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A dream of wild India, finally realized: February 2016


janzin

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@@janzin

Beautiful photographs, vivid and sharp. The light through the red haze is great too. Funnily, i always curse when we have the dust, but you seem to have seen the opportunity and taken it too. Bravo!

The pictures are really something.

@@lmSA84 beat me to it. What was the gear you had, if you don't mind sharing?

Edited by Earthian
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@@janzin - beautiful photos as always. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this report.

 

Apologies, if I missed it elsewhere in the report but what camera equipment did you use?

 

@@Earthian and @ImSA84 (and anyone else who is interested) I was shooting with two full-frame cameras: Nikon D810 and Nikon D800. On the D810 I had the 200-400 F4 VR lens and on the D800 I had the 70-200 2.8 VR. Most of the time I had the 1.4TC on the 200-400 for birds. I found that in India (unlike Africa) I mostly used the longer lens as we could not necessarily get close. That changed a bit when we got to Kaziranga (Rhino and Elephants are bigger!)

 

I did find it very difficut to handle the 200-400VR in the Gypsy. I had a monopod but never could get the hang of using it. There were few times that it was convenient to use the beanbag, although I did use it sometimes (I had brought an empty one and Rajen stopped to buy me rice to fill it before we even got to Svarsara, so I lugged it around throughout all the parks and discarded the rice when we left for Kaziranga.)

 

In the end I rather wished I'd brought the 200-500 5.6 instead, much easier to handhold. But I was concerned about the amount of dust getting into it, as unlike the 200-400 (which is a pro lens) the 200-500 extends when zooming. I'm not sure it would have survived all the dust!

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Love the birds. Your notes should come with a health warning to non birders. Snapping away at birds whilst waiting for mammals to show up is how most of us got hooked and there is NO escape or cure.

Keep em coming janzin. Great photography.

 

@@Galana you are sure right about that LOL. No cure!! And it only gets worse! I am having severe birding withdrawal right now as mid-summer there is not much going on around where I live. Soon at least the shorebirds will be coming :)

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So everyone is eagerly awaiting more tigers. As were we! Was it to be?

 

I believe it was on our 2nd afternoon drive, we headed straight to a waterhole where Maya had been see earlier. Arriving among the first vehicles, we had a prime position right in the front. At first Rajen moved us into the shade (there was one tiny patch of shade) but the position wasn't as good for (potential!) photographs, so we asked to move back. We waited. And waited. It was blazing hot. Gypsys kept arriving, and soon there must have been 20 vehicles at the waterhole, three deep in places...we were fortunate to be right in front. Amazingly, most people waited quietly, even the many young children. I was getting really impatient, and starting to wonder if this was a crazy system.... Even the birds were absent...so nothing to look at...

Eventually a Wild Pig did come down to cool off...

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The pig departed, and a family group of Sambar started to venture down. Tentatively, one by one, they came to drink and wallow.

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Make a mental note of that little sweet little Sambar :(

 

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The Sambar soon left and went up into the woods. No other action...and it had been close to two hours so far, sitting in the hot sun.

 

....but then...quietly...Rajen signaled to look over to the left....could it be...in the grass...there she was!

tiger_JCZ_4402a.jpg

She'd clearly been resting in that high grass the entire time, but no one could see her until she stood up. I was so glad we'd told Rajen to move us back into the front line position, as otherwise we would have been completely blocked by other vehicles for this first look.

 

She started to come down to drink,

 

tiger_JCZ_4407a.jpg

 

 

and got almost to the water's edge, when she did an abrupt about face.

 

tiger_JZ_4410b.jpg

oh never mind...I think I smell something...

 

tiger_JZ_4420b%5B1%5D.jpg

The Sambar group was still in the woods....was she going after them? Yes! Before I could even click my shutter she sprung off like lightening and into the woods. It happened so fast... This was all I could capture...these are one frame apart...the next, all you see is the tip of her tail!

hunting_4427.jpg

 

hunting_4428.jpg


Of course by this time everyone was standing and gesturing and clicking cameras, and the excitement was electric. Engines rev'ved! Gypsy's jockeyed to get out and attempt to follow! Our position in the front now hindered us, because we were among the last to turn around. The hope was to re-find her coming out the other side of the woods, where there was a road. Being just about last up to the road, and encountering the major traffic jam there, Rajen suggested we go back to the waterhole, as she might return if she didn't catch the Sambar.

