[SPARKled]

Wow your Sariska trip was a real eye opener. I did not know Sariska was doing so well and this has definitely aroused my interest is now on top my "must visit NPs". The photos were as usual are quite brilliant. BTW whats the nearest railhead to go to Sariska. I will try to sneak a trip on one of the long weekends.

[gd1418]

Thanks..

Alwar, at a distance of 37 km, is the nearest railway station from Sariska. From Alwar, you can hire a taxi to reach Sariska. There are regular bus services from Alwar to Sariska.

Alternatively you can alight at Jaipur and take a taxi. Sariska is 107 kms from Jaipur. And if you decide to drive down, then click here - http://maps.mapmyindia.com/?t=2&from=pune&to=Sariska

If you plan, do let me know. I shall ask my guide & driver to take care of you.

Originally Posted by SPARKled

Wow your Sariska trip was a real eye opener. I did not know Sariska was doing so well and this has definitely aroused my interest is now on top my "must visit NPs". The photos were as usual are quite brilliant. BTW whats the nearest railhead to go to Sariska. I will try to sneak a trip on one of the long weekends.

[fazalaliadil]

GD Sahab,
Heard you are going to Pench?
Wish I could join you, surely would have enjoyed with common passions like wildlife, photography, wildlife photography, FOOD!
There are not many in the world who would file a formal complaint to a State Minister for a badly cooked omelette, thats passion for me.
Regards,

[gd1418]

Very true Fazalbhai. This is the thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...h-gurgaon.html

It would be an honour & pleasure if you could join. FOOD of course is primary.. I loved the last line...

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

GD Sahab,
Heard you are going to Pench?
Wish I could join you, surely would have enjoyed with common passions like wildlife, photography, wildlife photography, FOOD!
There are not many in the world who would file a formal complaint to a State Minister for a badly cooked omelette, thats passion for me.
Regards,

[gd1418]

18th March, 2011

Sariska, here I come. So, ST-2, ST-4 & ST-6, get ready for some action...!

ETD: 3:00 am

ETA: 6:45 am

Hope to catch the Leopard that is roaming near the gates for the last few days around this time...

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by gd1418

18th March, 2011

Sariska, here I come. So, ST-2, ST-4 & ST-6, get ready for some action...!

ETD: 3:00 am

ETA: 6:45 am

Hope to catch the Leopard that is roaming near the gates for the last few days around this time...

GD Sahab,
I thought you were heading for Pench.
ST-2, 4, 6 and F-1 here all are ready and waiting.

Looking forward to some beautiful pics. again.
Regards,

[gd1418]

Fazalbhai, that trip commences on 12th April..

F-1, ha ha ha ha. This reminds me, a few days back some of us with family had gathered at a friend's place and we got discussing my frequent Sariska's visits. One of them said - "Seeing you so frequently there, what do the Tigers and other animals tell each other"?

My wife immediately piped up - "Dekho dekho, C-4 phir se aa gaya"..!

C 4 is the name of my condominium in Gurgaon.

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

GD Sahab,

I thought you were heading for Pench.
ST-2, 4, 6 and F-1 here all are ready and waiting.

Looking forward to some beautiful pics. again.
Regards,

[phamilyman]

Here we go, my pics from Sariska - nowadays everyone sights ST4 from 10ft distance

The Global Indian Photographer - View Single Post - Your Wildlife Thread!
The Global Indian Photographer - View Single Post - Your Wildlife Thread!
The Global Indian Photographer - View Single Post - Your Wildlife Thread!
The Global Indian Photographer - View Single Post - Your Wildlife Thread!

Thanks to GD saab. The only way to go is with the driver Khagesh singh - he doesnt need a guide & u save on the tips - he knew FAR more bird varieties than our guide did!! He's reachable at 09799628299

[gd1418]

Ist wildlife sanctuary visit; you get lucky and see ST 4 walking past your gypsy at 10 feet and you are in the seventh heaven?? BTW, nice captures. You should've posted the pictures here as well for the benefit of members here.

Everyone doesn't get to see Stripes at all, least of all from a 10 feet distance.

And Khagesh is the elder bro of Rameshwar. And the Gujju mentality to the fore?

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Here we go, my pics from Sariska - nowadays everyone sights ST4 from 10ft distance

Thanks to GD saab. The only way to go is with the driver Khagesh singh - he doesnt need a guide & u save on the tips - he knew FAR more bird varieties than our guide did!! He's reachable at 09799628299

[gd1418]

18th March, 2011

My last visit was on 20th Feb. Gauri, my daughter's annual exams were to commence from 1st March so everything was now put on hold. Her last exam was on 11th Mar and I promised her to take to Sariska on the 12th. All arrangements were made, she was excited and looking forward to when I was told on the 10th that there were some very urgent official commitments that required my prescence on the 12th. Sariska plan for the day was aborted.

