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Into the Land of the Snow Leopard (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Jos Stratford
- Start date
That was it, burnt out all my best photos, a couple more of the Bearded Vultures maybe..
ps Yep Ill back you on that split, Mark. B
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redeyedvideo
It's like water off a duck's back!
Another cracking report with some excellent photos, envious indeed.
I caught a glimpse of the beast on David Attenborough's 60 Years in the Wild last night on BBC2 which is about as close as I'll come, I even dipped on Ibisbill this year!
The Snow Leopard sequence comes in at 52 mins;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00zsqsz/Attenborough_60_Years_in_the_Wild_Life_on_Camera/
I caught a glimpse of the beast on David Attenborough's 60 Years in the Wild last night on BBC2 which is about as close as I'll come, I even dipped on Ibisbill this year!
The Snow Leopard sequence comes in at 52 mins;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00zsqsz/Attenborough_60_Years_in_the_Wild_Life_on_Camera/
Part Three. Ranthambhore.
With the Snow Leopard adventure over and four days at my disposal before a return to Europe, I pondered my options - my two main choices were a trip up to Ramnagar and Nanital for a rich feast of birds on the lower slopes of the HImalaya or a few days at Rhathambore in Rajasthan for the chance of Tiger to add to the cat haul.
Political disputes and Supreme Court judgements had resulted in all the tiger reserves in India being closed prior to my departure from Europe, seemingly quashing the latter option. However, whilst in Ladakh, the Supreme Court reversed its decision, so with a desire to both bask in some warm sunshine and possibly see the iconic cats, I opted for Ranthambhore.
30 October. Travel Day, Ladakh to Ranthambhore.
From Leh, a late morning flight back to Delhi, the cold rugged beauty of the Himalaya replaced by the hot humid seething mass of of humanity and dirt and pollution that is Delhi. People and cars everywhere, pigs running aside the road, Black Kites wheeling above, House Crows and Common Mynas rejoicing in the rubbish.
With no desire to savour this longer than necessary, I went directly from the airport to main train station to catch a train to Sawai Madhopur, junction for Ranthambhore. Bank Mynas running around the platform, House Crows and House Sparrows hopping about alongside, my train departed at 16.50, a comfortable sleeper that arrived at 22.00. A quick taxi and I was in my hotel, the very fine Atitya Hotel, my room costing the grand sum of four euros.
With the Snow Leopard adventure over and four days at my disposal before a return to Europe, I pondered my options - my two main choices were a trip up to Ramnagar and Nanital for a rich feast of birds on the lower slopes of the HImalaya or a few days at Rhathambore in Rajasthan for the chance of Tiger to add to the cat haul.
Political disputes and Supreme Court judgements had resulted in all the tiger reserves in India being closed prior to my departure from Europe, seemingly quashing the latter option. However, whilst in Ladakh, the Supreme Court reversed its decision, so with a desire to both bask in some warm sunshine and possibly see the iconic cats, I opted for Ranthambhore.
30 October. Travel Day, Ladakh to Ranthambhore.
From Leh, a late morning flight back to Delhi, the cold rugged beauty of the Himalaya replaced by the hot humid seething mass of of humanity and dirt and pollution that is Delhi. People and cars everywhere, pigs running aside the road, Black Kites wheeling above, House Crows and Common Mynas rejoicing in the rubbish.
With no desire to savour this longer than necessary, I went directly from the airport to main train station to catch a train to Sawai Madhopur, junction for Ranthambhore. Bank Mynas running around the platform, House Crows and House Sparrows hopping about alongside, my train departed at 16.50, a comfortable sleeper that arrived at 22.00. A quick taxi and I was in my hotel, the very fine Atitya Hotel, my room costing the grand sum of four euros.
Andrew
wibble wibble
Ditto here, saw that just after reading this thread last night and it was all the more enjoyable for it.
Excellent write up Jos, thanks. Looking forward to the rest.
Good luck on this second phase of your quest!
Tigers in India are unlikely to survive for another decade in the wild, they are too vulnerable to poaching. Each animal is worth a fortune in Chinese medicines and they live among some of the poorest people on earth.
Threats are grave indeed, but in reserves well-supported by tourists at least, the numbers seem to be holding their own, even increasing, locals value the reserves and act as extra eyes.
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31 October. Ranthambhore National Park.
