| 24 May |
| Arrived in Delhi. Hot but not to bad -- 38/39C. City had thunderstorms the previous night. Sitting in the restaurant and saw that a pair of red vented bulbuls had begun to make a nest just outside the window. |
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| 25 May |
| Transfer driver took a completely different route to the train station. Hardly recognised any of it, but seemed to take the same amount of time; very bumpy. Train was on time, very clean; could smell the disinfectant that had been used to do the cleaning. Even had astroturf on the floor! |
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| 26 May |
| AM. Arrived at Katni 06.30 Early! Our usual driver was waiting for us and we got the porters organised. One of them had difficulty in carrying his load up the stairs, so had to use the ramps and go a longer way round. Arrived at camp at around 09.30 am and had breakfast. |
| PM. Park opening times are 05.30 - 09.30 am and 03.45 - 6.45 pm. Left on our afternoon drive at about 04.00 pm. Saw Rosie at the gate a little thin and dirty but reasonably OK. Got a couple of ticks that need to be taken care of. The park is busier than I expected; it is holiday season in India, including the schools. The people here, though, seem to be quieter than the locals that frequent the park earlier in the season. Took a slow drive around to Rajbehra dam. Some jeeps there, but telling us that the tiger has moved over the hill. We quickly drove around the hill and came to a large number of jeeps parked at the side of the road. The tiger had already crossed and was walking between the track and the small stream at the bottom of the hill. She gradually made her way down the slope, often turning and pausing and sometimes lying down. After a while she jumped over the stream and made her way up the opposite slope. The tiger was one of Jhurjura’s litter; a sub adult female. Waited a while to see if any more of the family appeared but no luck. Left the park and fed Rosie on the way back. Very hot, but the strange thing was that the breeze was hot too, so no respite there. Had drinks under a cool(er) sky, and dinner before a good nights sleep. |
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| 27 May |
| AM. Into the park at dawn; pleasant and warm. This is probably going to be the best time of the day as the midday temperatures will hit 45C plus. Fortunately the humidity is low, so it feels more comfortable than you would expect. Saw Kutapan and Banraj at Siddh Baba. They had found Chorbera in a dry riverbed and were looking to get permission to take visitors on the elephant. Decided to check out Rajbehra and then come back. Saw fresh pugmarks on the track leading to the lake. Massive herd of deer in the meadow. We drove past the dam with two sluices, stopping to look at a Stork Billed Kingfisher, and went round to check Sehra meadow. On coming back to the dam we found several jeeps stopped at the side of the track. On the bank of the stream Boka could be seen sleeping at the foot of a tree. We watched for a short while but there was no sign of movement, so we headed around to Siddh Baba. The elephants were looking at Chorbera, who was dozing alongside the stream near the shrine. At first she was upside down, paws splayed in the long grass, but she soon moved into a more open space where we had a good view. Also saw a Crested Serpent Eagle in the long grass with what appeared to be a Jungle Fowl chick. |
| PM. Started the afternoon with Chorbera, back at the shrine and very close to where we saw her in the morning. Then drove around to some caves where Jhurjura often sleeps. There was a tiger in one of the lower caves, but until it moved we didn’t realise that it was Boka. He walked a short way and then sat down treating us to a display of territorial growling before switching his direction and disappearing up the hillside above the caves. Ann amazing sound. Rajbehra dam was next on the agenda, and we found Jhurjura and one cub over the small hillside next to the dam (same place as yesterday) heading down the slope to cross the track. There was no way to get close with all the jeeps there, so decided to drive around the perimeter of the meadow instead and head for climber point. This ended with us seeing the tigers cross the dam from the “wrong” side (downstream) and we arrived back at the dam behind too many vehicles, unable to see the mother and two female cubs as they bathed, drank and interacted. The other male cub hadn’t crossed the track. Last port of call was Chakradhara meadow, where we found Chakradhara virtually hidden in the long grass. She raised her head to look at us a couple of times, but only briefly. |
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| 28 May |
| AM. Drove through the main meadow, Gupalpur, Sita Mandap and Banbai. Good life around the waterhole and lots of peacocks. Few alarm calls but no tigers. Just as we turned to go to Hardia checkpoint, we heard that there were tigers at Damna culvert. Lots of jeeps, but our other jeep had a better position so we moved into there. The tigers in question were the Mirchani males resting downstream on the riverbed several hundred metres away. After about 40 minutes, the tigers became suddenly alert. A few chital were wandering into view, completely oblivious of the tigers’ presence. One of the tigers half raised himself, waiting for the opportunity to strike, bit the deer suddenly spotted the cats and scattered making alarm calls as they went. The cats settled down again, and after another half an hour got up and slowly walked along the river away from us and out of view. Nice view of a juvenile Crested Hawk Eagle, in the gorge that carries the Charanganga River, as we left the park. |
