The weather was still cloudy in Bangalore and it should have been ideal conditions for macro photography. But it was also very windy which was unusual for this time of the year. As with the previous two macro sessions, it was Ashwin, Diinesh and myself who ventured out. As soon as we started to explore the field for possible macro subjects, we realized that it was very windy and none of the macro subjects such as butterflies were around. They must have been swept away by the consistent high velocity gales! We looked around for sometime but were not able to spot a single good macro subject.

We were wondering if it was a mistake to have come out in such windy conditions. It was then when I spotted this terrestrial snail. I thought this would be an ideal subject to photograph in such windy conditions! So we set up our cameras and tripods and got some good pictures of this mollusc.

We then had our regular quota of snacks and decided to head back home as the weather conditions were not conducive for any more photography.

Bangalore and it’s outskirts were seeing regular showers for the past few days - which was conducive for macro photography. Diinesh, Ashwin and myself ventured out to see what we can capture on this Sunday. We saw some butterflies flying around and were happy to see this Indian Cupid (Everes lacturnus syntala) basking nearby. We soon set up our cameras and tripods and went about taking pictures of this small winged beauty. As the subject was quite small, I felt that the Tamron 180mm macro would be the right lens for this situation.

Next, I happened to spot this Signature spider of the Argiope sp. feeding on an insect. As the web was in it’s full form, we decided that a bit of backlighting would enhance it shape and form.

After we were done photographing the spider, we were looking around when I happened to see this tiny butterfly flying close to the ground. I followed it to some distance when it settled down on a small plant. I thought the composition would be better if all of the leaves were included instead of composing only to highlight the butterfly. On closer inspection, this butterfly turned out to be a Pale Grass Blue (Zizeeria maha ossa).

We were pretty tired by the time we finished photographing this butterfly. We had some snacks and coffee and were ready for another session of photography. As it was getting a little warmer, most of the winged beauties were already very active and so we decided to focus on some wild flowers.

I soon spotted this flower called as the Greater Cat Ears (Cyanotis tuberosa) and soon set up the tripod and camera to capture it.

It was getting to be midday and so we decided to pack up and leave. Four good pictures for a few hours in the field is not a bad score!

With the monsoons setting in (finally!) and the days being cloudy and overcast, the time is right for some macro photography. The grey clouds act as a big soft-box and we have shadowless lighting through-out the day. The overnight showers and the morning chill are not helpful to the insects and other macro subjects to get active early in the day - all factors that are conducive for good nature macro photography.

And so we were off on Sunday morning, looking for subjects. Diinesh, Ashwin and I were the team for this photo session. We too were feeling a bit lazy, with this being our first session for this season. So we decided not to head out too far and settled into a patch of scrub jungle, just off Kanakpura road.

We saw a few small butterflies flittering about, but none of them sat still for a photo! We had to search a bit, before we came across our first subject - a juvenile Stick Mantids. I almost mistook him for a piece of dried grass. You can see how well his camouflage works, when placed on a twig.

We were looking for another subject, when I came across this wild flower, which was very tiny. This flower is a Hairy Creat (Indoneesiella echioides) and it’s only about 8mm x 3mm across! It was a challenge to get the right depth of field and the windy conditions were not helpful. 

I asked Diinesh to hold the reflector, instead of using a flash, with the fear of losing details in the highlights.

When Diinesh got busy shooting the wild flower, I happened to see this Tussock moth caterpillar (Lymantriidae sp.). I had photographed something similar in the same vicinity, about three years back. We decided to experiment with flash and so Ashwin held the flash to create a back-lit effect. These ‘hairy’ subjects lend themselves to back lighting.

We then decided to have snacks and coffee, to keep us going. By then, the conditions were very windy and dark clouds were gathering above us. But we waned to continue for some more time and I came across this lynx spider guarding it’s egg sac. 

It was getting to be mid-day by then and so we decided to pack up and leave. As we headed back to the car, it started to rain and the umbrellas came in handy. 

Another macro session had ended successfully.

All the pictures seen here were shot with an Canon EOS 5D and Tamron 180mm macro lens, except for the spider picture which was shot with a Canon EOS 40D.

It was ironic how I didn’t get to go out on a photo shoot, soon after I started this blog. It was more than 2 months since I went out and I was raring to get out of Bangalore and do some serious photography.

