Golden moments  with Dalmatian Pelican

Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) is a massive member of the pelican family. This huge bird is by a slight margin the largest of the pelican species and one of the largest living bird species. We did not able do birding from many days due to illness in our family. One day we decided to visit the Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary. When we visited the lake in last winter November 2015, we saw group of around 10 Common Starlings. So we hope to see them again on same island of lake. While we returned back it was already evening and very soon time of sunset. Sun was low and light is soft, everything was just glowing, diffused in golden tones. Beautiful red and orange shades fill the horizon. At this golden hour we saw two Dalmatian Pelicans slowly and gracefully swimming in the lake. The angle of that light hits pelicans – creating a striking shadow. The sun behind pelicans highlight features and create magic. I would like to catch this opportunity. And I gave it a try to capture the pelicans in front of sunset. It looks easy at first but it was certainly not a piece of cake. In fact it’s a quite difficult task because the Pelicans and our boat both were on constant move. It was a challenge but I steadied myself on shaking boat, focused on the birds and after trying a lot I got a desired composition…it was really an awesome experience.

8th February 2016
Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, near Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Nikon D7100
AF-S Nikkor 300mm F/4D IF-ED + AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E
f/8, 1/4000, ISO- 500

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