Blackbucks at Maidenahalli

Maidanhalli has long been on my list of places to see around Bangalore. Despite a tiring Saturday, I set off on Sunday morning with a couple of friends.

Just as we got off NH4, we came across a pond on our left side. On our right side was a rocky landscape, with a pair of Egyptian Vultures sitting atop. What a way to start the day! We trekked up the rock in an unsuccessful pursuit to photograph them. On our way down, a large dark-grey/brown bird with a long tail disappeared into a nearby tree. We tried to get close but it flew and landed on a rock. This was my first sighting of a Sirkeer Malkoha around Bangalore. Also, it was of a greyish brown color, compared to the pale brown ones that I had seen in Kanha.

Along the way, we saw a Common Hawk Cuckoo on a wire next to the road. It was mobbed by bulbuls very soon and flew to the safety of a mango grove nearby. A pair of eagles were jousting in the air and attacking each other with their talons.

Maidanahalli itself was fascinating and a tad disappointing.

First, the fascinating part. The grasslands are truly a sight to see. Rolling on unevenly, the sway of the grass is a treat to watch. Add a herd of blackbucks and it is magical.



We saw herds of blackbucks ranging from 5 to 20 in numbers. They are very very shy and wouldn't let you anywhere close-by. The photograph above was shot from the forest department "pagoda" where we were resting after lunch. This lone male wandered close-by and allowed us a few shots before bounding away. Soon after, we also saw a hare bounding along the grasslands around the same place.

Birding was also awesome here. We saw a green bee-eater with a butterfly, taking its own sweet time to stun its prey and then swallow it in one gulp! Larks allowed us to get very close in the car and would then do a superb parachuting display and land close-by. We also saw a family of Yellow-wattled Lapwings with 2 juveniles. A huge number of lifers too - Southern Grey Shrike, Red-collared Dove and a flock of Grey Francolins - to make the day for me.



About the disappointing part, the sanctuary blends seamlessly into nearby villages. A 360 degree scan of the landscape never presents itself without agriculture in the backdrop. This causes a few issues, primarily grazing cattle and sheep in the sanctuary. A shepherd came up to us in the pagoda and started playing loud music on his mobile! What was saddening was that the blackbucks have to wait their turn while the sheep drink water from their water-hole. On our way back, we saw blackbucks venturing very close to farms in the villages around. A real pity!

How to get to Maidanahalli? - Maidanahalli is around 150km from Bangalore (a good 4-5hr drive). Drive to Tumkur. Beyond Tumkur, there is a diversion to Madhugiri (the locals would help you out with the exact road). Beyond Madhugiri, ask for directions to Jayamanagali forest or Maidanahalli.

A word of advice on planning a trip - Do a 2-day trip. Try to get Forest Dept permission to stay overnight at their forest bungalow. If you are successful, drive to Maidanahalli after lunch on Day 1. Check out the park and the wildlife till sunset. Spend the night there (you need to carry your own food). Do early morning birding and wildlife-watching. Have breakfast and start back to Bangalore.

Links:
List of Birds
Photographs

"Kuch dikha kya?" aka Kanha - Tiger, Shows and Traffic Woes...

Kanha is visited primarily for one of its denizens - the Bengal Tiger (Panthera Tigris Tigris). The royalty, taking a walk in the meadows, is truly an experience to behold!



We spotted tigers on 5 of 8 safaris. It was fantastic, especially because I hadn't seen one before. For once, I was thankful to be in the safari jeep than off it :)

Prey is aplenty here. From the tiger's fave food - sambar - to chital to barasigha, the buffet is varied too. One of the groups from the workshop actually saw a tiger attempt a hunt!

We would've, too, if it was not closing time for the park. Read the story by clicking the photograph below.



THE HUMAN EFFECT
The eagerness to see a tiger translates into extensive human interference in the visitor zone at Kanha. Each day, more than 100 safari vehicles make 2 trips into the park. This literally causes traffic jams in the forest, sometimes accidents too.

There is a code when a jeep meets another on the safari - "Kuch dikha kya?" (Did you see anything?"). Of course, the "kuch" refers to the tiger. The obsession with the tiger is really amusing. According to our safari driver, some groups turn back 10 minutes into the safari if they see one close to the park entrance.

Another unique thing here is a Tiger Show. Every morning, a group of mahouts on their elephants head out into the forest. When a tiger is spotted, the elephants surround it, subdue it and force it to stay put. Wireless messages are sent out to the park ticket counters. Tourists can buy special tickets and be "treated" to a tiger sighting on elephant-back.

I went to 2 of the Tiger shows. One of the tigers was peaceful as he had just eaten (the spotted deer remains were carefully hidden under the grass close by) and was relaxing in a water hole. The other one seemed to be forced out of its water hole to a corner and was on alert. As a photographer, both gave me terrible shots due to the angle (looking down from elephant-back). As a nature-lover, I didn't like it because it was just not natural. The agitated/scared look of the tiger was moving.

As a pragmatist, I think its good in a way. People get to see what they want, increasing the park revenue. This in turn, hopefully, boosts the maintenance of our remaining forest cover and conservation. Tormenting a tiger to ensure the remaining survive might not be a bad idea.

