TATR Experience

Note: I must mention here that I retain the copyright of all the images posted here. I am usually quite lenient with other's use of my images. This time, however, owing to bitter experiences of many a wildlife photographers, esp. in context to tiger images, I prohibit posting of these images on any other site on the internet, whether for commercial, promotional or academic purpose. After taking my permission, one can download these images (click on the images for larger view) for personal viewing. The resolution of these images is decent enough to make a 4x6 inch print.  Also note that this is not a TATR Travel Guide, simply because I am not aware of all the options available at TATR. Google TATR to find ample information for accommodation and travelling.  

I had the opportunity to go to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) during the 1st week of June. I went with a few of my MSc course colleauges. Two of our colleagues, Daya and Madhura, have been working at TATR on behalf of Wildlife Institute of India, and it was Madhura’s birthday on 4^th June. So my classmates came up with this plan of celebrating her birthday at TATR. I was excited because this would be my first opportunity to get a tiger photo. Personally, I am not in awe of the big cats. But in India, its an unsaid rule to have good tiger photos if you are to claim being a wildlife photographer, hence the effort.(I don't claim to be one, but may be in future...) Anyways, we boarded a direct Volvo bus (from Pune) to Chandrapur. The bus was conditioned, but it wasn’t comfortable at all. Especially, my birth was leaking with the cold water from the conditioned top. Thank god I had a sleeping bag with me; it saved the night for me. Madhura had arranged for a pickup at Chandrapur station. The road to TATR went through dusty coal mines. To say it was hot is an understatement. And it was dry too (except for the sweat of course!).

The Indian Rollar was pretty common in the Mohurli area. I guess it is a common bird all over TATR. 

TATR has been divided into 3 ranges, Mohurli, Kolsa and Tadoba. We stayed at MTDC guestrooms at Mohurli. I was again unlucky with the accommodation. Though the room was nice and spacious,  the water supply system wasn’t working well. The toilet tap’s water looked suspiciously liked mixed with sewage water!! (My friend Kalpesh who has experience of working on ETPs can give testimony to this). Also, at night, the electricity supply used to get shut down due to voltage trip. My roommates and me had a painful sleepless night. Classmates staying in other rooms didn't share our nightmare and had no issues with their rooms. The food at MTDC was decent. One can order a particular food item in advance. Be sure to check the size and capacity of the plate in which the item is served though, or else you are likely to order far more than you can eat, or else, sleep hungry.  There are a few field guides available, however, I noticed that majority  of people referred to the Atul Dhamankar’s book on Tadoba fauna. It is a nice, compact book giving all essential information on the species along with a species photograph. Atul is a very good photographer and this book is a proof of it. So birders and  mammal lovers (ain’t we all?), this book is adequate for you. As for entomologists, you can either sulk at the lack of a field guide or take this as an opportunity and write one!

A Red-wattled Lapwing

Another common sighting.

Safari in TATR take place twice, between 6-11am and between 3-6pm. Gypsies to be hired cost about INR 1200 per safari and accommodate 6 tourists + 1 Guide + Driver. (One can contact Mr. Shalik Jogwe for any information regarding travelling and staying at TATR). I was plain lucky in my very first safari. Barely 5 minutes after entering the forest, a Guide of one of the gypsies made, in my initial opinion, an impossible sighting of an extremely well camouflaged tiger. I usually pride my ability to spot well hidden birds and animals in dense forests but this was unbelievable. The Tiger was a male, named Yeda Anna aka Circuit aka Tedi poonch. All these fancy bollywood names warn about him:  Don’t mess with him, because he is unpredictable. He was sitting patiently in the dry thicket near one of the waterholes along the road (one beautiful thing about my native language is  that living things, at least the higher ones, are referred to as ‘he’ or ‘she’ rather than ‘it’, hence I am taking a few liberties with English. If I am unsure of the sex, I'll still refer it as 'he'. Feminists, better call me 'sexist' than tag me for 'obsession with females!').

Hanuman Langur. 

