[Amsdoc]

Lovely photos!
Not clear from the angles but I think you have marked Eurasian skylark and Hume's short toed lark other way round,.
Amazing pictures of the Pallas's cat! Full family too! I saw only 2 but I almost stepped on one! BTW, it isn't the smallest wild cat in India. That is the Rusty spotted cat

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by Amsdoc

Lovely photos!
Not clear from the angles but I think you have marked Eurasian skylark and Hume's short toed lark other way round,.
Amazing pictures of the Pallas's cat! Full family too! I saw only 2 but I almost stepped on one! BTW, it isn't the smallest wild cat in India. That is the Rusty spotted cat

Thanks for the corrections!

[vinya_jag]

Oh Simply Brilliant. We humans think God looks like us. God possibly looks like one of those animals that you captured

[W.S.T.R.]

WoW & Hats-off to you.

Have been to Ladakh but never imagined this detail, especially the Flora & Fauna, captured by your lens.

Well i would only say, after seeing through these captures, next Ladakh trip for me, would be even more detailed exploration.

Keep safe. Keep travelling.

[Buzzard_storme]

Holy cow

I'm so so jealous jealous jealous right now! Holy cow! You've got the Black-necked Cranes, White-browed Tit warbler, Snowcocks, Golden Eagle, Carrions, Eurasian Magpie, White-throated Dipper, Sandgrouses, Upland Buzzard and add to that Pallas's cat, Tibetan Wolves, Ibex and many more in one go! Wow!

Notable misses from your list were the Solitary Snipe and the Saker Falcon (that are again super rarities) if I can recollect them right!

Incidently, I'm reading this post while wearing my custom made Ladakh Birding 2014 t-shirt (on which we got the Black-necked Crane embroided in Leh)!

10 years back Pallas's cat was as rare as it could get and sighting the snowcocks was like a lottery! We missed the snowcocks, sandgrouses and a few more as we just couldn't track them on our own!

I might end up doing another birding trip to Ladakh next year! Let's see. Can you share the guide details and how he went about his work. Thanks!

[dgoyle]

I am bowled over. It's just wonderful!

[Renaissance Man]

How did you find the Scorpio N compared to the Thar?

Our rental ScorpioN
Attachment 2584549

[sme414]

Superb pics!!! This looks exactly like a painting!!! Thanks for sharing

[justwheels]

Thanks @robimahanta for starting this thread. Oh, what an epic trip it was!

Any trip to the vistas of Ladakh is mesmerizing to say the least. I was fortunate to have visited Ladakh with fellow bhpian @robimahanta and a wonderful photo tour by WildArk (run by a wonderful naturalist).

Robi has covered the details in his opening posts so will not get into similar details, but adding a few pointers and pics from my side. And to be honest, when you have a photographer as talented as @robimahanta with you, it is difficult to do justice to this thread with your own captures, but will try my best with my contribution.

The key highlight of this trip was the high altitude birding and it being my first, it was a revelation. Finding those tiny species of birds in the remotest landscapes of Ladakh was akin to finding a treasure. The group of photographers included 3 doctors, two consultants, a retired gentleman and yours truly. People with such serious day jobs and still be able to be the kid filled with joy when we could capture a clean pic of any of the birds/animals was so joyful for me and their energy surely rubbed onto me during the whole trip.

As we hopped from one location to another every morning around 5 AM, it gave us an opportunity to experience Ladakh in a non touristy way.

While there is so much that can be said about the trip, I will let the pics do the talking. Starting off with the vistas and life in Ladakh pics. Will follow up with the highlight of the tour, the birds and the animals that made it a successful trip.

Lets start with the pics around Leh

The city view in the night from the Shanti Stupa


The view of the Leh Palace from the Bazaar


The quintessential shopping list


The Leh Bazaar in its sunlit avatar


A view of the bazaar from a roof top cafe


The shanti stupa


Beaming moonlight


Views from our hotel in Leh


You can't miss to photograph the mountains from the plane when arriving in Leh


"Other pics in subsequent posts"

[justwheels]

Following up the previous post with some landscape captures of the beautiful Ladakh valley. The valley was a mix of green pastures and barren mountains in its full glory.

Enjoy the below pics:

The famous barren views of Ladakh's high passes


A beautiful geological formations


A random monastery


"Pangong and birding pics to follow"

Another monastery


River streams in their glory





The setting sun lighting up the barren mountains


Sunrays playing hide and seek with trees


Some nice mountains and greens





Flowers look so lovely in these conditions





Our ride and the beautiful roads of Ladakh


Off to Sangam


BRO has done an amazing job with roads


The touristy thing


Loved this place which is a confluence of River Zanskar and Sutlej


Can you spot the ant trail (the army convoy) through the mountain roads


THe horses in natural green pastures


The calf living its life to the fullest at Mirak


Some of the high passes - Warila


Some of the high passes - Changla


August gave us a lot of green and river views


The vistas of Ladakh

[justwheels]

Hope you have enjoyed the pics so far. Following up with a few Pangong pics and then the reason we were at Ladakh, the high altitude wildlife.

Enjoy Pangong:










The primary reason of our Ladakh trip was to explore the high altitude wildlife / birds. We managed to capture a few of these beautiful creatures. Hope the pics can justify the beauty of nature

Blue Throat



Chuker



Citrine Wagtail


Common Redstart




Eurasian magpie


Eurasian Wren


Hill Pigeon (the muscular cousin of house pigeon)


The cute marmot


The himalayan wolf.. managed only a blurred pic from far off


The horned Lark




The Ibisbill


Lammergier




The cute PIKA


Red fronted Serin


Redstart


Robin Accentor




Rosefinch


Snow finch


The Himalayan Owl - Juvinile


There is so much to share, will try to cover a few pics in subsequent posts. This was a dream come true trip and thanks to fellow Tbhpian @robimahanta for buzzing me to join. A trip to remember. Stay tuned for the Pallas's cat and a few more interesting captures from the trip.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

In August'23, I set out on a Ladakh adventure driven by the promise of spotting the elusive Palla’s cat, India’s smallest wild feline, in Hanle.

Spectacular pix. Great thread.
you seem to have the patience of a monk to wait and click these fabulous pix of the locales, birds and animals.

Great Stuff!