A very pleasant walk in the Ranthambhore area is along the road in the buffer zone between the national park main entrance and Ranthambhore Fort a distance of six or seven kilometres. As part of the reserve, access on foot is strongly discouraged, but not as far as I am aware technically prohibited. Some minutes of debate with the guards, they trying to insist it was illegal, me arguing that locals occasionally walk this way, I got through.
Thick forest and prime tiger territory, birding here is in reality a little foolhardy and, to be honest, quite scary. Amazing it is though, Black-faced Langurs numerous, occasional Spotted Deers, birds galore ...and, adding a certain edge to the proceedings, fresh Tiger pugmarks. Naturally, the inevitable happened. About 3 km into my walk, senses very heightened and all steps taken with great caution, I reached a shallow valley with a stream running up the centre and woodland rising on both sides. All pleasant enough, Common Tailorbirds in the bushes, a couple of Eurasian Kingfishers on the stream, one Striated Heron too, but ahead the Langur Monkeys were alarming - this stopped me dead in my tracks, any sign of alarm by monkey or deer in Ranthambhore is almost certainly due to the nearby presence of Tiger. Alarms were constant, a few hundred metres ahead as I could gauge, time to stay put I thought, of course not knowing which way the presumed Tiger was going, if in my direction it would be with me in a matter of minutes.
Ten day earlier, elsewhere in the reserve, a Tiger had killed a lone walker, the third such incident this season alone. I had no wish to become the next statistic, so began to ponder my options, considering the trees and also a total withdrawal from the area. Neither seemed particularly realistic, nor the option of jumping in a pool a little further back. A regular passage of vehicles uses this road up to the fort and, most timely, a motorcycle just happened to come motoring up the road at that moment, even more fortunately it did not have the usual two or three pillions already squashed onto the back. I hopped on and off we went, continuing towards the fort. Round a couple of corners and there she was, one female Tiger parallel to the road, padding her way up the valley!!! Jeepers, quite happy I paid attention to the monkeys! Got a few blurry shots of the Tiger as we went speeding by, bouncing through potholes, me trying to swivel to photograph the cat. A laughing jolly rider was the motorbike guy, but he sure wasn't about to stop for me to get better shots!
I then decided to spend the next hour or so birding around the fort, a far safer option! Amongst hoards of pilgrims that climb the hill to the fort and its temples inside, there is quite a lot to see for the wandering birder too - several Small Minivets, quite a few Brown Rock Chats, oodles of both Ring-necked and Plum-headed Parakeets, one Indian Golden Oriole, loads of Rufous Treepies and, a rare sight in India these days, a single Long-billed Vulture. Also hundreds of Langurs hanging about for freebie hand-outs of grain and marigolds, gifts from the passing pilgrims.
For my afternoon entertainment, I joined the scrum at the forest department office for tickets into the national park proper. Thanks to Indian bureaucracy, Supreme Court rulings and inept government, obtaining the required permits to visit tiger reserves in India is now an energy-sapping exercise in frustration, and it is becoming worse. Of course, for added inconvenience, the ticket office is not near the park gates, but 15 km away in the town of Suwai Madhopur. And then to top it off, if you get tickets, you are randomy allotted a zone to visit within the park. I unfortunately got zone 8, an area of dry hills without lakes or significant water - this is a pretty rubbish part of the reserve for mammals, so chances of further felines this day were effectively zilch.
Nevertheless, a mildly attractive area, high cliffs and deep gorges and not too bad for birds either - three Small Buttonquail the best, but also Lesser Goldenbacks, White-bellied Drongos, both Bay-backed and Long-tailed Shrikes, one White-browed Fantail and plenty of the commoner bits and bobs. For the non-birders aboard the jeep however, it must have been a tad tedious - big mammals amounted to a mere handful of Sambar, one herd of Spotted Deers, a few Nilgai and, rather better, a pair of Indian Gazelle. One Indian Jackal also put in an appearance at the end of the day, as did a very brief Small Indian Mongoose.
A very pleasant walk in the Ranthambhore area is along the road in the buffer zone between the national park main entrance and Ranthambhore Fort a distance of six or seven kilometres. As part of the reserve, access on foot is strongly discouraged, but not as far as I am aware technically prohibited. Some minutes of debate with the guards, they trying to insist it was illegal, me arguing that locals occasionally walk this way, I got through.