As more and more gypsies (5-6) joined us I began to realize things. IN this terrible heat, as water was available only at the waterhole, it was obvious that the tiger would come to drink it. (so much so for being impressed with the guide for the tiger sighting!). The gypsies were stationed beyond the Laxam rekha (read Ramayan!) or simply, the lines beyond which the gypsies should not go as they would be intruding the animal's privacy and largely jeopardize the chances of the animal crossing the road in order to go to the waterhole. (These lines can be somewhat compared to the ‘Flight or Fight’ line, an imaginary line marking the approachable distance towards a bird or animal. Going any closer would likely result in the bird/animal flying/running away, or come forward and attack you. However, the lines drawn at TATR, are so close that if I were a bird, I would be long gone before letting someone come so close!) . In spite of  waiting for 15-20mins, much to the tourists frustration and to the relief of the Langoors and the Sambars, Yedda anna didn’t surface. Well, patience of the tourists is a very amusing thing. When a group of tourists see a gypsy standing still, they know that it is upto something and they’ll speed to it. Thus, usually, 5-6 such gypsies end up at the Laxman rekhas waiting for the tiger. However, depending on how their individual day has proceeded, typically one or two gypsies lose patience and leave after barely waiting for 5 mins. All the efforts by other gypsies go in vain. Familiar crys like ‘If that idiot had waited for 5mins, we would have him cross the road’ always break the not so consistent silence. Anyways, coming back to my safari, after 3-4 of the gypsies decided to move on, we agreed to do the same and went further inside. Just after 5 mins, we reached on Waterhole #2 and within minutes, I witnessed my 1^st ever proper tiger sighting. We witnessed a tigress lazily crossing the road, showing nothing but utter indifference towards us. She drank a little water, then sat in the waterhole. After 2-3 minutes, she stood up and went inside the thicket near the waterhole. Though it was my 1^st tiger sighting ever, and my 1^st attempt for tiger photos, I still didn’t feel ‘the kick’.  That feeling of empty stomach, that adrenaline rush, which I experienced when I spotted a leopard in the light from a friends cell-phone in the Himalaya, was completely lacking over here. Thankfully, it enabled me to concentrate on taking good photos. I tried to join my friends in their excited exclamations, and we moved further. After spending some time contemplating where to go (indeed, 1/4^th of the time and the entire output of the safari is spend on this decision), we decided to give Yeda anna a second chance to reveal himself to us. 

Long live the queen...

We went back to Waterhole #1, only to find a faithful gypsy waiting for him. It seemed that the group wanted to see Yeda anna at all costs. It had been several hours and numerous disturbing gypsies earlier that Yedda anna had water, and according to local experts, he would come out of the thicket and head for the waterhole at any moment. Soon enough, he obliged us. But this experience was much different than that of watching the tigress cross. He stepped out, directly looking at us. As he walke cross the road, his eyes followed us. There was an unmistakable threat in that gaze, and was very evident in his body language. It was an open challange. Very alarming, ominous, just like starting four notes of Beethoven’s 5^th!. Again, I got a few decent shots, but getting steady shots had become challenging due to lack of adequate light, and the tiger was too slow for any chance of panning shots. After he had sat and drunk water, he walked, in his slow, indolent, deliberate manner back to his place in the thicket in the other side of the road. There was one thing everyone noticed: he was salivating with sticky saliva. According to our Guide, this was because he hadn’t drink for hours. Indeed it is our guilt that brings such a magnificent creature to this condition. It hasn’t dented it pride though. Our guide didn’t help saying that all guides expect him to charge at a gypsy one day. If that happens, it would certainly not be good for him.
Yeda anna:

Yep, there he is..Don't ask me how I got the composition..it was the only one possible :)

Yeda anna, out in the open...

Yeda anna, quenching his thirst, yet all alert..

As we still had some time left, we entered a grassland habitat. The clear blue sky, the all dried grasses sidelight with the setting sunrays which were getting warmer and warmer with each passing moment gave an overwhelming feeling. Ketki spotted a Barking deer, which was already moving away from us. Just when I decided to take its photo, it stopped and started peeing. Now there, a few seconds went in internal debate over ethics and animal rights, but still, the scientific, educational side overcame, and finally I captured it in the act!

Indian Rollar again..

Racquet-Tailed Drongo

We then came over two beautiful bisons, called Gaur in India. It is a very handsome herbivore, a quiet animal which is better not messed it. I’ve seen documentaries showing even tigers respecting it. As they were right on our path, they stopped their act, looked up lazily at us, and stepped aside. Their gaze was more like that of a rhino than a cow, and had ounces of curiosity in it. Further inside, we came across a shocking site: we saw 2 two-wheelers roaming around inside the reserve. The riders were kids/ teens, were riding ridiculously inefficient bikes (which were gearless) and were riding tripsy (3 people on one bike, a nice experience, especially in rural areas). Not only was this not allowed, it was highly risky too. I won’t write about what we learnt about them, but just know that such sites can be witnessed. We roamed about Telia lake where our guide, skilfully showed us crocodiles basking on the banks. Again, I was initially impressed.

Gaur..A very peaceful animal, which better not be disturbed!

After a late dinner, we quietly celebrated Madhura’s birthday.  There was disappointment in the air, though nobody showed it: My enthusiastic colleagues had made a film for Madhura and had brought a CD featuring this film. However, such was the heat that the ink of the CD marker melted and destroyed the CD. Thus, we were unable to show her the best present we had brought for her. (Actually, by ‘we’ I mean my classmates. My involvement in this was, if any, counterproductive for the film directors!). Among our group, Rohan is a star gazer, and he understands it too (while I simply gaze!:)). He, Kalpesh and myself had a very nice, romantic chat about the cosmos. He is highly proficient in this and I do intend to spend another session of star gazing with him.

