Tigers of Central India

[Pckts]

Expect the Unexpected - Tadoba - Feb 2016 - Camp 22 (By Shreya Kulkarni)

When the cold harsh winter has given its last breath,
When the sky above shows life instead of death,
When the claws reaching to the frozen sky become decorated with leaves,
When the animals in-long hiding scurry from trees,
We know winter has ended...

These lines by Camille Gotera exactly depict Tadoba in spring time. Spring is one the best seasons to visit forests. But one more element is necessary for awesome sighting. That is, of-course.. immense luck and your patience. When luck and season favors you, well, this is what you get...

This was a dream come true for iCampers. Watching Sonam and her three cubs along with their father Bajarang, playing in the water was a sight worthy of a national geographic documentary. Thanks to Guru Kaka for the amazing pictures..


As we were waiting near the water hole to see if there is any movement, are there any calls.. And to our surprise the royal male tiger Bajrang, came from the hillock and went into the pond to drink water. After some time he settled inside the pond to cool down. Thereafter Sonam the famous tigress of Tadoba came with her cubs as we started counting her cubs from one to three. They all drank water together. Cubs were in playing mood and saw their father on other side of the pond. They immediately rushed towards him and started playing with him. It was really fascinating to see the cubs playing in the water with Bajarang.

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Bajarang, cooling down in the pond

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Sonam arrived in same pond with her cub

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Both were drinking water and the other 2 cubs followed them

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One more cub joined them

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And one more!

Though it was not possible to capture all five of them in a single frame, the memories of all five of them would stay with us forever.


We were very happy and thought that this was the most amazing sighting for the camp. But what we saw the next day was totally unexpected and took our breath way...

Maya the queen of Pandharponi chasing a Sambar deer and dragging it along one of our gypsies.

The story goes along with the sighting shows the importance of patience and instincts. It was an afternoon ride and we had not seen anything.. A gypsy with full day permit, said that their were calls at point 97. We and other 5 gypsies along with 2 of iCampers gypsies waited there for about 1 1/2 hr. The heat was making all of us miserable...

Firstly two wild boars came to drink water and went away.

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Wild boar at Water Hole

After that two Sambar deer and their fawn came for a drink. We thought that, these animals are so casually coming and drinking water, that the chances of sighting a tiger were extremely scarce.. And so we left that place. 

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Sambar Deer and Fawn at the same water hole

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No one knew that this could be the last live picture of the fawn!
But those who were more patient, got to see something very special, very rare. Not many have seen such an incidence in their life. They witnessed a kill in the wild..

After we left in 10 minutes, out of no where, Maya the bold tigress, pounced on the Sambar fawn. Girish Kaka and Mom's gypsy saw her following the fawn but the fawn escaped inside the thicket. The action was so quick that none of the photographers could catch it in their cameras. Many calls were heard thereafter but we could not see the action behind the thick foliage. After hearing the calls many gypsies around the scene, started moving in the direction of calls. To our surprise, Guru kaka's gypsy got to see Maya dragging the fawn across the road. Once again it was Guru kaka to witness and click these snaps.

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And she killed it

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And dragged it away from us, towards her tiny cubs...

This camp was a huge success. Two big stories, some good clicks of the king and the queens in action. We all were absolutely thrilled by these experiences.

But as always the case, the Jungle gives the unique pleasure of watching the birds. This time, we could capture many raptors in camera. We could capture them in action at times...

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Crested Serpent Eagle

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White Eyed Buzzard

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Crested Hawk Eagle / Changeable

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Black Shouldered Kite Taking off





We had also seen few other birds as always!! We were pleased to see the black stork this time! It is a widespread, but uncommon, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe, across temperate Asia and Southern Africa. It was nice experience to see this migratory guest in Tadoba.

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Black Stork

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Bronze Winged Jacana

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Great Egret waiting patiently at Tadoba Lake

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Little Bee Eater

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Grey Jungle Fowl

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Orange Header Thrush

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Rufouse-tailed Lark

The marshy area hosts the oldest species of the world.. The crocodile. Here we had seen some giant crocodiles. One of them had a great lunch as we could see her red tooth in the photograph.

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Crocodile in Tadoba Lake

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Do you see my Red Tooth
Seeing the black vegetarian giants in white socks is unique fun. The muscular male Indian Gaur invites every photographer to click!! They grow up to 1.5 tonnes! But the 300kg king can kill and drag it for miles.. Wild life is just amazing!!

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Male Gaur

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And the younger one!
Jungles never disappoint a nature lover. There is always something new for photographers. May you be having telephoto lenses or wide angle! The jungle gave equal opportunity to landscape lovers!

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Sun Set

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Silhouettes

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The long dirt track, hope someone will cross it...

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Through the Bamboos

This is one more camp in which everyone got to see the king! This once again proved, Tadoba doesn't disappoint iCampers!! The next day baba's gypsy got to see Bajarang at same place where Guru kaka had seen him with Sonam and cubs!!

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Bajarang - Male tiger
But the trip truly becomes successful when you have a great group!! And as always,we did...
We enjoyed everywhere every time. The youngest of our gang was real pleasure. They did not want to part after reaching Pune and cried loudly when we see-offed everyone!! What a Camp!! Reply