An Indian roller banks through a wash of pale sky, wings spread wide in mid-chase. Its plumage is a study in iridescent contrast — a metallic electric-blue mantle and rump giving way to a warm rusty-brown throat and breast, the throat itself finely barred, while the inner wing-coverts and primaries shift through smoky purple-bronze into a flash of turquoise at the tips. A few gossamer strands of a spider’s web dangle from its bill — this is no idle flyer, but a small hunter hauling its catch to the branch. Silhouetted against a featureless sky, every colour and every beat is on full display.