Trip to BR Hills

Rashmi and I had been to this place called BR Hills near Mysore. It was early April and it was supposed to be a good time for sighting animals. But we were disappointed to know that a forest fire had burnt very large tracts of the forest and since there was no vegetation for the deer and other grazers, they had all moved away.
But luck was on our side. On the second night, we saw a bear in the moonlight, quite close to our log hut. It was scratching the ground and lazily moving around, making a lot of rustling noises among the fallen dry leaves.
The next day evening, as we were coming back from the safari, we saw a couple of deer, right by our side, totally ignoring us, and staring at something right ahead of us. They called twice, the sharp and loud "cow", the alarm call of the spotted deer. And then, from the grasses to the left, something came out on the road. In a second it vanished around the bend in the road. In a frenzy of excitement we urged the driver to drive down. He had not seen the animal come onto the road, but started driving down slowly to the bend. But the animal was gone.
We looked around, excited, frustrated and expectant. Someone saw a movement on the raised bank on the right. There it was, a full grown leopard, moving stealthily towards cover. A few more moves and the vegetation consumed the cat.
The now very excited driver guessed it must come out again a bit further and he started moving. And then we spotted it again. A magnificent animal, sitting right there, a few feet away, at a height on the raised bank which let us look at it straight in the eyes. I clicked away shaking with excitement. The leopard was just beautiful. I had never seen one so close and for so long. It just sat and looked at us. And slowly moved back, while still sitting, so that it was covered by some undergrowth. This is exactly how a tiger had behaved a few months back in Bandipur. Slowly creep backwards in imperceptible movements but soon be hidden from view behind some neighbouring undergrowth.

And then the leopard started moving. It came down the embankment and walked across the road and then down the curvy road which bent in a U to be parallel with us again. And man, was it brilliant. The leopard moved effortlessly, purposefully, silently, stealthily and man, so beautifully. And it was in full view of us all the time!
15 minutes had gone by and it was still around! Perfect sighting!
And then we started moving towards it, as we had to return to camp, and by then the leopard decided to vanish. And vanish he did. We could not figure out where he went.


We were again rewarded th next day with a bear sighting while we trekked nearby! Quite an eventful and satisfying three days!

Reward of Kabini

Call after alarm call signalled the presence of a tiger very close to us. Chitals stood alert with their tails up and ears perked up giving out the loud shrill call. A loud "Cow" - an abrupt shrill call very close to us. A flurry of running dots as the deer bolt. The lantana bushes still cover the tiger from us. We wait patiently and impatiently, wait intently, expectantly. A few minutes pass. A lull. Long laden lull. The deer grow silent. No more alarm calls. The tiger is gone. Not even a glimpse.
The aura of the tiger is no longer felt. Deer go back to their grazing, langurs back to their mischief.


We move on. Disappointed. The night is closing in. We exit the jungle right on time. Our guide Sivanand suggests we try our luck along the road. Our headlights on, we go at a slow pace. A small herd of wild gaur. Huge animals, very close to us. Unperturbed, happily grazing away. One crosses the road in front of us as we wait. Slow, deliberate, unconcerned by our presence. A few metres ahead, a big tusker. Elephants close to your vehicle are not very comforting. A lone male tusker doubly so. We watch, torchlight on the tusks. The elephant leaves us alone.

Alarm calls again. Chital very close. A predator nearby. Experience braces us for disappointment, but optimism still lurks. Sivanand points in the other direction from where we are looking. A smallish stocky animal. Comes out of the cover of the forest. Starts walking on the road. Slightly hurried. Aware of our presence. We move slowly towards it. Our headlights on, but slow enough not to frighten it away. Slow enough to frustrate us to know there is a leopard in front and we cannot see it clearly. Frustrating.

It was a good decision. The leopard moved off the road to the right. We moved in slowly. The pale yellow beam lights the animal's rump as it ambles slowly into the bushes. Then it stops and sits down. In the light of the torch. A female, not too big leopard. The eyes glint reddish in the light as she looks at us for a brief moment. Into the light, into our eyes. Lovely. Brief. She gets up and walks on, away into the bushes, into the darkness, and into the jungle. Back to her comfort zone. And we move on to ours.

Bird Fight

Just posted an image of a fight between a brahminy kite and a purple swamphen.
The swamphen stamps and chases away the kite!
http://indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=4927

Treepie

Treepie.org is up again. So if you are a birder and are looking for a site to consolidate your bird lists, join it and manage your lists.

I am now linking birds with superb pictures posted by the growing community of excellent wildlife photographers in India Nature Watch and pictures from google image search.

Turahalli

Chirdeep and I had gone owl hunting to this place called Turahalli. Do not know if we actually reached there but we did end up on a nice patch with lots of rocks around. No owls, but we managed to see rock agamas. Loads of them. Every rock was ruled by one.
Soon bored, bouldering entertained us briefly.
Then we came across a neat white cheeked barbet surprisingly sitting on an electric line absolutely unperturbed by our photographic intentions and let us come quite close to it.
Also managed a decent shot of a pied bushchat.

Birding in Bannerghatta

Chirdeep, Nikhil and I went birding on Saturday. Got a few pics.


