[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

When a tiger feels threatened only then it attacks, Numerous reasons for that are:

If you are too close to it and encroach upon its personal space.

We spotted this tiger at Bandhavgarh on elephant back. The mahout approached quite close, and ours was the first elephant to arrive there.


Suddenly the tiger appeared to wake up and was all alert, and the mahout decided to back off to a safer distance and to the side.


We were told a tiger never turns tail and runs, when it feels threatened by the presence of elephant. It would either hold its ground, or run past the elephant, or attack if no escape route is possible at all. Our elephant backing up to one side apparently gave the tiger a safe escape route in case it decided to run.

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

We spotted this tiger at Bandhavgarh on elephant back. The mahout approached quite close, and ours was the first elephant to arrive there.

Dr. Sengupta,
Those are good shots, showing how a real big cat can camouflage itself due to its colour and stripes, especially the first one. Yes, like you mentioned it would never turn tail on what she sees as threatening, she would rather have her eyes on it so that she is ready for a frontal then be caught unawares from the hind.
Regards,

[abheekg]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Dr. Ghosh,
Not only was the tigress's company a pleasure, the time we shared was second to none. Was it not for your guidance I am sure I would have missed the action.
Your shots of the tigress and her infant cubs are too good for words.
Certainly in the very near future we will hit it out again with Lallan and treat our forum members of what we can manage to capture.
Regards,

As I have kept on saying, the pleasure of this meet was entirely mine.
Be my guest anytime you want to come down again to these parts. In case I am unable to accompany you (which I can if it is a weekend) , I will make sure that I give you some of the best trackers and naturalists of my group who can guide you around.

Originally Posted by Captdey

Fazal And Abheek ,

Great Photos from you duo , it again
proves India is the best .

Might require you guys assistance before
making up final itinerary.

Cheers

Pl call me whenever you need any assistance to plan your trip to these parts

Originally Posted by live360

Fazal Saab and Dr. Ghosh,
Excellent pictures. It's a sheer pleasure to watch Tiger and cubs in their natural habitat.

Thanks

Thank you sir.

Originally Posted by pramods

Doctor Saab, that's great let's meet and then we go again, I have seen tiger every where except Pench, that's called Luck!!! and I have been to this jungle more than 10 times, the only problem I see now is I alway take my own vehicle(scorpio) as I go with my son, now need to try Gypsy.
Will give you a call some time tomorrow, right now I heard Nagzira is the most likely place to see tiger, as the water shortage is vert acute there and if you go there for early morning you have better chances to see them at the man made water hole.
-Pramod.
PS: let me know when you would be most likely to be free via PM

Lets meet up pramod and plan a trip together soon. I am again going to the park for half a day with a foreign guest this weekend. You can join me incase you are free.

Tadoba, pench and nagzira will have a lot of tiger sightings this summer as the water table in all these places is really low. Just last week some friends had fantastic leopard sighting at Nagzira which had come right up to the guest house beside the lake to drink (because of drying up of other nearby water holes) . Here is a video shot by them that I posting with their permission :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfHJH7Agses

This is just middle of feb. 3 gruelling central indian summer months are staring in our face. There will be an increase in tiger and other carnivora sightings in and around water holes real soon. The trend has already begun.

Originally Posted by MX6

Terrific pics of the cubs there. I'm smitten completely. I've seen lions from close proximity in Gir. But nothing beats the Tiger.

Thank you sir. You need to see them with your own eyes to get the real impact of their spendour.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Fantastic stuff boss! Kudos - really nice shots!

I'm curious how you focus so well - the lens is good, but your focussing is impeccable!

With wildlife photography you have to depend a lot on instincts and be prepared with the right equipment at the right time and be lucky. Equipment does matter but so does your luck and your preparation for the shoot. Like for instance, I could capture both wide angle and closeups as I was carrying 2 bodies that day.

Originally Posted by DKG

The most fascinating tales I've read of man animal encounters are jim corbett's

Also, Keneth Anderson.

Most of the sites mentioned in andersen's books are very close to bangalore . There's an active orkut community which will give you an idea about these spots http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community?cmm=1857440

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Ya i will be posting it soon. What is the best time(from the POV of tiger sighting) to visit according to you? Last time we were there in April.

next three months will be the best time. keep a weekend in your plan so that this time i can join you guys as well. And better to pre book your accommodation as its heavy rush this season.

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Excellent again you two. Thanks a lot. I must muster up some courage and make a trip. Lets see how it goes.

Originally Posted by trtraj

Amazing pics with very detailed travelogue. I wish i should make a trip here. Thanks for sharing

These parks are underdog tiger reserves (unlike kanha/bandhavgad) with a lot of good sightings. Whoever comes here wants to come back again and again.
Make a plan and execute it. It will be an eyeopener.

Originally Posted by mobike008

Amazing pictures

In true form, you and Devidas are absolute nature lovers. Kindly pass on my compliment to him as well.

Your pictures are as always mind blowing but i had a query, i see most of the pictures quite warm. Was that a deliberate effort or it happened naturally due to the color balance set?

Devidas and fazal saab really make very interesting companions on jungle outings. Most of the photos are warm as it was a bit overcast that day and we had to shoot keeping our white balance on "cloudy".

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Avi,

Now its time you Foodcentric Hyderabad T-BHpians need to get a bit Tigercentric and make a trip there, BUT get in touch with abheekg (Dr. Abheek Ghosh) to get the max of your endeavor, MC is already loading his Bolero just get hold of Rav and others.
Regards,

try to club pench wit tadoba for maximum fun.

