[RoadTrippin]

Incredible pictures. Thanks for sharing and congrats on an incredibly rare sighting. A Black Panther in the wild is a lifer for me. Very envious.

[mpksuhas]

Superb pics as usual.

Yes, blue jay in flight is an amazing sight. I am yet to get a proper inflight clear pic of the same. Have many when either wings are folded or picture is shaky.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by Memnon

Do you think the safari driver really matters in terms of the zones they select and take you to? or is it just pure luck ?

Thanks Memnon. The safari drivers do not decide which zone to take you to. It is a fixed roster based on your room number and the zones always alternate for each safari. As usual, both zones offer equal opportunities for sightings. The Dark Lord is in Zone A, however. When it comes to sightings pure luck plays a role as in any other walk of life, but mostly it happens due to proper planning, anticipation and tracking alarm calls. In Kabini at least, almost all the safari drivers are very good and have been at the job for several years.

Originally Posted by R4m4kr15hn4n

I have seen the Sloth Bear once before, but never the big cats. Maybe next time when I will get lucky.

Thanks Ramakrishnan. The secret of being lucky is to try and try again!

Originally Posted by kannan666

Wow, superb photographs with a nice write up to go with it as well - Thanks for sharing !

Thanks Kannan666.

Originally Posted by RoadTrippin

Thanks for sharing and congrats on an incredibly rare sighting. A Black Panther in the wild is a lifer for me. Very envious.

Thanks RoadTrippin. I too have always been envious of those who have sighted the black leopard (or panther, if you want) but no more.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

I am yet to get a proper inflight clear pic of the same. Have many when either wings are folded or picture is shaky.

Thanks Suhas. If only you can see how many pictures I have of the roller that are blurred, sharp but partially in the frame, etc. In fact, I have some where the bird is not in the frame at all! So as I said above, the secret is to shoot a lot. This is where the higher FPS of the D500 is better than my old D7200. A D5 with its 14 FPS is even better, but the cost is prohibitive.

[libranof1987]

Lovely travelogue and what a treat to watch that majestic animal!

Interesting co-incidence that there is an article on this species in the news. You are incredibly lucky to have sighted this, the only person luckier seems to be Prakash :

Whispers of sightings of the elusive black leopard have long swirled around central Kenya, and scientists have now confirmed its presence there with a series of rare images taken by camera traps.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/elus...-shows-1993264

[darklord]

Superb photos. I particularly liked the yawning one.

Incidentally:
Rare 'black panther' photographed for first time in a century

The Dark Lord is a handsome beast, isn't he?

[varunanb]

Congratulations on sighting the Dark Lord and wonderful pictures. It keeps eluding us still. If I had kept in touch and planned along with your dates I could have been lucky too. This will haunt me till I sight him. We need to keep trying until he decides to give us an attendance.

May be like you said we need to plan 2 nights at Kabini. Usually do one night here and the other at Bandipur. So have to change the pattern for next few trips and check our luck. I always believe the best safari is the next safari.

[toppor]

What a fantastic travelogue to read and begin the Friday morning at work.
This surely made my day! The pictures are fantastic.
I've never been to Kabini, but your post does make it sound very promising.

Could you please help a little with the rates over there for the stay and safari?

[Deep Blue]

Wow!. A million thanks for those fantastic pictures of the black panther.

There could not be a better gift for Team bhp's birthday. You affirm why the teambhp family is so awesome. The forum is such a treasure trove of knowledge and experiences.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Interesting co-incidence that there is an article on this species in the news.

Thanks libranof1987. I'm certainly not in Burrard-Lucas's class when it comes to wildlife photography, but it is good to see that the black leopard is being seen in Africa too. The landscape there is not suited for this particular mutation as it offers no advantage and may in fact be a disadvantage, so seeing one there is nice.

Originally Posted by darklord

The Dark Lord is a handsome beast, isn't he?

Thanks, darklord . Yes he is a handsome beast. Nice co-incidence on the names, hey?

Originally Posted by varunanb

I always believe the best safari is the next safari.

Thanks, varunanb. This is the "asha bhavane" I was talking about. Always believe!

Originally Posted by toppor

Could you please help a little with the rates over there for the stay and safari?

Thanks toppor. Kabini has about a hundred resorts to suit every budget, from dormitories to pleasure palaces. However, since safaris are the only reason why you'd want to go there, I recommend you stay at the Kabini River Lodge run by Jungle Lodges and Resorts, a Govt. of Karnataka enterprise. For tarrif and booking you can visit their website which offers all details.

Originally Posted by Deep Blue

You affirm why the teambhp family is so awesome. The forum is such a treasure trove of knowledge and experiences.

Thanks Deep Blue. I fully agree with you about the quality of membership here at T-BHP. Happy to be contributing my bit towards it.

[B103]

Nice shots. Congratulations.

My friend told me that this black panther is now the main draw in Kabini and it is bringing in business worth crores.

I was thinking earlier that panther is a species by itself. Came to know very recently that black panther is a genetically mutated leopard itself.

[SJM1214]

Wow! Stryker is back.
What an amazing writeup with an excellent photograph. Thank you very much for these amazing photographs.

Just yesterday, while watching "Mowgli" at Netflix with my 4.1 years old daughter, I explained to her what is Black Panther. Today morning I showed her your pictures. She took my phone and ran to my Dad( her grandpa) saying that" look, Papa! Bagira is real".

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by B103

I was thinking earlier that panther is a species by itself. Came to know very recently that black panther is a genetically mutated leopard itself.

Thanks B103. Many people think that the Black Panther is a separate species by itself. Even I thought so long ago. But Wikipedia educated me very quickly. I think nowadays the answer to anything and everything is online!

Originally Posted by SJM1214

Wow! Stryker is back.
What an amazing writeup with an excellent photograph. Thank you very much for these amazing photographs.

Just yesterday, while watching "Mowgli" at Netflix with my 4.1 years old daughter, I explained to her what is Black Panther. Today morning I showed her your pictures. She took my phone and ran to my Dad( her grandpa) saying that" look, Papa! Bagira is real".

Wow SJM1214! This story made my day! I am very happy to have played a small part in bringing some light and knowledge into a sweet little girl's life. Thanks for showing her my pictures.

[srikrishna717]

What a capture of a sheer beauty ! Majestic animal indeed !

[ghodlur]

Fantastic pics Stryker. The Dark Lord looks majestic. The other clicks were simply wall paperish.

Whats with you and Kabini? Married? Even the flora and fauna must be knowing you very well. So do the animals. I guess they are aware of your photography skills and appear before you to be photographed as if they are on a modelling assignment.

Keep the pics coming guru. Ee upkarakke ondu filter coffee from my side.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by srikrishna717

What a capture of a sheer beauty ! Majestic animal indeed !

Thanks srikrishna717.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Keep the pics coming guru. Ee upkarakke ondu filter coffee from my side.

Thanks ghodlur. Kabini has really become like a second home to me! I love the forest and the staff at JLR are super friendly. And I aim to keep 'em comin'! Oh, filter coffee tumba chennagitthu. Dhanyavada.