Trip Report - Classical Kanha

 

Lovely readers, hope you and your family are doing fine, please take care of your loved once and ensure all safety measure, don’t go out without mask and sanitizer. We have seen many people are roaming around without masks which adds fuel to the virus. it is said that “Jaan hai, toh Jahan hai” but if you don’t wear a mask “Zindagi COVID ko free me Kurban hai.” so please follow the rules and stay safe. 

After the piece of advice let us get into the world of wild, firstly my apology for taking little long to publish blog this time but I am sure that this trip report will not only compensate the delay but will make you crazy. This time the trip report is about one of India’s finest forest, beautiful forest is nothing less than a heaven, so without taking more time let’s move to the next section to meet the king and its kingdom. 

The journey begins

Kanha is amongst my dream places, I believe that for wildlife lovers Kanha is like one of the Char Dham. Every year I used to try to visit this lovely forest but it came after a long gap of six years but when it came, it came with unforgettable memories. Let me explain the whole story in step by step manner so at all the points you feel you were part of the journey. 

It came as a golden opportunity because it came during the long weekend schedule, I grab the opportunity and booked it immediately in the month of February itself. It was booked at a time when COVID cases were much lower but suddenly it went wild and created tension with the possibility of strict travel restrictions or maybe another lockdown. 

Waiting for the COVID test result was 100 times more painful than waiting for the results of the exam because in the exam you know what you have answered but in COVID you never know which way result will come. 

Initially, I and Vishnu thought the flight we will be better and had done booking long back but when night lock-down announced we changed our mind and decided to go by train.  After all these dramas we reached Nagpur on Friday morning and started a long road journey towards Kanha with a total of 14 people in the group. By taking a couple of breaks in between, we reached Kanha without any trouble. We were warmly welcome by Camp Dev Vila under the leadership of Saily. This is how we reached Kanha with a lot of fear of travel restrictions in mind but the same got erased within a minute we reached. Now after the travel story it is a time to know Kahani Kismat ki or you can say Kahani Kanha ki, let's move to the next section to enter heaven. 

Kahani Kanha ki

We entered the forest with a lot of excitement and expectations to feel the forest and to capture anything and everything offered by this lovely place. Here in Kanha apart from Tiger the key attraction is Barasingha (Swamp deer) because of its distinct antlers (twelve-horned). Forest Department has launched a mascot “Bhoor Singh” to value this lovely animal. With the very first safari, everyone started picturizing dream shot but the question is did we get? let us see the success ration 

First two safaris we could not meet Tiger but it offered variety in terms of Barasingha, Jackal, Indian roller, Oriental Honey-buzzard, Vultures, and dancing peacock multiple times. Two safaris without tiger reminded me of Sanket’s kismat, which remains always Naram when it comes to tiger 😜😜😜

BABA THENGA ROCKS

Now it was time for the third Safari and that is to in the evening time, evening safari timings are nearly half as compared to the morning but Irfan Bhai our driver was very confident about probability maybe he had some clue. At the start, he took us to the place called “Baba Thenga” when I heard the name I laughed and thought Baba Thenga he dega kya? 😝. But the moment we reached it was a surprise instead of “Thenga”. Two sub-adult cubs (18 months old) of Tigress Dhawa Jhandi” entertained us for more than half-hour. During these 30 minutes, both cubs performed various activities like drinking water, sitting in water, walking around, sleeping for some time, and after that sitting near the tree in typical style. We captured everything and allowed them to take a rest and decided to move on so as we can evaluate the leopard, we were not lucky to get the leopard but we came across another dramatic situation of the unsuccessful run chase which is equally memorable.

THE RUN Chase

Now let me tell you what happened next in the run chase, we had no idea when we moved out from Baba Thenga. While moving on towards the gate, we saw 8-10 vehicles were standing and were looking in one particular direction. The moment we reached the female tigress “Tedhi Punchh” came out from nowhere to catch a deer, by the time we pick our camera, we realize it is a run chase. Tigress took a quick run but it was not enough to beat Deer. 

