Wet excursions...

There are some places on earth which are made up only for some specific seasons. Monsoon is a season that probably brings a limelight to places that are least visited during other seasons. One such place I visited a while ago is tamhini ghat.

A part of western ghats ,the place has a characteristic feel of the western ghats with fog,mist,wind and a plethora of combinations of cloud formations.
This is a mystical place in a sense that you are gazing into the vast expanse of the valley with a perfect whiteout for a little while and clear view of what lies beneath in other instant.

A certain reason why people flock here around on weekends is myriad of waterfalls and streams where people can chill out. With absolutely nothing that can stop the incessantly flowing water and rains this place really is mini heaven for nature lovers and is a real stress buster.
A picture showing people chilling out and how nature keeps an eye on us in its unique ways.

For some of us who love to photograph things ,there is a lot to experiment here with streams,stones and their wonderful combinations.A stream flowing ceaselessly amidst all the stones and rubbles always inspiring human nature to keep moving.......

For a change one can try out a hand at candid shots as there are many people wandering around the
vast expanses of the plains of this beautiful place.The mist creates a wonderful mood in the picture below where a couple keeps walking against strong winds......

Being close to metropolitan cities, tamhini ghats is not short of many unnatural structures like towers and electric poles. Creating silhouettes of these structures against the background of mists n clouds gives a wonderful ambience in the pictures. A transmisson tower in between two hills shows a contrast of natural powers and unnatural things.

Monochrome images showing combinations of trees and the ambience of monsoon always has been something different to capture.Monotone is instrumental in giving an enigmatic feel to the images,which this place deserves for sure.Western ghat terrains have always been a delight to visit in monsoons and to photograph them in monotones is really a treat.

Standing trees on cliffs always reminds of some strong men who always stood tall amidst difficult conditions. Nature in itself provides us with innumberable things to get inspiration from. I hope we all oblidge that some day or the other........

Tiger Food

There are things that are analogous between our world and the world of wilderness. Conventional and abundant things are never sought after.Well this is the way the world goes ,and theres nothing one can do about it. The denizen of the wilderness I want to mention here is another such common one.
Its such a satire that this hunted denizen is more of a talk of town and the pictures as well than a living one.What can be more ironic than the fact that I used the name of this blog as tiger food ,but this is the world, you got to have your associations with the stronger ones however good or bad to be in the limelight. Sad but the truth. Anyways introducing you to this common denizen, one of the first that you see inside the park gates is our beloved 'cheetal'.They are so common that they have being listed by IUCN as  least Concern "because it occurs over a very wide range within which there are many large populations".


Entering the gates of a forest reserve in central India viz kanha or bandhavgarh you can find cheetals in herds. Most of them who are near the track just run helter skelter on finding a gypsy running through the tracks. Most are happy amidst the shrubs ,behind foliage chomping wild stuffs.

  Looking at cheetal by a photography perspective can give you some amazing frames and some moments too. Being ubiquitous is actually an advantage from our POV as we can experiment a lot on them and get some good ones. This can actually be fruitful while we are waiting for the elusive things of the wilderness.

 

Most of the times ,cheetals occur in herds of ten to fifty individuals of both sexes. Their pinkish brown coat and the backgrounds of the forests is an awesome sight to the eyes.

I find the meadows in kanha a very good place to photograph cheetals,reason simply being the fact that the wide expanse if meadows keep them away from the vehicles and still they are sighted in clear and without foliage.Its a sight to see these creatures calm and in peace here enjoying among themselves,carefree yet vigilant enough to keep an eye on the predators.

A resting fawn, cheetals percieve it as a sign of safety ,we look at it as dismay since there is no on around :)

A little call from a langoor or by their own primate is enough to make them run around. These meek creatures show a graceful run mixed with strides and gallops running around the meadows.



And here is why we see such a large number of these denizens around in forests.

I really hope the world outside and world of wilderness are never analogous to each other. We all should always be sympathetic towards all in the jungles. That will be by essence ,the true love for wildlife........

