Monsoon is not the best time for sighting wildlife, or so is the belief. Monsoon is also not the ideal time for photography. But wildlife always throws surprises.
Butch and I were not keen on any particular sighting, but wished to see a pack wild dogs (at least after learning about a pack of 31). Ramesh was our driver on the first day’s evening safari. Half an hour into the safari we saw 3-4 jeeps coming from the opposite direction. They had seen a tiger cross and said they were expecting it to cross this path (one that leads to Subrayana katte). I asked Ramesh to take jeep in reverse without starting it. I didn’t want other jeeps to go ahead and block our view, and didn’t want the tiger to be disturbed because of our jeep’s noise.
Butch and I were sitting at the rear end of the Commander. Just as the jeep moved, a tiger emerged out of the thick lantana bushes right next to our jeep. She was right next to us, not more than 7 to 8 feet. I clicked an image, and realized she was too close. As I zoomed out, couple of other jeeps that were behind ours moved towards her out of the jeep track, overtaking our jeep. She turned back for a moment that i missed to click as i zoomed out to get her in the frame. She strolled away from us, scent marked on a tree and slipped into the bushes. The sighting lasted about 25 seconds, but the closeness was surreal. Rest of the safari was spent in tracking her to a waterhole, where she didn’t appear.
Monday morning safari started with sighting of few wild dogs on the highway. They were moving inside, towards tavare katte. It’s not easy to miss a pack of 31 wild dogs even if you have little idea of their movement. We caught up with them within 15min. The alpha dogs attempted to make a kill of Sambar fawn, which swan to the middle of the lake. Realizing that the effort was not worth, the pack leaders moved on follwed by sub adults and older pups of the pack.
Sub-adults and pups waiting for alpha dogs to make a kill
We were sure they will make a kill soon. Within minutes we saw a stag emerge out of bushes, chased by alpha female. She stopped momentarily seeing the jeeps. Taking this chance the stag crossed the road and scampered for an exit. Since there were only 3 jeeps, the dogs were comfortable and had enough space for themselves. The pack leader chased down the stag, faster than a sprinter.
Dholes start eating the prey while it is still alive
Stag was trying to gore the dog with his antlers, but the agility of the dog dodge him and made quick bites. Within seconds we could see the flesh and blood from the rear of the deer. The lead dog was joined by another. One caught the stag by neck and the other started eating from the rear. There is nothing clean or swift about this kill. Each bite will rip piece of flesh from the prey.
The action was simply incredible to watch. No photograph makes justice to the scene i witnessed. Soon, the deer was dead and another dog pulled the carcass inside the bushes.
Can’t describe the pain in the eyes of the deer
Little ahead on the road, the rest of the pack were waiting for the alpha dogs to arrive. Soon after the kill, the alpha female came to invite the rest of the pack for breakfast. She was so well greeted by her pups. They all strolled behind the bushes towards the deer carcass. We left them to have their breakfast in peace.
I was not asking for anything more. But we still had two safaris. The best part of Bandipur is that you are not disappointed even if you don’t sight a tiger. There are many other creatures that catch your eye, especially in monsoon. A Peacock was trying to impress a mate. The dance and the way he put up the show was a treat to watch. If he were a guy, women would throw themselves at him.
A Peafowl dancing to impress his better half
.
Stripe-necked mongooses are commonly found in Bandipur. Here’s one on his daily routine of finding beetles and other insects for a quick meal.
Commonly found Stripe-necked Mongoose
Bandipur has a variety of woodpeckers. Before we sighted the tiger, we were enjoying the sight of a female streak-throated woodpecker, who was soon joined by her better half. Monsoon is the season of love in the wild.
Female Streak-throated Woodpecker
Mr. & Mrs. Streak-throated Woodpecker
Red-wattled Lapwings are common around waterholes and open grass areas of Mulapura.
Crested Serpent Eagle preening
This is only an indication of what one can find in Bandipur. Go, enjoy the rains!
P.S.: This trip was from 6th June to 8th June 2010. I tried to restrict the number of images, but couldn’t resist posting these many.
This is wonderful article.
Greetings.
Wonderful photographs! That mongoose practically posed for you, and so did some of the others!
http://www.denwrites.com
WOW
Hi, these are beautiful pictures and good a post as well.
WOW!!!! This is an excellent post!
Loved the photographs too. Esp the last 2 [the yellow eye patch!whoa] and the peacock one.
great stuff….
Brilliant photos. Love them and the post as well. Keep snapping!
Great pictures…although the deer pics were a bit disturbing…
http://www.wutevs.wordpress.com
Great pictures and I enjoyed it. I wanted to ask you, is it in Nepal or India?
http://www.computerdr.tk/
Great pictures
Brilliant shots. keep it up.
Beautiful photographs!
Great shots! These photographs are amazing! The setting and detail create a wonderful composition. Thanks for posting.
great photography dude…..
