My Bullet - The Phoenix

Saturday, 28th April, 2012

Built Like A Gun. Runs Like A Bullet

The Bullet has risen once again. After a long hiatus. I can't remember when the Bullet had gone silent and when I sent it to Dilip but after an inordinately long time Dilip has finally managed to revive the Bullet. Or at least so I think.

Went for a ride this morning to the Lake with Monisha - 5x2 km. Meter reading is 23785 when I filled in 7 lit of petrol for Rs 500. The tuning needs some tweaking perhaps but otherwise it starts just fine. One remarkable thing that I notice about the bike - the electrical system has really been improved. With the headlight on I can blow the horn properly. This was unthinkable before the bike went to Dilip.

Monday, 30th April 2012

On Saturday Monisha called up to tell me in the office that petrol is dripping out of the bike. I asked her to check if the tap was vertical or horizontal. She said vertical. I said turn it horizontal. I wished she would be able to pull the bike up on the main stand but that would perhaps be asking for too much. But the closing of the oil tap stopped the dripping. I must have lost a few litres of oil. However, it is now running fine. It has still not reached reserve. I have decided to do two things. Always park the bike on the main stand and never leave the oil tap on when the bike is parked. I think that should solve the dripping problem.

On Sunday the three of us - Mampu, Monisha and I - went on a local ride in the afternoon. Mampu claims that she has never ridden a bike. Actually I feel too scared to take her on the bike. On Monday, that is today, Monisha and I went to the Lake and came back. The bike starts generally on first kick. Otherwise, in the morning one can use the choke lever to start the bike.

Saturday, 12th May 2012 - Odo reading 23925 km

The Bullet is running fine. This morning took it to Dalhousie and came back via the Lake. Total 25 km. No hitch except one inexplicable jerk near Victoria. Couple of nights ago fished out the old insurance papers and road tax token. Both had expired in March 2011. Given Govinda-da (a very dependable Beltala Motor Vehicles department's middle man 9831175165) - the original documents to get it regularised. He said two year's tax to be paid and one year's tax as fine. The total, including insurance, will be Rs 2500. He will give me all the papers on Wednesday, he said.

I was under the impression that the road tax was paid for five years. But that was for the car actually. For old bikes tax has to be paid every year.

One funny point worth mentioning here. For vehicles that need to regularise third party insurance the rule is a surveyor will have to come, certify that the vehicle exists, take photographs and then only will the insurance company issue a policy. When you go through Govindada no such fancy requirements. You just pay him the official fees and his commission and things get done.

Last week I had gone to get the "Pollution Under Control" certificate from the pump near our office. They said my bike has failed and will need to be tuned properly to pass. Went to Dilip who said, "even new bikes fail. Don't worry. Leave the bike with me for a day with the original blue book. I will get it done." I have never had this problem before. My bike never failed a pollution control test. I think I will go to another pump to cross check.

The bike is running fine. Starts on one kick even in the morning and without choke. I don't push it very hard and never take it beyond 60 kmph.

The bike needs the following upgrades.

Rear shock absorbers; front shock absorbers; tyres; tank; painting. I am in two minds about the rear shocks. There is a new gas filled variety from this company called Endurance which is supposed to give you a great ride. However, if you fit that you need to change the main stand to something that's bigger. Otherwise the rear tyre will touch the ground. I am not too sure I want to change the authenticity of my old bike. I think I will stick to the old system.

Monday 14th May 2012 - Odo 23980 km

Went to Mukulda's house yesterday to clock some more distance on the odo. On the way back came via Ekbalpore Nursing Home to see Samarda. No problem during the ride except one sudden jerk when the rear wheel sort of got locked for a split second. This happened on the way up near Rashbehari but nothing afterwards. This had also happened on Saturday on the way back from Maidan near Victoria. Hit reserve at 23960 on the Park Street flyover while coming back. Filled in 5 litres from India Trading for Rs 350. Nearer home got Dilip to tighten the chain and brake. Dilip feels probably the rear wheel's bearing is broken. I think the brake shoe/pad should also be looked into. But as I ride the bike more such issues will get revealed and hopefully sorted.

