Sloth Bear Resort | Hampi | 21-09-11

The day has come friends when I have to bid adieu to Jungle lodges. True…I am leaving it in the coming few weeks!! Moving to Kanha and I wish I get a chance there as well to share some beautiful images of wildlife with you all. I will still be doing bookings for JLR from there. Will send you my new contact very soon!!

But before leaving I want to make the best out of what is available to me. Sloth Bear Resort, Hampi is an awesome place itself for birding. I wish I was there until migratory birds like buntings; flamingos arrive or till the Eurasian eagle owl have chicks. I must say that all the properties of JLR have something unique in itself. When I was in K.Gudi I enjoyed photographing birds and insects in the camp, the same here too.

And today morning as usual my wakeup call was by francolins. It’s so mesmerizing to hear chirping of birds around your cottage all the time. Common Iora, francolins, jungle bush quail, grey hornbill, plain prinia, jungle prinia, sparrows, Indian robin, silver bills, red vented bulbul, eurasian collared dove, laughing dove and pied cuckoos make my day.

So I decided to have a walk around our resort this morning doing bird watching. I saw two pied cuckoos in the bush hunting. I was almost an hour with them noticing how much caterpillars they can eat all this time. To my surprise they kept on hunting and on an average they both had eaten around 20 caterpillars. With belly full they decided to come out from the bush and perched near to me. That’s when I made this picture. I was fortunate to see them mating as well.

I really suggest people who visit Sloth Bear Resort, Hampi to please give at least one morning during their stay doing bird watching in the campus. And do visit the canal road and Matanga hills. This place is a treasure for all bird lovers.

Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary | Hampi | 12-09-11

This would probably be one of the most beautiful sightings I ever had and would have dreamed of!!

Though it’s almost 4 months for me in Hampi I still feel there’s lot more to explore and photograph. This was likely one of them. Suffering from Typhoid for the past 25 days I felt like tied up in the room for quite a long time and today I decided to go for bird watching in the Canal road next to our resort.

Marveled with lot of sandpipers, pied kingfishers and ashy crowned sparrow larks to click, I was avid again. It was afternoon and the sun peeped right above our heads playing hide and seeks.

I am really unfortunate here to come across the elusive Eurasian eagle owl. And this bird made me search for it in the canal rocks every time we pass through it. It’s like when you miss something your heart thinks of it all the time.

So we were on our way and this rocky area came where few times our naturalist and guests have spotted it. And suddenly I saw a white patch peeping behind a rock. This was it!! My longing friend, the Eurasian eagle owl was checking upon us. A deep sigh for me to finally encounter it!! In fact we saw two of them fighting in air and yelling on each other, mostly male and female or may be two females.

I wish in the coming days we all will see them more often in this particular area. Since the breeding and nesting season is near we wish to see them with chicks very soon. Last year there were 3 of them as told by my naturalist and we hope this time there will be more than that!!

05-08-11

Matanga Hills | Hampi

A pleasant morning with a hot cup of tea served at 6.30am was enough to give a kick from being lethargic!! ‘Haawhh…Let’s Go!! I exclaimed positively.

Today was the day for birding at the Matanga hills (As per our discussion last night which I completely forgot this morning, as usual).This hill is generally known for its picturesque sunrise. (Unfortunately its monsoon season with the sun playing hide and seek with us)  Known to few it is an amazing place for bird watching. Geared up with my camera and lens I, Eva and my naturalist Mahesh were in search of YTBs

YTBs ?

Its Yellow Throated Bulbul (Came to know now as my naturalist abbreviate it)

Any ways…

My wait didn’t last much long as a pair of YTBs flew above our heads chirping and greeting Good morning!! Their calls are very similar to that of Red vented bulbul. But today I was disheartened with my pictures and glad for amazing YTB sightings.

We decided to move back but my young and dynamic naturalist Mahesh decided to give it one more try from the other side of the hill. We hoped to encounter it lil near this time to photograph.

So we went climbing, dismounting the piled up rocks of Matanga hills. Surprisingly on our way we encountered Red rumped swallow collecting wet mud for building its nest. These gregarious birds came to pick mud from a small stream near the fringe of an agriculture land. I lay on the ground and tried some ground level shots which are published below. It made my day as I totally forgot what we all came here for; the YTBs

May be some other day!!

Sloth bear resort | Hampi | 11-06-11

It’s been 2 days that I landed into this new destination of mine and I didn’t expect much to happen in terms of wildlife.

6 pm

I took my camera and was birding in the campus as all of a sudden I saw some movements into the bush. Rat snake…I whispered!! I moved further close to see and  realized that it was a spectacled cobra having a gala meal of an Indian bull frog. Wow…what an amazing sighting it was!

