Kerala (Thattekkad- Munnar- Chinnar)-14th sep -21st sep.

Me and my Naturalist friends from different lodges went to visit Western Ghats for the first time. We started our journey from Fort Cochin. Seeing sea for the 1st time was very interesting for me.
There some of us saw Dolphins; we saw a few gulls and terns of which we could only identify Gull-Billed Tern.

Thattekkad

In Thattekkad we had great 4 days with Eldhose. We tried to cover many

habitats. We went to some special places like the one where we could see a lesser fish eagle.

Endemics like W.B.Treepie, Malabar Parakeet, Rufous babbler, M.Grey hornbill, Small sunbird and others like little spider hunter, Dark fronted babbler, Jerdons nightjar, Black wood pecker and Broad-billed roller were seen.

We freaked out seeing Giant-squirrels, Huge trees, and of course *Frogmouth*.

We saw 15 out of the 16 W.ghats endemics (except Nilgiri laughing thrush) in

the entire Thattekkad –Munnar-Chinnar trip.

We also saw a Malabar pit viper.

*In munnar*

We managed to see all Bird specialties like Grey-Breasted Laughing Thrush, Nilgiri Flycatcher     

Black & Orange Flycatcher               

Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Broad Tailed Grass Bird,

White Bellied Short Wing

and Nilgiri Pipit.

Few other birds like Pacific Swallow, Pallid Harrier, Black Bulbul,

 

Brown Fish Owl, etc. were also seen.

 

 

In Munnar, Senthil and my old friend Sarvana took us to a place far from usual birding areas, where we could see few B.tail.grass birds, even on the way we saw few Nilgiri flycatcher, W.B.shortwing, Nilgiri wood pigeon & B & Orange flycatcher in a single visit.

 

We were lucky to get great sightings of the Nilgiri langurs, Dusky palm squirrel and Nilgiri Thars in Rajamala.

 

*Chinnar*

Grizzled giant squirrel 

was the definite highlight in Chinnar. We could also
see few rare birds like Yellow Throated Bulbul, Fairy Blue Bird and

Blue faced malkoha          

Hangul's or Kashmir Red Deer in Dachigam National Park, Srinagar, J&K

As a child I always wanted to visit Dachigam to see Hanguls or Kashmir Red Deer which is India's one of the most endangered deer.
Some considered it as a separate species from European Red Deer. It is also India's only species of Red Deer.
I made plan with my uncle Mr. Shashank Gupta and he also agreed to come as he also wanted to see Hanguls.


We booked our flight and reached Srinagar on 23rd Sept. 09.

Dachigam is around 18 Kms from Srinagar. So we took the closest Hotel to Dachigam which was still far ha ha ha ha . There are no close Hotels or Resorts around the National Park. Thanks to Neel Sir for arranging permits as it a militant zone and most of the park is under Army surveillance. 
One can only do trek if you have special permits.

We used our 1st day in gathering permits for the next 4 days and explored Srinagar little bit.

Next morning we were at the gate at around 5:30 am, our trekker Bashir Ahmad was waiting for us and told that very good chances of seeing Himalayan Black Bears but one has to have courage to see them on foot as Bears can be very dangerous some time. 

We started our trek and after some 2-3 minutes I asked Bashir about the precautions one should take when one sees a Black Bear. As I finished the line, a 6 months old Bear crossed 10 ft in front of us, we were all extremely happy as it is very difficult to see bears in Himalayas.

So we continued our trek and after few Kms our Trekker Bashir trekked us down to a valley where we we expecting some more Bears. In that small valley of around 500 Mt's we saw 21 individual Himalayan Black Bears from 2 months old young ones to 15 years old huge male and we saw them climbing the tree as well. 
I was dancing and was so happy to see so many Bears and we made the record of seeing the most H.Bears in single trek.

Then we came to know why there were so many Bears in that small place?????????
A fruit called Acorn (Cirques robber) as told to us by our Tracker which fruits before snow falls and that's why all the Bears don't mind other bears presence, these are days when bears eat a lot to increase fat and then they go for Hibernation.


In our evening trek we just saw the glimpse of Hangul Stag running very fast and disappearing in the bushes. I was very great full of seeing at least one individual as it was an extremely rare animal on Planet and that to my lifer Mammal.


Next morning we again started our trek and this time we saw individual 18 Black Bears. I saw and photographed courting of Bears all well.

At evening again we saw Hangul  but very far on top of the mountain but heard Rutting calls of another Deer from the bush. 
The rutting call resembles like roaring of a big cat.


