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After the great sightings we had in Tadoba in April, it was time to try our luck at the country’s premier tiger reserve, the Ranthambore National Park - known for its much-documented legendary tigers like Machili and Genghis. On the outskirts of the small town of Sawai Madhopur, Ranthambore also enjoys great access from many parts in India due to its relative proximity to the city of Jaipur. A visit to Ranthambore provides one with an wholesome experience as the park boasts of a range of flora and fauna endemic to this part of the country.

This time it was Navin, Vidya, Rohit and your’s truly who made the journey up north in to Tiger country. Our flight in to Jaipur was a bit of an adventure in itself as we ran in to heavy turbulence and an unhelpful captain whose announcements were patchy and ineffective most of the time. After duly arriving at Jaipur close to midnight, we did the relatively shorter drive in to Sawai Madhopur and checked in to Ranthambore Forest Resort at around 3 AM! With the morning safari starting at 5.30 AM, we had better got some shuteye to avoid dozing off in front of a tiger ;)

The first safari began at 5.45 AM in the morning and we got a gem of guide in the form of Nadeem. He was well-read, very knowledgeable and conscious of our photographic needs. I would strongly recommend Nadeem (Ph: +91-9875186731) for anyone who is interested in visiting Ranthambore in the near future. We entered the jungle in to Zone 2, a relatively popular zone for tiger spotting due to the abundance of water bodies. With heavy rains this year in and around the core and buffer areas though, the viewing of tigers has come down reportedly. We went in with the hope that we will get ample bird life and if lucky see a tiger or a leopard :)

Bird life we did see, a few lifers at that - Brown Fish Owl, Stork-billed Kingfisher.

Stork-billed Kingfisher

Spotted Owlet

Brown Fish Owl

However, our luck with the cats was looking spotty and before long almost all of us nodded off mid-way in to the safari :)
With the heat rising from the ground and bird life settling down in the shades, we decided to head back to the lodge for a break and some rest. On the way out Nadeem led us towards Jogi Mahal (some info on Jogi Mahal) which is just near the main exit gate from the park. We saw a few gypsies with people excitedly pointing to the other side of the lake and there she was - T17 (aka Sundari aka Sattar), the resident queen of the lakes (link of Tiger queen). For some of us it was the first sighting of a tiger in the wild and the setting could not have been better! After observing the tigress for some time and seeing her walk around the lake, Nadeem alerted us to the possibility of being able to get closer to her if we rushed outside the park gates. Nadeem’s reading of the situation and his knowledge of Sundari’s beat helped us get this frame!

Tiger!!

Sundari aka T-17, up-close

Jogi Mahal, has hosted dignitaries like Rajiv Gandhi

Just before the tiger came by a beautiful Indian Hare ran in front of us to escape from the tiger. Since all eyes were on the approaching tiger, we missed an excellent opportunity to photograph the Hare in motion. Lesson learnt!

With elation at having seen a tiger at our very first safari, we returned back to the lodge an happy and boisterous bunch with all the sleep forgotten in the adrenaline rush.

The second safari in the afternoon began under a scorching sun and with news that we had been allotted zone 3 which houses the Padam Talab and Raj Bagh lakes. These lakes have played hosts to many a tiger in their time at Ranthambore and we were excited at the prospect of being able to see for ourselves the eco-system present around these lakes. Am also told that zone 3 is the smallest within the park. Having entered in to the park at ~3.45 we immediately ran in to a resting Sundari right next to the main entry gate near the fort complex. She had selected a dilapidated temple for escaping the heat of the day. Immediately we were surrounded by hordes of gypsies all eager to see and photograph the striped beauty.

After some time she started licking her paws and started grooming herslef. Nadeem, ever alert to the possibility of getting good pictures instructed the driver to get in to the road behind the temple ahead of the other gypsies. Within 10 mins, Sundari crossed the road right in front of us, not before sitting right in front of our gypsy for a few mins to think of her next course of action.

After a very short while, she moved in to the thicket and headed towards the lake to cool off. Her departure led to a mad rush to get to the lake to see her cool off in the water. After waiting next to the lake for close to half hour under the roasting sun we saw Sundari saunter in to the lake after alarming a group of Sambhar deer standing by the lake!

From that point on it was cat and mouse with Sundari as she moved back towards the main entry gate. At one point, she walked along the ramparts and was only about 10 meters from us and standing up at an elevation. But due to our excitement and constant movements in the jeep, all of us messed up the shot :(

After this brief walk she entered in to zone 2 and we had to say goodbye to her. Post all this rush, we settled down to explore the jungle proper within zone 3. Ultimately this decision to venture closer to the lakes turned out to be for the best because we ran in to some severe weather in the form of an andhi (sand storm). Since we were very close to the Raj Bhag lake we got to see some stunning display of waves splashing about in an otherwise calm surface and birds struggling to fly against the rough winds. With all the sand around, we had to put our cameras in and spent the time just enjoying the beautiful cold air and talking to Nadeem about the issues plauging the wildlife and the jungle in Ranthambore.

Andhi Pics and video Courtesy Navin Sigamany here and here

After this respite we did a quick circle around the lake and saw some interesting bird life in the form of the Eurasian Thick Knee and Great Thick Knee (lifers for most of us). We also saw an interesting piece of wildlife interaction between a couple of parakeets and a monitor lizard which was vying for space on top of a tree. The birds were pecking the living daylights out of the lizard which had pushed itself in to a tight corner. We would have loved to see this through to the end, but with time running out and some tree-falls expected within the jungle due to the strong gusts, we decided to head back to the main gate and end the day with some great memories!

Great Thick Knee, notice the leg bent outwards after the knee

A great slideshow on the history of the park and legendary stories around Machli and other popular tigers awaited us at the lodge (courtesy: Gaurav from Jungle Lore).

Safari 3 again saw us venture in to zone 3 - the news earlier in the day was that Sundari had completely entrenched herself in zone 2 and we would be lucky to see any more of her in any other zone. This time we decided to spend more time on the bird life. As soon as we entered and reached the Padam Talab, we saw a beautiful Osprey (lifer!) perched on a distant tree. With expectation we headed deeper in to the jungle and came across a pretty Little Heron (lifer!) who was sitting relatively closer to the road. After spending some time photographing her, we also a full grown marsh crocodile slowly come above the surface of the water to check us out. With just the eyes jutting out, she was quite a sight!

Little Heron

Marsh Crocodile

The rest of the Safari was spent around the Raj Bagh lake with some sightings of spotted deer, wild boars and a few huge Sambhar deer. With no predator in sight, the animals were just enjoying their time in water as we headed out of the park

Safari 4 took us to the intensive and tough zone 1. The enticing factors were the presence of 2 tigers in this zone as observed earlier in the day and the chance to sight a leopard, much more elusive than the tiger. With hopes really high we ventured in to what personally turned out to be the most frustrating and demanding safaris on this trip. This particular day was extremely hot and the roads in to his zone were particularly difficult and extremely steep at many locations. With the heat belting down on us and driving on such difficult roads, holding on to the camera and also to the railings on the jeep proved to be quite a task. We finally stopped near a forest chowki to stretch our legs and the only thing that we were able to spot and photograph were a few ubiquitous Rofous Treepies (aka Tiger Toothpick) that had gotten used to human presence. With no action and a very still summer afternoon, we could not wait for this safari to end. But we did manage to shoot a painted spurfowl (lifer!) and the relatively small and shy Jungle Bush quails on our way out. An evening spent in the pool in lukewarm, chlorinated water completely what turned out to be a disappointing day in comparison to Day 1.