I immediately laid down on the ground and clicked some pictures. I had heard a lot about snakes in the camp, right from vipers to cobra from my staff  but it was incredible to spot one!! The bull frog was massive (that’s why it is called bull) and was really big for a snake 4-5 feet long.

And it was already into the jaws of the slayer!!

A snakes jaw is not rigid and can move both its upper and lower jaw independently. It moves it head back and forth to swallow its prey.

I was really hoping to document this entire action in my camera but  it soon realized my presence and dragged its meal to the bush.

I hope this meal will last long enough for it!!

Wild dogs | BR hills main road

It’s sad to see a picture (published above) where a young wild dog started picking up litter like this…Plastic?? Oh man!! What’s wrong with all of us!! Why can’t we be lil responsible when we visit national parks and sanctuaries?

This  reminds me of the situation in Bandipur highway. The amount of junk one can find in that stretch right from Bandipur to Mudumalai is pathetic. And the saddest part of it is that it is done mostly by educated people. I still remember my last visit to Bandipur where an elephant was busting a pillow out near the Bamboo thickets right next to the highway. This is insane really I tell you.

Is it our ignorance while we visit a national park or a sanctuary that we forget we are not in the city and we are in to the jungle or is it for that we have this habit? I think we shouldn’t litter any place and use the appropriate disposal systems instead of littering the place around.

Many a times we feed monkeys and make them human friendly but the long term consequences are that now they snatch things from people rather than avoiding conflicts with us, which I feel is not good at all.

So my dear friends what I want to say is to Stop littering places around you and be a responsible citizen. And pass this tradition to your children also, so that this world can be a better living place for all its living creatures.

Also in a forest road or in a safari track do not hesitate to stop your driver or your own self to pick the trash. If each one of us start doing this we can make a change for sure.

Indian Cuckoo | K.Gudi wilderness camp

05-05-11

It’s been a really long time that I wanted to have at least one record picture of this beautiful bird on my camera. Over the past 2 years every March-April-May-June it has enchanted us with its call. Some say it resembles ‘One more bottle’ whereas some say ‘Cross word puzzle’

Every morning, we all here in K.Gudi  gets wakeup call from this bird. It proclaims its presence on top of canopy. Difficult to spot but easier to follow from its loud call, it can make one’s neck agonize in pain (as for long we need to look on top of the tree branches).

And today morning as usual, the mesmerizing calls enticed me to try again my luck to have a glimpse of it. I followed the calls and it was coming from a tree behind tent no. 8. It perched on top, uttering loudly (I hope for its mate). It then moved to other tree and I kept on following until by chance it came and perched right into the open, behind tent no.6.

Jack pot!! After an hour of struggle I finally managed to capture it. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this bird through my camera eyepiece. And just a fraction of a second from one perch to another, it finally vanished down the hills.

I believe that for clicking birds one needs to be really patient. They are not so comfortable all the time with us (I am not considering birds and raptors in cities which don’t even move from its perch). But sometimes they do or may be luck will favor us as this are all uncontrollable  and unpredictable. So one has to be ready for its chance and this chance came for me after 2 years of stay in K.Gudi.

So now I hope most of the guests who visit this place and listen to this call can recognize which bird it is.

K.Gudi truly is a bird watching paradise!!

Wild dogs | K.Gudi | BR hills

26-04-11

I have been following this pack ever since I came to K.Gudi in 2009. And it’s such a beautiful sight to see them multiplying in leaps and bounds. Now they are 16 in number with 4 sub adults in it. This pack of wild dogs went  missing this entire winter season. What I presume is that they laid their pups in a different region of this reserve. We haven’t seen them until February when they all came back to this area. And so do today, again after a long gap of a month they were sighted here on the main road of K.Gudi.

One of the best moments of this sighting was when one of the pups came towards me. He was so close at one time that I was unable to focus through my lens. They kept on moving in front until a car came and the people sitting inside, came out on the road to see. I told them to move back in their vehicle and by that time the wild dogs vanished into the bushes 

I was happy to see them all together and I hope that we see them quite often here.

A prolific tigress who has lured many wildlife lovers for the past 6 years for her bold attitude, her elegant walk on the safari tracks, her enchanting eyes that can amaze everyone; this is one tigress the admirers of Bandipur  look forward to sight.  She is named Gauri. She now has a litter of 4. This is her 3^rd litter after an unsuccessful 2^nd litter.

Though she shares one of the largest territories of Bandipur, right from Dadekulchi to Mullapura, Bolguda, Kamlikalare, Wesley road etc. there is always a threat for her cubs from dominant male tigers, leopards and wild dogs. So she keeps on moving and changing her locations in it. She hasn’t been sighted for quite some time and speculations where already on prowl for this litter.