| PM. Great views of birds coming to a dripping standpipe at the camp to drink, only a few metres from the dining area. Bring the cameras to lunch…… Back in the park we had a good sighting of a couple of jackals as we drove to Rajbehra dam. Shortly before 6pm, Jhurjura’s sub adult male appeared. He walked over the dam, before climbing over the rocks and going down to the water to drink. After a long drink, he eased himself into the water to cool down, before walking along the far shore submerged in the water up to his shoulders. After 10 minutes he emerged from the water, and we had to leave to get out of the park. |
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| 29 May |
| AM. An early call to Gupalpur waterhole. Plenty of bird life around, including a pair of Lesser Adjutant Storks and a Woolly Necked Stork wading near the shore. After half an hour we drove around to Andhiyari Jhhiriya, and parked between the “T” junction and the small stream that runs across the road. We saw one of the Mirchani males in the forest, and he walked slowly towards us out of the trees, crossing the road immediately behind our jeep. Very confident and relaxed; a good sighting. The tiger disappeared into the forest on the hillside, so we drove around to Rajbehra, to find one of Jhurjura’s sub adult females in a cave on the hillside behind Rajbehra dam. Although it was only 8.30am, the temperature was already rising rapidly, and this would be a cooler place for the tiger to rest during the middle of the day. After half an hour, we left her to her rest and drove back towards the park gate. Near to Siddh Baba the elephants had found Chorbera, and we climbed aboard to go and see her. She was resting near to the stream that borders meadow and the hillside in an attempt to keep cool. |
| PM. In the afternoon we went looking for B2, but no success. On the way out we saw a pair of chital stags fighting. |
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| 30 May |
| AM. We spent a long time looking a group of langur monkeys, lazing on the trees with legs hanging down and dozing in the heat. We checked the track behind the hill adjacent to Rajbehra dam, and over the stream on the opposite hillside we could see Jhurjura’s sub adult male half hidden in the bamboo. After a few minutes, the tiger walked out of the undergrowth and sat on some rocks, giving a reasonably clear view between the trees. Our circuit for the morning ended back at Chakradhara meadow, where B2 was dozing amid the ferns at the side of the road. The elephants were there, though the tiger was so well hidden that even from that vantage point we could only see his face occasionally and some patches of fur. |
| PM. Another good lunchtime birding around the camp, especially a Tickles Blue Flycatcher and a Black Rumped Flameback Woodpecker that came to drink at the standpipe. Immediately on entering the park, we stopped to watch a troop of rhesus macaques foraging and interacting in and around the stream. Youngsters were riding on the back on their mothers like jockeys, and some of the monkeys entertained themselves by jumping from high branches into the stream just for fun! We headed back towards the hillside near Rajbehra dam, where we had seen our first tiger of the morning, and were rewarded again. There were 4 tigers there: Jhurjura, 2 of her sub adult cubs and Boka. We spent an hour watching them laze in the afternoon heat, occasionally interacting and coming down to the stream to drink. Our final view, before we left the park, was of Boka watching us from between the trees on the opposite slope. |
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| 31 May |
| AM. Today we headed to the fort, early to avoid the heat. We were lucky enough to see one of the elephants just past Siddh Baba that had found Chorbera in the meadow. We waited while the necessary permissions were obtained, and then went on the elephant to see her, before continuing up to the fort by jeep. At the gatehouse we had a good view of one of the bats that was hanging outside on the rock face (surprising at that time of day) and a very good view of a Malabar Pied Hornbill. Once on top of the fort hill, we went over to the south cliff to have breakfast and look at the views to the plains 1,000 ft below. In the rapidly rising temperatures, the cliffs generate strong thermals that the vultures take full advantage of. We take breakfast and are treated to the sight of Long Billed Vultures soaring below us and flying by at eye level. A truly spectacular sight. On the way to visit the temple that sits on the north side of the fort, we see a grey headed fish eagle perched in a tree next to one of the large, man-made water tanks. Arriving at the temple, we see something that surprises us all; the season has been so dry that the water tank next to the temple (the size of several football pitches) is completely dry. This is the first time I have seen this, and have the strange experience of standing in the middle of the dry tank looking back to the temple. On the way down, we stop to have a break on top of the cliffs, at the sight of the Kings viewing platform. Suddenly, the keening sound of the resident peregrine falcon splits the air and it comes to rest on a ledge part way down the cliff in clear view. Outstanding! |
