WildlifeOdyssey

Welcome 2012 – A Year with many expectations…

2012-01-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

I wish you all Happy & Prosperous new year… JLet all our dreams come true and life be filled with more cheerful, colorful andhappiness…

Closing note of the blissful year - 2011

2011-12-31T19:30:00.000-08:00

2011 was a magical year to me… I can say an unforgettableyear in my life… The twist in my life took place in the month of May -27 2011,I got my life partner as I dreamt. Few lines about her….

Sindhu is her name… born and brought up in nammaBengaluru… all time smile on her face… passed Msc in microbiology fromBangalore University. Very passionate towards microbiology and life science…working for a research lab in bengaluru…

She always accompanies me in all my wildlife odysseys…andsupports me in all terms of my life….

Jan -11

The first journey in 2011 was to Parambikulam, on afull-moon day. It was an amazing experience to observe wildlife on full-moonnight in the forest.

A friendship with Shivaram famous kannada actor, made me do a quick trip toranganthittu bird sanctuary with legend. The day spent with birds andshivaramanna was wonderful. These days he is busy in shooting and notaccompanied me with the wildlife trips…

Feb-11

We celebrated sindhu’s birthday by distributing booksand stationeries to tribal school children at BRHills. Very nice trip indeedsighted wild dogs for more than an hour or so. Body and mind was contented injoy of giving…

Mar-11 to May-11

Busy in my marriage shopping… Camera and car was parkedinside neither without seeing any wild road nor to click wild pic…

Jun-11

After marriage the first trip was to Honeyvalley resort atKabbinakad. The place to be…

In the mid of june we went to Singapore for HM J… came back had few more days of vacation, quicklyplanned to BRHills.

Aug-11

I met Santosh BS the chap with the similar interest.Planned for Ramanagara to photograph LBV’s after collecting the info from him.

Sept-11

3 days trip to Muthodi [Badra Tiger Reserve] was veryinteresting with Sindhu. Strolled in the lap of nature… walked in the chilledweather … smiled when we sighted wild dogs… mesmerized when we saw westernghatz of Karnataka….

Oct-11 and Nov-11

Wrapped with project release and could not make anytrips… :(

Dec-11

I along with Santosh BS made a nice bird watchingshort trip to Hessarghatta lakes outskirt to Bengaluru….

Till date I had never witnessed the sighting ofTIGER in such a close proximity and very fortunate to click few goodphotographs… It all happened at TATR.

Wonderful year isn't it?? Bye Bye 2011...

Tadoba tales...

2011-12-30T19:30:00.000-08:00

20^th Dec2011

Amidst our busy schedule we had managed to extract 5days in December to visit TATR. Travel reservations were done 90 days inadvance. We were just waiting for the arrival of the big day.. dec 20. The waitwas over, next day at 9.00Am all of us me [Amit, Sindhu, Kathik, Veena, Ganesh,Pavan] team was geared up to TATR aka [Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve] atChandrapur, Maharashtra.

This is my second trip to TATR after a long gapof 2 years. Me and sindhu reached railway station on 20^th Dec 2011at 8.30 am, just in time to know that our trains were delayed by 4 hours due toheavy fog in Itarsi and other northern parts of India. With low spirits Istarted calling fellow team mates to postpone their arrival.

Though Pavan, Karthik and veena landed up at 9.00Am. Mr.Ganesh my cousin grabbed the opportunity to treat his taste buds at the evercrowded Vidyarthi Bhavan to have mouth watering masala dosas…

I won’t take much of your time in narrating howwe passed the time from 8.30Am to 12.00Pm. We went to Ayyappa temple next torailway station and had coffee after every half an hour.

After the long, boring wait the train finallypulled into the platform at 12.00 noon. Happily we boarded the train and settledown. An hour later we broke for mouth smacking variety of food packed fromhome.

Everything was smooth and nice until we werebored… the question on all our faces was what to do?? …. Pavan had the solutionfor this, he carried playing cards called UNO with him though he was also newto this game, he made an attempt to get KT about the game… believe it or notfor next 5 days UNO became addiction to us…

We called our day by having dinner in the train.

21^st Dec2011 – Evening Safari

The train reached Chandrapur at 8.00Am. Shalik our good old friend who is a govt. school teacher and a wildlife enthusiast andphotographer had arranged our pick-up from Chandrapur to Tadoba. We missed ourfirst safari due to late arrival to TATR. Checked-in to resort Saras which islocated just out skirt of moharli, relaxed for some time.

A jeep was dedicated to us for the next 2 days.At 2.00Pm the forest gates were opened for safari, we all were thrilled to beon the game road. Neelkanth was our guide for next 5 safaris. I will take fewlines to introduce Neelkanth; He is one guide with very good knowledge onwildlife and tracking of tigers and other mammals. He was a dedicated guide forNGC filming “Secrets of wild India” which will be on air in mid 2012 at TATR.

The safari yielded in sighting of birds likeGrey Headed Fish Eagle, Brown Fish Owl, Jungle Owlet, Plum headed parakeets,Drongos, Bush chats, Bea eaters, Munia, Yellow footed green pigeons and withfew mammal sightings of sambar deer, spotted deers, Nilgai. We called our daywith nice dinner at Saras resort.

22^nd Dec2011 “D-Day” – Morning Safari

The safari started at 6.30 Am and it was chillingoutside. Few minutes drive we spotted White Eye Honey Buzzard which flew andperched on top of the tree. The light was very dim and could not photograph it.Neelkant wanted to visit “Koshe kana” range. Other jeeps that entered alongwith us took different routes like telia, katezari, kolsa ranges.

The game road was silent and exciting; all of uswere keen on observing any movement of animals or birds which took flight.Neelkant observed the fresh pug marks on the track, he told us that a femaletigress has walked on the track, we almost tracked the pug marks for more thana km.

Suddenly Karthik shouted “TIGER!! TIGER” seeing on left handside. The first glimpse of tigress was a treat for all of us. the tigress wentinto nearby thickets on spotting us. Neelkant advised us to maintain pin-dropsilence as it would come out of the bush after some time. It was hardly 5 minsof silence and patience, TIGER came out of the bush and started walking towardsus on the jeep track. Luckily no other vehicles were lined up to see the beautyof koshe kana range. Clicked!! Clicked!! Clicked that is all we did. We watchedthe TIGER for more than 15 mins on the track walking towards us, and we were retracingour route to give enough space for the tigress. it was our day and you can say a perfect datewith tigress…

First glimpse of tigress rushing inside the bush...

Stopped our jeep for 15 mins in anticipatingwhether tigress would return back, but it dint turn up. The body & soul wasfilled with joy never expected a tiger would walk towards us with in such closeproximity.

We moved on further, and again Neelkant observedthe new pug marks on the same track after 2km of sighting the tigress, thistime it was a male tiger. Hearing this from Neelkant it was unmatchable blissto see a male tiger.

Neelkant shouted “TIGER!! TIGER” simultaneouslypavan too joined the voice, he saw huge creature sitting beside the jeep trackfrom binoculars. It took 10 secs to spot where the tiger was sitting. AHH rightthere…

First glimpse of a KING...

I could not believe my eyes, as I am seeing 2 tigers back toback in less than 30 mins of time on the same jeep track. It got upmajestically and went inside the bush, this time too Neelkant suggested us tobe silent and we moved back our jeep 300 mtrs away.

Pheww!! TIGER came outside the bush and stared at usfor more than a min. It was huge male tiger; I never dreamt in my life I wouldsight such a huge male tiger. The luck poured on us; it emerged on the trackand started walking towards us. May be I can’t narrate more on how we felt; oneshould feel it.

Thrice it went into bush after coming nearer toour jeep and again we took back the jeep away for 100-200 mtrs and within 5mins tiger would peep out and come to track. This happened three times and Idon’t think we should expect anything more. TATR trip was fruitful kudos toNeelkant and cheers to team.

Finally 3 other jeeps came behind us and thistime TIGER went into bush and dint turn up after a long wait of 1 hour. Wemoved forward with contented smile on each of us.

22^nd Dec2011 “D-Day” – Evening Safari

The morning energizer – TIGER sighting was fresh in our mindevening safari commenced at 2.30Pm, it was scorching outside, meanwhileNeelkant decided to move towards “Kate Zari” zone as there was a tigress with 4cubs and if we were lucky we could sight the cubs too. Slowly we moved on theroad observing both sides… hmmm no signs or movement of animals or birds, wereached Kate Zari range at 3.30Pm also we found the pug marks on the track,again everyone of our expectation of sighting TIGER was in full swing. Butevery day is not a Sunday… we spotted chitals and sambar deers in abundant.

Neelkant spotted “Lesser Adjutant Stork” whichis a migratory bird and vulnerable according to IUCN.

The eco system is balanced perfectly withmixture of chitals, langurs, lapwings and storks and many more animals in onesingle waterhole and grasslands.

The much waited tigress and its cubs dint turnup after waiting for long hours. We returned to moharli as it was time toleave.

After dinner at saras we all sat playing UNO cards for 2hours and went for a nap.

23^rd Dec2011 – Morning Safari

It was chilly morning drive inside the game root,Neelkant insisted to drive along koshe kana range once again, but we did notfind any pug marks on the jeep track nor could we track the tiger in any form.

Further on we reached Telia range; this was thewaterhole where I sighted tiger for the first time in TATR in 2009. Rest otherswere shocked to see the grasslands and serene beauty of TATR.

We stopped at telia for 10 mins and then drovetowards pandra pavani, already 2 vehicles were lined up near waterhole they saw2 tigers crossing the pandra pavani few mins back this was our first miss callof the day. Team dint move any further anticipating any movements. Time was slippingby we had to reach mohrali gate by 10.30.

Returning from safari we shared our experiences havingpoha[Avalaki] as breakfast at saras resort. We had shifted our stay from sarasto MTDC.

Time was 1.00Pm when we settle down at MTDC andstarted playing UNO till our jeep arrived.

23^rd Dec2011 – Evening Safari

The evening safari started at 2.00Pm. The planincluded a slow drive towards telia, visit jamon jhura, wait till 4.30Pm andthen again move on to telia.

We sighted sambars, chitals, brown shrike,mag-pie robin, ashy swallow, lapwings, rose-ringed parakeets, white eye honeybuzzard, and jungle wabblers.

24^th Dec2011 – Morning Safari

Our last day at TATR, we had 2 more safaris andopportunity to sight wildlife. Morning cold had made us numb but it was thelast chance to experience the amazing forest drive in the chilled weather. Asplanned, we decided to visit Vasanth Bandara range, drove along koshe kana.

Compared to other ranges, vasanth bandara is very calm withlush greenery. It has lot of birds to watch and photograph. On the move we justmissed a drama which unfolded in front of us, it all happened in seconds and wewere not able to capture the drama.

Time elapsed slowed as we drove through thejungle hoping for any movement. A sudden rustle of leaves drew our attentionand we stopped the jeep. We witnessed the escape of a monitor lizard from theclaws of death. A brown fish owl was denied of its prey.

The safari ended up in sighting sambars, lesseradjutant stork, chitals, and brown fish owl.

24^th Dec2011 – Evening Safari – Missed Call drive.

It was our final safari; I would say it was a misscall evening, where we missed seeing 2 tigers and 1 leopard. Firstly we went topandra pavani the time was 3.pm and RRU [Rapid Response Unit] patrolling team spotteda tiger on the same trail that we had just passed. This was our first missedcall.

Further we moved on the track suddenly 2 wilddogs came into sight, it is the only animal which I have not missed in all mywildlife odysseys till date.

Forest itself is a treasure of surprises, wewere following the wild dogs on the jeep track for more than 20 mins, andsuddenly we encountered huge sambar deer on the jeep track. Prey and predatoron the same frame, can’t believe it. Sambar became very alert and stamped thefoot hard to ground when 2 wild dogs approached it. It was on high alert. Itstared 2 wild dogs in fear, but wild dogs moved on silently.

First time in my experience I have encounteredprey and predator in single frame. It was mesmerizing scene to all of us.

Time was 4.30Pm when we planned to visit teliain the evening, on the jeep track while returning a group of chitals were onhigh alert starring in a particular direction. I insisted to stop the vehiclefor some time and observe, but Neelkant told it might be a false alarm and wemoved without stopping.

When we approached the road we spotted a Jungle cat.

Stopped for sometime and clicked few photos, itwas a record shot to me. Then came the jeep which was behind us and showed usthe photo of tiger which crossed when the deers where on high alert. Oh manthis was our second missed call.

Had only few minutes in our pocket and Neelkantplanned for jamun jhura, while travelling suddenly Neelkant stopped the jeepand told driver to take back. That is when we saw a sloth bear rushing insidethe bush. It proved once again Neelkant is master tracker.

Time was 5.10Pm when we approached jamun jhurawaterhole, driving along the waterhole we heard the alarm calls of langurs andchitals. Neelkant suggested to stop the jeep and wait for some time, quickly avehicle in front of us moved and even we too moved slowly, we could onlywitness something moving very fast in front of us. Not realizing what it was wecontinued to look in the direction of the alarm calls. Guide who was sitting inthe jeep in front of us told it was leopard. We noticed a langur lying dead on theground; a fresh kill was made by the leopard. A third and final missed call ofthe evening.

To our fate train was delayed by 7 hours from the time ofdeparture!!!

Hats of to TATR!! For the surprises it offered.