Purple sunbird in non-breeding plumage




Plain flowerpecker

Tiger Numbers

I was in Panna Tiger Reserve last week and came across something quite disturbing.

While the official figures for the number of tigers in the Park is around 35, locals and forest guides who track tigers say that only 6-7 have been sighted/presence ascertained in recent times. Liberal estimates place the number of tigers in the Park at around 15.

While I have no authority on reporting these numbers, one of the reasons for these figures not being reported from other directions, seems to be this:

* Forest officials are posted to a particular reserve for a fixed amount of time (3 years?). During this period, if they report any change in tiger numbers, they are liable to be questioned and pestered by the media and law enforcement officials. So even if an official inherits a reserve with lesser tigers than documented, he is not likely to report it.

* Researchers in the park depend on the forest officials for permits and for access to the forests. They cannot go against the forest officials by reporting this.

So that leaves nobody to actually report figures, which is disturbing.

The law and media somehow, convolutedly, seem to right now act as a deterrant in the conservation process. What tigers have gone, have gone. The need of the hour is to preserve what is left rather than punish those who have erred.

If there was some way of emancipating the forest officials once, so that figures are voluntarily disclosed truly (with the guarantee that no action will be taken against them), we may be able to get the correct numbers, and remedial measures can be undertaken with speed. Right now, the problem areas never come to light until past the time of debacle.

Additionally, researchers should not have to depend on forest officials for their permits. I think there is already something being done in this direction, though I do not have the details.

Bird Watching

A slightly harsh chirp and a little movement like a small ghost in motion. Or maybe just a white ribbon with a black head, which has acquired a life of its own? A possessed ribbon, may be? Well, even as reason and experience tells me that what I see is the adult male Paradise Flycatcher, I can't rip my eyes off the bird. As I watch, it flits from its perch and makes a rounded flight, a twist here a turn there with its two long, white, tail feathers making undulating movements moving not very unlike the Olympic gymnasts and goes back to exactly where it started from. A chirp again.

Nearby is its female, an orangish brown bird, without the long tail feathers and with a black head. Quite unrelated to our gymnast for the uninitiated! But there goes nature in another of its bewildering and bewitching variations. A delight to the beholder but a beautiful moment gone unnoticed for the less visually adept.

Of all things that have caught my fascination, nothing has so far surpassed the joy that I derive from bird-watching. I had always been awed by birds, but not because of the cliched reasons of their flight or their colors or their songs.

It was as if I was just destined to love the avian fauna, no explicit reasons whatsoever. (The same extends to my love for animals too). The one reason I do sometimes think is true is their freedom and their so distinctly non-human behavior. Or maybe I am just curious about these creatures in an intellectual sort of way... I do not know and for the time being ascribe none of these reasons to my passion.

Initially, we used to look out for newer and as-yet-unseen-by-us species of birds and used to compete as to who has the bigger bird list. But now things are changed, it doesnot matter what bird it is. Be it the excitement of a fleeting glimpse of an Indian Pitta, or the tranquil movements of the bee eaters or the swallows, they instill me with a sense of appreciation for those things untouched by man. And I could just watch the fantail flycatchers and the ioras or hear the orioles and thrushes and waft away to sleep on the bank of some forest stream unconcerned about all else in the world! If only I did not have such a human mind, with its wants and greed! May be I will break away one day, but that day is not in the near future, as far as I can see!

Decided to record my bird sightings on the web by creating treepie.org.
Been using it on and off. Need to be more regular and may be get others to use it too.

Weekend trip to Bheemeshwari.

Had a great weekend on the bank of the Kaveri at the Jungle Lodges and Resorts' log huts.
The tree nets, hammocks, sweltering heat, AC rooms, evening party, blackjack, pictionary, dumb charades, coracle ride, the skipped camp fire, the river side darkness and the (aargh) spots of flash lights, the singing, the morning trek, elephant rides, baby and horny elephants, river rafting, black jack in the jungle and beer in the car. A great weekend with fun people. Very happy :)

Snaps at http://www.flickr.com/photos/59787849@N00/

Some snaps from my Bandipur trip with Andrew Tam and Rashmi on 17th and 18th Sept. 2005. One of my more eventful trips. Had a brilliant sighting of some 10-12 dholes (wild dogs). First time in my life. Paisa wasool in the first 15 minutes of the safari!
Then we were mock charged not once but twice by a group of 6 elephants and a calf! The first time at a safe distance, but the second time very close and from side on. That was interesting!

The view of the eastern ghats from one of the peaks and the largeish full moon rising from the east were superb. Saw a lot of gaur while returning.

Spent the night at MC Resorts.

Sunday dawned and the morning safari was the typical uneventful second safari after the successful first one. Saw nothing.

The decision to hitch hike up to Himvad Gopal Swamy temple was good. We were tired but had lots of fun. Pure pleasure was written on Rashmi's face as we finally got the last stretch lift from a Sumo.

The rest was rest as we got a comfortable car ride down to Gundulpet. The lighting of Mysore palace in the evening was beautiful to say the least. A relaxed evening. and back home by bus.