 

Unfortunately, in this instance that was the wrong choice. Indeed, it turned out that she did catch the young Sambar--yes, that very cute one in the above photo :( and was seen dragging it across that very road which we had just left--as we waited in vain by the waterhole. Oh well, you can't be in two places at once. But what an exciting end to that afternoon!

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Good going. Can feel the excitement when the games afoot! Great photos of the tiger. Pity you missed the chase and the kill.

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Being a copycat is not always a bad thing! I might become one myself also as you photos are showing the country in its ultimate splendour. And I really like the birds!

 

Technical question: going to Sri Lanka next week, with D7200 + 200-500; two of the parks (Wilpattu and Yala) will have the similar scenario: Gypsy and dust. How to prevent dust issue? To bring a pillow case??

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Being a copycat is not always a bad thing! I might become one myself also as you photos are showing the country in its ultimate splendour. And I really like the birds!

 

Technical question: going to Sri Lanka next week, with D7200 + 200-500; two of the parks (Wilpattu and Yala) will have the similar scenario: Gypsy and dust. How to prevent dust issue? To bring a pillow case??

 

Definitely bring something like a pillowcase--although I actually prefer a large cloth that you can just wrap around the gear. It takes to long to get the camera in and out of the pillowcase. In fact, I had brought a pillowcase to India and ended up cutting it open. But even then it wasn't large enough so that's when I had Rajen buy us some cloth. Just a really big piece of cheap cotton is fine.

 

Another thing to do is to get a "lenscoat" neoprene cover for the lens. I had one on the 200-400. I just ordered one for my 200-500 (which I am pretty sure I will take to Kenya, after all.) I won't help with the dust going in and out of the barrel but it will help with it getting into the switches, as there are little plastic windows covering them. There's a company in the UK that is cheaper then the LensCoat and looks as good, I ordered it via Ebay but since you are in Europe maybe you can order it directly, if you wish. http://www.outdoorphotographygear.co.uk/

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@@janzin Lovely photos of the tiger - you will just have to return to see a kill :)

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@@janzin that's really exciting - you had great sightings of tigers,especially of Maya and of her sprinting off to hunt. though you did not capture the hunt or saw the thereafter, you still captured great shots of her!

 

Beautiful pictures of the wildlife (including those birds) and citylife, by the way.

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Just a few more from Tadoba...

 

We would finish up every afternoon drive with a circuit around the lake. I was surprise to see Sambar completely submerged, enjoying their dinner. Very much like a moose in North America!This is one of my favorite photos from Tadoba.

sambar_3818.jpg

We were excited to find our first Dhole, or Indian Wild Dog, of the trip on one of these lake drives. There were actually seven Dhole; five adults with two pups. But it was quite late in the day, and the light was very low, and they were on the move away from us. We would have much better Dhole encounters in Pench--but of course we couldn't know that at this point. This was our life Dhole and we were thrilled!

dhole_5260a.jpg

Heading into our last couple of game drives, our one disappointment was that so far we had not even caught a glimpse of Maya's cubs. Rajen got wind of a report of the cubs along a hillside, above a waterhole which can't be seen at all from the road. (Although the guides are not connected with radios, as they are in Africa, they are always stopping passing gypsys to get the latest info. They seem to have a whole system of sign language worked out so sometimes they don't even need to stop! And at times, we did see guides communicating on cell phones; although that is frowned upon, its definitely done.)

