My generous friend and photographer from Pune was the one who took me on this quest. We spent almost a week together during the month of March.On a morning drive, one day, we came across a small herd of gaur with two bulls. One bull was massive and old while the other was in its prime. They were butting each other violently. Interestingly, other members of the herd seemed indifferent to what was going on. After a bout of pushing and a resounding clash of horns, the younger bull fled to the forest.
The next morning, there were alarm calls from the Chital. We heard the cursing and barking of Langurs - a sure sign of the presence of a predator in the area. Hence we eagerly waited for a while, and sure enough, a male leopard came out of the jungle, followed by a female. Both the cats crossed the jungle road in front of us. It was interesting to watch the male leading with the female trailing behind in the typical Indian style; this is a common sight in Indian villages, where a man leads, followed by the woman. On our way back, we were fascinated by the sight of a White-bellied Woodpecker that landed on a tree in search of food. Its nest cavity with two chicks was on another tree.
White-bellied Woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis)
The next day, on an evening drive around the backwaters area, we were fortunate enough to pass a herd of elephant cows and two calves.
Asiatic Elephants (Elephas maximus)
Further up the road, we were lucky to spot a leopard perched on a tree. We stopped there for sometime to savour the scene.
I find that sighting an animal in the wild is one thing, but being able to effectively capture it on film is a combination of several factors that are not directly in one’s control. Hence, luck plays a crucial role in photography.
Leopard (Panthera pardus). Picture courtesy: Narendran M. M.
The next day morning, we took the same route in the hope of spotting a leopard. Soon a message was conveyed that a leopard was sighted on a tree. We rushed to the spot to find three vehicles full of photographers and tourists already present there. The leopard was 150 metres away on a tree and was facing away from us. There was a soft light and mist that enhanced the ambience.
The animal was in an awkward angle resting on a branch and facing away from us. Hearing the noise and chatter from the vehicles, it became uncomfortable and kept shifting its position every now and then. However, its angle and position in relation to ours did not offer us a view that was good enough to effectively capture it on film. Hence we shot a picture of it just to console ourselves that we had sighted a leopard.
My generous friend and photographer from Pune was the one who took me on this
quest. We spent almost a week together during the month of March.
On a morning drive, one day, we came across a small herd of gaur with two bulls.
One bull was massive and old while the other was in its prime. They were butting
each other violently. Interestingly, other members of the herd seemed indifferent
to what was going on. After a bout of pushing and a resounding clash of horns, the
younger bull fled to the forest.
image 1
The next morning, there were alarm calls from the Chital. We heard the cursing and
barking of Langurs - a sure sign of the presence of a predator in the area. Hence
we eagerly waited for a while, and sure enough, a male leopard came out of the
jungle, followed by a female. Both the cats crossed the jungle road in front of
us. It was interesting to watch the male leading with the female trailing behind
in the typical Indian style; this is a common sight in Indian villages, where a
man leads, followed by the woman. On our way back, we were fascinated by the sight
of a White-bellied Woodpecker that landed on a tree in search of food. Its nest
cavity with two chicks was on another tree.
image 2
The next day, on an evening drive around the backwaters area, we were fortunate
enough to pass a herd of elephant cows and two calves. Further up the road, we
were lucky to spot a leopard perched on a tree. We stopped there for sometime to
savour the scene.
image 3
I find that sighting an animal in the wild is one thing, but being able to
effectively capture it on film is a combination of several factors that are not
directly in one’s control. Hence, luck plays a crucial role in photography.
The next day morning, we took the same route in the hope of spotting a leopard.
Soon a message was conveyed that a leopard was sighted on a tree. We rushed to the
spot to find three vehicles full of photographers and tourists already present
there. The leopard was 150 metres away on a tree and was facing away from us.
There was a soft light and mist that enhanced the ambience.
The animal was in an awkward angle resting on a branch and facing away from us.
Hearing the noise and chatter from the vehicles, it became uncomfortable and kept
shifting its position every now and then. However, its angle and position in
relation to ours did not offer us a view that was good enough to effectively
capture it on film. Hence we shot a picture of it just to console ourselves that
we had sighted a leopard.
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 23rd, 2010 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Carnivore, Predators.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Leave a Reply