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Images from Indian Tiger Reserves


douglaswise

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I decided to produce the following for three reasons:

1) Inspiration from @pedro maia' s Report.

2)  @wilddog's request for trip reports.

3)  A recent post I made related to http://www.avisfera.com and Himalayan Outback, which stimulated me to look back at old images.

 

This will not be a comprehensive report, but will show a small selection of my favourite, memory-evoking pictures from trips made in 2013 and 2016.  The first, guided by Ritish Suri and his wife, Minakshi, covered Dudhwa and surrounding wildlife sites on the Nepalese border plus Corbett.  The second involved a few days in each of Tadoba, Pench and Satpura.  We probably saw more mammalian wildlife on the latter trip (at the expense of more tourist traffic), but, primarily based on the quality of hospitality and guiding and contacts made, I think I enjoyed the first trip more.  That said, our guide supplied by Wild World India on the second trip, which proceeded without hitch and as planned, was very caring and certainly knew his wildlife, though he was possibly lacking in sufficient education to make the ideal travelling companion with whom to discuss matters outwith wildlife.

 

This post will only cover Dudhwa and surrounding sites and Corbett.

 

26.jpg.4dc4693d2ad2859f561300afc5d87d68.jpg   We visited Dudhwa plus Kishanpur and also Katerniaghat - the last notable for big gharial and mugger wh while the second was good for birds and wet ground barasingha..

 

34.jpg.1d93adedd60798b1aa040415671d1cef.jpg Sal Forest in morning light - Dudhwa40.jpg.685069729dc7f0600f2a0b179a8ae4c0.jpg We saw several rhino from elephant back.  86.jpg.36d1c0f78ee64241b64bf7f7f3e94f1b.jpg Some roads in Dudhwa were closed due to flooding.92.jpg.3f377e69b3d985d9fb5d2f6099aa985a.jpg Early morning in Dudhwa97f.jpg.8d6322c951138b17e2fb4ec143ca1928.jpg Ritish, trip planner and guide.99.jpg.b4fb0dfb430868c837a4f17e6f5ab1c0.jpgJust out of the Reserve we met this elephant going off its patrol duty.99k.jpg.bf5f402aacfe8f086351ed04f2ce08aa.jpg Barasingha99n.jpg.f565e3d73cd1b4b6cc9ceee67e477209.jpgSome middle class Indian architecture is idiosyncratic118.jpg.071e77f5b02b97be068c2398e3586438.jpg Gharial .  Jaws appear tangled in nylon net. 121.jpg.3fc77c716ed29015431a82b801b1fb72.jpg An ugly mugger.111.jpg.df1d18407dc622ce93accd64181f7bda.jpgModes of transport from ancient to modern.112.jpg.7fb3e16f89821d269ff575eccb910634.jpg609681075_132(2).jpg.afe2b413dce848db6d3044743a4f9923.jpg56.jpg.5da8e0d56fbbbbcb58636fef8894172a.jpg Sonaripur FRH in Dudhwa.  Comfortable with good balcony views185.jpg.b032f4fac3953c4dd828af87dbc7639b.jpg We stayed at a superb homestay, an FRH (Sarapduli) and at Himlayan Outback's camp while visiting Corbett.195.jpg.99cd89e96d242ddf0d75b61f2d4ac29e.jpg Sarapduli.198.jpg.8eb32547271b7da8219da5e4fcce12f9.jpg Minakshi (Ritish's wife) outside Sarapduli191.jpg.ac4679f04967e4e7f9a4cc1eb2e215fd.jpg View of Ramganga River inside the Park205.jpg.51ac2a9f851c50ee0d31e50e7d068f9f.jpg210c.jpg.7834a9e4db935807ada3891d741ca933.jpg211a.jpg.2b9632462eda8aa65929d1f04548d78b.jpg Group of gharial211b.jpg.968c3825ee34bf626c45def7776a2d5e.jpg Shoal of goonch - large catfish (sort of)- no good for fly anglers.211d.jpg.ae09fe48d5c9904acca5c4a1eb9178bb.jpg212a.jpg.a0057a96b3e36f31ae7939833aae2d88.jpg225.jpg.57947b20210020b9044360718ae4f2be.jpg237.jpg.b0a74f631d0d0a1476c6d71ff20b37e5.jpg247.jpg.1786840529c4c075ad4057eabaf5c5b0.jpg251.jpg.cd5a70c2e50451c30a9ae10ac924c1e3.jpg254.jpg.627dbe3386b188546b28fce5bfff8b7c.jpg  Wild elephants crossing in evening light.  

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Pamshelton3932

Thanks for this @douglaswise.  India is on my to go to list.  I love the elephants crossing at sunset in particular.

