| Wildlife of Tadoba Forest
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 18-55 mm lens, Way to Ambepaat, Tadoba, Apr 2009
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Located in Central India,spread over 625 sq. km "Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve", has variety of Indian wildlife. The forest is located in
Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state. The National Park is named after local god "Taru". The legend goes that the village chief "Taru" was killed in an
epic fight with Tiger.
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It is Tropical Deciduous forest with bamboo and teak as dominant species along with Ain, bija, Salai, Semal, Tendu, Jamun, Mango and arjun trees. The forest has rich
fauna with mammals like tiger, leopard, sloth Bear, Indian Bison, barking deer, spotted deer, sambar, wild boar, four horned Antelope, Wild dog,
langoor, nilgai etc.
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Bird life in the forest is spectacular with wide range of birds like oriental and white eyed honey buzzard, Indian Pitta, Paradise flycatcher, Indian roller,
Orange headed thrush, Changeable hawk eagle, Crested Serpent eagle, Savana and Indian nightjar, Painted Sandgrouse, Golden and black hooded oriole, Red
spurfowl, Grey Jungle fowl, Asian paradise flycatcher, Yellow footed green pigeon, Indian roller, Brown fish owl, racket tailed and white bellied drongo etc.
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As we started the Journey through the forest on the first day, the guide and driver of the vehicle posed difficult question infront of us. They asked "Are you interested in birds or in mammals ?" That was a difficult question. We said "ofcourse both!". The guide was not impressed. As we drove along the Tadoba lake, the guide explained us about the god "Taru" and its temple. Suddenly the vehicle came to halt. The guide was very happy. Before he uttered a single word, the photographers started taking snaps of the huge bird perched on the tree. They were two of them. Later in the evening we came to know that the other group saw six of them on a single tree. As we were taking snaps of the bird, the guide uttered the word "Vulture". I had a relook at the bird and all of us said " no it is not vulture, it is a Oriental Honey Buzzard!". Almost all of us failed to understand why the guide said so. The guide whispered, " not on the tree, down there, look on the banks of the lake". When we turned our heads we saw a lone red-headed vulture relaxing on the banks of the lake. I was in two minds, whether to photograph vulture or bazzard. Fortunately both the birds gave us lots of opertunities before we got tired.
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Red-Headed Vulture, Sacrogyps calvus
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/2000 s, f/5.6, iso 200, -2/3 EC, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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The Red-headed vulture is one of the species of Gyps vultures found in India. These birds are critically endangered species. As seen in the image the bird is huge black vulture with deep scarlet necked head, neck and legs. The bird is normally seen singly.
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Orinetal Honey Buzzard, pernis ptilorhyncus
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/2500 s, f/5.6, iso 200,-2/3 EC, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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As we moved ahead we saw a lone wilddog, standing on a small hillock. It was running parallel to us. Normally the wilddogs are seen in the pack of many. As we were surprised by the loneliness of the animal,
after running for a while, it took rest under the tree. We observed the wilddog from a distance. It completely ignored us and was very quiet.
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Indian Wilddog (Dhole)
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/160 s, f/8, iso 400, -2/3 EC, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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After the lunch I walked around the Mahurli resort, some birds were seen at the lake. A lesser Adjuctant, Cotton pigmy goose, grey herons etc. The thirsty panting chestnut shouldered Petronias were seen all around. The drongo was drinking the water from the lake while on the flight. Suddenly I saw a Golden Oriole pair perched in front of me. As I struggled to take snap of the birds, the birds on the other hand had a nice look at me before vanishing into the woods nearby.
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Eurasian Golden Oriole, Oriolus oriolus
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/2500 s, f/5.6, iso 200,-1 EC, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Katezari is the region in the forest with nice jharana of water with a big waterhole. Most of the mammals like spotted deer, Sambar, wild boar, Langoors, bisons were seen here grazing. A lone Brown fish owl was staring at us from the dark bush. We were happy as the bird was deep inside and did not offer us to have a good look at it. Adesh said not to worry, and pointed that the other brown fish owl was right above us perched on a clear branch. The owl was still for a long time, suddenly it started panting in a peculiar way. The feathers on the neck and breast were fluttering as it was behaving so, giving us a strange feel. The eyes of this owl are very forward and beautiful.
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Brown fish owl, Ketupa zeylonensis
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/100 s, f/5.6, iso 400,monopod, -1 2/3 EC Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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In the morning we saw lots of birds, everywhere around the water holes, along the main road, at Jawahar bandhara, at ambepat, and on the main road as well. The Indian Roller was seen with a bee in its beak.
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Indian Roller, Coracias benghalensis
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/3200 s, f/5.6, iso 400, -1/3 EC, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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The crested Serpent eagle was seen quite often during the drive inside the forest. |
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Crested Serpent Eagle
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/2500 s, f/5.6, iso 200, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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As we moved along the main road, the vehicle came to halt, It was a traffic jam. The road ahead was occupied by a gang of Langoors which were about 30-35 in numbers. The leader of the gang which is called as bhadya in marathi was cautioning and controlling the gang.
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Langoor Gang
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/1250 s, f/5.6, iso 400, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Langoor - expression
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/200 s, f/5.6, iso 400, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Langoor expression
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/200 s, f/5.6, iso 400, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Langoor - Expression
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/320 s, f/5.6, iso 400, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Squirrel
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/40 s, f/13, iso 400, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Barking deer.
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, 1/100 s, f/8, iso 200, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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The highlight of the forest to me was the Painted Sandgrouse in the dried grass near the road. The birds are probabaly the most amazingly camouflaged ones, I have ever seen. It took atleast couple of minutes to realise the female and male and it took about infinite time to realise their chick, when we were hardly 2 meters away from them.
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Painted Sandgrouse female
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Painted Sandgrouse chick
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Painted Sandgrouse female
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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I also came across a blue rock thrush at one of the water holes. After seeping the water from the hole, the bird looked at the sky to swallow the water. I have seen this act in many other birds like bulbuls. |
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Blue Rock Thrush
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Blue Rock Thrush
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Blue Rock Thrush
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Indian bison
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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The alarm call of langoor boomed in the jungle. The spotted dears became vigilant. The spotted dear which was grazing alone at the corner of the grasspatch started running towards the rest of the pack. |
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Spotted Dear
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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The king of the jungle, is ofcourse, none other than the tiger. We saw a tigress which came to cool down in the water hole, through a thicket of bamboo grass, was the climax of the visit to the forest.
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Indian Tiger
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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Gond fishermen at Mahurli Lake,
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Canon EOS 350D, Canon 100-400 mm f4-5.6 L IS USM, Tadoba ATR, Apr 2009
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The gond fishermen were fishing at the lake. They were using a fishing net with structural bucket of bamboo. Their hardship and skill was evident from the scene. Though the fishermen are using forest material for their living, they stress the environment on our planet far far less than we urban people. |
| Special thanks to Adesh Shivkar for this experience.
Contact me at kale_v@rediffmail.com for any queries and
suggestions.
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