Another successful action packed adventure with Sandwich Bird Tours,which took in Delhi, Agra,,Chambal,Katni,Bandhavgarh,Kanha,Nagpur,Pangot and Corbett.Up before dawn every morning and early to bed every night this is not a holiday for party animals,but every waking moment is full of interest fuelled by drip fed curry for breakfast lunch and dinner.
I cannot possibly cover all of the holiday here but will concentrate on the highlights from each day.
Day 1 arrive Delhi afternoon trip to Okhla Barrage,
CATTLE WITH ATTENDANT CATTLE EGRET
CATTLE EGRETs abound in India.
STRIATED BABBLER
YELLOW FOOTED GREEN PIGEON
SPOT BILLED DUCK
SHIKRA
DAY 2 Delhi to Chambal via Agra,an interesting introduction to travelling by road in India
BANK MYNAH
MARSH SANDPIPER
WHITE FRONTED WATERHEN
SARUS CRANES
After the torturous journey it was straight into action at Chambal with a late afternoon boat trip on the Chambal River:-
RED WATTLED LAPWING
RED NECKED TURTLE?
ALLIGATOR
LET SLEEPING CROCS LIE
ARE WE IN TROUBLE?
NO FORTUNATELY.
RUDDY SHELDUCK
GREATER THICK KNEE
PAINTED STORKS
Photography on this trip was a constant battle against the light,so I did my best.
DAY 3 :- An early morning walk around Chambal
FLYING FOXES aka FRUIT BATS going to roost
Look at those amazing wings.
Women do a lot of manual work in the fields
and the bicycle is a popular form of transport.
ASIAN PIED STARLING
BLACK REDSTART
LONG TAILED SHRIKE
RED HEADED BUNTING
FEMALE NILGAI ANTELOPE and FAWN below.
INDIAN GREY MONGOOSE
LARGE GREY BABBLER
BLACK SHOULDERED KITE
After an early lunch it was back on the road to Agra and a visit to the TAJ MAHAL
The Taj Mahal needs no introduction from me, suffice to say it is a beautiful building to see but don`t bother going inside it is not worth the effort,it is crowded and on the verge of being dangerous.
NIGHT SLEEPER TO KATNI ARRIVING AT AGRA.
Needless to say not much sleep was had in the uncomfortable bunks and the toilets came from the film set of " Train Spotting"..Eventually we arrived in Katni at dawn with our luggage intact, then it was straight into another long road trip to our first Tiger reserve at Bandhavgarh .Although the journeys were long,
there was always lots of interesting things to see on Indias roads.
EGYPTIAN VULTURE in INDIA
NILGAI STAG-THE BLUE BULL
Eventually the convoy of three cars arrived at Bandhavgarh and after a walk around the local area we slept dreaming of tigers to be seen next morning.
TAWNY PIPIT
INDIAN ROLLER
BRAHMINY STARLINGS.
We set off for the tiger reserve gate before it was light and having had our passports checked for the seventeenth time since arriving in India and picking up our local" expert" guide we were off on our first tiger hunt.
LESSER ADJUTANT in the early morning gloom.
HERE COMES THE SUN
BLACK FACED LANGURS were the most numerous monkey we saw.
PLUM HEADED PARAKEET
CRESTED SERPENT EAGLE
ALEXANDRINE PARAKEET.
The morning yielded not one tiger, but there is always the afternoon session.
Passports checked a new local expert guide and off we go,this guide looked like a cartoon character but he spoke impeccable english and he knew his stuff. A tiger has been seen behind us ,hang on tight he says and we go into reverse at breakneck speed,too late but a good effort.
Sharp eyed Maria spotted this JUNGLE OWLET
COPPERSMITH BARBETS one of my favourite Indian birds.
Even sharper eyes had found this LEOPARD in the jungle
AT THE END OF THE DAY.
Next morning we did it all again- but this time we got lucky and saw this young tiger in the distance,so a leopard and a tiger,we were feeling quite happy.
It was only on show briefly and soon disappeared into the undergrowth.
PEACOCKS displaying
to onlooking hens
who didn`t seem too impressed.
HOOPOE
INDIAN ROLLER
STUNNING SHADES OF BLUE.
The afternoon session was a little less fruitful but this Roller posed nicely
REAR END OF A JUNGLE CAT
MOTHER AND BABY BFL
GREATER COUCAL
BLACK IBIS.
From here we moved on to KANHA another reserve covering nearly 2000 sq km and famous for SWAMP DEER as well as tigers.
SAMBA STAGS
SPOTTED DEER
GREEN BEE EATER
INDIAN ROLLER
COMMON KINGFISHER
WHITE RUMPED VULTURE
WHITE RUMPED VULTURE
YELLOW WATTLED LAPWING
SPOTTED DEER STAG
SWAMP DEER STAG
JACKAL
WILD BOAR
FEMALE SWAMP DEER
BLACK RUMPED FLAMEBACK WOODPECKERS
JACKAL
GREEN BEE EATER
SAMBA DEER WITH ATTENDANT RUFOUS TREEPIE
INDIAN SCOPS OWL.
That takes us conveniently to Nagpur and an internal flight back to Delhi,so I will end part one there and continue with part 2 soon.
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