I was nearing Kondracka Kopa, a small peak in the Tatra mountains. This was my fourth day of treking in the Polish Tatra mountains. The last few days had been wet and cloudy, but the weather forecast had promised that it would get better from today. The birding had been quite slow till now, probably due to the weather conditions. But now it had stopped drizzling and the sky was brightening up.
As I neared the top I noticed some bird activity. A couple of small passerine birds hopping around near the top. They seemed to be quite confiding and were not afraid of the trekkers. This was quite unusual as I had noticed that the birds in Poland were usually quite shy. I stopped, mounted my 100-400 mm lens on my trusty Canon and then carefully approached the birds.
I needn’t have worried. The birds allowed me to get quite close. In fact one of them even flew towards me to have a look. They were a pair of Alpine Accentors (Prunella collars). I had seen Alpine Accentors in the Himalayas but never from such close quarters. I spent the next fifteen minutes in their company. They obliged me and allowed me to photograph and observe them from very close. The images I am posting here were taken during this magical encounter.
7 Comments
Lovely crisp pictures. The Alpine Accentors in Poland also seem to prefer rocky terrain just as those we saw in Garhwal. I thought our Himalayan birds were plumper!
Yes, the Garhwali Alpine Accentors did seem plumper, the Polish birds were much more confiding and lively though
amazing ,beautiful thanks for the post
Ah! Elfin Charm. Good read.
Thanks Ruchi
Stunning photographs!
Thank you Ravi