Team-WildlifeOdyssey[L-Pavan,Ganesh,Sindhu,Veena,Amit,Karthik,Neelkant]

More pics on : Wildlife Odyssey

Birds spotted at TATR:
1. Indian Roller
2. Lapwing
3. Purple sunbird
4. Brown fish owl
5. Oriental Honey Buzzard
6. Grey headed fish eagle
7. Oriental mag-pie robin
8. Grey wagtail
9. Jungle Peafowl
10. Rose-ringed parakeet
11. Plum headed parakeet
12. White throated king fisher
13. Common kingfisher
14. Pied king fisher
15. Indian Pond Heron
16. Little Cormorants
17. Open Billed Stork
18. Lesser Adjutan Stork
19. Hoope
20. Jungle Babblers
21. Lesser flameback woodpecker
22. Scaly Breasted Munia
23. Yellow footed green pigeon
24. White Ibis
25. Spotted Dove
26. Darter
27. Drongo
28. Racket tailed drongo
29. Rufous tree pie
30. House crow
31. Jungle crow
32. Jungle Mynah
33. Green Bee Eater
34. Brahminy kite
35. Crested serpant Eagle
36. Red vented Bulbul
37. Red whiskered Bulbul
38. Large Brown Shrike
39. Barn owl

Mammals spotted at TATR:

1. Common Langurs

2. Spoteed Deers
3. Sambar Deers
4. Jungle cat
5. Nilgai / Blue bul
6. Crocodile
7. Wilddogs
8. Ruddy Mangoose
9. Tiger
10. Sloth Bear
11. Barking Deer
12. Wild Boar
13. Black napped hare

Mystical Morning – Birding at Hessarghatta…

2011-12-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

Friday fever was on; due to work schedule I wasbusy for almost 2 months and could not go out for birding nor wildlifeodysseys… On Saturday [17.12.11] Santosh planned for an early morning birdingat Hessarghatta. Without thinking further I nodded my head with acceptance asit was my pleasure accompanying him.

I woke up early morning at 4.00Am and peeped outof the window, it was freezing cold outside. Passion will not let you down fromcold, heat or rains. We had decided to meet at yeshwanthpur.

Our morning birding to Hessarghatta took off inSantosh’s alto; we reached by 6.30Am the place was filled with mist already 4-5vehicles were lined up for birding. Hessarghatta was a surprise to me; it gavethe feel of TATR grasslands.

Till mist cleared the camera had no work to do.It was time to meet up new friends with similar kind of interest. Indeedmeeting Dayanand, Rakesh Gupta, Sachin, K V Bhat and learning from them aboutbirds of Hessarghatta and others was truly a valuable knowledge transfer forthose who are a new to birding.

The engulfed mist cleared at 9.00Am, theHessarghatta grasslands of Bangaloreturned out to be spectacular.

We approached the track and observed for birdlife. Hessarghatta is famous for Raptors of many kinds and I was filled withjoy to photograph one. Santosh spotted a Euresian Marsh Harrier near by weapproached silently and parked our car. The patience is the virtue forphotography in 15 mins a Marsh Harrier sat on an ant hill beside the track. After capturing few pics we moved on further.These Marsh Harriers are migratory birds which migrate from western Eurasia and adjacent Africa.

Though Drongos, Ashy drongos, white belieddrongs were common here, to justify the bird I had to click few pics and movefurther.

Further observation of birds in binoculars wespotted “Siberian Stone Chat” all these birds was new to me and I was very excitedin clicking the pics. Indian Roller a state bird of Karnataka which is akaBlue-Jay was also spotted with its display of vibrant colors.

Parked our car under the tree and had some snacks relaxedfor some time, this time it was kestrels which drew the attention; we trackedthe bird and finally clicked when it sat on the ant hill.

Time ticked 12.30 when sun banged on our head with scorchingheat. We decided to wrap up the birding activity.The day was fruitful as my knowledge bank on birds wasupdated.

For more pics : Wildlife Odyssey

Driving direction:

Yeshwanthpurà Right on 8^th mileà Reach Hessarghatta à Right towards the board pointing to Adarsha FilmInstituteà 10mins drive from there you reach Hessarghatta.

Bird List:

1. AshyDrongo

2. White-beliedDrongo

3. IndianRoller

4. Pipit

5. Siberianstone chat

6. Buschat

7. IndianRobin

8. EuresianMarsh Harrier

9. Kestral

10. Black Kite

11. Bush Lark

12. Bay backedshrike

Muthodi – Tranquility in nature…

2011-09-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

The treat was pending from my better-half; as an alternative for a dinner we planned an outing which should be truly contented. Muthodi was finalized after debating on places.

My friend who is working as a forest guard informed me about the climate and accommodation details. Accordingly I booked the tent accommodation at muthodi nature camp.

About Muthodi:

Muthodi is serene, picturesque and beautiful moist deciduous forest patch with lush green vegetation of Bamboo and tree species all round the year and it is situated in the valley of Jagara.

We took BangaloreàTumkuràArasikereàKaduràChikkamagaluràMuthodi route it is approximately 270Km one way journey. Road is good until kadur; the worst road starts when we take a deviation to chikkamagalur an horrible road of 45km is what we drove in our wagon-R which was transformed from 2x2 to 4x4, luckily my car dint break down.

Reached Chikkamagalur DFO office to collect the accommodation letter at 9.30Am, few minutes later we were on muthodi road. Muthodi is around 30km from chikkamagalur and enclosed with nature’s green carpet of Western Ghats.

It was around 11.30Am when we finally parked our car at muthodi nature camp. Walked towards the office and submitted the receipt for accommodation. I was curious to see how the tent accommodation would be. Believe it or not it is in such a place one will love to be there for years…

To portray the ambience, in front of the tent the “Somavahini” river runs in peace, dense canopy will not let you see the sun rays falling on ground, no electricity; this is the true feel of being in the jungle, what else do you need??

We had 2 full days in our pocket to explore muthodi, after having simple vegetarian lunch cooked and served by forest personnel; we went for a stroll around the nature camp for birding activity. Surprisingly not many birds could be spotted may be the season we had been was not favorable for wildlife sightings…

We were happy in sighting drongos, Malabar giant squirrels, flame-back wood pecker and few more. Returned to camp and settled down with hot cup of coffee in the balcony and enjoying the nature.

Called for the day after dinner.

On 24^th the plan was fixed to visit these places and route we took is:

SittallayanagiriàMullayanagirià DattaPeetaàGaliKereàKemmangundiàChikkamagalur.

The day turned out to be sunny on 24^th, we started at 8.00Am from muthodi to visit the beauty of Western Ghats. The route we took from Muthodi to reach Mullayangiri was around 50km and the roads are horrible because of monsoon. Whole stretch till we reach base of mullayanagiri was terrible. I should adore my Wagon-R which took us all the way to the peak without any difficulty.

Luck favored us, on the main road few km’s from nature camp we sighted 6 wild dogs patrolling its way. It was not camera friendly and deviated from the road into bushes. I could mange a record shot of the wild dog. We were indeed very happy to sight one of the predators of muthodi in dense jungle.

Time ticked 11.00Am when we reached mullayanagiri, though the roads are horrible drive from muthodi to mullayanagiri is marvelous, nature treat visualizing the Western Ghats in monsoon. It is god’s creation a green carpet all around the way. No words to narrate its beauty one should see it.

After spending some time at mullayanagiri we started to dattapeeta which is around 20km from mullayanagiri. Due to some controversial issues between government and religious communities they have closed dattapeeta. From dattapeeta we headed to galikere another picturesque place.

Pit-stop at hotel soundarya for lunch, a decent hotel in its standard had sumptuous lunch and started back to muthodi by 4.00Pm. It was 5.30Pm in the evening when we finally parked our car at muthodi nature camp.

The body & soul was contented to see such beautiful and peaceful place around muthodi and also wild dog sightings was a cream to us.

Next day we had to start back to Bangalore, and a drive of 5hours journey was imminent. So went for the bed at early hours after having light snacks.

Check-out muthodi at 8.00Am and started to Bangalore, this time we took hasan route to reach Bangalore. I say national highway is excellent and you will never feel tiredness though you have driven for 5 long hours.

Muthodi-->Chikkamagalur-->Belur-->Hallebidu-->Hasan-->Bellur cross-->Kunigal-->Magadi-->Bangalore.

Reached home @ 2pm and thanked my wife for a wonderful treat!! J recollecting the memories just relaxed ...

Soaring wings of Ramanagara – Long Billed Vulture…

2011-08-08T22:11:00.000-07:00

Rain lashed the city through out the night; our birding activity planned early morning was sinking. The long lasting dream of photographing long-billed vultures had not yet materialized. Keeping our fingers crossed we hoped the rains would take shelter elsewhere.

And surely enough, next morning there was no sight of rain promising the very climate we had hoped for. Wildlife odyssey started towards Ramanagara at 5.30 am.

An hour’s drive from home took us to Ramanagara. After scanning the area for the perfect habitat of LBV’s we started heading towards the identified cliff. A resident of the place helped us in spotting the LBV’s. We approached the cliff to get a better view of the critically endangered bird.

Courtesy: Wikipedia The Indian vulture scientifically entitled as Gyps Insicus is an old world vulture and is closely related to the Griffon. It breeds mainly on crags of central and peninsula India. LBV’s are scavengers feeding mostly on carcasses of dead animals. They often move in flocks.
The long-billed vulture is a typical vulture with a bald head, very broad wings and short tail feathers. It usually weighs between 5.5 – 6.3kg and measuring 80 – 100 cm long and 205-229cm across the wings.

Just below the cliff we settled down on a huge boulder making sure the birds would not be disturbed by our presence. We could spot 6-7 vultures resting on the rock waiting for the sun to pop out of the clouds to start its activity.

As the sun appeared beyond the clouds, the vultures stirred marking the start of the day…. Few vultures took flight around the cliff and returned after few minutes scanning the area for their prey. The vultures paired into two’s and occupied different locations on the cliff. We were lucky in witnessing the courtship of the LBV’s

The day turned out to be sunny and the vultures scurried away from the cliff. We had already spent 2 hours observing the habitat and the activity of the LBV’s. In anticipation that the birds would return to its habitat we spent another 45 mins. The time was 9.30 am when we finally decided to wrap up from the place.

Our next destination on our list was to visit Sri Rama temple situated 1 km from the foothill.

The temple is situated in the serene calmness of Mother Nature. One should take the flight of ~400 steps to reach the temple premises.

After visiting the temple, we started our way back home. En route we stopped at the famous shiva’s thatte idli at Bidadi, had a stomach filling breakfast and returned home with contended feeling. What a way to start a weekend!!!!!!!!!!

Long Live - LONG BILLED VULTURES!!!

Rendezvous with prime predator of K Gudi.....

2011-06-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

After long vacation at Singapore, I was back to Bangalore. Had 4 more days leave in my pocket. Quickly planned to Kgudi this is my favorite wildlife destination. Called up my friend and booked the room and enquired about the climate and wildlife sightings.

Same day we had to shop for eatables, rushed to VB Bakery and took KBC, Fruit Cake, mixtures for the outing.

29th June 2011 @ 4.30 AM our WildlifeOdyssey started towards BR Hills, Sindhu prepared a crude breakfast for the journey, finally we hit the Mysore road a long 3 and half hours journey took us to BR Hills forest check post at 7.45AM. Climate was awesome the day turned out to be cloudy and chilled weather welcomed us. Mind was ringing a bell "K Gudi never disappoints me". The stretch from BR Hills check post to hotel was very calm yet filled with wilderness we were lucky to sight peacocks, hoopoe and kingfishers.

We checked in to hotel by 9.30 AM after having break fast at Giri Darshini.
Vasanna[Giri Darshini owner] took me to his newly constructed cottages and walked us through the property asked my opinion on the amenities in the cottage. It is a descent cottage / rooms available at BR Hills which is affordable to CM [common man].

By 12.00PM, Prashanth came to our room and we indulged in casual discussion regarding sightings, wildlife experiences. I also expressed my interest in distributing the used and neat attires to tribal people which we brought from Bangalore. The clothes distribution was scheduled the next day at 2.00PM after talking to the tribal head. You know joy of giving has to be experienced….

Hmmmm….time ticked 1.30PM when we thought of going for a drive till Kgudi and come back. The most anticipated game road welcomes us with a splendid sighting of Crested Serpent Eagle aka CSE perched on the tree.

It was half the way to K Gudi when a jeep overtook us and informed us about a Tiger sighting near a bridge. We were excited to hear this and went back to toss our luck but it had passed. Then we came to know the person who gave us the information was a new JLR manager Mr. Sunil a mysorian…

Very nice chap with lot of enthuse towards wildlife. He has done PhD on monkeys and exchanged much information with us. Offered a cup of coffee and we had a long casual chat with him. The time was around 4.30PM in the evening when we decided to leave to BR Hills.

Our luck was limited with a sambar deer which posed us for photo session. Reached back hotel by 6.00PM; in the chilled weather a cup of hot coffee was very much in need.

We called our day with a neat dinner at Giri Dharshini hotel. It was decided to wake up early morning and go for a drive to Kgudi.

Alarm kicked us out of the bed at 5.00 AM swiftly finished our morning routines and stared towards K Gudi. It was a scenic treat to the eyes, with lush green around us and bird chirps was a musical feast to ears.

After many years in BR Hills range I was lucky to sight MGS – Malabar Giant Squirrel on the perch of the tree.

It was 7.30AM when we reached Kgudi, had a nice coffee time with Sunil JLR manager for more than 2 hours regarding wildlife conservation activities. Started back to hotel at 9.45AM a slow drive from Kgudi to BRHills took more than an hour to reach the hotel. Settled down at hotel had unperturbed sleep for sometime. It was the last day to test out our luck. Planned a drive to Budhipadaga in the evening.

On our way to Budhipadaga we sighted a huge guar beside the road grazing peacefully it was huge solitary male which showcased all its muscular power. The Hunk on its back made all of us to stare with incredulous looks. It walked with us for more than 10 mins along the side path.

We were running out of fuel and made our way to Chamarajanagar to fuel. The guard at the check post reminded us about the closing the gate at 6.00PM sharp. We had left with short time to make it.

Quickly we reached Chamarajanagar at 5.15PM fueled the car and started back to BRHills. Before 6.00PM we were inside the check post and this was the time I was waiting for as it was almost dusk and time for predators to be active.

