It has been quite a while since I have been wanting to put up the rest of my Tadoba experiences to complete this thread.
Work and personal commitments somehow kept me from doing so. Without much further ado, here is the next set of my Tadoba experiences
4th Trip (Mar 2019)
This trip happened after I returned back to India for good and also the first time that I was doing wildlife trips with friends who had similar wildlife photography interests.
The booking was made through a known person in Tadoba. The stay was booked at Eagle Nest Homestay (near Mohurli gate).
The plan was to do 5 safaris in core zone (Mohurli gate) and 1 safari in Agarzari buffer zone.
We took a flight to Nagpur (from Pune) and were ferried to Tadoba by a cab.
Since this was mid Mar, the temperatures were pretty manageable (35-38 deg C) without being too hot.
Our first safari which was in the Agarzari buffer turned out to be a dud without any sightings.
However we had a jackpot set of sightings in the core zone including quite a few head on shots of a sub adult male tiger.
Here are some of the images which i managed to make during this trip
On a peaceful afternoon at Panderpauni lake (which is one of the prime real estates on the Kolara side which is ruled by the famous queen Maya)
Chota Matka (sub adult male of Choti Tara and Matkasur) with a wild boar kill entering the water to cool off
And while he tries to cool off, an Indian Gaur appears on the scene
After a standoff for a few mins, the Gaur backs off allowing Chota Matka to move off the lake with his kill
During the next morning safari, we scanned the usual areas in the Mohurli side (including Telia lake) and then entered the Kolara side.
We saw a huge convoy of gypsys which were lined up to witness a face-off between Maya and Chota Matka.
Maya was raising 2 cubs (one male and another female) which were probably around a year old. Chota Matka (though not fully mature at that point)
was trying to flirt with Maya which would mean a clear danger to her cubs. And she made her intent clear to Chota Matka with some aggressive posturing including an apparent swipe at him.
Clearly in no position to confront an aggressive Maya, Chota Matka backed off. Since we were at the end of the convoy we could not witness this and hence couldn't click any photographs.
However our guide was very smart and he made a very calculated guess that Chota Matka would walk towards the lake and he got the driver to back off well behind to allow a significant gap between
Us and the rest of the convoy. In a few minutes, his gamble paid off and Chota Matka started walking towards the lake and he quickly got onto the main safari road allowing us a few good head-on shots
(which was a first for me)
Chota Matka (head on)
Once the roadshow was done, we headed towards the meadows where Maya was cooling down with her sub adults. The cub was clearly stressed out due to the confrontation between Mom and Chota Matka.
And then she started walking towards the adjoining lake (this is a different lake. Not the one where Chota Matka wandered off after the face-off).
Maya
Joined by the subadult cub
Some play time with at the lake.
We finally also had the privilege to see Sonam who is the ruler of Telia lake. She is one of the 4 sisters which was featured in the Nat Geo documentary "Telia Sisters".
Sonam cooling off at Telia.
One of her sub adult cubs also cooling off in a different area of the lake not too far away from Mom.
On our last safari, we got to see a
Sloth Bear on the Navegaon road (which leads to the Navegaon gate). This guy was extremely shy and watchful before he decided to cross the road and scoot away
A Crested Serpent Eagle intently looking for a quick catch.
And finally an energetic and playful Langur baby trying to show off his acrobatic skills in front of a very serious audience
A parting shot of the main road of Tadoba (which leads us to the Mohurli gate)
Thus ended another productive trip to Tadoba.
I have one final instalment to complete this thread which I hope to do over the next couple of weeks.
Until then, take care and be safe.