[sach.sri]

Originally Posted by Night_Hawk

Very Interesting narration and good pictures. After going through your TL i am eager to visit Tadoba, Pench and Bandhavgarh. But, general advise i get is to postpone the trip to summer for better sightings. What say ?

Thanks night_hawk.

Well - it depends on the objective of the trip. While it is true that in summer months the chances of sighting big game (read Tiger) increase due to scarcity of water and known waterholes frequented by the animals - it does not guarantee a tiger sighting. Infact, this time in summers i did not have any "increased" sightings while in Ranthambhore as the previous monsoons were good and there was plentiful water available.


To me, even though Tigers are a huge draw - i also like just to be in the jungle, and a jungle post monsoon and on cold winter mornings - all misty and wet with dew is an awesome spectacle.

Summers are good times to do Safaris also for the reason that there will be less tourists during summer. However, also consider the fact that during summers - the window of sightings reduces - as the animals dont like to come out during the day in the heat and hence only early mornings or late afternoons.

But yes, in general - if you live away and cannot do frequent trips - i guess it is good to go during summers.

I am also trying to plan for a trip to MP reserves during next summer, let us see

BTW - check out the team-bhp meets section for a very interesting proposition put up by Dr. Abheek Ghosh for Tadoba and Pench during Diwali period. It might interest you.

[Ram_NP]

Sach_sri, Looking forward to pictures of your recent visit.

Myself along with office colleagues are planning to visit Sariska this November, so the pics are eagerly awaited.

[sach.sri]

Originally Posted by Ram_NP

Sach_sri, Looking forward to pictures of your recent visit.

Myself along with office colleagues are planning to visit Sariska this November, so the pics are eagerly awaited.

Thanks Ram_NP. I am working on processing the pics and will post soon.
For your trip to Sariska, PM me if you need help/information.

[gd1418]

Saw the pictures Sachin. Are there any more? The beetle pictures are not Macro but close-ups.

And why is the deer picture overexposed?

[sach.sri]

Originally Posted by gd1418

Saw the pictures Sachin. Are there any more? The beetle pictures are not Macro but close-ups.

And why is the deer picture overexposed?

Back on the forum after a long time. Was a little busy. so could not respond earlier - sorry.

The deer pic is worked on - i increased contrast and saturation just to bring out the green more. The original pic is like this



And yes, there are more pics - i just was not able to get around to processing them yet. Will do so in near future and update.

P.S:- My cousin went to Sariska on 20th Oct - he had a ST2 sighting as well as 3 jungle cats! among others

[gd1418]

The original looks a bit more better & natural.

Originally Posted by sach.sri

The deer pic is worked on - i increased contrast and saturation just to bring out the green more. The original pic is like this.

Lucky cousin. Jungle cats, very rare to see. Very lucky. Some guys have all the luck, I must say. Can you post the pictures of the jungle cats if your cousin had clicked?

Originally Posted by sach.sri

P.S:- My cousin went to Sariska on 20th Oct - he had a ST2 sighting as well as 3 jungle cats! among others

[sach.sri]

It had been a long time since I went to Sariska, more than a month .
So decided to plan for a trip again - this time, also planned to make it a company affair and have my colleagues along with me on this trip - to introduce them to the jungle and its charms.

It was a nice trip - and the highlight was - Leopard sighting. We saw 2 leopards - male and female playing with each other. IT was a sighting unlike what i had heard of leopards - they were not afraid to come out in the open and we had a good uninterrupted sighting and at the end had to leave them to go as it was nearing exit timing.

One sample pic - till i can sort out others.

I call this one - Sphinx.

[deky]

Beautiful photo, love the stance of the leopard!! Definitely a prize catch, waiting for more!!

[lordofgondor]

That's one helluva capture of the stealthiest big cat. Ever since I saw them jumping down on their clueless (and helpless) from tall branches, I've been dreaming of seeing one in wild. Will wait for your stories to unfold.

[sach.sri]

Originally Posted by deky

Beautiful photo, love the stance of the leopard!! Definitely a prize catch, waiting for more!!

Thanks. Indeed i love it too - somehow it brings out the grace of the cat.

Originally Posted by lordofgondor

That's one helluva capture of the stealthiest big cat. Ever since I saw them jumping down on their clueless (and helpless) from tall branches, I've been dreaming of seeing one in wild. Will wait for your stories to unfold.

Thank you for liking it. Will try to sort the images and upload as soon as possible.

[sach.sri]

It had been a long time since I last went to Sariska. It was in Oct that i had gone to Sariska on an extended trip - which did not yield any sightings of the big cats and we came back with memories of a green and dense jungle after rains.

That trip was also my first time in the club Mahindra property at Thana Ghazi - and it was also a different experience living in tents and being the only people in the resort during weekdays.