In anticipation of any such predator sighting we reached Kgudi without stopping much at Chamarajanagar range. We had to stop at least 3 times when we sighted Langurs, Peacocks and Lapwing which rushed inside bushes as we approached them.

The time was exactly 6.15PM when we reached K Gudi, guard reminded us not to stop on the way and reach BRHills as it is not allowed to travel after 6.00PM.

I was thrilled to start my real WildlifeOdyssey at twilight a perfect time for wildlife sightings and again it’s a sheer luck.

It dint take much time to prove this when we sighted Brown Fish owl with its snack in the beak on the branch of a tree. It dint give me much time to click, I could only manage a record shot of it.

An alarm call started after Basavana Kadu range, we stopped our vehicle for a min and silently tracked from where the call is coming. It was for sure a predator is on move.

The call was continuous for more than 5 mins, I insisted Prashanth to stop the vehicle at least for 5 mins and then move on. The pot of luck poured down on us, when I stopped my car and turned to my right, I couldn’t believe my eyes; what am I seeing??

Male leopard on a tree in peaceful mood. Phew it was feast to our eyes. I clicked clicked clicked that’s what I could do; we spent more than an hour with him. But time was limited already it was 7.15PM and had to reach BR Hills. Body & Soul was contented with an awesome sighting of the leopard.

Again I say “K GUDI NEVER DISSAPOINTS ME”…..

Kabbinakad – Unwind yourself in the serene lap of nature…

2011-06-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

A humpy bumpy road, park your 2x2 vehicle and load all your backpack into 4x4 jeep… once the jeep starts it is a rollercoaster, lush green around you sometimes drizzle sometimes downpour….bird chirping a musical feast to ears….

Give a break to your chaotic lifestyle and start your WildlifeOdyssey to Kabbinakad –

Honey valley resort. The Honey Valley Estate is situated in the Western Ghats in the heart of Madikere about 250 kilometers from Bangalore.

Foursome me, sindhu and karthik, veena planned a stay at honey valley resort on 11^th June 2011. We started our journey on 10^th June 2011 at 11.00PM from jayanagar. It was already drizzling what a way to start… drove 7 long hours and reached Kabbinakad in the early morning by 7.30AM. Monsoon had made its way to Western Ghats, whole madikeri was wet and fog all over the town.

I called up Suresh proprietor of the honey valley to enquire how to reach the cottage. He informed us to park the vehicle near BSNL tower and wait for few minutes so that we will be escorted.

The drive from base to home stay took 20 mins a remarkable journey totally different experience sitting in a 4x4 vehicle, a warm welcome by property owner Mr.Suresh and family gave us feeling of being at home though we were out of the home.

The rain had given a break, mist was wrapping slowly had nice break fast and had few minutes of casual chat with Suresh. It is documented that until 1994, the estate was the largest producer of honey in India (approximately 6.5 tonnes per year), but disappearance of the native bees stopped production. And also one should know it is the first home stay concept started in Coorg district.

The tallest peak Tadiandamol is nearby and we decided to trek, it was raining continuously we had expected the monsoon and were prepared for the trek. We approached a narrow path which will take us to Tadiandamol base.

Full of leeches, blood suckers were waiting for an opportunity to suck where ever you stop and relax for few minutes it would have made an attack and silently started sucking the blood. We had carried perfume, lime, tobacco to get rid of leeches.

We could not trek further as it was raining cats & dogs covered with fog, in span of one hour dark clouds engulfed the mountains. There was zero visibility to trek further.

Decided to trek back to home stay with great difficulty … managing leech byte… crossing streams….reached the home stay by 4.00Pm. The whole exploration was just awesome…

Totally drenched in the rain, changed the clothes hot coffee was waiting for us in the kitchen. Already few other families had arrived to home stay every one were sipping the coffee and busy chatting among themselves.

Called our day with traditional supper in chilled and drizzling weather…

The previous day exhaustion made us wake up at 8.00AM in the morning took bath and finished our break fast. After settling the bills jeep dropped us back to the BSNL tower where our car was parked by 9.30AM.

We started to Nalaknad palace which is 4km from Kabbinakad. Palace is neatly maintained though no body was there to explain about the history of the palace we walked around the palace for some time and started to bagamandala and talakauvery.

Talakauvery is an origination point of Cauvery river a sacred place which not missed when ever we visit madikeri. The fog covered entire temple which made us experience the serenity and divine feeling.

Made our way back to Bangalore reached respective residence in the evening by 7.00PM, the journey was tiresome took some rest…. Mind was still at Kabbinakad body was on bed with soothing quilt on it.

Follow me to reach Kabbinakad - Honey Valley home stay.

1. Travel to Srirangapatna

2. Take a right turn near srirangapatna and keep going. This will join the Mysore-Hunsur road.

3. Travel till Hunsur which is about 46 kms from Mysore

4. About 5 kms after Hunsur, you will reach a spot where the road forks into two.

5. Take the road that goes to the left. This is the road that takes you to Virajpet, which is about 58kms from this spot

6. Once you reach Virajpet, take the road that goes to Madikeri. Travel for about 4kms till you see an old bridge.

7. Immediately after the bridge, you will find a road going to the left. which takes you to “Kabbinakad Junction”.

8. You reach Honey Valley Estate..

On the prowl....

2011-02-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm Life has been changed a lot, new life……

It was Sindhu’s birthday on Feb 26^th, me and sindhu decided to celebrate her birthday by distributing books and stationeries at Kgudi tribal school. The plan was concrete both of us in full enthuse purchased books and planned stationaries. The gift packs were ready on Feb 25^th; she was waiting for the “D-day” to come. Previous night was full of surprises… Lots of gifts … lots of messages popped up saying “Happy B’Day”... lots of call to attend and gratitude.

The plan was to leave Bangalore by 5.00Am and come back the same night, I was at Sindhu’s home at 5.30 Am everyone heartily welcomed me…. After having a hot sip of coffee, dumped all the packed gifts into car.

I called up Karthik to know whether he is ready, reached karthik’s place by 6.15 am and picked up karthik and veena. Finally our wildlife odyssey to BRHills started…

First pit-stop was at Bidadi 45km from Bangalore, we reached famous “ShashiPrabha” hotel for “Thatte Idli”, had nice thatte idli with vada and were back on the track. We had to pick up prashanth at Kollegala he is the person who arranged most of the arrangements by coordinating with school head master.

The time was 10.30 when we reached BR-Hills check post, I handed over driving to sindhu and took my camera and sat besides her watching each nook of the forest. This was her first time experience driving in the forest hence she was bit tensed… we spotted 2 peacocks at its territory but could not photograph it.

On the move from BR-Hills to Kgudi, this is the road where I have sighted most of the wildlife, as it was Saturday already BR-Hills were crowded I had no hopes of sighting either. We saw few tortoises piled up on the small rock at the waterhole on the way to Kgudi.

The drive took 45 mins to reach Kgudi, the place was new to sindhu and she liked the location and felt very happy, parked our car and approached the school in charge. Introduced ourselves and expressed our service intended. The staff liked the noble thought and appreciated the team.

Kids were very curious to see us with gift packs indeed they were very happy, Staff introduced us to kids and told them why we are here?

40 heart-full voices wished “Happy Birthday Miss” to sindhu…. She had very blissful moment in fact.

Individual kid was gifted with the books and stationaries by sindhu herself, they were so curious to see what the gift is... many torn the pack peeped inside it and happily took out the books…

Time ticked 1.00Pm and with heavy hearts we all started back to BR-Hills, the memories and joy of giving was on our faces and mind. Another time we were on the game road hoping for luck… half the way we crossed all of a sudden karthik sighted “Wild Dog” aka “Dhole” one of the predator at Kgudi.

One Dhole was sitting beside the road it was in the offing to cross the road, but seeing our car it went into bushes there was another Dhole watching from the bush. Everyone of us were very excited to see the predator of Kgudi and in reality sindhu had a great day in watching the predators in wild for the first time in her life time, I can say Kgudi trip was her introduction trip to wildlife odyssey…

Then we decided to leave some space to dholes to come on road, so we went ahead and took U turn and came near the place were we sighted.

We stopped the car and sat silently observing two wild dogs; it was an incredible moment for more than 40 mins. Finally two wild dogs came on road and started walking on the road, after few meters it took its path and disappeared into bushes.

K Gudi has never disappointed me…..

It again reminded me... it is wilder….

Wildlife Sightings:

1. 3Peacocks

2. 1 Kingfisher

3. 7-8 tortoises

4. 2 Barking deers

5. 3 Wild Dogs

Ranganathittu - Bird paradise of Karnataka…

2011-01-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

Ranganathittu is a small island near Srirangapatanna, is on the river Cauvery, about 13 km away from Mysore a heaven to migratory birds. Few birds like spoon bills, terns, storks migrate from Siberia and other parts of country all the to INDIA-->KARNATAKA-->MYSORE-->RANGANATHITTU without any GPS. Since many years it is a home to many birds and reptiles of such kind.

Mysore itself is a wildlife hub which is accessible to Ranganathittu, Nagarahole, Bandipur, BR Hills and Madhumalai etc.

One fine day we planned to visit the place, Shivaram legendary Kannada actor is my close wildlife photography friend also joined our team.

Jan 31st 2011 at 5.00AM I drove to Amruth’s place picked him and reached Shivaram’s residence at 6.00AM. Our WildlifeOdyssey to Ranganathittu started with pleasant smile on all our faces…

The first pit stop was at Bidadi “Shiva Prabha thatte idli” hotel had heavy break fast and moved on our journey. It was 8.30AM when we reached Ranganathittu; climate was cloudy and pleasant with good amount of light with respect to photography.As soon as we parked our vehicle and walked towards the ticket counter, forest guards and publics surrounded us “hey Shivaram Shivaram” we were proud to be with the celebrity.

The birds nest here for a period of 3-4 months and go back to their countries. Most of the birds stay on tiny islands within the river, which can be approach by boat. A silent move toward the base of the tree will give an opportunity to photograph these birds.

We spent more than an hour in photographing Storks, Spoon bills, Kingfishers, River terns, Egrets and even muggers which were basking on the rock.

Time was 12.00PM we had sumptuous lunch at adigas and returned to Bangalore by 3.00Pm.

More pics can be found @: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildlifeodyssey/sets/72157623186524481/

Full-Moon outing at Parambikulam…

2011-01-29T22:43:00.000-08:00

The day was perfect in planning to Parambikulam tiger reserve, Our long wish of staying at Thellikal forest guest house for full moon day was almost got materialized.

We distributed work among ourselves; Karthik took ownership of booking Thenikal FRH and Sambar machan for 4 nights and 5 days. I was occupied in organizing the trip. Finally everything was set, got accommodation and the team to our WildlifeOdyssey was ready.

The team comprised of [Amit-me, Karthik, Ganesh, Pavan, Varun]. Before I put across our traveling experience, I would let you know little bit of Parambikulam forest….

About Parambikulam :
Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is the most protected ecological piece of Anamalai Hills of Western Ghats and is situated in the Palakkad district, 135 km away from Palakkad town. This 285 sq.KM of thickly forested area, with Bamboo, Sandal wood, rose wood and teak wood, is one of the Premier Wildlife Reserves in Kerala. The sanctuary is blessed with several rivers such as Parambikulam, Sholayar and is very much Hilly and rocky. The sanctuary also includes some lush green grassland.

The Parambikulam Dam and the area around it located in the Parambikulam sanctuary offers a wide variety of options such as Dam visits, lake cruises and Jungle safaris.. Animals such as crocodiles, otters, Elephants, Wild boars and deers can also be spotted around the area.

Thoonakkadavu is the beautiful lake formed by the Parambikulam dam. The whole sight of the lake with its crystal clear water surrounded by lush green forests with otters playing along the banks will be very soothing. In fact it would be so beautiful and inviting that you may think about going for a swim in it. But it is inhibited with a number of crocodiles who quite surely will not be playing the role of friendly hosts if you decided to take the dip. But don’t lose heart for you can explore the beauty of the lake by taking boat cruises. A jungle Jeep must be hired in order to access this remotely situated lake.

We got bookings from 17th Jan to 20th Jan 2011, previous night of traveling we purchased eatables, groceries, toiletries and packed thoroughly. On 16th Jan we started our journey towards Parambikulam at 3.30Pm in the noon. The route we took is HossurKrishnagiriSalemThirupurPollachiVallapariParambikulam. The roads are very neat and driver friendly one way journey is 600Km. First pit stop was at Krishnagiri for hot sip of coffee and snacks…

Everyone was energized with midday meal, and started chatting, gossips went on and on… pulling each others leg. Discussing wildlife experiences and adventure stories among us, it was almost 7.30Pm when we wanted a break!!! Chai Chai Chai!!!!

Arrived at Salem, drove straight to Sarvana Bhavan after finishing sumptuous dinner we reached Thirupur at 10.00Pm. Our first halt was at Thirupur, without any delay we fell asleep.

Day#1 – 17th Jan 2011

Early next morning after finishing breakfast, we purchased few farm fresh veggies and started to Parambikulam. Covering a long stretch of 140km, after 4 hours we reached Parambikulam information centre. En route to Parambikulam we witnessed the serene beauty of Vallaparai – Top slip. Thellikal forest rest house is not accessible by vehicle. After trekking for about 8 km from Thoonakkadavu dam, where we had parked our car, we reached forest rest house. A guard and a cook accompanied us to the rest house.

It took 2 hours to reach forest rest house, passing through the dense forest was an amazing experience time was 12.30Pm when we finally settle down at Thellikal forest bungalow, the ambience of the location is mesmerizing in front of the forest rest house a water hole is located birds chirping is a musical orchestra through out the stay… one more fact is only 5 members are allowed inside the pristine forest of Parambikulam so we were the only troupe inside the whole forest which made us more happy without seeing un wanted crowds and nuisance they usually create.