My previous visit to the Honey Valley home stay in Coorg was in November 2007. I had no clue what to expect then. That team consisted of Harish, Ashwin, Abhishek, Praveen and I. The five days we spent were marred with foul weather. But the walks we took in the estate and surrounding jungles proved that this place was having plenty of action, in terms of smaller subjects for photography. We decided to head back again during the monsoons. And so this trip during the last few days of June 2008 materialised. 

Harish, Ashwin, Abhishek and I left Bangalore early on 26th June, hoping to reach our destination by lunch time. Diinesh and his wife Romila were to join us a day later. Our drive to Coorg was uneventful and we were checking in at about 12 noon. We had a few instances of mild to moderate rain on our way, after crossing Hunsur. For once during a photo tour, we were prepared and looking forward for the rains!

The Honey Valley home stay facility is situated near the town of Virarajendrapet in Coorg. It’s about 285 kilometers from Bangalore by road. Honey Valley is managed by Mr. Suresh Chengappa and his wife Susheela. They are ably supported by their son Sharath. The estate is about 38 acres in size and has it’s share of coffee plantations. Not too long ago, it was very well known for honey production. This estate borders on to the jungles of the western ghats. Mr. Chengappa has ensured that no pesticides have been used for more than two decades and so the place is teeming with smaller organisms like frogs and other ‘macro’ subjects which are ideal for wildlife photographers.

Day 1 - 26th June 2008

We got into action, soon after lunch and started to scout for subjects. We didn’t have to look far, when we found this leech lurking close to the dining hall. Abhishek (a.k.a Abhi) took charge and held the leech in his hand. This small video depicts the movement and motion adapted by the leech. 

I had not visited Bandipur in April prior to this trip. So when we suddenly decided to go to Bandipur from the Kabini backwaters, I was wondering if it was a good move. I was under the impression that the forest would be dry during the summer months and all the elephants would have migrated to the Kabini backwaters for their share of fodder and water. The jungle would wear a dry look and good photo opportunities would be hard to come by. But the unseasonal showers in February and March 2008 had changed all this. I would be pleasantly surprised.

We were in Kabini from 15th to 17th April 2008 and my companions on this tour were Srikanth, Gautham, Dev and Vijay. We were not very happy with the dull weather and drop in wildlife sightings at Kabini, when I received a call from my friend, Praveen Dwarkanath about some fantastic tiger sightings at Bandipur during the same period.

We immediately shifted base to Bandipur for a night stay and 2 safaris. The drive from Kabini to Bandipur is about 80 kilometers and on a single lane road. The road has it’s share of potholes, humps and small towns and villages. So the journey would have been a boring one, if not for the great company in the car. Both Vijay and Dev kept us in good humor with their constant flow of jokes and anecdotes. We drove past the Kabini backwaters area, which was quite scenic.

We soon reached the Gundlupet-Ooty road junction and turned towards Bandipur. The highway felt great after the slow driving on the narrow back roads. But this joy was to be short lived. We soon hit a patch of bad road with numerous potholes which gave way to some enormous craters! Driving off road seemed a better proposition!

Grudgingly, we made our way to JLR at Bandipur and were alloted rooms which were called Dholes (Wild Dogs)!

During lunchtime, we met the manager Mr. Gangaswamy and he in-turn introduced us to Mr. Chiradeep Shetty. Chiradeep was on a two-month sabbatical from his IT job and was to be a naturalist at JLR Bandipur. Even as we had lunch, Chiradeep set up his laptop and showed some amazing pictures of the 5 tigers, that he had seen and photographed on the previous day. We were just hoping that we too would be lucky enough to see the same family of tigers on the two safaris that we had at Bandipur.

Day 1: 17th April - Evening game drive

The foul weather seemed to be following us and it started to drizzle as we got into the safari jeep at about 3:30 pm. We were wondering if it had been a good idea to come to Bandipur after all…

As we drove into the jungles, the weather changed dramatically and we saw some excellent sunshine after 2 days of dull weather. We spotted a stripe necked mongoose and he came too close for comfort. We drove to the same spot where the tigers were seen on the previous day, but there was no sign of them. I guess they must have moved on in the night. Later Chiradeep pointed out an Indian Hare. The hare being behind some lantana branches, didn’t offer a good photo opportunity.

With not much happening, we decided to drive towards Yerekatte, which is closer to the main road. As we approached this area, we happened to see herd of elephants at a salt lick. They were pretty busy and had all congregated at one spot in the salt lick.

