Beaks, Claws and Pugmarks

Kiddos - look to your left - looks like there is an  eagle, I shouted and pulled over to the side. Yes, there was an eagle, must have been disturbed from a tree top close by. Looked as if it had made its mind to inspect the countryside now that it had been disturbed. With few lazy flaps of its wings it gained height , and soon disappeared behind treeline in ever widening circles. We kept our cameras ready, just in case the circular flying pattern brought it back to where we were but you cannot get too lucky - or maybe that was our lucky day.

Appa, there is another one up there on the telephone tower, shouted out my elder one. We zoomed in and were rewarded by the sight of two Egyptians Vultures preening themselves atop the tower. Oblivious of two budding photographers ooohing and aahing and clicking away to glory, the vultures kept cleaning and preening. My mom as well as my kids' mom also came out, stretched their legs and participated in the excitement. After few minutes we packed up and continued on our journey to Bhadra WLS where we had a booking at River Tern JLR.

The remaining trip from Bangalore to Bhadra was incident  free. We saw the usual culprits - many cranes, egrets and parrots and finally reached River Tern lodge - situated next to Bhadra reservoir with no other resort close by and hence spared from deluge of tourists. It is a beautiful property spread across mainland and a small island connected with a suspension bridge.  The rooms in the cottage were well appointed, clean and airy as you would expect from any JLR property. The view of the backwaters was simply amazing. The gentle breeze, ample sunlight, balmy weather - intoxicated us into feeling like kings and queens surveying all that is ours. My mom was also not left untouched with this regal splendor :-) Here - she is enjoying the beauty of green and blue expanse of tree tops and water as far as one could see.

Is everything alright? I asked the younger one - sitting next to me in boat safari. Normally he asks questions at a rate of 1 per second - and I was missing 120 questions over last 2 minutes. Where are the mammals? I like raptors and other birds - but where are the mammals? Pat came the reply. We had seen a shy monitor lizard, few spot billed ducks, a plover, few lapwings, many greater cormorants, Indian cormorants and even an osprey - but no mammals were to be seen. The register kept at the resort had mentioned a leopard seen with its kill the previous day. I was sure both kids had read it and their expectations like brahminy kites, were soaring sky high. We did not see a big cat - but were soon rewarded with a small herd of elephants by the side of the reservoir. They were disturbed by our boat and were retreating into the jungle. A young one though, either was ignorant of the threat we posed - or was just confident of its strength, stayed put for a while and was last to leave.

We felt like intruders disturbing the herd in its late evening rituals and left the scene. After 2 hours of a gorgeous boat ride we were back on land and spent time in resort gorging on pakodas and having some tea.

Tea was followed with a movie on dhols with Kamaani leading the back. It was a nicely made documentary. Back in the cottage we compared the photographs we took - and looks like my elder one has a knack of taking good pictures with the Sony 12x optical zoom camera that was passed on to him when we upgraded to a Canon 65x optical zoom one.

Grey horn-bill

Next day we had opted for a jeep safari. We were fortunate to have with us an avid wildlife photographer and enthusiast. He could help us in identifying many birds, nests and pug marks.
We were greeted by some grey hornbills at the checkpost to the wild life sanctuary. We hardly moved few meters when their cousins pied hornbills also came to give us a glimpse. It is a beautiful bird and the first time for us to have spotted it outside the Salim Ali book!

 The jungle was unusually quiet - and we were meandering through the slippery trail in JLR's 4WD - when Sree called out - stop, which is that bird there. There sitting in the fork of the branch was a Serpent Eagle. The wildlife enthusiast accompanying us informed that it was a rare sight and this information made us click twice the number of too many photographs that we would anyway have clicked. Serpent eagle had no interest in us - and though we were just 10 feet away from it - it did not fly off for the 10 minutes we spent there observing it.