Deer somehow managed to run away and survived, it was just a fraction of the distance where deer took a turn and got a second life. The whole drama was too quick for us to capture that is to in evening's dull light but yes to see this kind of live-action was one of its kind experience and it will always remain in our heart. So the equation is like 3 tigers in 3rd safari, so how many in 4th? With this question, we ended 3rd safari with full-on party mode and had a small party as well. 

Aur yeh mara Chouka 

4^th Safari we were in a relaxed mood because of the previous day’s wonderful sighting, to start with we were stopping for every small thing, we spent 20 minutes on Barasingha's activity. While enjoying and stopping everywhere we realized that we missed Dhawa Jandi tigress just by a minute. Once you know that you missed a tiger your inner greed will not allow you to relax and your mind pushes you to find another tiger or a leopard. 

So again focus shifted to Tiger, meanwhile, we were searching tiger, one vehicle helped us with information about cubs of Tigress Naina. We followed the direction provided by another vehicle, the moment we reached, we saw a sub-adult cub of around 20 months was sitting in the middle of the road with an attitude, again drama started, it walked head-on and after that 3 siblings joined him. One by one reached towards the lake, It was a treat to watch 4 semi-adult tigers together. This is how our luck hit four runs on the last ball, we got more than what we expected. Now let me update you with what we saw during the trip. 

Lucky list

7 Tigers, Leopard, Sloth bear, Barasingha, Sambars, Deers, Peacock, Mongoose, Indian Gaur, Jackal, Vultures, Indian roller, Night Jar, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Green Bee-eater, Shikra, Black-buck and many more. 

I hope you enjoyed every bit of it, please shower your blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, and at the end, do not forget to share feedback on btwildart@gmail.om

Vote of Thanks

Mumbai Travelers and Team.  After a long time, I got the opportunity to have a trip under Jogi’s leadership. Many thanks for the flawless arrangements, it is one of the best trips of my life

Special Appearance – In a movie, a special appearance is a role, which steals your heart even in presence of a Hero. Similarly, Saily in this trip is a special appearance who deserves a special mention in this blog. Forest is her first home; you just cannot take away forest out of her. Thank you so much for treating us so nicely. Impressed with the way you managed single-handedly

Co-Travelers  - Many thanks to all of you, wonderful to have you all as part of my memory book

Camp Dev Vila – Yummy food, lovely cottages and humble staff and captain like Saily, just amazing, many thanks to each one of you

Guide and Driver – Irfan Bhai because of your knowledge and award winner guide Ram Kali we were able to manage such a great sighting, many thanks. 

BT Wild Art

DSLR Section

 

Cute Giant squirrel

 

Hello friends, finally we have found some answers to COVID in form of vaccines, though it is a big relief but it will take long time to get settle down. Do plan vaccination by consulting your family doctor, don’t get carried away with rumors follow instructions of the doctor before you take any action. Most important, COVID is not over yet so please continue to use ask and sanitizer all the time. 

Now after the social message let us get back to our world of wild art, after a couple of trip reports it becomes very difficult to finalize topic because of so many varieties you get at a different location. Today while thinking one cute picture helped me to finalize the topic, this is my favorite one but came after a long time. Like me, you will also fall in love with the cuteness of this lovely creature, let us meet the Indian Giant squirrel in the next section

The giant encounter

I am sure many of you will be thinking squirrel and Giant? Yeh Kabhi Hua? Is this COVID impact? Hahaha 😂. A lot of claims made on COVID impact but I am not claiming I am making you aware of this lovely creature, which is there in existence, but not many are aware. So to start with, let me tell you details of my encounter and then we will get into more details. 

During my Satpura visit, the first time I saw this lovely squirrel but reach was not that great to take the good frames, I was able to see it just for a fraction of a time. I was shocked to see such a giant size; it was surprising for me to see a jumbo size squirrel, later Saurabh helped with more details. It took me another 4 years to find this beauty, Dandeli trip came as god gift to capture the cuteness. 