Drizzles..

On a dull rainy day,while am just sitting on my couch and suddenly the DTH  loses its reception there is nothing but sulking that comes to my mind.Thinking of what to do I just grab my cam and go out in my yard to find if there is anything eyecatching.
Of all the natural phenomenons rains are something that bring a change in the ambience much drastically. :) Even simple drops on leaves and flowers, the incessant chirps n hums of birds n bees just create an ambience that is unmatched and create a good opportunity for pics.
Frankly speaking rain is something that can put off all your plans of getting out for some action,but for some kind of shots you would actually prefer to be inside your comforts.
Here are two of those I got from my window.

 As longfellow says, "The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain." we just need to be calm and let it be.We just need to use our resources to the full and go on. Sometimes this is the most amazing part about rain.That you dont need to move out actually can be at your advantage.:)

who says only humans are eligible to enjoy rains!!!!. Even the smallest of the creatures take the chance to dance and celebrate. This is a picture of small insects that look like mosquitos humming over a perch amidst rains.

You pray for rain, you got to deal with the mud too. That's a part of it. isnt it? Denzel washington says it just right. After the rains pour out and take a breather we must really be ready to get out feet dirty to go in.

A petal fell on its plant's leaf ,drops on it just ready to wither away and fade. Guess this is just the way life goes.Some people walk in the rain. Some just get wet. petal chose an easy way it seemed.
we all have out options open.
Its just a thing like this......If you want a rainbow you should be amidst rains...............

Udaan

Jungles,they sure are not meant only for the elusive tigers and leopards. Common denizens like deers and avians can also provide you with moments to cherish for.
 Here is one such sequence I shot in Bandhavgarh national park when I was looking for the tiger. I heard a cheetal alarm call and we parked our gypsy to guage some movement of the elusive subject.
Just during some lazy moments we saw a crested serpent eagle swoop around and land on a perch.
Judging its behavior it was evident that it one would take one more leap since the perch had nothing the eagle would be attracted in.Guess it just landed there to get a peek of the area for a probable kill.
Below is a series of those pictures.

Crested serpent eagle after it just landed on the perch. It was just scanning the area around.above pic shows its nictitating membrane.

Since the light fell directly on its wings it highlighted the wings abruptly and was difficult to adjust the exposure for those.

After satisfactory scanning the area it decided to fly away may be because it spotted something, or may be because it would not have preferred to sit in the open sun.

Eagle then did what most birds do preflight, Unloading itself before take off.This makes sense as it does not have to waste too much energy prior to take off.

After this it took a flight and made me think of my inabilities and made me look like just a small entity who can never fly without artificial aid.



Eagle then flew away to another shady part and settled down.Guess it also looked for a breather from the hot sun.
 These ubiquitous moments in forests is what we should always look after.Ofcourse tiger is an important sight but success of a trip should not be gauged by that.
There is always more to it.........

The Harbinger

With the onset of june, most of us look forward to the commencement of the monsoons. The sky becomes a theatre for the drama of the clouds and mind becomes philosophical thinking of what kind of fun,or in some cases ,what kind of work to be done in the monsoons. Clouds are certainly one of those things that give you hope.....

photographing these clouds is a pleasure and prove to be an awesome background. coupled with any kind of foreground viz beaches or hills ,we can have a great landscape and mood in the picture.Also silhouettes of manmade things help in this too......

The best part about the clouds is they act as light throwers when sun is behind them.waiting for a right time and utilizing the ambient light in a sensible manner makes an opportunity for a good picture.

 

Clouds are really a thing that change an aura of the picture.,no wonder all cameras have a dedicated white balance "cloudy" for such kind of light!! Thid kind of picture is worth calling clouds the harbinger of rains...

One more thing about photographing clouds is that they can make themselves look like somrthing else. So called abstract shots can be made form such situations.A picture shows a cloud formation that looks like a peeking bird from the nest.....