Very nice. I’m glad you didn’t resist posting the images.
Beautiful photography and an equally beautiful narration. Will read your other posts too :)
Loooved the pics.
The stag bit was a little hard on my stomach -drinking my morning herbal tea is no way going to mix well with those o_O…
My fave? The Serpent Eagle (those eyes, man), the Mangoose, Mrs & Mr Woodpecker and the wild dog ‘yawn’ (seriously, THAT’S A BIG MOUTH…).
Please keep it up! Thank you for posting.
Oh, btw: a Tiger. Sooo close. A GirlTiger. :) Please, if you have any more pics of her… it’s so rare to see a live tiger uncaged! :D Again, thank you.
Absolutely magical!
I tried to restrict the number of images
Are you kidding me? WHY? Bring them on! They’re FABULOUS, Sandeep!
Amazing photographs… Never seen such beautiful pics before…And congratulations on making it to freshly pressed…
Wonderful photographs!
you seem to love animals and I think this picture shows how your so real hobby
http://theidiotgame.com source
What an exotic array of species! Darwinism at its finest!
The Codger
http://thecodger.wordpress.com/
Wow! Wonderful Photos!
aww look at those woodpeckers. well narrated and great pictures, as always :)
I have never seen such beautiful photos from your part of the world. The woodpeckers are a different colour from the birds I see in Canada, however, the body forms are very similar. The mongoose is something we have nothing similar to. Great photos. Makes me want to visit your country indeed!
Beautiful.
fantastic pictures. Makes me desparately wanna visit these places…
Beautiful photos and amazing wildlife.
These are amazing! Keep up the good work. I wish I could see all this first-hand.
Wow! Such beautiful pictures. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to snap them, upload them to your computer, and then upload them to a blog (that you publish!) How wonderful of you to share these with all the world.
With Love and Gratitude,
The Intentional Sage
awesome ..loved the peacock one the most.. I dont know how u witnessed the incident without interfering. I would have been unable to watch!
[…] – And about those photos: WOW. These are some truly gorgeous wildlife photos that you just don’t see everyday — including a photo of the increasingly rare (nearly extinct) tiger. The uniqueness of this topic — taken from a nature preserve in India — makes it a winner for Freshly Pressed. Monsoon is not the best time for sighting wildlife, or so is the belief. Monsoon is also not the ideal time for photography. But wildlife always throws surprises. Butch and I were not keen on any particular sighting, but wished to see a pack wild dogs (at least after learning about a pack of 31). Ramesh was our driver on the first day's evening safari. Half an hour into the safari we saw 3-4 jeeps coming from the opposite direction. They had seen … Read More […]
Nice pics, the peacock is just beautiful!! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed. I’m hoping for a big storm in the monsoon!
evelyngarone.com
what lens setup where you using for the pictures? beautiful!
Your shots are amazing!!! The wild dogs look like foxes to me… the pic of the peacock- stunning!!!
Hi,
Nice photos
I am a teacher of English. I hope see you read and write comment in my blog.See you there
So beautiful! No other comment.
[…] Monsoon is not the best time for sighting wildlife, or so is the belief. Monsoon is also not the ideal time for photography. But wildlife always throws surprises. Butch and I were not keen on any particular sighting, but wished to see a pack wild dogs (at least after learning about a pack of 31). Ramesh was our driver on the first day's evening safari. Half an hour into the safari we saw 3-4 jeeps coming from the opposite direction. They had seen … Read More […]
Great Pics.
Hopefully one day I will go there and see these wonderfull sites.
Wow, that’s really good photos.
[…] Monsoon is not the best time for sighting wildlife, or so is the belief. Monsoon is also not the ideal time for photography. But wildlife always throws surprises. Butch and I were not keen on any particular sighting, but wished to see a pack wild dogs (at least after learning about a pack of 31). Ramesh was our driver on the first day's evening safari. Half an hour into the safari we saw 3-4 jeeps coming from the opposite direction. They had seen … Read More […]
These are some great pictures!
wow!!! truly awesome pics!
I enjoyed each and every shot. Lovely, simply lovely!
These photographs are amazing–but reading about that poor stag and seeing those pictures was very difficult. The next time someone mentions to me that we should all just get along and love each other–the way the animals do, I’ll send them over here.
Funny, too, when I saw the first pic of the wild dogs I thought, ‘Oh, how cute.’ Not so cute, after all.
Very enjoyable pictures to look at–I keep going back over them. Hope to, one day, be able to take pictures as enticing.
Stunning photos!
awesome photos esp. the peacock its all beautiful and great post.. :)
Wow,
Such wonderful snaps. You actually saw these make me envious of you. I have been to Bandipur quite a few times and not once have I seen a wild cat.
How many times did you have to visit Bandipur to get snaps like this? Thanks for sharing. Awesome pics.
