Thursday 10 March 2022

JLR Kabini Back Waters - Part - 2

This is continued post from JLR Kabini Back Waters in earlier post I tired to post the details of wild animals which we spotted during our safari. In this post I will be adding the details of the birds which we spotted. 

Along with different wild animals this forest gives nest for variety of birds. 


We spotted following birds during our safari: 


Indian Roller ನೀಲಕಂಠ - Its also state bird of our Karnataka ☺️







Indian Roller is also called Blue Jay. It is 13 inch long and is striking blue in colour. Indian Roller weighs around 80 -100 g. It's eyes and bill are black. It has a large head and short neck. Its crown, lower wings and tail are blue green in colour. The throat and upper breast are purple in colour. 


The Madagascar hoopoe is a species of hoopoe in the family Upupidae. It was previously considered a subspecies of the hoopoe, but was split due to its vocalisations and small differences in plumage. Some taxonomists still consider all three species conspecific.





The Indian peafowl (Peakcock), also known as the common peafowl, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent.





Grey heron - The grey heron is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern parts migrate southwards in autumn.





Red-Naped Ibis - The red-naped ibis also known as the Indian black ibis or black ibis is a species of ibis found in the plains of the Indian Subcontinent. Unlike other ibises in the region it is not very dependent on water and is often found in dry fields a good distance away from water.





The Indian spot-billed duck - is a large dabbling duck that is a non-migratory breeding duck throughout freshwater wetlands in the Indian subcontinent. 





The Jungle myna is a member of the starling family. It is found patchily distributed across much of the mainland of the Indian Subcontinent but absent in the arid zones of India





The red-wattled lapwing is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching.





Crested serpent eagle - The crested serpent eagle is a medium-sized bird of prey that is found in forested habitats across tropical Asia. They fly over the forest canopy on broad wings and tail have wide white and black bars.





Grey Jungle fowl – The grey jungle fowl, also known as Sonnerat’s jungle fowl, is one of the wild ancestors of the domestic chicken together with the red jungle fowl and other jungle fowls. 



The Malabar giant squirrel is a tree squirrel species that is large, fluffy, and colourful, with a head and body length of 25-50cm and a tail that is about the same or slightly greater in length. It weights between 1.5 and 2 kg. It inhabits tropical deciduous, semi-deciduous, and moist evergreen forests and woods. 





Also got some beautiful pictures of the forest during our safari. 








Things to remember: 

  • Best time to visit to spot wild animals is from March to May 
  • Camera charges will not be included in the safari. They will charge based on the lens which we use. I paid 1500 for 600MM lens + 270 Tax!
  • Carry enough water
  • Do not litter the place 


Travel Tips


Distance from Bengaluru

210 Kms 

Road Condition

Decent  

Nearest Town

H.D.Kote

Fuel Station

H.D.Kote

Near by places to visit

-

Irrpu falls, Bandipura

Tuesday 8 March 2022

JLR Kabini Back Waters - Part - 1

A safari in Kabini was in my wish-list for a very long time, I heard chances of spotting big cats are more if we take safari from JLR Kabini. Wanted to try my luck once. So was waiting for the opportunity to plan for one trip to Kabini JLR. On occasion of Tanay’s Birthday we planned to visit this place and celebrate his birthday in Jungle 😎

Best time to visit this place is from March to May (to spot wild animals), booked our stay from JLR website well in advance. We opted for tent stay (they have different set of options). We thought since its mid of the week, crowd will be less. But we proved wrong! After reaching our destination only we came to know that it was full.  


Distance from Bengaluru to JLR Kabini is around 215 KMs, we started early morning from Bengaluru. We stopped near Srirangapattana at “Jai Bhuvaneshwari Military Hotel” for breakfast. Because of current road condition it took more than predicted time to reach our destination. Took close to 6 hours to reach Kabini. We reached JLR around 12.30 PM, though check in timing was 1.00 PM we are provided with the room (tent) and informed that we have to be there at dinning hall at 2.00 PM and finish lunch, so that we can be ready for Safari at 3.00 PM. 