Even though we were warned that it wouldn't be a great view, we opted to go check it out--distant tiger cubs are better than no cubs at all! Sure enough, on our arrival they were visible...but just barely. Quite far and a bit of contorting was necessary to get any kind of view. From time to time they would completely disappear as they went to the waterhole, and we only saw two of the three cubs (the 3rd must have been close, but out of view.) Photos were frustrating and I sure could have used a 600mm lens, but I did the best I could (these are heavily cropped and not that sharp to begin with.) Still...Maya's cubs!

tiger_JCZ_4741a.jpg

 

tiger_JCZ_4773a.jpg

 

Unfortunately, this was to be our only encounter with the cubs. We befriended a very nice man from Scotland, Stephen, who was on his own and staying at Svarsava. We had dinner with him and it turned out that he was following us to the same hotel in Pench, just one day later. Well, when we met back up with him in Pench he told us that on the morning we had left Tadoba, he had the "iconic" sighting of Maya and the three cubs right in the road and then drinking and swimming in the waterhole--the sighting we had hoped for :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: I was so bummed!!! He sent me some photos when I got home and I was soooooo jealous. :( :( :( But, that's how it goes on safari!

 

We also had one other very brief, non-photo op tiger sighting...a large male, Pandu, but he was walking away from us, down a track which on we could not follow. So no photos.

 

We had one very brief view of leopard but no photo op at all, deep in the brush and walking away.

 

So the tiger sightings at Tadoba turned out as follows:

 

2/18 p.m. My birthday sighting of Maya!

2/19 a.m. Matkasur in the road

2/19 p.m. Maya hunt at the waterhole

2/20 a.m. None

2/20 p.m. the two cubs in the distance

2/21 a.m. None, but brief leopard

2/21 p.m. Pandu walking away, no decent photos

 

Total tigers: Five individuals, five out of 7 drives. Not bad! We anticipated having many more tiger sightings at Kanha--didn't really expect any at Pench.... You'll have to wait and see what we got!

 

Next installment...onto Pench!

Edited by janzin
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michael-ibk

Great you saw Maya´s cubs - and Dhole! Not ideal circumstances, true, but Tiger cubs are very special in any circumstances - I have never seen any. Really like the submerged Sambar - not very safe for them, I saw pictures on the Tadoba FB group where one was attacked by a Mugger croc.

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Great you saw Maya´s cubs - and Dhole! Not ideal circumstances, true, but Tiger cubs are very special in any circumstances - I have never seen any. Really like the submerged Sambar - not very safe for them, I saw pictures on the Tadoba FB group where one was attacked by a Mugger croc.

 

Wow I'm surprised you haven't seen any cubs...somehow I thought you had. Another trip? :)

 

I don't think we saw any crocs at that lake but, surely there must have been some in there...hadn't thought of that!

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Actually, before we get to Pench...I almost forgot to post these awesome signs that are scattered throughout Tadoba. Not sure why this park had these, we didn't see anything similar in other parks, but they were pretty neat.

 

Of course, this is an oft-photographed sign that is in the area where one stopped to have one's breakfast daily.

 

tadoba_sign_6592a.jpg

 

This one, we found on the road to Telia Lake.

 

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And these were scattered around the entrance gate:

 

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This little shrine was on the entrance road. Rajen told us it is a memorial to someone attacked by a tiger.

 

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Ok, NOW on to Pench!

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offshorebirder

Wonderful photos in the latest sets @@janzin.

 

I *particularly like* the Orange-headed Thrush and the portrait of the Crested Serpent Eagle. And the composition of the Green Bee-eater photo is choice! The bird's bill and eye line are sloped downwards at the exact angle of the branch on which it is perched.

 

And I like the photo of the Wild Pig lounging at the water's edge.

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Not a bad start to your trip at all. Plenty of birds and beasts. Keep them coming.

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Alexander33

Really enjoying your report. I like your narrative and the stories behind the photos, as opposed to a blow-by-blow account of each day (though those can be enjoyable as well -- I suppose I love all trip reports).

 

Your photos are great and I appreciate your sharing details from a photographic perspective. India is on my list --- someday....!

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what you thought were frustrating photos of the cubs, I thought were excellent pics (for me as a point and shoot photographer) of the cubs! they have grown so much since we last glimpsed them through the dense bushes. Maya has done a brilliant job in bringing them up.

 

i loved that pic of the submerged sambar too. he looked very contented.

