Deadly Crocodile

Deadly Crocodile

Hello friends good to see you here, hope all of you are doing good and enjoying the weekend. In past blogs, we experienced the beauty of forests and its citizens I mean unique birds/animals so let me bring a new flavor that is an aquatic reptile when you say reptile the first name has to be Crocodile because it is amongst largest and strongest aquatic reptile. The general belief is that Crocodile, Gharials, and Alligators all are same with a different name but it is not the same. You will be surprised to know that these are different species but habitat is almost similar with many similarities in looks as well. To give you clarity let me share my experience of various visits along with some unique facts.

I hate Crocodile tears re😅: 

In forest Crocodile are mostly found sleeping or basking near Lakes/River but the experience of  Crocodile in water land sanctuary (Chambal River and Ranganathittu bird  sanctuary) is more memorable but fearful at the same time then the forest because you are in middle of the River/Lake (Crocodile’s home ground) with hundred of Croco waiting to welcome you. 

We wanted to experience River area and it's habitats so we decided to take a tour of a River here we saw Crocodiles and Gharials enjoying a swim near our boat giving us the opportunity to capture them closely. You will say isn’t it scary, my answer is no it is not because we keep distance, if you keep reasonable distance from species you will be safe. You need to respect and understand the nature, till the time you don’t disturb them, they will not attack rather they will give you opportunities to get best out of the it.

We realize the difference between Crocodiles and Gharials when we saw both together at Chambal River. We saw them in different style such as basking near a lake or swimming through the lake or sitting idle with closed eyes (must be waiting for pray) giving us super clicks. Till date, we are yet to see Crocodile in action for the hunt which is extremely rare sighting but not impossible, hope we will be lucky in our upcoming trips. So now its time to know the facts to understand the nature of most dangerous aquatic reptile.

Know more about me:

• Crocodiles, Alligators, and Gharial belong to separate biological families. The Gharial, with its narrow snout, is easier to distinguish, while morphological differences are more difficult to spot in Crocodiles and Alligators

• Crocodiles belong to a subfamily of Crocodylinae, which includes Alligators, Caimans, Gharials and false Gharials

• Crocodiles are large and heavy with weight around 500 kg still with high swimming speed of 30 KMPH 

• Crocodiles have between 60 and 72 teeth, which they use to tear flesh apart. They do not chew their food but instead swallow a large portion of it 

• Ninety-nine percent of crocodile offspring are eaten in the first year after birth, by large fish, herons, monitor lizards, and adult crocodiles 

• "Crying crocodile tears" – displaying fake sadness – comes from the myth that the reptiles weep when eating humans. They do wipe their eyes when feeding because of their eyes bubble

• Crocodiles eat large meals and are efficient at storing energy in their bodies due to which they can survive without food for as long as 3 years

A message of the Day: SAVE WATER SAVE LIFE

“If you Don't want mental hydration then Think about water conservation

Author:

BT Wild Art – Bhavesh Thakkar photography

Life is Safari. Enjoy it.

DSLR ZONE

Crocodile sleeping don't disturb

Basking on River

The Gharial

This is my habitat

Count my teeth

Gharial on sleep mode

I Love River

 I am watching you

I am waiting for food

I love Swimming

Forever Forest

Forever Forest

Happy Sunday friends, I hope you are enjoying reading blogs on various species, every time I talk about birds and animals but not about their home ground hence I decided to give you the perspective of forests/bird sanctuaries of India. Today I will talk about how the forest has changed my life, why forests are so important, why forests are so rich and many more things which you should know, I am sure today’s topic you will enjoy the most.   

We Indians are lucky to have beautiful forestland of around 20% of total area; each one is unique with its behavior, landscapes, plantation, trees, mammals, birds and many more natural resources which makes them the finest place or you can say heaven on the earth. We need to take advantage of the finest gift of Mother Nature. Let me tell you about wonderful time spent in various forests so as you can plan to explore at least one visit to the dreamland.

I have seen Heaven 😍 :

I have been to nine different forests so you can understand how much I LOVE 💖 forest.  Let me give more insights, Nagzira, Kanha, Satpura, Tadoba are rich with green outlook while Ranthambore is completely different with rock land whereas Jim Corbett is king of all with a mix of greenery along with huge grassland located at Ramganga river. The best part of these forests are variety it offers, all of them are rich with huge natural resources and are the habitat of animals and birds due to which you feel you are in heaven. Let me explain why it is heaven by providing the details on the best forests of India.