Dandeli is one of the best habitats for Giant and hence I had a lot of expectations from it, on arrival at Kadumane we saw Giant but again not in a shape where we can get clear pictures. In wildlife, you need patience and faith in mother nature, now with so many visits and learning from Saurabh, Jogi, and Vishnu keeping patience is not a problem. It was just the beginning of the tour and hence we had a lot more to explore so I was not worried about good pictures. Now on the next day when we were exploring the timber depot, finally we got a clear picture here it was taking rest on top of the tree. This time squirrel had the patience to sleep without getting disturbed by our presence otherwise it would have run away quickly. 

The luck continued when we moved to Old Magazine House as well, it was like dream come true, we got a good amount of opportunities to capture various moments, we could manage small videos of eating, jumping, moving around, etc, please visit DSLR to see why this is amongst my favorite one, along with DSLR the next section will help you to understand various facts of Giant one, so let's see what next section has to offer. 

Fantastic facts

Not sure how many of you know that Squirrels are classified as rodents. Some common names in rodent list are mice, rats, porcupines, Chipmunks etc.

A male Indian giant squirrel is called a 'buck', a female is referred to as a 'doe', whereas offspring is called a 'pup, kit or kitten'. A group of these rodents is known as a 'dray or scurry'

Indian giant squirrel (also known as Malabar Squirrel) is one of the most cute and lovable squirrels around the globe. This animal exhibits 2 - 3 types of color pattern with shades of black, brown and deep red

The body of the rodent varies from deep red to brown with white patches on belly as well as dirty white or cream colored under-parts and forelimbs. The animal has pink lips and nose. Long hairs appear behind the mouth and nose of the rodent

The eyes are colored in bright dark or light brown. The powerful and long tail is light brown with creamy white tip

The Indian giant squirrel is a native Indian species, where this animal occurs in Satpura hill range of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The preferred habitat of this rodent is deciduous and most evergreen forests, found throughout peninsular India

These cautious and shy creatures are usually active early in the morning and in the evening. During the midday, they rest in tree holes or large, globe-shaped nests, constructed out of twigs and leaves and typically located in trees

Each squirrel has 2 - 5 nests, found within a small territory. One of these nests is made exclusively for producing and nursing the young, while others are used as sleeping sites

As omnivorous animals, these squirrels consume a wide variety of food, including fruits, flowers, nuts, bark, eggs of birds, and insects

When threatened, these smart rodents confuse a predator by running in various directions

The primary forms of communication are vocalizations and scent. In addition, they are known to give signals with their tails, usually twitching them in order to warn conspecifics of a threat

I hope you liked this blog, keep blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, do let me know your feedback on btwildart@gmail.com

Learning of the day

State Animal of Maharashtra

Indian Giant/Malabar Squirrel 

BT Wild Art

DSLR Section 

Chiplun Trip Report

Hi, lovely readers hope you enjoyed both part 1 & 2 of the Dandeli trip, I got many motivational comments on both reports, with folded hands I would like to convey my thanks to all of you. Your comments, suggestions, and likes are motivating not only me but also it is motivating many others to join the nature trips. 

By reading blogs and stories my colleagues motivated to do trips outside the city and explore such nature linked places where luxury will not be there like five star but hospitality and nature’s rewards will be unmatched. 

Amish and Ashwini who already love birding motivated Sarang and Preeti to join for a birding trip. In pas also larger group had enjoyed places like Pench and Gir. Support of such lovely colleagues is just like oxygen and super motivating to improve the blog as well as photo quality. I hope you are also geared up for yet another fantastic trip through this blog. 

hum panch

As the title suggests, the story is of five nature lovers, at the beginning, certain things were unanswered when Ashwini initiated the thought, the open questions in front of us were - Where to go? How to go? Tiger safari possibilities and safety measures etc. Ashwini led the thought and discussed the same with Amish and then matter came to my bucket to finalize the place to the nearest possible location to avoid outside state travel. 

Tiger safari was ruled out due to time and distance, I had a couple of options, and one of them was Nandu Bhau (Shiroli – Chiplun). I discussed the matter with our travel expert Saurabh (he always has something unique in his pocket). After discussion with Saurabh and Nandu Bhau, we finalize the plan with a small group who are more interested in birding. So finally, with the addition of Preeti and Sarang the group Hum Panch was finalized for the trip. 

