BT Wild ART - A unique Journey to the wilderness: July 2018

Sunday 29 July 2018

Blockbuster Blackbuck

BT Wild Art welcomes all the reader to the land of wild; we are pleased with the overwhelming response from all of you. As promised, let us go for yet another super duper topic. Today we are bringing the story of Blackbuck which is one of the most important and rare animals of our country. I am sure story of star will make you crazy, so let me jump to the story for you.

Catch me if you can

I know you will think that I will again quote our hero Saurabh for planning the trip, ha ha ha, there you are, now we all are attached to the forest so much that we need regular breaks from routine life so we wanted to utilize Saturday and Sunday in the wild hence we decided that to go for a raw trip with no planning at all. This time till the last day we were not sure about the place, we only had one thing in mind that we will go to some new location either for birding or for blackbuck depends upon confirmation of address but one thing was sure that we will go somewhere to explore the wild. Here one more expert Jogi joined us for the trip, which added more excitement because for the first time we four were traveling together. Let see what happens when equally mad people travel together for one and only one mission that is WILD.

Do you know what? We started the journey but we were not aware of the place till the time we picked up Saurabh and Jogi, finally, he disclosed the place and purpose our travel, the moment we got to know that it is Blackbuck the excitement got double. The place where we were traveling is still unexplored and known to hardly anyone that it is why it is pollution free and disturbance-free. I know you are eager to know more about blackbuck sighting, let me disclose it quickly.

On reaching, we took help of a local guide who was THE Expert in the field and aware of the place and timing like anything. Mama guided us to the right place at the right time, the moment we reached Blackbuck started coming out from nowhere in numbers, the situation was extremely attractive for making wonderful frames the reason being the golden light of evening time, green grassland, clear blue sky and lovely animal jumping and running around the place. This was like a blessing from nature to us, what else one can demand, with zero expectation and no knowledge of the place we got hidden treasure with very little effort. We saw them in different styles such as running with the long jump, curiously starring us with fear, family walk and many more. We realize the beauty when we saw them in various modes on their own habitat, Such a beauty we have, we should respect them and conserve them for the future, we will surely regret if we fail to save this lovely god’s gift.

I must say one thing that unplanned trip will always be more fruitful than the planned one; even accommodation was not planned by us hence apart from the sighting a raw trip with local food such as missal pav, onion poha, and freshwater fish made us crazy. I recommend that one should do such raw trip of nature at least once to understand and feel the beautify of our own country. This how our trip ended with huge rewards us with everything with little effort but with high respect for Mother Nature. Now let me provide you with some facts about this wonderful animal so as you also respect the WILD

Do you know me?

The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), also known as the Indian antelope, their lifespan is around 10-15 years

The differentiation between male and female is ringed horns, the long, ringed horns, 35–75 centimeters long, are generally present only on males, though females may develop horns as well

The coat of males shows two-tone coloration: while the upper parts and outsides of the legs are dark brown to black, the underparts and the insides of the legs are all white. On the other hand, females and juveniles are yellowish fawns to tan.

Females become sexually mature at eight months but mate no earlier than two years. Males mature later, at one-and-a-half years

The blackbuck inhabits grassy plains and lightly forested areas. Due to their regular need for water, they prefer areas where water is perennially available.

The antelope is native to and found mainly in India, while it is extinct in Bangladesh, during the 20th century, blackbuck numbers declined sharply due to excessive hunting, deforestation and habitat degradation

In India, hunting of blackbuck is prohibited under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The blackbuck has significance in Hinduism; Indian and Nepali villagers do not harm the antelope

The message of the Day

Wildlife is Mother Nature’s greatest treasure, To protect it, we must take every measure

Author:

BT Wild Art – Bhavesh Thakkar photography

Life is Safari. Enjoy it.

My sweet memory

Golden combination - Khich meri photo

Practice for a run

My habitat

Togetherness

I can see you, I will run away

Photogenic style

Family time

Practice for long jump

I am ready for a click

Let me try dance

Why are you taking a photo without permission?

