Bandhavgarh - May 2014 (Camp 11)

The chirping of more than 250 birds wake you up very early in the morning. We get ready with all the gears and bazookas to photograph the wild. Expert drivers and naturalists guides us in the 4x4 open top gypsies by hearing the alert calls and watching the pug marks. Suddenly, the gypsy stops. All the binoculars and cameras point in the direction of the chital (spotted deer) which has its tail up. Chital strikes his front left leg on the ground and his sharp alarm call interrupts the morning peace. Other deers move their tail up instantly and turn their eyes and ears in one direction. Behind the bush, there is a slight movement! Everyone from the herd including you and me are curious to see whats there behind the bush... That’s called the excitement of spotting the Tiger…

This was my invitation to all my friends who were keen to witness this excitement. The response was overwhelming. Everyone wanted to get the taste of wild life and the anxiety of getting the glimpse of the wild cat.

With all bookings done, we a group of 38 young folks aging from 3 yrs to mid 40s met at Pune railway station on 26 Apr 2014. The group was young and was just perfect for the camp of this type. Our destination was as perfect as the group. The national tiger reserves of Bandhavgarh. This forest has never disappointed me and my iCampers ever. With the same hope and excitement we started our journey.

Pune to Mumbai Journey was so quick and started with 2-3 cups of Tea and ended with lot of junk eating. The दिवाडकर वडा पाव at Karjat was most awaited food of this small journey . With lot of eating and chatting in the train, we arrived at CST around the noon time. As we were resting in waiting room for the next train, the cameras were first used..

iCampers waiting for train

Traveling Light

The train journey is  always full of fun. We all jelled with each other like a single family. We played many card games together. The most complicated game called गणिती झब्बू took almost 30 minuets to complete. Our dear friend Gitesh got his new name as 'मुघल बादशाह' when we got to know that he has most of the queens from the packs. We pulled each other's leg very often and everyone took it very lightly..

We also played a game called challenge where people placed सोळा पंजा in just 2 packs of cards.. It was amazing...

भेळ at Nashik was something which was promised but did not appear to be available in there. But was finally found in Igatpuri..

गणिती झब्बू

We also had a Lungi dance with the young enthusiast dancers who never said no to the dancing in the train. Mukul's bluetooth speaker was buzzing all through the journey with the background music. The "itemized" collection of Mac rocks!!

Adit, the Lungi Dancer

With this fun filled train journey we reached Jabalpur. The brand new AC bus was waiting for us. This was a new experiment to see how the bus journey fits in our overall camping as against the Innovas. But indeed it added lot of comfort and togetherness that we cherished till the end of the camp.

We had a decent breakfast in Jabalpur.

Orders Placed

मसाला डोसा Please

Waiting for food to be Served

Our next stop was planned at Bhedaghat for a boat ride in the rushing waters of Narmada through the Marble rocks. We extended this ride to the maximum possible point where the force of water makes the boat to take a U turn. The funny commentary of the boatmen makes this journey an unforgettable event. The classic scenes of the marbles and guzzling waters made our day.

The Boat

Rowing the boat through Marble rocks

Guzzling water through Marble walls

 Few of the wonderful jokes by boatman were,
भेडाघाट देखने आओ तो Welcome
ऒर जाओ तो भीड कम...

And some philosophical ..
आदमी ऒर पानी जितना गहेरा उतना शांत
ऒर जितना उथला उतना आवाज करता है

The bird watching started right from the Bhedaghat. We spotted few birds before reaching the Jungle..

Wire Tailed Swallow

Little Cormorant

Even the ghost tree was first clicked during the boat ride

Ghost Tree

As promised by the boatman, he rowed the boat an extra mile to show us the special beauty of Bhedaghat, that was the Eagle Owl. I was knowing that the Barn and Eagle owls perch here, so I had requested the sighting for these while heading back towards the parking. Finally the boatman  spotted the beauty and we could caught it in cameras... 

pick-a-boo Eagle Owl

As we returned from the boat, we gathered together for a group photo.

The Group

The Bus added lot of fun to the journey.

The Enthu group

The Bus Ride

Young Campers

iCampers

Then we had a next halt at Dhuwadhar waterfall. The fall was in full flow. The force of water was enormous. The hot day was suggesting us to get ourselves wet ASAP...

Dhuwadhar

With some जिलेबी and सामोसा, the journey towards the National Tiger Reserves started. We played lot of games in the bus. The jokes like अब कि बार, साहेबांचं धोरण, प प बदकातला and lot of singing made our bus travel very enjoyable. With one lunch break at one of the Dhaba,  we traveled all the way to our resort. The hotel staff was waiting for us and welcomed us with a chill drink..