Dropped our luggages in our allocated tents and freshen up. Celebrated Tanay’s birthday (cake cutting) just before lunch and we were all set to for our safari. 


Tariff includes 2 safari one from 3.30 PM to 6.30 PM and one next day morning from 6.00 AM to 9.00 AM.  


We boarded our allocated Jeep and we were eagerly waiting to spot some wild animals. We will take into Nagarahole National Park for safari. Near the forest check-post Jeep details will be collected and each Jeep will be tracked with GPS inside the forest. To avoid the crowd at one place Jeep track is divided into 2 zones (Zone A & B) and jeeps will be allocated to each zone. 


Our Jeep was asked to take Zone B. 


One should be lucky enough to spot wild animals We were all set with wide open eyes to test our luck 🙃 


Although the big cats and elephants are the main attractions when it comes to the wildlife of Kabini, the dense jungle is also home to a wide range of species that include Gaurs, wild boars, barking deer, dholes, deer,  sloth bears, monkeys, mongoose and many other mammals. 


This is what we spotted during our safari !! 


Spotted Deer (commonly seen animal) also know as Chital Deer and Axis Deer, is a herbivorous species native to the Indian subcontinent.






The Stripe-necked Mongoose is the biggest mongoose found in Asia. 





Grey Langurs are recognised for their notorious alarm calls, which they give out when a predator approaches to other creatures like as deer, sambars, and so on. 





And here comes much awaited BIG CAT.  






We waited for a while thinking it will come out, but tiger was in sleeping mode and our naturalist said it will not move for at least next one or two hour and continued our safari. 





The Gaur, also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986.





Elephants - Kabini backwaters home to the largest congregation of Asiatic Elephants. We were lucky enough to see it so closely. 





Spotted a group of elephants from a distance playing in water. 





Once we continued our safari our naturalist heard the alarm call from Langurs & stopped our Jeep, he said just wait for some time we might spot something special. This is what we spotted “The Leopard”








Seriously it was a thrilling experience for us 😇


It just walked away slowly allowing us to capture his beauty in our camera! 


Our first safari ended with loads of good memories and wonderful experience. 


We were back to Resort by 7.00 PM, and had a delicious dinner. We were informed that morning we have to assemble near dinning hall sharp at 5.45 AM for safari. So after dinner had a walk across the resort and went to bed. Next day morning woke up early and freshen up and headed for next round of safari. We were lucky enough to get one more jeep ride and this time ride was through A - Zone. 


With in 10 mins we entered the forest, we spotted this 🥰






We were so excited to see Tiger so close 😍


After spotting Tiger it was sort of dry journey. Could not spot any other animals for long time. We heard Black Panther appeared for other Jeep, by the time we reach that place it was moved to different place.


Hardly we could spot some wild animals during this safari. Just before we were ending our ride spotted wild dog. 


The Indian Wild Dog also known as the Dhole or the Whistling hunters is one of the major predators found in the forests of Nagarahole.





Sambar Deer have many subspecies which vary in size and appearance, but it is known as the largest Oriental deer with some adult males reaching 550kg in weight. 






Spotted some birds as well, will post those in next post.  


Things to remember: 


  • Best time to visit to spot wild animals is from March to May 
  • Camera charges will not be included in the safari. They will charge based on the lens which we use. I paid 1500 for 600MM lens + 270 Tax!
  • Carry enough water
  • Do not litter the place 


Travel Tips


Distance from Bengaluru

210 Kms 

Road Condition

Decent  

Nearest Town

H.D.Kote

Fuel Station

H.D.Kote

Near by places to visit

-

Irrpu falls, Bandipura

Vagamon Heights

After enjoying the morning Jeep drive to Ullupooni, we decided to relax at the resort. For the evening, we planned to visit Vagamon Heights,...