TADOBA through the lens of Mr Ramanan

Mr Ramanan visited Tadoba in April this year, and the temperatures of 49 degrees Celsius thankfully did not affect his photography!  The TATR - Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve - is in the centre of India, in Maharashtra, and a reserve that I have not visited.

The forest awaited the monsoons, the teak trees were bare and all creatures big and small looked for shade.

This Brown fish owl (Ketupa zeylonensis) was spending its days in the shade, probably close to a water body.At night, it would be out to hunt.

Orange headed Rock Thrush on the dry teak leaves of the forest floor.  Tadoba is predominantly teak forests.  But is that a largestromia flower peeking at us?

A Crested Serpent Eagle surveys the forest floor for prey

Oriental Honey Buzzard - at the lake.  The sanctuary has the Andhari river running through it, and the Tadoba lake.  The lake is a great place for sightings.

Chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis), a small four-horned antelope, solitary by nature, and whose numbers are dwindling, as forests have become isolated.  Tadoba is one the few refuges left for this herbivore. A dove walks by in the background.

A barking deer, moving close to a bamboo grove, probably looking for some shade. No antlers as yet for this one.

A massive gaur also at the watering hole.  Their numbers have swelled and they are now a common site in plantation towns in the hills.

The sloth bear on the other hand is an uncommon sighting in the wild   I have not seen one as yet.  Whenever I see pictures of them, I feel that they desperately need a grooming!

As Thyaga remarked, what is it that you didn't see, Mr Ramanan?!  The summer heat meant that all animals looked to minimise their movements.   In a way its arguably the best time to visit a sanctuary, if you are interested in sightings.  Physically uncomfortable, but great sightings!  I personally love to visit when forests are green, and so usually end up not seeing very much beyond the lovely magnificent trees.  The trees are wonderful in themselves, and I do not regret the lack of sightings.

There were a spate of killings by leopards of villagers around Tadoba in 2013, and there was a move to radio collar some of them.  This one obviously not one of them.  

And just when I thought, ok he did not spot a tiger, I saw these pictures!

A summer snooze for the top carnivore.

This is the cub of the tigress named Rani

There are a 100 + tigers in the 650 odd sq kms of the TATR.  Tadoba, Pench, Kanha... one contiguous forest not so long ago, but now islands separated by human habitation.

And as I write this, the forests have been further decimated as the Pench-Kanha corridor is witnessing the development of an elevated highway.  The elevated sections are supposed to mitigate the effect on wildlife by allowing them to cross underneath.

Is this realistic and what about the interim displacement and habitat loss?  Could not the highway skirt this corridor?

A wood spider at Dandeli

Find the giant wood spider in the enormous web that spanned a couple of trees.

Clue:  It is in the middle of the picture with a backdrop of a teak tree trunk.

And it is the female.  The males are tiny and inconspicuous.

You can also find a picture of it at Thattekad and Rishi Valley.  

The Kulagi Nature Camp

Our station from October 7th to the 11th.  A lovely place.

Nestled among the teak trees, south of Dandeli, is the little village of Kulgi, where the Foret dept has located the Kulgi Nature Camp.                    A delightful set of cottages that unobtrusively  exist, their brown colour and thatched roofs looking like camouflage!

The row of cottages that we occupied.  At the far end, is a large open lunch patio, and a good place to hang out since it has a view across a meadow where herds of chital commonly graze.

Our cottage, with the little verandah we used a lot, and where the cats would linger.

The rooms were clean and neat as also the bathrooms.  Hot water was available all the time at a central boiler from where we could fetch steaming buckets!

A wonderfully real tableau that was part of the Interpretation Centre

There was also a little tribal hut.....

....where a grandma sat with a her grandson

....while the mother churned buttermilk.

No TV, minimal night lighting and the lack of cellular networks meant a really blissful existence for a few days when I lost track of the day of the week and the time of the day.  Well not really time of the day, since we all knew our mealtimes well!

I eagerly awaited the food, with the daily round of podis and the interesting payasams, hot chapatis and fresh vegetables.  And our own Mr Shankarnarayan had a second treat for us from Grand Sweets, at every meal!

Jungle Ikebana

Beautiful lines

bamboo and vines

with the sun filtering through

in the forests of Sri Venkateswara National Park

close to Mamandur 

creating calligraphic forms

undisturbed, and free to flow

All over the forest floor

which, not even a Panorama shot will capture.

The Rao Jodha Desert Rock park

11th Jan 2015

As we finished our tour of the fabulous and awe inspiring Mehrangarh fort, Shobha and Sheila mentioned the Rao Jodha Park, where Pradeep Krishen was behind an effort to "rewild" the areas around the fort.

it seemed like an interesting place to visit, and so off we went to the Visitor Centre, located below the fort, where we met enthusiastic Sachin, a naturalist involved in this project.  It was humbling to see his passion and knowledge about what was being done.

In 1890 or thereabouts, this was how the rocky outcrop appeared.  (Painting by GF Lamb, from the British Library)

It seems that in the 1930s one of the previous rajas of Jodhpur decided to green the hillside, and scattered seeds of Prosopsis juliflora, all across his state.  We now know that this imported mesquite is hardy and drought resistant and while it provides an endless supply of fodder and firewood, it takes over the countryside, not allowing anything else to grow.

Sachin told us how in 2006, the Fort Trust began this nature park project and the biggest challenge was how to eliminate the Prosopsis whose roots go deep into the stone.  After many failed methods, they finally got a set of sandstone miners, who actually chisel in and physically remove the plants.

It is an ongoing process and not complete by any means.

The map with the layout of the park can be seen here.

Just past the Visitor's Centre is  a set of experimental gardens, with different soil types and different plant types.

The ramparts stretched upwards, and even in January, it was now hot as the midday sun more than warmed us.  It was a bad idea on our part to come here just before lunch, because (atleast for me), a lot of what Sachin said was eaten up by my need for lunch, and therefore I am in no position to recount the names of all that we saw!

Was this the Goondi - Cordia graham ?  If it is, it has red fruit which is gelatinous and full of water 

Sachin explained that the Jodhpur area had volcanic rock, and the sands in the various parts of desert Rajasthan were different from each other.  We admired the beautiful hues of the molten rock piled up.

This was the rock from Jaisalmer - more yellow, which would explain the differences in the colours of the two forts - Jaisalmer and Mehrangarh.

I do not recall the name of this shrub.....

But this I recall is bui - Aerva javanica - a desert cotton shrub which we subsequently saw in the Thar, used to fill pillows and mattresses in this part of the world.

This too I don't recall.

Unknown yellow

We were in the desert in the late winter and many of the flowers which would be seen in spring - say Feb/March - were absent.  The Rohido (Tecomella undulata) is for early birds like us, flowering in late winter, its bright red blossoms unmistakeable.

Also referred to as Marwar Teak, the wood is highly prized and I think it is protected.  

Another unknown beauty

The lake near Jaswant Thada is also part of the Park, and was home to many migratory birds.  We saw wigeon, pintails, coots, water hen, cormorants and kingfishers while we waited.

Photos by Sheila

On the next morning, Shobha, Raji and Sheila went back to the Park and went down to the trail by the old water aqueduct.  These are the pictures Sheila took.

It was cool and quiet, they said, and it was a refreshing walk, with Sachin once again filling them with details!

The characteristic thor - Euphorbia caducifolia - which is a succulent but not of the cactus family.  The base provides protection for little creatures from predators, so its a good place to hang around if you want to see some smaller wildlife.

Lovely views of the fort

Some parts of the duct had water.

I would love to visit again, in a different season, and next time I promise myself to take better notes!