Its a hard feeling that, inspite of experiencing many close encounters, i never happen to see a Tiger in the Wild till date ! It reminds me of that board in Bandhavgarh National park ( ive never been there though ! ) which says " You might not have seen me, But dont be disappointed.. IVE SEEN YOU ! " .Thats always true when you are out there in the Jungle.
I spent four days in Bandipur, 8 visits inside the forests every morning and evening, hoping to see a Tiger ! Starting the safari 15 mins late, waiting for msgs from other jeeps, accompanied by experienced Naturalists and Trackers, tracing Pugmarks, tracking Alarm calls, huh yielded nothing much !
At the end of my evening safari on the Third day, there were alarm calls along side the Range Office.. Two Jeeps, one from JLR and one from Tusker Trails waited on the main road in anticipation. Very Dim light, surprisingly no traffic, Pin drop silence except for the Alarm call.. I was cautiously looking on either sides and before my mind said " This could be it ! " A silhoutte of a Huuge Cat appeared out of the bushes, crossed the road slowly and disappeared into the thick bushes on the other side, less than 10 yards from me.. Our Trackers said it was a Tiger, Tusker trail fellows said it was a Leopard, By its lazy elegance it surely appeared to me as aTiger... But im not too sure.. Not too sure if I can claim that Ive seen a Tiger ! But i enjoyed every moment i spent in there.. Sighting a Forest Eagle owl was really special.
Had a good encounter with this female elephant which tried to chase us off by giving a couple of False chases.
Got lucky with the Peafowls this time..
A Hanuman Langur - Backlit
Came across this male Indian Peafowl who was trying hard to impress one of the females in the flock,but she never seemed to be impressed. She'd probably be one of those " Attitude Kinda" girl ;-)
This could have been an Award Winning Photograph, if the light was good. Tried hard to produce a manageble Photograph. But this is surely a moment worth Sharing !
Black WoodPecker (Dryocopus martius)
My search will constantly be on until I spot a tiger in south Indian Jungles, and even after that ;-) Coz, as one of my fellow Photography friend says "My love for Wildlife is far more than what it was yesterday and much lesser than what it will be tomorrow".
Our New year guests are here finally. A huge flock of Painted storks have arrived and nesting at the Famous Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary. Its always fun to shoot Painted storks, which are one amongst the most photogenic birds around. The adult Painted Stork can Grow upto 95-100cm tall. 
Here, the Painted Stork is watchful enough to keep a safer distance from its Opportunist / Natural Predator, The Marsh Crocodile. 
I liked this image a lot, coz of so many reasons. 