The Journey started by Sarang with his car and I was the one who boarded the last, we reached Nandu’s sanctuary after taking multiple breaks including budget discussions of our finance minister Preeti 😝. We enjoyed yummy food at Datta Snacks, Joshi wade wale, and finally hotel Abhishek for lunch. At all places, we were lucky to have the best food varieties starting from Vada Pav, missal pav, Kokum Soda, SOL kadhi, and Wada at the end. After having so many things during the journey and me being there the journey cannot end without PAN, Anita pan shop made us crazy with a superb pan at such a small place. This is how we enjoyed the road journey but once we reached Nandu’s place, the joy reached a different level, let me explain what all happened during these 3 days in the next section.  

All-rounder Trip

Yes, the trip deserves to be called as an “All-rounder” I will explain the same step by step so and at the end DSLR section together surely will convince you on the same.

 Day 1

Day 1 that is on Wednesday we reached at around 5-5.30pm at Nandu’s place, I had a little bit of idea about the place because I had traveled there for ODKF but the other 4 had no idea about offering the of this place. I told them when Nandu is there we should not bother about expectations; he will surely ensure the best things for us. Upon reaching while settling down with tea and coffee, we heard some calls as if it is for our welcoming, we came out of the cottages, and before we ask anything, we saw coupe of Hornbills occupying tree and doing playful activities. This was the warm welcome by birds and it was a hint that the place is rich with surprises and we will surely have the best time. The day ended with yummy local homemade food by Ram Bhau and we closed the day early to take a rest. 

Day 2

Nandu Bhau was completely managing the plan of action for us, the morning we were asked to go for the hide. Though I had experienced the hide earlier as well, this was new for other partners. In hide, we had a good time with birds like Barbet, Treepie, Indian blackbird, flycatcher, squirrel, and many more. The hide always remains a small part as it depends on temperature and bird’s mood, a still close encounter with such small lovely birds made our session successful with some sharp images. After a small session and having yet another different food test we geared up for the evening session.

After hiding the expectations were there to find raptors in the field, Bhau is an expert who knows where to get the best of the best, and hence he had decided safari of grassland for the evening session. The evening started with Indian roller, Bus chat, Pipits, and it went up to the level of the scene of matting of Brahminy kite, the sighting of Honey-buzzard couple and Black-eared kit couple, etc. One after the other sitting on the tree with various styles was just mazing. This was not enough, we also saw a tunnel that is rich with a lot of unique species, but who will dare to go inside the same let's see someday will have some courage to do that as well 😜

Day 3

Day 3 activity came as an idea of Ashwini, the idea was to go out and meet Crocodiles in their own zone. (Dekho Mugger Pyar Se). To experience this the best place is the Vashishti river where you take a ride on a motor boat to take a tour of not only Crocodiles but many other wetland birds and raptors as well. We saw cute little Croco to big huge Croco with count crossed mostly 80 or maybe 100. The first time we saw such a large quantity at one place, the fear in mind was Khoon Bhari Maang part 2 toh nahi Banega na Hamara😜. The experience was out of the world because it also added sighting of the kite with a kill, harrier with kill, eagle, wooly neck, kingfisher, storks, etc. this was the third pattern such as Hide then grassland and now river safari, it was dream come true type of feeling which again added as toping to us with the sighting of Thick-knee, this made our lunchtime more delicious, so we had a lot more during the lunch and then we went back to the cottage for taking rest. 

In the evening Nandu Bhau took us to a small jungle trail to give another type of experience of forest birding and a little bit of walk as well. This was not the end of the story because the main part is yet to come which will be the poster boy of this blog, yes the climax in the movie always comes at the end. The journey was almost towards the end but the owl was not yet there on the list, how can it be possible to end the trip without an owl. I had requested Nandu Bhau on the very first day to see if we have any sight where we can capture owl, so see what happened at the end, whether we got Owl or not in the next section. 