Thick forest and prime tiger territory, birding here is in reality a little foolhardy and, to be honest, quite scary. Amazing it is though, Black-faced Langurs numerous, occasional Spotted Deers, birds galore ...and, adding a certain edge to the proceedings, fresh Tiger pugmarks. Naturally, the inevitable happened. About 3 km into my walk, senses very heightened and all steps taken with great caution, I reached a shallow valley with a stream running up the centre and woodland rising on both sides. All pleasant enough, Common Tailorbirds in the bushes, a couple of Eurasian Kingfishers on the stream, one Striated Heron too, but ahead the Langur Monkeys were alarming - this stopped me dead in my tracks, any sign of alarm by monkey or deer in Ranthambhore is almost certainly due to the nearby presence of Tiger. Alarms were constant, a few hundred metres ahead as I could gauge, time to stay put I thought, of course not knowing which way the presumed Tiger was going, if in my direction it would be with me in a matter of minutes.
Ten day earlier, elsewhere in the reserve, a Tiger had killed a lone walker, the third such incident this season alone. I had no wish to become the next statistic, so began to ponder my options, considering the trees and also a total withdrawal from the area. Neither seemed particularly realistic, nor the option of jumping in a pool a little further back. A regular passage of vehicles uses this road up to the fort and, most timely, a motorcycle just happened to come motoring up the road at that moment, even more fortunately it did not have the usual two or three pillions already squashed onto the back. I hopped on and off we went, continuing towards the fort. Round a couple of corners and there she was, one female Tiger parallel to the road, padding her way up the valley!!! Jeepers, quite happy I paid attention to the monkeys! Got a few blurry shots of the Tiger as we went speeding by, bouncing through potholes, me trying to swivel to photograph the cat. A laughing jolly rider was the motorbike guy, but he sure wasn't about to stop for me to get better shots!
I then decided to spend the next hour or so birding around the fort, a far safer option! Amongst hoards of pilgrims that climb the hill to the fort and its temples inside, there is quite a lot to see for the wandering birder too - several Small Minivets, quite a few Brown Rock Chats, oodles of both Ring-necked and Plum-headed Parakeets, one Indian Golden Oriole, loads of Rufous Treepies and, a rare sight in India these days, a single Long-billed Vulture. Also hundreds of Langurs hanging about for freebie hand-outs of grain and marigolds, gifts from the passing pilgrims.
For my afternoon entertainment, I joined the scrum at the forest department office for tickets into the national park proper. Thanks to Indian bureaucracy, Supreme Court rulings and inept government, obtaining the required permits to visit tiger reserves in India is now an energy-sapping exercise in frustration, and it is becoming worse. Of course, for added inconvenience, the ticket office is not near the park gates, but 15 km away in the town of Suwai Madhopur. And then to top it off, if you get tickets, you are randomy allotted a zone to visit within the park. I unfortunately got zone 8, an area of dry hills without lakes or significant water - this is a pretty rubbish part of the reserve for mammals, so chances of further felines this day were effectively zilch.
Nevertheless, a mildly attractive area, high cliffs and deep gorges and not too bad for birds either - three Small Buttonquail the best, but also Lesser Goldenbacks, White-bellied Drongos, both Bay-backed and Long-tailed Shrikes, one White-browed Fantail and plenty of the commoner bits and bobs. For the non-birders aboard the jeep however, it must have been a tad tedious - big mammals amounted to a mere handful of Sambar, one herd of Spotted Deers, a few Nilgai and, rather better, a pair of Indian Gazelle. One Indian Jackal also put in an appearance at the end of the day, as did a very brief Small Indian Mongoose.
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wolfbirder
Well-known member
Can't believe you "chose" to walk through that area Jos. Big beast is that Tiger!
Let's just say I am a perhaps a tad stupid :-O Wasn't the first time I had done this at this locality.
Isurus
Well-known member
Scary indeed. I did a few circuits of the rather extensive lodge grounds at the lodge adjoining Tadoba NP earlier in the year. After the chap had shown us all his camera trap archive of the various tigers that amble through the grounds, the still wet pile of sloth bear crap in the car park and the leopard and tiger pug marks all around the birding tower I have to say that any kind of alarm call during my walk would have caused the brown adrenalin to flow.
About ten years ago in Keolada there was a female tiger on the reserve. At entrance they were giving out notices saying please don't scare the tiger, of course wife and I were birding in the area behind Python rock when the tiger suddenly came into few, fortunately walking across our line rather than towards us, quick reverse of direction and we could safely watch as she disappeared into the long grass but really excited / scared, whereas tiger was completely nonplused.
stuartelsom
Well-known member
Fantastic trip report Jos - and a great writing style. Very gripping...
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