Painted Spurfowl

Jungle Bush Quail

On Safari #5, we got zone 4, the home range of the most popular and most photographed wild tiger in the world, Machili. Zone 4 was also home to a sub-adult male tiger called T6 and the news was that sightings in this zone were particularly good. After the relatively dry safari the earlier evening, we were all hoping for a change in luck. Ranthambore has been a very productive location for many a wildlife documentary filmmaker, not only due to the rich flora and fauna, but the relatively better educated and equipped guides available here. During our visit, we were privy to 2 filming units doing stories on Tigers. Some popular documentaries shot in Ranthambore include Tiger Queen and Broken Tail. The reason I mention is that the jeeps carrying the filming crews always seemed to be at the right place at the right time, so much so that we ended following them whenever we sighted them in our zones. In our safari in to zone 4, we saw one of the filming crew vehicles coming towards us from the opposite side. We sensed that something was afoot and we followed their direction to get to a cave about 20 feet above the ground to see our first male tiger on the trip, T6. Though we could see striped skin showing through the dense foliage, the situation was not most conducive for photography. We waited for a long period for the tiger to move, but from what we understood, the tiger could have possibly made a kill recently and would not move any time soon. We were however hopeful that we would get an allocation to the same zone in the evening and we would end up spending some time with this tiger. With these thoughts, we proceeded to exit from the park, but not before photographing a white-eyed buzzard circling directly overhead.

Jeep carrying film crew and right up-close with a tiger

White-eyed Buzzard

Instead of getting zone 4 as we had earlier hoped, Safari 6 pushed us in to zone 2. With some news on sightings of T19 and T39 in this zone, we headed in to the jungle with cameras ready. This time instead of pottering around and shooting all kinds of bird-life we decided to go all out just for the tiger and headed deeper in to the jungle. We did briefly stop to shoot a beautiful peacock with all its feathers out in full glory

As we made our way to the Nalghati area of the park, we noticed a bunch of gypsies parked by a small water body. With a rush of adrenaline we made our way to the small pond and we were greeted with the sight of T39 cooling off along the banks of the pond!! The light was brilliant and the whole area was abuzz with excitement. Nadeem helped position the vehicle directly in line with the tigress and we got some memorable photographs of this beautiful feline cat.

After about ½ hour of this special show, the tigress made to get up and walk away from the pond

But with all the vehicles lining themselves up all along the shore of the pond, she had but no choice to look for an alternative route. She sat down wherever she was to ponder the conundrum before beginning to walk along the river bed.

However, all the vehicles (which had grown close to 20 now) was keen on getting more of this beauty and kept following her wherever she went. She climbed a small hillock to catch a breath before coming back again for quick sip of water. All this while, the filming crew vehicle kept parking their jeep at whatever location the tiger wanted to cross over in to the Jungle. Eventually a ranger of the forest who had come in with his family had to step in and warn them off to give the tigress enough space for her to get in to jungle. She made a dash for it sensing the opportunity and we were all slightly disturbed that all the people who sighted her, us included, did not think of her needs while clicking away to glory :(

After the exhilaration of spending so much time with the tigress we went back to the lodge to catch the finals of the IPL. The day ended, personally on a great note, with Chennai pulling one over Bangalore in the finals :)

The great sighting the previous evening had satiated our thirst for tigers. However, with Machili not having been sighted recently, we were really hoping to wind up in sytle after a look at her in Zone 4. This particular safari Nadeem was unable to join us and we had to venture in with a new guide who hardly opened his mouth :\

On the way came across an Indian Hare foraging for breakfast in beautiful early morning light and also a brilliant interaction between a pair of kingfishers who were making a meal off a frog.

Indian Hare

White-throated Kingfishers, sharing is caring ;)

Proceeding onwards, we reached the forest department’s chowki within zone 4 to check with the resident guards on any sightings. They informed us about the time that Machili spent in a water body nearby. With curiosity aroused we proceeded to check out the spot and look for signs of her presence. It turned out that she had spent time at the water body the previous evening and she probably had found some food to keep her away from there. We also saw a few tiger pug marks leading away from the main road and the resident experts opined that it was T19 and we probably missed it by about half hour.

We proceeded on from that location to try our luck at other water bodies within the zone, but it did appear that our luck finally ran out and we would return back with no great sightings this time around. While stopped to listen in to any alarm calls, we heard a call coming from a bund above where we were, we rushed to the spot and we came close to a bunch of sambar deer which were raising loud calls. It was clear that a tiger was hidden inside, but after a brief while the tiger seemed to have gone back to sleep. We waited around this area for close to an hour before realizing that it was time for us to leave if we were to make it out of the park without facing any fines. So with a mixed feeling we finished our last safari in the park and headed to the lodge for the long journey back home.

In total we went on 7 safaris, on 4 of which we had sightings of the tiger. Would have been incredible if we had spotted a leopard, but that was not to be. Ranthambore, in addition to the big cats is also popular the smaller cats like Caracal and the Jungle cat, hopefully next time around we would be able to see these!

The trip was organized through tour operators Jungle Lore, the same guys who took care of my earlier trips to Pench and Tadoba. The total trip (7 Safaris, stay @ 5 nights/4 days, all meals during our stay, pick-up and drop in an A/C Xylo) cost us INR 21,600/-

If anyone is interested in going on future tours with Jungle Lore, get in touch with either Gaurav or Kaustabh (numbers on their website). While you are at it, check out this awesome video of Machili attacking a spotted deer from behind a tourist gypsy. She is indeed a legend!!

Signing off until another foray in to another jungle happens soon . . .

Luck multiplied 3.5x :-)

2011-05-03T19:29:00.006+05:30

With the peak tiger season almost up on us, the wife and I had decided to make a quick foray to central India for a chance at meeting the king of the jungle. We selected the relatively long Good Friday weekend to visit the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. This was the place where I first got hooked on to photographing wildlife (I still vividly remember coming across the tigress called Dhoom Kati with a cub during that earlier visit!). So with mounting anticipation we boarded the Nizammudin Express to Chandrapur, the nearest drop-off point from Hyderabad. After an un-eventful train journey, we duly arrived at the Serai Tiger Tented Resort on the periphery of the national park at around 8.30 AM. After breakfast and a bit of a rest, we headed in to the national park for our 1st safari of the trip at 2.30 PM.

Safari 1, 22nd April - 2.30 PM
The first safari began with us heading towards the Teliya Dam area under relatively hot sunshine to see if any predator was near the water body for a drink. But due to the late noon heat, we saw very little fauna around the banks for the lake. While circumventing the lake however, we did come across a spot where a Green Bee Eater was sitting on a beautiful perch. While we stopped to take a few pics, the actually flew a short distance and plucked an insect literally mid-air and returned back to the perch. Though I did not manage to get a flight shot or a shot of the hunt, did manage to get some shots of the bird with its prey.