Since the next weekend was Holi - day, I decided for the 18th. Unlike my previous visits where I used to spend roaming the forest from 12pm to 6pm, this time I decided to enter the forest at 7 am so that I could spend the entire day in the forest. The other attraction was to see the Leopard about which I was getting some very encouraging reports. While getting a sighting of it at dusk was quite difficult, early morning was a better time. A big male leopard was seen moving near the Park entrance gate in the morning over the last few days.

A friend of Dr. Abheek Ghose (of the Pench fame) who had stayed for two days at the RTDC's Tiger Den also reported about that Leopard. With this information I, accompanied with wife & daughter decided to leave for Sariska as below:

ETD: 3:00 am

ETA: 6:45 am

Now, to get two females ready and adhere to timings is something akin to asking for the Moon. We were delayed by 30 minutes and that proved to be crucial.

Encountered heavy truck traffic all the way upto Behror even at that hour. That slowed down the approach and at 6:40 we reached Highway King for a break and also to get lunch packed since once we entered the forest, coming out and entering again would have resulted in double whammy. Later on, I realised my perception was wrong. More about it later.

Reached the Park's office at 8:10. Hari Singh & Rameshwar were ready with all the tickets/permits and the gypsy tanked up. Entered the Park at 8:20 and immediately realised that the advantage was lost.

Speaking to forest guards & drivers revealed that ST-2 the female tigress was roaming around Karnawas & Jalebi Chowk for the last 2-3 days and since it was the biggest waterhole we decided to go there first. The lake had shrunk from what I had last seen in february. While earlier it used to teem with Spotted Deer, Sambhar, Boars & lots of birds, this time except for a lone Sambhar and a few birds there was nothing else. As I moved further a bit, I saw some construction work was going on and on enquiring I was informed that the forest department was building an embankment to increase the catchment area so that water is available round the year. And this construction work had disturbed the surroundings. Tractors moving earth & carrying stones, JCBs excavating etc.

Crocodiles too were not visible this time. I wondered because this lone Egret moving around in the water without fear. Where had they gone? I must ask about this the next time.

A few photographs:

Egret - left foot forward



Standing still



Take off



Aerial view



to be continued.../-

[gd1418]

It was intermittently cloudy, but was getting warmer. Moved further towards Jalebi Chowk and as we reached a T point, saw huge pug marks. Harisingh got down to have a closer look and pronounced - " Fresh marks. About an hour ago. ST 4 (male) ". Excited, we followed and after a while they vanished into the thicket towards Karnawas.

It meant, he was thirsty and since construction work was going on at Karnawas, he would cross the road and go over to Tarunda for a drink.

We took another round of Jalebi Chowk and as we neared the Tiger Relocation Enclosure point, we saw another set of pug-marks. This time they were smaller and on inspection it was that of ST 2 (female) and a day old. The marks were there for some distance and suddenly disappeared. Either obliterated by a vehicle or the tigress went deep into the jungle.

After this we moved towards Tarunda via Brahmanath. This area has three waterholes and ST 4 could have gone to any one of them. Funnily the jungle was very silent. No sound at all. Except for some mating calls of the spotted deer, normal call from Langur nothing stirred nor made a sound. By this time it had become hot as well.

The first waterhole at Brahmanath had some Red Vented Bulbuls, Peacocks, and a wild boar drinking water. This water hole is quite near the tar road that bisects the jungle and the Tiger would not have come here as the vehicular movement would have disturbed him. We looked for the footprints but it wasn't there. So our guess was correct. Then we moved towards the Brahmanath Anicut waterhole where on my visit on 30th Jan I had seen ST 2 & ST 4 both drinking water. This waterhole had dried up with the cracked earth crust showing up.

Why can't the Forest Department fill this up as this is an isolated place and the animals can drink in peace?

From here we moved towards Tarunda that has two waterholes - one man-made and the other natural. Both have water the year round. We reached the man-made water hole and except for this magnificient dancing Peacock, no other animal or bird was present. We cut the engine and watched the dance for quite sometime mesmerised. Then scouted around for pug-marks and didn't find any. It was puzzling.

Dancing Peacock



After this there was that natural waterhole which also happened to be the beat of ST 3 (female) and ST 4 was not known to frequent this place. But heat & thirst can make you do what you don't. Looking for footprints we neared the waterhole and saw a 'van gujjar' coming with his collection of dried leaves. Asked him if he had seen any tiger movement and he denied that since morning he had not seen any in this area nor had heard any calls.

Went further and saw this Neelgai walking in the front. Followed him behind slowly. As soon as we reached the water body, this Neelgai turned his head, looked and with a gallop vanished away...

Neelgai





Parked the gypsy in the shade and waited & waited. Suddenly with the corner of my eye I caught a movement in the middle of the lake. I was sure something moved. Asked Harisingh and he negatived saying there only a dead twig there. Not convinced, lifted the camera and looked through the lens. Sitting on the twig in the middle of the lake was this Cormorant that blended so well with the surroundings that it was almost impossible to spot. This bird had moved its neck and this had caught my eye..!

