[Stryker]

My last Kabini photolog was in May 2024, you can read/see it here (Kabini | After a long gap). While I did manage to spot a lone tiger during a boat safari of all things, it was far away and was more record shots than anything else. After this I visited my favourite park twice without seeing any big cat at all, once in September and once in December. I had even written a lament earlier asking "Where have all the tigers gone? (Kabini - Where have all the tigers gone?)". Of course, in between, I visited Corbett and Tadoba with some amazing sightings, as a result of which my appetite for tigers was somewhat whetted. But still, there is nothing like seeing a tiger in Kabini! Or three tigers and a leopard, as it turned out. Kabini making a statement "Here I am! How dare you ignore me?" Apologies, dear park.

Being the beginning of summer and a long time without much rain, the park is quite dry. This is generally a good season for sightings as the tigers almost always tend to visit water bodies in the mornings and evenings, but photographically speaking it isn't a very good time. As you can see from the images below, the colour palette is almost exclusively shades of brown! Hardly any green, which makes for very undramatic photos. But hey these are tigers, you don't see them everyday (unless you are a safari driver), so I'll happily click any that I see.

As usual, I was there between Friday and Sunday for a total of four safaris. Started from Bengaluru around 0745, stopped at Srisailam Restaurant near the Kengeri Metro Station for a sinfully yummy Ghee Masala Dosa breakfast and reached JLR at around 1130. The Mysore Expressway is great to drive as usual, although there is no speed rush with the limit set at a lousy 100 Kmph. They should at least consider raising this to 120 Kmph. The road from Mysore to JLR is good, no bad patches except the occasional pot hole. The BMW 330 Li is an absolute dream to drive. The first thing I look at in the reception is the meticulously maintained sightings board. It is showing "Tiger, Leopard" in every safari for the last one week! I'm so excited that I forget to click a photo of that! I check in, have the usual good lunch and am ready for the first outing by 2:45 pm.

The first safari
Sighting boards are all very well and good, but the trepidation of whether I will see anything is always there at the beginning of each visit and each safari. We head straight to one of the numerous water tanks, where a tiger was seen in the morning. A couple of other vans are already here, with tourists excitedly pointing in one direction. But we can't see anything! The driver of another van points out a spot and says "Watch!" and within a minute, we see some movement.

A lone paw waving in the air! Whoever spotted this deserves an award. I would have missed it completely.




Yet another van comes from the opposite direction and stops a distance away. Tourists in that van are pointing in the opposite direction! Whoa, another tiger?? We move ahead a hundred meters or so to see what the hungama is all about and here is the second one hidden behind some undergrowth.




Since this one is more visible than the other, we decide to stay here and see if it gets up to go to the water, which is between both tigers. This tiger wants to go down to the cool tank, but is a little wary of doing so.




A long wait of nearly 30 minutes ensues, both I and the driver are very clear that we are not moving from this spot. Some of the other tourists in our van want to see if the first tiger is showing any signs of movement, but we will get to know of that by simply looking at people on other vans! Our spot is very good and I don't want to move from here. Patience is very critical in these situations, they don't move to our clock. The casual tourist does not realise this, expects action every minute and is very disappointed when nothing much happens for long stretches of time. After about half an hour, the tiger finally decides to get up and move. See what I mean by the perfect spot? Head on, right between the trees!




He keeps walking towards us and I keep clicking.




He is now in a much more open area, giving me the opportunity to capture some good images. Ah, if only the forest were green, this would have made for a superb portrait.




He is now quite close and doesn't seem to be ready to get to the water yet. He is also limping, seems to be injured in his right front leg. Probably a fight with another tiger over some girl, what else?




He sits down and relaxes in that famous tiger pose. You only see tigers sitting like this, leopards never (or at least very rarely) sit on the ground.




I zoom in close to get a portrait of this magnificent animal.




Meanhwhile, we hear some excitement from the people keeping a watch on the first tiger. I turn 180 degrees and see just the back of the tiger over the mud bank. So he is moving too!




Several vans have already left the area after their sighting of the second tiger that has come out in the open, so there are only about three vans still in place. We move ahead to our previous position to see the first tiger. Unfortunately he is sitting turned away from us.




The drivers say that the first and second tigers are son and father respectively, a very rare phenomenon of tigers being together. They are almost exclusively solitary animals. This collaboration has started recently and they have been seen together several times. The son is also almost fully grown, over three years old, so it is not really a sub-adult.




We return back to our position near the father, waiting for him to get to the water. After several minutes, he gets up and starts to move. Again, this would have been a brilliant photo if the forest were green! The setting sun lights up the animal perfectly, emphasizing the orange colour.




He finally reaches the water and sits down with a sigh of relief! In between he has come so close to our van that I'm not able to take any photos from my camera. I take a video from my phone, which in itself is an excellent camera. I'll post the videos later.




He gulps several gallons of this murky water. I can never understand how their digestive systems can process water that is so muddy and laden with algae. But then, they don't know about RO filters!




A close up image of an imposing specimen.