Wednesday 16th May 2012 - Odo 24016 km

The bike was not used on Tuesday due to Monisha's indisposition. Even this morning we didn't go out for our morning walk. I decided to give it a run. Went on what turned out to be a 30 km round trip. Went via Elgin Road to Prinsep Ghat > Strand Road > Eden Gardens > Victoria > Exide > Rashbehari > Southern Avenue > Gol Park > ITI > Gol Park > Mannar Khabar > Home.

There was a problem while climbing the Gariahat flyover. The bike sounded like the fuel line was clogging or something. It happend on the way up as well as down. As if the bike was hitting reserve. Either the fuel filter bottle is dirty or there is something stuck somewhere in the fuel line. Will have to inform Dilip when I meet him. The rear wheel lock problem surfaced once again. I don't know if indeed this is a case of the rear wheel being broken. I think I will get it replaced with a new set.

Went to Govindada in the afternoon. Though the insurance, he said, has been done, the papers have not come to him. Due to an oversight the broker left my papers behind. He said it would definitely be done tomorrow and asked me to come tomorrow again. While there went to the parts store Ghai Motors to enquire about the new tank. It has not arrived yet and no one knows when it might come. What a shame. Enquired about rear shocks. Armstrongs are Rs 1000 they said. I think it is available for Rs 800. I must get the rear brake pads/shoes checked for the strange locking problem that's cropping up once in a while. Someone suggested this on facebook. Let me talk to Dilip.

Thursday 17th May 2012 - Odo 24046

Went on a thirty km ride around south Calcutta. The clogging problem is continuing. It happens only on bridges and today I went up the AJC flyover and Gariahat and it happened both the times. Will have to talk to Dilip about it.

Road Tax Paid At Last

Got the road tax paid at last. The next renewal is due on 14th of March 2013. Now only the insurance part is pending. Govinda da said come after a week. Apparently they have stopped doing insurance without the smart card. Gave him a photocopy of my smart card. He took another Rs 1250 from me. The amount of tax paid is Rs 1440.

Am thinking of getting an iridium spark plug fitted to the bike. NGK has a model. Model number BR6HIX. The two NGK authorised distributors in the city don't have them. This fellow asked me to call back after a week - JM Auto Distributors - 9681225074. The other fellow didn't say anything.

Tuesday May 22, 2012 - Odo 24115

Gave the bike to Dilip this morning for getting the Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificiate done. Explained the problem of clogging to him. In fact this morning on the Lake Gardens flyover the bike started clogging up when I thought it was hitting the reserve and turned the tap down to reserve. On the return journey opened the tap to "on" position and could quite easily ride home for 5 km. Therefore it had not hit reserve in the morning but was just clogging up. Now I am wondering whether the bike had really hit reserve on the Park Street flyover. Let Dilip take a look. It might well be the carburettor.

Asked him to also change the rear shocks and replace them with the traditional Armstrongs. He was a little reluctant. I said you ride it and see how it is behaving and then decide. He is supposed to bring the bike back to me this evening itself. Keeping my fingers crossed on that.

Checked with JM Auto for iridium spark plugs once again. They still don't have it. And from the fellow's reply it seemed they are not likely to have it in the next 100 years.

PUC Done At Last - Next Change In November 2012

Dilip came to deliver the bike tonight, as promised. He has got the PUC done. Changed the rear bearing and corrected the wheel balance after tightening the spokes. He also changed the rear brake clamp that holds the rod. The bike handles pretty well now. Total damage Rs 800.

He has ordered Ghai Motors to get the Armstrong rear shock absorbers, which they don't have right now. He suggested a complete front and rear change of shock absorbers. I think I will do it. That's a more sensible thing to do. The bike is riding pretty well now.

Saturday May 26, 2012 - Odo 24278

The good news first. Insurance is done. Third party, of course. I am commuting to work every day on the bike. It rides like a charm. Filled in 10 litres of petrol at 24180 the other day. In fact just the day after petrol prices were raised by more than Rs 7. It's now Rs 78 a litre. 

Bought a set of open spanners from Bhanubhai. I think it's 6-22. Whatever it is the range looks comprehensive. Taparia Rs 210. Also bought a wrench for the spark plug for Rs 40. Bought a round rear view mirror from Ghai for Rs 40 for the left hand side. I couldn't take out the existing oval one. Tonight Dilip had come. He said it is wrongly inserted and ultimately broke the yoke trying to take the mirror out. He said he will change it later.