I thought some tight close-ups of the elephants would look different.

There was a bit of traffic on this stretch of game road and so we allowed the other vehicles to pass. This was when I heard and alarm call of a sambar deer. As it was loud and persistent, we assumed it to be a cat on the move and at a close distance. We positioned our jeep close to the Yerekatte lake hoping that a cat might make an appearance to quench it’s thirst. Sure enough, our jeep driver Bomma, excitedly whispered ‘Leopard’! He pointed towards the Yerekatte lake and started to drive our jeep. That was when I saw a big male leopard out in the open and positioning himself to get a drink of water.

I felt that this was not a correct angle to photograph a leopard quenching its thirst and urged Bomma to drive up closer and park parallel to the beast. Sure enough, in the summer heat, the leopard seemed to be very thirsty and was busy lapping up all the water it could. He gave us ample opportunity to photograph him at such close distance.

After satisfying himself, he turned around and inspected us… and nonetheless didn’t find us very interesting and walked away.

He went behind some bamboo bushes and scent marked a tree.

He then decided to lie down and relax on this mound, till the daylight faded away. Photographing in the fading light was a challenge. ISO ratings shot up and the motor drive kept turning. Meanwhile, the wireless got busy and the leopard sighting message was flashed. Soon we were in the company of many other homo sapiens, all thrilled to see a leopard at a close distance.

The leopard kept a watchful eye on all the vehicles but was not perturbed by their presence. We were indeed lucky to have spent close to 30 minutes with this stealthy cat. After filling up most of our memory cards and the lighting level dropping to near darkness levels, we decided to leave the ‘prince’ in his solitude and returned to camp.

This was the third time in as many wildlife tours, this year, that I’ve been lucky to see and photograph a leopard. The first two were at Kabini in February and March 2008. The leopard being solitary and very elusive is a very difficult wildlife subject to be seen and well documented. And to get a very co-operative cat is any wildlife photographer’s dream come true!

Day 2: 18th April - Morning game drive

The weather Gods were kind today and there was plenty of sunshine. We left the camp with a fond hope of seeing the tigers or the leopard that we had seen the previous evening. The forest was pretty calm with no alarm calls or any visual animal movement.

The birds were active and we saw jungle babblers and magpie robins. As we were driving, I spotted a Streak throated woodpecker flying from tree to tree, a little ahead of us. After a futile attempts to get him in the frame, he sat in the middle of the game path, digging for some insects.

I wasn’t happy with picture of a woodpecker on a ground and so followed him for a little longer. He continued his flight from tree to tree and then started to explore a dead log alongside the game path. He hopped on it and paused for a couple of seconds when I could grab a few shots.

Satisfied with the results, we moved along, when we heard from another jeep that they had spotted a pack of 5 wild dogs. We went in that direction and to our luck, we saw the wild dogs walking towards us. We parked the jeep and started to shoot. At about the same time, the dogs got distracted for a moment and were trying to jump up. When I looked up, a changeable hawk eagle flew in and landed on a dry tree, right on top of the wild dogs. Talk about luck…whether to shoot the eagle or the dogs was a dilemma.

Two of the wild dogs were in a playful mood and soon gave us ample opportunity to shoot some pictures.

They rested for a while and then disappeared into the jungle thickets. The hawk eagle who was watching all this action from his perch above, then decided to fly away. We drove along and our driver Bomma picked up some tiger pug marks, which looked fresh and so we followed them for almost 2 kilometers. They led us to some waterholes, and we lost track of them there. So another missed chance!

As we were heading out of the park, we came across another pack of wild dogs with 5 adults and 4 juveniles. They too were in a relaxed mood and went about scent marking.

Some of them walked towards some shade offered by some bamboo clumps and rested.

Our tummies started to growl and as there was not much action happening, we decided to head back to the camp.

We soon left Bandipur and headed back to Bangalore, after a quick lunch at Mysore.

Many thanks to Mr. Gangaswamy for accommodating us at such short notice and for all his co-operation. Hats off to Bomma’s spotting skills. This trip wouldn’t have happened if not for the co-operation and great company of my friends: Dev, Srikanth, Vijay and Gautham. Thanks guys for enduring my driving and company on these days!

This was one of my most eventful and shortest trip to Bandipur. Two safaris, one leopard, two packs of wild dogs, a few elephants and some birds to score. What more can one ask for!

All the pictures in this post were taken with Canon DSLRs and Canon lenses except for the Kabini backwaters picture, which was taken with a Canon point and shoot camera.

