Another Day Another Tiger

Our final jeep safari into Ranthambhore saw us travelling along Route 3, and this turned out to be not only a very scenic area but also held more birds than other sections of the park we had visited. At the entrance gate inside the park a flock of Plum-headed Parakeets were feeding on the floor right beside us, and a Peacock was rather unobtrusive. We had a close pair of Painted Spurfowls, which was a great way to start. 

Plum-headed Parakeet

Peacock

Painted Spurfowl

There were several lakes that held a lot of the usual birds and we spent some time observing the overall scene as Marsh Muggers cruised by close to shore and all the usual egrets, herons and waders were dotted along the water’s edge. At the first lake there was a distant Crested Serpent-eagle which was new for the tour, but best of all was an Indian Stone-curlew standing in the shade of a tree next to another lake. 

Indian Stone-curlew

We’d spent a few hours going around all of the good areas and were just about thinking of leaving when a canter went speeding by us in the opposite direction. They were obviously aware of something we weren’t so followed them in hot pursuit and after a bumpy, dusty fast drive we pulled up behind a group of 6 or 7 other jeeps and sure enough, there was a rather large female Tiger sitting amongst some bushes under the trees. She was partially obscured but kept moving around and she looked huge compared to the other Tiger we saw a few days ago. 

Our Second Tiger

After 20  minutes or so she got up and went over to her recently killed Sambar and dragged some branches and leaves over it and walked off into the jungle. And that was it. The whole episode made us fully appreciate the amazing encounter with our first beast the other day. On the way out of the park we had a close perched Indian Vulture, followed by a soaring Red-headed Vulture, and a Rat Snake to end our wildlife encounters here. 

Rat Snake

In the afternoon we drove to Mansarovar Lake for a quick look and was surprised to find 9 Great Black-headed Gulls present, as well as a whole bunch of common birds but had nothing new to add to our lists since the Common Iora in the car park of our lodge. All that remained to do was make our way to Sawai Modhpur train station and catch the overnight sleeper train to Delhi – and all the chaos that always surrounds such an event!

Ranthambhore Day 2

Had a change of plan this morning and decided to not go on safari but use our canter to go explore the fields and canyons about half an hours drive away. A good move as it turned out because we finally caught up with Striolated Bunting, a relatively recent split from House Bunting, and had amazingly close views as I called one in and sure enough it did come in – to within about 2 metres!! 

Striolated Bunting

Amidst a quite dramatic area of badlands and canyons we also had White-capped and Crested Buntings, Grey-breasted and numerous Rufous-fronted Prinias, Grey-throated Martin and others. Moving on down to a small river bordered by fields and tall rushes we had Crested and Oriental Skylarks, and both Paddyfield and Tawny Pipits in the same field as the village kids were playing cricket. 

An Asian Openbill, Indian Black Ibis, Purple Heron, Marsh Harrier, Long-tailed and Great Grey Shrikes and Sykes’s Wagtail were all present. But by now it was getting hot so we drove off and headed back to the lodge, checking a few arid areas for more larks without success, but we did spot a close Indian Courser beside the road which was very nice indeed. 

Indian Courser

In the afternoon we had a safari back in the reserve along route 5 and scored with two Brown Fish-owls, Indian Vulture and Large Cuckooshrike, plus the usual Sambar, Spotted Deer, Wild Boar and Ruddy Mongoose. 

Spotted Deer

Brown Fish-owl

In the evening we went out in search of Indian Stone-curlew which a few of the group managed to get on as it flew out of some Acacia trees and groups of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse flew over. But then I called in an Indian Little Nightjar which circled us several times, a Large-tailed Nightjar then flew over the trees behind us and a Savanna Nightjar called overhead and was spotlighted but it never came back in for seconds. So what a lovely way to end the day!

Ranthambhore

Our first safari into Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve couldn’t have started better with a female Painted Spurfowl feeding beside the road. It got even better when we found ourselves in close proximity to a huge Sloth Bear feeding beside the bumpy track on some termites. We followed it for quite a while as it walked through the bushes bordering the track and after 10 minutes it walked across right in front of us and disappeared into the forest. 

Sloth Bear

We then drove along exploring other areas of this rather scenic reserve which is dominated by a huge escarpment complete with an old fort. We stopped at a forest outpost to stretch our legs and got swamped by a gang of Jungle Babblers and a few Rufous Treepies that actually took some biscuits out of our hands and we also added a Black Stork as well. So we headed back to the lodge for a late breakfast and afterwards drove to Suriwal Lake – despite the heat. What a good move as we found several new birds for the trip starting with a Great Grey Shrike (always used to be called Southern Grey Shrike but that's been lumped now) perched on some roadside telegraph wires and followed by a single breeding-plumaged Dalmatian Pelican swimming in the middle of the lake. 

