[sach.sri]

With this it was time to head to the jungle for afternoon Safari. As we enter the jungle there is a man made waterhole - that they call a saucer which is frequented by a pack of dhols (Indian Wild dog).

I had been looking out to get to see the dhols and this time we were lucky a pack of dhols was resting in shade a little distance away from the saucer. However, the distance was very big and we could not get any good shots, only a record shot.

Dhol - record shot


Proceeding further we saw some great birds. Our route for this Safari had Junewani while returning, so we wanted to reach there in hope of seeing a tiger. We also had pyothari which was badi maa territory and there were chances of see her with her litter. However, the jungle was silent and we did not get a darshan from badi maa.



Honey buzzard


Honey buzzard


Eurasian thicknee




Open billed storks







Now, with the time nearing 6.30 pm we headed towards Junewani. On reaching Junewani - we could see some other gypsys waiting there and the guide pointing towards water mentioning Tiger! Great! we reached the spot - but the tiger was very far away and light was fading very quickly making it very difficult getting a good shot - i did manage some and also used flash in desparation.

Tiger - drinking water. This guy is blue eyed

I am proud of this shot - this was taken hand held. ISO - 400 and shutter speed - 1/15


Same shot - closeup


Look at the hugs paws. Taken handled w/o flash




This would have been an awesome shot, if only there was more light. This is at ISO 800

[fazalaliadil]

Sachin,

Magnificent array of birds in this trip, very well captured.
The Baghin nala tigress with her cubs is a treat to watch, she is so attentive, always on the look out.

The hand held tiger has come out superbly still, you are lucky there was no subject movement then. What was the focal length when you were shooting hand held?

As for the blue eyes...could it be the gene from the white tiger's?
Cubs born from white X yellow parents are full white or full yellow in the same litter, some of the yellow cubs get blue eyes but not vice versa.
There have been no white tigers born in the wild since Rewa, could it be a very old throw back gene thats doing the rounds?

Pench is a beautiful park with a very diverse range of animals for a reserve of this size, you nearly got hem all.

Kindly update me on the gear in use.
Regards,

[nilanjanray]

Very nice bird pictures Sach! I did only one safari in Pench last year, would have loved to spend more time.

Rating 5*****s.

[sach.sri]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Sachin,

Magnificent array of birds in this trip, very well captured.
The Baghin nala tigress with her cubs is a treat to watch, she is so attentive, always on the look out.

The hand held tiger has come out superbly still, you are lucky there was no subject movement then. What was the focal length when you were shooting hand held?

As for the blue eyes...could it be the gene from the white tiger's?
Cubs born from white X yellow parents are full white or full yellow in the same litter, some of the yellow cubs get blue eyes but not vice versa.
There have been no white tigers born in the wild since Rewa, could it be a very old throw back gene thats doing the rounds?

Pench is a beautiful park with a very diverse range of animals for a reserve of this size, you nearly got hem all.

Kindly update me on the gear in use.
Regards,

I agree - i was lucky that there was no subject movement. The focal lenth was 5.6. I have a 100-400L 4.5 to 5.6 lens and CAnon 7D.

ABout the blue eyes - your theory is quite interesting. BTW, recently - 2 white cubs were born to a tigress in Bandhavgarh. So this is our chance to see white tigers in the wild

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Very nice bird pictures Sach! I did only one safari in Pench last year, would have loved to spend more time.

Rating 5*****s.

Thanks Nilanjan. Pench is surely a birders paradise with wide variety of birds and for 4 safaris our naturalist was a birder and so we had the opportunity of notice and click so many birds.

[sach.sri]

Wednesday - 30/05/2012

This was our second last Safari in Pench with the afternoon being off and we got to see some beautiful birds and also rare. Let the pics to the talking


Beautiful Jungle Hare


Malabar Hornbill - they say it is a rare find








Yellow wettled Lapwig




Shaheen Falcon (Falco peregrinus peregrinator), also known as the Indian Peregrine Falcon eating its lunch.






This was the end of our Safari and our afternoon was dedicated to birding from our balcony capturing the little birds that come to drink water and cool off.

to be contd...

[sach.sri]

The resort had some white pigeons which fascinated my son - captured some of them.










Birds from our balcony.

Tickle blue flycatcher




Red vented bulbul


Black drongo


Shikra


Little yellow bird - need help in ID


Black headed oriole




Delightful little green bird - dont know its name. Can someone help?






Drongo


Green bird - with droplets of water


Golden Oriole


Golden fronted leafbird


Brahminy Myna chick


Our last Safari was much of the same - i did get some more shots of malabar hornbill and bison up close. But the highlight (or lowlight) of that Safari was the "Tiger show". While we were in the jungle - we came to know that the mahauts had sighted a tiger and tiger show would be organised. We registered ourselves and waited for our chance - a lot of VIPs and their families were also there. When we finally got our chance - it was a anti-climax. The mahaut took the elephant to the place - a tiger was resting in a shade behind some bushes and before we could pull out our cameras, he took a U turn and took us back. So much for tiger sighting!

Anyways - with that we came to the end of our stay in Pench and were to goto Tadoba for 4 Safaris there.

Tadoba has been in news for the number of tiger sightings and we were hoping that our luck would hold there as well - well it did! We got to see a spectacle that not a lot of people have seen and something that we will cherish for the rest of our lives!

We saw a tiger hunting a wild boar - and what made it more special was that it was supposedly the first kill by this tiger cub

More on this in my next TL on Tadoba!

[vibbs]

Great thread Sach and amazingly crisp photos. Nice camera you have and more importantly a good eye behind the lens. The big cat is just so magnificent. With so many Tiger sightings by people here on Tbhp, I think its high time I headed to the forest to catch a glimpse of my favorite beast.

[sach.sri]

Originally Posted by vibbs

Great thread Sach and amazingly crisp photos. Nice camera you have and more importantly a good eye behind the lens. The big cat is just so magnificent. With so many Tiger sightings by people here on Tbhp, I think its high time I headed to the forest to catch a glimpse of my favorite beast.

Thanks Vibbs. Definitely if you are interested in wildlife and jungles, plan a trip! It is amazing how good one feels in the jungle and if you get to sight a Tiger nothing like it!