Post room allotment, everyone settled in their rooms and came back to the canteen for dinner where the गावराण chicken was making all of us more and more hungry. Post lunch we had a small meeting to explain the program for the next 2-3 days. With all doubts clarified, the campers hit the bed to wake up at 4AM next day, from when the real excitement  was to begin..

No one complained about the 4AM wake up call. Everyone was ready with their cameras, binocs and sun gear. The Gypsies were also ready at 4.30 AM sharp to pick us up from the hotel. Post Tea / Coffee, the breakfast was packed in each of the gypsies along with the water bottles. We made a final noise before queuing up in the gate of the jungle "गणपती बाप्पा मोरया". The group was divided into 6 and all the 6 gypsies started their travel in the jungle. With 5 such rides in the forest we got to saw many birds and animals.

All Set..

Every time I enter the jungle we do see these animals and every time I do photograph them. Don't know why, but they are just too cool and I cant resist myself taking their photographs.

Spotted Deers

The Royal Stag

Pea-fowl is another beauty of the jungle and especially when they display. The male displays the beautiful feathers and dances to attract the females. The energy and the colors are unmatchable.. Summer camps have this great offerings..

All-round Beauty

The Display

The Elegance

 Also saw other birds like..

Sirkeer's Malkoha.. First time for me..

Indian Scops Owl

Honey Buzzard

Long Billed and Red Headed Vultures

Lesser Adjutant Stork

Plum Headed Parakeet male..

Yellow Footed Green Pigeon

Flameback

Eurasian Thick Knee

The favorite food of the big cat also presented itself..

Wild Boar

And the sloth bear for which I never had luck to spot in the jungle also presented itself momentarily. Before I could get its head shot, it turned back and started walking inside the jungle.The walk was bit abnormal, but I had spotted it for the first time, I was happy to see it. Post the camp when I saw the photos, I got to see the baby on its back. That explained the abnormal walk it had.. Must be the mother carrying the baby..

Sloth Bear piggybacking a baby..

And finally the big cat showed up.. In this camp I did not get any good shots like the other campers but happy to see it every time I visit their territory..

Walking away from us..

Illusive..

The Alert Sambar Deer..

Indian Langoor, The Eyes of the Jungle..

Always curious..Bonnet macaque

Deep Inside

 We missed a family of 5 tigers moving together in the morning ride and were expecting to see them in the later ride. Towards late in the evening we spotted the male and female cubs of महामन female. There were 3 of those walking together, but we could spot only 2 of them. The light was deteriorating and I had to use my Camera at max ISO. The ISO noise kills the quality of the photos, but still was very happy to see them together.

Finally gave a look in the low light..

 

Finally in one frame..

And our enthusiast iCampers Aparna, took my photo to showcase the smile that you get on your face when you spot tigers..

Me with the capture..

Also this time we were very lucky to spot another beauty in the jungle. We were doing some bird watching while this guy started hopping towards us on the main road.

वेगे वेगे धावू नि डोंगरावर जाऊ

 And there was someone ready to race with the hare :)

हि शर्यत रे अपुली...

We did not miss an opportunity to even click at the blossom inside the forest

Forest blossom

In the overall trip my daughter Shreya has listed down the birds we saw in this whole journey and her list grew up to 101 before reaching back in Pune..

