MY FIRST DATE WITH BANDIPUR

Bandipur National Park of Karnataka is famous among the birders, wildlife photographers, as well as wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers; especially for Tigers and Leopards. It has been on my "must visit" list for a very long time. Finally the opportunity to visit it came around in Dec 2022. My husband and I visited the place for three nights and stayed in a beautiful quiet resort.

The Maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore created a sanctuary of 90 Sq. Km in1931 and named it Venugopala Wildlife Park. The Bandipur Tiger Reserve was established under project tiger in 1973 by adding nearly 800 Sq. Km to Venugopala Wildlife Park. It is flanked by the Kabini river in the north and Mayar in South. The Nugu river runs through the park.

Bandipur has a typical tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. It is blessed with a wide range of timber trees, flowering and fruiting trees and shrubs.  It harbours a wide variety of wild animals as well as birds.

As you know, whenever there are trees and forests ,there are birds. Luckily, they aren't confined to the park limits.  I could photograph a lot of them  in and around the resort premises.

Brahminy Starling

Hoopoe   

Great Tit,

 Yellow-billed Babbler,

Jungle Babblers  

White-bellied Drongo

 Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

Coppersmith Barbet,

Iora

Bay-backed Shrike

Darter drying its wings

There were Chitals or Spotted Deer aplenty in the surrounding grasslands grazing peacefully, oblivious to the tourists and their cameras.

Young Stag (Chital/Spotted dear)

We went on Safaris on two days. On the first day, we were assigned a Canter.  There were about 20-25 people in it.  It was a very unwieldy vehicle, not really suitable for the very narrow tracks of the park. It was also very noisy into the bargain, probably scaring away most of the wildlife!   We could spot a Rufous-bellied Eagle at a distance. 

Rufous-bellied Eagle

The first safari appeared to have headed into disappointment.....

NO SIGN OF TIGERS OR LEOPARDS!

With  the evening approaching our hopes started receding. Then we came to a cul-de-sac in a dense part and what we saw there made our hearts leap with joy, a small herd of the "Indian Bison or Gaur". 

Indian Bison or Gaur (Male)

Indian Bison or Gaur (Female)

They were grazing peacefully in the evening light, a very handsome group. The males weigh almost 1500 kg and the females around 700-800 kg on an average, as per our driver cum guide.  This sighting of the Indian Bison was the saving grace of the day.

We shook off the disappointment of the first safari and ventured on our second the next day with an open mind and a hopeful heart. This time it was a smaller Jeep with about 8 people.  It was easy to negotiate the narrow or almost non existent tracks deep in the park. Also we were a very quiet bunch of people.  The driver was very knowledgeable and ready to share information in short sentences and monosyllables - he was the the one who brought  our attention to our first sighting - the Changeable Hawk-Eagle, a very handsome raptor.

Changeable Hawk-Eagle

WE WERE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR THE ROYAL BENGAL TIGERS AND LEOPARDS......

Next to make an appearance were  a Stag and female (Hind) Sambar Deer. 

Sambar Deer (Stag)

Sambar Deer (Hind)

They seemed to have just concluded a romantic interlude and were parting ways to go deep into the jungle.  The sambar deer has been listed as a "vulnerable species" on the IUCN Red List, since 2008.  

Then, there were the ubiquitous Chital and some Langurs.

Chital family with adult Stag

Langoor

STILL NO TIGERS OR LEOPARDS!!

Our vehicle stopped suddenly and the driver signalled us to stop talking....Our hopes were raised! Turned out a Grey Junglefowl was crossing the tracks in front of us.  Immediately all the cameras went a-clicking!

Grey Junglefowl

OUR EYES WERE STILL PEELED FOR THE SIGHT OF THE TIGER!

We halted at a particular spot for about 15 minutes; the driver told us a tigress with a cub had been seen there 3-4 days ago, our wait was in vain.

Towards sunset, we reached a lake.  Just as we halted, we saw the last of a group of elephants entering the water.  If only we could have reached five minutes earlier, we could have seen them wading in! We saw them swimming to the other side.

Swimming Elephants

We were lucky to see a small family of elephants grazing by the side of a road. 

Elephant Family

Mama elephant was probably teaching her baby, the art of eating. It was very interesting to see how the elephants uproot the grass and small plants, in a circular motion with their trunks and put it ion their mouths.....on the job training for the baby! Mama elephant was busy rubbing its body against a tree trunk.  This may be to remove insects or parasites which were probably troubling him!

We came across a small pond, where we saw some terrapins, basking on a small rock. 

Terrapins

And then we reached a place, where some peafowls were prancing and showing off.

The Graceful Peacock

STILL NO TIGERS OR LEOPARDS!!

Just before we exited the park, we saw some painted storks, as though they were trying to reduce our feeling of dejection by their beautiful colours.

Painted Storks

Where wildlife is concerned, we know that it is just a matter of luck; its a question of being in the right place at the right time! To be honest, I actually wasn't expecting to see a tiger.  But if I had, it would have been the icing on the cake!

I hope and pray that I wouldn't have to make "50 FIRST DATES" with Bandipur to sight the Royal Bengal Tigers!!

Aditi Deshpande

Holikotsav (Festival of Colours in India) / March 07, 2023