Crested Serpent Eagle

 Next day we went to the Kolsa range. No luck with tiger, we saw a few birds, spotted deer, gaurs and sambars. I was able to get my 1^st ever photo of Crested Serpent Eagle. Beside the stream and the trees where the Eagle  perched, we saw a dead tree pie, a victim of heat wave. Indeed, heat in that area was incredible.  During the evening safari, I  was a little  uninterested, as we were treading the same area again and again, and were about to see the same tigers, same behaviour, similar tourists. Indeed,  I was surprised at myself how sooner I got  bored of this. It was here that I learnt an important lesson. For the previous two safaris, the Lowepro computrekker bag which housed the sigma 150-500, was kept at my feet. It made me uncomfortable because it obstructed my movement in the gypsy. Hence, this time i decided to keep it in the room and carried only the big lens and the camera. Now, when we were waiting for the tigress to come out of the thicket and cross the road (yes, the same routine!!), suddenly, the camera went dead. No response what so ever. Just before the start of the safari, I had checked the battery, the indicator said it was fully charged. What really freaked me out was the viewfinder went dark.  Now this had never happened before. I was to realize later that as  the camera was on when the battery died, the shutter had been left open, and was blocking the view. Anyways, soon, the tigeress arrived. I wan’t too interested, still I sulked at the thought what if this was my 1^st ever tiger sighting? You have a SLR, a lens capable of producing 750mm equivalent focal length, sufficient light, a patient tigress, and still all you can do is watch it pass..he he. The spare battery was in the Lowpro which I had left at the room. Still, worst was yet to come. We roamed about the Telia lake. We witnessed crocodiles  which even I could spot easily. (So much for being impressed the earlier day!!). We also witnessed a sloth bear enjoying itself in the lake water. As another gypsy came to know about the bear sighting, it accelerated, overtook us, and turned around, all with the bear being just feets away from the road. It was an act of plain stupidity and anyone would have given a jerk-knee reaction. However, this Bhaloo (as the bear is known in Hindi, and fondly called in the Jungle Book),  didn’t even flinch. He continued to walk right until he crossed the road and disappeared into the thickets. This incidence did move me. There was unmistakable sadness in his whole act. A resigned feeling. My mind keeps on replaying it. While returning, we came across a flock of bush quails, who thankfully looked  very cheerful. They were so busy in their own world that they were totally oblivious of our presence. It was plain joy to watch such merry birds, as if watching an animated Disney cartoon.  Just when we were about the reach waterhole #2 for another possible sighting of the tigress, it started raining.  The rain, literally came out of nowhere. The sky above was clear. It was obvious that the wind from the adjoining clouds had brought rain with it. Within seconds, we all were drenched in rain. I was beyond panic because I was holding a naked camera!! In an desperate attempt to save it, I tried to cover it with my lycra T shirt, as if it would help. A friend lent me her scarf, which proved to be useful to a certain extent. Our gypsy driver, grasping the situation, made a sprint of his life towards the exit of the reserve. The moment we were outside, it stopped raining as suddenly as it had begun.  Indeed, never ever will I leave the camera bag behind!

Spotted Deer on the banks of Taili lake

A Sambar..

The third day,  we didn’t go for safari because we couldn’t book the Tadoba safari, and the Mohurli safari had become, well, too familiar. Also, we had to vacate the rooms by 12pm. During my return journey, we boarded the same direct bus to Pune. Unlike the earlier bus, this bus had television sets which actually worked. But soon, we realized that we had this painful choice of watching either ‘The Hero’ or ‘The Indian’ or ‘Farz’. And even more painful was the realization that the TVs could not be switched off!! Indeed, another night in that MIDC room would have been relatively pleasant! The bus dropped us safely in Pune, but right on the middle of a flyover!! Such is the symbiosis of these bus walas and Auto rickshaw walas, that within seconds we were flocked by at least a dozen of ricks. Most of the passangers, knowing fully well how difficult would be the effort of climbing down the flyover with luggage, obliged to the ricks. I preferred to treat them like the Mohurli tigress had treated us, and walked down with all the luggage.

A Spotted Owlet

 As I recall the trip, I would say that it was certainly a memorable one. What? Adventurous? Well, I believe adventures happen when planning fails, when the system fails. Climbing down yamunotri under a cellphone torch was indeed adventurous. Finding yourself at crease when your team is 9 wickets down and half a match remaining is indeed adventurous. As such, this trip certainly wasn’t adventurous. But I am aware that wonderful things happen at TATR. Every now and then you watch some exciting video of a sambar being chased by two tigers or something read of some breathtaking incidence. Infact just after my 3^rd safari, Mr Jogwe, who was hardly 5 minutes ahead of us, was able to capture an unfortunate yet phenomenal image of a bear being chased by domestic dogs outside the reserve limits. Indeed such things do happen. But often, you need something more than luck to witness them. It needs love, passion towards the area, it needs one to be soaked  in the surrounding, have limitless patience and yet have very little expectation. It is then that nature reveals itself to you. TATR has done that to people like Atul and Shalik. It won’t certainly do it to a guy, however lucky he may be, who spends not more than 11 hours at TATR and writes not less than 11 pages about it! As for the animals, I am sure that all the animals we saw, except perhaps the merry quails, would have only one way to describe tourists, “Jerks”. 