After another 15-20 minutes of cooling off in the water, he gets up and moves away in the direction of his son. You can almost hear the water dripping off him right?




He goes up the bank and the sunlight is amazing on the trees, but down where he is, there isn't much light. I'm waiting for him to get up to the rim, but for some reason, he delays going there, simply standing and looking off in that direction. We are not sure what catches his attention, there is nothing there except a couple of vans.




By the time he get where I want him, the sun has dropped behind the tree line and the exquisite light is gone. That light is present only for about a minute or so. Anyway, he quickly walks over the rim and is gone in flash.




It is time for us to return too. Thus ends the first outing.

[Stryker]

The second safari

A couple delay their appearance for the safari at the resort and we are left fuming at the late start. There should be a rule stating if you are not here at the correct time, you will be left behind. They finally come up running and full of excuses, we reach the gate late and it is already 0645 in the morning. We are cruising slowly along the old MM road, alternately known as the 5 Kilometer road.

A small baby langur is clinging on to its mother, looking at us very curiously.




A kilometer or so up the road, still cruising along slowly, trying to listen to alarm calls (of which there are none), we come across the Magge Female out for her morning walk.




She turns back from her previous direction and walks beside us in the glorious early morning sunlight. She seems to be lactating, indication that there are newborn cubs somewhere hidden. There is also an injury evident on her back leg, maybe a fight with some other tiger. They generally don't exhibit signs of such injury otherwise.




A sniff on the tree trunk to check if her territory has been encroached upon, whether some other fellow has had the audacity to step in her parlour.




And reinforces the scent with a fresh application, strongly marking her territory.




She then crosses the road right behind our van, she is too close for me to take photos so the iPhone comes in handy again for videos. After crossing the road, she disappears into the forest.




Our driver, master tracker that he is, declares that she will reappear at the power line which is just on the other side of this part of the forest. We rush there, with a couple of other vans in tow. Again we wait for about 15 minutes for her. Sure enough, out she pops at almost the exact spot he predicted she will appear!




I wonder how she has managed to walk between those tough dried up lantana stems, they look very scratchy to me. But she has emerged unscathed.




Yet another close encounter, this time ahead of us. Reach out and touch kind of close. iPhone to the rescue once more.




She walks across and then takes a long stroll down the Power Line clearing that cuts across both zones in Kabini.




I'm perfectly positioned to capture this wider angle (200mm counts as wide angle where wildlife is concerned!) shot of the tigress walking away from us with the power pylons fading away in the distance. I only wish she were walking towards us instead of away, that would've made for some amazing images.




One more image of her long walk.




She is now so far away that to the naked eye, she is just a small orange-ish blob. The 500mm can still see her quite clearly, pooping in the scrub.




She then turns right and walks inside the forest. More discussion between the drivers and they are sure again about where she might emerge. Back to the 5 km road, with vans positioned at regular intervals just in case she appears at a different location than predicted. And there she pops out! Just behind where we are parked.




Again, she walks for long distance this time on the other side of the road. Gives me great opportunities to capture her. She is still too close, even at 200 mm this is as wide as I can get.






After nearly a 10 minutes of walking, covering a distance of about a kilometer (they do walk quite fast), she is a bit tired and sits down. Yawns, showing us her impressive dental collection.




"Hey, you guys still here?" Yes, ma'am, very much so and clicking away.




Finally, she gets up and walks back into the forest.




We have no more time to follow her for another encounter. This sighting has lasted more than an hour from the time we first spotted her till the time she disappears back into the thick, dry scrub. Even looking at where she is heading makes me itch from what must be scratching her, but she doesn't seem to mind.




I have shot hundreds of images of her in the meantime, obviously almost all of them are exactly the same. But when a tiger is in the frame, you don't worry about how many shots are being made. I'll have a hard job of going thru these images and deciding which to process. But that is a happy job!

End of the second outing, can't wait for the evening safari.

[Stryker]

The third safari

Due to some goof up at scheduling, I'm in a van going to the same zone as in the morning. Usually we alternate between zones, first time this is happening to me. They apologize and give me a choice at the gate, stay in this van or transfer to another going to the other zone. I decide I'll stay. Good decision as it turns out!

15 minutes into the safari it starts to rain. Within minutes, it turns into an absolute downpour. I don't know if you have ever been caught in an open vehicle in the jungle when it rains heavily. I'm riding shotgun and even before we can get the front cover in place, both me and the driver are thoroughly soaked. The camera is reasonably safe though, that's all that matters for now.

I assume that's that, no sighting is going to happen in this rain. But hey, what do I know? There are a couple of vehicles parked on the path and I can see some lens hoods pointing upwards! That can mean only one thing in Kabini. Leopard in the trees!

The image is blurred, as the van is still positioning itself and I'm already shooting.




Certainly not a good location for photography, there is a lot of clutter in the foreground and it is still raining quite heavily. I'm overexposing a lot here, it is quite dark.




Maybe it is too wet up there, he is definitely not comfortable and keeps shifting position from one side to another.




Needless to say, that gives me plenty of opportunities to take some good images even in terrible conditions.




