[ampere]

Snaps are amazing. The wildest of them all is the best.
Thats the self snap! Ready for big game hunting?

[gd1418]

I too get the same and my adrenalin pumps up, but my wife says it is all that we see and have seen always; never the stripes in flesh & blood.

I too can't wait to see them..

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

I got gooseflesh seeing this snap... very much thrilled to see the hungry beast.

PICS of Tiger's

Can't wait to see them

Thanks Ampere.. Any time...

Originally Posted by ampere

Snaps are amazing. The wildest of them all is the best.
Thats the self snap! Ready for big game hunting?

[deky]

Nice snaps and narration so far. Well attired staff ( in this case the chef) always speak a volume about the quality of the hotel.

Jim Corbett has always been one of my favourite destinations and I am keenly following this thread. BTW, I think you must be lucky to see the fox during the day. If I am correct, foxes are usually shy and not easily caught on camera. You caught the whole fox and not just the tail!!

[gd1418]

Thanks Deky. Unlucky for not being able to meet you in Jaipur on Saturday.

AFAIK, foxes are nocturnal animals. Some are diurnal too. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I was lucky to see the fox, the whole fox and nothing else but the entire fox with the tail intact..

Originally Posted by deky

Nice snaps and narration so far. Well attired staff ( in this case the chef) always speak a volume about the quality of the hotel.

Jim Corbett has always been one of my favourite destinations and I am keenly following this thread. BTW, I think you must be lucky to see the fox during the day. If I am correct, foxes are usually shy and not easily caught on camera. You caught the whole fox and not just the tail!!

[gd1418]

Moved further and hit a road block. Surprised? Well, in the jungle, the animals have the right of the way. And this rule is to be strictly followed.

The guide asked the driver to stop and cut the engine. A herd of Cheetal was crossing the track and they were taking their own time. We waited and the D300 went into an overdrive. The results:




Two very young stags - see the velvety antlers - one looking at us and other at some sound in the bush - Mr. Stripes, are you there?



Aaah, a PYT - demure, beautiful and petite



Mmmm, juicy piece of grass



Stag crossing



Doe crossing



Herd crossing



The herd of Cheetal



The Leader of the pack
















To be continued...!

[ranjith.rajaram]

What could I say lovely pics as all time.

The Leader of the Pack is so gorgeous to look, she/he has got such a magnificent horns. This seems to a fully grown Cheetal.

[Roshun]

Awesome pics as usual. The whole "wait, what's that sound?" and "look fresh pugmarks" routine reminds me of our Dudhwa trip back in 2007. Do you remember the tension as we waited silently for Mr or Ms Stripes to walk down the road? But all we got were - pugmarks, tiger claw marks, tiger droppings and alarm calls.

Of course, we did see something go slinking through the grass, but that does not count. So go ahead, and finish this travelogue. Also curious about why you've become even more religious .

Cheers,

[gd1418]

Thanks Ranjith. The leader of the pack is a stag and not a 'she'. And yes, a fully grown, young male cheetal with magnificient antlers.

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

What could I say lovely pics as all time.

The Leader of the Pack is so gorgeous to look, she/he has got such a magnificent horns. This seems to a fully grown Cheetal.

Thanks Rosh. How can I forget Dudhwa. That tension remains. Even till date trying to fathom & visulaise, what that slinking creature was which followed that herd of Cheetal..

More Religious? I was and am religious but what is this bit about being 'more'?

Originally Posted by Roshun

Awesome pics as usual. The whole "wait, what's that sound?" and "look fresh pugmarks" routine reminds me of our Dudhwa trip back in 2007. Do you remember the tension as we waited silently for Mr or Ms Stripes to walk down the road? But all we got were - pugmarks, tiger claw marks, tiger droppings and alarm calls.

Of course, we did see something go slinking through the grass, but that does not count. So go ahead, and finish this travelogue. Also curious about why you've become even more religious .

