The Magic of Monsoons in Tiger reserves

She must have thought for a while that it was one of her cubs

Wow. That must have been an experience. Lost & Found in Tadoba. Waiting for more shots.

Ronak.

Abheek

I am game (pun not intentional!) for Aug 13-15 trip. There's Gitanjali - if I leave KGP on 12th afternoon, will be at Nagpur 13th morning at 0720 hrs. Will that work? I have sent you PM and given my e-mail address - we can discuss more.

Nattusbs

Dear Dr Ghosh,

The day you started this journey for this season and even started this thread too, I was practically nearer to the spot.But When I am back in station and surfed through this thread,am biting my fingers. I've planned for a home visit on the 15th august weekend and so...Any chance to visit Tadoba with you on next weekend(20-21-22 aug)?Like 15th , 22nd is also a holiday , a thanking break from office work.If you allow me to join , we shall discuss it further via PM.

Folks, I am sorry I was out of action as I was travelling a better part of the last 2 weeks.

Do let me know if you intend to join us over the independence day weekend. Let me know asap. You can also look at 20-22 Aug weekend.

Absolutely sir. The grip on the bean bag is very similar to the way a Tigress grips her cubs.

Absolutely Ronak.

That works fantastic prof. See if you can join us. Will be great catching up with you. you can also look at the 20-22 aug weekend.

Subhajit, It was nice interacting with you yesterday and I think that I can look forward to your company over 20-22 Aug in Tadoba. Infact, Prof (Nattusbs) you can also look at this date if it works out for you (train tickets and all) . Will be a fantastic way to spend the weekend with 2 IMers.

In the meanwhile continuing my tadoba explorations, here are some more shots from the last 2 weeks.

Who dares disurb me ?


A completely wet ecosystem


A prelude to the first flight of the flycatcher chick shot posted earlier


Two way traffic


Our prized possession


Explorer - I : soaking in all the fun


A new look for the season


We have closed accepting participants for our 13-15 August meet but considering the huge response from all over the country we have decided to have an encore in Tadoba over the 20-22 August weekend. Participation is open over the next weekend.

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh

Great pics and write up on Tadoba. I heard that they are soon going to close the Tadoba National Park during the monsoon season from next year onwards. Is it true?

Would love to join in someday. I think on the 15th weekend the park may be full of people coming from Nagpur due to the extended weekend holidays. I remember the last time I went to Pench on Sunday morning all the fifty permits were sold out. It was really crazy and no tigers were spotted due to the shouting and screaming of the kids and adults who don't know how to observe silently when on a park ride. The evening before we spotted a female and her cubs but there were about 25 jeeps in one spot all revving up their engines and people standing on top of the support bars of the jeep to get a view of the tigers but to no avail since there was so much shouting and screaming. Unless the people are educated and they control their emotions, a good sighting can be ruined by even a single mistake.

Cheers,
Aadil.

Hi Aadil
There is a movement to restrict tourism activities in Tadoba during the monsoons and its already in force from this year. The best part that has happened this monsoons is that the department has put a cap on total number of vehicles entering the park on any given day at 8 only. So , sunday or any weekday there will be only 8 vehicles in the park.

Its unfortunate to hear about your experience around crying / shouting kids in Pench during your last visit. When did you go ? When I visit Pench (which I do every weekend) from october to july every year, I make sure that I have a select group of like minded wildlifers and my trusted driver and guide with me and I drive according to my plans in high density wildlife areas. Why don't you contribute your images taken during your Pench visit to my thread dedicated to Pench here Documenting the growth of 5 Tiger cubs in Pench Tiger Reserve : 2011-2013

Do join me sometime.

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh

Great pics again!

Abheek,
All nice pictures specially the last one befitting your profile picture on IM.

Hi , Please tell me about the gear you have [ Lenses & Body ]

Hello Sir
I shoot with 2 canon 40D bodies, 1 canon 20D body along with an assortment of lenses including Canon 300mm f4 L IS, Canon 70-200 f4 L, Canon 70-300 f4.5-5.6 USM IS, Canon 100-300 f4-5.6 USM, Sigma 17-70 macro lens, Canon 50mm f1.8, Canon 18-55mm f3.5-4.5 , Tamron 200-400 f5.6 LD , Sony harddisk based handycam and finally a weather proof point and shoot - Pentax W90 .

I am planning to buy a Canon 7D body very soon and sell of one of the 40D bodies and the Tamron 200-400 lens.

This pic although not a recent pic of my arsenal shows some the cameras and lenses that we have in our group when we go to document the jungles.

Heavy Artillery


The National meet of wildlife enthusiasts happens in Tadoba next weekend (also celebrated as Wildcats Foundation day). Over the last few weeks I have been on a few trips to Tadoba to set things up and oversee the preparations of the meet.

I chanced upon something that I had never seen before - The sequence of a Kill . This encounter was witnessed along with the Chief Conservator of Forests of Tadoba.

Let the pics do the talking.

Chase


Trap


Kill


Kill to land


Feeding


Own share for chief


Resting time


Although monsoon is not a great time to photograph and document animals in their habitat, perseverance and repeated visits do get me a lot of presentable images and some lifetime moments.

Also photographed over the last 2 weeks was this fantastic visual of 2 brothers enjoying the lush greenery.



P.S: Due to the great interest shown by a lot of people to attend this meet , we have been forced to announce 2 more meets 20-22 August and 9-11 September. Let me know if anyone wants to join in.

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh

abheekg hats off on the awesome bean bag shot. i need to get to nagpur asap. you have some amazing times out at tadoba.

Thank you Arun sir.
We are having a series of meets and workshops on biodiversity conservation in Tadoba in August, September and October https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=253233094693912 ; and the participants are getting to experience a host of activities including interaction with locals involved in saving the ecosystem of tadoba, discussing on better strategies to save the Tiger, getting trained in handling and rescuing snakes, getting trained in wildlife photography handsdown, apart from enjoying jungle safaris in Tadoba.

A few teasers of what some of the participants have shot so far :

















And a very rare shot of the elusive dominant male Tiger of the Moharli range that I could manage to shoot in falling light and rainy conditions: The one and only Wagdoh male



Here is another shot of the big guy (wagdoh male) shot by my friend Amol during vis visit to Tadoba last summer.



Due to a tremendous response from interested Wildlifers from all over the country we are merging this event (foundation day celebrations) with a series of workshops on Biodiversity conservation and Wildlife Photography that we are conducting every weekend till the end of October at Tadoba https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=253233094693912 .
Please feel free to rsvp.

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh

Advance Park Entry Booking:
TATR Management started Advance Park Entry Booking from Chandrapur. But it can be done personally and Online Booking is not made available yet. They do not provide Advance Booking more than 7 days before i.e. On Saturday, you can get the advance booking of Sunday till Friday, if available. Due to very less vehicles and Mad rush on Saturdays and Sundays, you all are advised to utilise the option of advance bookings to avoid heartaches of not getting an entry at the last moment.

Dr. A Ghosh

fantastic sighting dada...jackal group hunt... a rare experience and looks great amidst the lush monsoon greenery.... fits the DISCOVERY quality

So, How have the Aug meets at Tadoba been ?
....Cheers, Jalpesh Mehta

The Wild India - www.thewildindia.blogspot.com