...till thou sit right... Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch

Not an uncommon bird - but a beautiful one nonetheless. From my last birding visit - I saw this bird but every bird is associated to a pose - a characteristic that defines that bird and the bird family. I clicked a picture of this nuthatch that decided to give us some good photo-opportunities - but it refused to do that classic / characteristic sitting pose.

Chestnut-vented Nuthatch (Sita cinnamoventris)

We were out birding and were busy clicking a pair of Pygmy woodpeckers on a tree. The birds were so obliging that 100 odd photographs down the lane we were still in want for more. Suddenly out of nowhere - as if to say - Hey man there are others waiting in line - came a nuthatch on the same tree. Of-course it was there - the light was right, not too harsh, not too subtle and I knew I am going to enjoy this bird too. There I let go another hundred shots - just praying that the bird as beautiful as this does not get annoyed due lack of attention. All was well - but there was this nagging bit troubling me in the back of my mind - the bird refused to give that characteristic post that everyone so relates to Nuthatches, the one with the head cocked up and body half hanging from the tree trunk. The bird - as if to say - man, you cannot have everything in life jumped and disappeared at a distance. I prayed and as an answer to my prayer perhaps - a speck - my beloved Nuthatch came flying back to the same tree - the same characteristic flight of the nuthatch. This time the visit was short but the bird gave its characteristic pose before flying off finally and I turned my camera off with a smile on my face and moved on to continue the hunt for more birds for the day.

...so thou sit the way you should... I shall leave you alone.

...and that's the characteristic pose that I was talking about...

The range of the bird - primarily the Himalayas and some more...