With no luck with the predators near the Teliya Dam area, we slowly made our way back to the main road to try our luck near the Andheri river. News of sightings of 2 tigers (male and female) around this area the previous day increased our hopes of sighting the king. While driving on the main road we came across a very co-operative Indian Roller (Blue Jay) which we photographed for close to 10 mins. Rollers that you find near cities are generally a bit jittery and shy and do not let humans approach at such close distance, but this one was different and did not flinch when we got close.

We went off-road after this point and headed straight to the Andhari river. We first traversed the left bank of the river looking into nothing but dense bamboo shoots. I imagined a tiger in my head at every corner as the shoots were playing tricks with my mind due to their orange-tinged stems with black bands. But with no real sighting this side of the river we proceeded to the opposite side and duly ran in to a posse of gypsies (around 10 in all - I am still wondering how we managed to park at a location so narrow) with folks eagerly awaiting a tiger. You would be surprised at how fast news of sightings spread in a forest and the earlier sighting had by no doubt reached more people than we had imagined. Along with this crowd, there was also a filming vehicle parked nearby and the ranger inside that was absolutely sure that a tiger was sitting on the far bank (the spot from where we had originally come from!). So we decided to wait it out withstanding the commotion all around us due to the narrow confines. A couple of other rangers who came by on foot moved towards the river bank to ensure that there indeed was a tiger inside and came back with good news of a tiger lying down on the far bank. Within another 10 mins the tiger slowly came by to the little rivulet to drink and the commotion levels just went way above acceptable levels.

With everyone jostling around in their vehicles and their seats, photography proved to be extremely difficult. Due to the noise that all of us had collectively made, disturbing the peace and quite of the king’s neighborhood, he decided to walk away in a huff. But not before snarling at all of us, especially the rangers on foot, for good measure.

With a sighting happening on our very first safari Shaon and I had a sense of deja vu as the same thing happened to us late last year in Pench. However, the downside was that we never saw another predator throughout that earlier trip. Hoping and praying that this one would also not go down the same road, but with adrenaline pumped up from the recent sighting we headed back on to the main road. Nothing else happened for the rest of the evening and we duly headed back to the Serai Tiger Tented resort for a well-earned cup of tea and relaxation

Safari 2, 23rd April - 7.00 AM
Though we had left the resort relatively earlier in the morning (5.45 AM to be precise), we still had to spend close to 45 mins outside the main gate waiting for our tickets to be verified. Definitely room for improvement there! With the disappointment of entering the park later than what we had hoped for hanging heavily over our heads, we all felt that we were off to a bad start. But within a km from the Mohurli gate we ran in to a pair of Indian Wild Dogs (Dhole), considered to be one of the VIPs in Tadoba and slightly above the tiger in terms of rarity in seeing them. That's how things happen in the wild, you can go in to nooks and corners of the jungle without seeing a single being, but you can also run in to a wild predator right next to the main gate of the national park.

Along the way we also spotted a Woodpecker that was flitting about before settling down for a brief minute to provide a chance to photograph it and observe its beauty.

Heading onwards, we spotted a Crested Serpent Eagle’s nest in the distance just off the main road. Though we could spot the bird inside, due to the height, light and dense foliage, I could not get a decent picture of it. We proceeded off road to see if we run into any luck with a sloth bear or a some more bird-life as we were traversing a small nala. We ran in to an Asian Paradise Flycatcher right next to our vehicle and before we could react and stop the vehicle to take pictures it vanished like an apparition in to the bushes. Round the bend we noticed a relatively large bird sitting on top of a nice perch. Heading closer we confirmed it to be a Crested Serpent Eagle, probably the mother of the earlier bird we had seen in the nest and it was quietly looking out for a prey. The bird showed no sign of alertness or alarm at our presence and continued to pose for us for the best part of 15 minutes and did not move even when another vehicle approached from the opposite side.

With the sun now out in full force, we stopped seeing any other bird life out in the open, so we decided to head back out of the park.

Safari 3, 23rd April - 2.30 PM
After a quick shower and some much-needed rest, we got ready for the next safari with news that none of the vehicles in the morning saw a tiger. We were all hoping that with the heat now emanating from the ground, all animals would come out in the open to waddle around in the pools inside the forest. With renewed hope, we headed towards the park only to be made to wait once again at the entry gate for administrative work to get completed. After waiting under the blazing hot sun, we heaved a collective sigh of relief when it was finally our chance to enter the park!

This particular safari was one of the most difficult ones what with the heat and the dust making guarding one’s camera and lenses much more challenging! The wildlife that we saw was also relatively limited in nature and we did not come across even a single tiger even though we waited at Yen Bodi for close to an hour. On the return journey to the main gate we did see a wild boar at relatively close quarters and our luck with the wild dogs continued with one more sighting of this rather elusive creature of the Indian jungles. We also briefly saw the Sloth Bear just getting in to dense shrubbery on our journey back.

Safari 4, 24th April - 7.00 AM
With no overnight rains as we had originally predicted, the day dawned with the promise. Unlike the earlier days, most of the strategy was to clearly wait it out at one of the promising waterholes as against going all over the place. We picked Yen Bodi over Jhamunjhura due to the fact that this spot had enjoyed sightings of a tigress and her cubs in recent times. Also, this safari also turned out to be the most rewarding in terms of photographing birds as we spotted a Shikra, White-eyed Buzzard and an Yellow-toed Green Pigeon within the first half hour of our entry in to the park.

Along the way to Yen Bodi, we also saw the Streak-throated Woodpecker (needs to be cross-checked) and a relatively closer shot of a wild boar after in bolted across the road in front of us

We got to Yen bodi with no further adventure and started our long wait there at around 8 AM in the morning. At Yen bodi, a rather friendly Nilgai was spotted near the vehicles and it started getting close to vehicles and was generally acting in a friendly manner. The forest guard present there explained that the animal had grown up in an enclosed environment earlier before being rehabilitated in the wild. The animal showed no signs of alarm or concern when our latest group of wild dogs showed up for a drink in the waterhole. Both Tejas and I agreed that the Nilgai, with its naivety did not stand much of chance in the jungle and would be consumed by one of the predators sooner than later. ‘

Calls of the junglefowl happened around us heightening the anticipation for everyone. However after a wait for an hour and 15 mins, no predator showed up except for the Wild Dogs

With a sinking feeling we all decided to move away from Yen Bodi towards the Tadoba Lake for a chance at some bird photography. We immediately had some luck with a couple of Open-billed Storks who were patiently waiting near the banks of the lake.

After patiently photographing these for a few mins, we went further ahead and ran in to a pair of Oriental Honey Buzzards sitting on top of a tall tree. Though the light was relatively harsh, we still managed to photograph them before the driver pointed us towards what appeared to be a Grey-headed Fish Eagle. We moved closer to the bird and photographed that for close to 10 minutes before it had enough of us.