I can see you guys mode

Sunday 22 July 2018

Number Ek Nandur

BT Wild Art is a place where you can explore the nature even from home, our real-life experience of different places will help you to understand nature closely without taking any effort. With our promise to bring a new topic every week, today we will take you to the tour of Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary a place for a great many lovely and transitory fledglings. Let us move to the next section to know more about how this place rewarded us with a lifetime memory.

Nandur Chashmebadur

Nandur is such a lovely place that it is difficult to decide where to start but the irony is many people do not know about this place, even I was not aware but when I reached there I realize that it is truly heaven. Let me tell you how we started and what all we got during the journey
This time I was on my annual leave hence I wanted to explore birding place for which I was behind Saurabh and Vishnu to plan a short trip, once again the rock star came out with the best. We decided to add extra flavor to the trip by taking a car along, for me it was special because for the first time I drove through on a longer route. We started around 2pm from Mumbai and reached the place by six in the evening. While reaching we decided to take a halt for a while to enjoy evening time in the middle of the grassland, the decision proved to be the best time as It was the sunset of winter where the sun was spreading light all over the place which was an awesome combination of lush green grassland and golden light. We were delighted and were feeling very lucky as we got such an atmosphere which we never had thought of it. Wait it’s not over the best is yet to come.

While we were enjoying halt in a farmland with clean air and golden lights we noticed an uncommon activity by a very common bird, here Drongos were on a role with its favorite dish insects. Drongo got the treat because of the burning of dry grass, you will feel why it is so special? It is special because of the way Drongo catch insects from fire is amazing, it flies very near to the fire to catch hold of insect, this gave us a wonderful opportunity to capture unique frames. We never thought that we will be rewarded with the Sunset time and Drongo game, it was a surprise package for us to on a very first day, after surprise gift we decided to take rest so as we can gear up for next day birding.

As planned we started birding in a paddleboat which in itself is a different experience. We spent almost 3 hours in a lake where were gifted with a lot of activity from migratory and resident birds, multiple occasions we got fantastic opportunity to capture birds fishing and flying around us, the activity was on high so as to get the best time to get something unique out of it. Both days were happening and gave us a memorable time, which we will never forget. This is how the trip ended with rewards in terms of unique frames and a lot of learning from experts. Keep respecting the nature to get uncountable rewards

Guest list

Pranticole, shoveler, Common Pochard, water snake, Drongo, Rudy Shelduck, Spot-billed duck, Grebe, Black IBIS Glossy IBIS, Civet cat, Egret, Purple heron, Cormorant, Marsh harrier, Pond-heron, Black-throated kite, Morehen and many more

Why I am the best?

Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary is located at Niphad Tehsil of Nashik District, known as the Bharatpur of Maharashtra

The water discharged from Gangapur and Darana water repositories are put away at Nandur Madhameshwar and in this manner discharged from here through channels for watering system

Residues and natural matter that are diverted by water stream are collected in the lake, because of which islands and shallow water lakes have been made. This brought about the organic improved conditions by which aquatic vegetation has been balanced out. In this manner, the site has transformed into great wetland territory

The trees that are found on the edge of the lake are Babul, Neem, Tamarind, Jamun, Maharukh, Vilayati Chinch, Mango, Pangara, Nilgiri, and so on

Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary is a suitable place for a great many lovely and transitory fledglings. There are more than 240 types of birds, out of which 80 are migratory species

The creatures spotted here are Ottar, Palm Civet, Fishing Cat, Jackal, Mongoose, Wolves and numerous types of Snakes, and so forth. About 24 types of fishes have been recorded in the supply

Different attraction

Wine lovers can take a tour of the winery for winemaking and testing at Vinsura Vineyard

If you are non-veggies, freshwater fish will make you crazy

The message of the Day -

Don’t let life slip down the drain

Save Water Be Smarter

Author:

BT Wild Art – Bhavesh Thakkar photography

Life is Safari. Enjoy it.

