[Stryker]

Early in May, I was feeling a little cooped up and felt like taking a few days break. It wasn't possible on an immediate basis, with some personal responsibilities coming up, as well as a trip to Kabini which was planned earlier (read about that here (Kabini | After a long gap)). So it would have to be the first week of June. It was peak summer and the heat showing no signs of abating. The initial idea was to head for the hills, and none in South India would work because of (a) the predicted early onset of the monsoon and (b) the crowding in those places is unbelievable. Called up my friend in Gurugaon to check if he was free during the same time frame and having confirmed that, it was mutually agreed that we will go to Corbett. He had been there some time ago and quickly did the hotel and safari bookings. We weren't able to get Dhikala zone permit as it was already too late for that. But for me, it didn't matter since this would be my first visit to Corbett. And what a visit it turned out to be!

Flew in to Delhi the previous day, stayed over at my friend's home and started early. We took the standard route to the resort via Hapur, Moradabad, Kashipur and Ramnagar. Roads are very good throughout, except for a few kms near Moradabad where some work is in progress.




Nothing much to report about the drive, we were in a Hyundai Alcazar which is quite a good car. Feels a bit underpowered for its size and in Sports mode it just revs high without much resulting power. The automatic gearbox is also very reluctant to downshift after 4th gear, I'm not sure if any other Alcazar owners have felt this. I kept having to manually downshift to keep the revs down. Other than that, very smooth and very comfortable car overall.

The Riverview Retreat Resort
We checked in to this lovely resort around 1:30 pm and quickly headed for lunch in their restaurant. The food here is very good, we never went out anywhere else for food. There are a ton of eating places right outside the resort and on the road to Ramnagar, the nearest town of any size. Here are some photos of the resort, the property is quite beautiful and green even in this heat. The temp when we checked in was hovering around 40°C.









The Kosi river flows right next to the resort and the bar deck is located on the banks of the river. It was too hot to enjoy sitting there at this time, but I can imagine this being a wonderful place to relax when the heat has gone and the river is flowing full.



Towards evening, it had cooled down a bit (read 33°C) and we were able to step out on to the river itself.







After some cold things to drink and a hearty dinner, we retired for the day in anticipation of our first safari. They start pretty early here, pick up from the resort is at 5:00 AM. So we did turn in around 10:00 pm to get a good night's sleep.

The first safari, Garjiya zone

We are picked up promptly by our driver at 5:00 am. We are going to Garjiya zone, which is only ten minutes driving distance from the resort, so we reach there pretty quickly. The park gates open at 5:30 am, so we have to wait for about 15 minutes. While waiting, I see a Red Vented Bulbul sitting on the fence just in front of me. Nothing special, very common bird, seen in most cities too. But this opportunity is too good to miss.




We head into the park and immediately pick up fresh pug marks of a female tiger who has walked on the path maybe half an hour earlier. We are following these marks and we come across a wild boar and its little one dashing across the grass.




A shy Barking Deer is eyeing us timidly from a naala. The forest is pretty green, even in peak summer. Evidence of abundant ground water being available throughout the year.




An elephant herd is grazing in the distance and the only way I can capture the immensity of the landscape is to try a panorama on the DSLR. Basically, you shoot several photos in sequence vertically and let Photoshop do its stiching magic while post processing. This pano is made from a set of ten photos, taken left to right in sequence.




A not so common River Lapwing is moving about on the path, looking for early morning food. IUCN lists this bird as "Threatened". It's more common cousin is the Red Wattled Lapwing which is seen near almost any water body.




Another Barking Deer, this time it is much closer and out in the open. They are extremely shy animals and disappear at the slightest disturbance. Needless to say, we didn't disturb it much!




A Paddy Field Pippit, another common bird that looks very much like a sparrow, but thinner and slightly larger.




While driving around, I spot a Serpent Eagle flying by with a freshly caught frog in its mouth. The D500 is amazingly fast to acquire focus and retain it on a fast moving object.




A Golden Oriole is up high in the branches, we track it through its calls and finally spot it quite a distance away. This is a crop of the frame at 500mm.