Photographing clouds from above is one more intresting thing to do. Clouds in numerous kind of contraptions is a treat to capture.A totally different perspective is what the clouds offer from above the top.....

 

combination of sunsets and clouds create amazing moods. various cumulus clouds taking different shapes along with orange light of the setting sun makes a flamboyant pic. A picture below that makes clouds looks like smoke .....

One of the things that have always amazed me about little clouds apart from being harbingers to the most awaited season change is how easily they can sheild something as big as the sun. Just reminding about the fact that you dont need to be a stalwart to make a statement.

Awaiting monsoons and observings the harbingers for now.........here is wishing you all a happy monsoon.....:)

Nagzirian vignettes

 Nagzira.... A jungle in maharashtra that as of now does not have that kind of glamour as bandhavgarh or kanha but sure gives a run for money when it comes to sighting tigers this season.With the news of regular sighting of a tigress and her two cubs(that are christened jai and viru) the forest is having rush and glamour too.


We were greeted by an indian gaur just as we entered the gate. It was crossing the safari track along with two others.Its size can be easily gauged by the fact that a full grown gaur can cover a safari track easily.

Apart from the famous tiger trio, nagzira is also famous for wild dogs aka dhol too.Its a comman sight here to see thm in herds and having a breather in water holes.

There are ample birds about 60 to 70 types of different birds that can be sighted in nagzira. Among them I found Indian pitta most beautiful.Sighted it on a perch near the safari track.

As we were venturing into the jungles we heard the news of the mother tiger sighted near the water holes.We went towards that spot soon but to our dismay we found hoards of gypsies and private vehicles.nevertheless we did sight a tiger and unsurprisingly her two cubs also joined in to give her companty in the waterhole.

Sighting on the next day was eventful as there was news of a  kill early morning at 5 am ,which to our luck wasn't a rumour. As our gypsy approached the gaur galli road we saw the tiger cubs feasting on the sambhar kill.It was kind of gross view but then this is WILD. To see the tiger with a kill is certainly something that remains in mind for a long time and also shows its character.

Its a treat to observe tiger behavior when it has a kill. A tiger seems to be a real glutton when it comes at chomping meat and specially when it is hungry.
It was surprising to see one of the tigers guarding the kill and the others taking turn to be at the waterhole for quenching thirst after heavy meals.

Above picture shows the Amark mother tiger with its son,and other son meanwhile guarding the hunt. After these two departed the other tiger came in and did the same.

A typical nagzira scape with its artificial water holes and tiger quenching its thirst.
Many moods of the tiger can be captured specially when its a cub since it is very inquisitive of its surrounding. It even smells trunks and other such objects out of sheer curiousness.

A tiger cub is also wary of the sounds and is very probing about them. A pic shows its alertness as a vehicle honked an unnecessary horn.A typical problem in nagzira as the forest allows many private vehicles along with the gypsies for the safaris.Inspite of forest guards trying to convince people to leave after 5-10 mins of sighting,adamant people dont leave their prime place of sighting which results in desperate people taking some desperate measures.


Denizens of nagzira also include some comman species like langurs ,spotted deers ,sambhars etc.
The atmosphere is month of may is dry and hot and even langurs can't hide their resentment towards the heat.

A sambhar watches closely of any vehicles around before crossing road.

Nagzira surely is a wonderful place to be in summers with such nice sightings. As it is near to nagpur connectivity is not a major issue.

 After the rains most of the denizens move to inner parts of the jungle so sighting is rare in winters and in monsoon the park is closed. Since the siblings and mother tiger are bonded together ,sighting was comparatively easy.After the two male cubs seperate and form their own terretory sighting them would not be so easy.

Still we'll be waiting for the new cubs and have a dejavu of these scenes ....along the gaur galli road or the water holes......its now that I realize why wildlife photography is also called natural history photography too.....memories to cherish for us as the animals perform their regular chores.........