TATR - (Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve) - A Trip Report

SAugata, beautiful crisp photos! Makes me feel like rushing to the spot! BTW, you are keeping the most awaited photos away from us (striped ones)!! Make it fast .

Just a teeny--weeny clarification, the bird which you mention as 'Kingfisher' is an 'Indian Roller' .

Thanks DJ for the great words. Those photos are our favourites too Great people think alike!!

Thanks Naveena for the correction, I knew I am making a mistake by the blunt guesswork, but I have corrected the post now. Do you happen to know the names of the cranes and the other unknown birds?

You can see the stripey in the safari log of the next one

I wanted to say how good your report was and how I enjoyed the pictures... but every time I thought of writing I went straight back to the report reading it just one more time... sigh..

Loved the report and the photos... and going back to reading it once more, till the 2nd part comes up.

Cheers,
Kartik

I can give it a try! I am not aware of each and every bird but would like to check the IDs.

The black & white birds (stripey) seems to be 'Asian Openbill' and in the same photograph one could also see a blackish brown bird in the background or may be in the sides, I believe it could be Red-naped Ibis also probably known as Indian Black Ibis/Oriental Black Ibis.

The brownish bird (pair & solo) you have posted could be Indian Pond Heron !

The stripey birds photo is a long shot so I am not very sure but anybody else could contradict me .

Thanks Kartik for these encouraging words, the next set will be uploaded soon.

Kudos to you, Naveena. You are, at least for me, an expert on the birds and I have noticed your love for the birds earlier in different threads also. Fantastic!!!

PS: have updated the post

Thanks to IM and it's very encouraging members, I have picked up this interesting hobby of watching birds and it proved useful today in identifying some birds here !

Thanks for the kind words, Saugata! Please post the next set soon .

Hi Saugata,
Nice to see your detailed report and the great photographs.

Looking forward to your next report(s).

Regards
Venkat

Thanks Venkat for the nice words. I am glad that you have enjoyed it. Next set is in my next post.

Day 2 2nd May 2012 - 2.30 pm - The Second Safari

Under the scorching heat, we started our 2nd safari at sharp 2.30 pm. This time we headed towards a different direction, Kolsa. It seemed that a sheer dryness engulfed the whole place.


Going for just half an hour, we heard a calling of sambar, a big cat was on the move. This time we did not need to wait long to see the king of the jungle. We could see one sitting under the trees, with his eyes closed. Evidently he was not bothered by the visitors. Why would he? It is his jungle!!


He opened his eyes in disgust perhaps, disturbed by the noise of the car engines and the camera clicks.


We stayed there for almost half an hour, and we wished to stay for longer, but the forest guard requested us to leave so that the car congestion do not irritate him and others can also have an opportunity to see the heavenly creation. We moved on, but today was the day for tigers. Going further we could see another female resting at an almost open space.


Her reflection on the muddy water where she took a bath just 10 mins back, as the others said.



Again we could not stay longer as we would have wanted, so we had to move on with our hearts filled with ecstasy and joy.

A paradise flycatcher (male) on the way


Grey headed fish eagle:




Going further up, we could see a queue of cars and people clicking countless photos and the forest guards controlling the traffic. So we understood we have a great chance of another sighting. And yes, we had. Two cubs were sitting under the bamboo trees.


They were not so ecstatic seeing us, and immediately after 10 mins, they were seemingly disgusted and hence they disappeared into the dense forests.







We waited for some more time but they were not to be seen again. So we drove on.

A family of Indian Rollers:



A different looking tree:


A lone Indian Wild Dog (Dhole) was curious and looking for something at a distance:



Now it was the time to return, so we drove towards Moharli gate through the jungle:



On the way, a male Nilgai was visibly alarmed and watching something very carefully so we stopped:


After sometime, we understood what he was seeing when we saw his full family were trying to cross the road – a female one and a cute little cub.



We drove past the Teliya lake, where under the setting sun, the deers were grazing, that was an amazing sight:




The open field was full of them, a large horde of spotted deer.


A really long distance shot:


A solo watch tower at a magnificent location:


By when the sun was almost set, we returned back to the Moharli gate, with our joy knew no bounds, for the heavenly experience that we encountered.


Hope you guys have enjoyed the log. My laptop power adapter has ceased working so it may take a while to pull together the next set

WOW... Saugata,....good description and lovely photos...which camera and lenses did you use for all these snaps????.The King is looking so innocent in the first picture!!!!! Wished you could have got the Paradise Flycatcher from the front.

Hi Kunal,

Thanks for the encouraging words, I am glad that you liked the post. The King may look innocent here, but the same King would become ferocious when he chases down his prey

I would have loved to get the Paradise Flycatcher from the front, but he was so relentlessly moving that I feel fortunate that I have managed to get even this shot.

I have used Canon 1100D with 55-250 mm lens. I have personally found the combination awesome for wildlife photography for amateurs like us.

Saugata, beautiful set of photographs. Seems like you had a fairly good view of this ferocious animal and other wild animals at close quarters. Very well captured !

Must have been a exciting sight to watch the animal walk majestically in front of you!!

Thanks Naveena. Yes we did see them from pretty close, but this is the just the beginning Stay tuned for the rest of the logs. I hope I can show some more interesting snaps

You bet it is.

waiting, waiting, waiting.....

Outstanding snaps, Saugata! Haven't read the TR, but the snaps told a thousand words. Great work.