Jim Corbett  - Grassland, Greenery, unstoppable river

The place called Jim Corbett is one of the Char Dham of nature lovers, I waited for two years to visit Corbett (Saurabh knows how I pressurized him for visit planning) but the same was rewarding like anything. The Corbett’s flora and fauna are unmatched as it offers great landscape, huge grassland, unlimited greenery along with river bound species. The Corbett is home to more than 500 birds, Indian Tiger, Leopards, Jungle Cat, the Dhole (Wild dog), Jackals, Red Fox, Sloth Bear, and Black Bear etc, it is highly rich with flora as well which consist of more than 600 species of tree. You should visit Corbett to feel what is heaven in the true sense.

Ranthambore – Rock land, land of Rajwada, closure to Pink city, Tiger conservation

Why Ranthambore is unique from others? Ranthambore is located on easternmost part of the Aravalis in Rajasthan, at one point in time, it was the hub for poaching by the Emperor, which is now famous for Tiger conservation making it dream place for photographers and naturalist. it used to be the home of queen tigress Machli, the way Ranthambore team worked to keep Machli alive for long is commanding, because of such efforts, Machali was able to live around 19 years which is a record in itself. it is the favorite place of our National bird (Peacock) and is home for Tiger, leopard, caracal, hyena, jackal, jungle cat, marsh crocodiles, wild boar, bears and various species of deer.

Nagzira/Tadoba/Umred/Satpura/Pench - Great Greenery, Dens land, Bamboos, Beautiful Landscape

I am covering these forests together since they are situated in the same range from Maharashtra to Madhya Pradesh, these forests are connected to each other with more or less similar outlook but absolutely unique. Nagzira will always remain close to heart as I started my journey with it, the beauty of the forest pulled me towards nature for which I feel very lucky. These forests are with green outlook with long trees making it dense, the best time to feel the forests in this belt is after rain as it provides great landscapes. Tadoba is known as Tiger heaven due to tiger count compared to other forests, you need to visit shootout section to see the depth of these forests. I request you to visit the same to share your feedback.

Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary – The World’s Heritage Site - is one of the finest bird sanctuaries on the planet

Another beauty from the versatile country, Bharatpur is World’s Heritage Site providing shelter to more than thousand birds during the winter with a huge landscape with green trees all around. During the fog time, the outlook of the forest is on the different level, the words are not enough to describe its core beauty, pictures are self-expiatory to describe the beauty of the place. 

Now I am sure after reading such exciting facts of various forests you will also fall in love with them, you must visit at least one forest to understand the importance of nature in our life. Do visit Shootout section to feel the depth of natural resource our motherland. 

Conservation is life SAVE IT: How can we protect our forests?

Restore damaged ecosystems by planting trees on land

Teach others about the importance of the environment

Support people who put efforts to minimize damage to the environment.

Say NO to PLASTIC

A message of the Day :
Conservation is life SAVE IT.  

Author:

BT Wild Art – Bhavesh Thakkar photography

Life is Safari. Enjoy it.

Shootout section

The Heaven on Earth - Jim Corbett 

The World's Heritage Site - Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

Tiger's home - Tadoba

Upcoming Umred

My Game changer - Nagzira

The Rock land - Ranthambore

The Foggy forest - Bharatpur

The finest amongst all - Bharatpur

Lovely morning - Satpura

The Char Dham - Jim Corbett

The best for Tiger - Tadoba 

The morning with the Dream - Jim Corbett

The Jacks - Jackal

Dear readers hope you are doing good, slowly we are moving towards the unlocking phase and hence we should be more careful if we go out, GURU Mantra is Mask, Sanitizer, and Vaccine. Many people are in hope of a magical vaccine and hence not opting for what is currently available, simple advice to such smart people is that please don't put life at risk and complete the vaccination at the earliest. 

After COVID Gyan let us focus on today's topic. It is always a tough call to finalize the topic and it becomes more challenging due to the current situation. So the next question is how to find a topic? The answer is to look into your past, I know many people say you should not look into the past, but let me tell you when you have wonderful memories then you should refer to the past. I referred to memories and found today's topic in form of Jackal.

