Spring is in the air !

The Mahua trees add much colour and buzz to Kanha. The flowers attract many animals like these Chital, which find them nutritious and tasty?

Spring or late winter is also when nectar gathering by the Rock Bees is at it's peak..evident by this cluster of honey combs on this beautiful Red Silk Cotton tree, just outside Mukki gate. Why these Bees prefer specific trees nobody knows ?!

One of the most striking raptors, the Changeable Hawk Eagle..this one had such a prominent crest!

I managed to get this shot of him taking to flight..and the one below immediately after! Sometimes one gets lucky with such shots!

The beautiful Short Eared Owl! A winter visitor to Kanha..notice it's typical habitat..open grasslands..i saw it on Bamhni Dadar..the highest point of Kanha..an amazing spot for birding and sheer scenery!

Wild Boar Sows nursing young 'stripers'..a scene rarely witnessed!

An inquisitive Wild Boar staring at me..they are so well endowed in winters!

The striking Black Shouldered Kite hovering over the grasslands looking for prey!

I really like to observe interesting animal behaviour..and sometimes get lucky to capture it on camera! In this shot a Jungle Cat is dashing for cover!

Hotly pursued by a Pea-hen! Tables turned ?!!

Beautiful evening sky viewed from Bamhni Dadar.

Kanha in Winter!!

Spring is already in Kanha..but i thought i should begin with a few of my select pictures taken in Kanha this winter. You can double click on these pictures to get an enlarged view.

A Handsome Barasingha Stag...my favourite Deer

One beautiful winter morning in Kanha..i love to observe these delicate shafts of light..

Barasingha females..walking into the lovely Sondhar meadow; one of the best places in Kanha to see these elegant Deer

A herd of Sambar, which got chased into the Bishanpura waterhole by a pack of Dhole..

Whistling Teal or Tree Ducks

The rare Brown Wood Owl-so aptly named, as we can only find it in thickly wooded cover.

Roosting Brown Dusk Hawk Dragonflies (Zyxomma petiolatum)

A very special winter beauty-the Black Giant Wood Spider (Nephila kuhlii)

A curious 15 month old juvenile Tiger in Mukki!

A Barasingha Stag

Changeable Hawk Eagle feeding on a Coucal..which it had hunted in front of my eyes!

Common Stone Chat..a winter visitor to Kanha

Common Giant Wood Spider..preying on a Asiatic Blood-tail Dragonfly

Juvenile Peacock trying out it's skills!

Impressive Sambar Stag in it's best breeding condition

Am Back in cyber-space!

Hi..i was out of circulation for long now! A conspiracy of factors like a new personal computer (i fell for Kalyan's seduction to buy an Apple and took ages to get used to it!), ennui and not knowing where to begin again, kept me away! But there's one little chap who kept asking me to get back to my blog..Sujay! He missed it the most! I am back Sujay!!

He's got his own blog and it's amazing! Check it out: www.sujaychampati.blogspot.com

Graceful movement in the tall trees !

Orangutans are the largest living arboreal animals and weigh between 45 kg to 110 kg! But their movement in the tall trees of the rain-forest is so unique and graceful! Because of their weight and size, they do not leap like Langurs or swing like Gibbons. Instead they move slowly by grasping the next branch with their long forearms and sometimes bending the branch to reach out. But at times they can move surprisingly fast ! In these series of pictures i could capture the movement of a wild mother.. and how she helps her young one to move..specially when the gap between trees is too much for the latter.

In this picture, the mother is lending a helping hand to it's 5 year old young one.

You can see how she is actually forming a bridge between the gap..so that her young one can use her back to cross over!

The young Orangutan is on her mother's back!

The baby has crossed to the other side!

What an amazing behaiviour! You can imagine, the fate of these graceful creatures as their habitat is constantly being destroyed by logging...even a gap in the canopy is so detrimental to them.

Notice how the young one is hanging by it's long forearms and using it's hind legs to grip the branch tightly!

The incredible Orangutans of Borneo !!

Imagine this...i was walking on the very narrow path in the rainforest of Tanjing Puting National Park in Borneo..just getting a feel of the jungle..on my first day..and i suddenly come across this incredible creature in front of me!! A beautiful Orangutan..standing up-right and gazing at me curiously !! This is my first sighting of an Orangutan ( 'Pongo pygmaeus') in it's own habitat!!

He then started to walk directly towards me !! Notice how he is walking using his fists! I started to take pictures non-stop..and my guide tapped me on the shoulder and gently asked to get off the path !!

As i went into a side path..he simply came and sat down in front of me..only about 25-30 feet away!! My guide just told me to keep crouching down. He whispered in my ears, 'Uranus'!

Uranus is one of the big males of the area..and he was a dominant male not long ago..

He was so relaxed and gave me so many poses...notice his cheek-pads...i was too thrilled and excited to even breathe!!

He groomed himself non-nonchalantly...just observe his amazingly long feet which are so human-like!!
They are actually like our hands with long fingers...which enable Orangutans to grasp branches of trees as they move along gracefully among them.

I was mesmerised by his expressions and his mere presence..so up-close and intimate!

After a good ten minutes he decided to walk away..and he seems to wave me good-bye!!
He has such beautiful and luxuriant hair..and the ochre colour is so striking!

Uranus gave me one final look..as he sat on the same path i had walked just a few minutes back! Just look at his rain-forest habitat!!
I was so moved by such a sudden and close encounter with one of the great apes of our world that i just sat there breathless!!

The Great Serengeti Wilderness !!

We spent an amazing ten days in the vast wilderness of the great Serengeti, staying in 3 beautiful andbeyond camps. Some of the wildlife highlights:

A stunning African sunset!

A Lioness with 2 lovely Cubs..she just spotted a possible prey..


She began to stalk !!

She went like a bullet..and had this Zebra in her jaws in a flash! The young male of her pride joined her to bring it down..the Zebra was killed only after 5-7 minutes, after i took this picture!

A Leopard on a tree with her young cub! A rare sighting in Serengeti!!

Cheetah cubs!!

Following their mother to safety!

The rarely sighted Verraux's Eagle Owl !! Largest of the African Owls!