Corbett Tigers in Winter 2015-16

Armed with my new Canon 300mm f2.8L IS USM lens and the old Canon 7D body, time was up for some field testing. And being the month of January, what could have been better than the majestic Corbett TR of Uttarakhand.

Initial three and half days in Dhikala went tiger-less. With a lot of hope we moved to Bijrani zone which has always been in news for consistent tiger sightings. And as expected, Bijrani didn't disappoint us. Into the first safari during that evening, we got this sub-adult male sitting inside the thickets.

Next day morning safari was almost event-less, but towards the fag end we got Shramili sitting on the tracks. She has been a very cooperative tigress and allowed us to make some beautiful close-up images. She was constantly roaring and was calling her sub-adult cubs. There was a news that she has made a kill in the adjoining bushes.

In the evening safari, we got her again at the same place where we have left her during the morning round. And the growling was still ON. She looked little pissed-off as she kept moving here and there, calling her cubs. We got some wonderful opportunity to make some good images too.

It was almost by late evening that the sons, Pandit and Virat, responded to the calls and came to meet their mother. These two sub-adult tigers generally move around together. They have been growing up into massive males who will be much sought after in the coming days in Bijrani. Virat is shy type whereas Pandit is quite bold and love to pose for the photographers.

I was able to make some lovely habitat images during this process. The slanting evening golden light was just perfect for the backdrop of tall saal forest and the dry river bed with boulders in the foreground.

Next dar during the morning round we got Pandit and Virat again. It was low light and I got an opportunity to test my new lens in challenging conditions. One can see the result for himself.

My next venture to this park was in the month of March. As usual, my initial stay was in Dhikala and this time Dhikala didn't disappoint me.

The 1st sighting happened on Day 1 from the Sambar Road watch tower in Dhikala. We got a tip-off at Dhikala campus that a tiger has charged at the tourist elephant in the grassland near the watch tower. So we decided to spend the time, when safari remains closed, at the tower. Half an hour in the tower and there were Cheetal alarm calls in the grassland below. She emerged out of the tall grasses after an unsuccessful hunting attempt. After some hide-&-seek game she went to the Ramganga to cool her off. For nearly 20 minutes she was in the water and then moved back to the grassland to relax. This sighting lasted for almost an hour. She was seen again by the tourist elephant and also from the watch tower during the evening safari.

The 2nd sighting too happened Day 1, from Sambar Road watch tower itself. As we were trying to figure out where did Thandi Maa hide herself in the grasses, a sambar deer quite far away started bellowing alarm calls gazing towards the 1st high bank on Sambar Road. And then emerged this female from the bend, walked all along the river bank and climbed on to the 1st new track branching off the Sambar Road, spray marked on a tree and walked off to the dense foliage. We could not adjudge the proper identity of this tiger; however, she looked like the Chuwapani Female.

The 3rd sighting of the tour happened on Day 2 at Tungbhoji. We actually had missed this female on Day 1. She came out minutes after we crossed Mota Saal and sat on the track for almost an hour. Few other people saw and photographed her. So we decided to spend some time in the grassland on Day 2 morning. We saw some pugmarks at Amla Tiraha and were waiting there when the forest came alive with Cheetal alarm calls. We anticipated some action to happen near the Thandi Sadak watch tower as the calls came from that side itself. So we went to Tungbhoji and after a few minutes wait she emerged out of the thickets. She crossed the track thrice before vanishing towards Bichhubhoji.

The 4th sighting of the tour took place on Day 2 itself, from Sambar Road watch tower. As it was immensely fruitful on Day 1, we decided to spend the noon time in-between safaris again on the watch tower on Day 2 too. Hardly half an hour into the break and this huge male came from the "paar", crossed Ramganga river and climbed the 2nd high bank on Sambar Road. 

Surpise! We got our 5th sighting of the tour too on Day 2 from Sambar Road watch tower. Few minutes after the male vanished into the forest, we saw this female (most likely the Chuwapani Female) approach Ramganga river from the old Sambar Road. She drank water and went back to the Sambar Road, scent marking on the trees. She also came close to the watch tower but didn't pay visit to the near by waterhole as there were too many people making noise. It would be interesting to note that there were no alarm calls today for both the sightings from tower, though deer were present in plenty all around!

The 6th sighting of the tour happened Day 3 at Kanda Road. With 5 tiger sightings in 2 days already under the belt, we now decided to check on the whereabouts of the queen from the paar, the Paarwaali. She was not to be seen from quite some time and all tourists were getting was only her pugmarks. After checking the Gethia Rao waterhole and Hasgadda Sot, we decided to check the Kanda Road which is her one of the hot favorite spot. On the Kanda Road, there were some fresh pugmarks and then the Gypsy in front started waiving at us. Tiger has been spotted. She was resting in a fire-line covered with fallen Saal leaves. This sighting last for 2.5hrs and all the while she just kept sleeping, at times changing sides. As not much of action was happening, we decided to leave her and go to the grassland to check the situation there. We heard that, later this particular female had got up and walked into the forest.