After 2 mornings I stopped counting Bears as they were so many. This was a special or turned out to be special morning. We were looking for a lone male Bear to photographed. I spotted a Bear on a tree. So we decided to wait for the Bear to come down, then we could able to take pics without disturbing it. 
After few minutes of waiting a small cub climbed down fast and then second and behind was the mother. As the mother saw us it started making sound and ran after us, 1st one to run was our trekker so we also decided to run and we ran 100 ft and stopped buy the time whole family ran away.

Evening trek was again very special. We met Range Officer at the gate and he send us to that place where chances of spotting Hanguls would be more, So we just waited waited and is some time started hearing Rutting call. After waiting for 1/2 an hour. Bashir suddenly spotted 2 Hanguls both were Stags and one of them was the Biggest they have in the Park. 

We saw them for 45 Minutes and as it was getting dark so we left them there and came back to the gate while coming back again saw some Bears walking on the road like our Tigers do in the night.


I saw 2 lifer birds Tytler's Leaf Warbler and Sind Woodpecker both are extremely rare to spot.

Went to Gulmarg as well as saw Srinagar at its best, tasted Wazwan dish which is world famous.    

ITS ACTUALLY A PARADISE ON EARTH

Stripped Hyena in Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan

For long I wanted to photographed and see Hyenas. So was planning to go to Gujarat or Rajasthan but suddenly I came across my friend Anand who is filming on Hyenas in Ranthambore. So one day I was chatting to him and he almost guaranteed on the buffer side of the park. So I decided to go for few days as I was in Delhi for holidays.


Booked my tickets and off to Ranthambore for 2 days.reached Sawai Madhopur on 9th August 2009 and meet Anand, Banwari Bhaiya (Tarzan of Ranthambore) and Rakesh Bhaiya at Railway station. As I meet my straight question was "will I see it " and they said yes. The place for the Hyenas was 60 Kms from Sawai Madhopur. On the way I meet one of the finest Artist Jaipal bhaiya.




We 3 people starts off to the place on 2 bikes. We reached afternoon and rested in Banwari Bhaiya's village and after lunch we sets of on foot and after 2-3 Kms Banwari Bhaiya showed me a place 500 mts from us and said there are your Hyenas but we have to be very quite as they are very shy. Just as we were about to reach the den Banwari Bhiya spotted the Roller which was a European Roller (My Lifer) after a good look and a good shot We again started the climb and reached at a place where In front of me was the den of a mother and 2 Young's and 2 adult brother Hyenas. Anand and Bahwari Bhaiya left me at the place as they don't want to disturb the hyenas and they both were on the other side is they spot they will call me and if I will see then I don't have to call them as they have see a lot.

I was waiting for some 45 minutes and Banwari Bhaiya came running and shouting CARACAL CARACAL. I took the camera and binocular and ran with him. Just few mtrs from the spot he pointed some thing in the grass and it was moving and only a part of it I was able to see It was dark and big. Suddenly it came out of the grass and after I had a good look. I started laughing as it was a Jungle Cat but indeed big and dark. It was confusing for all of us.

I went back to the same spot to see Hyenas. After some more 1 hours of waiting I suddenly spotted a Hyenas came out of the grass and was already looking at me. After a good look and taking some pictures I was done and so mesmerised and was feeling so lucky to see one of the natures elusive and nocturnal animals. After some time Anand and Banwari Bhaiya went down to check one of the dens occupied by Porcupines as it was freshly dug and we saw some tracks as well. We spotted 2 Porcupines as well in one of the evenings.

Next day we went to see Gharials in Chambal river. We were exploring country side and birding as well in the Bana country. I had a great time in Ranthambore and planning to go in January 2010. If any one wants to come, feel free to call me or contact me.......................

India's Rich Wildlife

The natural wealth of the Indian subcontinent has remained unique, mysterious and fascinating for nature lovers. In Indian philosophy, life in any form is deemed sacred and it is advocated that compassion for all living creatures is essential. The worship of nature in all its different forms is an essential part of our cultural legacy.

The rich and fascinating variety of India's wildlife can be seen in the 80 national parks, 440 sanctuaries and 23 tiger reserves established by the Government of India in an attempt to conserve this vital resource. More than 500 species of mammals, 1, 220 species of birds, 1, 600 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 57, 000 species of insects populate the subcontinent.

India harbors 60% of the world's wild tiger population, 50% of Asian elephants, 80% of the one-horned rhinoceros and the entire remaining population of the Asiatic lion.

And I am on a quest to spot this rare and elusive wildlife existing on Earth..................