Cormorant



Then I heard a twig break in that silence across the lake and looked intently. A beautiful majestic male Spotted Deer emerged, made its way towards the water, stepped in and then looked straight at me. I was looking at him through the lens and everybody in the vehicle was still. Reassured that there was no danger, he started drinking water. A perfect mirror image appeared in the water and I clicked. I heard some more hoof sounds and there appeared three more - two females and a male fawn. They too started drinking water in unison giving me a great composition and picture. After some time the females & the fawn left followed by the male. let the pictures do the talking.

Male Spotted Deer



Mirror Image



In Unison



Back to home



Waited for some more time and we had already spent 4 hours inside. Returned to the resting point & check post at Kaali Ghati. The heat was exhausting. But the terrain looked good.

Resting



King's way



Road to Pandupol



to be continued.../-

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by gd1418

And the Gujju mentality to the fore?

Umm, I am full on Punju as we've discussed many times! Cmon - now you are well travelled to not mistake one man's name with everyone else, are we?! and I tipped more than you told me - so there we are!

I was sorely disappointed in Hari Singh. I would've tipped Khagesh twice as much as Hari Singh except normally one tips the guide as much or a bit more.

Hari Singh failed as a guide where Khagesh excelled - as a driver, in his knowledge of ST4, in his identification of all the birds along the trail, in his general command of the situation, in his adeptness in handling the tiger tracking equipment, in his understanding of my shooting needs, in his relationships with other forest dept staff among many other things. I was honestly at a loss on what basis to tip HS because Khagesh was so beyond him - in the end, I tipped him pretty much for getting Khagesh along & little else!!


and kaun upload kare pics dubara TBHP - simpler just to repost the linkies

PS: Not 1st by any chance - 3rd sariska visit, besides trips to Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh, Corbett, Phansad, Cotigao, Bondla etc

[fazalaliadil]

GD Sahab,
That was a very nice photo shoot, from the fanned out peacock to the reflections of cheetal and egret. Somehow the colors of the peacock have turned out sort of flat??? Your camera-lens shoots with a good amount of saturation though.
Regards,

[nomadabhi]

Dancing peacock, simply wow. The V shaped furs are icing to the cake. No wonder it would be a happy one to attract alot of females of its herd. (no need for it to use Zatak or SetWet).

My eyes are stuck on these pics. I have too started adding more on my Pench trip, last week been to busy.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...see-pench.html

[gd1418]

Ha ha ha ha. Got your goat? Well well, You asked for my contacts and I gave you the same. Harisingh getting a better person than himself, is your luck. I ain't batting for anyone..

Aur kaun un links to click kare aur doosre window mein dekhe aur phir back kare..?

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Umm, I am full on Punju as we've discussed many times! Cmon - now you are well travelled to not mistake one man's name with everyone else, are we?! and I tipped more than you told me - so there we are!

I was sorely disappointed in Hari Singh. I would've tipped Khagesh twice as much as Hari Singh except normally one tips the guide as much or a bit more.

Hari Singh failed as a guide where Khagesh excelled - as a driver, in his knowledge of ST4, in his identification of all the birds along the trail, in his general command of the situation, in his adeptness in handling the tiger tracking equipment, in his understanding of my shooting needs, in his relationships with other forest dept staff among many other things. I was honestly at a loss on what basis to tip HS because Khagesh was so beyond him - in the end, I tipped him pretty much for getting Khagesh along & little else!!


and kaun upload kare pics dubara TBHP - simpler just to repost the linkies

PS: Not 1st by any chance - 3rd sariska visit, besides trips to Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh, Corbett, Phansad, Cotigao, Bondla etc

Thank you Fazalbhai. I too am intrigued by the peacock shot. Checked the histogram too for anything unusual. Because of the harsh sun and heat this peacock was in the shade and from top there was thick tree cover.

I was not getting enough light. Opened to F 2.8 and in A priority the shutter speed was 1/100. Used spot metering. And this is the best I could manage at 200mm.

Do you have any idea as to why this photo, compared to others appears flat?

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

GD Sahab,

That was a very nice photo shoot, from the fanned out peacock to the reflections of cheetal and egret. Somehow the colors of the peacock have turned out sort of flat??? Your camera-lens shoots with a good amount of saturation though.

Regards,

Thanks nomad. Unfortunately, there were no peahens around. Dunno, for whom he was dancing.

Originally Posted by nomadabhi

Dancing peacock, simply wow. The V shaped furs are icing to the cake. No wonder it would be a happy one to attract alot of females of its herd. (no need for it to use Zatak or SetWet).

My eyes are stuck on these pics. I have too started adding more on my Pench trip, last week been to busy.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...see-pench.html