By this time it had again become extremely hot and we decided to head back towards the main gate. For most of the folks this was the last safari on their trips and they headed back with a bit of heavy feeling that we did not get to see any more predators apart from the wild dogs in the last 3 safaris. This feeling turned in to one of frustration and disappointment when we heard the news of the tigress and her 4 cubs being spotted crossing the road exactly at the spot we were waiting for her for the best part of the morning. To add insult to injury, we came to know that we had missed her by just 10 minutes. One gentleman on the gypsy with us was close to tearing his hair out and required a bit of philosophical counseling on the ways of the jungle before he regained his composure! The rest of the ride to the guest house happened in complete silence and understandably so...

Safari 5, 24th April - 2.30 PM
Our final safari in to the park happened more out of chance by than by choice. After the disappointment of missing the tigress and her cubs we were ready to throw in the towel with frustrated references to our earlier visit to Pench which ended on a similar note. Since our train back to Hyd was later in the evening, it was felt that we could squeeze one more safari. As luck would have it, our hosts at Serai Tyger were able to find us tickets for one more safari and it turned out to be the best of the lost as we were blessed with awesome sightings of a tiger, cub and tigress respectively. We hooked up with Subhash (guide - 08055257451) and his brother Narender (driver), both residents of Mohurli and entered the park along with Mr. Suez Akram, Managing Partner at the Serai Tyger resort.

Subhash had earlier mentioned that they had never missed out on a tiger sighting any time him and his brother had gone in to the forest on safari together. With hopes of another sighting at these words we headed in to the jungle first to the Andari River. No sighting here but loads of dust! We proceeded onwards to Yen Bodi and stopped briefly near the checkpoint to sign in. After this stop, we proceeded to take the first right in to Yen Bodi on a road which apparently had been closed until recently due to the presence of cubs. Within 5 mins of us entering on to this road, Shaon spotted a tiger just about to cross the road. With heart racing, I just managed to shoot a couple of pics of this tiger before it moved away in to the thicket. Subhash had a knowing look and a huge smile on this face!

With our spirits soaring we decided to try our luck once again at Yen Bodi. This particular trip was turning in to a gold mine and there was no reason not to try our luck with the elusive Yen Bodi tigress and her clan once more. Reaching Yen Bodi we saw a posse of Langur monkeys and Chital near the water body. With such sightings, we did not have high hopes of seeing the tigress but still decided to wait it out.

Within half hour of our wait, we started hearing Sambhar alarm calls and Subhash confirmed that the tigress would come out any time. The parody with sambhar continued for another 15 mins before the calls abruptly stopped. With bated breath we waited and very overjoyed when a little cub came out with tentative steps. Everyone went crazy with excitement, so much so that someone honked to demand another car to move out their way!! The cub could not take in so much excitement and duly went back in. At some level we felt sorry for the cub because we knew that it had come out for a drink and we had disturbed it in the process of trying to get a better view :(

With some vehicles pulling out after this, we decided to continue waiting it out. Suddenly Subhash urgently whispered in to my ears and I looked up to see the glorious sight of a fully grown tigress just entering in to the water hole. She was duly followed by her cub who had earlier retreated after the commotion. I guess the cub’s thirst had overcome it to the extent that it forced its mother to come along for a drink. The tigress and her cub spent the best part of the next 20 mins frolicking in the water and gave us the best sighting that Shaon and I had witnessed so far in our journeys. After this, it was a mad rush to the gate, but our adrenaline levels were so high that we did not mind the bumpy ride one bit.

After duly thanking Subhash, Narender and Mr. Akram, we got in our cab to get to the Chandrapur station. The cab’s headlights caught a black-naped Indian Hare but since I had packed away all my gear for the journey, had to be content observing it through naked eyes. We proceeded on to Chandrapur and waited for close to 4 hours as our train had gotten delayed. Notwithstanding this delay, we eventually made it back to Hyderabad at 7 AM the next day with outstanding memories from Tadoba!

Would like to acknowledge the role played by Jungle Lore in making our recent trips in to the jungles memorable and peaceful! Also, the Serai Tyger Tented Resort deserves special mention for their great accommodation and generally friendly atmosphere!!

A recap of some recent birding trips

2011-02-12T20:12:00.002+05:30

Have not been posting recently due to work and family commitments. However, I did a fair bit of Sunday birding through January predominantly in Zoo Park, ICRISAT, Pocharam and Narsapur Reserve forest along with Sasi, Navin, Rohit and Arijit.

The winter has generally been good with ample opportunities to spot and photograph a few rare winter visitors. We are yet to see the Lesser Flamingos in Pocharam though - partly attributed to the fact that the water levels are still relatively high in the reserve due to the late rainfall last year. Below I have included pictures categorized from each of these 3 locations with a few notes about each trip/location.

Zoo Park, 08 Jan, 2011
The visit to the Zoo Park early this year was along with members from the BSAP (Birdwatcher’s Society of Andhra Pradesh), a very knowledgeable group of people who were a pleasure to bird with. I had a couple of lifers during this visit in the Asian-pied Starling and Chestnut-tailed Starling. Also had an opportunity to capture the Wood Sandpiper, Night Heron (juv) and the Amur Wagtail. Since we got in really early on a Sunday morning we were also able to observe some of the animals in the enclosure in relative peace and quiet. I enjoyed photographing the usually elusive (in the jungle) Dhol in its enclosure enjoying the early morning cool air.

The photos from this trip:

Narsapur Reserve Forest, 14 Jan, 2011
The Narsapur Reserve Forest is a dense, deciduous forest just before the small town on Narsapur on the Medak highway. Its ~50 kms from Hyderabad and can be reached in ~1 hour from Bala Nagar. Due to the isolated nature of this location, its generally advised that one enters the forest with company. Also, remember that this is Leopard country and you might run in to one in the summer if you are lucky. During this visit I had a couple of lifers in the Crested Serpent Eagle, the Common Iora, and the Bay-backed Shrike.

ICRISAT, 15 Jan, 2011
After some last minute plans on Saturday night, we managed to get entry permission in to ICRISAT for an early Sunday morning visit. We had not been in to ICRISAT recently and we were unsure on what to expect. But ICRISAT never fails to surprise and delight us with its unbelievable range of flora and fauna.
The day was unusally foggy and misty, leading to soom poor sightings early in the morning. However, as the day progressed, our luck changed and we ran in to the legendary Jungle Cat that proves to be very elusive even in some of the full-blown national parks in Central India. Navin and I were in the lead car when we spotted a graceful creature walking at leisure along the tank bund near the main water body. With our curiosity heightened, we pursued it at full speed just in time to capture one decent shot before it moved in to the undergrowth by the bund. We also spotted the Common Stonechat, River Tern, Spotted-billed Duck, Indian Roller and Grey Heron amongst a host of other species. The pictures from this trip below:

Pocharam Reservoir, February 05, 2011
After having gone after the lesser Flamingos and not having spotted them the last time around in December, we made another foray up north to Pocharam to try our luck this time around. Though we did not run in to any of them, this trip was one of the most productive in recent times. As we were getting in to Medak, we spotted a Grey Hornbill flying in to a fruiting tree. We immediately pulled over to try getting some pictures and noticed that an entire tree was filled with them!! There were at least 20 of them on that tree (the highest concentration that most of us have seen so far) and they were not shy at all as they usually are. But due to the poor light conditions we could not get better pictures of these birds. With such a great start to the trip, we proceeded towards Pocharam with our hopes high. As we neared the Pocharam WS area, we noticed a Juvenile Black-shouldered Kite sitting on top of a lovely perch just off the main road. We stopped to get some good pictures of this when we noticed a plethora of other birds in the shrubs. There were vast numbers of Indian Silverbills and Scaly-breasted Munias. We were also lucky enough to spot the Red-headed and Black-headed Buntings in this collection of birds. These are quite rare to see this far south. Kudos to Sasi for ID’ing them on the fly.