It was while observing the eagle, we came across another jeep coming the opposite way. In Bandipur or Kabini, one would frequently come across other jeeps - but in Bhadra this was the only other jeep we met. They mentioned that they had seen a solitary Dhol, wild dog, on the way. This information sent the whole jeep in flurry of excitement. It brought to our attention the pug marks and hoof prints all around us. We have been to multiple safaris - but it was our first time post monsoon. It had rained the previous night and the wet mud had captured the activity nicely.
We were like a bunch of seasoned trackers discussing and debating. The two kids specially were in their elements - and recreated a complete hunt scenario - of which Nat Geo could also be proud of - not to say makers of Bahubali rushing to sign them up for script writing. My wife has developed a keen sight for birds - and soon spotted another one far off on a tree top. Fading light cannot take away the intensity with which the changeable hawk eagle is surveying its fiefdom from atop a tree.
The rest of the trip was filled with questions and uninterrupted chirping and chatting from the kids. They have now developed an avid interest in observing not just the mammals but birds as well. I was also pleasantly surprised that no longer just the desire to see a tiger or leopard - but also the chance to observe pugmarks gets us excited. 
You should tell me if it has gone too far when back in Bangalore, on our walk to get some chores done - the younger one asked - guess which was that animal? I asked where? He elaborated - the animal that could have done that poop over there. He wanted to observe the colour and texture - but I encouraged him to take that up some other day - when is Anna is around to explain - and deftly maneuvered him round to easier topics.

Beaks, Claws and Pugmarks

Kiddos - look to your left - looks like there is an  eagle, I shouted and pulled over to the side. Yes, there was an eagle, must have been disturbed from a tree top close by. Looked as if it had made its mind to inspect the countryside now that it had been disturbed. With few lazy flaps of its wings it gained height , and soon disappeared behind treeline in ever widening circles. We kept our cameras ready, just in case the circular flying pattern brought it back to where we were but you cannot get too lucky - or maybe that was our lucky day.

Appa, there is another one up there on the telephone tower, shouted out my elder one. We zoomed in and were rewarded by the sight of two Egyptians Vultures preening themselves atop the tower. Oblivious of two budding photographers ooohing and aahing and clicking away to glory, the vultures kept cleaning and preening. My mom as well as my kids' mom also came out, stretched their legs and participated in the excitement. After few minutes we packed up and continued on our journey to Bhadra WLS where we had a booking at River Tern JLR.

The remaining trip from Bangalore to Bhadra was incident  free. We saw the usual culprits - many cranes, egrets and parrots and finally reached River Tern lodge - situated next to Bhadra reservoir with no other resort close by and hence spared from deluge of tourists. It is a beautiful property spread across mainland and a small island connected with a suspension bridge.  The rooms in the cottage were well appointed, clean and airy as you would expect from any JLR property. The view of the backwaters was simply amazing. The gentle breeze, ample sunlight, balmy weather - intoxicated us into feeling like kings and queens surveying all that is ours. My mom was also not left untouched with this regal splendor :-) Here - she is enjoying the beauty of green and blue expanse of tree tops and water as far as one could see.

Is everything alright? I asked the younger one - sitting next to me in boat safari. Normally he asks questions at a rate of 1 per second - and I was missing 120 questions over last 2 minutes. Where are the mammals? I like raptors and other birds - but where are the mammals? Pat came the reply. We had seen a shy monitor lizard, few spot billed ducks, a plover, few lapwings, many greater cormorants, Indian cormorants and even an osprey - but no mammals were to be seen. The register kept at the resort had mentioned a leopard seen with its kill the previous day. I was sure both kids had read it and their expectations like brahminy kites, were soaring sky high. We did not see a big cat - but were soon rewarded with a small herd of elephants by the side of the reservoir. They were disturbed by our boat and were retreating into the jungle. A young one though, either was ignorant of the threat we posed - or was just confident of its strength, stayed put for a while and was last to leave.

We felt like intruders disturbing the herd in its late evening rituals and left the scene. After 2 hours of a gorgeous boat ride we were back on land and spent time in resort gorging on pakodas and having some tea.