Discussed the engine stalling on bridge issue with Dilip. He is saying down shift to third gear and cross bridges. He feels the problem should go away as the engine sets into the proper groove. Let's hope it does. The idling sound has certainly improved. The clanking sound is much less now.

Mampu Turns Recordist

Yesterday (24th April, 2012) Mampu told this to me over phone: "achcha Baba, I have opened the recorder in your phone and replaced the ring tone from your Blue-throated Barbet to my whistling". I was pretty stunned. A few days ago when her own phone stopped working she took my previous phone that was lying idle for the last few days since I graduated to an Asha 200. This was a cheap Nokia 2300 which I thought was a very basic phone that serves the purpose of person to person communication only.

Mampu at Ravangla on 1st April, 2012. This is just below the hotel Cloud's End. Canon 450D with Tamron 90 mm macro

But trust Mampu to find out a voice recorder in it. She not only recorded her own whistling, she also made that into her ring tone. It took me a while to digest this news. If this was a Nokia ad to highlight how simple it is to use its features it wouldn't be very believable !! Fact is often stranger than fiction.

I went back home and believed this only when I heard her ring tone. It indeed is her whistling tone. Later we got Monisha to record her voice: "Mampu wake up, it is 7 o' clock now" and set this as the alarm tone in her phone. However this morning we realised that either the alarm didn't work or the alarm tone was too weak to wake either of us up.

I still remember the surprise and disbelief when Mampu sent us her first SMS a few years ago.

If you are a stranger to this story - Mampu is my 8 year old daughter. She uses a phone to communicate with us generally on her way back from the school which she does with a maid who does not have a phone. She has to change bus, train, auto etc several times and we feel safer that she is in touch with us. Needless to say both of us have to work.

Song of the Bengal Bush Lark

Sometime last week (April 15 to 21, 2012) while going through the various sections of the Xeno-Canto website I discovered a link called "Wanted". I realised that there is a whole long list of birds that have not been recorded - at least not shared on Xeno-Canto. To my utter surprise I found our friendly neighbourhood Bengal Bush Lark in that list. The bird indeed had never been recorded. Or even if someone has done it, he has never shared it publicly on any forum.

A Bengal Bushlark in Rajarhat. Captured in early 2011. One of the first shots with my 400 F5.6

In the Macaulay Library database there is a recording of a Bengal Bush Lark recorded in Sri Lanka way back in 1976 !!!! But it is actually wrong to call it a Bengal Bush Lark. Those birds are now called Jerdon's Bush Lark. So at least on paper, there is no Bengal Bush Lark call available anywhere in the world !!!
As a Bengali I felt quite embarrassed by this. Bengal Bush Lark is a pretty common bird. However, while pondering over the issue I realised that possibly these are the reasons why it is so poorly recorded.

1. Bird sound recording is a very western hobby as of now. It is yet to catch up in India and there are very few Indian bird call recordists. In Calcutta I know of just one other person who actively records calls. But he is a birding guide and does the recording for his own use in the wild to play back on birds. He does not share his recodings in the public domain. I have never heard them either. I don't think such a professional will ever record Bengal Bush Lark. 
2. The area where the Bengal Bush Lark is found is not a very fashionable birding destination for international recordists. Foreign nature sound recordists will not come to this region to record Bengal Bush Lark !!! In fact I found another common Bengali bird - Asian Open Bill is also not there on Xeno-Canto.
3. Bengal Bush Lark is not known for being very vocal. It is generally quiet. It sings most audibly during the summer breeding season. Therefore it is not a very easily recorded species.

Therefore, as is obvious, it becomes my onerous duty and responsibility to record this quiet bird. I was wondering where to go for the recording. Boshipota or Rajarhat or Joka? This is when Kanad Baidya called me to ask whether I had recorded the GPS position of his area in Habra during my previous visit. I said no but I would gladly do it this Saturday ( April 21, 2012). I was very keen to record the vocalisation of the Brown Hawk Owl and went to his house as promised.

After looking up and down for the Brown Hawk Owl for quite some time in vain, I told Kanad about the lack of representation of the BBL on the global bird sound websites. He said they are aplenty behind his house. We promptly went there and this is what I got.