Work kept me occupied for the rest of OCt and Nov, and I did not get any chance to indulge in my passion of being in the jungle. Then it was time for our annual office party.

A colleague floated the idea of visiting a wildlife sanctuary for the event and upon discussions with everyone - it was finalised.

We decided to goto Sariska as it is the nearest one from Gurgaon and a weekend trip to Sariska is an ideal way to unwind.

Logistics were taken care of and on the appointed day - 17th Dec, we started for Sariska at 7 am. It took us 5 hrs to reach Sariska. We had our booking in Sariska palace.

Upon reaching the hotel and checking in, all of us were very dissapointed by the quality of the rooms and we raised it with the management. Luckily for us, we were upgraded to "Royal Suites" in Sariska palace.

These rooms are really nice and give you a feeling of the bygone era and a taste of how the high and mighty lived .














After checking in and having lunch, we left for our jungle Safari. It was Saturday evening and Sariska palace was choc-o-block. Per Harisingh at least 30 gypsys had entered the jungle for safari. This does not include the private vehicles that are allowed on Saturdays for their trip to Pandupol (an ancient Hanuman temple inside the Sanctuary).

Legend has it that the Pandvas spent their exile in this place and there is a rock with a parting in middle which was created by Bhima by his gada.

[sach.sri]

Harisingh had information that the mighty ST6 and ST3 are together and they are near the Kabri gate area. So it was decided that we will head towards this place.

First we visited the waterhole - where you can see crocodiles sunning themselves and today was no exception. We saw two crocodiles lying on the shore and enjoying the sun. Somehow, whenever i have seen the crocodiles - it has always been 2 crocodiles!















I specially like the following set - with a herd of deer drinking water and eating salt and one more herd on its way towards the waterhole



















Some more pictures in the jungle

changeable hawk eagle




We were three gypsys and all of us started towards Kabri gate - in between the vehicles got separated often taking different tracks to work their way towards Kabri gate.

We also met other gypsys - one of which had spotted 2 leopards - a male and a female together. This was good news as we started anticipating an encounter with the leopards as well. How nice would it be to spot a leopard as well as a tiger - I have never seen a leopard and it would really make my day. If only wishes were horses.....

We reached Kali ghati - however today the Director of jungle deptt was in Kalighati and this meant - no information from the jungle guards about the movement or location of the tigers.

We then proceeded towards Kabri gate based on previous information and in the way met a WII gypsy that is tasked with tracking the tigers and ensuring that the reports which jungle guards provide are accurate.

Khagesh was in this gypsy (he has joined WII) - and Harisingh consulted with Khagesh, who in turn confirmed that ST6 and ST3 are indeed in the same location.
This information lightened us and brought good cheer to the company. Till now the other 2 vehicles had also caught up with us and all of us stopped near the location where the guards were getting signals of ST3.

But the jungle was quiet and there were no calls, no nothing - pointing to the fact that the tigers are not on move.
After staying there for some time, it was nearing the time to exit the jungle - we started back towards Kalighati. Reached Kalighati without any incident - took a break in Kalighati - and then started back towards the exit gate. Ran into a spotted deer with awesome antlers and a sambhar deer on the roadside - giving a perfect portrait opportunity and also jackals. Tried to do something artistic - with one of the jackal pictures. I like the result (the first of jackal pictures)

[Subrat Seet]

Fantastic captures. So much of variety. Liked the Leopard picture. Just one question. Did you use camera flash for the tiger picture because the eyes are burn out. If so please stop using flash, as the animals can go blind temporarily or permanently.

[sach.sri]

Originally Posted by Subrat Seet

Fantastic captures. So much of variety. Liked the Leopard picture. Just one question. Did you use camera flash for the tiger picture because the eyes are burn out. If so please stop using flash, as the animals can go blind temporarily or permanently.

Thanks Subrat. Yes - unfortunately in the tiger pics, i did use flash accidentally.

normally i dont use flash - but that day lighting was very low and i was not getting correct exposure. In desperation, i clicked a couple of pics in auto mode and got the flash.

it was only when i looked at the EXIF of the pics later did i realize that ISO set to 100 was the culprit.

[Subrat Seet]

Originally Posted by sach.sri

Thanks Subrat. Yes - unfortunately in the tiger pics, i did use flash accidentally.

normally i dont use flash - but that day lighting was very low and i was not getting correct exposure. In desperation, i clicked a couple of pics in auto mode and got the flash.

it was only when i looked at the EXIF of the pics later did i realize that ISO set to 100 was the culprit.

Thank you so much for the reply. I can understand the situation, when tiger sighting happens. However, being an wildlife lover, lets avoid this in future. Happy clicking.

Subrat