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Monday, November 14, 2011

Bandhavgarh (June 2008)

Back from the BNHS Bandhavgarh trip and wishing I were back there already! A big thanks to Issac Kehimkar an dhis team at BNHS...may their tribe increase!
I had wonderful tiger sightings including the very rare glimpse of them  mating!! Also saw more than 50 species of birds, over 70 per cent for the first time..my dreams fulfilled were: paradise flycatcher both in rufous and white, purple sunbird in all its glory and a long observation of how it fed on nectar; vultures – long billed and red headed; crested serpent eagle; greater racket tailed drongo and woodpeckers! Also sighted: tickell's blue flycatcher, black naped monarch and orange headed thrush, nuthatch, yellow wattled lapwing, woolly headed stork. Wooooh! Saw Owls - spotted, brown fish owl. Missed a mottled wood owl and jungle owl - ullu ka pattha that I am :)
Mammals: mongoose, chinkara, wild boar, sambhar, chital, nilgai, jackal, rhesus monkeys and hanuman langurs. Reptiles: forest calote in breeding colours and a marvellous rat snake!
Out of 6 trails, saw tigers in five, which is unarguably a dream trip...Also saw a tigress on elephant back (I was on elephant back you idiots!). Saw two of the biggest males in BG - B2 and Boka...The b'watching is really stupendous. Saw 40 species just near our resort - Tiger Trails. Can you believe it? The trails were mind blowing - acres and acres of open grassland and forests of sal...tearing across the rutted roads in an open jeep, with the breeze whistling through your ears...an experience not to be missed. It was very hot, but not unbearably. The trails were at 4.30 in the morning and evening. It was light by 4 am!?! One day it rained heavily - when we were watching the mating act - and we enjoyed a thorough soaking...
Guys, hop on quickly on BNHS's next trip to BG...it is a life-changing experience!

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