| PM. In the afternoon, we decide to stake out the forest a couple of kilometres to the north of Rajbehra meadow. After about half an hour we hear some alarm calls, and catch sight of one of Jhurjura’s sub adult females, who has just crossed the road. She looks to be heading for Rajbehra, so we drive to the dam and park up to wait. After what seems like an hour, but in reality was only 20 minutes, we catch sight of the tiger approaching through the forest towards the water. She takes a long drink and then settles into the water to bathe. At one point, she emerges from the water to stand on some rocks and pose for photographs, before going back in for another swim. After about half an hour, she wades towards the wall of the dam and leaps out, trailing water, and after a brief pause jumps down to the other side of the wall. We drive around to the downstream side of the dam, and catch sight of the tiger sitting on a rocky outcrop at the edge of the treeline. After a few minutes she leaves the rocks and walks through the trees onto the meadow. She stops, alert, and looks down the meadow towards a herd of chital grazing a few hundred metres away. She moves slowly towards them, using the dried up river bed for cover. We occasionally catch sight of her ears as we look for her progress. A Woolly Necked Stork briefly catches her attention, before she continues her stalk. The river bed forms a sharp “S” halfway down the meadow, and there she waits as the deer wander towards her, completely oblivious to her presence. Then, as the deer begin to descend into the river bed, they sense the tiger and begin to bolt. The tiger launches into a charge and goes straight through the line of running deer without making contact; she must have failed to pick her target and been confused by the numbers. She turns on a sixpence, almost in midair, and charges back after the fleeing deer, but they are too far away now and after a short chase she stops. After catching her breath, she resumes her walk westwards down the meadow, crossing the track a short distance away from the following jeeps. It is amazing how much the undergrowth has died away since I left in mid April; the result is that you can see a very long way through the forest and meadows. If you happen to find a tiger, the sightings can last a long time. We left the tigress eyeing another group of deer in the oncoming dusk. From our first sighting of her at the dam until then was a full hour. Spectacular! |
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| 1 June |
| AM. Our morning begins at Rajbehra dam. There are a huge number of chital on the meadow and at the water. No wonder this a favourite place for the tigers; food and water all in one. I wonder how many deer have taken their last drink here? One little fawn is particularly lively, careering backwards and forwards along the edge of the water in its own little game. I grows late and we decide that the tigers won’t appear now, and head back towards the main meadow. The elephants have found Chakradhara on a ledge in the forest at the foot of the hillside, quite close to the stream. The elephants take us the short distance through the boggy ground to see the tiger, who is relaxed and quite unmoved by all of the attention. |
| PM. The afternoon was spent waiting for Banbai’s family and B2. We heard a few alarm calls but no tigers. Some claimed to have seen them, but reckon that this is wishful thinking. Highlight of the afternoon is a pair of scops owls in a hollowed and broken tree stump. |
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| 2 June |
| AM. Plenty of activity from the langur this morning, including lots of activity from the very young. Good sightings of Malabar Pied Hornbill and Crested Serpent Eagle. Our tiger sighting is a few bits of B2 under the long grass on the main meadow. If you look closely you can just about see one eye and a stripe. We wait, but today this tiger is not for moving!! |
| PM. Another spectacular afternoon at Rajbehra dam. The tigress was the same sub adult as we had seen two afternoons ago, and this time she appeared on the side of the dam where the jeeps were waiting and walked across the dam away from us. Halfway across she stopped and stared intently at the water as though she were about to dive in. In the end she resumed her crossing, but instead of going to drink she dropped off the wall to the downstream side of the dam. We drove around to find her in the riverbed, once again. This must be a favoured route, and quite handy for keeping out of sight. We followed her down the meadow and across the road that leads to climber point. Sometimes walking, sometimes sitting, always alert she moved westwards away from the dam. Little by little she angled towards the road that we were on, finally heading straight towards us. She didn’t cross the road, but headed back to the boundary between the meadow and the forest and walked further west, sometimes in the trees, sometimes on the meadow. By the time we left her she had walked almost into Zone 2; almost 70 minutes with the tiger in full view the whole time. |
