Masai Mara-here i come!!

The great plains of Masai Mara beckon me!! The site of the Great Migration-touted as the greatest Wildlife spectacle in the World is on right now!!

I am fortunate enough to spend 3 weeks in the Masai this year!! The first two weeks would be sheer bliss..my host is a veteran wildlife photographer Michael, from S.Africa..he has a private land-cruiser and we camp out in the wild (a campsite on the fringe of the Park)..the whole day we are driving around watching and photographing animals and birds!! Then 12 photographers join me and Kalyan on a photo-safari!

Some photos from my last year's trip..which capture the magic of the great plains!

A male Ostrich in breeding plumage..you can see how open the plains are...

One of my favourite birds in Africa- the incredible Secretary Bird!

A Lioness which just made a kill!

Then i have a side trip to Ethiopia-my first one to that lovely country,where i am trying to explore the Highlands--bye!

I am not sure if i will have the chance to post while i am there!

Monsoon Beauties!

Come Monsoon and i get very excited to snoop around with only my Macro lens on my camera..i found these beauties on two recent trips to Mudumalai and Nagarahole!

With such vibrant colours, i wonder why Cicadas need to sing for mates!!

Just gaze at this beauty !! A big orangish-red frog seen at Nagarahole! I believe it is a Bi-coloured Frog..any comments?

The ultimate stunner..the tiny Stream Ruby!!

Young Bandhavgarh Cub

I saw this beautiful Sub-adult Tiger in Bandhavgarh on my last trip in June. He is about a year old..just look at his over-sized paws and that amazing innocence in his eyes..which all young creatures have ! I wonder if We can, as a Nation, live up to his hopes of a secure future?

Kanha male-my last sighting of the season!

Two weeks before the Park closed for the monsoon, we drove to the Kanha meadow..no guests..just me and my Naturalists. I was praying that i will have one last sighting (i was going away to other Parks in M.P) of my favourite Tiger..the majestic Kanha male!! And we got very lucky!! What a sighting we had!!

After hearing some distant Chital alarm calls..we saw the Tiger deep in the forest cover on the edge of the Kanha meadow. Then we watched him walk in the meadow in broad daylight...from almost a km away..and he walked straight to where we were waiting!! It was a perfectly planned position..plotted by Harsha...i was thrilled to watch his every move from my binoculars..which is such a luxury! I am normally clicking through a camera lens..What a sight he was!! I got goose pimples as he came so close to us...

He gave me one hard stare...and walked right past us..we could reach out and touch him if we wanted!! It was truly one of my most memorable Tiger encounters ever!! I was supremely lucky to end my last season in the Central Indian jungles with such a fantastic sighting of this most charismatic animal on the planet!!

Peeping at my beautiful 'new' world!

A juvenile Monitor Lizard looking out from it's home, a tree hollow, at the world outside-in Kanha NP!

The next morning i found it a bit bolder!

Indian Pitta

One of my favourite birds, the Indian Pitta! I simply love their colours and calls!! This picture was taken last summer in Bandhavgarh.

Dholes of Kanha !

Dholes are among my top favourite predators in the world ! There are so intelligent, good looking and charismatic...almost always up to some action !

I came across this beautiful pack one summer morning in Mukki. We first saw them sitting on the track..there were 15 of them...with 7-8 sub-adults, which were so cute and shy!!

This Alpha male came up very close to us..stretched it's body and muscles...before setting off for a hunt...

Just look at it's beautiful brick-red coloured coat..with a lot of white...in the lovely early morning light...I did not notice so much white in the Dholes of Nagarahole-Bandipur, which is one good habitat for them.

They set off on a hunt ! In fact, we later saw the adults giving a high-speed chase and corner a Chital Stag...the actual kill we could not see as they moved into an area behind some rocks and bush on the edge of a meadow. Sadly, these amazing predators are getting increasingly rare..Kanha used to have a good population...now we do not see them often.