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A wealth of gorgeous photos - thanks @Nik63 for posting your trip report.

@Galana- it was a great first day in Corbett. The Elephants were fairly distant, not near the road. They went about their business and ignored us. I think drivers are very respectful of them!   @michael-ibkthank you- it was a really enjoyable day!

Just fabulous, you really cannot ask more of a safari day in India. Great stuff!

An epic first day indeed. Always good to see and a chance encounter adds a certain spice to the event.   How were the ellies? Quite different in temperament than their African cousins I find..

White-crested Helmet-Shrike (Prionops plumatus)       Southern Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus rufirostris)     Emerald-spotted Wood Dove (Turtur chalcospilos)     Mutable Sun Squirrel (Heliosciurus mutabilis)       White-faced Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna viduata)                     Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros)       Great Egret (Ardea alba)     The mighty Zambesi River!                   To be continued...

A great start @Nik63. A good way to have your lunch interrupted!

A gentle wind-down before a return to the hotel Some distant elephants crossing the river A very cute Spotted Deer baby And a Male Kalij Pheasant crossed the road   Kalij Pheasants were very common in Corbett. We thought they were really beautiful birds.   A thoroughly enjoyable day!      

Quick, JayP thought it might cross a track further ahead. And he positioned us perfectly! (at 176mm)   So a very exciting sighting of this stunning cat. It also showed us that JayP really knew his business and really knew the park well.  

So although we hadn't come to Corbett to spend all our time with tigers, it was exciting, and they are beutiful animals. However, JayP had not finished. As soon as the Tiger vanished he got the jeep to reverse, turn round and head back towards a low bridge we had crossed earlier. He told us the Tiger will probably go alsong the river. We drove quickly and stopped on the bridge - other cars followed.   After a couple of minutes as if it had read the script, the Tiger reappeared and walked along the river bank - slightly further away than previously but still a good clear view     Tasting the air Eventually it walked along the bank and out of view.      

As we rounded a bend, we were excited to see   There was one car on the other side of the tiger, and two besid/behind us.   I was pleasantly surprised to see the car in front reverse to give the Tiger some more room     A bit of spraying Heads along the road and into the undergrowth at the side of the road  

Gin and tonic before lunch!     Preparing for lunch       Waiting for commencing the lunch     Lunch interrupted!!! Elephants in the camp (actually they were all around our table)!!!             To be continued...    

We also came across a herd of Elephant (in deep shade) - always a pleasure to see wild elephants     A really good view of a Changeable Hawk Eagle   And a spectacular Jungle Fowl    

In the afternoon we went to a different bit of the zone - again beautiful and relaxing Riverside scene Himalayan Griffon Vultures near the river   A Great Hornbill in the forest Plum-headed Parakeets Some more Spotted Deer Crossing the track A Langur watches us go by  

We arrived at our base for the next two nights The Golden Tusk Hotel. This about a 10 minute drive from the Jhirna Gate of Corbett National park, so was really well located. I will say more about the hotel later, but it was excellent.   Our guide for the rest of the trip came to meet us in our room. His name was Jay Prakash Khulbey (known as JayP). He is very experienced and lives locally in Ramnagar. He talked through the plans for tomorrow -  an cup of coffee at reception at 06.00, leave at 06.15 to be at the Jhirna gate for 6.30. We will take a packed breakfast with us, but some breakfast will also be available when we return to the hotel at around 10.30.   Jhirna Zone Corbett National Park   There are only two or three cars waiting at the gate. As JayP has a local guide licence, we do not need an additional guide. We will have two jeep safaris in this zone, one morning, one afternoon. We will keep the same driver for both.   We told Rural Traveller and JayP that we didn’t want to spend all our time hunting for Tigers and that we were quite relaxed about seeing them.   Corbett is a lovely park and it is a pleasure to drive through it, enjoying the scenery, the birds and the mammals. Driving through the forest Black-winged Kite with beautiful red eyes Oriental Pied Hornbill Scarlet Minivet Crimson Sunbird Langur Common Kingfisher Wild Pig Very young Spotted Deer   A really enjoyable first safari in Corbett   The morning drive ended at around 10.30 and then a quick drive back to the hotel for coffee, a second very good breakfast. We then birded the very nice grounds before lunch at around 12.30!   A little rest and then meet JayP at 2.15pm for the afternoon drive.  

@Athenethank you @Galanathank you, I am sure you would enjoy it! @michael-ibkthank you. The light was good for most of the trip. We really enjoyed the Kingfisher with snake encounter (I am not sure the snake did!) @Atravelynnthank you @xelasthe boat trip was very enjoyable. I am sure you would enjoy a return!   Continued So we came to the end of the first part of the trip staying at the Birders Inn for 4 nights. We thought that it was a really good choice. Very close to Keoladeo and easy to get to Chambal. We had organised this through Rural Traveller but it would be easy to all of it through the Birders Den. (As we did on our previous visit).They can arrange guides and trips to Chambal.   The food was good, the room was good. We recommend it.   The next morning, after a good breakfast, our driver picked us up for the long drive towards Corbett National Park. Much of the journey is along very good roads. We stopped for lunch with our driver at a “Shiva Dhaba” – a roadside restaurant and had very good vegetarian food. Many restaurants are “100% Vegetarian”; we even passed at least one that was “140% Vegetarian”!   As we got further north we had to take a diversion because of heavy traffic held up by the Farmers’ Protests (“Chalo Delhi”). Our driver took us on some minor roads through small villages so we were not held up for long.   On the way we stopped as we passed some Sarus Cranes in a field at the side of the road   Including a juvenile.   As we were looking a young woman came up to us and asked if she could have a picture with us, taken on her phone. We agreed, so I asked if we could also take a picture of them with my phone. This happened a few times on the trip, but this was the first time I asked for a photo in return! As so many people have phones, using the camera is not intimidating (unlike a big white lens)