The Climax

On the last day after diner Bhau came and said let's go for the owl, you will not go without taking owl pics. He took us to the place where Barn owl was there with little ones, we went during the night with no lights around. We were searching it around in the dark where Amish and I saw some moment, it was like something in fraction passed in front of us. It was quick and we felt that it is surely bird movement, we immediately informed Nandu to check. Nandu without taking time turned the torch in the right direction and what we saw was just out of the world. The Barn Owl with small rat kill was sitting in from of us, it was an unbelievable moment because it is always difficult to find nocturnal species right in front that is too with the kill. This was like a dessert treat for ending the trip, we got a lot definitely much more than what we had expected, it was an awesome trip and will always remain as one of the best nature trips for all of us. 

Now the time came for us to take a leave from this lovely place, the return journey too had its own fun element. We stated return journey same way we had while coming to this place, taking small breaks starting with Anita Pan shop, Parshuram temple, shopping of local stuff (like Poha papad, Amla juice, Kokam) lunch at Shiv Sagar and many small stops in between for tea and more shopping without which trip would have not qualified as “All-Rounder”

This was not the only fun we had, let me explain what all we enjoyed apart from birding in the next section. 

Nandu’s World

Nandu’s sanctuary is a different world in itself, he with his family tried all possible help to give us comfort in all aspects. Starting with stay, cottages are neat and clean with all required amenities, surrounding is such that you feel auto meditation and mental peace, food serving by his cousin brother Ram, too good food especially UKDI Modak, and Homemade Kokum Sharbat both were outstanding, it was added with flavor Pitlay, Upma, Poha, routine sabzi with Bhakri, pickles, etc 

Therefore, to conclude Nandu’s expert knowledge and his efforts and passion towards conservation, his hospitality and stay and food all this combine together the sanctuary becomes a different world all together. Every season here has its own importance with varieties so one should visit here in Shiroli Chiplun and understand nature by exploring Nandu’s sanctuary.  

Lucky list

Now before I end the blog let me update you on the list of species we sighted 

Malabar Pied Hornbill, Asian Koel, Sadhan coucal, White Throated Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Brown Shrike, Plum Headed Parakeet, Indian Blackbird, Rufus treepie, White-cheeked Barbet, Squirrel, Indian Roller, paddy field pipit, yellow wattle lapwing, Pied Bush Chat, Siberian bush chat, Indian Robin, Brahminy kite, oriental honey buzzard, grater spotted eagle, wooly necked stork, Crocodiles, Marsh Harrier, Night Heron, Purple heron, Green Heron, Grey Heron, Open Bill Stork, Eurasian Thick-knee, Spider, Orange Headed Thrush, Barn Owl, ashy drongo, black-headed oriole, Indian Paradise Flycatcher, Oriental White Eye, Prinia, Jungle babbler, Russell's Wiper, Dove, black eared kite, hoopoe, common Drongo, Pond Heron, etc. 

I hope you liked this blog, keep blessing me and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, do let me know your feedback on btwildart@gmail.om

Vote of Thanks

Mumbai Travelers and Team – Many thanks, Saurabh for valuable suggestion and all your help to plan successful trip

Hum Panch  - Many thanks Amish, Ashwini, Sarang and Preeti for such a memorable trip

Food Arrangement – Ram Bahu many thanks for the yummy food

Over and above Nandu Tambe, many thanks for sharing your thoughts about conservation and taking all the efforts to make this trip a lovely one. Keep it up. 

BT Wild Art

DSLR Section

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Brahminy Kite

Marsh Harrier 

Malabar Pied Hornbill 

Plume headed Parakeet 

White-Cheeked Barbet

Rufous Treepie 

Dekho Mugger Pyar Se - Crocodile 

Khoon Bhari Maang Yaad hai - Crocodile 

Indian Blackbird

Spider 

Indian Roller 

Paddy Field Pipit

Black Eared Kite

Common Kingfisher 

Wooly necked stork 

Eurasian Thick-Knee 

Yellow Wattle Lapwing 

Indian Robin

Hum 5 with Nandu

At Datta Snacks

At Hotel Abhishek

Homemade Kokum sharbat

Morning Breakfast by Ram Bhau