1. Rock pigeon
2. House crow
3. Black kite
4. Common myna
5. Red vented bulbul
6. Pond heron
7. Little cormorant
8. Rose ringed parakeet
9. Grey hornbill
10. Black drongo
11. Red wattled lapwing
12. Jungle myna
13. Laughing dove
14. Red whiskered bulbul
15. Cattle egret
16. Little egret
17. Dusky crag martin
18. Magpie robin
19. Great egret
20. Common coot
21. Jungle crow
22. House sparrow
23. Great tit
24. Ashy prinia
25. Indian roller
26. Common hoopoe
27. Red collard dove
28. Ashy drongo
29. Bank myna
30. Bush chat
31. Alexandrine parakeet
32. Shikara
33. Jungle owlet
34. Purple sunbird
35. Intermidiate egret
36. Barn swallow
37. Greater coucal
38. Rock thrush
39. White browed wagtail
40. Eagle owl
41. Malabar parakeet
42. Green be eater
43. Purple rumped sunbird
44. Rufous treepie
45. Lesser adjutant stork
46. Asian openbill
47. Tree pipit
48. White breasted kingfisher
49. Wire tailed swallow
50. Skyke’s lark
51. Spotted dove
52. White browed fantail
53. Indian robin
54. Indian pitta
55. Brain fever
56. Yellow wattled lapwing
57. Coppersmith barbet
58. Plum headed parakeet
59. Black hooded oriole
60. Orange headed rock thrush
61. Indian peafowl
62. Jungle babbler
63. Indian silverbill
64. Yellow throated sparrow
65. Long billed vulture
66. Crested treeswift
67. Red headed vulture
68. Crested serpent eagle
69. Sirkeer’s malkoha
70. Oriental turtle dove
71. Asian paradise flycatcher
72. Racket tailed drongo
73. Yellow footed green pigeon
74. Changable hawk eagle
75. Indian scoups owl
76. Black rumped flameback woodpecker
77. Honey buzzard
78. Oriental white eye
79. Brown fish owl
80. White eyed buzzard
81. Stork billed kingfisher
82. Tikells blue flycatcher
83. Tailor bird
84. Jungle prinia
85. Gold fronted leafbird
86. Bronzed drongo
87. White bellied drongo
88. Red jungle fowl
89. Lotens sunbird
90. Black ibis
91. Eurasian thick knee
92. Hill Partridge
93. Yellow wagtail
94. Black naped monarch
95. Grey headed fish eagle
96. Scarlet minivet
97. Common kingfisher
98. Common rosefinch
99. White rumped shama
100. Purple rumped sunbird
101. Black winged stilt

With all this fun filled and excited travel we said good bye to Bandhavgarh post some swimming in the pool and after dancing along with the folk dance artists..

Folk Dance. MP and MH did it together..

We loved the idea of Bus travel so much that, we booked a bus from Nashik to Pune and also had the final bash in the bus before we reach Pune. Thanks to Snehal for doing the required arrangements..

Last meal together before reaching Pune

And one more bus..

Without the help and co-operation from all the campers, this camp couldn't have been that successful. Thanks to all the campers for being the part of this wonderful Journey..

Thanks all for reading it till the end...

Every Crawling Creature Can Fly...

I think, learning with the kids is the most memorable and enriching experience for the parents. In my school days, I had studied the life cycle of the butterfly. But never ever wondered about it. I don't remembered doing any experimentation with open eyes. I had seen eggs of butterflies, had seen the larva and might have seen the pupa and of course the butterflies.. But never in a sequence. I was a OK student in my school. I always had understood the theory but never done anything to verify if that theory was really true. Had never explored anything on my own. May be the teachers, schools and parents never showed anything of that sort. But when my kids ask queries, I would always like to show them a real example, which will be the learning for life time. And they will never ever forget those lessons.

More than the parents, I feel the new generation is very different. They have many questions. They wanted to see it with their eyes. More specifically, my kids have traveled a lot with me in the wild. They love to see the birds, animals and insects. They are never satisfied with the theory. They want to see all these things by their own eyes. So I let them play with insects, birds, snails and other (Not so harmful) creatures. The only message is, not to kill or harm them..

Due to this liberty, many snails, crawling insects have started coming to my home. My daughter used to keep looking at these insects for long hours. 

One fine day she found a quite big green larva in my parent's garden. It was indeed beautiful. She said she wanted to have this as a pet. I am always OK to all non-barking pets and especially those which don't demand my time and efforts.  We brought it home. With kid's observation, I was also able to fulfill my hobby of photography. We searched the net to find the name of this beautiful moth. It was "Oleander Hawk Moth". That time I did not have a SLR camera, but still a good enough for the life cycle study.

Here are few of the photos.

Encounter with Blue Eyes

Thick and Hungry

Lets Start Eating!!

When we found it, it had a lovely green skin with white dots on the side. It had bright Blue eyes, peas like mouth, which was continuously busy eating leaves after leaves. And also had a small sticky yellow tail. 

Very soon we understood that the bright blue mark were not eyes, but are the bright marks gifted my nature for its protection. Due to these marks, it looks bit scary and provide a kind of defense from the enemies. The real eyes are towards the mouth. 

When we decided to bring it home, we were already knowing about its food. So one problem was resolved. We had these leaves in plenty. Once we were sure that we can provide ample food to it and we might be mesmerized by the end product which will fly out of our house, we finalized keeping it with us. With that hope, we kept it in a plate and allow it to crawl around our pot plants. For few days they were just eating leaves after leaves. One day morning we saw that its color has changed to brownish yellow. I thought its going to die, as we might not have provided it with other necessary things which we have not learned so far..

