Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)

Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), originally uploaded by retheesh k r.

When I approached a flock of these fast birds in an isolated bush, they started fleeing into a nearby wooded area in small groups. I selected "AI Servo" focusing and "Continuous shot" in my Canon EOS 400D. Hand holding my camera, I pre-focused my 300mm lens at the bush and tried to follow and contain the emerging birds within the view finder before they disappear in the woods some 10m away. I would say this picture, of below average quality, is the result of perseverance and sheer luck rather than anything else. At the end of my shooting frenzy, I found this picture among around 30 frames of empty sky.

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Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), originally uploaded by retheesh k r.

After a couple of failed attempts of shooting Barn Swallows in flight, I decided to settle for a less ambitious project, shooting gulls in flight. They are much larger, and glide smoothly in a predictable way. They are good for beginners.

With large number of gulls flocking, the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland which is less than a km away from my apartment was a perfect place for me. When I reached there, I could see a lot of these gregarious birds sitting quietly on top of Glasgow Science Centre. I waited for more than half an hour hoping that they will start flying again. As a result of some disturbance they all are back on their wings. After few shots I realised, the white clouds in the background doesn't suit these white bellied birds.

I moved to another place following the circling flock. Positioning myself in its path, I focus tracked this approaching bird and shot continuously till it passed overhead. One of my very rare photos which I could take in the same way as I anticipated.

Few more photos are here, all of them I took as it happened.

Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii)

Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii), originally uploaded by retheesh k r.

My aunt called me when she saw me going home after some shopping. She took me to a neighbouring stream to show me this heron. I could not understand first, why this heron stayed there even after we reached quite close to it. Uncharacteristically it kept its long bill in water. Then I realised this unfortunate heron is a victim of our own carelessness act of throwing everything into streams and rivers. This bird while attempting to spear its food, pierced this old discarded cloth. It was visibly exhausted by trying hard to remove the cloth from its bill. This piece of wet cloth was little too heavy for this bird to fly with. I left my bag on the shore and decided to wade to reach the bird on the other side. By this time my cousin brought me my camera, which helped me to take this photo just before entering water.
I was bit nervous seeing the long sharp bill. So after reaching near the bird, I got its bill in my right hand and secured it before picking the bird up. Once I reached back on the shore, I tried to pull the bill out of the cloth. But it seemed like the cloth got entangled with few tiny ridges on the herons bill. My aunt then gave me her kitchen knife suggesting that I should cut the cloth away instead of pulling it hard and thus hurting the bird. That proved to be a brilliant idea. She hold the bird in her hand and I carefully cut the cloth from its bill. We were all happy to see it flying towards one of the lower branches of a nearby tree.