After spending a good part of an hour here, we proceeded towards the Pocharam Lake expecting more surprises. Unfortunately though, the water level was still relatively high to attract any waders. The only birds we saw on the lake bed were a few larks and a couple of Little Ringed Plovers. I did manage to capture a river tern just dropping its catch for the day though :)
We also did not see any flamingos and on enquiring a few locals about this, we were told that this time they had not shown up yet and they are only expected when the water levels go down further. The pictures from this particular trip are below

Hope you like all these pictures. Please do share any feedback/opinions if you have any :)
Also, let us know if you are interested in joining in any of these trips in the future, we will keep you notified.

Cheers
Ajith

Pench - Lengthy encounter with a jungle enchantress

2010-12-31T21:40:00.006+05:30

The wife and yours’ truly decided to go northwards in search of the tiger which has proved elusive for us since the last year when we visited Ranthambore. This time around we had a choice between Kanha, Bandavgarh and Pench. We decided to go to Pench due to the easier access from Hyderabad.

Unlike our earlier safaris that we planned ourselves, this time we went through a professional safari organizer Jungle Lore.

We arrived in Nagpur on the 24th morning and proceeded to Pench Jungle Camp near the small village of Khawasa about 2 hours from Nagpur. This was to be our base for the next 3 days as we forayed 4 times into the Pench National Park. The park is ~300 sq kms and is home to 33 tigers amongst a host of other flora and fauna.

Day 1 (24th)
Evening Safari
This was the best safari of the lot simply for the fact that this was the only time we saw the famed tigress. But what a sight it turned out to be, and that too for a full 20 mins!
It had been only 10 mins since we had entered the park and we had already spotted a collared-scops owl when our attention was quickly drawn towards a Changeable Hawk Eagle, a first time sighting for us. About 500 meters up ahead guys in another gypsy were furiously beckoning to us and we rushed towards their vehicle. Just around the corner, a full-grown, female tiger was just approaching us front on. The first shot of this glorious sight here below:

From Pench!

But sensing the over-crowded roadway, the tiger just stepped off the road into a dry river bed filled with vegetation. Though we could not see the tiger at this point we were able to hear her roars quite clearly from the river bed. Using this as a reference point our expert guide led us to spot from where we expected the tigress to cross the road. His intuition proved correct and the tigress did come back on to the road - turns out that she was busy marking her territory all the while. We also came to know that she had delivered a litter of cubs recently and that she was hiterto unnamed. We duly named her ‘Bhagyashree’ for her lucky visit before us and continued our experience of observing her for the next 15 mins before she decided to walk deeper in to the jungle.

From Pench!

After this terrific sighting our spirits were soaring high and we proceeded to an area called Aligatta to try our luck with some jackals. The evening light was brilliant and we did spot a couple of jackals just about to enter the tall grass in the area. The light made for some good photography and we enjoyed photographing jackals and peacocks at this location. We also started seeing more bird life around this area and this led to spotting our first set of Grey Hornbills, Alexandrine Parakeets and Barn Swallows. After taking a brief break at the chowki near Alighatta we headed back in the direction we came from and duly ran again in to the tigress who had regaled us earlier in the evening. This time however the light was not as good for photography, so did not get any interesting shots. One thing that did stand out during this sighting was the behavior of people in other gypsies. There were children screaming and insensible tourists pointing their cameras with flashes turned on, head-on at the tigress. It was more like a paparazzi. The tigress however did not lose her temper amidst all this clamoring- she continued with her business. Finally she had enough of the commotion and decided to go deeper in to the jungle to get away from all the commotion. We exited the park lost in deep thoughts which were bordering on incredulity from the behavior we had seen from people when they came close to the tiger.

From Pench!

Day 2 (25th)
Morning Safari
After having seen the tiger the earlier evening, most of the discussion at the camp site was about our chances of seeing a few more in the morning. But I had a strange sense that we would not be seeing any more tigers for the day. My intuition proved right in the end and we had to contend with seeing mostly bird life and some herbivores like the spotted deer and nilgai. During this safari I had the chance to see and capture the Ashy-bellied Drongo and Common Treeswift for the first time. We also saw the Shikra and parakeets as part of this safari. We tried our luck once again with the collared scops owl just as we exited from the park, but could not see it open its eyes. Here are some pics from the morning safari.

From Pench!

Evening Safari
The evening safari was much more eventul than the one in the morning. Though we did not see the tiger even on this one, we were suitably satiated due to the fact that we chanced upon a jungle cat, a species that is rare, reticent and as a result that much tougher to spot in the wild. We were sauntering along rather morosely after only having distant Eurasian Thick Knees to show for our effort after around 2 hours in to the safari when we heard some loud alarm calls from a group of langurs just around the corner from the road we were traveling on. We proceeded to that spot in haste and just across the road along a small walkway there was a jungle cat lying prone on the ground with barely its head showing above the tall grass. In the circumstances, it was really good spotting by the guide in the previous vehicle that helped us even see this rare animal. We spent the next half hour rooted to the spot, in what was poor light due to dense foliage and the fading light of the day. The resultant photography was not necessarily the best, but I was glad that I had at least gotten a few record shots of this species.

From Pench!

Day 3 (26th)
Morning Safari
After a long conversation with experts the previous night on the merits of Ranthambore vs. Bandavgarh for tiger sightings, the day started with loads of expectations. If not for the tiger, we at least wanted to see the leopard and I was under strict instructions from all involved to quit going after birds and just focus searching for the big cats. The entry into the park was uneventful and we decided to proceed towards a dense part of the jungle where a male and female tiger were known to exist. The next 2 hours were the most thrilling parts of this safari as there were alarm calls happening all over the place around us as both the tigers became active. There was one instance where we missed spotting the male by about 10 mins as were busy waiting for the female to show up at another location. This pattern repeated itself fairly regularly through the next 2 hours and we ended up seeing no tigers though we did feel we were close to one of them always. With tigers not putting in much of a show we proceeded towards the Karmazari gate for a bit of a break from all the frustration. Just as we were about to enter the Karmazari gate area we saw a White-eyed Buzzard perched atop a nice perch. We stopped to photograph it and also come across various other bird species like the Flameback Woodpecker and the Common Hawk Cuckoo.

From Pench!