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We really didn't expect to see tigers at Pench--although I know some folks have, it seems in more reports than not, they aren't seen. So our expectations were low, and we were not disappointed--I'll let you know right off the bat, we didn't see any tigers in Pench (not for lack of trying!) In fact for the days we were there, no one reported tigers (Stephen, our Scot friend, did not see any either; and Rajen said none of the other guides reported tigers to him.) BUT--Pench rewarded us in many other ways and in fact, we really loved Pench and were so glad we went! You'll see why in a bit :)

We stayed at Tuli Tiger Corridor and it was wonderful, if a bit over the top in luxury. The property is large and we were in the superior "tents" which are the furthest from the main dining area and the departure point for your vehicles. They fortunately offer golf carts which pick you up and drive you back and forth, if you wish! We took advantage of these most days coming back from the game drives, as it was incredibly hot. (The walk itself really wasn't that long, just five minutes, but in the heat, carrying camera equipment, it was quite welcome to have the cart!) To get to these tents, you walk over a small bridge over a lake, but the lake was very low and we only saw a few birds around it.

They are really more bungalow than tent; concrete walls but a tented roof; and are set well apart and you can see one below.

tuli_8343.jpg

The interiors are quite luxurious by safari standards, with a tv (which we never turned on; in fact, we kept closing the tv cabinet but every day we'd return to find it open with welcome arms again!) And not one, but TWO giant air conditioning units, the likes of which I've never seen before. Most of the time we only had one on because they were extremely efficient and the room would get freezing. You can see them in the rear corners of this photo...they were floor to ceiling!

tuli1.jpg

 

And behind this room was the bathroom area which is bigger than most people's kitchens in NYC apartments (bigger than my kitchen, for sure.)

tuli2.jpg

Also, the food and service were fantastic at the Tuli Lodges (we stayed at Tuli in Kanha as well.) The service actually was a bit over-whelming, with at least five staff coming over to you at every meal asking how everything was (multiple times!) Some meals were buffet (when they were busy) and a couple we were served at the table (when there weren't many guests.) But there was always a tremendous amount of food, and many, many dishes to choose from. Fantastic breads too!

Going back to Tadoba for a moment...I realize that I forgot to mention much about Svasara lodge, as I didn't really take any photos of that lodge, as the rooms were pretty much standard hotel rooms. So just briefly: It was a wonderful lodge, the location as mentioned was great, the rooms were spacious and with excellent a/c. The staff and the owner, who we met, were lovely. The food was just okay (we didn't find it as good, and certainly not as varied, as that of Tuli, but it was fine. Better if you stayed with the veggie options as no kidding about the bony chicken!) I would definitely stay there again when I return to Tadoba, for the great location and the friendly staff. BTW, I also realize that previously in this report I misspelled Svasara--unfortunately I can't go back to edit.

Anyway, enough about all that, I'm sure you are eager to hear about the game drives! (But I know when I am planning a trip I really like to hear about the accommodations as well, and often return to a trip report just to look at accommodation photos etc.)

 

As I said, we saw no tigers. But the scenery alone in Pench was well worth the stop--it was totally different than Tadoba, rocky and with rivers, streams, and generally more dramatic.

 

One of the driving routes dead-ended at this overlook for the Pench River. That's a Chital herd across the way.

 

pench_river_6604a.jpg

The park also had many interesting trees, such as this "ghost tree", so called because of the white bark and ghostly look. The real name is Kulu tree (Sterculia urens). Although there may be some of these in Tadoba as well, I don't recall seeing them, or at least as many as we saw in Pench.

 

ghost_tree_6608a.jpg

 

And here's the river with a ghost tree at the bank.

 

pench_river_6605a.jpg

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The entrance gate to our next adventure!