And then we come cross the colurful Indian Pitta, also called the Navrangi in Hindi because of the nine colours on its body. We can see only about five of those from this angle, the reds and oranges are more on the front.




Notice the red ant near the bird's right leg? Maybe it bit the bird, because it flew away almost immediately after I took this photo!




A White Indian Paradise Flycatcher. There is a brown version of this too.




A Rufous Treepie. When there are no tigers to be found, I tend to shoot anything that moves! Especially birds.




We return from the safari with no other sightings. The pugmarks in the first few minutes are the nearest we get to seeing a tiger. As a consolation, I find a beautiful tiny Purple Sunbird at the resort, as soon as we get off the vehicle.




The second safari, Jhirna zone

The afternoon safari starts at 3:00 pm. It is 45°C in the shade. I'm sure it is close to 55°C out in the sun. Intolerable heat. We debate skipping the safari altogether, but decide to experience this mainly so that we can have a tale to tell. We are very sure no tiger in its right mind will ever step out into the sun. My friend has forgotten to pack a full sleeve shirt, so we make a hurried stop at a cloth store in Ramnagar. This is the best we could get there. That's me on the left.




The cold water bottles given by the resort turn hot half an hour into the safari. I don't mean warm water, I mean hot. I'm unable to even touch the metal bars on the Gypsy. I worry that my camera gear will melt internally, but nothing happens to it. They are built tough, these pro grade equipment.

As expected, this one is a complete washout in all respects, we don't see anything of note. Not even elephants, let alone tigers. Most animals have better sense than we do! But there are always some interesting things in the jungle to photograph. Like this almost fully eaten Langur hanging from the branches above. Our driver thinks it is a Yellow Throated Marten that has finished off its meal and abandoned the carcass. It isn't a very fresh kill either, looks like it is a few days old.




At a watering hole, there is an Emerald Dove and a Black Headed Bulbul having a drink together.




A whole flock of Yellow Footed Green Pigeons roosting on a tree. Someone completely ran out of ideas while naming this bird! He simply described what he saw literally!




We return to the resort with parched throats by 7:30 pm and urgently order some cold refreshments as soon as we get off the vehicle. With nothing else to do, we have an early dinner and turn in quickly hoping we'll see at least a glimpse of a tiger in the morning.

[Stryker]

The third and final safari, Dhela zone

Our vehicle is ready and waiting at 5:00 am and we start right on time. We are the first to enter the park in Dhela zone. Within ten minutes of the gate, we hear two tigers roaring in the bushes. They sound very very loud in the quiet dawn light, rending the silence of the forest. They are not visible, but they are very close to the path, judging by from the loudness. Must be a mating pair, just finishing their morning love making. We stop instantly and go ultra quiet ourselves. Even my breathing is slow, we don't know when they will come out.

We are all peering intently into the bushes on our right when our driver whispers "Aayi! Aayi!". I can't see anything, so I turn to ask him where and I see this.




Hello! This is a completely different tiger coming in from left field, we can still hear the roaring pair on our right. Oh, there is going to be some action soon!

He steps casually onto the path and walks ahead of us.




He knows there are other tigers close by, even we can smell their musk! It must be almost too much for his sensitive nose.




He keeps walking ahead for some distance, going away from us and from the other two tigers. Maybe he is trying to find a path that avoids those two loud mouths.




We follow him as he enters the bushes and he immediately sits down. We can't see anything other than him, but maybe he can see the other two.




Just to give you an idea of the clutter I'm shooting through, I make a DSLR pano of the location. It is really a wonder that the camera can focus through this at all.




He crouches! Something is happening, the other two are moving! Oh, the excitement is indescribable.




And then the tigress walks in front of him, not looking at him at all. Or at us, behind him.




She is gone in a flash, walking quickly into the bushes. He is still following her movement, although we can't see her any more.




