Initially it was only – Kaziranga: Land of the Rhino, but after spending nearly a month here and capturing not just the rhino but an amazing amount of Tiger behaviour in a habitat that’s not really conducive to proper tiger observation, I decided we had to change the title! Not only that, Kaziranga now has the uniquely distinct position of having the highest density of tigers in the World! Previous studies had put the density at about 17 tigers per 100 Sq. kms., but recent studies suggest that the tiger density is at a whopping 32 tigers per 100sq. Kms. Sighting one, of course, is a totally different story. Kaziranga’s tall grass and thick woodland, makes it one of the most difficult places to see a tiger, although signs of their presence – scats, scrapes and claw marks on trees, makes their presence very evident.

Another unique aspect of these short films, is that they were shot entirely, well almost entirely, on the new breed of HD-DSLR cameras that allow us not only to take a high-resolution 16+ mega-pixel image, but also allows the user to record HD video in full 1920×1080P resolution the quality of which is outstanding! Not only that, the high-ISO capabilities of cameras like the Canon 1Dmark4, allows for filming late into the evening, when previously sequenced would have to be canned before they were put in the can. So armed with these new tools in my toolkit I went out with a small team of people consisting mostly of my field assistant, Chinmay and Lahaan the forest gaurd, to shoot the first chapter in the series.
For now I’m just posting a short intro, as I’m still in the field with painfully slow internet connections and frequent power cuts. We are now getting ready to head out to Arunachal Pradesh to shoot some of the little creatures that make a living in the foothill forests of the Himalaya.

Please keep an eye on FelisTV on Youtube for more videos and shortly – the full version of what you see in the Intro piece.
http://www.youtube.com/user/feliscreationsindia

Brownsville, hardly ever makes it on the US map, except, when there’s a hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. Sure enough, tropical storm Alex which should be upgraded to a hurricane pretty soon has brought Browntown back on the Map. Click on the image to see a larger map.

A few years ago I put together a series of videos for Gorgas Science Foundation and NASA focused on the biodiversity of this region.  The first in the series, presented by Guillermo Aguilar of UTB/TSC is about Hurricanes. This is probably the perfect time to be putting up this video. It’s broken into 2 parts as Youtube couldn’t handle a single long video file. The first part primarily focuses on the history of hurricanes in south Texas and the second part goes into the science behind hurricanes and how they are tracked. There’s some pretty cool NASA footage in there with Graphics designed to tell you all about Hurricanes so we can better understand this mighty weather phenomenon.

To watch the second part – Click Here.

I was lucky that my return trip to Texas coincided with the opening night, so I took a bit of a detour on my way back to Texas. Stopped in Seattle, took a quick trip to Mt. Rainier National Park courtesy my host Raja, Deepa and Rushil. Thanks guys!

Canon 5D Mark2 with Canon 500mm f/4 lens; Gitzo Mountaineer Tripod; Kirk BH-3 Ballhead f/4@ 1/250 ISO 100

About the Image: I had always heard how relatively common the Greater Adjutant Stork Leptoptilos dubius- a critically endangered bird was at the garbage dump near Guwahati and I wondered how a bird so commensal with man and dependent on human garbage could be so endangered. Upon visiting the landfill I saw how patiently they awaited their turn at the garbage table – every time a fresh truckload of rubbish entered the landfill people rushed to it first, and once they were done with their pickings the storks moved in filling their gullets with rotten meat. I still wonder how this species living so calmly in an urban environment can be so endangered… I later found out that it’s not because of a lack of food resources that this species is dying out, but because of a lack of nesting trees. These large birds need relatively large trees to build their nests and with the expansion of highways and lack of protection of nesting trees, the future of these birds seem very bleak indeed.

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives.

Biodiversity 2010 from iLCP on Vimeo.

I’m happy to have contributed a few of my images to this visual presentation by the ILCP.

Soon after, Chinmay and I headed to the remote region of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. We were here looking for Munzala – The monkey of the Deep Forest. This is one of the most recent primate discoveries. More in detail about that later – but here’s an image for now.

