Transit at Sunrise

Venus transit at Sunrise
Venus transit at Sunrise

Transit of Venus as seen at Sun rise from Nagpur. Despite clouds I was lucky enough to get a short window where the Sun peeked thru. If this window had passed I would have needed elaborate filters…

The 2012 transit of Venus, when the planet Venus appeared as a small, dark disk moving across the face of the Sun, began at 22:09 UTC on 5 June 2012, and finished at 04:49 UTC on 6 June. Depending on the position of the observer, the exact times varied by up to ±7 minutes. Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable celestial phenomena and occur in pairs, eight years apart, which are themselves separated by more than a century. The previous transit of Venus took place on 8 June 2004 (preceded by the pair of appearances on 9 December 1874 and 6 December 1882), and the next pair of transits will occur on 10–11 December 2117 and in December 2125.

The entire transit was visible from the western Pacific Ocean, northwesternmost North America, northeastern Asia, Japan, the Philippines, eastern Australia, New Zealand, and high Arctic locations including northernmost Scandinavia, and Greenland. In North America, the Caribbean, and northwestern South America, the beginning of the transit was visible on 5 June until sunset. From sunrise on 6 June, the end of the transit was visible from South Asia, the Middle East, east Africa, and most of Europe. The phenomenon was not visible from most of South America, nor from western Africa. There were a number of live online video streams with footage from telescopes around the world. Midway through the transit one of the NASA streams had nearly 2 million total views and was getting roughly 90,000 viewers at any given moment.

Many more pictures can be seen on the wikipedia page linked below

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus,_2012

The recycler…

The recycler by Tarique Sani (TariqueSani) on 500px.com
The recycler by Tarique Sani (TariqueSani) on 500px.com

The recycler by Tarique Sani

Not a very photogenic species today but a very important one ecologically. The African White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus)

The white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is closely related to the European griffon vulture, G. fulvus. Sometimes it is called African white-backed vulture to distinguish it from the Oriental white-backed vulture—nowadays usually called white-rumped vulture—to which it was formerly believed to be closely related.

The white-backed vulture is a typical vulture, with only down feathers on the head and neck, very broad wings and short tail feathers. It has a white neck ruff. The adult’s whitish back contrasts with the otherwise dark plumage. Juveniles are largely dark. This is a medium-sized vulture; its body mass is 4.2 to 7.2 kilograms (9.3–15.9 lb), it is 78 to 98 cm (31 to 39 in) long and has a 1.96 to 2.25 m (6 to 7 ft) wingspan.

Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of animals which it finds by soaring over savannah. It also takes scraps from human habitations. It often moves in flocks. It breeds in trees on the savannah of west and east Africa, laying one egg. The population is mostly resident.

As it is rarer than previously believed, its conservation status was reassessed from Least Concern to Near Threatened in the 2007 IUCN Red List.[5] In 2012 it was further uplisted to Endangered. In 2013 it is further uplisted to Critically Endangered.

Raptor portrait!

Raptor portrait!
Raptor portrait!

The African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer). It is the national bird of Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The African fish eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) or – to distinguish it from the true fish eagles (Ichthyophaga), the African sea eagle – is a large species of eagle that is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water occur that have an abundant food supply. It is the national bird of Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Sudan. As a result of its large range, it is known in many languages. Examples of names include: Visarend in Afrikaans; Aigle Pêcheur in French; Hungwe in Shona, and Inkwazi in isiZulu.

The African fish eagle is a large bird, and the female, at 3.2-3.6 kg (7-8 lbs) is larger than the male, at 2-2.5 kg (4.4-5.5 lbs). This is typical of sexual dimorphism in birds of prey. Males usually have a wingspan of about 2 m (6 feet), while females have wingspans of 2.4 m (8 feet). The body length is 63–75 cm (25–30 in). The adult is very distinctive in appearance with a mostly brown body and large, powerful, black wings. The head, breast, and tail of African fish eagles are snow white, with the exception of the featherless face, which is yellow. The eyes are dark brown in colour. The hook-shaped beak, ideal for a carnivorous lifestyle, is yellow with a black tip. The plumage of the juvenile is brown in colour, and the eyes are paler compared to the adult. The feet have rough soles and are equipped with powerful talons in order to enable the eagle to grasp slippery aquatic prey. While this species mainly subsists on fish, it is opportunistic and may take a wider variety of prey such as waterbirds. Its distinctive cry is, for many, evocative of the spirit or essence of Africa. The call, shriller when uttered by males, is a weee-ah, hyo-hyo or a heee-ah, heeah-heeah.

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_fish_eagle

What are you looking at?

A male steenbok
A male steenbok

The steenbok, (Raphicerus campestris), is a common small antelope of southern and eastern Africa. It is sometimes known as the steinbuck or steinbok.

Peacock Pansy…

Peacock Pansy by Tarique Sani (TariqueSani) on 500px.com
Peacock Pansy by Tarique Sani (TariqueSani) on 500px.com

Peacock Pansy by Tarique Sani

Danaid Eggfly – Hypolimnas misippus

Danaid Eggfly - Hypolimnas misippus
Danaid Eggfly - Hypolimnas misippus

Red-billed Oxpeckers

Red-billed Oxpeckers on a Giraffe
Red-billed Oxpeckers on a Giraffe