Monday 15 December 2014

Tempting Tadoba - Dec 2014 - (Camp 13)

Its been long time since the parks were opened and we had not planned any wildlife camp. There were no camps planned in Diwali and Xmas, so we decided to end the year on a great note and planned this quick camp to Tadoba. This time due to the time crunch, we decided to travel by flight to shrink the camp into 3 days and still achieved 4 jungle safaris.

Post announcing the camp, the bookings were finalized in weeks time and all were ready to fly.

Started checking the water bodies from the flight itself :)

From Flight
 
Winter camps are just perfect for photography. Playing with the golden light and fog makes it a magical combination.

As I always say, jungle camps are not just hunting for the big cats but it has many other amazing things to offer. In this blog I have emphasized on the same.

In early morning rides, the water bodies are just too awesome to visit. The landscape around these are just mesmerizing..







Early Morning Fog
Reflections
When the sun comes out with its golden wings, the light traverse through the dense forest making it a superb sight...
Sun Rays

The vehicle passing through the fog and dust in the golden sun rays asks me to click again and again.

iCampers Gypsy
Some roads are so amazing that you cant keep your camera off for longer..

Jamun Bodi
Even a travel on a tar road on the open top vehicle would also be a fun

Early Morning Ride
Sun sets and moon rise are also majestic inside the jungle.


Sun Set at Tadoba Lake

Moon Rise
Some older wooden constructions also make the scene photogenic.

मचाण
Then comes the birds. The jungle has to offer a huge number of birds species that you can get tired of counting. My daughter Shreya, is always with her pen and pad to jot down the birds seen in the camp. Here is the list of birds we saw in this camp

  1. House crow
  2. Green bee eater
  3. Great tit
  4. Purple sunbird
  5. Tailor bird
  6. Bush chat
  7. Dusky crag martin
  8. Black drongo
  9. Indian roller
  10. Cattle egret
  11. Barn swallow
  12. Wire tailed swallow
  13. Long tailed shrike
  14. Rudyshell duck
  15. Spot billed duck
  16. Little cormorant
  17. Rock pigeon
  18. Shikra
  19. White breasted kingfisher
  20. Black winged kite
  21. House swallow
  22. Red avadavat
  23. House sparrow
  24. Pond heron
  25. Rose ringed parakeet
  26. Spotted dove
  27. Laughing dove
  28. Jungle babbler
  29. Magpie robin
  30. Rufous treepie
  31. Red wattled lapwing
  32. Yellow wagtail
  33. Rock bush quill
  34. Yellow footed green pigeon
  35. Little egret
  36. Black headed ibis
  37. Peacock
  38. Intermediate egret
  39. Oriental honey buzzard
  40. Red collard dove
  41. Ashy prinia
  42. Grey headed fish eagle
  43. Bronze winged jacana
  44. Marsh harrier
  45. Jungle crow
  46. Black rumped flameback
  47. Jack snipe
  48. Common kingfisher
  49. Plum headed parakeet
  50. Alexandrian parakeet
  51. White cheeked barbet
  52. Black hooded oriole
  53. Red breasted flycatcher
  54. Sikeers malkoha
  55. Crested serpent eagle
  56. Grey heron
  57. Oriental darter
  58. Tikkell's blue flycatcher
  59. Bramhiny starling
  60. White eyed buzzard
  61. Grey jungle fowl
  62. Coppersmith barbet
  63. White bellied drongo
  64. Asia paradise flycatcher
  65. White browed fantail
  66. Black redstart
  67. Black kite
  68. Oriental turtle dove
  69. Osprey
  70. Lesser whistling ducks

Not all were photographed, but there were few I could catch in my camera. 

The Maharashtra state bird, "Yellow Footed Green Pigeon" (हरियाल ) were making the bare tree alive with their movements.
 

Yellow Footed Green Pigeon

Awkward Moments

In Golden Sunlight

Some raptors also show up with their supreme vision on the branch of the tall trees.

Grey Headed Fish Eagle

Water birds were adding to the beauty of the water bodies..

Snipe

Bronze Winged Jacana - Check my foot

Black Ibis

Taking Off

Parakeets also showed up their existence with their tweets and quick flights. And at times you are  not sure what you are going to witness!!

Plum Headed Parakeet Male

Rose Ring Parakeet - Love in the air


Rufous Treepie
Id?
Even after capturing the little green bee-eaters for so many times, every time we see it, my cam clicks it.

Little Green Bee-eater

Little Green Bee-eater
Woodpeckers and Barbets also showed up their beaks on the tall trees
Flameback Woodpecker


Coppersmith Barbet
Most common birds also shine in the golden light 
Magpie Robin

After birds there are insects to grab your attention in the wild. The giant wood spiders are seen in plenty on their huge webs. They are generally found in winters only in these jungles. Females are bigger in size and makes as big as 25-40 sq ft webs

Giant Wood Spider
Then comes the mammals. In winter the babies are too small and are taken care by the mothers. Clicking the shots of this parenthood is also experience in itself.
My baby


Herds at Tadoba Lake


Royal Stag

Injured Sambar Deer
Above all things do add lot of fun to the wildlife camp. And if you have the group like this you dont really need anything else!! The below group photo is clicked by artistic photographer Mukul!! With his permission I am adding this to my blog. This time the mighty German Shepard also made it to the frame!!


My Gang

As a group we enjoyed a lot. Pakoda  and tea post the evening ride was enjoyed before the bigger party at night. We had lot of chats, jokes at the campfire in the night. Children sung songs and poems and were cheered by the elders. Nagpur special गावरान सौजी Chicken made all the non-vegetarian crowd to cheer for...















With all these things to offer, if your luck is better even the big cats do show up. This time I saw 2 big cats but not for photos as they were just ignorant about our existence in their dens. The big male Gabbar was dead asleep when we saw him and decided not to wake up for more than 30 mins. We waited on the site, but there were no signs he getting upon his feet!! Finally we took a record shot and said adieu  to try our luck on other locations.


Gabbar Male Tiger Dead asleep
The mother of 2 cubs also crossed the road in hurry and did not give me any time to focus. Nevertheless seeing the big cat is icing on the cake..

P1 with GPS collar - out of focus

Some of us were so lucky to see the tiger for more than 40 minuets and that too from so close that they clicked the full frame shots from their mobile phones


If you are luckier enough, the spotted beauty also shows up. This time when we were doing some bird watching from our gypsy the female leopard came from the woods and started walking on the road. We followed here for a minute. I was able to catch her in my camera but she refused to turn back. Almost 1 min of following her, she showed her dislike and turned back. 2-3 seconds of time was offered to catch her in cam. I somehow tried to click in hurry to get head shot. Immediately after seeing us, she changed her path and entered into the thick bush and disappeared. But those 2 minuets were worth the whole ride!!

Cat Walk


Eye to eye

Nose to Tail
With lots of great memories, we said goodbye to Tadoba, but not to part for very long. With the promise of coming back soon we concluded our camp.

Thanks all who joined the camp and all those who read this blog!!