[sarmarishi]

1st Safari: 4 p.m. 7th May
We are the first to load onto the jeep as we want to be the first ones in and we are off at 4:05 p.m. We enter the gates and we see the usual, a lot of spotted deers (chital) and barking deers. Then we cover a watering hole and spot a Grey Headed Fishing Eagle there followed by a Flame Back Wood-Pecker and a Serpent Eagle.

A Chital Doe

A beautiful Chital Stag

Grey headed fishing Eagle

Flame Back Wood-Pecker

Serpent Eagle


Once done clicking we begin moving and I say it aloud that only the Sambar (the biggest deer in the South Indian forest) is left for us to see and just then a Sambar doe and her calf walk onto the road in front of us. I am overjoyed!




Then, suddenly we get a message from one of the other jeeps over the walky talkie that elephants have been spotted near a watering hole. So we rush there. It’s a family with a calf. They are still in the undergrowth and have not yet descended to the water. So we wait for them to come down. The next few pics show how cautious they are and how well the calf is protected at all times. The matriarch was actually keeping an eye on us constantly. Apologies for putting up so many pics of these gentle giants at the watering hole but couldn’t help it.

Only time when the calf was in full view:


And they come to the water finally and entertain us for about 15-20 mins





So, we move on from here once the elephants move out and we come across some barking deers and I click away.

Our search for Gaurs (Indian Bisons) have not yet bore fruit. Suddenly we cross a downward slope where I see some Gaurs in the thick undergrowth and I ask Thapa our driver to stop. Although far away I get some shots.


Another Chital Fawn


Taken on the way out of the safari with absolutely bad light


My day is made!! Tomorrow we hunt for the big cats

More photos coming.

[sarmarishi]

Photos from the rest of the Safari's:

The most event ful were the 3rd and 4th Safari's though. While one the way back from the 3rd safari (evening about 6 p.m.) we came across a Leopard and watched him for about 10 mins. Sadly due to poor lighting conditions, could take any snaps.

And on the 4th safari which was on the morning of the day we were leaving, we came across a Bear and her 2 cubs (again at about 6:15 a.m.). However could take a ny anps ecept little tufts of black in the bushes as they were faster in dissapearing into the undergrowth then I was with my camera and the driver with his braking

A Barking Deer


Gaur Closeup


Langur


Another Barking Deer


Some more Chitals



A Beautiful Chital Stag posing


a Dragon fly at the pond near the Resort


A Magpie Robin


An elephant which entertained us for a long time

[sarmarishi]

Some more snaps





Giant Malabar Squirrel


Serpent Eagle


Flying Lizard


Wasp


Will upload the picture of a Changeable Hawk Eagle soon.

[ampere]

Beautiful snaps there. And on top it you said some of them were taken from within the car; Even better !

How early did you book for JLR?

[KESriram]

Awesome snaps you got there! and looks like your prayers before entering the hills were answered with quite some animal sighting! Elephant pack was a treat to watch..

[neoonwheels]

Hey its turning out to be an awesome log. The pics are beautiful. Keep it coming bro !!

[sarmarishi]

Originally Posted by ampere

Beautiful snaps there. And on top it you said some of them were taken from within the car; Even better !

How early did you book for JLR?

I booked it 2 weeks in advance. But the recommended period is atleast 3 weeks.

Originally Posted by KESriram

Awesome snaps you got there! and looks like your prayers before entering the hills were answered with quite some animal sighting! Elephant pack was a treat to watch..

Yup our prayers definitely were. The Elephants indeed were a treat to watch. I have almost a full movie in still life of them at the watering hole

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

Hey its turning out to be an awesome log. The pics are beautiful. Keep it coming bro !!

Thanks

[Anandg]

Bisons have a finicky attitude. But for you they appear to be modeling. Was it due to prayers or your new lens

[abheekg]

great pics rishi ... esp of the elephants and the invertebrates keep it up. Any plans to come over to the central india forests ? the animals are having a bal here with the mating season around the corner and its a treat to watch them go about their chores.

[prguru]

Awesome pictures rishi, loved the elephant's picture. Wow I dint know we had flying lizards in Karnataka. Waiting for some cats now.

[sarmarishi]

Originally Posted by abheekg

great pics rishi ... esp of the elephants and the invertebrates keep it up. Any plans to come over to the central india forests ? the animals are having a bal here with the mating season around the corner and its a treat to watch them go about their chores.

Hi Abheek.. I am still planning. Turning out to be over budget so dont know if I will be able to make it. How much do you think stay and going to Pench, stay and coming back to Nagpur will cost? With the basic accomodation.

Originally Posted by prguru

Awesome pictures rishi, loved the elephant's picture. Wow I dint know we had flying lizards in Karnataka. Waiting for some cats now.

Yup the elephants were a treat to watch and we spent a good amount of time with them

[jacs]

@sarmarishi, nice start. Pictures are really cool, waiting for the next post.

[sarmarishi]

Sorry for not posting anything in a while. Thanks for your responses guys. Glad you like the photos. In fact, I dont have anything else to share on this one as I uploaded all the pics that I thought were worthy of showing all of you. I also did not want to take you in detail into each safari as it would be similar experiences and would bore you.

Another interesting thing that happened on the return of the 1st safari was that we came across a rather agressive tusker very close to the camp site on the road. He was not very pleased seeing us there. The driver says they come close to camp since the camp has 2 female elephants there. The other thing was a wild boar who was constantly trying to charge the huge guys. It was quite a funny scene really with the wild boar running toward the bull and turning sideways at the last moment while the Bull himself was trying to charge us!

As mentioned earlier, I couldnot take pics of the Leopard and Sloth Bear + Cubs so you wont get to see them this time.

Here is however the promised photo of the Changeable Hawk Eagle. Do notice the extra feathers on top of its head. Looks majestic like a crown. Enjoy!

[srikanthpotluri]

Absolutely delighted to watch all the wildlife Keep it coming.

[fazalaliadil]

Sarmarishi,
That was a good mixed platter of wildlife. Nice writeup and photographs!
Just wish the head of the majestic Gaur in the closeup would be up or looking into the camera. Please mention the equip. if I may have missed it out in your thread.
Regards,