Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Streak Throated Woodpecker

Here is one more from the streak throated woodpecker series.

Jungle Fowl

Jungle Fowl are one of the difficult subjects to photograph! Unlike cats, they're not elusive. However whenever you see them and stop your vehicle they disappear into bushes in a flash. The only way to get a right frame with them is to be with them and shoot from a blind/hide. Here is one of my shots from Bandipur.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Wild dogs in a playful mood

The last Friday morning at Bandipur had everything. We saw 2 packs of wild dogs (5 and 10). The first 5ér pack were in great mood and we got them in beautiful light. Two of the pups (Though there are grown up now) started engaging themselves in fun and showed us a glimpse of their playful behavior. During the same time a Changeable Hawk Eagle presented itself on a nice perch (though against the light). We were in a tricky situation as to shoot which action! After shooting couple of frames of CHE, I shot the dog's behavior!




Beautiful Bandipur

I'm back to Bangalore and started clicking again!! It has been quite sometime since I left this space due to winter in NH. I visited Kabini and Bandipur for 4 days and it was eventful with my first clean shot of the leopard!

Due to unseasonal rains both Kabini and Bandipur forests are lush green which is unusual for this time of the year. Though in Kabini we sighted wild dogs, we missed out on the cats by a whisker! While we're in Jeep safari, another team on boat sighted a tiger quenching his thirst at a close distance! On the last day of the safari, we heard quite a few alarm calls and waited in anticipation of the elusive cat, we weren't lucky enough!
While we're winding up Kabini after 2 days, Manoj got a call from his friend that JLR folks have sighted 5 tigers in Bandipur the previous evening. That call was a clincher. We made a quick decision to visit Bandipur for a day! And boy, that was a great decision made in hindsight. In Bandipur we saw leopard in the late evening at 6pm for over 30 minutes. Though I'd seen the glimpses of leopard, I'd not shot any frames so far yet. This visit game ample opportunities to shoot though, at low light.