[sach.sri]

o teri......

What pictures, the one with two cubs together is totally and absolutely breathtaking!

very very nice - and the pics by Abheek, too good.

bring them on... what is the equipment used? Your reach is excellent - as the Telia tanka #2 was not so near the road and they did not allow vehicles to go near it when i was there ? Or do they now?

Rating 5* specially for the two cubs pic!

[VindyWheels]

Another hair-raising t-logue from the "king of the jungles"

Next time you decide to do the jump in a lonely highway, pls keep the camera in self timer mode - why should the sheeps have all the fun?

The 2 cubs taking identical steps floored me too - fantastic timing.

Cheers

Vindy

[nilanjanray]

Thanks guys. And thanks Abheek for sharing the wonderful monsoon pictures! Yes, I realized later that it sounds like an Anderson book... originally I was planning to name the thread 'Tigers of Tadoba', but decided on the current name on the spur of the moment.

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

@Nilanjan, do not remember, are you on Nikon or Canon?

I use a Nikon D90 with a 70-300mm VRII Nikkor lens. Not the latest and greatest, but I try to use what I have to the fullest.

Originally Posted by gd1418

Graet narration, awesome pictures. And this picture, by far, is the best. Almost tempted to ask you for the RAW image to make a big blow-up for my room.

Thanks. I was shooting JPEG in this trip, since I was planning to take many photos. If you want the original JPEG, let me know.

---------------
1st safari, 2.45 - 6.45 pm



I was sharing the Gypsy with 3 other people. We left the resort at 2.30pm, and went to Kolara gate, which is 200m from the resort. Tadoba has a random guide allotment system, and we got a guide whose name was Pancham. Decent guy. The gate opened at 2.45pm, and we were inside! Everything was brown and red, with some splashes of green. For the first few kms the track leads to a village. The Government is trying to relocate 4 villages inside Tadoba.This particular village is one of the four. Cats regularly lift cattle from the village, but don't attack humans.

I know that regular human killings happen in Tadoba-Andhari, but when I asked the guide and the driver, they didn't give clear answers. In any case, it was apparent that most human attacks happen in the buffer zone. In the core area, due to relative abundance of prey, cats seldom attack humans. Though there have been 4 deaths from Kolara village when people went inside the forest to collect firewood etc. This I came to know later.

After crossing the village the track takes a right turn. I was initially surprised at the lack of herbivores. For the first 15 mins we didn't see anything except a solitary langoor. Then we saw a few Sambhars. I was hoping that my luck would be as good as the folks' who have visited Tadoba in May. One of my fellow passengers carrying a D7000 with a 70-200mm f/2.8 Sigma with a 1.4X TC. The rest were carrying P&S cameras. The two DSLR guys were sitting at the back. We made sure that we familiarized ourselves with the layout - the stepney was lying on the floor, and was wobbly. Made sure that we knew where to place our feet and how to turn in a split second.







After 30 mins we came to a tar road leading to Moharli. Didn't seem like core area - it seemed like the usual jungle roads I drive through. However, I knew that this was a high propensity road for tiger sightings. After some kms, saw a few vehicles lined up on the road. So double checked the camera, and got ready. In fact, everytime we sensed that a big cat was nearby, it was like 'soldiers, ready arms...' - rifles cocked/ safety removed, ready to snapshoot.







A huge male was lying in a waterhole. The Wagdow male, quite a stud - he is supposed to have fathered multiple litters in one season. During 2012 summer, he ends up spending a few days with the Telia family (tigress + 4 cubs) , and the next few days with his Wagdow family (tigress + 3 cubs). My fellow passenger - who is from a well known rock band in India, and passionate about wildlife - named him Vicky Donor.

So this guy looked at us, got up, again lay down, yawned, and finally went near a clump of bamboos to take a nap. We knew that the cibs were likely to be around. Now especially on this road, the forest guards don't allow a vehicle to stdn in front of a tiger for more than a few minutes - that is, if the guard is around. So we would have sighting for a few minutes, go ahead, reverse, and then join the tiger sighting queue at the back. Innstead of doing this a few times, we decided to check out a nearby waterhole and come back.