Tea was followed with a movie on dhols with Kamaani leading the back. It was a nicely made documentary. Back in the cottage we compared the photographs we took - and looks like my elder one has a knack of taking good pictures with the Sony 12x optical zoom camera that was passed on to him when we upgraded to a Canon 65x optical zoom one.

Grey horn-bill

Next day we had opted for a jeep safari. We were fortunate to have with us an avid wildlife photographer and enthusiast. He could help us in identifying many birds, nests and pug marks.
We were greeted by some grey hornbills at the checkpost to the wild life sanctuary. We hardly moved few meters when their cousins pied hornbills also came to give us a glimpse. It is a beautiful bird and the first time for us to have spotted it outside the Salim Ali book!

 The jungle was unusually quiet - and we were meandering through the slippery trail in JLR's 4WD - when Sree called out - stop, which is that bird there. There sitting in the fork of the branch was a Serpent Eagle. The wildlife enthusiast accompanying us informed that it was a rare sight and this information made us click twice the number of too many photographs that we would anyway have clicked. Serpent eagle had no interest in us - and though we were just 10 feet away from it - it did not fly off for the 10 minutes we spent there observing it.

It was while observing the eagle, we came across another jeep coming the opposite way. In Bandipur or Kabini, one would frequently come across other jeeps - but in Bhadra this was the only other jeep we met. They mentioned that they had seen a solitary Dhol, wild dog, on the way. This information sent the whole jeep in flurry of excitement. It brought to our attention the pug marks and hoof prints all around us. We have been to multiple safaris - but it was our first time post monsoon. It had rained the previous night and the wet mud had captured the activity nicely.
We were like a bunch of seasoned trackers discussing and debating. The two kids specially were in their elements - and recreated a complete hunt scenario - of which Nat Geo could also be proud of - not to say makers of Bahubali rushing to sign them up for script writing. My wife has developed a keen sight for birds - and soon spotted another one far off on a tree top. Fading light cannot take away the intensity with which the changeable hawk eagle is surveying its fiefdom from atop a tree.
The rest of the trip was filled with questions and uninterrupted chirping and chatting from the kids. They have now developed an avid interest in observing not just the mammals but birds as well. I was also pleasantly surprised that no longer just the desire to see a tiger or leopard - but also the chance to observe pugmarks gets us excited. 
You should tell me if it has gone too far when back in Bangalore, on our walk to get some chores done - the younger one asked - guess which was that animal? I asked where? He elaborated - the animal that could have done that poop over there. He wanted to observe the colour and texture - but I encouraged him to take that up some other day - when is Anna is around to explain - and deftly maneuvered him round to easier topics.

Beaks, Claws and Pugmarks

Kiddos - look to your left - looks like there is an  eagle, I shouted and pulled over to the side. Yes, there was an eagle, must have been disturbed from a tree top close by. Looked as if it had made its mind to inspect the countryside now that it had been disturbed. With few lazy flaps of its wings it gained height , and soon disappeared behind treeline in an ever widening circles. We kept our cameras ready, just in case the circular flying pattern brought it back to where we were but you cannot get too lucky - or maybe that was our lucky day.

Appa, there is another one up there on the telephone tower, shouted out my elder one. We zoomed in and were rewarded by the sight of two Egyptians Vultures preening themselves atop the tower. Oblivious of two budding photographers ooohing and aahing and clicking away to glory, the vultures kept cleaning and preening. My mom as well as my kids' mom also came out, stretched their legs and participated in the excitement. After few minutes we packed up and continued on our journey to Bhadra WLS where we had a booking at River Tern JLR.

The remaining trip from Bangalore to Bhadra was incident  free. We saw the usual culprits - many cranes, egrets and parrots and finally reached River Tern lodge - situated next to Bhadra reservoir with no other resort close by and hence spared from deluge of tourists. It is a beautiful property spread across mainland and a small island connected with a suspension bridge.  The rooms in the cottage were well appointed, clean and airy as you would expect from any JLR property. The view of the backwaters was simply amazing. The gentle breeze, ample sunlight, balmy weather - intoxicated us into feeling like kings and queens surveying all that is ours. My mom was also not left untouched with this regal splendor :-) Here - she is enjoying the beauty of green and blue expanse of tree tops and water as far as one could see.