Then after that crossed over to Nepal to look for what is, without any argument one of the cutest little creatures of the Himalaya – The Red Panda…

It was an arduous climb up and down the Himalaya at the foothills of Kanchendzonga. But it was all well worth the effort. Now in Sikkim to photograph the Rhododendron flowers which are in full blossom at the moment.
here’s an image of what they look like in Sandakphu – with a background of the snow-capped Kanchendzonga mountain range…

More about everything later…
Another month of travel to go before heading back to Bangalore

For now – quick news update -
Mountains of the Monsoon is all set to release on Mutual of Omaha’s – Wild Kingdom shown on Animal Planet US – Sunday 18th April 7PM. Do spread the word…

Here’s a link to the trailer:

If you’d like to learn/read more about the Western Ghats – the region where this documentary was filmed and also the inspiration behind getting this film commissioned check out – Sahyadris – India’s Western Ghats – A Vanishing Heritage.

Now I’m off to look for a species of macaque that was very recently described as a new species. It’s called Macaca munzala – Monkey of the deep forest.
More about that when I’m back…

- Sandesh

As wikipedia says, “ Time-lapse photography is a cinematography technique whereby each film frame is captured at a rate much slower than it will be played back. When replayed at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing. Time-lapse photography can be considered to be the opposite of high speed photography.

Processes that would normally appear subtle to the human eye, such as the motion of the sun and stars in the sky, become very pronounced. Time-lapse is the extreme version of the cinematography technique of undercranking, and can be confused with stop motion animation.”

So here’s a compilation of timelapses produced on various models of Canon DSLR’s over the various projects and years that I’ve been working in the western ghats.

Visit FelisTV for more videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/feliscreationsindia

Believe people when they tell you that sighting a tiger in the wild is a monumental experience. Believe the poems and stories that put tigers on an elevated pedestal. Believe me when I say that having a wild tiger at your home is an ordeal that can provide you with goosebumps that refuse to leave you for a long, long time.

Camera traps showed that the male tiger had female companionship. A litter is inevitable. Happy mating, guys. May the Anekaadu tiger heritage become illimitable in the years to come!

Siddarth Reddy is an ardent birdwatcher and a keen naturalist with a passion to learn about the natural world around him. He enjoys writing about his travel and escapades and is a Felis Associate.