Most of them settled down on the bench laid outside the rest house, whilst I and karthik took a walk till the waterhole to investigate for any pug marks or hoof marks. We did not find any rather we spotted a “Barred Owlet” perched on a trunk of a tree, it was so camouflaged we took 5 mins to spot it and click.

Cook prepared simple vegetarian sambar and rice for us. We were tired, had good lunch and went for a nap. We woke up at 5.00 in the evening pleasant weather and chilled breeze tickled our mind for a walk in the jungle. All of us with guard set foot on a stroll in anticipation of wildlife sightings. It was a full moon day and one has to enjoy the full moon night in the jungle it can’t be explained it has to be felt. I got an opportunity to click a full moon in the dusk. Very soon the sun sank and moon was bright whole forest in matter of minutes changed its beauty and became alive.

After chatting and gossiping for sometime we observed silence to heed to any alarm calls or trumpet. The silence in the jungle is really unlike; we can hear much different type of nocturnal bird’s call. Simple vegetarian food was served by the cook, we called for the day very soon say by 10.00Pm.

Day#2 18th Jan

We geared up for early morning stroll and walked through the jeep track for more than a kilometer, we spotted a tiger pug mark and it was fresh, 4-5 hours ago a tiger had passed the track. Enthusiastic on spotting the pug mark our focus was fixed on spotting the tiger. Failing to catch a glimpse of the big cat, we returned to our den at 10.30 am.

We had located a water hole few yards behind our base camp. Reached the waterhole by 12 noon and silently settled down to observe wildlife. Caught sight of kingfishers and butterflies of myriad colors. After few hours we returned back to our base camp to continue our wild walk on the jeep track. Called the day at 10.00Pm.

Day# 3 19th Jan

Early morning at 6.00 am we went for a stroll. We were lucky enough to sight sambar deer, cormorants and snake birds. Returned to the base camp and checked out at 9.00am. Our next stay was at “Sambar Machan” located in a different range of the forest.

The Sambar Machan is situated in the heart of the parambikulam valley. After crossing several small streams on foot we reached our destination. Our machan serves as a view point to witness the wild drama unfolding in front of us.

In few minutes we settled down and watched for birding activity around watch tower, after simple vegetarian lunch tiredness took us to a quick nap. Time ticked 5.30Pm when we woke up from bed; silently Ganesh peeped out of the window and started gazing the cheetal deer’s and sambar’s grazing in the vayal in front of our machan.

All of us waked up and sat on a bench laid down the machan for observation activities. Slowly dusk engulfed, moon light was appearing bright the feel of the forest turned out truly amazing.

Hot coffee was served by the guard; sipping the coffee we continued the observation silently. We almost sat from evening 5.30pm to midnight 1.30Am for more than 7 hours of long wildlife observation. In this time many events occurred, I will narrate in below lines.

Cheetal’s were in 20’s and peacefully grazing, almost for 3 hours we could not sight any other wildlife activity other than this. It was around 9.00Pm when alarm calls picked up

by sambar and taken by barking deer continuously. We all gripped for the moment in anticipating any cat or any drama unfolding in front of us. Suddenly a Tiger roaring was herd from valley foot hills and second roar after few minutes. May be Tiger was passing by the vayal or on prowl. The observation went on for more than 2 hours from the time tiger roared but we were not lucky to sight the big cat.

After an hour of tiger roaring, the cheetal’s again indulged in grazing activity, few sat down, few were grazing and few were just seeing our machan or may be on alert.

A weird sound came out of the bush; at first glance we thought it was a death call of cheetal or sambar. But a huge dark shadow appeared from long distance; again all of us were on toes to see what it is. Huge male guar appeared making “woof!! woof!! woof!!” sound it was a mesmerizing view in front of us, a moon light gave more splendor to the whole scene.

It was 11.00Pm when guar disappeared from our view, again we sat for some more events to occur till 1.30 Am but forest stood stand still without any more activity. We decided to wrap up as we had to be on journey for long hours next day.

At 2.00Am we all went for bed with recollecting the memories that happened few hours ago.

Day# 4 20th Jan

After tiring night and knowing it was our last day at parambikulam woke up at 8.00Am, packed our back packs and started our trek to the places where we had parked our car.

We planned to have breakfast on the way somewhere near pollachi and started the journey by saying “See you soon parambikulam”.

WildlifeOdyssey crew reached Bangalore by 7.00Pm after 9 hours long drive.

Wandering souls @ Kodachadri

2010-12-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

Conquering kodachadri was due in our list, but I don’t know why it was all the time deferred…..

The time was set to triumph over kodachadri, It was decided to leave Bangalore on Dec 17^th night. The new entries were added in the odyssey. It was Karthik’s better-half “Veena” and his friend “Kishore” who accompanied the journey.

It was decided to assemble at KSRTC bus station on Dec 17^th at 7.30Pm; the bus scheduled departure was at 8.00Pm. Hmmmmmm 4 of us [Amit,Karthik,Veena,Kishore] were very enthralled in trekking kodachadri, boarded the bus and sat in our designated seat numbers…. Now gossips began for some time and all went for a good sleep..

Dec 18^th by 8.00 am we reached Nittor, I had coordinated with my friend Lokesh who stays at Nittor and arranges accommodation and trekking. Lokesh was waiting for us at Nittor bus stand and welcomed wholeheartedly. We planned to stay at Nisargadham at Nittor, in few minutes we were dropped to Nisargadham for refreshing ourselves from tiring journey… Everything was set and all of us were in full enthuse to trek kodachadri. Lokesh dropped us at foothills of kodachadri and told us he will be waiting for us in the evening to pick us up.

I had previously trekked from Hidlumane falls as this route is very tedious for girls, this time we planned to trek on the jeep track.

Kodachadri is a mountain with dense forests in the Western Ghats. One can find kodachadri behind famous Mookambika temple in kollur. It is home to several endemic and endangered species of flora and fauna.

In full josh we started to trek, the trek length was 8km to peak including sarvagna peeta on the top of the hill. Mr. Ganesh was sent with us by lokesh as a guide. It was very new experience to veena and kishore as it was their first trek and they found some difficulty in making the way.

VB bakery Congress bun and plump cake stopped us after an hour or so. The reluctant body and soul has to keep up and push for another 3 hours. The beauty of Western Ghats dint make us exhausted, instead it was stirring us in moving further on.

Kodachadri is a home for many endangered species including flora and fauna, apart from this it also has rich manganese ore. Slowly political eyes are on it and one day we will lose all those in coming decades.

It was 1.30Pm when we reached half the way, kishore and veena where slightly exhausted but also tried to thrust themselves ahead. The lunch was arranged at Battara mane at the top so we dint carry any meals for our journey. The jeeps also reach the hill top usually charge 800 rupees for a group of 6-7 people and the drivers are very sloppy and drive very rashly.

We witnessed 2 Green Viper snakes which jeep dart them to death. Our guide narrated many incidents of similar kind. They are least bothered about protecting wildlife and conserving it. In future generation we might lose many things for the cost of carelessness and being not aware of wildlife conservation and its importance.

The time ticked 3.00pm when we finally reached kodachadri hill top. We could easily make out the joy and happiness on our faces in conquering the kodachadri. It is an awesome scenic trek one should not miss.

The lunch was ready by the time we reached Battara mane, plantain leaf was readily put on the table and mouth watering dishes were ready for serving. Had heavy lunch and relaxed for sometime say for ½ an hour or so. Then we headed towards “Sarvagna Peeta” which is around 1km from the peak.

The history says that “ShankaraCharya” did meditation at this place and called as “Sarvgna Peeta”.

Our guide hurried us in getting to sunset view point, and we descended the peak and headed towards the view point. It is a delightful experience to watch the sunset from kodachadri peak and if one is lucky and clouds show mercy on you, we can see the sun sinking down in the Arabian Sea.

The sunrise is also very enjoyable this can be viewed from “Venkatarayana Durga” another hillock behind TB. As we had no other way to stay to witness sunrise, with heavy hearts after capturing compelling sunset beauty at kodachadri we started descending.

It was 8.30 Pm when we reached the foothill; the torches shed the light on the ground and made our way easy. Though it was pitch dark the experience was awesome and memorable.

Lokesh was waiting our way at foothill where he dropped us in the morning, the body and mind wanted some long rest after a tiresome trek.

Kodachadri rocks!!

How to get there:

Distance from Bangalore: ~400Km - 8 hours

By Car: Bangalore->Shimoga->Sagara->Hosanagara->Nitoor->Kodachadri

By Bus: Bangalore -> Nitoor [RajaHamsa, SuvarnaSarige]

A day out @ MuniNagar...

2010-05-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

It poured like cats and dogs the previous night!! I thought our early morning birding to MuniNagar will not be possible. I crossed fingers praying let it rain till morning 4:00Am and give a break for our happy birding.

With the snooping mind I peeped out of the window at 4.45Am to make sure it’s not raining, yah… we were lucky enough the rain had given a break. I started my place at 5.15Am and reached chetan’s place at 5.45Am. The weather conditions were perfect for birding; I and chetan halted @SLV to pick up vinay.

Hmmmm… why to miss hot idli and vada? We had a quick breakfast and sipped a hot coffee in chilled weather and started toward MuniNagar.

MuniNagar is a small village outskirts of Bangalore. A nippy drive of 35km will take you to MuniNagar; we reached the place exactly at 7.45Am parked our vehicle nearby bus stand and started on foot towards the MuniNagar forest [Which is back forest of Bannerghatta National Park].

Near by lake fascinated with cattle egrets, cormorants and also found Indian pond heron, Pheasant-tailed jacana welcomed us…

The forest path narrowed down the feel of walking in the early morning was startling; the only sound we heard was of chirping of birds. We trekked for almost 1.5 km and took a small break in this journey we got a glimpse of red-whiskered bull bull and few larks…

The time ticked 10.00Am cloudy weather vanished and sun peeped out with harsh rays to earth. In fact it was a great day we got to see Baya weaver I never saw this before.

Finally trekking 4km we reached a waterhole and for our surprise we saw many elephant dungs on the bank. Which clearly showcased it is the elephant habitat. It was 12.30Pm and decided to return back and started towards MuniNagar bus stand where we parked our car.

More photos @ Wildlife Odyssey Photo Stream
Birding List:
1. Pheasant-Tailed Jacana
2. Rose ringed parakeet
3. Indian Pond Heron
4. Indian Silverbill
5. Peacocks
6. Cattle Egrets
7. Baya Weaver
8. Wabblers
9. Bush Lark
10. Magpie Robbin
11. Wagtail
12. Red-Whiskered Bul Bul
13. Lapwings
14. River terns
15. Shikara
16. Kites
17. Green-Bee eater
18. Black Drongo
19. Paradise Fly-Catcher
20 Black headed cuckoo
21. Indian Roller
22. Cormorants
23. Wood swallow

Birding @ Bheemeshwari

2010-04-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

The day was calm it was Saturday 10/4/10; I don’t know why mind skipped the Friday fever….

It was boring Saturday woke up at 8.00 in the morning and started reading news paper line-by-line… hmmm not interesting, Ok I had few other things to do and started chalking out things.

The day came to an end, sun started sinking with dull smile and it was time to meet guys @ adda. Around 6.30Pm chetan called me and asked “Maga night camp at Bheemeshwari and early morning birding” are u coming??

Yes, whole day was boring and why should I miss birding, it was first time visiting muthathi / bheemeshwari. Packed my camera and started to chetans place after having dinner.

The time was 10.00 Pm when I reached chetans place, and I also met new friends Sourav and Sandeep. We four of us started to muthathi at 10.30 Pm.

Bheemeshwari / Muthathi is located around 100 kms from Bangalore. We reached muthathi at 12.30Pm with torch light started searching for flat land beside the Cauvery river banks to pitch the tent.

Hmmm… tent was ready and the whole ambiance was set for a hot chatting, pulling each others leg. It was 2.00Am when we realized we should have a quick nap till 5.30Am. Alarm was set at 5.30 and all went for a sleep.

It was 5.30 Am when mobile started alarming and kicked us out from the tent. The plan was to trek till galibore camp which is around 6km from muthathi.

With full enthuse we started to walk on the banks of Cauvery river till galibore camp the trail is really startling.

Chetan took out his binocular and located White-Bellied Drongo on the branch of the tree.

Further trail was mesmerizing with lots of bird activities around. We could spot Blue-faced Malkoha and CSE.

It was time to pack our things and get back to Bangalore; on final exit we spotted a south Indian rock agama.

Birding @ Bheemeshwari was wonderful and planning to visit soon after post monsoon.

List of Birds spotted:

Blue-faced malkoha
White-Bellied drongo
Crested serpant eagle
Rocket tailed Drongo
Bush lark
Lapwings
Painted storks
Black Drongo
River terns
Green bee-eaters
Common myna
Hupu
Cormorants
Rose ringed parakeets
Herons
Red whiskered bul-bul
Indian roller

Follow me to reach bheemeshwari:
•Muthathi is about a 90 minute drive after you leave the city of Bangalore.
•Drive on the Kanakapura road through Kanakapura and Sathanur.
•Turn left at Satanur and drive for another 30 minutes to reach Muthathi.

Trek to Yedakumari....

2010-02-26T20:17:00.000-08:00

This time we decided to ramble on the railway lane which is known as Green route trek starting from Donigal to Yedakumari. One can also start trekking from Yedakumari to Sakaleshpura; the picturesque landscape, chirping birds attracts all nature lovers.

Due to busy schedule Karthik, Pavan dropped from the trek, finally it was I and Rajeev twosome started from Bangalore. We had very less time to plan things and lastly got the tickets confirmed on 19-Feb-2010 @ 10.30Pm Suvarna Sarige.

