The Indian Roller is a colourful cousin of the European Roller and its also the State bird of Karnataka, India. They are not actually migratory by nature but do make seasonal movements. For example, in the Nagarhole national park, these beautiful species are always seen. However, come monsoons and you will find it very difficult to spot even a single Roller.
The best place, in Southern India, to watch and photograph the Indian Roller is the Nagarhole national park. With some perseverance, any photographer can get full frame images of this beauty.
Here’s a collection of images of the India Roller that were shot during a visit to the Nagarhole national park in Karnataka, India May 2008. All images were taken with the Nikon D300; Nikon 300 f2.8 lens mounted with the 2x teleconvertor.
This sweetheart was perched beautifully and I took this shot when the wind was ruffling her feathers. The technical specs for this image are : 1/320s, f5.6, 600mm at ISO 800.
This one too was perched beautifully and the settings for this image are: 1/400s, f5.6, 600mm at ISO 800.
This full frame image of the species was taken just after a heavy downpour. Lighting was terrible. So I boosted the ISO to 1600 and photographed this at 1/160s, f5.6, 600mm.
This beauty let me get really close and I was able to get this full frame image at 1/30s, f8, 600mm at ISO 800. This too was taken after a heavy downpour.