My visit to the Kabini backwaters area on 15th and 16th April 2008, was the third one for this year. It has been a monthly sojourn for me and every time it has been around the mid-month period. And so far these tours have been a mixture of overcast skies, some rains and wonderful wildlife sightings. The opportunities for wildlife photography have been great. But more on those later. Let me first tell you about this April tour.

Day 1: 15th April 2008

We left Bangalore a little late on 15th morning, having decided to skip Ranganthittu bird sanctuary, on the way to Kabini. My companions for this tour were: Dev, Gautham, Vijay and Srikanth. All of us except Dev are primarily Canon users. Dev is a hardcore Nikon man.

Journey through Mysore was uneventful and we checked into Kabini River Lodge by about 12:15 pm. It was indeed a pleasant surprise for me to see my uncles Mr. Prabhu Prasad and Mr. Sadanand, with their family, from Mysore, checking into the Kabini River Lodge on the same day. 

By the time we geared up for the evening boat safari (on the Kabini backwaters), the skies became cloudy and the lighting levels dropped. We got into the boat with a fond hope that it would clear up by the time we had some wildlife to shoot. With unseasonal rain in February and March, the water level in the backwaters had not dropped. This meant that not much of elephant movement would be there, as plenty of water would be available in the jungles. Bheema, our trusted boatman, started to scan the horizon for any wildlife movement.

It was one of those days when the skies just wouldn’t clear up and it got murkier. Except for a few elephants, not much of wildlife was active. On the far banks of Bandipur, a big tusker was seen chasing off a Makhna (tuskless male elephant). Later, we witnessed an aerial attack on a Brahminy kite by a few Whiskered Terns and River terns. The terns were protecting their nesting sites.

With nothing much happening and the light fading fast, we decided to return to base. But as we turned around, the skies cleared a little and the sun started to peep. I saw some cormorants sitting on dry tree stumps and knew that they would make good subjects for silhouettes. And off we started shooting.

After a few runs, we were satisfied with our shots and decided to head back. I kept an eye on the setting sun and when it turned into flaming ball, decided to get a few more shots of cormorants silhouetted against it.

Cormorants are one of the best subjects for silhouettes!

I was able to shoot many more such images with a variety of permutations and combinations of the sun and cormorants. Not bad for a day when nothing seemed possible! The tourists on the jeep safaris had seen three leopards on the same evening. So the chances of some cat sightings on our jeep safaris, were pretty high.

At about 6:15 am, we started our jeep safari with our trust lieutenant, Prem at the wheel. Prem has about 19 years of experience driving in these jungles and so he knows every stone (literally!) on the game paths! And his wildlife spotting skills are unmatched…so far!

As we were leaving for the safari, my uncle, Mr. Sadanand, wished us luck for good Wild dogs sightings. The wild dogs at Kabini had been elusive and not been seen for the past two months. The last sighting was in February 2008, when I had an opportunity to photograph a pack of 5 adults and 3 pups. My uncle’s best wishes would turn out to be prophetic later in the day….

The first wildlife we chanced upon was a young gaur, who seemed to be distracted by some langur alarm calls in the vicinity. He was not bothered by our presence and gave us some good shots. Just then the lighting also started to improve with some golden sunshine streaking through.

A little further ahead, we spotted this grey jungle fowl. For a change, he was in no mood to scoot. He was kind enough to pose for a few seconds, while I fired away.

Even as I was reviewing my pictures of the grey jungle fowl, Prem whispered ‘Wild Dogs’! As I looked up, there they were. Trotting down the game path with puppies in tow.

The mood in the jeep was suddenly upbeat and everybody got ready to shoot. Having photographed the same pack in February 2008, I was sure that they would give us ample opportunities to shoot them from a close distance. The puppies had grown up and were daring enough to come close to our jeep. The adults were not bothered by our presence and went about their natural behavior.

We decided to stick with this pack and the cameras were clicking at a brisk pace. The dogs seem to take no offence to our presence and were all around the jeep. We were also lucky to see the close bonding between the adults and the puppies and their social interaction.

Our jeep just then started to have some problem with the starter unit and had to be pushed a few times to get it going. With this in mind, we had to maintain a safe distance from the pack - so as not to disturb them. The dogs were in a playful mood and some of them were plain lazy. They took turns in scent marking the territory and were very relaxed. We too parked our vehicle and were busy shooting-reviewing-deleting images.

