M. Shivashankar, a birder from Karkala in Udupi district, has managed to take a snap of the least seen Mountain Scops Owl ( Otus spilocephalus ) in West Sikkim.
The Mountain Scops Owl is a resident of high-altitude hills in the country. This bird is heard calling most often, but not seen by many. “Very rarely photographed in India, to count there are only two or three photographs of this owl,” said Mr. Shivashankar.
He took a snap of this bird when he had been to Sikkim for bird watching along with his friends Biju, a birder from Delhi, and Madhu, a birder from Thiruvananthapuram. He took the photograph of the bird at night near Anden forest house in West Sikkim on April 16, 2014.
“All three of us were in West Sikkim for a week for bird watching. I was lucky in spotting the Mountain Scops Owl and getting a snap of it,” Mr. Shivashankar said.
An avid bird watcher, Mr. Shivashankar is also a wildlife photographer. He holds a BE degree in Electronics and Communication and MS in Embedded Systems.
He has co-authored a book, “Birds of Southern Coastal Karnataka”, along with K. Prabhakar Achar, an environmentalist and academic.
He is a member of the Bhuvanendra Nature Club and a founder-member of Coastal Karnataka Birders Network and Nature First Club.
The members of Bhuvanendra Nature Club and Nature First Club meet once in a month at Sri Bhuvanendra College in Karkala and discuss birds.