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| 3 June |
| AM. The next morning we headed back to where we had left the tigress the night before. We waited a while, and heard a chital alarm call, though this turned out to be for a solitary jackal patrolling the same area. We headed around the south side of the fort to Andhiyari Jhhiriya and arrived just as one of the Mirchani males was walking across the meadow. He walked towards us, and then circled around so that he walked towards us for a second time, before crossing the road and heading up the hillside into the forest. We continued our circuit, and came to the gorge below Siddh Baba where the Charanganga River flows. Chorbera was sitting on the slope on the far side of the river, and we boarded our elephant for a view. She sat for a while as we watched, before moving along the slope and settling on a small group of rocks. This gave us the opportunity to get very close at eye level and take some superb portraits. Nice sighting of a Stork Billed Kingfisher on the way out of the park. |
| PM. In the afternoon we returned to Rajbehra dam for another sighting of Jhurjura’s sub adult female. This time she drank and bathed before jumping out of the water and disappearing over the dam. She stayed in the treeline and headed towards Climber Point. She caught sight of some deer in the meadow and started to stalk, using the large trees for cover. Slowly she moved through the trees, only a few metres away from us, sometimes freezing with paws raised halfway through her step. Finally she reached the last tree and a deer was so close she could have taken it easily. For some reason she hesitated and the deer moved away, so she moved out of the treeline to stalk another deer in the meadow. Unfortunately she mis-timed her charge and once again was left empty handed. |
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| 4 June |
| AM. We began the morning back at Climber Point, and had a good view of a ruddy mongoose crossing the road and scrambling among the rocks. We headed to look for the Mirchani males at Andhiyari Jhhiriya, and spotted them both in the woodland next to the stream. They sat for a while before one of the tigers went to the other and they greeted by head rubbing. Then both crossed the road (some time apart) each scratching and climbing a partially fallen tree as they went. An hour later found us at Rajbehra dam, watching Jhurjura’s sub adult female taking her morning bath. She spent some time stalking the deer on Rajbehra meadow (unsuccessfully) before returning to the dam and crossing over towards us. We drove around the hill that borders the dam, in time to see her coming over the brow of the hill and going into a cave. She settled down to sleep and was still there when we left. Had some great views of a Black Rumped Flame Backed Woodpecker back at the camp. |
| PM. We returned to search for the female near the dam, and found her (after a long search) sleeping in the river bed down stream of the dam. As we watched a group of deer wandered slowly toward her, once again oblivious to the tiger. She became alert, and almost disappeared into the grass as she waited. One of the deer came down the slope and stopped, looking at this strange “thing” in the grass and trying to figure out what it was. After about 8 seconds the penny dropped and the deer called and bolted. The tigress powered out of the grass and up the bank, chital scattering in every direction, and once again the tiger ran out of steam before she could make the kill. Her lack of experience is obviously telling at the moment and she’s starting to look a little thin. Mother is still around, so hopefully she will still get enough food to keep going. |
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| 5 June |
| AM. In the morning we immediately headed back towards Rajbehra, and were pleasantly surprised to find Jhurjura and Boka together in the meadow below the dam. The tigers were in clear view, quite close to the road, and I thought that it would be nice if the tigers moved a little closer together so that I could get them in the same frame. Amazingly, Boka got up and moved to Jhurjura….. and proceeded to mate! Boka held the female by the neck, and there was the expected roars and flashing of teeth as they separated. We were very privileged to see this behaviour at close quarters from the jeep. Both tigers rested separately, before the female led the way across the road and they moved out of sight down the river bed. Our final sight was of B2 from the elephant. Very full, he expended the minimum amount of energy, which amounted to opening his eyes for a few seconds during the 10 minutes we were there. |
| PM. After lunch and a quick pack, a two hour drive to Katni to catch our evening sleeper train to Delhi. Departed on time, and had our packed meal before settling in for the night. |
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| 6 June |
| Arrived at Agra shortly after 4am, and said goodbye to clients who were taking an extension to see the Taj Mahal. Back to the bunk for a few hours before arriving in Delhi and braving the morning rush hour. Spent the rest of the day relaxing in the air-conditioning of the hotel before the flight home the next day. |
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