This female was seen with cubs, sometime in January 2016. The cubs at that time looked like 2-3 months old. However, during my tour, it seems that she has moved into mating again. The whereabouts of the cubs too were unknown. Not even the pugmarks were to be seen anywhere.

7th sighting of the tour was on Day 4 from Sambar Road watch tower again. It had been raining on and off since the previous night which is not a good sign for wildlife watching. It rained in the morning safari too and as expected there were no sightings. After the safari we decided to sit at the watch tower. As it was our last day in Dhikala, our plan was to spend starting couple of hours in the afternoon safari and then head towards the Dhangari gate. 

It was quite gloomy and at the watch tower too we were not expecting much to happen. I decided not to put the 2X tele-converter and try my luck if any action happens near by. Almost an hour into the break and a Sambar calls, followed by Spotted Deer. We could judge that some action is happening on the Sambar Road itself and in the close proximity. Hence, I decided to go down to the 1st tier as I was anticipating the predator to come towards the waterhole. 

The calls came closer and then suddenly I saw 2 Spotted Deer jump across the small path leading to the waterhole, along with their fawn. Few moments later, more deer ran and inside the bushes and tall grasses I saw the big cat behind them. The Chuwapani Female stopped momentarily near the watch tower to have a look at us, before carrying on with her hunt. But that one glance was good enough to give me goosebumps, as she stood just 20 feet away from the tower, and myself being all alone on that deck!

My 9th (last) sighting of the March 2016 tour happened. This sighting will remain etched in my memory for the lifetime as this is one of those shy tigers of Corbett which avoids Gypsys. My target in Bijrani this time was this particular female and for that I spent all my time in Ringora area. It was a tough hunt which included a lot of patience and sacrifices (sighting of Sharmili and her grown up cubs are relatively easier, but I didn't go for them). I missed this female during my first safari itself and finally on my last safari I managed to get her. Icing on the cake was her head-on walk on the track towards my Gypsy!

This is one of those shy tigers which is seen seldom, and many a times she used to charge at Gypsys if met on the track. However, that afternoon I was fortunate that neither did she shy away nor did she charge at us. Our Gypsy was parked at a very comfortable distance which allowed her to be comfortable and carry on with her routine patrolling. Four days of hard work done by myself and Shamshad (my Gypsy driver)​ finally didn't go futile, as we got her on the very last safari.

Corbett Tigers in Summer 2015

During the first tour in the month of April 2015, Dhikala was not fruitful as it rained most of the times. Though we had 2 sightings, but they were more of glimpses over a very long distance. Rain continued to chase us in Bijrani too; however, we got some sun during the last safari and as expected, a grand sighting too. Barely 5 minutes into the safari and we got Sharmili sleeping under a tree on the track at Jarpahar. 45 minutes of drama followed which included a head-on walk for almost a kilometer by her.

It is extremely important to give space to the wild subject so that one gets to observe and photograph them in their natural self. The subject remains relaxed and the photographer too gets a chance to experiment with different camera settings and compositions. No wonder, telephoto lenses are a must for wildlife photography!

My second visit in April 2015 was fruitless as I didn't get to make any decent tiger image over the 4 days of stay. However, May 2015 balanced that out and I could get some stunning moments to capture.

The list starts with Dewani Ram. No introduction required for the people who have visited Corbett. For others, this big male had killed and partially eaten a forest department guard (temporary) named Dewani Ram, in the monsoons of 2012 and hence the name. Generally, tigers in Corbett are seldom named. Gypsy drivers and guides say that " agar ye road pe samne se mila toh turant jhariyo me ghus jayega, ya fir seedhe Gypsy pe charge kar dega" which means if one gets him head-on then either he will immediately move inside the bushes or else will come charging at the Gypsy. Big males in Corbett are extremely shy and hardly comes out in open in front of humans.

My story goes like this. While on our way back to Gairal FRH one evening, we saw a Gypsy stopped near the High Bank. On asking, the driver said that he saw a tiger move into the bushes. It was summer, so we expected the tiger to move down to the Ramganga river bed, a usual habit of the Corbett tigers during these months. By that time another Gypsy came and all 3 of us moved to High Bank to check the river bed. After waiting for 10 minutes, we decided to call it off as we couldn't see any movement or hear any calls. Our driver told us that we will again check the point where the tiger has disappeared and then move back to the FRH to reach there in time. And as soon as he started scanning the particular area, whispers came "wo baitha hai tiger" (tiger is sitting there)!

We saw a huge male, relaxing under the "piloo" bushes, and at times looking at us. He was quite close and I could manage only this image with the 400mm in fading light. As I was standing on the front seat of the Gypsy and looking at him through my lens, I started discussing with my driver about the tiger's identity. It is Dewani Ram's territory and I don't know why but to me it looked him. When I said that to my driver, he said "fir toh charge kar sakta hai" i.e. then he can charge! That was enough for me to get down and take my seat, but still kept my view through the lens locked at him.