Originally Posted by recshenoy

superb picture dude. Just looking at the thread name i decided to check out the details. Amazing pics especially of those cute little cubs and day light pics of deer etc. Some of low lights pics seems to have some ISO distortion though :(

Thanks very much for sharing the photos

Originally Posted by iceman7

And what a magnificent animal.

I can keep looking at these pictures over and over again.

Bravo!!

I would suggest you to check out the tigers in flesh. You will take back a lifetime of memories.

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Dr. Sengupta,
Those are good shots, showing how a real big cat can camouflage itself due to its colour and stripes, especially the first one. Yes, like you mentioned it would never turn tail on what she sees as threatening, she would rather have her eyes on it so that she is ready for a frontal then be caught unawares from the hind.
Regards,

Absoutely.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by abheekg

next three months will be the best time. keep a weekend in your plan so that this time i can join you guys as well. And better to pre book your accommodation as its heavy rush this season.

Ya ya we will do that for sure... will call you and discuss.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Those are good shots, showing how a real big cat can camouflage itself due to its colour and stripes, especially the first one.

A couple more pics to demonstrate the tiger's ability to blend in with its surroundings. Bandhavgarh again.

[srikanthpotluri]

Awesome shots, please dont stop

[abheekg]

Hi all

3 days after Fazal saab left for hyderabad, I was back to the park involved in the census activity along with some friends from Bombay. The elephant trackers located the four cubs of the mother tigress that we saw with Fazal saab. Here are the pic of the cubs as they are now. Three cheers to the mother to have bought up the 4 cubs to near adulthood.

It will be soon that these 4 will separate from the mother and the female goes into estrus again. The end of summer months may bring us new tiger courtship photographs.

In the meanwhile enjoy these pics. Click on each pic for a bigger view.

A typical wideangle scene at Pench - notice the crested serpent eagle on the tree stump and the openbill stork in flight

a closeup on the crested serpent eagle

a posing Sambhar deer at the waterfront

Indicator of healthy prey base

A Black stork fishing

Sambhar deer feeding on reeds

Photographing sambhar at the waterhole

Drying Beejamattha water hole at Pench - Indicator of things to come during the summer

Varun Photographing the cubs and getting photographed

The cubs with me

Happy after tiger sighting

Posing for the camera - Thats me on the left !!




warm regards,
Dr. Abheek Ghosh

[DKG]

The more I see such fabulous shots of wildlife in these reserves I am saddened at how far behind the forests in AP have fallen.

There's so much that needs to be done to revive wildlife here and restore the forests to something like Pench or other thriving reserves

If any of you are actively involved/associated with agencies responsible for forest and wildlife conservations I would like to hear about ground realities of making things work.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by abheekg

3 days after Fazal saab left for hyderabad, I was back to the park

You guys are really lucky to have the forest so close to home. We need to travel 1100kms to get there

[Latheesh]

Awesome shots, love those tiger pictures. Dont stop, keep them coming!!

[DKG]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

We need to travel 1100kms to get there

This is exactly the point. When we have forests within 200 kms of Hyderabad and I'm sure something closer where you live isn't it a shame our respective state governments and forest departments have been dragging their feet on ensuring this for its citizens?

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by abheekg

Hi all

3 days after Fazal saab left for hyderabad, I was back to the park involved in the census activity along with some friends from Bombay. The elephant trackers located the four cubs of the mother tigress that we saw with Fazal saab. Here are the pic of the cubs as they are now. Three cheers to the mother to have bought up the 4 cubs to near adulthood.
warm regards,
Dr. Abheek Ghosh

Dr. Ghosh,
I am coming!
Awesome shots, the tiger cubs and the waterholes. You captured the beauty of Pench.
The water falling from the marsh deer's mouth is more pronounced due to the sun behind it, very well captured.
When you saw the three cubs again, did you see the fourth one? We too had seen only three.
Regards,

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

A couple more pics to demonstrate the tiger's ability to blend in with its surroundings. Bandhavgarh again.

Dr. Sen,
Where is it?

Millions of years of evolution has given the tiger its vertical black stripes against yellowish orange to blend in the dry, semi-dry and green under growth. Be it grass, bushes or bamboo a tiger can blend itself very effectively, for the element of surprise is a very primary weapon moments before an ambush and can immensely tilt the scale in the favor of the predator.

Why does the Siberian Tiger have the same coat, as it starkly stands out in snow and makes his presence conspicuous and its colour acts as a counter camouflage?

The theory, Tigers were species found in deciduous to thick jungles of Asia and have migrated to (Siberia) Russia.

Since we are in the sub-topic of camouflage and stealth, Mr. Max Ali was kind enough to contribute from his end, photographs of two sub-adult tigers stalking a Marsh deer by the waterhole at Tadoba (where I had photographed the bear, posted on this thread).

Notice in the pictures as it flattens down to the maximum and only has his head up to assess the distance, weakness and awareness of his intended prey, and how well the coat blends in dry grass.

Also photograph by Mr. Ali (Jan, 09) of a maimed Bandhavgarh tigress which lifted two cattle and continued, due to an injury in her leg, . She now has cubs 4-6 months old.




This photograph of the maimed Bandhavgarh tigress was shot from an elephant as she lay on a flat rock at the same level at about 10 feet distance.

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

This photograph of the maimed Bandhavgarh tigress was shot from an elephant as she lay on a flat rock at the same level at about 10 feet distance.
Attachment 291177

Man this is the best pics on the thread for me!!!!

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Dr. Sen,
Where is it?

LOL - Marked the spot now. Wasn't too difficult, was it?