Though the work was packed, we managed to get out off the office on Friday by 7.00Pm as usual planned assembling at bus station at 9.45Pm.

We packed 20 chapattis and “Subbammana Angadi chutney pudi” ghee which is a right combination with chapatti and chutney pudi, crammed few fruits, glucose, dates etc.

Bus started from Majestic by 10.45Pm late by 15 mins to schedule as its IST… no comments on that. As we are only 2 of us no serious discussion happened we slipped for a good sleep, the time ticked 3.00Am when bus halted at some place for a tea break I had a chance to talk with conductor and reminded him about our descend at Donigal.

Conductor was surprised to hear about the railway station located at Donigal his face showed the curiosity about the trek on railway lane and enquired about the same. Journey started from tea break and I went for a quick nap. The time was 4.00 Am when conductor gently came and awaked me saying “Sir… Donigal”.

Donigal is a small place on the Shiradi Ghat highway. It was dark, dim sodium waper light was struggling to throw the brightness on the road. There were 2 huge barricades placed on both the ways of the road. Police jeep was parked beside the road might be they were on night patrol squad; the only identification of Donigal is from a tea shop. Our starting point of trek was from Donigal railway station, with full enthuse I enquired how to reach the railway station; the tea shop owner promptly answered all our queries and guided us to reach the Donigal railway station.

It was still 5.00Am when we reached the station and decided to take a quick nap till 6.00Am. The alarm of bird chirps awakened me at 6.15Am. Surrounding was covered by mist and it was a perfect time to start the trek. To reach Yedakumari we need to trek 18km on railway lanes…

Trek became balancing act between mind and body, one should concentrate on the parallel bars to move ahead or we might fall. Seeing the parallel bars endlessly create an illusion in the mind, we moved an hour without taking any halt and met few railway personnel’s on the way, I was curious about the bridges and tunnels we were yet to cross and enquired the same.

Encountered the first bridge, crossing the bridge looking down enthralled us cautiously crossed the bridge we had collected the information that we will be crossing 13 bridges and 26 tunnels before reaching Yedakumari. It was an amazing experience…

Usually goods train passes by the way, and we came across the train soon after crossing the bridge. We were hungry and gave a break for 30 mins and continued our trek anticipating more thrill in the journey.

First tunnel was ahead us, on top of the tunnel it was engraved the year of construction and length of the tunnel in meters. It was pitch dark and trekkers should have a source of light or it is very risky to cross the tunnels. Initially we stepped slowly on the parallel bars throwing the light ahead us after crossing 3 tunnels it became a child’s play…

Railway personnel’s who were working on the lanes accompanied us and narrated their hectic work and life style they lead. It was 2.30Pm when we reached Yedakumari after crossing 13 bridges and 23 tunnels. The green route trek is very scenic as it runs through the dense forest in which it is situated and also we will not forget the numerous streams en route. To conclude the trek was an incredible experience and nature lovers should not miss this trek.

Location:
India > Karnataka > Hassan

Bus Route:
Bangalore > Hassan > Sakleshpura > Donigal

Trek Length:
One day/ depends on the length of the trek

Trek Route:
Donigal to Yedakumeri station
- Get down at Donigal, the bus generally stops at a tea stall.
- walk along the tar road till Donigal railway station.

You can EXIT:
- Carrying on further from the station look for the 75km mile stone.
- After reaching Yedakumari we can climb down and cross Kempuhole river.
- Crossing the river you reach NH48. Catching a bus or any transport you can reach
Subramanya temple.

At Yedakumari request the station master and catch a goods train which will drop you to Subramanya railway station.

Note:
- Carry a powerful torch with extra batteries to make your way through the tunnels.
- Better you trek wearing a good hiking shoes.

1411 - Count the King...

2010-01-28T03:09:00.000-08:00

The newspapers published saying "Volunteers required for Tiger Census". Whom to contact? How to apply? Where to submit? all these questions jumbled in the mind. Few weeks later the date of commencement was also published. The time ticked... if i miss the opportunity i don't know whether i could attend next time...

I called up my cousin with regards to TC programme, he redirected me to a gentleman called Shashidhar, it was a short notice to him all the formalities were completed he said he will try to take with him. I crossed my fingers...

Jan 22nd to 28th was the date announced by WII[Wildlife Institute Of India] it was 6 days programme, divided into 2 batches Jan 22nd to 24th and Jan 24th to 26th. Shashi called me on Jan 21st and said you are in the 2nd batch and along with you 2 other persons will join and you 3 should report to hunsur wildlife division on Jan 26th morning by 10.00am. Everything was set for the big game...

I reached Mysore on 24th morning at 8.00am and called Balasubramanya who was supposed to be my batch member in TC. Mr. Srikant also joined us shortly, we reached hunsur at 11.00am and met RFO. He was busy with the schedule, other team of batch 1 were back from TC and the discussion among themselves was hot.. "Maga what a sighting.. was it". RFO called us and allocated our stay for next 3 days.

It was my dream to stay in APC[Anti Pouching Camp] for at least one night and hear weired sounds the dream came true not for 1 day i was blessed with 3 days.

We rushed towards APC with guards and freshened up and had a casual chat with guards asking them how was the TC going on.. how many TIGERS did they sight directly? and with the same enthuse the guards replied to our questions.

The clock ticked 3.00pm, we planned to sit near a waterhole to watch the forest activities an hour lagged the guard gestured us to the direction where a tusker came to waterhole.

The day came to an end with sighting of beautiful tusker, we headed back to APC and sat exchanging our experiences.Tomorrow early morning we had to start our trail, so everyone went for a nap.

Next day we woke up at 5.30am and started to our designated trail in search of KING.. we got an opportunity in sighting of chital, guars, and barking deers, we reached a waterhole in search of any pug marks available. We recorded few details of the pug marks and scats of the TIGER.

It was very thrilling to see the pug mark in the waterhole, the trail came to an end.

To maintain the confidentiality, I am not disclosing further details like which place? APC name.. such things.

The next 2 days was breathtaking, overall it was an ultimate experience, though we could not sight TIGERS upfront we were lucky enough to see its existence in form of pug marks and scats.

With heavy hearts we returned back to Bangalore.

Flickr photo stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildlifeodyssey

Wildlife Sightings:

1. 05 Tuskers
2. 3 Wild Dogs
3. Chitals
4. Barking Deers
5. Guars
6. Malabar Giant Squirel

Tadoba - The Real Land of Tigers

2009-12-30T23:34:00.000-08:00

It was our first wildlife odyssey outside Karnataka, Me, Karthik and Raghu planned for Tadoba after seeing “Telia- Tiger hunting a sambar” show in aajtak I started gathering information about “Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve aka TATR”, I read few blogs and did basic home work to reach TATR and found genuine source who can help the wildlife enthusiasts at the best to visit TATR.

Shalik Jogwe, young chap working as a teacher by profession in govt. school. Passionate towards wildlife conservation and photography, I called up Shalik and informed our visit to TATR and sent our itinerary. Safaris, Accommodation were booked and were ready for TATR.

Due to many reasons we did not get our train tickets and planned to travel by road. The route was: Bangalore à Hyderabad à Chandrapur à Tadoba, which was horrifying journey but our never ending passion did not stop in reaching TATR.

Telanganna issue was hot on the day we started to Hyderabad, and we crossed our fingers to reach safely to TATR. Shalik coordinated with a person called Sri Vardhan who was also on a visit to TATR; luckily we joined him and drove safely to Chandrapur on the same day by 8.30Pm.

Tadoba National Park lies in the district of Chandrapur in the north-eastern part of Maharashtra. Tadoba is named after the local tribal god 'Taru', who was killed in an epic fight with a tiger.

We planned for 3 days stay and 6 safaris; we had no much expectation of big cats but it was a different forest altogether compared to south Indian jungles.

Our first safari started at 6.00AM and we hit the game road... for all 6 safaris our guide was Mr. Shravan and gypsy driver was Mr. Mubarak. Shravan asked us or you guys interested to see only TIGERS, only Birds, or both... The answer was only TIGERS.

Day1#

Shravan took us directly to Telia waterhole strong alarm calls of chitals and sambar was herd we tuned our eyes and ears towards the waterhole, nothing turned on… with few drongo and samabar photos we ended our safari.

Tadoba has many watch towers and machan built to observe wildlife but not allowed to sit.

We came back to MTDC and took rest for few hours, as our evening safari was at 2.00Pm. Mubarak came at 1.45Pm to MTDC and picked us up, Shravan joined us near Tadoba gate and he directed to go to Telia waterhole again. He had an instinct that the TIGER will come out of the meadow because it’s her territory and she missed her morning turn. He guaranteed us to show the TIGER, but we had no expectation because high expectation results zero.

The time ticked 2.45Pm when we reached the waterhole; it was a bright sunny day and was very hot. Patience is the only reward in wildlife everyone was prying to see the large meadow with anticipation to sight big cat.

It was 5.00Pm when strong alarm calls started, Shravan said the predator is on move and all our eyes scanned each and every corner of meadow Mubarak started the vehicle and planned to take turn and park the vehicle whence another vehicle which was parked 300 mm from us gave wireless message to us saying “Gela” Gela” Gela”, first thing we did not understand the meaning of [Gela-TIGER] and enquired Shravan and he said TIGER is there… We were so anxious to spot the TIGER, for first time we were seeing a TIGER too close to us… I just clicked… clicked… clicked.

We were so cheerful to see the KING OF THE JUNGLE so close and Shravan just laughed looking at us the day came to an end. The whole night we discussed about its majesty looks and charming eyes, we called up our friends, parents and narrated the story about sighting a TIGER so close.

Day2#

The second day morning safari begun, and today also we insisted to go near Telia waterhole but Shravan said no we shall go to an another waterhole which is called “Yenombodi”, Sri Vardhan and Shalik were already there waiting for alarm calls it was 7.00AM when we got wireless message from Shalik saying “Gale” we rushed towards the waterhole, the TIGER was sitting inside the bamboo thicket we felt so happy to see everyday a TIGER and remembered the hanging at the gate “Tadoba – Real Land of Tigers” we were not fortunate to photograph it as it was thick bamboo covered but we filled our naked eyes with mesmerizing scene happening in front of us. Our morning safari ended with few birding photographs.

The time was 9.00AM; Shravan said we shall go to Tadoba gate and have breakfast. We halted for an hour or so and had breakfast “Poua” which means Avalakki, and then photo session started… and finally exited the park.

We took quick nap till 1.30Pm and were ready waiting for Mubarak for evening safari. Shravan directed to go to “KateZari” place which was closed since 3 month and opened the same day because a TIGER had given birth to 3cubs… hearing this we were so happy and Shravan said if we go to KateZari we can sight 4 TIGERS if we are lucky we nodded our head with acceptance.

We parked our vehicle near a waterhole at 2.45PM and just observed silence. The safari path was full of fresh pug marks but unfortunately we were not lucky enough to sight the TIGER and its cubs. We ended our day with few paradise fly-catcher and racket tailed drongo’s.

Day3#

Today was our final day at Tadoba; we had to bet our luck. As usual Shravan directed Mubarak to go near Telia waterhole which is a promising one. We reached Telia at 7.00AM and waited patiently, time ticked 8.30AM no sign of activity suddenly a huge sloth bear emerged from meadows but unfortunately it did not pose to our camera.

Barking deer passed our vehicle without fear. It was 9.45Am and had 20 mins to exit the park with contentment of sambar and few birds we ended our morning safari.

The last chance to see the elusive cat came to nearer, last and evening safari started at 2.00PM and Shravan said we shall go to a place called “Janombodhi” bet our luck and come back to our first waterhole Telia by 5.00PM. We reached the place at 2.45PM the day was harsh… we waited near a waterhole, suddenly Raghu screamed wild dogs… and luckily 2 wild dogs came to waterhole, it gave us 20 mins of time to click…click and click…

The time was 4.20PM and Shravan reminded us if we want to bet our luck to see the TIGER we need to leave to Telia waterhole and rushed towards Telia water body. We reached Telia in anxiety and we were too late… TIGER had come into sight visitors had queued up to see the King of the Jungle…

The meadows were crowded with visitors and we dint get an opportunity to photograph the TIGER; we could only catch a glimpse of it.

With heavy hearts we adieu TATR… It was an amazing wildlife odyssey…

You can view more pictures @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildlifeodyssey with tag named TATR...

Wildlife Sightings:

TIGER [3]

Wild Dogs [pack of 2]

Wild Dogs [pack of 4]

Sloth Bear [1]

Crocodile [2]

Sambar [10]

Barking Deer [5]

White Eye Buzzard [1]

Alexander Parakeet [3]

Rose Ringed Parakeet [2]

Asian Paradise Fly Catcher [1]

Pond Heron [1]

Little Egrets [2]

Black Drongo [5]

Racket Tailed Drongo [2]

Green Bee Eaters [10]

Langurs [5]

Morning drive to Nandhi Hills

2009-10-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

It was a desire to visit "Nandhi Hills" though it is considerable distance from Bangalore it took long time to stopover. On Saturday we decided to start from bangalore by 5.00Am, the plan was to pick up sandeep at yellahanka by 5.30 Am and continue.

Nandhi hills is also called as Nandhi Durga, it is hill fortress located in chikkaballapur district of karnataka state. It is just 16km till base and 24 km top of the hill from chikkaballapur town and it is 70km from bangalore.

The hills are very rich in birdlife making it a very popular location for birdwatchers and bird photographers. It was exactly 6:00Am when we reached the nandhi hills.

Major crowd was northindians, though the place is declared as plastic free-zone you can find the plastic bottles, covers everywhere. None of them watch the environment or feel its beauty in silence, they shout/scream/laugh loud/whistle... totally i was confused whether i am in hill station or in bangalore itself.

We could catch the sight of drango but failed to photograph, but got an opportunity to capture the Macaca fascicularis (macaque) monkeys courtship.