After a nice cup of chai and a plate of Aloo Poha at Karmazari, we returned back in to the jungle to continue our pursuit of the elusive tigers. Again there were a few alarm calls and a promise of the golden stripes, but alas nothing really came out of the bushes to surprise us. By now it was time to exit from the jungle and we were driving back along the main road to exit from the Turia Gate when we started cribbing about not having seen a tiger. I was a bit disappointed too, but not at not being able to see the tiger, but at not being able to see as much bird life as possible. My final plea to the driver of the gypsy was to stop close to the Collared Scops Owl (which by now had become a featured stop on every one of our safaris) to see if I could a shot of the bird with its eyes open. Unfortunately that was not to be. This is exactly when the driver asked us if we would be interested in making a brief detour to visit some spotted owlets. Boy, would we mind?!!
We duly exited the park and were driven to a point beyond our usual turn off point besides our jungle camp where we saw 3 spotted owlets staring back at us curiously through those big round eyes of theirs. It was an excellent opportunity and we spent the next 20 minutes observing and photographing these beauties.

From Pench!

After this we returned back to our base camp and pushed onwards to Pune to board our train back to Hyderabad.

If you are interested in a similar safari either at Pench or any other location in India, do check out the plans that Jungle Lore has in place on their website.

Here is the complete list of animals and birds spotted during this trip:
Tiger
Jungle Cat
Jackal
Spotted Deer
Nilgai
Sambhar Deer
Changeable Hawk Eagle
Common Hawk Cuckoo
Collared Scops Owl
Indian Roller
Green Bee Eater
White-eyed Buzzard
White-browed Wagtail
Spotted Owlet
Yellow Wagtail
Cattle Egret
Painted Stork
Indian Cormorant
River Tern
Common Kingfisher
White-throated Kingfisher
Grey Hornbill
Common Mynah
Red-wattled Lapwing
Shikra
Spot-billed Duck
Crested Treeswift
White-browed Fantail
Tailor Bird
Eurasian Thick Knee
Barn Swallow
Rofous Treepie
Green Pigeon
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Plum-headed Parakeet
Alexandrine Parakeet
Gray Langur
Gaur
Grey Jungle Fowl
Jungle Bush Quail
Drongo
White-bellied Drongo
Racket-tailed Drongo
Pond Heron
Flameback Woodpecker
Jungle Babbler
Golden Oriole
Black-naped Oriole
Spotted Dove
Ashy Prinia
Indian Peafowl
Jungle Owlet
Ruddy Shelduck
Little Grebe
Indian Robin

Pocharam on a lovely sunday morning

2010-11-30T00:52:00.002+05:30

This Sunday Navin, Sasi, Akanksha and I went down to the Pocharam Dam Reservoir for a spot of birding after a bit of an hiatus. The going in to Medak and from then on up to the dam was fairly good except for a foot-deep crack just after Jeedimetla which almost swallowed our vehicle up. But, luckily things did not come a cropper due to that and we proceeded onwards after a quick check.

This is our first visit to Pocharam dam after the heavy rains that the state has been blessed with and we were welcomed by the sight of water everywhere as soon as we entered the access path in to the lake. We had to back-track and head on to the tank bund as a result. We also got an opportunity to walk on the actual dam surface where the water was upto the brim and almost overflowing at some points. It certainly was a surreal experience for all of us!

The birding itself was quite pleasant as we right away got lucky with some Indian silverbills and Ashy-crowned sparrow larks. The rest of the morning was spent photographing species like the little-ringed plover, red munia, plum-headed parakeet and blue rock thrush. Most of these, we were seeing and photographing for the first time in our fledgling photography careers.

So, without much further ado, here are some of my pics from the trip.

Pocharam Dam is around 120 kms from Hyderabad is do-able in about 2 hours early in the morning. The return journey, however, takes longer depending on the traffic conditions all the way from Jeedimetla in to Bala Nagar. I would also recommend hotel Chandra Bhavan for a nice hot cup of tea or south Indian breakfast in Medak.

Cheers!

A walk along the Liffey . . .

2010-10-15T02:29:00.003+05:30

Dublin, beautiful Dublin, especially when the weather is pristine as this day was (rarely so though).
On a day like that, I took a walk along the River Liffey. The river itself is not massive in size and has not many boats on it to liven things up. All the color is located on the banks with some creative architecture and Dublin landmarks lining up the shores.

Amongst other things, I got to see:

The Grand Canal Theatre: A relatively newer building with an excellent front facade sharply jutting out against a blue sky with green grass on the foreground, this unique piece of infrastructure began construction in January 2007 and was declared open in March 2010. Stunning Geometry!

The Samuel Beckett Bridge: The harp-shaped bridge across the Liffey connecting North and South Dublin constructed at the cost of 60 million euros is a sight when its fully lit. Built by internationally acclaimed Santiago Calatrava, the bridge named after the famous Irish writer Samuel Beckett, was thrown open to public on the 10th of Decemeber, 2009

Custom House: A jog down the memory lane and a walk up the river present you with an excellent vista of the famous Custom House. Currently housing the Department of Environment, the Custom House was built at a cost of 200,000 pounds in the year 1791.

Here are my pictures from both upriver and downriver. Hope they are enjoyable . . .

Cheers
Ajith

A treasure trove behind KPHB . . .

2010-10-11T00:23:00.004+05:30

This one is from the archives. A couple of months back Navin and I decided to go birding to Lotus Pond on a rainy Saturday morning. Luckily Navin was at the wheel and he decided to drive along a road behind KPHB where we have never gone before. This proved to be an excellent choice as we ended up getting some great shots of Black-Shouldered Kite, Chestnut-shouldered Petronias, and some Baya Weavers.

The best ones from that shoot are below:

This is the location where the pictures were shot:

View Larger Map

Cheers!

The 300 is here!!

2010-09-24T01:11:00.002+05:30

Folks,

I am happy to announce that I finally have in my possession **the** piece of hardware that could possibly take me to the next level. Beginning last week I became a proud owner of the Canon 300 mm f2.8 with a 2x TC added to the set up :)

The legendary lens has come out with flying colors (pun intended) in my first run with it @ Lotus Pond last Saturday (sorry Navin, could not resist it!)

Here are the pics:

Cheers!
Ajith

Weekend visit to Pocharam and Narsapur

2010-09-04T20:02:00.004+05:30

Recently, with the Independence day weekend around the corner, 4 of us (Ashok, Sasi, Rohit, and myself) drove down to Pocharam for a spot of birding and to generally enjoy getting out.

The drive to Pocharam is about 2.5 hours. You exit Hyderabad through Bala Nagar and the small towns you will touch on the way are Jeedimetla, Narsapur and Medak. Its a very decent 1-day getaway if you leave around 5 AM in the morning. The roads are actually very good all the way up to the Pocharam Wildlife Sanctuary, part of the Pocharam Dam.

You can find the map with the driving directions here.