Last, my favourite tiger photo of the tour..simply ominous..

stay around..

Hrishi 

A first few Building photos..

A few months ago, even the thought of photographing Buildings sounded preposterous to me! "Ain't there enough of these around us, that people wish to even capture them inside the camera?" -was my patent rhetoric. However, strange as life always is, I ended up spending a few minutes 30th and 31st Dec on my building's terrace photographing none other than Kumar's Karishma Complex.

Karishma Complex has been there since almost a decade now, yet it was not untill  past few months I started writing  'Opp Karishma Complex' instead of 'Opp. Sungam Press' while writing my home address.(now that even the last remains of Sungam Press are being wiped off, I have stopped mentioning it as a landmark) Reason? A few beautiful memories are associated with the farm which existed in front of our Building before Karishma was constructed in its place. I remember watching intently the farming activities which eventually made me fall in love with agriculture and thus, the rural India.  I vividly remember how the Lapwing's call used to pierce through the ghostly silence of night, and how I used to avoid walking past the giant termite hill which stood in exact place of present day's Pizza Hut. I remember the mongoose who used to frequently visit our house and then disappear beyond the road,( but not before pausing, turning and , standing on its hind legs, staring at me. Curiosity was mutual!) I remember those painful hours spent in searching for the lost cricket balls on the other side of the road. Certainly, Mr Kumar would have found atleast a few dozens of such balls, including a leather ball which I had bought after spending a lot of savings!

I used to find content in blaming Karishma for the loss of that eco system, until one day, I was made aware by an old man that a beautiful farm used to exist on the very land of my very own Building! Damn it, Mr Chandanpurkar!

Anyways, back to photography, with just a few exposures, I realized how 'still' the buildings are! Indeed,  this is one of the best virtue a subject can have! This very property can be even more enhanced by showing motion around them. This would make the photo much more lively and dynamic.  However, this means a very slow shutter speed, which in turn means tripod and low light photography. Now there, neither did I own a tripod, nor had I done any night shoot. The 1st photo I took keeping my camera on parapit wall. Though I liked my 1st attempt, I found the light paths created by the vehicular lights a bit distracting. (However, most others actually like them!) Anyways, they are unavoidalbe if you want to shoot in dark. I tried changing the composition and things looked better, but the essence of that one photo could not be replicated by the later photos. Well, there is one way of getting long shutter speeds and yet not get the light paths: shooting just at the start of twilight with a really powerful Neutral Density filter! Thanks to awesome photos created by Patrick Smith, I know that Hoya makes one such filter. Spare $300 anyone? As for the tripod, following Thom Hogan's advice, buying anything below Manffrotto 055XProb seems unreasonalbe, hence, I am thinking of dhaapoing Juhi's tripod. What say?

(Click on the images for larger view)

Setting up a tripod inconspicuously in a busy street, ignoring public inquisitiveness, and justifying to cops might as well be as challenging as hiding camouflaged in a marshland! Time will tell.......

Way to the Wynand Building please, Mr Roark?

Remembering Lennon..

John Lennon got shot on 8^th Dec 1980. Not only was he the most loved and the most (arguably) talented of The Beatles, he had that different level of humility which very few posses. I am aware that loving Lennon has long since become a cliché, but I can’t help it. His ‘Imagine’, along with ‘Where mind is without fear..’ by Tagore and ‘If’ by Kipling are the most inspiring poems I’ve ever read. (I consider Lennon a far greater poet than a musician). The magic of ‘Imagine’ is contagious. The more you imagine, the more you believe. To the man who dared to Imagine..And yes, he is the only one...

IMAGINE 
Imagine there's no Heaven 
It's easy if you try 
No hell below us 
Above us only sky 
Imagine all the people 
Living for today 

Imagine there's no countries 
It isn't hard to do 
Nothing to kill or die for 
And no religion too 
Imagine all the people 
Living life in peace 

You may say that I'm a dreamer 
But I'm not the only one 
I hope someday you'll join us 
And the world will be as one 

Imagine no possessions 
I wonder if you can 
No need for greed or hunger 
A brotherhood of man 
Imagine all the people 
Sharing all the world 

You may say that I'm a dreamer 
But I'm not the only one 
I hope someday you'll join us 
And the world will live as one 
                - John Lennon

Bird Table India: Pune Bird Table 1: CME Wetlands

Black winged stilt

Grey Heron

I had the opportunity to attend Pune Bird Table 1, a group without membership, having only one rule, i.e, No Rules. No snobbish birdwatchers, only humble naturalists. No 'count', no 'race'. Only one aim, i.e to appreciate birds..Dr. Bharat Bhushan came up with this fantastic concept and was supported by others in Pune and within 2 weeks, first bird table meet was arranged at CME, hosted by Col. Ashwin Baindur. The response they got was staggering. 32 birders were present at the CME Entrance gate by 7 am on 29th Nov '09. 

