Serendipity

[Nishit Dave]

We decided to stay at a resort on the outskirts of Udaipur for our Diwali vacation this year. I had been told that the place has a lot of birds, and so I would like it a lot.

Shortly after our arrival, I heard a Brown-headed Barbet calling. I had ever been able to get one clear photo of this arboreal ave, so I really wanted to photograph it. So I spent some time looking for it on the twisting paths of the resort, and even got pretty close to it on a low branch, but in bad light and facing away from me.

Then suddenly that evening, it was calling from right outside the window of my room! I took a number of shots through the glass, but they were grainy and soft as expected. I could get within the minimum focus distance of my lens, but the bird couldn't see me because of the glass. There was one openable window but the birds spotted me as I went there and fled. That was more disappointing than messing up the change I had earlier.

However, I soon discovered that this was one of the favourite perches of this particular bird, and it came back twice or thrice a day to call from there. The next time it came, I was prepared, positioned in advance behind the window and its mosquito screen opened just enough to give me a clear view.

I got photos to my heart's content, and here are a couple of them:

1.
Brown-headed Barbet by Nishit Dave, on Flickr

2.
Brown-headed Barbet by Nishit Dave, on Flickr

As always, full size photos can be viewed on my Flickr account. EXIF data is included for the curious.