This was definitely an adventure.I hope to go on one of these myself.
Wonderful. Nice pics Sandeep.
excellent !
Thank you for sharing those great photos, Sandeep! Keep doing it, please.
all i gotta say iz ; WOW,DAMN,GROSS,AND CUTE
Wow, seems to have been a monsoon shower of sightings, too! Great documentation.
Nice pics Sandeep:) If you dont mind, Can you please tell me which cam do you use ? Thanks :)
I use a Canon camera :)
Man I can only tell… these pics are awesome.
Great monsoon, isn’t it? ;)
Chandu,
http://maverick6chandu.wordpress.com/
These are just lovely…what lenses did you shoot these pics with?
Canon 100-400mm IS USM
That good, eh? :-) Thinking of upgrading my 55-200 Sigma. Recent visit to a sanctuary made me realise how woefully inadequate it can be!
200mm is really short, especially for birds.
You can’t question how good 100-400 lens is.. If you are into wildlife photography, i’d recommend 100-400 without second thought.
Lovely Photography and nice narrative.
Picture is very clear. Animals are very cute.
Great photos and interesting place to go
[…] dejar un comentario » Monsoon is not the best time for sighting wildlife, or so is the belief. Monsoon is also not the ideal time for photography. But wildlife always throws surprises. Butch and I were not keen on any particular sighting, but wished to see a pack wild dogs (at least after learning about a pack of 31). Ramesh was our driver on the first day's evening safari. Half an hour into the safari we saw 3-4 jeeps coming from the opposite direction. They had seen … Read More […]
Amazing, I’m rather jealous you got to see Dholes, and making a Kill!
Awesome pics and experience. Need to visit the place NOW.
Wonderful pictures with breathtaking clarity and great timing on some of those shots! You’ve shared your account well.. and it has hardened my resolve to visit that place. :)
Brilliant stuff..! So you did get to photograph a tiger in Bandipur..!
fantastic photos and great fortune too with the sightings. I’ve been to nagarhole / bandipur almost annually for the last 15 years, never seen a tiger. The dhole hunt too is amazing.
The bloody pics. I love nature, but poor deer. For the rest, I just recall when in trips before how I was transported to another earth, meaning, touching nature. I’m living in the city, smoke hello! But, In time I would follow your advice, no sure in the same spot, but Nature is calling my name this days, so strongly. Loving the sky clean, brathing from trees that beautiful, and a night without moskitos may help. Thanks for sharing!
~Great Love to you,
(Glad you guys have som much fun!)
Mirian from peelingtheorange. “)
great!!!! lovely pics! am a true fan of wildlife, and these photos are so well clicked……too good lovely amazing, i fall short of words…..
Expressive photographs in itself and good narrative, i like it..pl. keep it up…
supper photo
Good picture….keep it
wow some of those pictures was disterbing . but eyyy its life :)
Nature is beautiful but also so cruel :(
Great photos – I think the monsoon weather actually provides great lighting. I’ve noticed this while taking pictures in the rain here in Texas before.
Love the action shots – the animals don’t even seem to have noticed you! Makes me want to buy a nice, big 70-200 mm lens.
Those are some quality photos! Where did you buy your camera?
Very nice images..looks like you had good sightings..incidentally a couple of us were on our way to Bandipur that weekend but had to turn back to blr, with bandipur being just 42 kms away..funny story! :D
btw..it will be easy for us if you add an archive section.. the other day i wanted to show my friend that painted storks have pink legs and i just could not find your ranganathittu post!
You shouldn’t have missed
Yeah, I will modify the CSS to show archive and few other tabs. Just haven’t found time. Hope to do it soon.
Hi Sandeep,
Excellant Narration and Great pics..!! Could you suggest best place to stay in Bandipur ? and also safari timings ?I know about the Jungle lodges , Is there any other place ? I went to BR Hills after reading your blog and got a elegant sight of leopard 2 weeks back.
Regards
~ Naren
Safari timings are roughly from 6 to 8:30 in the morning and 4 to 6:30 in the evening. There are few places to stay such as MC resorts, Country Club, Dhole’s den.. Other option could be to book forest dept guest house (in Mysore) and take safaris with forest dept.
but Jungle Lodges is the best if you ask me.
Hi Sandeep,
Thanks for your reply. Could you let me know about the ways to book the forest guest house and book safari with forest dept (any contact person, number).
Regards
Naren
Sorry, I do not have any contact information. You have to book with forest dept at Mysore.
Just beautiful
Wow!! excellent images of the wild…. nice work :)
Magical Eye Sandeep! A camera is never enough until you have the eye to match it! Great pics! and a nice commentary! Keep it up! I have added your blog to my blogroll.
I’ve added your blog to my feed reader – you have a wonderful eye for wildlife. Brilliant – am enjoying it so much.
:)
Val
Simply brilliant work :-)
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