Similar to Cheeta and Leopard, people get confused between Dhole and Jackal so I decided to clarify the same in today's topic. To start with let me tell you the interesting story of Jackal and later on will help you to understand more about Jackal and then you can enjoy the DSLR section. 

A day with Jackal 

Pench trip which was planned with colleagues more for tiger sighting which came very early in 1st safari itself and hence all other lost interest in next early morning safari. Poor Akhil who missed the tiger in the first safari had the last chance to try. We did 4 rounds and saw Jackals in most of them but the experience of the 4th safari was completely different.  

So the last safari me and Akhil started with the hope to find a tiger or leopard, we were trying hard and missed a leopard for a fraction of time. Now we entered into the last hour of the safari, Do or die situation, nothing coming our way, not a single click for the last 40 minutes, and suddenly we found this scavenger doing some activity. 

Most of the time people ignore small species and run behind tigers but we decided to spend some time with Jackal because the activity was not normal, we went little closure to check what is going on. Initially, we thought Jackal is searching for something in the grass but when it turned back we realize that it was feasting on a baby monkey.  This was absolutely unique in nature, it is very difficult to experience such a rare moment. Akhil missed the Tiger but was rewarded with one of the rare sightings.  This is why I said Jackal was the STAR, now let us move to the next section to know the facts of this lovely creature. 

Fantastic facts

• Jackals are medium-sized omnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, which also includes wolves, coyotes, and the domestic dog. Jackals are a type of canine, animals that are related to dogs, coyotes, foxes, and wolves. They look like a cross between a German shepherd and a fox

• Jackals are opportunistic omnivores and scavenge a lot, but also hunt rodents and other small animals and birds

• While the word "Jackal" has historically been used for many small canids, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed jackal and side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of south-central Eurasia, which is more closely related to other members of the genus Canis

• Jackal with long legs and curved canine teeth are adapted for hunting, they are capable of maintaining speeds of 16 km/h (9.9 mph) for long-running

• Jackals mate for the lifetime (they are monogamous) and litters may consist of up to 9 cubs

• Their most common social unit is a monogamous pair, which defends its territory from other pairs by vigorously chasing intruding rivals and marking landmarks around the territory with their urine and feces

• Black-backed jackal - The most lightly built jackal, it is considered to be the oldest living member of the genus Canis

• Side-striped jackal - It primarily resides in wooded areas, unlike other jackal species. It is the least aggressive of the jackals, rarely preying on large mammals

• Golden jackal- The most widespread of the jackals, it is more closely related to wolves than to African jackal species

• Coyote - The largest and heaviest jackal, also known as the "American jackal. It, like the black-backed jackal, is considered the most aggressive of the jackals.

Confused between Dhole (Wild Dog, and Jackal? 

Let see both together

 

BT Wild Art

DSLR Section 

Love Bird Sarus Crane

Hello, friends wish you a very happy Blog Day hope you all are ready for fantastic Sunday so as I am ready with one of the best topic “Sarus Crane” for you, I will talk about my love towards Sarus, the experience of my visit and facts of the unique bird.  

Do you know why Sarus crane is so special? the reason is Sarus Crane is a symbol of love and loyalty towards soulmate. I know you are shocked, even I was shocked when I came to know about this fact, Sarus has dual quality beauty and loyalty which is a rare combination making this bird very very special. I have many things to share with you, let's open the box one by one, next section awaits your attention.

 

A Sunday with Sarus:

My love story with Sarus started at Bharatpur - Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary a temple for bird lover because it is home for migratory birds in winter. During the visit Saurabh compared Sarus with Tiger, I mean Tiger is the main attraction of forest similarly Sarus is the main attraction of bird sanctuary. To meet Sarus our journey started at Bharatpur where first two days were without luck for Sarus but we saw many other birds and we ended the day with the best hope for the third day.

We started day three with heavy fog becoming an obstacle between us but we believe in the principle of never say give up which turned rewarding with a back-to-back sighting of Sarus for more than one hour, we were very lucky to have such long hour so as to take full advantage with our camera. The couple displayed all most all kind of skills such as dancing, flying, eating which is now part of our unforgettable memory. 