Bandipur | Jungle lodges & resorts ltd | 17-03-11

7 AM

This was an unexpected sighting for us during our morning safari. As soon as we entered and took the Balle link road, we were stupefied to see her walking with her cubs. This was my second sighting of a tigress with cubs in Southern India, the first was in K.Gudi late March 2010. And this was special as it was on open and on the road. I said to Pradeep (driver in Bandipur) not to move any further close and let us all watch this beautiful moment from a distance. She seldom looked towards us and continued walking and marking her territory. The cubs followed her as the sheep follows the shepherd. This sighting lasted for a minute or two until they merged into the bush.

What a wonderful moment for all of us !! Unexpected and blissful !! I wish and pray that this litter would bring a new hope for her and may she become successful in raising them all. Amen !!

Many a thanks to Naturalist Basavannah for details about Gauri. Also to Pradeep, naturalist Gurudutt, Ananth & his friend,  Nipun and other guests from Hyderabad for a great company in this safari.

K.Gudi

07’03’2011

Today I was unwilling to go for afternoon safari as we have started playing volley ball in the camp. We have made two teams between our staff and there is a healthy competition between each of them. There’s always a zest to play as the clock ticks 4 pm. Its good fun and joyful moment for me to see them right on their toes, competing, cheering, teasing and at last returning back to work with a fresh mind.

But destiny had something else written for us. I decided to join our guest Mr.Banerjee as it was more than 3 days that I went for safari. He was from Kolkata and it was his first visit to South Indian forest.

So myself, Thapaji and our guest started a memorable safari of our lives.

We started with 3 feet road. By the time it was 5pm we reached Kolani. Saw the resident brown fish owl on the check dam, common hawk cuckoo, a group of wild boars, plum headed parakeets and spotted deers in the grassland. As we reached the “Leopard rock” (commonly known, as many a times we have seen leopard there) we saw couple of gaur. So we stopped and watched them from a distance unknown to the fact that a leopard was marking its territory on the road to the next turn.

Suddenly my eyes catched the attention of this leopard and without hesitation I uttered “leopard leopard”. Thapaji rushed towards it to have a better sight and as soon as he saw us he started walking towards the gaurs near the rock. He was in no hurry at all. With belly full he slowly crossed the bush and sat on the rock in open.

In Open?? My…God !! No words to see such a huge male sitting in front. It was hardly 25 meters away from the gaur but they unnoticed him completely. Mr. Banerjee was enthralled and astonished to have such a sight. It was his first encounter for so long.

I clicked some pictures but this time my heart was unwilling to click than to enjoy this moment. We brought with us two binoculars, so the guest and Thapaji was using that. I stayed back looking at the leopard with the camera eye piece. He changed his position and came a lil closer to us without fear and that was the moment which was unforgettable. Seeing this predator fearless of our presence was beautiful.

To watch him through the eye piece looking at the gaurs, yawning, turning around and lay down on the rock was speechless. Truly blissful !!

After some time gaurs came near the rock and he moved with no intention to have a conflict. So he went further back on top from where we can only make out that somewhere behind the rock he was sitting. We thoroughly enjoyed this sighting and it lasted for more than an hour.

Really sometimes some guests come with great luck. Mr. Banerjee was one of them, who finished his two days stay with couple of beautiful sighting of a leopard and 3 sloth bears.

K.Gudi Golghar

21-01-11

The myriad of treasure this place has is unbelievable and if I count my days in this camp I feel, that there are many more treasures yet to be unfolded.

9 pm

This squirrel was sighted on Golghar by my staff when our guests were having their dinner. Luckily today one of our guests Mr. Ravinandan brought a tripod with him. We both tried to take some record shots of this beautiful rodent.

It was a Common Giant Flying Squirrel, frequently spotted around the camp during night time. It was eating the bark of tree, without being upset for our torch lights.

Sincere thanks to my Golghar staff, Narayan, Lokesh and Mr. Ravinandan to make this picture happen.

K.Gudi Golghar has surprised many of our guests with beautiful sighting like this. I still remember the sighting of this beautiful rodent by my friend Mithun.H and that of Spot bellied eagle owl by Rana and Sugandhi in the Golghar itself. Truly blissful and amazing sighting!!

So next time when you are here, watch out the trees in front of Golghar.

Lil info about Common Giant Flying Squirrel:

They are nocturnal creatures and emerge out from their roosts (which are generally a hole in a tree) at dusk and move back before dawn. They eat fruits, nuts, tree barks, lumps of gum and resin and also insects.

Their limbs are connected by a membrane or parachute, which expands when they leap from tree to tree. The limbs expand to its fullest and make it easier to glide smoothly and swiftly.

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