We move ahead a bit to see if we can find her, but she has disappeared completely. I look back at the place we were. By this time, almost all the vehicles have come to the spot, drawn by the roaring and the constant alarm calls. It has been nearly 20 minutes since we first heard the roaring and 15 minutes since we saw the third tiger. Surprisingly, I'm the only one here with a long lens, everyone else is armed only with their mobile phones. Surely this is off season and the photographers are staying home.




Tiger no 1 (the one who came in from the left) has now vanished too, probably following tiger no 2 (the tigress who walked away). So we know the male is still somewhere in the vicinity, as he couldn't have gone anywhere with these many people not noticing it.

So we go up and down the path, trying to see if we spot him moving. Suddenly the vehicle ahead of us stops and everyone stand up. That can only mean one thing right? Right! Here is tiger no 3, the male half of the mating pair. He's lapping up water from the man made watering hole.






He seems a little uncomfortable, constantly looking behind him and staying alert.




Our guide thinks there is a fourth tiger somewhere ahead! Imagine that, four tigers in the same vicinity! We have already seen three of them and over the moon with happiness! In the meanwhile, I'm busy clicking away at the one I can currently see.




I'm shooting at around 300mm, he's not very far away. I zoom in all the way and get a lovely side portrait. A slight crop of the image and it looks amazing.




After a few minutes, he has had enough water and walks away back into the jungle, where we cannot follow.




High fives all around, three tigers in 30 minutes has never happened to me despite being a very regular visitor to the jungles for over 15 years! Even the driver and guide are suprised that it all went off with no rowdy fighting over the lady. Oh that would have been a sight indeed!

We move off and are cruising around discussing the behaviour of tigers, when the guide excitedly asks the driver to rush ahead. Boy, did I wake up on the right side of the bed this morning! This is same one that was drinking water earlier, so he is still staying ahead of us. This time there are only two vehicles here.




He does some scent marking and then sniffs to see if any of his rivals have been around, erasing his scent with their own.




He looks around at us, checking to see where we are and if we are still in attendance. We are right here, Your Highness, watching your every move.




And then walks off silently into the jungle again.




More high fives and we move off again, we can't believe our luck. Our guide thinks he will come out again at a particular spot since the path inside the jungle comes there. It is not far off and you'll be surprised at how quickly tigers walk. So we head there, I'm pinching myself to ensure I'm not dreaming.

And there he is again! This is great anticipation by our guide and driver both. They are very young men and talk a lot constantly, sometimes I find it hard as a South Indian to follow their accent, but they definitely do know their stuff.




More sniffing and grimacing follows. This is actually called the Flehmen Response, a way for the tiger to activate a gland in its upper palate that allows it to smell the scent of other tigers specifically.






This guy is very active today! Crosses the road again and gets back into the forest.




One snarl hurled in our direction, probably because he doesn't particularly like the sound of my shutter going crazy at 10 frames per second.

[Stryker]

The third and final safari continued, Dhela zone

We are not done with tiger sightings yet! While shooting the last tiger, we see another tiger behind us which crosses the path in a flash and disappears quickly. No time to take any photo of it, we just see an orange blur dash across. Since the current tiger has vanished, we track the alarm calls given out by langurs and spotted deer and follow the one which ran across.

After a few minutes, we are crossing a naala and there he is, just standing in the middle and looking at us. At first no one notices there is a tiger there, we are looking in the wrong direction. By the time we see it, it has started to move. Oh, if only I could have got it in the middle of the naala while it was looing at us! Anyway, I make do with this.




There is another man made watering hole nearby, the guide is very insistent that the tiger will come there. Our driver is very much in agreement, so we start there immediately. We are parked across a small culvert and several spotted deer dash across the path.




OK, now we are sure the tiger is walking in the same direction. Slowly, he walks out of the dense trees. I don't know if you have been noticing in the photos, this place is filled with curry leaf shrubs. I have never seen so many curry leaf plants in the forest before.




He slips under the bridge after a bit of vacillation about where to get down. Obviously he is heading for the water hole, so he is going to come out on the other side. He is very close to the vehicle, this is the best I could get even at 200mm.