The birding activity was good near a nursery inside the nandhi hills, we went and stood silently near a water tank after few minutes of silence we captured few birds photograph.

The time was 9:00 Am and it was time to leave, while coming back to parking finally we got paradise flycatcher.

Wilderness Beckons...

2009-10-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

It was since 3 months passed visited “Kyathadevarayana Gudi” aka K Gudi. It is one of my favorite wildlife destinations. The wilderness beckons this time too…

The plan was to go on a week day to avoid the crowd, who are always a disturbance to core wildlife lovers; we took leave on Sept 30^th& Oct 1^st 2009 and departed from Bangalore on 29th night by 11:00pm.

This time there was a new addition in our team, Mr. Varun who was my classmate in 10^th he too loves adventures and trekking a lot. Finally I, Karthik and Varun were ready for wildlife odyssey. The plan was to go in my car till K Gudi and go to safaris in forest department jeep.

By 11.30PM we were on our usual route MYS-BNG highway, our first halt was at CCD Maddur. We usually take a break for an hour or so to purposefully kill time, our intention is to reach BR Hills Forest check post by 4:00 AM. Why do we do this? It is only because our vehicle will be first to hit the game roads... and also for the most part of the cases if you silently observe you can also hear spotted deers/barking deers alarm calls. You will be welcomed with early morning bird chirps.

We reached CCD [Maddur] by 1.00Am time passed for an hour or so and continued our journey to K Gudi. Clock ticked 3:00AM when we reached BR Hills check post. The weather was pleasurable parked our car and silently slept hearing bird chirps… It was 5:00 AM when the alarm awaked us. The guard who slept inside the check post came out yawning, he was in a urgency he received a message from K Gudi forest department saying Chamarajanagar DCF is visiting BR Hills in next 20 mins. By 5:45 AM DCF came to BR Hills check post two gun mans accompanied them and left to K Gudi.

The check post gate opens at 6:00AM to publics it was still dark so we intended to leave by 6.30 AM, and slowly started the most anticipated game road…

After 30 mins drive we got to sight peacock. And mongoose crossed the road though we could not manage to click the photos of either. Further drive gave us an opportunity in sighting bison herd when we approached all rushed into bushes. I could manage to take a photo of one such bull.

We directly headed to K Gudi; it is 18km stretch to K Gudi from BR hills which is always rewarded in sighting wildlife. There is a waterhole on road side and it is a favorite spot for Blue headed King fisher till date I was unlucky in capturing the beauty of the lake. But this time luck was in our pocket and I could photograph it.

Reached K Gudi at 7:15Am and I rushed to enquire and book jeep safari in forest department then we came to know that speaker Mr.Jagadish Shetter is visiting K Gudi and now we could relate why Chamarajanagar DCF came in hurry… Forest department personnel said morning safari has been cancelled.

With heavy hearts we started to BR Hills. Varun with disappointment slept I and karthik were talking about the inconvenience caused. Looking around greenery I told to karthik “What if TIGER crosses the road? Imagine the yellow stripes in the green background”, the statement I made was still not faded, it was a curve suddenly karthik shouted “TIGER! TIGER! TIGER!” I think few seconds earlier it has jumped on boulders beside the road.

Phew… it was majestic imagination came true… the luck showered on us we were so fortunate that no other vehicles were present in rear and front. I quickly switched off the engine TIGER stared us between two huge trees for more than 40sec I clicked… clicked…clicked with the limited equipments I could manage only this….

We could see the KING OF THE JUNGLE for more than 2 min; I think what else is needed for a true wildlife lover, we waited for more than half an hour in anticipating it could return back. Hmmmm no sign of it… We decided to head back to forest department and record in TIGER sighting register.

It was funny in seeing 20 officials waiting in the game road for security to speaker who had been for safari. I now realized and it was so fortunate that we missed the safari. We showed the photo to the officials who were present there and Mr. farooq identified that the TIGER is a solitary male of “Basavana Kadu” range. Everyone was happy in seeing the TIGER photo;

With full of happiness and joy we started back to BR Hills, this time each one of us were more keen in observing the activity around us. We again halted for sometime in the place were we sighted the TIGER, but no activity. The time was 10:30 when we reached Giri Darshini for break fast. I called my friend who usually helps me in booking the room in BR Hills and reported him saying we will check-in the room in next 30 mins.

Varun was literally contented and his happiness was uncontrollable because this was his first wildlife tour with us and he was so fortunate in his first visit he sighted TIGER.

The body & soul requested for some rest, we slept for 3 hours the phone alarmed us at 3pm. Started to K Gudi, we halted at the spot were we sighted TIGER in the morning. I could see a barking deer which is a very shy animal rushing into bushes.

The evening safari was also cancelled because the jeep had been to Chamarajanagar as convey to speaker. One can get the good photographs of bonnet macaque easily at K Gudi JLR, without wasting time I managed in clicking few photos.

We waited till 5:45pm and no sign of jeep safari and then decided to return back, this is the time when jungle becomes active slowly we started to BR Hills we killed some time parking near the spot were we sighted TIGER. It was completely dark and time was 7:30Pm one cannot narrate the experience the drive in the night in the forest.

Samabars and Deers assemble near the road side for grazing, here is one such sambar photo.

Without much sighting in the night we ended our day. The best bet was hitting the game road early morning next day, the alarm awaken us at 5:30Am early in the morning I peeped out of the window it was chilling weather and mist covered the plain…

We started by 6:00Am to K Gudi the drive was pleasant and no activities was witnessed.

The jeep had not returned to K Gudi from Chamarajanagar and it was understood that the safari is again cancelled, I enquired the forest official who sits in the forest department and he explained same bull shit to us again.

Forest continues on the other side too which is a road to Chamarajanagar, via you can have a very good wildlife sighting for at least 15km stretch, we decided to go till “Budhipadaga” road and come back while heading back we sighted a guar crossing the road.

We came back to room and took rest, decided to go for a round by 4:00pm Varun had a telephonic interview scheduled and he did not join us that evening. Usual drive took us till K Gudi and fortunately jeep was present but only 2 of us and we decided not to go. We were running out of fuel and decided to fill in Chamarajanagar which is 27km drive.

It was 5:00pm when we left K Gudi to Chamarajanagar we knew that we cannot come back by 6:00pm it was a purposeful drive… I told to guard that we stay in BR Hills and we will fill the fuel and come back as early as possible, he warned us to come back by 7:00pm and that was sufficient, our intention was to join the game road by late evening.

We could manage to enter Chamarajanagar forest check post by 6:45Pm it was already dark and it was a wild drive. Carefully watching for Elephants which frequently come to road in the evening we continued the journey, at one stage we had to halt for few mins as a guar bull was grazing beside road and it was blocking half the way.

We also managed to sight samabars and spotted deers the most expected sighting of most elusive cat LEOPARD, hmmmm but luck was not in our pocket. We reached room at 8:30Pm while Varun was waiting for us. Had dinner and narrated the night drive experience to varun and slept with satisfaction of sighting the TIGER on first day of out visit.

Next day we wrapped things quickly had break fast and started back to Bangalore the reason is it was oct 2nd "Mahatma Gandhi Jayanthi" the crowd already started peeping inside BR Hills.

The wildlife odyssey was very memorable and mesmerizing moment we never forget in our lives….

Wildlife Sightings:

1. Guars [herd of 5]

2. Mongoose [1]

3. TIGER [1]

4. Elephant[1]

5. Spotted deers [herd of 25]

6. Sambars [10 individuals]

7. Barking deers [2]

8. Wild Boars [5]

9. Peacock [2]

10. Hare [2]

11. Lapwing [1]

Wake-up call... "Kot-roo .. Kot-roo"

2009-09-19T03:22:00.000-07:00

Since three days i was hearing Green-Barbet call, but unfortunately i had no time to investigate where is it residing and its activities? these questions were striking my mind. On saturday as usual after breakfast i was surfing the net and the call of green barbet begun. I though this is the time to see... and went up to the terrace with my camera and binocular.. after silent move though with heavy traffic managed to spot the green-barbet which is residing in my building and started cliking the photos. Here i have compiled few interesting facts of green-barbet

(Courtesy: Wikipedia and BNHS).

White-Cheeked Barbet[Megalaima viridis] aka Small Green Barbet

This species is endemic to the forest areas of southern India and has distinctive supercilium and a broad white cheek stripe below the eye.

Like other barbets, they are green, sitting upright and still in a tree, making them difficult to spot. During the breeding season their calls are loud and unmistakeable. The call, a monotonous 'Kot-roo ... Kotroo...'

The head is brownish, giving a capped appearance and the head is streaked. The bill is pale pinkish. The length is 165-185mm, head of 51-53mm and tail of 60-67mm.

The main range is along the Western Ghats and along the associated hills of southern India into parts of the southern Eastern Ghats.

These birds are dominant primary cavity nesters in many parts of their range, making a round hole in the vertical trunk of soft wooded trees. They breed from December to July. They play an important role in forests as seed dispersal agents.

In southern India (Periyar Tiger Reserve) these barbets begin breeding in December to May. This species is believed to form a pair bond that lasts for longer than the breeding season. Calling is intense during the courtship period. Courtship feeding of the female by the male is usual prior to copulation.

Eggs are laid about 3-5 days after nest excavation. About 3 eggs are laid. The incubation period is 14 to 15 days. During the day both sexes incubate but at night only the female sits on the eggs.

Visit to BlackBuck Reserve - Maidenahalli

2009-09-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

The plan to visit Maidenahalli - BlackBuck[Antilope cervicapra] Reserve was striking my mind from few days, though every weekend i was busy in visiting few lakes in and around bangaore in capturing birds the time was not yet set.

Friday, me, karthik and pavan finally planned to visit maidenahalli on saturday, it was decided to go in my car and planned to leave bangalore early morning by 4.30 AM. It was 3.50 AM when karthik called me and said "maga its raining here i am leaving in 10mins will be there at your place with pavan by 4.45 AM".

I peeped out of my window ,hmmmmmmm it was superb climate chilled breeze, drizlling....... :) describing the climate in such situation has no meaning unless u experience it....

It was 5:00 AM when kathik and pavan reached my place. Finally our wildlife odyssey to maidenahalli started. We were nearer to tumkur, pavan reminded us about the "Kyatasandra Thaatte Idli" cool climate, raining, what else... we should obey what pavan says and honestly parked the car near "thatte idli" hotel, "kyatasandra" is famous for "thatte idli's" had heavy breakfast and started towards madhugiri town.

About Jayamangali - Maidenahalli Reserve

Jayamangali Blackbuck reserve is at Maidenahalli, a small village in Madhugiri Taluk of Tumkur district Karnataka. This area is a part of Deccan plateau and is a border to Anantpur District of Andhra Pradesh. It is 798 acre of grassland. The largest population of Blackbuck in Karnataka, apart from Ranibennur sanctuary, is found at Jayamangali Blackbuck reserve.

It was 8.45 AM when we enetered maidenahalli grasslands our eyes spotted a herd of blackbuck grazzing, the animal in nature is very shy and it doesnt let you close. We managed to get few photographs.

Few minutes of pose the herd disappeared into bushes, it is so camouflaged and hard to spot!! we slowly moved ahead in anticipation and suddenly a male blackbuck came out of a bush.Not even a second i started clicking... it ran away finally could capture a decent photograph.

We parked our vehicle at forest department and thought of seeking a guide to accompany us, unfortunately not even a single forest department personnel were present. Ourselves managed to go arround forest department and found a watch tower which is decently maintained to sit and observe wildlife.

After an hour or so with great difficulty we managed to see a few more blackbucks which were grazing.

The avian life is incredible at the grassland. we sigthed Indian Bushlark, Collared Doves, flocks of Grey Francolins, owl, king fisher, parakeets and many more.

The climate drastically changed and started raining havily, and it was time to run for a shelter and finally managed to get inside the car. We decided to leave maidenahalli and started towards bangalore and finally another male blackbuck gave us a pose for capture its beauty, though it was far from us and from my lens :( i managed capturing its photo.

Route:

Bangalore -> Nelamangala -> Tumkur -> Koratagere -> Madhugiri -> Puravara village -> Maidenahalli reserve

Distance:

Approximately 130km.

Transportation:

Though you have private buses to reach puruvara village, it is adviced to go in our own vehicle.

Best time to visit:

Try being at the place early in the morning or late in the evening. The weather is pleasant any time of the day during winters and monsoons.

Morning ride to Hebbal Lake - Bangalore.

2009-08-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

It was a wish list to visit the Hebbal Lake early morning to glimpse birding activity, which is located in the north of Bangalore NH7.

Hebbal Lake is nearly 150 acre in area. It is a natural lake and is maintained by Sate Forest Department. Here are few photos of the same.

SPOTTED DOVE

PINK-BACKED PELICAN

PURPLE HERRONE

COMMON BULBUL

COMMON MYNA

PURPLE MOORHEN

BLYTH's REED WARBLER

ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET

LAPWING in Flight

PINK-BACKED PELICAN

CORMORANTS

The KING is on move….

2009-07-25T04:44:00.000-07:00

AGUMBE

Agumbe is a small village in Thirthahalli taluk, Shimoga District, Karnataka. You can recollect the memories of RK Narayan’s “MALGUDI DAYS” which most of the episodes were shot in Agumbe.

Agumbe receives an average rainfall of 8000mm annually and is often referred to as the Chirapunji of South India. It is situated 826 meters above sea level on the Sahyadri ranges. Agumbe is adjacent to one of the last surviving lowland rainforests in the Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary and the Kudremukh national Park.

The Agumbe village is of 3 sq km in area with a population of about 600-800 people who largely depend on the areca plantation. These dense forests are home to the world’s longest venomous snake, the King Cobra.