PARTING THOUGHTS
The tiger has been feared, revered, admired and hunted for a very long time. The last, sadly, overtook the first three over the 19th and 20th centuries. Combined with population explosion of another mammal (overselves), it has endangered this huge cat. Tomorrow, we might be left with tales to hear and photographs to see of this "king of the jungle".

We may be proud to be Indians. But, we need to translate that pride into action if our descendants are to continue the "Kuch dikha kya?" tradition and still refer to our National Animal.

Kanha - Tiger country

My visit to Kanha was my first ever to any of the national parks in Central India. I was part of a group of wildlife photographers participating in Kalyan Varma's "Tiger Photography Tour".

I'll share my Kanha experiences over 3 posts. My first post - this one - is about the park, an overview of the animals and the workshop. My next post would be about the birds of Kanha. The concluding post would be about Kanha's biggest attraction - Panthera Tigris Tigris - and how humans interfere with the park.

THE PARK

Kanha is spread over 2000 square kilometres. It has an interesting mix of habitats - moist deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests, valley meadows and plateau meadows. This gives a fantastic range of lifeforms here. Our guide told us that there are 4 types of grass, other than bamboo. Forests are interspersed with evergreen sal trees and deciduous trees. There are around 29 species of mammals and 280 species of birds.

The park is divided into 5 zones - Kisli, Kanha, Mukki, Bhaisanghat and Suphkar. Our safaris were restricted to the first two. More details on Kanha are available here and here.

WORKSHOP
There were 6 participants in this workshop, split into 2 groups for the safaris. This gave us all ample time to interact with Kalyan and get his feedback. Kalyan's workshop, as always, is a pretty informal setting. There were a few introductory sessions on the basics of wildlife photography and equipment. These were interspersed with videos and photographs to give a glimpse of the best.

There were 6 safaris spread over 4 days. Kalyan joined each group on alternate trips and helped us along. We also got to use his photography gear. All in all, it was total fun and I carried back a lot of learning (from mistakes made and experiences from fellow participants).

ANIMALS AT KANHA
We saw a wide variety of mammals at Kanha. The most glamorous and majestic of them all, the tiger, made its appearance quite a few times. Wild dogs showed themselves for a brief moment before disappearing into the meadows. Although we didn't see a leopard, the other group came across a sloth bear and a jungle cat.

The most exclusive herbivore at Kanha is the Barasingha. The hard-ground sub-species here is not found anywhere else in the world. Recovering from the brink of extinction, this magnificent species still has a large area cordoned off for the breeding center. We were very fortunate to witness more than 120 individuals crossing the path in front of us one morning. I can never forget that sight!



The Chital (or Spotted Deer) were abundant. They are all over the place and in herds of all sizes. Being the mating season, it was fun to watch the males display (sharpening horns and decorating them with grass and leaves), fight to assert supremacy and chase females. It took me some time to distinguish between their runting call and alarm call, both of which were fairly common.



The Barking deer, or Munjtac, made a brief appearance. Sambar, the tiger's favourite, can be seen early in the morning or late in the evening. I always saw them on the hills or in the forest. The closest they came to a meadow was when they were quenching their thirst at a waterhole.

I've never seen such huge herds of Gaur before. Also known as the Indian Bison, this is the largest of all cattle in the world. They seemed unperturbed by the traffic around them and their grazing hardly ever stopped. In fact, on the last day of our trip, at least 40 vehicles had to stop on the way back as a gaur was blocking the way!



Wild boars, piglets in tow were seen in large groups. These animals were difficult to photograph at close quarters as they chose to maintain a distance from human activity.



Gray Langurs were in their most emotive moods. They were a treat to watch and photograph, especially because they sat at eye-level most of the time.



One morning, we decided to drive up the plateau to Bamhni Dadar. The views here are fascinating. But what made the trip special was sighting a Chousingha (of the Four-horned Antelope). A very elusive and rare animal, this individual was marking its territory with the "tears" rolling down its nose.



The only reptile we spotted was the Bengal Monitor Lizard. It was browsing for food on the ground and was beautifully camouflaged against the fallen leaves.



LOGISTICS
How do you get to Kanha? For starters, Kanha is located in Madhya Pradesh. The closest airports to Kanha are Nagpur (around 250km) and Jabalpur (around 190km). From most places, these are also the most easily accessible railway stations. I couldn't find any straightforward bus routes from Nagpur to Kanha; I shared a cab with other workshop participants. There is a direct bus from Jabalpur to Kanha; one of the workshop participants traveled by the bus.

We stayed at the Celebration Van Vilas resort at Mocha village. There are a number of other options there, from very inexpensive ones to ultra-luxury ones.

Kanha is open to visitors from November 01 to June 30. The park closes for the monsoons from July through September every year. There are 2 safaris allowed every day - from 5AM to 11PM and 4PM to 7PM. Park entry fees are Rs.680 per vehicle (no private vehicles allowed). This includes camera and guide charges. The safari Gypsy cost us Rs.1500 for the morning safari and Rs.1000 for the evening safari.