Tiger ... at Nagarahole

My second jeep safari at Jungle Lodges on 7th Jan morning at 6.15 am in the same vehicle and the group as requested by me set out with a focused idea of sighting the Tiger since a group that had sighted a mating pair in certain area of the forest. The wildlife photographers from Bangalore were apt in reading the pug marks and also we did hear the growl of the tiger nearby...so we drove along the path slowly and suddenly the lone lady in the group..the wife of the wildlife photographer from New Zealand started pointing out to the tiger coming out of the bushes just 10 meters behind the vehicle.

 It came out then sat down for about 5 minutes and got up and went on to a log and stretched itself a bit and then started to walk behind the vehicle on the path and then cross over to squirt on a tree to mark its territory and then finally into the bushes across the road. I have also taken a small video of its walking behind our safari jeep which i will be posting separately. Quality of my pictures are not that good for i am an amateur photographer so please excuse me for these are for my personal album and to be shared with my friends.

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Leopard sighting at Nagarahole National Park

Jan 6th 2014 evening Jeep safari at Nagarahole National Park ,my first safari during my stay at Kabini River Lodge was quite memorable one for me personally since this was the day i sighted the first big cat in the wild and it was my 19th safari in the forest regions of Mumdumalai, Bandipur and Nagarahole (3rd one in Nagarahole in the last 12 months). Our jeep had 3 wildlife photographers and it was a focused drive into the forest with the aim of sighting big cats since there has been a spurt in sightings of Leopards and Tigers in the past two days. A hour and half into the forest with no sightings everyone in the jeep keeping their fingers crossed and at that point of time our jeep driver got a call that a leopard had been sighted by another jeep and immediately we had a fast bumpy ride to the spot and here are few shots of the majestic and elusive Leopard resting on a tree nearly 30 meters away.

he moment we got to the spot it was a bit difficult to locate the cat since it was in a clutter of branches. Few snaps of the Leopard (out of numerous pictures taken) are posted. I am sure a professional wildlife photographers would have taken much better pictures than what has been captured, edited and cropped by me....but then these images are imprinted in my mind forever.

Visit to Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary

During my visit to Mysore during the first week of November i made it a point to visit Ranganthittu bird sanctuary which is near the historic town Sriranganpatana about 18 kms from Mysore city. During this period there were hardly any migratory birds which normally come around mid December to January, however was able to see considerable numbers of White Ibis, black headed Ibis, egrets, bats, crocodiles. Here are few pictures of the same

Crocodile basking in the sun

Bats having their nap

Crocodile in the river just beside the boat

 Black headed Ibis

Greater Thick Knee or the Stone plover or Great Stone curlew

Open billed Stork

Black Cormorant

Group of Cormorants, Black headed Ibis









The sanctuary consists of six islets which are lush with vegetation where there water birds nest and whenever  excess water is being released from the KRS dam these islets are generally flooded and during these times there is no boating and you would be forced to view these birds from the river bank only. The main attraction of this sanctuary is the boating ( row boats only) which is operated throughout the day by Karnataka Forest department staff depending on the crowd and you get to be up close with these birds. An interesting news is that this sanctuary came into existence in 1940 due to Dr Salim Ali the famous ornithologist when he requested the king of Mysore to declare this area as a sanctuary. A great place to be for bird watchers and lovers.

Mysore Zoo ... a colorful time spent there

Mysore trip is incomplete if you have not visited the Zoo that is located in the center of the city. Mysore zoo is one of the oldest and well maintained zoo of India and during my recent trip visited the zoo with an aim of capturing few good photographs. here are few colorful photographs of the inmates

Mandarin Duck (normal photography)















Mandarin Duck photographed with Vivid color setting

Giraffe

                          Gorilla

Zebra

African Elephant

Variety of Parrots



















Lot more pictures have been captured but am sure i am the millionth guy posting them here.

Turkeys !!!

Recently had been to a jungle lodge where the management has couple of turkeys moving about the camp

Looks great !!!

Indicators of rains !!!

It is said that if you see a dragonfly in the surrounding then it means that rains are on the way !!! I really do not know if its true but then photographs of these dragonfly is quite beautiful. Here is couple of photos taken in Chennai just before the onset of monsoon few days back

Grand old Langur !!!

The road from Masinagudi to Mysore passes through Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and Bandipur Tiger Reserve and if you are traveling early morning or late evening the chances of seeing various wild animals are much more than in the other times of the day. Here is a picture of Langur relaxing majestically enjoying the early afternoon sunlight at Bandipur forest