle of palm fronds. As I have mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to shoot birds in these conditions. Anyway, I gave it a try, raising ISO rating to 400 and shutter speeds ranging from 800 to 1000. Out of many shots I took, only a few were good enough to be shared here and this is one of them.

Physical description:
White-cheeked bulbul is a greyish brown bulbul, with conspicuous white cheeks which contrast with the entirely black hood. The mountain variety has a crest on its head, while those in the plains don't have it. The bright yellow undertail coverts contrast noticeably with white underparts. It has a black head and throat, with bold white blaze below eye, over cheeks and on the sides of neck. Upperparts are dull grey with darker flight feathers, and black-brown tail whose feathers show terminal white spots. Chest is pale dusky-brown; underbody is pale grey-buff, almost grey-white on rear flanks. Vent is rich yellow. Eyes are red-brown, with narrow yellow eye ring. It has black bill and legs. Sexes are similar.
Voice: White-cheeked bulbul's song is generally melodious. It's a liquid, bubbly, chattering, seemingly a repetition of the phrase "oo-toodle-oo". Alarm call is a sharp "pit".

Habitat:
White-cheeked bulbul lives in subtropical areas, in warm dry areas from coastal mangroves to 2000 metres. It prefers broader valleys, or side valleys and hills, where climatic barrier is reached. It's a bird of open countries, not of forest, and it likes bushes rather than trees.

Geographi Range:
White-cheeked bulbul lives in Himalaya, from north-western India to southern Iran.

Behaviour:
White-cheeked bulbul catches insects on ground. It also hawks flying insects. It launches pursuit from perch, often in the evening.
It likes bushes to perch. We can see small flocks in the hedges in villages. It's a bold and familiar bird, often entering into houses to steal some bread's crumbs on tables.
It perches on bush top, bowing, fluttering wings and tail, and constantly uttering calls series.
White-cheeked bulbul is essentially resident, though populations of Himalayan foothills have some local upward altitudinal movement to find food.
It's a garden and park bird, but also found in high mountains. It's an energetic and noisy bird.

Flight:
White-cheeked bulbul has an agile flight to chase insects from perches.

Reproduction-nesting:
White-cheeked bulbul's nest is located in a low bush, or sometimes, in branches of low tree. It's a substantial cup of grass, stems, and leaves, roots, and thin twigs. Nest is lined with finer rootlets, lichens and grass.
Female lays 2 to 5 eggs. Incubation lasts 12 days.

Food habits:
White-cheeked bulbul eats mainly insects, fruit and berries, seeds, buds and nectar.

http://www.oiseaux.net/oiseaux/passeriformes/white-cheeked.bulbul.html
simon182, Argus, clnaef, iris, jaycee, ridvan, John_F_Kennedy, smitha, Jamesp, delic, XOTAELE has marked this note useful
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To simon182: Hi Simonramthakur 2 04-20 08:21
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2597 W: 133 N: 7441] (23193)
  • [2007-04-20 7:39]

Hello Ram,
After I posted mine I was pleased to see that today we are neighbours with reverse roles. You have posted a bird, while mine is a butterfly.
Interesting, almost keyhole view of a White-cheeked Bulbul, that you captured sharply showing the salient features. I can understand the difficulty of shooting the whole bird in the mini-jungle of your compound.
But you have made good use of the conditions, Ram.
TFS and best wishes, Ivan

Hello Ram,

Interesting shot, I like the composition, it appears we are really spying on this guy. The colours are muted and soft and the bird stands out well against the greens. I'm not sure about the quality of this one, did you have NR on in the camera or is it PP work that has given quite a soft painting effect to the shot? If it was just high ISO then perhaps not removing all the grain would have been better, the trouble with removing all grain and going for that ultra smooth effect is that it takes on the appearance of a 'digital' shot and makes the shot look flat with no real depth. I prefer nature photos to be as 'non digital' as possible if you get my drift! I know that I have in the past presented photos with perhaps too much noise reduction but I'm am changing my ways!
I hope I've not offended you! It was a great spot and you've tackled it with determination.

All the best,
Simon

Bonjour,
Excellent cadrage à travers arbres. Belle netteté et couleurs bien rendues.
Bonne journée.
clnaef

  • Great 
  • jmp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1836 W: 94 N: 2338] (8400)
  • [2007-04-20 8:19]

Hi Ram,
This is a capture in the literal meaning of the word! Creative, original and exciting pov and composition.
TFS and best regards mf,
José M.

  • Great 
  • iris Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 389 W: 40 N: 730] (2302)
  • [2007-04-20 10:13]

Hello Sir
very Interesting presentation,especially the way the bird is perched among the dates looking far up. It's like looking at the birdie through a little opening.
Nice composition.
TFS & Cheers

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1778 W: 8 N: 4605] (14893)
  • [2007-04-20 10:28]

Hi Ram,

Lovely Bulbul playing peek-a-boo with you. I like the composition - not something we see often.

Jane

  • Great 
  • ridvan Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 556 W: 0 N: 1138] (5140)
  • [2007-04-20 10:50]

hi RAM; amazing shot and nice comp with nice colours.interesting POV ,good BG and eye contact of this lovely bird. TFS
well done
regards
ridvan

Amazing capture of these animal. Excellent sharpness on this colourful picture.
Best wishes,
Achim

  • Great 
  • smitha Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 284 W: 77 N: 905] (3427)
  • [2007-04-20 12:39]

Hello Sir,
Great capture. This is the first time i am seeing a whitecheeked bulbul.I liked the composition too. Its as if revealing a mystry through a keyhole.TFS,
Smitha.

Hi Ram, wonderful and original view with splendid pow, great idea, very well done, have a great week end, ciao Silvio

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1252 W: 0 N: 4834] (14354)
  • [2007-04-20 17:23]

Hi Ram

A love the key-hole effect - distictive and original. The colours are also really good. As to the issue of noise - I work on 2 PCs which are side by side, plus my laptop - even though I have calibrated them all identically, a picture can look totally different between them.

James

  • Great 
  • delic Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 530 W: 6 N: 340] (936)
  • [2007-04-20 17:33]

Hello Ram,
Superb composition with innovative pov. Usually we see a blurred background, and here we are with blurred foreground, which adds sort of a mystery to the image. The bulbul's pose goes well with the pov. Well done. Regards,
Hakan

Original captura a través de un hueco de la propia planta.
Buena e interesante nota.
Saludos, JL.

Hi Ram.
Ram mas dobre spraveny RAM.. :-)
Nice ashot. Good combination of frame and object. Well done. tfs. Stev

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