 

 

pench_8328a.jpg

 

Every day we would go to a specific waterhole to wait for a (never-appearing) tiger. However, this waterhole seemed to be the favorite hunting area for this Crested Hawk-eagle. Note how different this bird looks from the individual I posted from Tadoba. Same species, different morph. For you birders, this would be N. c. limnaeetus, found in North India and dimorphic. Anyone interested in the specifics can read more here: http://www.eagledirectory.org/species/crested_hawk_eagle.html

 

crested_hawk_eagle_5363c.jpg

 

Another great bird that we saw on several drives was this Mottled Wood-Owl, reliably at the same tree on multiple occasions.

 

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Did I mention how great India is for owls? We also saw Jungle Owlet on many occasions.

 

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This could be sharper--it was very early morning and this is at ISO 2000-- but just to show you yet another cute owl:

 

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Another interesting and odd thing about Pench--the animals like to wear hats made out of birds!

 

chital_5760a.jpg

 

Okay, this Black Drongo isn't playing hat, just accessorizing...

 

sambar_5808b.jpg

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Thanks for more photos. Crested Hawk Eagle.

In Tadoba and Pench Crested as you say but not a pale morph just a Juv.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACrested_Hawk_Eagle.jpg

Considered conspecific by some authorities with Changeable limnaeetus of Northern India.

My book is very ambivalent on the subject.

 

Great picture whatever label you hang on it as are the others and accessorised Stags.. Blokes like to look good too.

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Uh_oh busted

Lovely photos! I was just looking at our 2014 India photos. What a beautiful country. We only visited Ranthambhore, and we saw two males who were simply gigantic. Sooooo lucky. I am thoroughly enjoying your report.

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Thanks for more photos. Crested Hawk Eagle.

In Tadoba and Pench Crested as you say but not a pale morph just a Juv.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACrested_Hawk_Eagle.jpg

Considered conspecific by some authorities with Changeable limnaeetus of Northern India.

My book is very ambivalent on the subject.

 

Great picture whatever label you hang on it as are the others and accessorised Stags.. Blokes like to look good too.

 

I'll take your expert word on it--I admit I also found it quite confusing!

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Other than tigers (okay, and leopard!), our two "most-wanted" mammals for this part of the trip were Dhole and Sloth Bear. Pench rewarded us amply with Dhole! We saw them on multiple occasions. A nice thing about Pench was that it was not crowded like Tadoba, so when we came upon a sighting, we were often the only vehicle, or perhaps one other.

 

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This one had obviously just had lunch.

 

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And we saw many with pups.

 

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Pench is clearly a top choice park if you want to see Dhole!

 

As for Sloth Bear...we did see one, but very briefly at a distance. We came upon it just as it was walking back into a thicket of trees and there was no photo opportunity. But at least we saw it!

 

Dhole wasn't the only canid that was easy to find at Pench. The park was also excellent for Golden Jackal...we saw more of them here than anywhere else.

 

This one looked a little mangy.

 

golden_jackal_5598a.jpg

 

One morning we came upon a pair cooling off in a waterhole. (This is heavily cropped, so not so great, but I thought jackals in the water was pretty cool and worth posting!)

 

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There was a carcass on the shore and soon they came out to play with it.

 

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This is another jackal encounter, with what's left of someone's dinner.

 

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And we found a new antelope for the trip, the Nilgai.

 

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Finally, we were extremely happy to get another great parrot who cooperated photographically; Alexandrine Parakeet.

 

alexandrine_parakeet_5851a.jpg

 

So all in all we were really thrilled with Pench, even though we didn't see any tigers! We were quite confident that we'd have excellent tiger sightings at Kanha...Rajen's home park which we knew he knew like the back of his hand. So with no worries and much expectation, it was off to Kanha!

Edited by janzin
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Great shots of Dhole. Lovely beasties.

< I thought jackals in the water was pretty cool > The jackals felt pretty cool too. (sorry. Just could not resist.)

Looking forward to what you saw in Kanha.

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@@janzin

 

Wouldn't expect anything less but the perfect shots, yet those are just in another league, such sharpness/contrast wide open. Did you fine tune the lens (200-400) and if yes, which method did you use?

 

And thank you for the link about lens protectors. Too late for Sri Lanka but in time for Kruger. And I think there will be much more dust in Kruger end of October than in Sri Lanka in August :) .

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