It started out with Alexander Frater’s Chasing the Monsoon. And so I’d spent the last few years chasing Cherapunji. Finally the alarm bells rang. 5: 30 a.m. Time to wake up and finally head to Cherapunji.
The taxi driver decided to remind me of that old Indian Standard Time joke. It wasn’t funny. Neither was the birdless morning and the 2 degree cold. It was surprising that I was surrounded by beautiful coniferous forests yet there wasn’t a single bird chirping me up. It seemed true that the locals did really devour all that moved. Finally I bundled into the car and started out at 8. The beginning of the journey only added more to Shillong’s size and did nothing to lift my spirits.
All that changed the moment we crossed a quintessential pretty, mountain bridge and turned the ridge. A deep valley unveiled itself, typical of Meghalaya postcards. Complete with green from grasslands and forests, right up to steep cliffs that adorned the edges. It still lacked any bird life, but the binoculars did reveal tiny houses perched in remote corners of the opposite vastness. We sped along the snake like road that clung on to the hill side, scared of falling down under. Zigging and zagging from the top of one valley, across the ridge, into another and so on. And then, the first signs of familiarity. What the books had showed, lay just off the road on the side, with the typical Indian view point. Doted by small kids selling cha, biscuits and every other knick knack that the discerning Indian family might have forgotten to bring along. However the sight beyond was anything but ordinary. The valley was beautifully shielded by two massive cliff walls that ran straight to the horizon. The valley fell snug in the middle until it opened up into the plains of Bangladesh. A few waterfalls still hung around. I could only imagine the splendour of this place, post monsoon. It was breathtaking already.
Time was moving a tad faster and I had to rush. After all the point, was my 9 0 clock appointment for river canyoning just past Cherrapunji town. It was half past 9 already. We went around the town rather than through it and soon descended another gorgeous valley. Somewhere in this vastness was the little village of Mawshomak and its big significance was the little gully that turned off to Tyrna. My date venue. Hardly 600 metres down a steep decline. The church stood proud and out. Making itself clear in the midst of a jungle of green. We were on the southern ridge of the mountain, having descended a few hundred metres.
It was here I met the guide. I had previously envisioned an ancient tribe with ancient names and was hoping to come back with one of Russel Peter’s funny names with a click in it. Meet Wesley. My 19 year old guide from the same ancient Khasi tribe. A short ride further and we started our unknowingly ardous hike.
We clambered down over 3000 steps. Cemented in the name of development. I did develop a pain in the knee. It seemed like we were going straight down. Woodpeckers did call from afar to give me some hope though on the way to the village at the bottom of the stairs. There was but little life despite the lush jungles. At the village I was further surprised as bird calls hung about the air. To my dismay I found little baskets ornately hung from the corner of each house and inside were Ashy Bulbuls. So that’s where they all went I thought.
We continued further communicating in broken English. The one of two languages my guide knew. A reminder of the richness of this jungle soon showed, with a Large Indian Civet scurrying about in the village plantation. As it disappeared the guide explained how most wildlife disappeared at the first sight of humans thanks to the rich hunting traditions. The forest and plantations played hide and seek while the only constant was a myriad of butterflies and orchids galore. Descending further, we finally came upon the river. A quiant, quiet spot that instantly relieved all the effort of having made it down. Tall mountains rose majestically on either side. A crystal clear pool lay mesmerizing between large boulders that sheltered this river. Freshening up, I readied myself for 2 hours of canyoning. Which basically entailed clambering from boulder to boulder and rock to rock all along the river.

We set out and I soon felt the magic of all my dreams culminate. This was something I’d been yearning to do. Lush jungles enveloped both sides of the bank. We couldn’t see far ahead but behind, the peaks towered over us like a lighthouse, reminding us where we had just come from. The beauty of the jungle over came the lack of wildlife it showed. Two hours of cliff hanging, wall hugging, jumping, hopping and skipping flaunted the beauty of the river far away from public eyes. We rested one last time at the end of the canyoning. And I thought of a country song. “Toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world got a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today.” Perfect though the beer was missing. It was time to head back. Or up as i would soon find out. A wire bridge dangled dangerously over the river. Apparently it was these bridges that were the life line of these tribes. I bravely crossed mindless of the endeavours that lay ahead. Remember those majestic mountains that rose on either side. Well we were headed straight up over 6000 old stone steps. I gave up counting after a few hundred. More because I was out of breath and out of shape. Keeping my eyes down I chanced upon my biggest find of the trip. Scat. Never in my life would I have thought I would be so excited to see signs of scat. Or poop. Or shit. But the couple of samples I spotted was a good indicator at the wildlife these jungles houses. Mysterious cats seemed to thrive here. Though a chance encounter would not materialize immediately.     And so I huffed and puffed, slowly but surely all the way to the top. Over 2 hours and over 6000 steps. I rested atop the stairs, surrounded by lush jungle, as it slowly faded into the horizon. The mighty Khasi hills with all its secrets lay before my eyes. It sure felt great to be chasing dreams.

Abilash is a writer/photographer and is currently working as an intern with Felis. At the moment he is exploring the wilds of Arunachal Pradesh.

A good bit of content has been added here already – everything from educational videos produced for the Gorgas Science Foundation’s outreach program to clips of Indian wildlife and excerpts from the latest documentary programs we’ve been busy working on. Every month we are going to attempt to upload a new video related to nature – some may be a bit boring…. but educational and some fun but pointless. We appreciate your patronage, comments and feedback and look forward to actively uploading videos that will help inspire people to conserve the beautiful and wondrous natural world around us, thereby living up to the company’s motto – We Create to Conserve!

In the latest video, we’ve put together a showreel of sorts combining footage from the latest films and travel. Showreel edited by Chinmay Rane.