Which he duly does. We have relocated to the water hole in the meantime, a short 100 meters away, to ensure we are in the best position to get photos. Oh, the light, the light!!




He proceeds to drink his fill of the greenish, algae filled water. His stomach is stronger than ours, if we ever drank that water, diarrhea is guaranteed!






By now, it is around 8:15 am and the sun is beginning to make its hot presence felt. So it is time to cool off, right?






He keeps watch on us occasionally and I'm clicking away at a frantic rate. It is a wonder my camera doesn't overheat with all the shutter releases that is going on! I'm standing up on the cross bars of the vehicle, well above the seat and balanced precariously, since sitting down would mean I get more of the concrete wall of the water hole than the body of the tiger. We are actually slightly below the tiger.




I zoom in close to get some lovely head shots.






I'm experimenting now, attempting a DSLR pano. I think this worked out pretty good. This is a composite of 15 different vertical orientation photos, starting from left to right. Photoshop worked its magic on them to merge it into one single ultra wide photo.




After several minutes of cooling off, he steps out of his bath, naked and dripping.




And walks so close to us, that I could have reached out and touched him! You can see how in the second photo, only parts of his body is in focus. Depth of field effect is playing havoc here!








Finally, the show is over! Whew!! Was that a sighting or what? Was that a safari or what?

I have never, ever, had this many sightings in one single safari. The very first tiger was sighted at 6:10 am and the last shot I took was 8:35 am. In about two hours, I have shot over 1,000 photos! Obviously, most of them are the same photo taken dozens of times due to the shutter rate. But then to showcase that exact moment when the tiger is looking right into your lens, you have to fire away at an extreme rate. Sometimes I rue that my D500 can only do 10 frames per second. The new Sony Alpha A9 III does a mind-blowing and totally insane 120 frames per second! At that rate, I would have run out of memory in the first sighting itself!

We return to the resort, happy and walking on cloud nine. My arms are hurting from holding up the camera for so long. At one point, our driver asked me "Dukhta hai kya?"! We freshen up, have breakfast and check out of the resort, driving back to Gurugaon.

One final comparo shot, I'm not able to decide which one is better. What do you think?



On the drive to Corbett, we had been seeing sign boards for a place called the "Old Rao Hotel" every few kms, but didn't stop as we had had a hearty break fast at the Sagar Ratna Restaurant in the Ashoka Hotel complex in New Delhi. We had decided to stop here for lunch on the way back, so we reach there by around 2:30 pm, right on time for a late-ish lunch.



We ask the hotel manager about the curious name, he says it was so named to differentiate it from the multitudes of "Rao Hotels" which are apparently very common in Haryana. There is no "New Rao Hotel" or there is no interesting story about how the son took over the family business and drove away the father (this was my theory about why the hotel was so named!). In any case, the food is excellent and if any of you are in the area, I whole heartedly recommend this place for lunch or dinner.

I fly back to Bengaluru the next day and thus ends one of the most exhilarating trips in recent times. As always, my equipment is the Nikon D500 and the Nikkor 200-500mm lens and as ever, I hope you people enjoy these photos as much as I enjoy taking them. Until next time then, bye and drive safe.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Torque123]

Wonderful travelogue & good sightings there Stryker. With all of the photographer community flocking to Dhikala (courtesy - Pedwaali & Paarwali family), getting safari permits even a couple of weeks in advance is a huge challenge. Not that Corbett safari bookings are straight forward. Given an impromptu trip this was, you had a killer trip.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by Torque123

Given an impromptu trip this was, you had a killer trip.

Thanks, Torque123. Everyone wants to go to Dhikala, even we would have if we had had the opportunity. In fact, our driver said "Next time you come, we'll go to Dhikala"! I find too much hype will lead to more disappointment than not expecting anything and then being disappointed But this time, as you said, it was killer!

[Stryker]

Here is the video version of the last sighting. I had to edit out the middle part of the video where the tiger was not doing anything much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SSKH8fZVD8

Our guide captured this, as I was busy with my camera. He used my iPhone 15 Pro Max for shooting and seemed more thrilled by the phone's camera and its prowess than the sighting itself!