It is worth to explore beauty within our own country; you should plan a visit to bird sanctuaries to feel the nature and to capture the glory of Sarus and other classic species. 

Why Sarus Crane is Unique?

Ø  Sarus is the state bird of Uttar Pradesh

Ø Sarus is world’s  tallest flying birds stands at a height of around 6 ft, they are conspicuous and iconic

Ø Sarus performs territorial and courtship displays that include loud trumpeting, leaps and dance-like movements

Ø Sarus is a symbol of marital fidelity, believed to mate for life and pine the loss of their mates even to the point of starving to death

Ø Longevity of Sarus Crane exceeds up to 15- 20 years in the wild and for 40 years in captivity

Presence in India:

Sarus Crane is found in the northern, central and north-eastern pars of India. Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, Madhav National Park, Kerala Bustard Sanctuary and Bhindawas Bird Sanctuary.

Conservation status:

Sarus Crane is under threatened and vulnerable species list, the total population of Sarus Crane is around 15,500 and declining constantly. The main reasons are the loss of wetland areas, egg damage by the humans and heavy use of pesticides has seriously declined the population of this lovely bird.

The message of the Day :

Save our wetland area. Save Birds. Save Mother Nature.  

Author:

BT Wild Art – Life is Safari. Enjoy it.

Bhavesh Thakkar photography

Photo Zone 

Symbole of Love

The Takeoff

The Mood

Courtship Display begins

The Close Look

Togetherness

The leap to fly

World's Tallest flying bird

Colorful Kingfisher

Hello friends, TGIS- Thanks God it’s Sunday 🙌, so it’s time to say hello to lovely readers. I know year end saga has just ended so this Sunday is just for relaxation, while relaxing, I am sure that you will take out little bit of time to read this interesting blog.

About my experience with KF:

Today let me introduce Kingfisher to you; I am talking about world’s most colorful bird and not Kingfisher beer. Unfortunately Kingfisher is remembered as beer brand but not as a colorful bird which is mascot of the brand. Trust me KF is very smart fisher bird hence it is king of fishing, it’s a treat to capture litter master on camera when it is catching fish.

Let me tell you more about KF, you know how many types of KFs are there? there are as many as 114 species out of which i know around 12 types of KF of which I have captured 4, capturing KF is always fun because of its behavior, the way it gives expression or the way it initiates hunt and attacks on fish, especially Pied KF, black and white in color with little in size but when it comes to fishing its bang on target with its dancing style which is known as “Hovering”

I have enjoyed hovering of pied KF at Tadoba and Chambal it was awesome to watch, you have to follow KF till the time you get such great sighting because it is the game of very few minutes, “Nazar hati Durgatna gatti”.  When Pied KF decides to go for the target it starts hovering which is like dancing on Rehman’s tune 😉 . If you want to experience such unique moments patience is the key. We run behind wild animals only while missing out on such unique opportunities, so next time when you visit forest don’t forget to capture the little king that is KF, after knowing about experience I am sure you will be eager to know more about the king, so let's move the next section for basic information. 

Basic information about KF

KF is made up of beautiful blues, turquoise, greens, orange and white, it is an absolutely stunning little bird,  they have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. They consume a wide range of prey usually caught by swooping down from a perch, while kingfishers are usually live near rivers and eat fish, many species live away from water and eat small invertebrates.

There are around 120 species of kingfishers found all around the world, except for the polar regions, some of them I know are: Pied KF, Common KF, Crested KF, White Breasted KF, Oriental Dwarf KF (ODKF), Brown Winged KF, Ruddy KF.

Conservation

Kingfishers are very sensitive to cold weather and a particularly harsh winter can seriously reduce kingfisher populations. Kingfisher populations fluctuate greatly because of this. However, they are not listed by the IUCN Red List.

Do visit pictures to see colorful little king,

Many thanks for taking out time, do give your feedback it will help me to serve you better.

Message of the Day – Prevent Environment

If you want to leave a legacy of good health to the next generation, start preventing environment now. 

Author:

BT Wild Art - Life is Safari. Enjoy it.bhavesh thakkar photography

Photo session 

Common Kingfisher with Fish

Pied Kingfisher in Hovering mode

Crested Kingfisher

White Breasted Kingfisher

White Breasted Kingfisher

White Breasted Kingfisher

Common Kingfisher

Common Kingfisher