He goes up a level and we move a bit to get a better view. By this time, there are many more vehicles making relocation a very tricky process. But our driver manages and I get a good shot.




Finally, he settles down in what seems to be a comfortable position and promptly goes to sleep. He is least bothered about the excited voices, some idiots are loud enough to disturb him.




The downpour increases in intensity and we are forced to pull down even the side covers. No more photography or even plain sight for the evening. Although we are remain in place for some more time, there is neither a let up in the rain nor any movement from the leopard. He seems oblivious to the rain! Poor fellow must be miserable up there, exposed like that.

End of the third safari, we return to the resort.


The fourth and final safari

The rain last evening means that sightings are not going to be good this morning. There is water everywhere in the forest, small puddles in the paths and the ground is very wet. As expected, the cats are staying somewhere warm and dry. In fact, I take out the camera only twice.

Once to shoot these very pretty Blue Winged Parakeets...




...and once to shoot this White Bellied Woodpecker which is in a very unusual location.




No further activity, only the deer happily munching away at the wet grass. So after a couple of hours of fruitless wandering, we return to a hearty breakfast and the drive back home.

That was a productive trip after multiple big cat free visits! As always, my equipment is the Nikon D500 and the Nikkor 200-500mm lens. The dreaded shadow of mirrorless is lurking in the outer darkness, waiting to sandbag me at some inopportune time. For now, I'm safe in the hands of my tried and trusted Pentaprism but who knows when the lure will become irresistible?

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!

[ghodlur]

Many thanks for the wonderful and superb pics with the humorous conversation as well. Looking at the pics it is very clear that the tigers came out of their dens just for you to click those mesmerizing shots.

[Kkumar]

Vow, that's a wonderful article with beautiful photographs. In any safari getting to see any animals or birds is purely luck and you were thrice lucky. Thank you for sharing and keep on munching miles.

[sknair]

Wow, Awesome Stryker, as usual wonderfully written and amazing image!
For the same reasons you mentioned above, I have been avoiding Kabini for the last 8 to 10 months. This post gives some reasons to reconsider. Anyway, there is a planned trip to the other side of the park coming up next weekend with a stay at the JLR Kings Sanctuary. I hope to capture some good memories!

[procrj]

Originally Posted by Stryker

The road from Mysore to JLR is good, no bad patches except the occasional pot hole.

Thanks for this good news, looking forward to driving now

meticulously maintained sightings board. It is showing "Tiger, Leopard" in every safari for the last one week!

let the good news continue for a few more weeks

A lone paw waving in the air! Whoever spotted this deserves an award. I would have missed it completely.

Wow, this is some spotting!

we come across the Magge Female out for her morning walk.

She is such a beautiful feline. Still remember the time spent with her a few years ago.

...and once to shoot this White Bellied Woodpecker which is in a very unusual location.

its a relatively small bird with a very loud and unique call.

Thanks for sharing.

[NPV]

Stryker strikes yet again!

Thanks for yet another wonderful Kabini photologue, always nice to see wildlife pictures you capture.

[Stryker]

Thanks everyone for appreciating the photolog.

Originally Posted by sknair

Anyway, there is a planned trip to the other side of the park coming up next weekend with a stay at the JLR Kings Sanctuary. I hope to capture some good memories!

I was in Kings sanctuary in mid Feb for the standard 2 nights and 4 safaris. Nothing much to report apart from a large herd of Gaur. I heard someone in a different van saying they spotted a tiger, but we couldn't. Hope you have much better luck.

[krishnakumar]

My my my!!! What beautiful sightings.

We went to Kabini a couple of weeks ago but unfortunately for us it rained the same day we arrived and got no sightings. All that we got was a Leopard perched on a tree in Zone B but it was a very poor sighting, the leopard was 100s of meters away (so needed binoculars to spot).

My first visit to Kabini in May 2023 was surreal. Magge, the bold female blessed us with her sighting along with her small cub. On the very last safari, she walked past boldly just in front of our jeep and called her cubs to come out. It was such a heavenly experience.

Do you know the names of the tigers you spotted?

Currently I believe only Rana and Balle female are coming out more often, especially Zone A but there are a few others in the area like Cutlip. Magge just gave birth again a couple of months ago (her second litter) so she is not coming out that often is what the naturalist told me.

[sknair]

It looks like Magge female in Kabini was spotted with 4 cubs this morning!
Kabini back to the golden days!

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Do you know the names of the tigers you spotted?

All the tigers you named! The first two tigers were Rana and Cutlip, who seem to be together now. Of course, the third one was the Magge female.

Originally Posted by sknair

It looks like Magge female in Kabini was spotted with 4 cubs this morning!
Kabini back to the golden days!

indeed, this maybe the first time she has brought the cubs out for public view. I heard that no one had seen it yet last week. Lucky fellows, whoever spotted them!

[sknair]

I got it from a WhatsApp group, I don't know who shot it.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by sknair

I got it from a WhatsApp group, I don't know who shot it.

Wow! Wish I was there this week instead of last week! They are really cute!