Cheers,

[gd1418]

While the morning was very chilly, as the day progressed, it started getting warmer. The Jungle was silent except for two and both happened to be avians. One a peacock & the other a Jungle fowl. This being the mating season for the pea cocks, they were bellowing mating calls that were being answered in the same decibel level by the pea hens. The whole Jungle reverberated to their calls. The second was this Jungle Fowl. For him the the Sunrise was a perpetual happening. Periodically he kept on calling. After a point it became quite irritating.

Peacock dancing





Jungle Fowl



Further down saw this Mongoose basking in the sun. Saw a few varieties of birds. Can't name them except for one - The Oriental Honey Buzzard. Looked magnificient in flight.

Mongoose





Oriental Honey Buzzard





And then we saw the kill. Now 'kill' doesn't necessarily mean a kill by a big cat. An animal killing another animal for food is a kill. In this case it was this colourful Kingfisher, that at one moment was sitting on a branch and in the next swooped down in one smooth motion and then sat on a rock. A small silver fish was in its beak. This bird did this quite a few times and ate about 4 fishes.

Kingfisher











After having seen this "hunt" we proceeded further and as we reached an opening saw this startled Cheetal. Also saw this massive Ant-hill that reached almost to the top of the Gypsy. Missed my 18~135mm lens here too.

Startled Cheetal



Ant Hill



The guide said to us that since the temperature is increasing we will go to a water hole and the tiger might come their to quench his/her thirst. This was a man-made water hole and we parked at some distance and waited. After a long wait as we were about to leave, a predator came for sure but again of the avian variety. An eagle swooped down to quench thirst. Gulped a few mouthfull of water and flew away.

Water Hole



Waiting near the water-hole



Eagle










To be continued....!

[gd1418]

It was nearing 11 am and the jungle was about to close for the visitors. We turned the car and then we heard two calls in quick succession. It was the langur calling.

In the jungle they say that if it is the Sambhar or the Langur calling then for sure the Tiger is nearby. If it is the barking deer or the kakad, then most of the time it is false.

We raced towards the direction of the call and it was a dirt track with lots of shade. The guide whispered that the Tiger may come out of the thicket. We waited & waited. The Langur called again and went silent.

The shady dirt track



We moved ahead, came to an opening and discovered the source of the Langur call. The Langurs themselves. In a group they were making quite a racket. And one of the troop perched on a height was giving this call.

Langur licking salt



Mother & Child



Wise men discussing family matters



Disappointed, we returned to the Bijrani camp to spend time till 3 pm, when we would be allowed again to enter the jungle to look for that elusive cat. Boy, would that wait be a nightmarish experience? You bet..

To be continued...!!

[deky]

Sir, The pics are coming out to be very nice, the results are excellent (specially when we know that they are not processed) I liked the pic of the jungle fowl very much, never knew it had so many vibrant colours.

Also the travelogue is proceeding very well!!! Five stars.

[gd1418]

Thank you Deky. Glad, you liked them.. Pictures not processed, only cropped to enhance the subject..

Originally Posted by deky

Sir, The pics are coming out to be very nice, the results are excellent (specially when we know that they are not processed) I liked the pic of the jungle fowl very much, never knew it had so many vibrant colours.

Also the travelogue is proceeding very well!!! Five stars.

[gd1418]

Nightmarish. Probably this is not an appropriate word. I don't know how to explain. Suman, had warned me about this earlier. Being a lover of the wilderness, probably it didn't matter much to me. But it surely was a torture for my wife & daughter.

The temperature had soared by this time and according to me was hovering near 37 - 38 C. Sun was harsh & beating down. We returned back to the Bijrani Forest camp. It was deserted.

Now, everybody does not take the full day Jungle Safari. All the other jeeps that had only permits to enter in the morning headed out of the jungle. An another person who had booked a full day Safari and I with family were the only ones who stayed back. Since we came into the camp first, we got to occupy the only canopy available there.

