JAN 08, 2009. FRIDAY.

BANDIPUR NATIONAL PARK

On a nice bright afternoon, I set out at 4pm on a game ride. We took the Reception Road and with in 5 mins of being on the game ride, my guide received a phone call that another group had seen a tiger on the other side of the park. We continued on with the ride and wanted to just get close to the area where the tiger was spotted. 15 mins later on, our jeep driver brakes the vehicle to a grinding halt and exclaims TIGER! TIGER! I pop my head out of the vehicle and try to spot the tiger in the direction that he was pointing. I look into all the far away bushes and openings, I couldnt see it! Until a movement very close to the jeep caught my attention. The tiger was sitting at about 15 ft away from the vehicle, in a slushy depression on the ground. The tiger was too close for my big lens, so had to change to a smaller one. This was the tourist friendly Big male tiger of Bandipur – Agasthya!

The depression he was sitting had some water and this had formed into a thick black slush because of the black soil around. I initially thought that the tiger was just cooling of the heat, but why this hole when there were many inviting bigger water holes near by? I really couldn’t make out what the tiger was doing with his head down in the pit. When I  saw the big black patches on his mouth,  I realized that he was slurping up the slush and soaking in it too. I was informed by the Guide that this tiger had a wound in its front paw and was last seen 15days ago with a bad limp. He got up and walked away after being in the pit for nearly 20 minutes, without any signs of a limp.

Was this tiger eating mud to heal its body or make up for some mineral deficiency or some intestinal disorder??

The guides with me were quite well informed and were able to predict where we would be able to catch him next, when he disappeared into the bushes. We spent an amazing 2 and half hours with the tiger – tracking, spotting and Clicking!! I ended up with some 400 images and 4 GB of HD videos!

DEC 18TH 2009, FRIDAY.

Its over 6 months since having gone out into the jungles or using  my cameras. Work and extended monsoon has kept me away from the jungles and I am very glad to be in the outdoors again.

A quick trip in the weekend to Bandipur and Nagarhole. It was the first day of my daughters Christmas holidays, and Ruthu accompanied me on this trip.

It is December and its Winter in the South Indian jungles. Chilly and Misty early mornings in the forests can be quite enchanting. This year has been very different – ITS STILL WARM AND ITS RAINING!! Does anybody why this is happening??

I only hope that the world leaders can work together and drawup a workable strategy to reverse the changing weather patterns and ofcourse we all, as  citizens of the world humbly contribute to Conserve and Preserve all forms  of our diminishing Natural resources.

We were quite lucky to see the beautiful Lady of the Bandipur forests. Tigress Ganga!

When she saw first saw us, she immediately walked  off the jeep track and into the bushes. She is quite a shy tigress and it was only because of the expertise of the accompanying guide that we were able to predict the route that she would use on her evening stroll. We had a good 12 minutes with this tigress and on one occasion she walked very close to the jeep. It was a very nice experience to see a tiger upclose in a South Indian jungle and cant mention Ruthus excitement.

We were told about a Big male tiger called Agasthya who roams around in the same area and is extremely tourist friendly. There is also another tigress called Gowri. Dont you all think that naming the wild tigers is a good idea? This should help effectively keep a track of various individuals.

Bandipur National park in the last two or three years is very frequent Tiger sightings. Well managed clearing of the undergrowth and also the Tigers becoming tourist friendly has helped this. The national highway that runs through the park is now closed for traffic in the night, which should further help animal movement and drastically bring down road kills.

May 23rd,

A business trip on which I saw Tigers…still cant stop talking about it!!

A business meeting was planned at BEL, Ghaziabad for the 25th May morning. Not wanting to go on a day trip to Delhi, I checked with Hitesh and Khan, if there was anything to do over the weekend. Lucky me! They were on a trip to CORBET Tiger reserve and they let me tag along with them. I couldnt wait to see the Corbet country that I had read in Jim Corbet tales during my childhood…..and still read!!!!

My two days at Corbet were spent in the Dhikala range and we did take one ride through Bijarani range on our way out. Apart from the 7 tigers that I saw (couldn’t photograph the mother and 2 cubs), I thoroughly enjoyed the great birding, close encounters with elephants and a fabulous landscape!

Dhikala Sunrise! A Very inspiring way to begin the morning Game ride...

CHARGING Welcome! She was dangerously close and almost got us. U can see the guide frantically Shoooing her and the front end of the white gypsy only a few feet away.

Dhikala male Tigerscape. He sat in the water for an hour and was still sitting before we left...

A elusive and camera shy TIGRESS! We saw drag marks of a kill on the road and tracked her. Alarmed macaques looking into the grass, led us onto her location but she was not visible. After 2hrs of waiting, saw the stripes moving in the grass and finally got this picture near the waterfront. Learnt good lessons of Tiger tracking in Corbet country!

This is @ 3200 ISO! Good job 5DMKII!