ARRS [Agumbe Rain Forest Research Station]

To Rom Whitaker, snakes have always been a passion. He caught his first snake when he was just four. He wrote and studied extensively about the lesser known reptiles viz. crocodiles, sea turtles, snakes that nobody paid any attention to let alone conserving them. Rom set up Madras Crocodile Bank (1976), a gene pool for all the world's crocodilians and

India

's premier research centre for herpetology.

Rom built a network of contacts in the Western Ghats [Sahyadri] and zeroed in on Agumbe as the most likely place for such a study. Rom's dream was to have a Research station where the King Cobra casually crosses the backyard to drink from the spring and he found it Agumbe where in ARRS gave its birth.

As we say likeminded people join their hands together, Rom also wanted a person who can take care and manage the ARRS. That is were Gowri Shankar came into picture.

Gowri Shankar

Like Rom, Gowri Shankar too fell in love with this place and its people. He has been fascinated with reptiles from childhood. Through school and college he spent most of the available money and time rescuing and working with snakes.

He worked with The SPCA, Bangalore as an animal inspector and rescued and relocated many snakes (more than 1000 snakes.).

In 1999, he functioned as the Education officer with the Madras Crocodile Bank, Centre for herpetology, Mahabalipuram, where he conducted seminars, slideshows and awareness programs. He was also in charge of the management of captive snakes including King Cobras.

He worked as a Research Associate for the King Cobra Conservation Project, and as a Reptile consultant at Pilikula Biological Park, Mangalore in 2004.

From 2005 Gowri became instrumental in setting up of the Research Station and making it functional. From rescuing King Cobras, releasing them, studying them, conducting educational workshops, and awareness programs among people, he spread the word of conservation in these areas. He is now the conservation officer with ARRS.

Back to our experience, at the ARRS, Gowri Shankar and his team heartily welcomed us. The previous night I had seen the episode of King Cobra “The Secrets of King Cobra” in the National Geographic Channel and I was very happy to see an NGC personality, who is easily accessible to the common man.

That night, at ARRS, we all assembled for dinner. Gowri Shankar introduced us to his associates[Prashanth, Vipul] who take care of ARRS while Gowri Shankar is on field work. The environment was incredible! It was rain cats and dogs and our wish to visit the Western Ghats in monsoon was fulfilled.

Gowri explained about the Radio Telemetry Project which is ongoing in ARRS. The world's first king cobra telemetry project with a pair of kings (male 11 feet and female 9 feet). This was a collaborative effort between The Karnataka Forest Department, scientists, veterinarians and herpetologists from U.S and

India

. The whole radio-telemetry procedure was documented by the NGC (National Geographic Channel) crew and the film titled ‘The Secrets of the King Cobra’ was recently aired on the channel.

Radio transmitters were inserted into the snake’s abdomen through a simple surgical procedure. The forest department officials teamed up with ARRS during the whole process. These healthy snakes were then released back into the wild and were followed by trained radio trackers with the help of local forest trackers. Currently these snakes are being followed around the forests and farmlands and a lot is learned about the behavior in their natural habitat. This study about King Cobra is the first of its kind in the whole world and through this we hope to discover the unknown facts about this magnificent creature whose home terrain is Agumbe.

Every day a volunteer with a local tracker is sent to track the KING. I asked Gowri whether we can also join for tracking and then realized that before we can go inside jungle we should undergo the basic training of tracking by experts in ARRS.

Though we could not go for tracking, Vipul, an associate from ARRS promised to take us to a cave, which was amidst the jungle, were Manjappa, a local tracker had spotted a King Cobra while setting up a camera trapping equipment. The next day, at 6:30 a.m. we started to the cave in the continuous downpour. Vipul suggested that we wear anti-leech socks as the rainforest is full of leeches.

Manjappa, Vipul and our team headed towards the cave. We were searching every nook and corner of the jungle in anticipation of sighting the serpent. The moment we would stop, the leeches were attacking us from all directions. Rajeev and Pavan were bitten twice, and just when Karthik and I thought we had escaped, we too fell prey to the blood-suckers.

Vipul crawled inside the cave and setup the camera trap, while we stood nearby watching. It was a remarkable experience, which will last forever in our memories. We returned to ARRS, and Vipul and Prashanth briefed us about the goals of ARRS, which I would like to share with you all.

Conservation | Education | Rescue | Research.

Finally, it was time to return to Bangalore. After having coffee, we decided to take an early morning walk in the woods with one of the volunteers of the Research Programme. We saw a moss covered stone idol of the Snake God by the trail, and draped over the idol like a garland was a Pit Viper! We stood there in shock and took some pictures and then returned to ARRS. We thanked Sharmila (Mrs. Gowri Shankar) for her hospitality and appreciated all other volunteers of ARRS for their dedication towards wildlife conservation and with a heavy heart, left to Bangalore.

HATS OFF TO WESTERN GHATS…………!!!

Rom Whitaker- The snake Man of

India

We all have seen in the television, read in the newspapers about tracking tigers, leopards and elephants. Why should we track these animals in their natural habitat? The answer is that we are loosing these beautiful creatures to poaching because of their skin, teeth, tusks, oil, venom, etc. Most of the animals are endangered, while some are already extinct. The future generation can only see them in photographs!

To keep track of these animals and understand their behavior in order to maintain the fine balance of ecology, researchers track them using the advanced equipments (GPS, Radio Collar, Radio Telemetry devices, etc.).

Have you ever heard of tracking a reptile, that too the world’s longest venomous snake, the King Cobra, in the thick jungles of the Western Ghats in Karnataka? That is what Pavan, Karthik, Rajeev and me learnt about and would like to share with you the most amazing wildlife odyssey we had in the Western Ghats.

Unforgettable trip to Bandipur

2009-05-08T23:11:00.000-07:00

TIGER!! The word was in the air, “Hey Tiger spotted @ Bandipur”, “Maga Tiger!! 4 cub’s in bandipur anthe"…

We decided to bet our luck, and started our journey to “Bandipur” on April 30th @ 9.30 PM from Bangalore. Rajeev invited us for dinner at his place mandya without considering huge risk, we reached his place by 11.30 PM, hmmm had nice Vangi bath and Curd rice... Spent good time with his parents and started to Mysore.

Finally reached Mysore by 12.45 PM, the plan was to stay at Ravi’s cousin Mr.Niranjan’s place. We decided to leave at early morning by 4.00 AM to Bandipur. The wildlife odyssey kicked off as expected and reached bandipur at 5.45 AM on 01/05/09.

The safari busses were ready to hit most anticipated game reserve in next 5-10 mins, already bus was filled with tourists. Our intention was to hire gypsy. Unfortunately it was booked for 6.30 slot and we had to wait for next gypsy safari at 8.00. I don’t know whether it was unfortunate…or fortunate…..

My instinct proposed to go for bus safari at 6.30 which was ready in a min or so. I expressed the same to Karthik, the next moment the tickets was with us and finally ascended the bus.

It was habitual to karthik when ever we headed to wildlife watching to woods. Karthik dreamt about tigers, leopards sometimes man eaters also the result was we were landing up without sighting even a Barking Deer!! So this time I strictly told karthik not to sleep or don’t dream about tiger sighting at bandipur and this time he followed honestly…

Bus headed to safari track, it was 5 mins drive. It all happened in 5 seconds adult Tiger and a cub was sitting beside the safari track Karthik and Ravi excitedly shouted TIGER!! We were around 25 people in a bus and only 8-10 of us could catch a sight…. I was able to capture photo in naked eyes. Those memories last long…..

We stopped the bus for almost 20 mins waiting it would return back… but no luck…L with eyes widely open peeping outside each nook of the forest hoping again we might have an opportunity to sight the big cat.

The safari ended at 8.00 with few snaps of CSE and Peacocks.

Our gypsy safari was at 8.30, we were more thrilled to enter into woods with great expectations and I narrated the whole scene of Tiger and its cub passing beside the safari track to jeep driver [Mr. Sunil]. He was very happy and asked us to show the place where we sighted the TIGER, gypsy halted there for more than 30 mins we were so fortunate to see fresh pug mark on the mud.

After an hour or so our jeep safari also ended with sighting of few sambars and chittals . The last hope was our next evening safari at 5.30 PM.

We had 6 hours for our next safari and quickly planned to “Gopala Swamy Betta” which is 20km from bandipur, the temple was heavily crowded with more than 300 -350 tourists.

The Gopala Swamy betta is attracting more tourists from all corners, but one sad thing is most of the people are careless, arrogant, illiterate they throw plastics and waste materials where ever they want. Though forest department board says “Plastic Free Zone” you can see plastic bottles, covers, eatable covers in many places which are harmful to environment.

We had good lunch at temple took few hours rest enjoying to climate and nature witnessed in front of us. Planned to leave by 3.30 to bandipur for our last safari.

The evening safari was yet to start and unfortunately the climate turned worst and it started raining heavily and we thought our plan would be flop mean time our TL: Trip Leader Govardhan distributed snacks which we got it. Mr. Sunil made it clear “Sir I don’t think we can sight big cats in this rain” Man proposes God disposes, we were helpless. We could sight a herd of 20-25 elephants and a herd of 15 bison. The safari ended at 6.30 due to bad weather.

Hats off to BANDIPUR... 5secs of TIGER sighting will last long in memories.

Bird Watching - Devarayana Durga State Forest[DDSF]

2009-04-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

The wildlife photography is not only shooting mammals, you have different verticals like Birding, Landscape, Urban photography’s and many more to list to keep going your passion you should at least visit nearby state forests and do birding photography.

The plan freeze and started to “DevarayanaDurga State Forest” which has witnessed good birding activities and it is also a famous pilgrimage center for tourists it has two temples called “Yoga Narasimha” and “Boga Narasimha” which one temple is located top of the hill. Early morning on 10^th April 2009 the odyssey started, we reached DDSF at 6.00AM and parked the car and started walking towards the remote place. Bird chirping made us pleasant and curious started a keen observation on all tall trees which were in front of us.

Ravi has a good knowledge on birding as he said he used to do lot of birding activities and stopped abruptly (?) I took his help in identifying birds. I remember DDSF has lot of “Yellow Throated Bul Bul”. It took very hard to capture a photo of it.

TIGER has visited DDSF in 2008 the forest department has pug mark and scat proof , this information made think us how can a big cat come to the state/domestic forest? Then we got an answer that DDSF has a corridor which links to national park.

We headed to “Namada Chilume” which has a history of “Sri RamaChandra” visited the place went inside the forest and sat at one place just identifying birds it has a rich bird species we were lucky in sighting a wild boar.

By 12.00 the bird chirping calls were almost stopped, decided to return to Bangalore after visiting narasimha swamy temple.

Getting there: BangaloreàDobbaspetàDevarayanadurga

Distance from Bangalore: 70Km

Highway: NH4

Kumara Parvatha aka KP - A Summit

2009-01-28T05:56:00.000-08:00

It was in our wish list to trek “Kumara Parvatha” aka KP which is said the toughest trek among all trekking in Karnataka. KP is located in Subramanya of Sullia taluk, Karnataka.

KP belongs to Western Ghats which is about 1712 meters and is 13km trekking from Subramanya village.

KP can be trekked by two routes

1) From Kukke Subramanya temple and

2) From Somwarpet town which is in kodagu dist.

We planned to trek on 23^rd Jan 2009 and choose to trek from Somwarpet.

Our bus was scheduled to departure at 10.00 Pm from Bangalore City Bus stand; it was decided to assemble at 9.15Pm to the bus platform.

Most of them who have trekked KP say it’s hardest! I think the meaning of “hard” started realizing the moment we started our journey. It took more than an hour or so to reach kunigal cross with the slow moving traffic. And we had no clew that our bus had a mechanical problem with clutch until driver accelerates the bus.

The bus was occupied with 3 teams approximately 20-25 trekkers including us. Bus is moving in a speed of 40km per hour every one got irritated, frustrated and started screaming to the driver and conductor. Poor chaps what could they do? If it is a mechanical problem, unfortunately they had no mobile phone to call the nearest next depot to change the bus. The co-passenger helped the conductor by calling the manager of Bangalore bus depot and reported the problem we are facing. The next depot was a kunigal depot and we all decided to stop the bus at kunigal depot and change the bus. So finally with great difficulty and frustration on bus/govt/manager/driver/conductor we reached the depot by 12.30Pm. The new bus was given to us after waiting an hour or so.

Finally all were happy and ascended the new bus praying to god, we could reach Somwarpet without any further difficulties. Joyfully we all got settled and started our journey.

I think the prayers to god dint reach..! it was 2.30AM when suddenly the windshield shattered into pieces because of air crack… I don’t know whether the driver was unfortunate or he was unlucky that day.. Imagine without windshield driving at a speed of 80km in the night.. It was horrifying chilled breeze haunted us without sleep. But this time none of us screamed on driver or conductor as we could understand the situation.

Again we had to stop at hollenarasipura Cross and waited for more than an hour to get a new bus from the nearest bus depot. Finally with all these menace we reached Somwarpet town at 8.30AM. Normally bus reaches Somwarpet town at 4.30Am and we were behind 4 hours.

Quickly we refreshed ourselves at the restrooms at bus stand, meanwhile Karthik and Basavaraj went to get the breakfast packed to have it on the journey. Me, Govardhan and Pavan went to enquire the bus or transport facility to reach pushpagiri cross, where the trek to KP starts.

Wasting time in waiting for the next bus at 11.30Am was not a good idea; we managed to hire a jeep to drop us at pushpagiri cross.

Our team was filled with energy and enthuses to trek the KP. There is forest department located at 1 km from pushpagiri temple. Forest department officials check the luggage to ensure we don’t carry any liquor, petrol, kerosene or these kinds of substances which are harmful to the environment.

After paying the entry fees which is a nominal amount of Rs 115/- per head, joyful trek begun at 11.00Am.