A Spotbill in flight

Group comprised of a few veterans like Dr. Bharat Bhushan and Col. Baindur along with keen birders like Alka Yeraodekar, Pankaj Khorpade, a few members of Pugmarks, a few beginners, all very enthusiastic people. 

A River Tern in flight

There is an intersting story behind these wetlands. They were constructed to treat wastewater in an ecological way. The wastewater from nearby enters wetland 1 through reeds (phragmitis?) and is allowed to spread throughout the lake. T Later on, it is let into a 2nd lake further downstream where it is allowed to further settle down. In both of these lakes, the organic matter in the wastewater gets decomposed both aerobically as well as anearobically by bacterial action and a relatively pure water is let into a 3rd lake. 

We could visit 1st and the 2nd lake. First lake was inhabited by huge number of ducks comprising of Shovellers, Pintails, Spotbills, Dabchicks while the 2nd lake had populations of grey herons, painted storks, purple herons as well as a few ducks. This made me believe that the 1st lake is deeper than the 2nd one. Due to lack of time, I couldn't take many photos, and used the camera more as a binocs. I managed to get a few decent photos though.

A Coot in the 2nd lake

A Purple Moorhen

We assembled at a point after later and discussed future possibilities regarding the Bird Table. It was exciting to see a person from village Velhe ready to host a similar Bird Table at his village. This could be a start of a movement which would inculcate birdwatching within the culture of a region. I shall expand more on this later.

A Black Redstart, which was was perched on a tree, was extremely media savvy and obviously became center of attraction to all of the birders. 

As I write this, I learn that the next Bird table is on 6th Dec at Panchgani, Mahabaleshwar. I am sure more birders will join in.

The Great Himalyan Bird Count 2009

I shall write about my recent trip in the Garhwal Himalaya. Occasion was the Great Himalayan Bird Count 2009 (7^th-10^th Nov 2009). It was being organized by an NGO called ARCH (Action Research and Conservation in Himalaya) which is headed by a dynamic person named Prateek Panwar. I came to know about the Count from Dr. Bharat Bhushan (Count Director), who is a well known Ornithologist and currently the Deputy Director (Environmental Planning) at YASHADA, and who has guided me in various bird endeavours in the past.  I had asked many of my friends to join in the Count, but only Juhi agreed to come. Just a day before we left, I got my hands on a Nikon D80, its kit lens Nikkor 18-135mm, a Sigma 150-500mm OS and a Lowepro Computrekker bag. My friend Tanmay Mehendale readily gave this gear to me as he is planning to shift to Canon. Tanmay has done some phenomenal work with the Sigma 150-500mm and it obviously made me nervous to carry that monster lens (without doing any practice), into unknown lands in front of unknown people. Later on, it didn’t seem to be such a difficult thing to do. 

We left Pune on the 5^th Nov 2009 for Delhi by Goa Express. The journey was a little tiring and we had weird, though nice, company. There were three men- a Canadian, a Tibetian Monk and a Sikh in our compartment and witnessing their interaction and participating in the conversations (or attempts for conversation) was fun. In Delhi, we were received by Nitin, who took us to his place in Roop Nagar. He is by far, the best host I have seen amongst my generation! After freshening up, we went for a stroll in the Delhi University, where Nitin is studying for his Masters in English Literature. I was impressed by the University campus and certainly would have loved to pursue my higher studies over there. Travelling in Delhi Metro was a pleasure experience, except for the fact that we had to remove and re-wear all our luggage at every other boarding station, and the tough time I had while convincing the security personals at the X ray scan that the 150-500mm is a lens and not a gun!

A snap of a bldg in Delhi University

After reaching Dehra Dun on the 7^th morning, we went to FRI Manthan where all the participants had come for briefing. We met interesting people like Dr. Sayyad Husssein, who is a well known senior bird watcher who used worked in BNHS along with Dr. Bharat Bhushan, Anil Kunte (who made a twitter bird clock), Narbeer (who has done some tremendous work on birds in Chandigarh), Rajesh Sachdev (moderator of various on-line groups dedicated to bio-diversity). Due to time constraints, I was unable to get acquainted with other equally interesting birders from all over India. Some of the participants like retired Wing Commander Mr. Narsimha, were new to birds, but were equally enthusiastic. The opening ceremony was a high profile one which saw speeches of high ranking Government minister and officials, and those by the Count Directors. It was interesting to listen about Jerdon’s Courser from Dr. Bharat Bhushan, who rediscovered the bird after 138 years.  The ultimate aim behind such counts is to rediscover the Himalayan Quail (Ophrysia superciliosa), a legendary bird presumed extinct since 1876. Coming back to the Bird Count; 16 groups were scheduled to cover almost the entire Garhwal Himalaya.