Dalmatian Pelican

Further scanning from the dam revealed a flock of 500+ Great White Pelicans (not hard to miss really!!) on the far side of the lake, as well as flocks of Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits, Greater Flamingos, Bar-headed Geese and a good selection of ducks. Driving along the other side we saw a couple of Greater Thick-knees and numerous Kentish Plovers, Dunlins, Little and Temminck’s Stints as well. A surprise came in the shape of a White-eyed Buzzard which flew around in front of us before landing in a field and began drinking from a small pool.

In the afternoon at 2.30pm we returned to the reserve on another safari and I was hoping to get the Route No 1 where a Tiger had been seen this morning, but we were given Route No 4 and I must admit I felt really cheesed off at this. So we bumbled along the bumpy track and got to a large lake where there were a few waterbirds and I half-heartedly began scanning. 

We’d only been here a few minutes and I was thinking how stupid it was to go into a Tiger Reserve this early as any self-respecting Tiger is going to be sleeping in some shady section of forest when we heard the distinctive sound of a Spotted Deer alarm call. It’s the one sound you want to hear and when it called again we were off rather speedily around the lake and stopped to listen. After a few minutes of random scanning and listening we drove on further towards where we thought the sound had come from, passing a few jeeps along the way and asked them if they’d heard anything. The blank faces told us all we needed to know. We rounded a corner and headed up a long straight track and could see a couple of jeeps at the top of the hill – and when one guy urgently beckoned us forward the hairs on the back of my neck began to rise. As we drove over the brow of the hill we could see a few more jeeps already here and everyone was staring at a small waterhole off to the right……… And there it was!

Words can never fully describe the adrenaline rush and sheer relief when you first eyeball a Tiger and even after seeing so many over the years it is always the same, like seeing your first one all over again. So here we were, looking at a young female Tiger with just her head showing above the murky water. 

After a while she got up and walked over towards us and off to our left where in the shade of some trees was her recent kill of a Sambar. 

She sniffed and licked it a few times before going back to the pool for a drink and then she reversed into the water where she started licking her paws. 

After some time she rolled over and then a little later got back up and walked over to her kill and it was then that an idiot jeep driver drove in front of us cracking some branches on the floor. 

Tiger!

I’m sure the Tiger would have stayed if this didn’t happen as she walked off across the path and away into the forest. Of course the jeep in front held a photographer with a lense the size of a cannon and wanted to get that crucial close up – it always seems to me that a high percentage of wildlife photographers are total freakin idiots and care nothing for the welfare of their subject. Anyway, we’d been with the Tiger for well over half an hour and everyone was so happy as we drove away. So nothing could beat that and we birded for a while around the lakes and had a nice group of Sambar in the water and a few nice birds such as Greater Painted Snipe, White-browed Fantail, Bronze-winged Jacana etc  But we soon had enough and drove on through the forest with only a Cinereous Tit stopping us reaching the exit and a nice cool swim back at the lodge.

Going to Ranthambhore

Mainly a travelling day as it took almost 6 hours to reach the wonderful Tiger Moon Resort close to the entrance of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve today. Along the way we did stop to scope a Variable Wheatear and again to get a good close look at a colony of Streak-throated Swallows nesting under a small bridge. Upon arrival at the lodge we had a great lunch and even had time for a swim for some and a short siesta before driving out to an open rocky habitat. 

Our main quarry was Painted Sandgrouse so we walked quite away across some small pools and along a hill without any luck before Ganesh found 6 birds feeding amongst the rocks and bushes which gave great views for a few minutes. Just as we were thinking about getting closer for some photos in the perfect late afternoon light than a Common Kestrel flew over and they all took flight. Unbelievable! We also saw a few Indian Vultures soaring in the distance, as well as Indian Bushlark and Rufous-fronted Prinia here before driving back to the lodge and checking out a small waterhole nearby. A good move as it turned out with a few waders present such as Temminck’s Stint, Spotted Redshank and both Green and Wood Sandpipers. But a Common Hawk-cuckoo was a much better find as we scoped it in a leafless tree after I had called it in from miles away. As we walked back in near-darkness a Large-tailed Nightjar flew over, flocks of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse flew past and an Indian Stone Curlew called from the distance.