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That light shining through the Sal Forest is mystical.  Great variety of wildlife.

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057-DSC_0532.JPG.3d23d5315956a19e18797763464fda40.JPGThanks for supportive comments.  I will now show images from the 2016 trip to Tadoba, Pench and Satpura.  These will not be shown on a park by park basis, but, instead, I'll put all pictures of each species together regardless of where taken.  Tiger viewing was far and away better in Tadoba than elsewhere, but we did have tiger sightings in both other parks.  We had a couple of leopard sightings (one at night in buffer zone) at Satpura, but none elsewhere.  Satpura was also good for gaur and sloth bear and, from my perspective,  the least pressured reserve with the best ambience.  Pench was a stepping stone between Tadoba ans Satpura and, had this not been the case, I wouldn't have worried unduly if it had been omitted from the itinerary.

 

The 2013 trip took place in March and the latter from 14th-28th Feb.  I didn't show many wildlife pictures from the first trip.  This was because, at that time, I lacked camera power and not because there weren't plenty of animals and birds to photograph.  In fact, the birds were probably more numerous and diverse.  For the 2016 trip I was armed with a Nikon D3200 plus telephoto lens of 70-300  (a step up and very grown up for me, but, for many of the experts here, a toy and generally of no use for bird photography).  Robin, my wife, had a newly-acquired Nikon Coolpix B700, a super bridge camera which she was learning to use.  It was useful that our guide had a similar camera and was not only able to teach Robin, but also to take some of the bird photos.  I can't use this camera because my hands shake unless I've had plenty of alcohol.

 

My inspiration for taking the 2016 trip was attributable to the excellent trip reports of several other Safaritalkers in whose footsteps I chose to follow.  I would refer others who may be interested to read the said reports because I'm not giving details sufficient for trip planning.  All three accommodations we stayed in ranged from good to excellent, but I would pick out Forsyth's (Satpura)) as by far the best.  

 

Here goes:

079-DSC_0850.JPG.f51d5e77977fd64acfdba7247cbb31bd.JPGchital (India's most attractive herbivore?)100-DSC_0981.JPG.39dd69577f688473b4854fbb47ecb68b.JPG012-DSC_0135.JPG.de3e1844f42ae07c6b0490290ddc7eff.JPGsambhar029-2-1-DSC_0637.JPG.4bbb2dce985c973aa64dcb118b6d1f82.JPG Osteophagia.  Calcium supplementation?031-DSC_0278.JPG.ded60c9c3273dcf9a772191548a3902d.JPGDSCN0378.JPG.be76b09ca49546ad1fc7ebe600a98252.JPGSambhar hind in Tadoba Lake050-DSC_0409.JPG.afb91f40b5dc25e21628d2e9611fe1a3.JPGnilgai (blue bull)

