One of the major attractions during our normal trips to Kozhikode (see 'Kozhikode Trip' for an earlier bike trip account) is the amount of birds and wildlife we spot. It usually starts at the paddy fields of Mandya and goes on till we cover the Bandipur forest and reach Sulthan Bathery. This time, the major sighting was at a tank bund in NH212 (Kozhikode / Ooty / Nanjagund / Gundulpet road) just after Mysore. As we passed by the tank bund, there were many water birds at the tank bund.

I picked up the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L telephoto lens and jumped out of the car. This is the first time I am seeing a Black-winged Stilt - that too a group of them. Naturally I clicked many pictures and posting the ones I liked most. This pic was taken in Av mode, at ISO-400 and f/8, at a 1/250s exposure. I had the support of a fence allowing me to click at this longer exposure time (longer for the 400mm).

One speciality of the Black-winged Stilt is thier long legs! The above pic should give an indication of how long they are. This pic also comes in Av mode, but I bumped up the ISO to 800 for a shorter exposure of 1/800s.

Black-winged Stilts were not the only birds in the tank bund. I also spotted a few egrets and a pair of Eurasian Coots swimming around. The pic of the Eurasian Coots come with the same settings (f/8, ISO800), but the metering mode was partial to account for its dark color. My aim was to get the details around its eye and at a 1/400s, the camera managed to get it!