Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve & Bird Sanctuary

This two and a half year old male is being protected from alpha males (who would kill him) until he is ready to fend for himself.

His mother was killed when he was a cub, poisoned by a local farmer protecting cattle.  Now, of an age when he must be separated from his sisters who are also being protected and supported, he has a 6 square kilometer fenced area to roam while he's learning to provide for himself.  Soon he will be released into unfenced wild to an area outside that dominated by other males - a territory he will be able to claim as his own.

As well as Tigers this jungle at Bandhavgarh National Park is home to a large variety of mammals and birds willing to show for the camera.

Here are my birds...

Collared Scops Owl

Blackiston's Fish Owl

Blackiston's Fish Owl

Changable Hawk-Eagle

Red-Wattled Lapwing 

Adventuring into Wildlife Photography

This past weekend I tried my lens on wildlife.

Meror and I went on a 3 day Tiger Safari for photographers in Bandhavgarh National Park located in the heart of India.  If you are ever in the area I highly recommend this trip organized by a group called Nomad Excursions.  You can check out their website here.

We travelled in 3 Gypsy Jeeps with a naturalist/photographer from Nomad, and were allowed only on designated routes in the park.  Our driver and a local guide were expert at tracking tigers by listening to the warning calls given by Langur Monkeys and Spotted Deer as well as tracking signs left by the big cats.

 

There is a strong campaign in the area to have the tigers living undisturbed in their natural habitat and efforts are being made to have visitors venture into this terrain in a non-invasive way.

A female and her two cubs were sited in a hilly bamboo hollow, settled down with a kill she had made early that morning.  This was lucky for us because she would stay in one place for a day or two and we were granted permission to ride an elephant into the jungle to see this trio.  We were not to speak and the driver could not be bribed to move closer or stay longer than prescribed by the powers that protect.

This is the 5 year old Elly and her driver, that took us uphill on our 45 minute trek.

Photographing a camouflaged tiger is not an easy thing to do with your support dangling and rocking 15 feet in the air.  Oh, to be given hours to hunker down in a blind with a tripod.

This wee cub, looking at the elephant I was perched upon, is what I was able to capture and then I just relaxed to be in the moment and soaked up the enormity of what I was seeing with my own eyes.

My respect for wildlife photographers - always high - has just jumped several notches.