Color Change

I continued clicking photos to keep the record of the changes. I saw that the body of the caterpillar is now becoming sticky and it has started shrinking. The bright marks are also became very dull and the eyes and mouth had turned black.

Sticky

Very soon, it became smaller with very loose skin and had many wrinkles as if it had entered its 80's

Wrinkled

In couple of days, to our surprise, it threw off its mouth and eyes and even few of its front legs. The sticky substance had covered all its body and this thin layer was covering the inside changes...

Pupa Formation

We were curious to see whats next, when will it turn into a moth, how would it get its wings.. I continued taking the daily photos of this pupa. It was changing color as follows..

I Don't Need These Crawling Legs

Brighter Pupa

Wings Formation Within

Day by day it became darker and darker. One day when we came home from office, we saw that the pupa was broken from one end and there is no moth inside it. The remains was empty with some creamy liquid left in it. 

We were aware, that moths are nocturnal and will not leave this place so easily. It was getting darker and window had a slight slit for it to fly away easily. I thought, we missed it and it has gone.. But we still searched all over the room. And we found it behind the curtains. It was just too beautiful. It has that velvet like wings and awesome design, which made all of us very happy. I took lot of shots of this lovely moth before we let it find its own path in the dark night..

Break-free

Oliender Hawk Moth

The Pattern

Post this episode, we have seen these moths multiple times, we had lot many pets as the moth lays eggs on the plant in my parent's garden. We used to find these larva over and over and kids observed their life cycle till they fly out from our window. 


Part 2 -

Few days back we went to a butterfly garden at Sahakar Nagar and saw many butterflies in there. We Spent 2-3 hours with kids and took many photographs. While coming back we were thinking that, there are so many butterflies around us and we have not seen the life cycle of any of those. May be the larva of these butterflies are smaller in size and much camouflaged with the leaves, so we might not have ever seen these. On the way, we saw a beautiful plant there bearing bright colored flowers. It was dispersing its seeds with wind. It was a beautiful plant with colorful red and yellow flowers. I picked up few seeds and planted those in my window garden. In few days they grew up and I also had a lovely blossom. This plant is common in the region and due to its yellow and red color, its called as हळदी कुंकू. With this plant, I think, I brought a mini habitat for the butterflies as well. I had seen many butterflies pollinating these flowers.

But post first blossom, I saw many of the leaves are eaten up by insects and the plants were as good as leafless. That morning while watering the plants, I saw 3/4 lovely caterpillars. Those were colorful and were the cause of making my plants leafless.

We took 3 of these caterpillar and kept it one plate with lot of food. Again my daughter was instrumental in finding the name of the caterpillar. It was the Plain Tiger Butterfly. A new experiment started with these new creatures. 

Eating Leaves

Lovely Colors

These were smaller in size as compared to the moth. They were moving briskly, so had to keep these into a container from where they won't go out. 

Very soon they got to the top of the container and started secreting the sticky substance around itself. It was stuck to the roof of the container with that stick excrete. Now it was swinging at the top of the container and started revolving around itself. This was a life time experience to see the pupa formation.

Pupa Formation

The photo below shows the sticky threads and you could see the rear end stuck to the lid of the container..

Sticky Silk

In few days the pupa was created. The process was almost the same as the moth. The worm has thrown away its front legs, eyes. To our surprise one pupa was greenish in color whereas the other was pinkish. These were smaller than half of the size of the worm. It had a golden and black ring towards one end. We could not figure out the reason behind the different colors of this pupa. I thought may be the species are bit different. But that was not the case. Both the butterflies emerged out of these were Plain Tiger butterflies. I am not sure if its male and female differentiation. That question is still unanswered. If you know, please comment on this blog to spread that knowledge.

Pupa

The Golden Ring

This time we were even more luckier to see it emerging out of the pupa. I tried to record the video of its first few steps when it had a very weak wings and was unable to fly. Those wings were also not completely unfolded as those were wound inside the pupa. But its color was vibrant and matches with that of Tiger, and hence the name..

Every Crawling Creature Can Fly...

But within a day, it restored the power in its tiny wings and decide to see off all of us to test the nectar of the lovely flowers and pollinate the next generation flower plants around.  
  

Plain Tiger.. Ready to Fly

By exploring these 2 different worms, a motivational thought came to my mind. May be Every Crawling Creature of Today Can Fly Tomorrow...