Nature Frames

Indian Vulture - Mating Behavior Demystified

I wanted to share this experience with you all. After a long day on field, we were heading back to Bangalore and it was too early to return. At 4:00 PM, we were on Bangalore-Mysore road and suddenly decided to visit Ramanagaram since it was a long time. It was very sunny and as we were watching these Indian Vultures( previously known as Long Billed Vultures), through the view finder I had made this image(first one) where 2 LBVs were resting. Since the sun was playing hide and seek behind the clouds, I had to change my exposure metering at regular intervals. At one point while I was busy changing the meter readings, I suddenly looked up and saw that one of the LBV's was on top of the other. I realized what was happening and didn't want to miss the moment. Sadly, I was running out of space on my CF and had to change the mode from manual RAW mode to portrait so that I can get more images with JPEG. Made these series of images of LBV's mating. During the ritual, the female's call was jarring. I was extremely happy to experience one of THE best moments in the wild, that too of a critically endangered species! I also felt that it was my responsibility to share it with the community, as, many "big" nature and wildlife photographers frequent this place. The mating lasted for about a minute and once the act was over, the male moved away from the female and rested for a long time beside it. We waited there for about more than an hour after this act, expecting more action. But nothing happened. It was an awesome day to end with. Total LBV's spotted today - 4. May these LBV's thrive and survive! I apologize for the poor image quality.