The thatched Canopy



Can't the Forest department do better? They earn so much from the tourists who visit these National Parks. The least they could have done was to provide a Hall or big room inside the FRH for people like us to relax. Funnily, one couldn't go out of the jungle to your hotel to rest & relax and come back at 3 pm. The permit would become invalid. WHY? This rule for sure needs a change.

Under that canopy it was little relief. Hot winds were searing the face. Since the packed food stuff was not allowed, we had to make do with whatever that was available with this eatery.

The Eatery



While my daughter settled for some noodles, wife had Butter toast & eggs. I had simple Butter toast & Coffee apart from chilled Mineral Water.

I had carried a volume of Jim Corbett's book and tried spending time reading it and dozing off and on. It really was difficult to spend time. Every now & then we looked at our watch.

I hardly expected any wildlife to be seen in this heat, but was in for a surprise. I saw a movement from the corner of the eye and saw a Fox crossing the electric fence and coming towards the garbage heap of the camp. I was wondering what he would find there. A water tank complex stood between the animal & me. I picked my camera rushed to the complex and hid myself behind a pillar. The fox emerged and waited a distance before the heap looking intently. I was perplexed as to what it was looking. Then through the lens I saw a movement. It appeared to me as a rodent. Aha, so the fox visited this garbage dump to hunt for the rats.

The pictures shall explain.

Ready to Pounce



The Look



Then after some time I saw this beautiful stag approaching. He however could not cross the fence. Captured him too in my camera. Came back satisfied and sat again under the canopy. Saw this avian.

Cheetal Stag



Moving away



The Bird



There are two resident elephants at the FRH for the guests who stay there for elephant safari. The mahout & his family too stays in the quarters. These two kids of the mahout family came to us and my wife struck a conversation with them to pass time. One of them is a girl and the aunt of the boy. I leave this to you all to guess the gender..

Mahout's kids



Finally it was 3 pm and the ordeal was over. The guide & the driver who had vanished somewhere, appeared out of nowhere and we were ready to roll. Learnt one more thing. If you stay at the FRH, you can go into the forest at 5:30 am giving you a lead time of over an hour before the other visitors come in. Similarly in the noon, if you stay at FRH or have a full day safari, you get a half-an-hour lead before the crowd comes in.

We went to some other unexplored parts of the jungle. Big cats move out either at dawn or dusk to hunt. Anticipating that we drove to some secluded area, waited, heard for alarm calls. Nothing. Except for the bellowing peacocks & the jungle fowl no sound whatsoever. Reached a Machan that overlooked a vast grassland, Daughter climbed up, while the Jeep's drive Deepak waited intently looking at some spot. Since I had nothing much to do, took some B&W pictures.





Sun Peeping Through the Slit in the Tree







The Machan



Grassland



Deepak - Jeep's Driver



Inside the Corbett, lots of small streams of water criss-cross. They are called "Sots".

Sot is the local name for a seasonal stream. While traveling across the park you may cross several of these bouldery dry streams. Though most of them appear dry and lifeless, they are very important for the Park ecology. Animals depend on these sots for their drinking water requirements for a good part of the year. There are some sots in Corbett that are perennial, important ones being Paterpani, Laldhang, Kothirao, Jhirna, Dhara, Aam and Garjia. Since water is a limiting factor, these perennial sots provide water to wildlife during pinch periods. Many of these sots are covered with thick growth of evergreen shrubs and bamboo clumps which form ideal shelter for many animals including the tiger.

Aam Sot



To be continued....!!

[Irish]

Sir,

The kid sitting on the left hand side, wearing a shirt, is a girl and aunt of that boy.

[gd1418]

The kid sitting on the right hand side, wearing a sleeveless, is the girl and aunt of that boy. Her name is Saheba.

Originally Posted by Irish

Sir,

The kid sitting on the left hand side, wearing a shirt, is a girl and aunt of that boy.