The Four Cubs of Bhanuskhindi (T-17) and Chota Matka (T-109), Tadoba

By now there were eleven jungle safari vehicles gaping at the tigress even as she eyed us with nonchalance (see previous post here). And as she turned and walked away into the bamboo thickets to the left, all eyes instantly started scanning the long patch of tall grasses to the right of the path. This …

Female tiger, Bhanuskhindi (T-17), Tadoba

The wind-chill that winter dawn was pronounced due to the speed of our open jungle safari vehicle hurtling, and at times bouncing perilously, down the dirt road. Our safari guide had specific information of tiger movement that morning and we had to reach the location – a good half an hour drive away – before …

Male tiger, Tala (T-100), Tadoba

Two sets of fresh pugmarks led away from the shores of Anandvan lake – a male and a female tiger walking away after a drink in the early hours of the crisp winter morning. The chill at dawn was suddenly replaced by a rush of adrenaline-infused warmth as the hope of a tiger sighting stoked …

Un-Pheasant Truth

The sparse brown brush was fast fading into a parched and shrivelled tangle as the once sinewy roots now groped for traces of moisture in the dusty grit and gravel. A haze of sooty flecks hung in the air settling slowly as a deathly shroud over the singed leaves. Unfamiliar sounds brutally assaulted the tenor …

World Sea Turtle Day 2022

Today is World Sea Turtle Day and BaiManus Media House has released a special video to mark this occasion. I am grateful to Prashant Pawar, Editor of BaiManus, for giving me this opportunity to express my thoughts through this video, and to Team BaiManus for this excellent edit! Watch this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtNX8MizaKc The video …

Watch it!

A race it has become to tick off a bucket list,bird watching a pursuit now for a brief tryst.A lens and memory card are all that we care,exploration lost out to detached quick affair. Whither the curiosity what a bird is up to,puzzling why it did that just before it flew.EV ISO shutter speed f-stop …

Muni(a)’s Worth!

Weary soles and wretched souls,ending one of our worst strolls,a trail promising sighting goals,no birds and empty crab holes. Then at the dirt trail’s fag end,in the shrubs around the bend,fluttering wings heard in descend,flickering hopes began to ascend. A furred figure buff and blurred,turned a clumsy juvenile bird,busy with preening undeterred,despite our presence unstirred. …

‘Crab’tivated!

Dawn was just beginning to peep over the horizon and the salty tang in the air, typical of the marshy terrain, was laden with crisp, cool notes of the early winter period. Chocolate brown leaves crunching deliciously under our merciless shoes were the only sounds as the birds waited in anticipation of the moment when …

The Dark

As junior and I stood, shoes sinking in the slushy marshy banks of the lake, this ibis uncharacteristically circled overhead a couple of times. I could have ratcheted up the EV but would have only ended up with an unremarkable abdomen. Thinking quickly on my clogged feet, I stepped it down a bit for this …

Beat it!

(Admission: This photograph is not of a quality acceptable to be publicised. It is only a memento of a fleeting, yet striking incidence that I have often read about, but never had an opportunity to experience first-hand until now.) The Lotus Lake is a small, neglected, natural water body within the bounds of Aarey Forest …