It was  a green paddy field. The bird was perched on a high tension electric wire and singing. He must have had a nest somewhere nearby in a field where they were growing some vegetables. We saw the nest of a Paddyfield Pipit nearby with a broken egg. We realised that it must have been the handiwork of the BBL. We saw him going to his nest nearby and come back to the high perch.

I hope to record some more calls in the near future of the sound that it makes in flight. That particular vocalisation is very different from this perched song that it was singing.

The Shrike Babbler of Sikkim

A Blyth's Shrike Babbler Pteruthias aeralatus in Kewzing

I went to South Sikkim's Ravangla recently. On April 1, with the camera and tripod and my recording equipment I went on a walk to the small hamlet of Kewzing. Took several photographs of various birds on the way. Some I knew. Some I didn't. It was a bright sunny day (the previous evening when we arrived it rained a lot) and I was in a good mood.
On the way I saw a Rufous Sibia calling and recorded the call. It turned out to be of excellent quality. Though right on the main road, there was zero ambient noise in this recording.

Rufous Sibia calling

While on the football ground of Kewzing - a little above the main road - I heard the persistent call of a bird. It was pretty loud and it kept on singing continuously for quite some time. As if asking me to record its vocalisation. Now, normally I don't record a bird unless I see it and take a photograph of it. Because to me identity of the bird is important. But for this particular song I made an exception because the bird seemed somewhat insistent and the quality of the call was also excellent. In fact I thought I would record it and then play it back to entice it out into the open. But that didn't quite happen, as I realised my Chandni speaker was a useless one.

So the recording stayed with me. Unidentified.

A few days ago, I set out to solve the mystery of the recording. What bird could it have been? On Xeno-Canto I kept playing various sounds of the birds that I had seen in Kewzing and Ravangla or the potential birds that are known to reside there. It just didn't match. I tried the scarlet minivet, I tried various laughing thrushes and flycatchers etc. Finally I remembered that I had also photographed a "White-browed Shrike Babbler" there and so searched for it.

What came out were two recordings by Frank Lambert that were listed as Blyth's Shrike Babbler recorded in Eagle Nest, Arunachal. In the remarks coloumn he mentioned that White-browed Shrike Babbler is in the process of being split. However, these recordings sounded somewhat similar to my bird.

So I kept on looking for it. Now I searched for Blyth's Shrike Babbler with some renewed vigour. And there were quite a few calls. One particular sound matched closely with mine but it wasn't quite the same. It was a recording by a Bhutanese birding guide called Norbu. However, the closeness of the call prompted me to post the call under the mystery section of Xeno-Canto - asking experts to give their views and comments.

A Rufous Sibia taken on the road from Ravangla to Kewzing, October 2010

Meanwhile, I got Arka to listen to the call over the phone and also sent it to Sumit-da. While Arka said, it must be the White-browed Shrike Babbler, because "what else can it be?" Sumitda played it safe and suggested that he would send it to Sashank Dalvi who is right now in the field. Sashank is supposed to be an authority on this as he is doing or has done a research on this species.

By this time another confusion has started bugging me. Indian field guide books don't mention any name called Blyth's Shrike Babbler. OBI database also doesn't have any such bird. And Xeno-Canto or Macaulay do not have anything but Blyth's. There is no such listing of any bird called White-browed Shrike Babbler. Which one do I follow? My bird is very real - whatever its name is.

There was no reply for a day or so on Xeno. After this I wanted to check Cornell University's natural sound library database. There were some 19 calls listed under Blyth's Shrike Babbler when I searched for it. One of them is from Bhutan and another from Nepal but none is from India. I played the call from Bhutan. And lo and behold. It is exactly my bird that is calling. A carbon copy almost. A recording made in 1994 near Gasa in Bhutan (a virtually inaccessible place when I was in Bhutan. Laya/Gasa were mentioned together as two of the toughest punishment postings for any teacher in Bhutan).

So now I know that my bird is a Blyth's Shrike Babbler. And here it is in all its glory.

I wrote down the entire experience because it was a very satisfying one for me. I will forget this very soon. But when I revisit this write up after a few months or years I will certainly relive those moments of frustration and excitement I went through. It is a very satisfying thing.

