Blue Crayon Fluttering in the Sky: Verditer Flycatcher

Kneeling down, squinting & seeking shade, arms and shoulders aching, bending to left and then a tad to right… How long would you wait with a camera in hand, for an elusive bird to strike a pose for you?

I waited a long duration of some 30 odd shots… before I could get this one and many other blurred photos of this blue-green birdie. So what came in between my perfect shot? The dancing bird just wouldn’t sit at one spot for long enough!

Although in foothills of Himalayas Verditer Flycatcher is a common sight, I saw a blue bird in real for the first time in Almora. And boy, is it heaven for birds! On my maiden trip I spotted some 10 different birds…

BTW ‘Verditer’ is a colour, and Oxford says: A light blue or bluish-green pigment, typically prepared by adding chalk … to a solution of copper nitrate, used in making crayons and as a watercolour.

With a green backdrop it really looked like a blue crayon sticking out! The close up shots, I guess are of a female, as males have a sunglasses-like black patch around the eyes, as in the above shot.

Its singing is thin as a whistle and is always seen perched on topmost branch or wires.