[haisaikat]

Wonderful narration and accompanied with beautiful photos Stryker. You hit the bulls eye at Corbett on your first visit. Incidentally we were there around end of May and got lucky too.

We forgot the full sleeves, so got sun burns on hand and face more so during the afternoon safari session.

It will take some time for the TL to come, until then, here is one teaser.



Also Riverview Retreat in Ramnagar is wonderful place to stay, since we were there just for 1 night did not spend that much. The Kosi deck restaurant is a icing on the cake, I think with a more water in the river before the summer months this place would be even better.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

Wonderful narration and accompanied with beautiful photos Stryker.

Thanks, haisaikat. Good habitat shot of the tiger! Which zone was this?

Originally Posted by haisaikat

The Kosi deck restaurant is a icing on the cake...

Yes that Kosi deck would be wonderful when the river is full and the temperature is more bearable!

[haisaikat]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Thanks, haisaikat. Good habitat shot of the tiger! Which zone was this?

This was taken using wife's iphone in the Dhikala zone where we stayed for 2 nights. We followed guidance of ramnath_77 to book by ourselves as highlighted in this thread (A winter sojourn to Jim Corbett National Park) and also personally he guided. It was a great experience except the heat, will share the experience in some time over here.

[ashish2135]

Brilliant! Simply amazing. Your photography is mind-blowing. The second shot is much better from the comparo, IMO.
Makes the tiger look so innocent. It is just a big cat, it can't hurt anyone.

Your travelogue makes me want to book my tickets to Corbett right away. Obviously, I have never been to any of the National Parks in our beautiful country.

[Genie]

Great Pics and travelogue !
Mention of Jim corbett brings nostalgic feelings, what with his many books that we have read in younger days.

Any good source, sort of a simple 101 on learning to identify bird species in India?

[SithDefender]

Originally Posted by Stryker

One final comparo shot, I'm not able to decide which one is better. What do you think?

Neither! I love the shot where the tiger looks dead straight at the lens, as it brings out a primeval fear. Or the one where it grimaced at you as it crossed the road.

The sprinting wild boar duo and spotted deer are also tack sharp. Wish the serpent eagle picture was sharper too, but then it's an achievement to click in the difficult circumstances!

Beautiful colors from Nikon as always. Kudos on a lovely photo essay !

[AnAntinspired]

Glad to know Corbett rewarded you well. Yes it's raining tigers in Uttarakhand, especially Dhikala. In my 20 years of visiting that place thrice a year, I have never had the luck i'v had the past few trips. Of totally 17 tigers currently active in Dhikala, I saw 13 over just 2 safaris! We were leaving tigers to run into more tigers...The cubs being still with their mothers add to the sense of there being 'herds' of tiger! One image to summarize my experience...

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by ashish2135

Brilliant! Simply amazing. Your photography is mind-blowing.

Thanks, ashish2135. Yeah, people have told me that in the second shot it looks very innocent and in the first, it looks a little perplexed!

Originally Posted by Genie

Great Pics and travelogue !
Mention of Jim corbett brings nostalgic feelings, what with his many books that we have read in younger days.

Any good source, sort of a simple 101 on learning to identify bird species in India?

Thanks Genie. You could use this (Birds of India website) as a starting point to know more about bird species.

Originally Posted by SithDefender

Neither! I love the shot where the tiger looks dead straight at the lens, as it brings out a primeval fear. Or the one where it grimaced at you as it crossed the road.

Thanks, SithDefender. I'm kinda partial to the grimacing tiger crossing the road shot myself. It isn't easy to keep fast moving animals (and especially birds) sharp in the frame, but good light helped me keep the shutter speed high enough to freeze the movement.

Originally Posted by AnAntinspired

Glad to know Corbett rewarded you well. Yes it's raining tigers in Uttarakhand, especially Dhikala.

Thanks, AnAntinspired. Lovely image of the tigress and her cubs. Is the Paarwali? This was my first visit to Corbett, surely I'll be back and hope to visit Dhikala too.