When we came back, I could see a lot of commotion and excitement among the vehicles. When we were in position, we saw the Telia cubs - 4 of them!!









The next 30 mins were spent in jockeying for position, taking photos and standing in queue for direct sightings. When we again got to opposite the waterhole, we were blessed for 5 mins. The cubs came out of the waterhole, and started playing - stalking, mock fighting, charging, clawing the trees....











This was the first time that I have seen tiger cubs playing in the wild, so it was a special moment for me. Incidentally, I have held a lion cub in my hands in Orissa Nandankanan (and a cobra and a python) - this was when I was less than 10 years old .











I liked this particular sequence of 4 shots: managed to capture a tiger (cub) in motion:









On the way back, we saw some wild dogs. A pup came pretty close, so got some snaps. Saw a nice sunset as we were coming out of the gate. Came back to the resort happy and tired, after having ingested some 500gms of dust. I chatted with the other folks for a while, and then went inside to take a nap before dinner - I was exhausted after having driven throughout the previous night.









Always try to stay in a resort that has good AC and power back-up when going to Central India in the summer!

And finally, a photo of the Bison.



Btw folks, this was probably my best safari - in terms of photo opps - in the entire trip, so keep your expectations in check for the subsequent safaris :-)

[fazalaliadil]

Nilanjanray,

When others are content with the reversed equation (14 tigers and 1 bison) you got some marvelous photographs. Apart from the number of big cats, the diverse wildlife has been captured very well.

Especially, love the motion capture of the tiger in leaps, in super sharp frames.
Tadoba, this year was where the party was, hope the same happens in other reserves and parks of India in the coming years, of course minus the unfortunate 3 tigers that we will never see.
Regards,

[nilanjanray]

Thanks Fazal.

It is not the number of tiger sightings, but the quality of sightings that are important. Still, 14 unique tigers in one trip was unexpected.

There will be more tigers next year - given the number of cubs this summer - than Tadoba can bear. Some will die due to territorial fights. Others could turn into man killers in the buffer zones. Not sure what the solution is for Tadoba. Maybe a few can be recloated.

@ Sach: sorry, missed your question. Regarding Telia Tanka #2: they allow vehicles to park on the left side of the road. The tank is on the right side of the road, some 40-50feet back, as you know. Some of the photos were taken at long distance and are cropped - I didn't have the luxury of being closes to the tigers all the time.

[Surprise]

I knew whats there in the store as soon as I read the thread starter handle ~ nilanjanray. Expectations went high with subject capturing the number of tigers spotted....One of the best threads capturing the tigers. Thanks for sharing it

[sudev]

Lovely pictures and narration.

Right now I am travelling - meandering - to Vizag and I am sure tempted to switch my journey to go via Nagour instead of Hyderabad and spend a day at Tadoba.

[Driving_Nomad]

Bee-u-tiful (to say it the Ravi Shastri way) pictures!! It's raining tiger sightings on the forum and especially at Tadoba. It's tempting me to think of quickly making a trip. I dare not miss to say that they are some of the most "Awesome " pictures. Thanks for an eye-feast!

[arulpeem]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Thanks Fazal.

It is not the number of tiger sightings, but the quality of sightings that are important. Still, 14 unique tigers in one trip was unexpected.

There will be more tigers next year - given the number of cubs this summer - than Tadoba can bear. Some will die due to territorial fights. Others could turn into man killers in the buffer zones. Not sure what the solution is for Tadoba. Maybe a few can be recloated.

@ Sach: sorry, missed your question. Regarding Telia Tanka #2: they allow vehicles to park on the left side of the road. The tank is on the right side of the road, some 40-50feet back, as you know. Some of the photos were taken at long distance and are cropped - I didn't have the luxury of being closes to the tigers all the time.

Hi Nilanjanray,
This is a once in a life time experience and is like hitting a multi million dollar jack pot. I am very glad that you were able to enjoy every moment of it and as well capture them very well too. I suppose you will have them printed in large size to adorn your living room walls.