 I was in Group 5, which was scheduled to go to Yamunotri via Barkot. I was excited about the thought of seeing snow clad peaks Himalaya. Our group comprised of Dr. Bharat Bhushan (who was kind enough to make me the leader, thus to bear the hateful task of waking up the group before dawn), Kalpesh Patel; a chemical engineer working in 3M, who became a thick friend by the end of the count, Juhi, who’s an English trainer working with Symbiosis, but a naturalist at heart, and who has got keen vision so useful for spotting birds; and myself. Well, I have some background in environmental science, lesser so in geology, even lesser so in ornithology (study of birds) and odonatology (study of dragonflies).

A view from a roadside Dhaba, near Mussoorie

Finally by 1.45pm we were off to Barkot in a Count vehicle (Mahindra Commander) along with the equipments provided by ARCH (previous year’s Bird Count report, worksheets, First Aid kit, Banner etc). We took our first hault before Musssoorie, at a roadside dhaba to have lunch. Outside the dhaba, the sky was clear and I got a good composition of the distant houses on a hill top with mountains in the background.  Learning camera functions of D80 proved to be difficult. As I didn’t have the manual, I had to figure out things from my own. Nikon proved to be counterintuitive for me. Seldom did I get some function right. Even the mount rotating action to remove and attach lenses is also opposite to that of Canon and Pentax. Worst was the button to be pressed for removing lenses. It needs to be operated with left hand. Now, the left hand is always holding the lens  and hence in order to press the button, one needs to leave the lens which causes imbalance. It was worst because I had to constantly shuffle between the 18-135mm and the 150-500mm. A pain in a$$. As other functions like the L switch remained alien to me, I decided to operate with minimal settings. I shot everything in the A priority mode, AF-S, central crosshair, Burst mode, Single AF point selection, ISO 100  or 400, NEF wherever possible, otherwise Fine or Normal quality Jpeg. I quickly learnt to keep the exposure compensation to -0.3 (thanks to clipped highlights Playback). The lens 18-135mm is simply superb! I didn’t find the need of VR while I used it. Working with it was superfast.  The Sigma lens was another story. It rarely gave me  a sharp photo, but I was using it under extreme conditions of light and I was new to the lens as it was to me. I hope the more time we spend together the better it is, for both of us.

A view during the drive to Barkot

Juhi

We reached Barkot by night, thanks to skilful driving by Sunil, the Count Vehicle driver. On the meandering roads across the mountains, you are totally at the driver’s mercy. Thats why the Pahari people (people from the mountains) refer their drivers as “Driver sahaab” or even “Pilot”. At Barkot we had a simple yet delicious dinner at a small hotel run by Mr. Rawat. While going to the Forest Rest House of Barkot, I sighted hind legs of some animal. It turned out to be a Jackal. It appeared that there is a pack of them living in the vicinity of the Barkot FRH. We had multiple sightings of them. That is all to be told for the 7^th.

A view from Barkot FRH

Kalpesh Patel, whose tremendous bargaining skills made this tour a real value for money!  :-)

The dawn on the 8^th witnessed the start of our bird count. We decided to wake up early and go for a walk at 5am. Unfortunately, we didn’t spot anything. Neither bird nor mammal. It was when we returned to the the FRH, i.e at 6.15am, that we opened our Count account. Enter Asian Barred Owlet. It was perched on a tree right in front of the FRH entrance, only to be chased by the Blue Whistling Thrush. BWT, we had seen during our way to Barkot and it is a pretty common bird to find in this area. Across the world, there are always species which replace other species found in a different geographical location and which performs similar functional. In simpler terms, two species, same niche,  different locations. E.g the role of top predetor in the jungle is performed by the Common Leopard, the Jaguar, the Snow Leopard etc. Similarly, the Blue Whistling Thrush seems to replace the Malabar Whistling Thrush found in the Western Ghats. Similary, the Asian Barred Owlet might be replacing the Spotted Owlet of the peninsular India.

Asian Barred Owlet

Bharat Sir, all ready for chai

The next interesting bird we sighted, minutes after the Owlet, was the Grey-headed Woodpecker. It was a large woodpecker busy in its trademark activity- woodpecking. It limited itself to the tree stock close to the ground, say till 1-1.5m.  All the woodpeckers I had seen earlier were smaller in size and were always sighted high in the branches. Unfortunately, I got nothing but blurred photos of the GHW, useful  only for its documentation. Next came a flock of Red Billed Blue Magpies, which Juhi spotted. They were playing in the hay stacks, kept on a platform created in the trees. They seemed to busy eating the berries as well. The Grey Treepie also gave us a courtesy call and so did a Tree-creeper. We later identified it to be Bar-tailed Tree-creeper. We saw plenty of tiny warblers like birds but could not identify them then. After having a heavy breakfast of the best Aloo Paranthas in the world (at Rawat’s modest hotel), we set off for Yamunotri. 