We did manage to a fair bit of birding. For me the personal highlight was catching the Scaly Breasted Munia and Indian Silverbill for the first time on my camera. We also happened on some really dramatic landscape along the road and also in Pocharam due to the very heavy cloud cover that day. All pics from this trip below:

Here is the list of birds ID'd that day:
Scaly Breasted Munia
Indian Silverbill
Grey Heron
Painted Stork
Ashy Crowned Sparrow Lark (M/F)
Green Bea Eater
Brahminy Kite
Black Kite
Cattle Egret
Large Egret
Median Egret
Baya Weaver
Purple Rumped Sunbird
Indian Roller
Spotted Dove
White-throated Kingsifher
Drongo
Cotton Teal
Lesser Whistling Teal
Short toed snake Eagle
White Bellied Drongo
Shikra
Pied Robin (juv)
Common Sandpiper
Paddyfield Pippit
Red wattled Lapwing
River Tern
Ashy Prinia

Cheers!

Armed with a Canon 500mm prime - Lotus Pond

2010-08-25T10:22:00.002+05:30

This post has been due for a long time now. I had taken the pictures below as early as May 2010, but never got around to posting them. Was just checking my old pics and suddenly remembered that these have been due. This particular set of pics are really special to me as this was the first time I got to use a 500mm prime with a 1.4x converter on my 7D (Huge thanks to Ashok again!!).

Watch out specifically for the Tickell's Blue flycatcher and the Small blue KF, my first decent catch of both these :)

Cheers

Around the world (almost!) with the 10-20 Sigma . . .

2010-08-06T18:09:00.002+05:30

I am aiming to make this photo blog update of mine slightly different. In recent times I have been focusing mainly on birdlife and other wildlife as subjects on most on my posts. This time around I am trying to focus mainly on architecture with a few pictures thrown in as landscapes and cityscapes.

I had recently purchased a Sigma 10-20 wide angle lens and the opportunity to try it out extensively came by when I traveled on work first to the US and then to Ireland. The pictures I have posted below have been mainly shot in the cities of Mountain View, US; Seattle, US; Half Moon Bay, US; and Dublin, Ireland.

Do check the pictures out below and post any comments/feedback that you would like to share.

Visit to the Manjeera Barrage - in search of the River Tern with Canon 7d and 400mm f5.6 prime!

2010-05-09T22:11:00.003+05:30

This Sunday morning, Navin and I decided to head to the Manjeera Barrage around 45 kms from our homes in Hafeezpet. Manjeera is quite popular in Hyderabad due to the fact that almost all drinking water for the city comes from the reservoir here. The easiest way to get there from the city is to get on to NH 9 (Mumbai-Pune Highway), cross Pattancheru, Isnapur, Rudraram and Kandi, take a turn-off to the right at Pothireddypalli village and head in to Sangareddy town. Once at the town, find your way to the police training grounds from where there are clear board markers guiding you all the way up to the Manjeera barrage.

Map Link

Manjeera reservoir is an hot spot as far as birding goes and some of the pictures included in this post are apt testimony to that fact. In an earlier trip we had directly gone up to the barrage and started shooting from there. This time around we wanted to change tack a bit as there were still plenty of areas in and around the reservoir we had not explored yet. So we went straight ahead to the spot near the Shivalaya from where we could directly get to the lake bed. The weekend before we had seen a large gathering of Bronze Winged Jacana and Purple Moor Hen at this location. We had also not failed to notice the Baya Weaver bird nests at the same place just off the main water body. But since we just happened to barge in on the scene, all of the above-mentioned literally flew the coop. This time we were extremely careful about getting as close to this spot as possible without letting the birds know of our presence.

The results of this approach are here to see:

After having spent a fair bit of time at this location, we moved deeper in to the lake bed up to a point where summer had not left its imprint yet. This place was filled with even more bird life but unfortunately could not get close enough to any of them due to the fact that we were approaching them through open ground. I did manage to get a couple of decent flight shots at this point though.

After having spent close to 45 mins at this spot, we decided to head back to the barrage to try our luck with the River Terns. We had visited that barrage a week earlier and were welcomed by some stunning dives from River Terns looking to fish. I wanted to train the 400mm prime on them this time around to get better shots. Unfortunately as luck would have it, we could not get even one decent shot of a river tern. But I did manage to get some decent shots of a snowy egret frolicking in the water in addition to a shot of a darter in the water.

If you are still interested, I have included a few river tern shots from my visit the previous week. Check them out below:

Cheers!

Quintessential Kerala! Untouched, unhurried, un-occidentalized

2010-03-01T19:48:00.005+05:30

We'd like to think that anyone planning to do a Kerala in 5 days should come to us for tips! Our trip was perfect and true to the title, we did experience quintessential Kerala!

Sleepy on an early morning flight directly into Trivandrum as we approached the western ghats our eyes popped out! Mountain peaks sneaking through dreamy morning clouds- it was unmistakably one of the most beautiful out-of-an-airplane-window-sight we both ever saw! And then as you get closer the endless series of swaying palms is what reminds you how you are definitely in God's own country!

We took a cab from the airport to Kovalam where we had booked a beachside hotel. Travelguru really got me the best deals what with an additional 15% off if you own a Citi Visa Gold card :) :) One thing to watch out for is the very steep cab prices across Kerala. Go for other modes of transport wherever you can!

Kerala is hot and humid and we set out for sunset by the beach after an afternoon of lazing indoors. A beach is a beach is a beach! There's crystal sand and sun thirsty tourists everywhere. Unless you are one of those typical beach people what will probably clinch the deal for you is the amazing row of sea food joints or trinklet shops that line the beach :) And of course, if you have a fancy camera here's your chance to be arty ;)

Next day early morning we set out for Alleppey, referred to as the Venice of the East. The handy tip here is if you take a cab it will charge you anything between Rs. 3500-4000 and will take you through uneven bumpy roads for over 4 hours. What we did was, took an auto (Rs. 300) to the TVM station from where we took the Jan Shatabdi train to our destination. We had gotten our tickets already from IRCTC for Rs. 60 or so. The exactly 2.5 hrs journey by the countryside was not only beautiful but quick and comfortable. I recommend it- highly!

Alleppey is another unhurried Kerala town. The large network of canals provides for its lifeline. Water carnivals using the gigantic snake boats and the country canoes of varying sizes add to the touristic attraction of the district. After a nice breakfast and a walk through the city area we were escorted by our boat guides to the jetty. We had booked a houseboat through a friend who runs a tourism business in there. The jetty was lined with boats of various sizes and after the crew had brought in supplies for the entire day we set off. Our's was a two bedroom single storeyed houseboat. Comfort onboard was beyond what we imagined - there were neat attached bathrooms with sufficient running water, an AC operable in the night, a deck designed as a living area with sitting and dinning arrangements and a TV with satellite connection. The crew consisted of a boatman who sat at the steering, a cook who made amazing (not too spicy) Kerala meal (you can specify veg or non veg) and a helper. The boat navigated leisurely through the wide canals of the backwaters passing by other passenger or tourist boats and also was met by small fishing boats selling prawns if you desire. The balmy winds and the silent lagoon inspired rest like never before! We stopped by at small land masses to purchase tapioca chips and soft drinks and take pictures in spite of the amazing lunch and snacks on board. The boat was moored for the night by 5.30 pm which is when I joined the crew at the back to try my hand at fishing! Ajith wouldn't stop taking pictures, be it of the amazing variety of birds you encounter in the journey or the landscape and sunset or other boats.