Then we heard another Gypsy, coming from behind, stopping, driver telling his guests "tiger", my view still locked through the lens and tiger turns his head to check the new visitors, a red spot light falls on it's eyes, and then a flash and then "ghaooo-ghaooo-ghaooo"! The Gypsy which was behind was now in front of us, the driver so nervous that his one foot was on accelerator and another on break, rest everybody scolding the lady for flashing at the tiger and the tiger gone down the hill towards the river bed (barking deer alarm calls had started by then).

It took 0.5 seconds for Dewani Ram to reach the Gypsy charging through the bushes and another 1 second for him to vanish out of our sights. Those few seconds will probably be etched in my memory for ever!

The sighting which happened next day will be termed more as just a glimpse and a record shot. We heard Spotted Deer alarm call near Jhirnajali, on our way to Dhikala for the morning safari. On a close inspection we saw a male tiger climbing up from the river bed. We expected it to cross the main road, but even after some wait we didn't get any success. Hence, we decided to move on towards Dhikala.

Our 3rd day was pretty eventful. We got 2 males and 1 female in the morning safari. Big males in Corbett are rather shy and elusive, moving away inside the thickets on hearing the vehicle sound from far away distance. Getting a photograph of them is extremely tough and one needs to be super lucky, especially if they are from the areas like Gairal, Sultan, Sarpduli etc. We got this big male crossing an open nullah (locally called barsati sot) where it had no other option than to reveal himself in front of the camera. Photograph has been taken from quite a bit of distance, hence image quality is not that good. It gave us only 2-3 seconds time before sprinting away towards the forest, rolling and falling on the boulders.

It will be interesting to note that, while we were photographing this big male, there was another one sitting right beside our Gypsy in the bushes. Apparently, we were waiting there for that tiger itself which too saw us and went inside in a flash!

After this sighting, we moved towards Dhikala and on reaching the campus we got the news that a female has been spotted at Gethia Rao water-hole the previous afternoon. It seems that she has made a kill and chances are that she might come back again to that place. Hence we decided to spend rest of the time at that water-hole. Patience paid off and we were blessed with some stunning images.

Sighting of this female, known as Paarwali, continued at the same place the next day too. Undoubtedly, this tigress will be considered the queen if the sightings are considered in Dhikala zone during the summer of 2015. Being a very bold female, she does not hesitate to walk in open in amidst the crowd, very unlikely the other big cats of Corbett. With a little different structure and a little different walking posture, she is one interesting subject to follow!

It was time to move out of Dhikala and check the on-goings in Bijrani. Bijrani has seldom disappointed me. Out of 3 days I got Sharmili on Day 1, Pandit on Day 2 and Pandit / Virat on Day 3.

Next was again Dhikala on the cards for me. This time there were no sightings on first 2 days in Dhikala. However, on the Day 3 we had 2 sightings, a male in the grassland and then the Paarwali at Gethia Rao.

As we were waiting near Mota Saal, there were frantic alarm calls of Spotted Deer from Car Road. On reaching Car Road we saw few Gypsys already waiting there and looking towards the grassland. A herd of Spotted Deer too were looking at that particular direction. On a close inspection we saw the black and orange creature inside the tall grasses. It crossed the track and moved towards the forest after a failed hunting attempt.

After the failed hunting attempt it was pretty evident that the tiger will come to water and then will move to the forest as the sun will heat up the grassland. After a wait of nearly 20 minutes, most of the Gypsys left. After another 5 minutes when these two were leaving, the tiger came out and started walking on the track which leads towards the waterhole. Patience paid off!

After this sighting we checked out from Dhikala FRH and moved towards Bijrani. However, on the way we decided to check the Gethia Rao water-hole once. As we took the turn from Khinanauli, a Gypsy coming from the opposite side told us that the female is sitting at the water-hole. Tigers love Water. Be it any season, tigers love to spend time in the waters. However, summers are the times when the requirement of water is much more, and hence chances of finding a tiger near the water too is high. If the tiger has made a kill, then chances of it spending quality time in a near by water hole is also pretty high as the raw meat which it consumes generates too much of heat inside it's body, forcing it to be in the water for long duration.

After getting out of the water-hole she crossed the track, defecated for quite a few minutes and moved towards Ramganga amidst the tall grasses. My driver in Corbett once told me "agar aap tiger ke aankho me dekhoge, toh aapko samajh me aayega ki usme kinta power hota hai" (once you look into a tiger's eyes, you will understand how powerful the animal is) and I have found it quite true!

Our next stay was in Bijrani and as expected we got to see tigers on both the days there. Though the sighting on Day 1 was towards the fag end of the evening round and fetched no images, Day 2 morning was excellent where we got Sharmili walking on the tracks, from Chirchoti till Raitapani.