Pine plantations

We were supposed to walk a 10km transect and then continue the journey by the CV, but as the sky was exceptionally clear, Dr Bharat Bhushan suggested we go directly to Yamunotri and carry out the transect during  return journey. We did stop a couple of times to sight a Long-billed Vulture, a White-capped Water Red-start, a Crested Kingfisher and, more importantly, to have chai, which I call the elixir of life! The fact that I am a tea-addict was quickly learnt within the group and was respected too, by frequent tea-breaks.  Other group members were also avid tea lovers. Besides, one is seldom too disciplined to not have tea in the Himalayan cold.

River Yamuna

Crested Kingfisher waiting for its next meal

It was 1.45pm when we reached Jankichatti, the place where the motor-able road ends. As most of you must be aware of, Yamunotri is a well known piligrimage site for the Hindu. Yamunotri, along with Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedatnath, constitute the Chardham yatra. The hills are named such that a piligrim would eagerly walk, knowing that he is coming closer to the all mighty. First hill to come is chatty. It is followed by Ranachatti, Poolchatti, Hanumanchatti, Jankichatti, Bhairavchatti and finally the Yamunotri.

First view of Kalanag and Bandarpoonch peaks

A view of the splendid mountain peaks:  the Bandarpoonch and Kalanag

We were greeted at Jankichatti by an exceptionally large gliding bird. It was by far the largest bird I’ve seen in the wild. It was not a vulture. There were two Himalayan Griffons following its route, but this bird was much  larger than them, had a longer, noticeable tail and a wing span not similar to the vultures. Also, its flight was unique. While the vultures were hovering at their usual, boring speed, this bird was fast and was heading towards a cliff in a linear direction. Nor once did it flap its wings. Inspite of this, its speed was astounding. As if the wind was empowering it.  But then the Griffons were so slow. For  a moment, none of us spoke. We were literally transfixed by it. It was sheer overpowering. I was, unfortunately, carrying the smaller lens, and had to shoot with it. Once I got the documentation shot, I frantically opened my bag for the Sigma 150-500 but till then the bird was gone. And so had the Griffons. Once we met Dr. Bharat, who had gone to search for the FRH, I immediately showed the photos to him. His face lit,  met Dr. Bharat, who had gone to search for the FRH, I immediately showed the photos to him. His face lit,  yet he refused to identify the species. He  asked me to search the bird guide. Searching for an unknown bird in the Book of Indian Birds is a game I always loved. Its not the same wwith the Grimmett book. With additional species, changed names and too many illustrations, I find the Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent less pleasurable to read. (However, I agree, handsdown that it is more useful than the BOIB, especially when it comes to the distribution and the plumage variation). Our bird layed on the Plate 61. We had sighted the legendary Lammergeier. Lammergeier is known to feed on the bone marrow. It keeps close to the vultures while they scout for the deads. It then waits patiently till the vultures have their stomach ful (of Dactlophinac?!). Then it carries a nice big bone from the caracass and flies at a high position. From there, it drops the bone on to the hard ground where it cracks open and thus the Lammergeier can feed on the marrow. Exciting? Hell yes!

A documentation image of the Lammergeier

The staff at FRH Jankichatti was exceptionally warm. Actually, every pahari person I have met till date, has been exceptionally warm at heart. Whether the area is Kumaon, Khasi or Garhwal, this virtue is hard to miss.  These people seem to be made of some different breed. Raised in free spirits, unpolluted in every sense.

Our group and the staff at Jankichatti FRH

A kid from Kharsali

Himalayan Griffon over Yamunotri glacier

We had to quickly start our 5km trek from Janki chatti Yamunotri shrine because delay would put our return in jeopardy. Strange course of events, in which I won’t delve, saw us climbing the Yamunotri without food and water. Food was not an issue. Water was. It always is. We reached the temple in 3.5 hours. We sighted birds like Alpine Accentor, Snow Pigeons, Himalayan Woodpecker and a pack of Hanuman langoors. The temple of Yamunotri was almost empty, except for the head pujaari (priest) and a few caretakers of the temple. Constrcution work for the bridge to the temple was on-going, hence a few workers were present. Apart from that, there was nothing. Not even the shrine. Every winter the temple authorities take the goddess down to a village called Kharsali. We saw a hot water spring called Surya Kund over there. It was so boiling hot that people cook potatoes in it and give it as a Prasad to the devotees. The water from the spring is let into two pools, one for gents and the other for ladies. A dip in them is a very good practice, not only because it is considered holy, but also because it takes away all your fatigue and refreshes you like anything. People asked me to jump into the pool meant for gents and I readily agreed. The instant before I was about to jump, I thought it would be good if I check the water first. Hence I dipped my feet inside, to check how hot the water was. The next instant, i was out of the pool, ailing my burnt legs! How can anybody take bath in water so hot? Localites said I overfelt the heat because of the cold. Hence I repeated the feet test after few minutes of allowing them to get ‘acclimatized’. Same result. I felt very stupid, being only on chaddi and too afraid to dip. The temperature was around 2 Degrees C and I was freezing.  However, Kalpesh was soon to face the same problem. J . Localites, gleefully, suggested us to take bath in the tank meant for ladies. The water in that pool was being mixed with cold water, and hence was less warmth. Unashamed, we made a run for the ladies pool and were relived to find it perfect! Next few minutes were the happiest ones in quite a while. I can still feel the warm water touching my whole body. Ultra relaxing. The contrast between the warm water and the atmospheric cold was mind boggling. Being a Geology graduate, I had read a lot about geothermal energy, but experiencing its true potential was truly memorable. A spot like this has to have a temple around it, for it is truely God given. By climbing steep mountains, by challenging the tough cold and then experiencing the rewards of such hot bath, makes you think spiritual by default!