DSCN0743.JPG.66a20dc7db8f3e701e4a86232c0b3e49.JPGmuntjac (barking deer)068-DSC_0743.JPG.51ebbe4c07a5528659dc8b00b43bcfc9.JPGlong tailed shrikeDSCN0461.JPG.f288f9d344f747e716c60c86f42adeae.JPGrose-ringed parakeetsDSCN0474.JPG.1ea1141f88e47e70684257a9a74fadaf.JPGDSCN0492.JPG.5594f9972b1a4e6db493b0e98ce7e15b.JPGDSCN0604.JPG.6860ee93c2032d7bc51af93a86acfa7d.JPGred junglefowl. Above right:  Alexandrine parakeetDSCN0625.JPG.2a40fff03b84fed08ad1ea0c53dc15bb.JPGpied kingfisherDSCN0640.JPG.c2048575ffc5c9240699ba20826b8ada.JPGstork-billed kingfisherDSCN0647.JPG.366b394d9388231baa3f903ad442a9f0.JPGwhite -fronted kingfisherDSCN0682.JPG.7bb9e0e90fd0aea1c8bb82e143856300.JPGI think this is a red-wattled lapwingDSCN0698.JPG.a81db92fab6b8f836587d5d241242b6d.JPGpeacocks everywhere.660914003_032-DSC_0280-Copy.JPG.1fa2572c2bca68880a6933e77aed59d2.JPGjungle babbler033-DSC_0297.JPG.25553e09da699123e5770e9e5a7e6dde.JPGmagpie robin068-DSC_0743.JPG.51ebbe4c07a5528659dc8b00b43bcfc9.JPGlong-tailed shrike055-DSC_0520.JPG.d7340f1f249898222983dcd70edeb4ea.JPGsand grouse (male)067-DSC_0733.JPG.25330347b7d915b9fcd3eecdbe759c92.JPGsand grouse (female)116-DSC_1126.JPG.ab113aeacaff3d6d50fb52571f68eaeb.JPGDSCN0405.JPG.b935ac401a7dfeb19842e723f64fec46.JPGDSCN0459.JPG.301fcf8c1c839baf47a032562ea1ddef.JPGscops.  Above Indian roller and fork-tailed drongo023-DSC_0244.JPG.a24f462bc3647f47521195fe1a1bfc96.JPGLangur025-DSC_0258.JPG.cfc8109930e8c525d9da069b7e31f9f9.JPG034-DSC_0301.JPG.edf68532755f07af835efadbb0c2c36d.JPG077-DSC_0842.JPG.7e7a6e05e6240ea789967b8e13fdfd46.JPG rhesus078-DSC_0843.JPG.42c6b7df534f656909fa55221b0dcd24.JPG125-DSC_1239.JPG.ec76f9b4fca310069d4bf59b8350f29d.JPG003-DSC_0026.JPG.6048f081dbbb93a32356319f30c1837d.JPG This was our only tiger sighting when no other vehicles were present746054205_005-DSC_0028-Copy-Copy.JPG.51d9b77ee8ff79f2c9faeee9cbc5b0ba.JPGThe single tigress didn't like disturbance and moved to cover1709997284_042-DSC_0370-Copy-Copy.JPG.d5700c947fce0f18eeb9a2bf5c1effad.JPGThis was one of a pair of near mature brothers.  We were late at the gate because they were blocking road out.472814725_049-DSC_0401-Copy-Copy.JPG.e0b62e29f9cb2eeba4b3ad4fd3f09776.JPG1850657523_DSCN0806-Copy-Copy.JPG.0a3eb846811864b470966fa300f47438.JPG Poor image, but only leopard seen in daylight.072-DSC_0784.JPG.955a05a90ae4f1132eb038a1944a1681.JPG Pench viewDSCN0714.JPG.59fd9e6257e1bed6b1acf70dbc9d6579.JPG Satpura view129-DSC_1265.JPG.35d552fe2511c354742663db9fc533c9.JPG Satpura viewDSCN0562.JPG.6543be662e945ce8a907bcbd3aca6676.JPG062-DSC_0599.JPG.2761913ecc49bd50b8d9d51e18c3f7cd.JPG056-DSC_0527.JPG.3be23780f5dabfdd88ff4b3e3085b104.JPG080-DSC_0866.JPG.c6af5991f20207c75014c0ebfc1bcef0.JPG Jackal.  Above, jungle cat and langur098-DSC_0976.JPG.5f71ef944c9900f34df1fb6f0326f435.JPG085-DSC_0924.JPG.a1eb9aef9fed5adae8bd14f230f10baa.JPG091-DSC_0947.JPG.aa154b3920ee7b434f63f48e241eed45.JPG093-DSC_0949.JPG.4f109aa73ad1bb329173b5a0bd853e1f.JPG094-DSC_0950.JPG.b60580c78c59c236e69b32413b03ff0b.JPGAlthough we did get a distant pack view, we were able to follow this single travelling dhole

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I'm not competent at this job.  A few images have been duplicated, some are missing and the intended order has, in some instances, got scrambled.  Worse still, I've lost my gaur altogether and I find them very attractive.  I'll therefore complete this report with a bit of patching.

 

038-DSC_0324-001.JPG.7cb85d2c5b78eb0579818f84a0595d9a.JPG gaur039-DSC_0341.JPG.aac833be93c1487bfe80bed347ed9b25.JPG054-DSC_0489.JPG.9fdf1e90ddbba3a46961812b36802529.JPG058-DSC_0541.JPG.51ecf200fd33565b4484678a9ba85189.JPG131-DSC_1285.JPG.f5a793a292085f7e5c8ee3c26d016138.JPGDSCN0749.JPG.fe9e6f1d7bdca7254cc994f2cb58cd93.JPGDSCN0761.JPG.d0f18553cd9b774b684835d48e9f7938.JPGA couple more images of nilgai, previously omitted.DSCN0764.JPG.401db77a0abbeadea194f42fc0a51062.JPG Small heads.  Horsey tails

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A lovely set of photos @douglaswise  very enjoyable.

I enjoyed seeing the area near Corbett and then the other parks you visited. We also rate Forsyth Lodge very highly.

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Brian's Art for Animals

excellent photos.. I can't wait to get back to India in 2021..

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Thank you---great photos.  I've always wanted to try some different parks in India rather than the usuals like Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh.  This gives me some ideas :D 

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Very rewarding, thanks for sharing Douglas

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I do hope you have located your missing  gaur.  I can view several great shots of them both near and far, with a few of those "small head horsey neck" creatures in between. Satpura has me very intrigued.

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Nice photos.  It looks like you had great experiences.  I really like the camouflage of the Scops Owl.

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