Is everything alright? I asked the younger one - sitting next to me in boat safari. Normally he asks questions at a rate of 1 per second - and I was missing 120 questions over last 2 minutes. Where are the mammals? I like raptors and other birds - but where are the mammals? Pat came the reply. We had seen a shy monitor lizard, few spot billed ducks, a plover, few lapwings, many greater cormorants, Indian cormorants and even an osprey - but no mammals were to be seen. The register kept at the resort had mentioned a leopard seen with its kill the previous day. I was sure both kids had read it and their expectations like brahminy kites, were soaring sky high. We did not see a big cat - but were soon rewarded with a small herd of elephants by the side of the reservoir. They were disturbed by our boat and were retreating into the jungle. A young one though, either was ignorant of the threat we posed - or was just confident of its strength, stayed put for a while and was last to leave.

We felt like intruders disturbing the herd in its late evening rituals and left the scene. After 2 hours of a gorgeous boat ride we were back on land and spent time in resort gorging on pakodas and having some tea.

Tea was followed with a movie on dhols with Kamaani leading the back. It was a nicely made documentary. Back in the cottage we compared the photographs we took - and looks like my elder one has a knack of taking good pictures with the Sony 12x optical zoom camera that was passed on to him when we upgraded to a Canon 65x optical zoom one.

Grey horn-bill

Next day we had opted for a jeep safari. We were fortunate to have with us an avid wildlife photographer and enthusiast. He could help us in identifying many birds, nests and pug marks.
We were greeted by some grey hornbills at the checkpost to the wild life sanctuary. We hardly moved few meters when their cousins pied hornbills also came to give us a glimpse. It is a beautiful bird and the first time for us to have spotted it outside the Salim Ali book!

 The jungle was unusually quiet - and we were meandering through the slippery trail in JLR's 4WD - when Sree called out - stop, which is that bird there. There sitting in the fork of the branch was a Serpent Eagle. The wildlife enthusiast accompanying us informed that it was a rare sight and this information made us click twice the number of too many photographs that we would anyway have clicked. Serpent eagle had no interest in us - and though we were just 10 feet away from it - it did not fly off for the 10 minutes we spent there observing it.

It was while observing the eagle, we came across another jeep coming the opposite way. In Bandipur or Kabini, one would frequently come across other jeeps - but in Bhadra this was the only other jeep we met. They mentioned that they had seen a solitary Dhol, wild dog, on the way. This information sent the whole jeep in flurry of excitement. It brought to our attention the pug marks and hoof prints all around us. We have been to multiple safaris - but it was our first time post monsoon. It had rained the previous night and the wet mud had captured the activity nicely.
We were like a bunch of seasoned trackers discussing and debating. The two kids specially were in their elements - and recreated a complete hunt scenario - of which Nat Geo could also be proud of - not to say makers of Bahubali rushing to sign them up for script writing. My wife has developed a keen sight for birds - and soon spotted another one far off on a tree top. Fading light cannot take away the intensity with which the changeable hawk eagle is surveying its fiefdom from atop a tree.
The rest of the trip was filled with questions and uninterrupted chirping and chatting from the kids. They have now developed an avid interest in observing not just the mammals but birds as well. I was also pleasantly surprised that also it is no longer just the desire to see a tiger or leopard - but also the chance to observe pugmarks that got them excited. You should tell me if it has gone too far when back in Bangalore, on our walk to get some chores done - the younger one asked - Guess what was that animal? I asked where? He elaborated - the animal that could have done that poop over there. He wanted to observe the colour and texture - but I encouraged him to take that up some other day - when is Anna is around - and deftly maneuvered him round to easier topics.