Photo shootout

The Golden Era

Drongo game on

Lovely evening

Morning time at Nandur

Egret on the fly

Pranticole

Black Shouldered Kite

Fishing time with Egret

Non Stop fishing

One more here

Yellow Wagtail

Marsh harrier

Sunday 15 July 2018

Charming Chambal

BT Wild Art - the land of WILD welcomes all the readers for yet another blog, our endeavor is to provide unique information on Mother Nature available across the world.

We believe that Life is Safari you need to enjoy it hence you should explore these places to understand the importance of nature but we understand that every time it may not be possible for you to visit every place hence we provide you real-life experience with beautiful pictures added to unknown facts of the place, so why to wait more, let's take the tour of one of the best wetland in our country.

Birding bhi Boating bhi

What a lovely combination! birding in the River by boat you just cannot ask for more. As usual expert had planned everything but this time it was a surprise for us since we were not aware of the plan the expectations were hardly there but yes excitement was on high. Since the place was close to the Bharatpur we started the journey in the second half of the day. It was difficult for us to take a decision of leaving Bharatpur for some new place; it was like taking risk of leaving a known place which is filthy rich to an unknown area. Till the time we reached our mind was in Bharatpur but the movement we reached Chambal we forgot everything and we accepted the fact that it was worth taking the risk of exploring the unknown place.

Both the places are known for birding but both are totally different from its offerings. It was a very short trip for less than an hour but it proved life’s best event for us. The place that is still known as Dacoit’s land but nobody is aware that it is a heaven for the photographers and nature lovers. I truly believe the place should be known for its hidden beauty and not for any other reason.

Chambal is different in terms of the way you need to travel to capture species; you require a boat to explore the place. We were excited for this unique boat ride, which was rewarding from the start itself, we got rewards in terms of Ghariyals and Turtles for long, which is actually rare to get them for such a long time. it was like gift box is opening slowly and providing gifts one by one. After fantastic water king, it was a turn for some lovely birds such as Rudy Shelduck, Red-wattled Lapwing, Indian Skimmers, Painted Storks and many more but the real treat or you can say the star of the trip was watching Indian Skimmer catching the fish. Such a lovely bird with a unique pattern of beak compare to other birds. It skims on the water surface and catches the fish in a fraction of the seconds, it is actually difficult to capture little bird while skimming but we manage to grab it. The trip was complete in all aspects as we got a super sighting, best pictures, boat ride and lovely scaps. This how our trip turned extremely lucky and full of excitement and memorable pictures. We thought it was the end of the trip but it was not; let us see what else apart from photography made us crazy. It was pure ghee Bhalla, paneer chilla, and gajar ka halwa at Shyam baba dairy was so tasty that you cannot end the blog without mention of the same. Do plan a visit to Bharatpur along with Chambal River to explore the hidden beauty of our own Country.

The Reality Report

National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400 km2 (2,100 sq mi) tri-state protected area in northern India for the protection of the Critically Endangered Gharial, the red-crowned roof turtle, and the Endangered Ganges river dolphin.

The sanctuary is located on the Chambal River near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh

The National Chambal Sanctuary is listed as an important bird area and is a proposed Ramsar site. At least 320 species of resident and migratory birds inhabit the sanctuary.

Chambal supports 8 of the 26 rare turtle species found in India, including Indian narrow-headed softshell turtle, three-striped roof turtle and crowned river turtle. Other reptiles who live here are: Indian flap shell turtle, softshell turtle, Indian roofed turtle, Indian tent turtle and monitor lizard

Other large threatened inhabitants of the sanctuary include crocodile, smooth-coated otter, striped hyena and Indian wolf

The message of the Day:

If we do not learn to conserve, we will all be fish out of the water. Conserve water, conserve life.

Author:

BT Wild Art – Bhavesh Thakkar photography

Life is Safari. Enjoy it.