[sach.sri]

the pictures turn only more magical and beautiful. You were lucky to get tiger cubs playing around in the afternoon heat - or maybe the couple of showers have cooled it down. When we were there, the cubs generally used to keep tying down in the heat Beautifully captured! I am loving it, tarapapapaaa....

[W.A.G.7]

Truly magical and amazing pics. Words cannot describe it, you've got some really amazing photos. My personal favourite was the one in which, one cub was hugging the other one (dsc_4633 I think). Speaks a lot of emotions and words in that one gesture!!

2 of my observations, in both your pictures as well as during my own trip:

** Initially after entering the forest, you hardly get to see any deer anywhere. This I found a bit surprising, normally in any forest you get to see hordes of spotted deer. But here there were hardly any deer to be seen around.

** For some reason, I found that the afternoon safari yielded more animals and pictures as compared to the morning one. I had thought it would be vice-versa due to the heat, but it seems that there was apparently more sighting in the afternoon part of the day.

Super travelogue as well, thoroughly enjoyed reading it !

[ranjitp1]

Superb photographs-Respect

Apart lovely writeup as well.Loved the sequence of the cub in motion and the picture of your fortuner.

Was your return drive a non-stop one as well?

Thanks for sharing.

[noopster]

Nilanjan- beautiful pictures- some of your best yet! Take a bow.

I have yet to see a tiger in the wild, though have spotted leopards at Borivali National Park in college. Maybe one of these trips I hop into the Bison and join you eh? For old times' sake!

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by sudev

Lovely pictures and narration.

Right now I am travelling - meandering - to Vizag and I am sure tempted to switch my journey to go via Nagour instead of Hyderabad and spend a day at Tadoba.

Originally Posted by Driving_Nomad

It's tempting me to think of quickly making a trip.

Thanks Sudev, Driving_Nomad! You should try and do a trip this year before June 30th, like I did - next year the sightings might not be so good.

What brings you down South, Sudev? If you were coming to Bangalore, and were free for a day, perhaps we could have done a quick trip to + some offroading in the Nilgiris.

Originally Posted by arulpeem

Hi Nilanjanray,
This is a once in a life time experience and is like hitting a multi million dollar jack pot. ...I suppose you will have them printed in large size to adorn your living room walls.

Yes agree - I didn't expect such luck before I went, though I hoped. I actually haven't posted a single wildlife photo in my house yet, but I am thinking of doing so...quite a few photos till now - mainly elephants, and now tigers.

Originally Posted by sach.sri

the pictures turn only more magical and beautiful. You were lucky to get tiger cubs playing around in the afternoon heat - or maybe the couple of showers have cooled it down.

Thanks Sach. All 3 afternoon safaris were lucky for me - the first one for the playing cubs, the other two for seeing the entire family cross the road together.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Truly magical and amazing pics. Words cannot describe it, you've got some really amazing photos. My personal favourite was the one in which, one cub was hugging the other one (dsc_4633 I think). Speaks a lot of emotions and words in that one gesture!!

Thanks W.A.G. 7...the cubs actually reminded me of puppies playing together

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Was your return drive a non-stop one as well?
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Ranjit for the appreciation and for the help. yes, return journey was non-stop too - apart from food and more jumping jack type breaks. Again, a night drive.

Originally Posted by noopster

Nilanjan- beautiful pictures- some of your best yet! Take a bow.

I have yet to see a tiger in the wild, though have spotted leopards at Borivali National Park in college. Maybe one of these trips I hop into the Bison and join you eh? For old times' sake!

Thanks dude. Will let you know next time. I am trying to push the idea of Corbett + Kaladundhi + Pangot to the folks who went with me to Kanha/Bandhavgarh last year. Sometime in November.

[raghunandanj]

Fantastic ! Your photos are to die for ! Keep up the good work ! I was amazed to see the mother and cubs maintain so much proximity to the safari vehicles !

Not just an overdose of the tiger, you've had your luck on the other two apex predators, the leopard and dhole as well ! Great !

When is the best time to visit this place ?