Next morning after amazing idlis on the deck the boat dropped us off at Kumarakom at the private boat jetty of Paradise Resorts where we had a cottage booked for a day. Luxurious individual cottages, a crystal clear pond, extending into the backwaters and further into the ocean, amazing staff, very very restful ambiance. We also got Ayurvedic massages organised by the hotel for extra payment. I totally recommend this hotel for ultra comfort at awesome value for money.

Evening we went ahead to explore the village and landed at the Mudra Institute that showcases Marshal arts and Kathakali performances every evening for tourists. The performers were dressed on the stage to show the painstaking effort that goes into the heavy costume. It was crazy! Almost 30 gunny bags were tied around the waist to get the elevation of the frock alone! The episode from the Ramayana they performed was good to watch and I throughly appreciated the detailed explanation of hand gestures and expressions prior to the actual performance.

Kumarakom is a lazy backwater town best for relaxation but Ajith was keen to explore the bird sanctuary we read about so much online. There's hardy any bird left there but he did manage some amazing landscape shots!

Around noon we bid adieu to Paradise Resorts and took a bus to Cochin. The local bus ride left us completely rattled. Many close shaves, too many stops, lots of coconut oil smelling co-passengers and a sultry 3 hours later we reached Cochin and slept exhaustedly through the afternoon post a heavy kerala fish curry lunch. Evening we took a boat from the Marine drive jetty and went on a water tour close to the harbour and the other islands. What saved the day for me was the gold shopping that I did after. Kerala is famous for its one gram gold jewelery and if you like chunky ornaments you definitely should not miss it. Each item of jewelery is made of about a gram gold with other metals filled inside. They look as good as real gold and last forever (is what I hear) without losing sheen!

You can't be in Cochin and not check out the Chinese fishing nets at Mattancherry. Next morning we took the Govt boat ( ticket- Rs. 2.5 per person) to Fort Kochi to check out the giant fishing nets and also the famous synagogue (taking picture strictly prohibited) and dabbled at curio shopping. Great stuff but very expensive! We took the same ride back to Ernakulam and after some great iddiyappam and egg roast proceeded to the airport to get our flight!

P.S: I hear Munnar is amazing. However since we had little time and the hill station was out of track (we were sticking to the coast) we decided to leave it for next time. Ours was Kovalam-Allepey-Kumarakom-Kochi but your trip could include more Kerala destinations! Enjoy :)

Posted by Shaon (guest writer )

Humming Bird

2010-02-27T13:06:00.005+05:30

One of my biggest inspirations for bird photography (apart from India Nature Watch and Ashok's stunning pictures) came from the book 'Nature Photography' by Tim Fitzharris where on the front cover there is a stunning picture of a Gray-tailed Mountain Gem Humming Bird in flight above a flower bouquet. I used to wonder I I would ever be able to shoot such intimate shots of a bird in action. Late last year, Ashok and I were in the US on work and we were waiting for our bus back to San Francisco from Mountain View, CA. Outside our place of work, there is a well-manicured lawn that also has a beautiful arrangement of flowers. Ashok sensed some movement amidst the flowers and we immediately saw a Green Violetear humming bird happily flitting about in gay abandon! Now, I can't tell you how important it is to keep carrying your gear at promising locations no matter how heavy it might be. That day, I was extremely lucky to have had my camera and the 170-500mm to catch what turned out to be the best bird picture I have ever caught so far :)

Exif Info:
Location - Mountain View, CA
ISO - 300
Exposure - 1/250 sec
Aperture - 6.3
Focal length - 500mm

Its all in the game!

2010-02-23T17:28:00.002+05:30

What can I say? India is cricket crazy! Sometimes one feels that the only thing that unites the nation is cricket. So if you want to take travel cricket shots, then India is the place to be in. But these kind of shots are also quite common to come by. How do you set yourself up for a shot with a difference? Very simple, find a vantage point :) If you can set yourself right above where the action is at, you will increase your chances of getting dramatic shots of the same. This shot happened on a lazy Sunday morning where I found the lighting dramatic and the shadow of the stumps and the batsman adding loads of depth to the picture. You can also try this experiment at mid-day with different results. Make sure to expose for the player though when shooting at mid-day.

Exif Info:
ISO - 800 (should have shot this at 200 max considering the good lighting, elementary mistake)
Aperture - 14
Exposure - 1/400
Focal Length - 55mm

Pandol - Durga Puja, Kolkata

2010-02-23T17:12:00.002+05:30

One Timers (4)

Cloud patterns on a blue sky accentuate your pictures. They add that extra dimension to your pictures to make them stand out. Important things to note when exposing to the sky is to ensure that you are always exposing the blue in the sky at a 90 degree angle to the Sun's position in the sky. The sun in this picture is hitting the statue from the right, this picture was shot around 3.30 in the evening. So the 90 degree angle where I can get the 'bluest' sky is around 12 noon if I take a normal clock for reference. You can also try other techniques like holding your thumb and fore finger at a 90 degree angle. Point the thumb to the sun directly and the part of the sky the fore finger is pointing to is the 'bluest' it can get. This approach will improve the quality of your pictures dramatically! You can also try a polarizer which will darken the sky further adding more blue and making the picture look much better for the blue . . .

Exif info:
ISO - 300
Aperture - 10
Exposure - 1/250
Focal length - 18mm

Looky looky

2010-02-23T12:14:00.002+05:30

One Timers (3)

This owlet has been stuff made up of dreams! Well, its actually not that dramatic. But the very fact that I had been searching for a shot of this elusive creature for 3 years definitely added to the drama for me and also made me a bit of a blithering idiot before I could at least get a documentary shot of the creature :)

For all that, its a common bird resident in open farmlands and near human habitation. It feasts on insects and rodents and so the proximity to human habitats.

Exif Info:
ISO - 200
Aperture - 5.6
Exposure - 1/400 sec
Focal Length - 432mm

Jaguar (Panthera Onca)

2010-02-23T12:00:00.003+05:30

One Timers (2)

2. I have always wanted to take a shot of one of these creatures looking directly at me. That was relatively simple if you find their habitat close by. But what was important was to make the look appear to be sinister and foreboding. So I elected to shot this specimen at the Nehru Zoo Park in Hyderabad on a warm summer afternoon so that the warmish hued light could bounce off the ground in to the Jaguar's eyes. The effect is here to see . . .

Exif info:
ISO - 200
Exposure - 1/80
Aperture - 6.3
Focal Length - 500mm

Note that I had to get really close to the iron cage to be in a position to take out the iron mesh out of the equation. I also had to turn off AF and move in to manual territory for this shot for exactly the same reason.

One Timers...

2010-02-23T11:40:00.002+05:30

Over the last year and half, I have been shooting pictures of many a fancy. I have tried to capture the details and the motivation behind these pictures here in this column. The objective is to share some technical information about some of these pics and also give a inkling in to my thoughts behind these pictures. So, here goes . . .

1. Lightning Strikes Twice!