The Koklass pheasant -- regal hauteur lighting up a gloomy Himalayan morning

By now, J and I -- thanks to our umpteen trips into the hills -- know a thing or two about the pheasants that forage on and across the less frequented roads that criss-cross through precipitous heights and sheer drops : the (relatively widely seen) Khaleej, the (relatively rare) Cheer and the Koklass.

(I don't mention the Himalayan Monal here because, immaterial of the fact that we were successful in Mission Monal, this magnificent bird will always occupy rarefied ground for me...and its certainly not a bird that I would expect to see "besides the road"... but rather out in the open, with its iridescence blazing gem-like across the greens of a tussocky expanse :-)  

On second thoughts, I wouldn't exactly mind if the Monal graces me with a car window "opportunity", either. )

And, we also know a thing or two about that constant companion of the inveterate stumble-about birder -- failure and defeat.

Because, there isn't much you can do when you are on a road that is on the dark side of the mountain (and draped by trees) and a pheasant shows up on it, as a shadow that is slightly lighter than those around. Even as the car stops and you hoist the bean bag onto the window, and then hoist the lens onto it, many a time you realize you have been slow -- a lifetime too slow, for the bird has long disappeared into the early morning gloom.

(At other times, the bird will just walk on the road, right in front of the car and clearly in sight -- but who wants to photograph a bird through a thick car windscreen? And yes, tiptoeing out of the car, even on cat's feet also doesn't mostly work, for somehow the bird catches onto what's afoot and vamooses.)

But then, if you persist and back yourself -- sooner or later you are at the right place at the right time.
And you get to experience the regal hauteur of yet another wild bird, right in the vastness of its chosen domain.

Seen here is a full-frame image of a Koklass Pheasant (male) that we encountered somewhere in the forested swathes of the Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary.


This guy was totally unaware of our presence and in fact, we slowly drove off, letting him be, while he bent down to forage, since we were in a bit of a hurry and had other birds to bag.

Exif : Nikon D610, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR, Nikon TC-14E II AF-S ; f/5.6, 1/125, ISO -- 800