Down the memory lane:

The art of skimming - Indian Skimmer

About to catch a fish - Indian Skimmer at its best

The Crowned Turtle

Ramp walk - River Lapwing

The uniqueness - Short upper mandible and the longer lower mandible

Ghariyal on mission

Painted Stork - I am Angry

Lapwing drill

Pied Kingfisher - hovering mode

Landing mode on - Indian Skimmer

Let me fly high

Wide open wings

Reaching my home

I am watching you - Crocodile

Keep a distance - Crocodile

Small sweet duck - Ruddy shelduck

Sunday 8 July 2018

Mera Bharatpur Mahan

Hello friends wish you happy Sunday to you all, past few blogs we enjoyed the journey of various forests so it is now time to take a view of a bird sanctuary, which is home to rare and highly endangered birds and also offers best photogenic landscapes. Today I will take you to India’s best birding place that is “Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary” I am sure you will enjoy the unique journey when you will know the facts of this place. I know you are excited to know more about the place so let us go to the next section.

A Rickshaw Safari

I had heard a lot about Bharatpur so I was eager to visit the place and finally, we planned the visit in January since winter is the best time to visit any birding place. The place welcomed us with a heavy fog giving the indication that coming days will not be easy for us. But we don't bother about such things and keep our focus on finding something unique; such madness helped us with one of the best time with lovely birds. before I start the journey let me tell you about the unique point about this place, Here unlike other forests, you are allowed to stay a whole day in the park till 6pm because of which you get ample time to explore the place completely. The best part of the place is that you can take a bicycle or you can take pulled rickshaw with guide driving and help you to explore the right part of the location.

Our group entered the park with a pulled rickshaw and team of guide to find rare birds, the search begun with our own expert Saurabh along with best guides of the park. On day one we only had a post-lunch session which was spent to understand the location so as we can explore the same in the best possible manner. Next day started with fog with hardly any visibility because of which bird’s routine activity started a bit late but still, we found some beautiful moments with Darter and Jungle Babbler.

During the fog time, we decided to track Darter who is stylish fishing bird; it dives into the water and catches the fish in its beak. We almost spent an hour behind Darter, which rewarded us with some lovely pictures. It was a treat to watch diving darter catching fish, multiple time it jumped into the water but the fewer time it used to catch a lucky fish. After Darter we decided to capture Jungle Babblers, normally people ignores babblers as it is very commonly found in all forests but the way they were playing around in a group we could not stop ourselves to spent time with it. Babblers were posing in such a manner that you can not stop laughing, some pose reminds me of the Angry Birds game. We ended the day early as we had planned a visit to Chambal River for exclusive birds and aquatic animals, the experience was best ever till date. I will take you to Chambal journey in next blog.

Each day we used to get a surprised sighting of rare endangered species, the day started with the extremely lucky sighting of Saras Cranes. A bird who is symbol of marital fidelity, believed to mate for life and pine the loss of their mates even to the point of starving to death. The natural habitat with a little bit of fog with a lovebird performing courtship display is nothing less than the feeling of heaven. Along with Saras, we were gifted with an awesome sighting of Jackal, Eagle with a kill, Sambar fight, Bluethroat bird, Common Kingfisher, Marsh harrier with a kill, Nilgai, followed by a lovely landscape with the sunset of a winter season.

Apart from sighting, the best part was having lunch on open green grassland like a school trip, the USP of the park is that you can do whatever you want without any restriction. This how the trip rewarded us with wonderful memories, I hope I will keep visiting the place every year.

A World Heritage site

The Keoladeo National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is located in Rajasthan. It was declared a protected sanctuary in 197 and It is also a declared World Heritage Site

It is a is a famous avifauna sanctuary that sees thousands of rare and highly endangered birds during the winter season

The sanctuary was created 250 years ago and is named after a Keoladeo (Shiva) temple within its boundaries

These diverse habitats are home to 366 bird species, 379 floral species, 50 species of fish, 13 species of snakes, 5 species of lizards, 7 amphibian species, 7 turtle species, and a variety of other invertebrates

The sanctuary is one of the richest bird areas in the world and is known for nesting of resident birds and visiting migratory birds including water birds