Hi All,
Subrat and I were able to visit Kanha Tiger Park in October. It is one of the most beautiful parks that I had the pleasure to visit. My Canadian friend Steve, was supposed to join me since he wanted to photograph tigers, however could not due some visa issues and we were both very disappointed. A big thanks to my friend Subrat and to Bhargava, Saily, Akshay, Ram Prasad, and the Lemon Tree team for making this a wonderful experience.
A few thoughts and comments regarding Kanha and my visit.
1. The park is significantly larger than most other tiger reserves I visited
2. The park remains closed during the monsoon and opens on October 1. As a result the animals were still not completely comfortable with the safari jeeps in October and were shy and went into the undergrowth as soon as they heard a vehicle approaching. Hence very few meaningful tiger sightings during my visit. There were many near misses for some amazing sightings. I was glad that Steve was not there to experience this disappointment. Most sightings were a few seconds at best
3. The encouraging news is that the tiger population is on the increase.
4. The park is famous for a special kind of grass, Saccharum grass, which lends so much beauty to the forest and I was just mesmerized by it
5. The sunrises and sunsets were spectacular. Early morning mist rising from the swamp land was insanely awesome
6. The park is home to the swam deer called the Barasingha which is now more difficult to find in other parts of the Asian continent. They are the state animal of Madhya Pradesh where the park is located.
"The swamp deer differs from all other Indian deer species in that the antlers carry more than three tines. Because of this distinctive character it is designated bārah-singgā, meaning "twelve-horned" in Hindi. Mature stags usually have 10 to 14 tines, and some have been known to have up to 20." Courtesy Wikipedia.
1 - Tiger in the undergrowth
2 - Langur in action
3 DB3 male
4 Racket tailed Drongo
5 the amazing Kanha environment
Canon EOS R5RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens100mmf/4.51/2000s640 ISO0.0 EV
6 Patawalla male (male cub was abandoned when the mother was killed, reared by park officals) had a collar for sometime, hence the name Pattawala
7 spotted dear or chittal in flight doing ballet :)
part 2
picture 13. Some amazing behavior observed in the park
Female Cuckoos lay their eggs in other bird species nest and the other females (in this case a jungle warbler) bring up the chick and raise it. The chick as it hatches will evict the other chicks/eggs of the host bird and the entire attention of the female is devoted to the cuckoo offspring. Pardon the IQ since this was shot in very poor light and at a great distance. Here the female jungle warbler is feeding the cuckoo chick that is larger than itself.
13 - jungle warbler feeding the cuckoo chick as if it is it's own
14 racket tailed drongo
15 jungle prinia
16 Sacchrum grass
17 langur on termite mound
18 Pattawala
19 local kids collecting firewood before going to school
morris wrote:
1, 2, 5, 9, 12 and 16 are standouts for me KD. Why are you disappointed with so many wonderful photos?
Morris
thanks Morris, the disappointment was in terms of quality tiger sightings. I did enjoy the Kanha jungle and the people. Wasn't a least bit unhappy about that
An awesome variety of great looking shots. I understand your disappointment about the Tigers. Judging by these images here it still must have been a very enjoyable trip.
What a beautiful variety, KD. You captured the essence of the reserve to me. I don't know anything about tigers, but DB3 looks heavy duty. Is he typical of adult males?
Rex
kdacharya wrote:
part 2
picture 13. Some amazing behavior observed in the park
Female Cuckoos lay their eggs in other bird species nest and the other females (in this case a jungle warbler) bring up the chick and raise it. The chick as it hatches will evict the other chicks/eggs of the host bird and the entire attention of the female is devoted to the cuckoo offspring. Pardon the IQ since this was shot in very poor light and at a great distance. Here the female jungle warbler is feeding the cuckoo chick that is larger than itself.
No 1's a winner! Great shot.
The eyes, the stare, the blurr on the leaves the framing tree trunks, all make the pic!
kdacharya wrote:
part 2
picture 13. Some amazing behavior observed in the park
Female Cuckoos lay their eggs in other bird species nest and the other females (in this case a jungle warbler) bring up the chick and raise it. The chick as it hatches will evict the other chicks/eggs of the host bird and the entire attention of the female is devoted to the cuckoo offspring. Pardon the IQ since this was shot in very poor light and at a great distance. Here the female jungle warbler is feeding the cuckoo chick that is larger than itself.
My most favorite of the wild cats my brother!
Just wonderful photography all!
So sharp, textured and detailed in all frames!
Very well done brother!
Dan
I keep going over which my favorites are, but to narrow it completely down is hard
Anyhow, my absolut favorite is number 4, the so perfectly timed pose is fantastic. The photo has such harmony. The "lines" or rather curves and shape formed from the wingtips, through the bird's body down into the tree stump. So elegant.
I'm also partial to # 1, 2, 12, 13 and 14. But again, if I were to pick just one, it's # 4
johnohio wrote:
An awesome variety of great looking shots. I understand your disappointment about the Tigers. Judging by these images here it still must have been a very enjoyable trip.
John
thanks John. I guess I had unrealistic expectation about tigers, which are quite different from lions etc. Just the same I had a wonderful experience