We were 11^th troop entering the forest from Somwarpet. The trek started with full of greenery and thick vegetation around us it was 8km trek to reach KP peak. So we decided to trek asap without wasting much time in resting. We backed 3 teams which were ahead of 1 hour and that reminded us we are on our toe and also felt happy about our fitness.

The route deviates after 3 hours towards “Girigaddhe” and “Pushpagiri” one has to choose pushpagiri to reach KP peak.

The terrain is very steep and shuffled the baggage among ourselves so that it will not be burden on individual, we halted at few places and had snacks and energy drinks to keep up the race.

At 4.00Pm we reached the peak and got disappointed to see hundreds of trekkers.. it was fully crowded, I think we were on the wrong day.

Swiftly we choose a good place to camp. The work was broken down and shared among the members, wherein me, Karthik and Hemanth decided to setup the tent and Govardhan, Basavaraj will collect the firewood for campfire at night. And Pavan honestly slept…

It was time to witness the sunset, hence the whole crowd assembled near the sunset point it was a mesmerizing sight. The sunset at Western Ghats hmmmmm…

After the sunset the next thing we did was to have a cup of coffee, it was my wish to have coffee at the peak for this reason we carried a small stove, good life milk, sugar, Nescafe.. We first setup the campfire and prepared the coffee, after a coffee the cooking started we had carried ready made foods, noodles, bread butter jam. Few things will not shade out from the memory...

It was decided to wake up early morning to catch the sunrise, so we slept by 12.30pm after a long casual chat. Early in the morning we again assembled in the view point.

Henceforth we decided to pack up the things and start to downhill. The clock ticked 8.00Am when we started from KP.

The downhill to “Kukke Subramanya Temple” was 13km trek, so we prepared energy drinks and started descending KP, on the way down you can see “Mari Gundi” a monolithic rock.

After taking few amazing landscape photos of nature, we continued the trek. It was 1.30Pm when we reached “Bhattara Mane” it was crowded like a forum mall. And we decided not to have lunch only we will rest for sometime and continue.

From Bhattara mane the Kukke town was 6 km downhill, it was a sunny day and energy level was coming down. The only energy supplier for us was fresh water and chewing gums to keep on move. On the way down we met a group of people who were trekking from Kukke Subramanya and in that group a person was aged 70 years. This made us really happy and it was time to give round of applause to the person, energy level raised high after seeing aged person trekking the KP.

It was 5.30 Pm when we saw the road, the legs were not listening to mind and we were drained completely. The only way to relax was to dip in the water and we decided to go directly to “Kumaradhara” river which is in the town of Kukke Subramanya.

Henceforth after relaxing about 1 hour or so, we visited “Kukke Subramanya Swamy” temple we sat at one place viewing the holy rituals going on. Our bus to Bangalore was scheduled at 10.40 Pm. It was time to have prasada which means anna dhana, we had dinner at the temple and started toward bus stand.

Amazing trek the memories last long…

Skandagiri – A Night Trek

2008-09-09T16:16:00.000-07:00

It was a Terrific Friday night. The clouds were filled with lightnings and thunder and rain was about to downpour in a while or so. Don’t know why always Friday is the inspiration day for us to plan for wild getaways?

The endless passion made us to assemble @SLV [Gandhibazzar] after our strenuous work when time ticked 8.30 PM. Conversations between us suddenly strike to a small trek which is outskirt to Bangalore, “KALLAVARAHALLI BETTA” aka “SKANDAGIRI” which is also famous for “MOON LIGHT TREKING” the plan was geared up by 10.PM and we decided to go by 2 cars as we were 9 of us.

It was decided to gather around 11.30 PM back to SLV after a light supper, compulsorily carrying a torch with each of them. Plan was to start a trek around 2 AM the next morning so torch was badly needed with everyone.

Finally all set for a night drive to Skandagiri which is 65km from Gandhibazzar. First pit stop was at hebbal to pick Prabhakar, it was first time in our adventure journey to trek in the night and everyone was curious about it, stopped at a small tea shop on the way. By the time we reach the tea shop was 12.05 PM and it was raining heavily which took us to a dilemma state to cancel the trek or not! OK we decided not to trek but at least we shall go to foothill of the destination.

Pavan had been to the place previously and he was the guide for us to trek, we took a left turn at SaiBaba Arch which is 50km from Bangalore, the road which will take to Skandagiri. You can also reach through chikkabalapur. We missed the way and couldn’t find a single person to ask for right directions. At last Hoysala police were patrolling and stopped us, they were surprised to see us strolling at the wee hours of night and interrogated us with n number of questions [who are we?? What are we doing here?? Have we consumed liquor?? Any antisocial activity is on??] Finally we proved that we are nature lovers and adventurers, and told our night expedition to Skandagiri. Also we told them that we missed the way and looking for help to reach the foothill. Police guided us to Skandagiri foothill. We thanked Hoysala team and started towards foothill.

It was so strange we were wandering in the same route but couldn’t see the sign board which is positioned make us very hard to locate it.

The time was exactly 1.56 AM. Few minutes drive from the board located we reached Skandagiri foothill. Here is a matt called as “PAPAGNI MATA” where you have to park the vehicle and book a guide if you need else become a self guide and explore it!

Rain had stopped its play but clouds were filled with lightning and thunder. There were already 2 tempo travelers around 25 people waiting to trek. Mean time Ranga enquired one of those members and found that they are planning to start the trek in the morning around 5 AM.

So, what’s next?? Are we trekking or wait until any other team start and follow them.

Fanaticism made us to start right away and planned to trek without any guide as Pavan visited this place before and he could guide us. It was time to take out the torches and pack few food items to carry along with us. To start we had only 6 torches karthik started investigating who did not carry the torches and it was [Prabhakar, Seena and Ranga] were without torches.

This trekking is famous for MOON LIGHT trekking and people trek on full moon day. But that was not a full moon day and it was a dead dark, with difficulties we started our adventure to peak. I was heading front with a torch the other 5 torches were distributed accordingly.

Seena started cursing me and Pavan who planned the whole game as he was filled with fear and he did not wanted to take such a risk, according to him it was a brain damage plan. Hmmm literally everyone mind strike the same statement but neither of them expressed. In between Sunil cracked jokes and PJ’s which helped us to be on positive note and reach the peak.

It was wild climate new-fangled environment to all of us; seeing us the other team also started the trek, we were ahead of them we could only see the torch light blinking from downhill. Factually speaking there are no directions put or any sign boards which says we are on right direction towards peak the small red arrow à marks indicate left right or straight, to see theses indicated arrow marks one has to observe keenly on rock or on bark of the trees. There are cases where one can easily get into wrong route if you do not observe [Especially trekking in Night].

I don’t know why the forest department has not taken any right moves in improving the Skandagiri. You will not find any safety here from robbers or from wild animals; obviously one cannot blame wild animals as we are in their territory. But I think govt. has to improve the place and make more access to the place from all nooks of the city. The Govt. should [appoint authenticated guides, put sign boards markings, put sign boards saying about the place and its history, place dustbins to collect the garbage and wastages] let the govt. collect forest entry fees/ charges from the trekkers to maintain the place. But I don’t see these improvements which are still in the dark side.

Local people here are guide and they take you to peak, they charge around 300/- for a team to accompany. It was 4.30 AM when we reached the peak to our surprise already 30 members’ team was in the peak. The rain had completely stopped and peak was covered with full of mist. It was shivering cold on the peak and managed to sit near a fire camp to beat the cold. Basavaraj and Govardhan gently distributed the food items which we carried like fruit cakes, buns n breads, biscuits etc

In the peak you have a small ganesha temple. As the peak was filled with smog and previous night rain the climate was very bad due to this the sunrise was not clear and we were not able to capture the good scenic beauty from the peak. After an hour or so the other team also reached the peak. I engaged myself in speaking to a guide accompanied them and learnt that Skandagiri has sloth bears and many trekkers have encountered the beast. This made me more thrilled usually sloth bears are very shy animals its presence is always secretive and crossed my fingers that we could sight one while downhill.

The time ticked 7 AM satisfying with one or two scenic pics we started downhill and reached the “Papagni Mata” where we had parked the car at 9.30 AM. We stopped at a tea shop at foothill and had a morning sip of a coffee.

The mind went to flashback in collecting the memories, calculating the pros and cons of trekking the peak at night, imagining the encounter of the beast [sloth bear] last but not the least many things in improving the Skandagiri and making more accessible to all nature lovers and adventurers.

A small suggestion to all nature lovers is do not leave unwanted wastes like plastics, watercan bottles and things which will not decompose and are likely to be threat to the environment. Carry a bag wherein you bring back all you’re waste like [Plastic covers, biscuits/cake covers, and water bottles] dump the next morning to Municipal Corporation.

Basavaraj-->Pavan-->Seena-->Ranga-->Amit-->Govardhan-->Karthik-->Sunil-->Prabhakar(behind lens)

The mind and soul still wanders and seek to trek on FULL MOON DAY! - JAI SKANDAGIRI

How to reach there:-

Route 1:

BangaloreàDevanahalliàLeft turn near SaiBaba archàPapagni mata[Skandagiri].This is 65kms.

Route 2:

BangaloreàDevanahalliàChikkaballapuràTake a left inside the townàPapagni mata. This is 75kms.

A trip to Nagarahole.

2008-05-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Friday at the office was a hectic day, for even though I was physically in my office, my mind had already wandered away into the wilderness. My heart and soul was aching for a wild getaway...anywhere! Where, when, how, and with whom to go, was unclear. Until lunch time.

I met Shreyas for lunch near SLV and the casual conversation developed into a concrete weekend getaway plan to Nagarahole National Park, aka Rajiv Gandhi National Park. Next moment, I was telephoning my friend to reserve a room at Gangothri in Nagarahole for Saturday. We got a positive reply saying “your room is booked”. All set for a wild weekend!

At the National Park, we intended to sit at one place and observe the wildlife activities. We decided to sit at the watchtower (WT), but who are we to decide?? The Range Forest Officer (RFO) has to give us permission to sit at the WT. We thought, if we get the permission, then well and good. If not, there was always Plan B. We had even prepared ourselves for a negative reply from the RFO. Plan B was to just walk in and around Nagarahole main road like H.D.Kote Road, Karmadu Road, Kutta Road, Murkal Junction… and so on. I have read many trip reports, which said the wildlife sightings can happen on the road side also. So, if the WT plan was a failure, we still had an alternative plan.

We left Bangalore on the same evening at 10:00 p.m., stopped at Chennapattana Coffee Day, spent an hour, and continued to Nagarahole. Our aim was to reach Nagarahole Forest Check Post by early morning 5:30 a.m. Of course, we reached earlier than planned. Earlier, the better! It increases the chances of wildlife sighting and movement on the road side!! And with good luck, we may even spot big cats. We drove slowly at 20 km/hr. As the Sun rose from behind the horizon and its rays

penetrated the lovely Teak forest, the birds wished us ‘Good Morning’ in their melodious early morning calls. Shreyas spotted a Serpent Eagle perched on a branch of a tree and took a few photographs. We also saw Chittal (Spotted Deer) grazing by the road side.

Finally, when we reached Nagarahole, I went straight to the Forest Department Office to complete the formalities for lodging. After few minutes, a guard named Sannappa came along with us to show the room and handed over the keys. After the overnight journey, we wanted to take a quick nap for at least 2 hours. We woke at 10.30 a.m. and decided to meet the RFO, Mr. Poovaihah, to obtain permission to sit at the WT. He asked us several questions. “Who are u?” “Why should I allow you to sit in the WT?” “What is you intention?” and so on. We answered his questions and assured him that we are true Nature enthusiasts, and not pseudo wildlife observers. Finally, he agreed and he sent a gunman with us in our vehicle. Shreyas and I felt very happy as it was our first experience to sit in a WT and observe wildlife.

The RFO reminded us the protocols set by the Forest Department, which had to be followed very strictly when we are in the park. We agreed it is our responsibility to obey the rules and regulations, and started our journey to the WT located amidst the jungle. Nagarahole has two WT’s; one is on the safari track and the other is deep inside the woods. We were told that we’ll be seated in Nagarahole Main WT, which is in deep jungle.

The RFO had permitted us to sit there from 11:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The gunman, Shreyas and I, quietly climbed up the steps of the WT. The watchtower is situated in a location from where you can see in all four directions. In front of us was a big waterhole. The first sighting was a herd of elephants in the waterhole; it was an amazing, wild experience of our life.

After an hour, the herd returned to the woods, and later a Guar (Indian Bison) visited a salt lick and thrilled us for the next one hour or so.

Beside the WT was a tree, on which a Langoor monkey (Hanuman Langur) settled down. With their sharp eyesight and keen hearing, the Langoors are the first to spot a predator. It signals with its alarm calls when it sees a predator. So, we thought it is a good sign and crossed our fingers in anticipation of sighting a big cat!

Exactly at 1:10 p.m. Shreyas suddenly shouted “TIGER... TIGER…” and I was left searching for the tiger. The striped cat descended from a hillock, which is next to the waterhole. Its majestic walk and the fiery looks was a mesmerizing scene. Wow! That was the first tiger sighting in my whole life. The scene cannot be explained in words until it is personally experienced. We witnessed the show for more than 20 minutes and then the tiger disappeared into the woods.

Until 2:30 p.m. we were watchful, hoping we might get a chance of sighting a tiger once again. But, we had to be content with one sighting. We felt very happy and satisfied after seeing a tiger from such close proximity. It is one of the rarest sights in South India. We also spotted Guars, Elephants, Sāmbhar, and Chittals that revisited the waterhole and saltlick.

It was soon 5:00 p.m. and the gunman insisted that we leave from the WT. With the scene of the tiger descending from the hillock still fresh in our memory, we bid goodbye to the wilderness that surrounded us and came back to Gangothri. At 5:45 p.m. the gunman picked us up and we started our journey back to Bangalore.