Around the same time, one of our guys (I guess it was Srikanth) noticed a Muntjac (barking deer) not too far away, heading towards us. The deer was unaware of the wild dogs’ presence and surprisingly for a barking deer, was not too keen to get away from a tourist jeep. The deer happened to cross the road and walk straight towards the waiting wild dogs. By this time, I noticed that the dogs had seen the approaching deer, and were in a crouching position. It was a tense few seconds…what would happen next?

And then all hell broke loose. The dogs pounced from their low positions and the deer jumped helter skelter. The dogs got into a formation and tried to surround the fleeing deer.

The muntjac jumped onto the game path and jumped back into the jungle again. Both the prey and predator were caught unawares! The dogs were too relaxed for a hunt, but the barking deer was it’s usual alert self.

The hunting party disappeared into the jungle and we were sure of them having made a kill.

After a few minutes of discussion and reviewing our pictures, we decided to move out. A little further down the game path, we saw the wild dogs resting. That’s when we realized that the muntjac had made a safe escape and the dogs were unsuccessful in their hunt.

So much drama in front of us…just like those cable channels on television.

About 200 meters down the road, we saw two muntjacs at a salt lick. One of them disappeared into the jungle, as soon as we got closer. The one in the picture below, looked to be pregnant and continued to have it’s share of the salt, oblivious to our presence. The dogs too were unaware of it’s presence so close to them.

Having seen so much action, we returned to the camp wondering what the remaining two game drives would be like. None of the other jeeps had seen much except for a few elephants and gaur.

There had been plenty of cat sightings in the past few days and so we too were hopeful of seeing a couple if not many! And most of these sightings were during the evening game drives. So off we drove into the jungles without knowing what was in store for us. We came across small herds of elephants, gaur and spotted deer. The skies were again overcast and the good lighting that we had in the morning safari seemed to have deserted us. 

We then heard from another jeep that they had just seen a leopard cross the game road and so our hopes soared again. We kept driving around, with nothing much to photograph as there was no good light and not much of animal movement. Only a few Hanuman langurs seem to co-operate.

We did see three serpent eagles at close distances but not very good for photography. Our jeep too seemed to be un-cooperative, with the starter trouble recurring again. So after a few pushes and shoves we decided to head back to base. This was one of those dull safaris with nothing much to do.

It is on such ‘photographically’ dry days that the company of great friends matters. My friends on this tour kept all our moods on an up swing and this created a very positive atmosphere.

Day 3: 17th April - Morning game drive

This was our last game drive in the Kharapura forest range for this mid-April tour.  There was not much mist but it was still a bit cloudy. As we drove past the ‘S’ bend on Appaiah road, we heard the alarm calls of a Hanuman langur. We stopped in our tracks and strained all our senses in the direction of the alarm call. The langur continued to call persistently for almost 20-25 minutes. In between there were warning calls from a spotted deer also. The langur continued to call but to no avail. We simply couldn’t sight anything. Prem tried his level best scanning every tree and every bush. There were no other sightings reported on the wireless either.

We were returning to the camp, wondering if we should extend our stay by another day, when I spotted this Crested Serpent eagle on the main road. I shot off a few frames before he decided to go his way. 

The discussion to extend our stay was inconclusive, when I decided that Prem should take a call. He was not very comfortable with our idea of extending our safaris and he suggested that we return in May. Taking his cue, I told the guys that we should indeed pack our bags and leave to Bangalore after breakfast.

It was during breakfast that I got a call from Praveen Dwarkanath and he informed me that there was a sighting of 5 tigers (a mother and 4 cubs) together in Bandipur on the previous evening. He urged that we should head straight to Bandipur, instead of returning to Bangalore. Sure enough, this was a very tempting idea. I called up JLR at Bandipur and the Manager Mr. Gangaswamy was kind enough to welcome us over. So with renewed vigor, we packed our bags and drove to Bandipur, hoping to see a couple of tigers, if not five of them!

More on the Bandipur safaris in the Bandipur-April 2008 blog.

Yet again, another memorable wildlife tour to Kabini came to an end. Special thanks are due to the staff at JLR Kabini, especially for Bheema, the boatman and Prem, our driver/naturalist, for making this happen. 

Many thanks for my tour companions for their help and co-operation for making this a memorable trip.

All the pictures seen on this post were shot with Canon DSLRs and Canon lenses.