Yamunotri Temple, right in the river channel

It was already dark when we left the temple for the return trek to Jankichatti. We had a forest guard with us.   However, he was cursing us for coming atop so late and now leaving in the dark. He was afraid of the leopards. Juhi was, like always, equipped for the worst. She had two torches and the her cellphone, Samsung B2100 Marine, is meant for such harsh environment. The torch it emitted put the other torches to shame and it became our main soruce of light. The road was narrow, with steep cliffs on one side and the valley on the other. It was constantly turning. Such turns would provide such perfect ambush for a man-eater! I dared not to think. Yet I kept imagining from the Corbett stories I have read so many times. The thought that “This is Garhwal, not Kumaon” provided a little comfort. The guard was telling us to make as much noise as possible. Hence there we were trying to talk. Strangely, none of us could think of any topic worth talking. Funny, life is. We were tapping the walking sticks to the side railings. We came past one of the river bridge. Such areas are more unsafe, said the guard. When we were relieved after crossing the bridge, he said the real danger is ahead, the area where the government had planted a lot of trees. And he was right.  At the edge of the Samsung’s light, Juhi saw a pair of eyes flash. She nudged me and I saw too. Not the shining eyes, but a dark silhoute. Though I had never seen a leopard in my life, I had seen enough of it on media to identify one. Unmistakably, this was one. But what struck me was the speed with which it moved away from us. The movement was beyond anything. How can so large a body move so fast, so suddenly, so silently? That movement would put all my wildest imaginations from wildest dreams of putting up a decent fight against such beasts, to rest. Forever. By the time Kalpesh came to know of it, it was gone. The guard, however, had seen it and didn’t say a word after that. He didn’t have to. Once we came in thee vicinity of Jankichatti, we all relaxed. Cheerful once again, we reached the FRH. The sky was beautiful. The stars and the moon had come out and had gently lit the whole area. I knew I could get some once-in-life time astrophotography shots. I had everything needed for them: a beautiful DSLR with a wide angle lens, a mini yet sturdy tripod and, more importantly, an exceptionally beautiful sky. But, I am ashamed to say, laziness got better of me. Yes, I hid behind the excuses of the air being too cold and me being too sleepy. I still feel the pinch, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.

A typical Garhwali house at the backdrop of the glacier

Next day (9^th Nov) turned to be a spoiler. The sky was overcast and gloomy. We went to Kharsali, the hamlet where the shrine was kept. After searching for temples and asking a few localites, we came to the house belonging to a priest, where the shrine was kept. We had darshan of the goddesss, performed Pooja and were allowed to take photographs too. This fact and the hot water bath made me believe that the best season to visit Yamunotri is off season, provided you are able to get permission to go there from the Government. We saw a mixed pack of Crows consisting of Broad-billed Crows and the Carrion Crows. Bharat Sir and Juhi were lucky to spot Yellow-billed Chough. I might have seen one too, but discounted it thinking of a Broad-billed carrying some food item. 

A mixed flock

Minutes after we left for Barkot, it started drizzling. If we had followed the schedule, we would have witnessed snow fall at Yamunotri. However, it would have become too cold for the clothes we were wearing. Morale of the story: Always use your common sense, even if you are given a schedule to follow J. We couldn’t complete much of the transect that we had planned from yamunotri to Barkot. We however, took breaks at the gulley crossings which resulted in spotting birds like Blue-capped Water Redstart and multiple sightings of Spotted Forktail. Juhi spotted a few Common Wood Pigeons perched on the Pine trees. Once we reached Barkot, we had good discussions on every species, with Bharat Sir checking and rechecking every species I captured with the Grimmett field guide. After that, we compiled the Count report.

Snow Pigeons

The morning of the 10^th was memorable. For one thing, I learnt from previous mistake and wokeup at 6 instead of 5. Within minutes, I had seen a Fire-brested Flowerpecker, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, a Niltava, and a Whiskered Yuhina! Unfortunately, I couldn’t take a single decent photos of them, got documentation shots of all. Not that these are rare birds over there. Its just that seeing 4 lifers in 4 minutes was too much for me. 

Niltava

Whiskered Yuhina

After we went back to Manthan, Dehra Dun, we attended the closing discussion where all the groups gave an account of their sightings.  Well known theatre film personality Mr. Tom Alter was present too. And so were many big names in the forest department.

I continued to stay in Dehra dun after 10^th till 13^th. But I shall write about it some other time. 

I would like to end this post with a splendid  view from the Barkot FRH