More Fun With Big Boy's Toys

Ever since I bought my long white lens I had been wanting to own a Lenscoat to cover the barrel. Initially it was the used 100-400 that I had bought from Arka. It really needed a cover. Because of the various usage marks on it. Next came my 400 F5.6 and I wanted to cover it with a coat so that it wouldn't get any bruises. But the high price kept my desires at bay.
After a few months the lens got its first nick. I think the scratch happened inside my Lowepro. A very fine and thin V-shaped line. Last month when Suranjan told me that he would be going to Singapore shortly and whether I wanted anything, my first reaction was a Lenscoat. But serious research on the product showed that it is one piece that covers the lens hood as well as the barrel. I decided not to buy it because I would need to push the hood on and off.  Also I really needed it for protection and not for camouflage.
And then this brilliant idea struck me.
I had always read in POTN that some people use cheap socks to cover their lens. I thought I would try this out. As I said, I do not really need to camouflage the lens. Birds aren't that dumb that they would be fooled by a camouflage cloth. I wanted to protect the lens during storage and carrying. The pair of brown socks I had once purchased off the sidewalk in front of our office came in handy. I never wear it. So I asked my mother-in-law to cut it off from the ankle and stitch that end a little. And voila. It made a perfect protective sheath for my lens.
I wish some bright socks maker would sell this as a regular item. They should have elastic on both the ends and I am sure lot of people will pay to get it for their lens. I will not use it inside my Digicabi but while putting it inside my Lowepro I will most definitely use it all the time. 

Friendly Neighbourhood Barn Owls

On 1st January as I was going out early in the morning for my birding trip, I wanted to record the screeching barn owls on Brishti's (a neighbour's little daughter) roof top. They call every night and all it takes is to switch on the recorder and hold the microphone.

But just as I was going to press the recording button a loud Ajan (Muslim call for prayer allowed by the government to be blared on the (extremely) loud speakers) suddenly started in the mosque nearby and the owl stopped calling. Later some howling dogs ruined the atmosphere further.

This morning at around 5 am as we were getting ready to go out for our morning walk (after a long long time) I heard them calling again and went to my rooftop to record this call. I also saw some movement of one of the birds. It flew from the rooftop of Brishti's house to a large Kadam tree in front of their house. There are obviously more than one bird.

It was quite dark and I could hardly see anything clearly. These owls call only when there is zero sunlight. Our neighbourhood, if you are interested, is not very well lit but it isn't dark either.

This vocalisation, as is obvious, is quite different from the other one that I had recorded earlier. I hope one day I will get the answer about their meanings.

There are some loud crows making their presence known when it is still dark. There is still a very faint Ajan sound coming from some distant mosque that could not be helped. Hope to record the sound again at around 3 am on another morning. Hopefully it will be quieter.

Acratech GV2 - One of Big Boy's Latest Toys

One of the most critical elements for a good photograph, when you are using a tripod, is the ball head. The ball head that I have been using so far is the Manfrotto 496RC2. It is a decent ball head for its price of around 5k. But it is not adequate when you are using it for bird photography using a 400 mm lens.

First of all, there is a slight play when you press the shutter. That is, the lens moves down marginally. But the real inadequacy of the lens is greatly exposed when you try to shoot a particularly active bird that is, for example, jumping from one branch to the other in search of food. In eastern Himalaya the small birds are famous for doing this. It's a real challenge shooting those birds. You have to constantly loosen the head, turn the camera and tighten it again. It is very difficult, if not impossible to shoot such hyper active birds with the 496 RC2.

The answer to this problem is a gimbal head. But they are very very expensive. Not just expensive, they are very heavy and bulky too. Quite difficult to lug around really. Manfrotto has a cheaper solution but that's quite heavy and bulky too. My search for the ideal ball head took me to the Acratech website where they sell this  ball head - the GV2. It is a standard ball head but it can work as a gimbal head as well for lenses upto 400 mm.

I checked their website. They have an extensive range of youtube based instruction manuals (curiously enough, the model in those videos is the CEO himself who takes pride in letting you know that the whole thing is made in the USA). I asked them several questions about the lens plate. And finally made up my mind to dream about it.

After dreaming about it for several months I finally got a chance to get it from Canada thanks to Suranjanadi. I got it on Sunday, 1st January, but finally got the courage to open the box and use it tonight.

It is frightfully expensive to say the least. If you are curious, please google it up. Please don't ask me. I feel guilty. I must thank Monisha for not making a big scene after I told her about the purchase and the price :-)