Saandip Nandagudi

My new website - www.natureclicks.in

2011-02-14T11:22:00.004+05:30

Hi All.

I was creating my own website , hence i will not be posting any posts here on blogspot.com from now on, Please visit http://www.natureclicks.in/ for my blogs & photographs.

Thanks for viewing.

Check out Citizen Matters, Bangalore: Maanja Dara kills birds in Lalbagh

2010-11-16T13:04:00.002+05:30

Check out Citizen Matters, Bangalore: Maanja Dara kills birds in Lalbagh

ROAR OF RANTHAMBHORE

2010-06-01T14:22:00.044+05:30

R A N T H A M B H O R E

N A T I O N A L P A R K

The Ranthambhore National Park, which is a part of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, lies in the Sawai Madhopur district of eastern Rajasthan. The Chambal river forms a natural boundary of the park towards the east and also as a boundary to adjoining state Madhya Pradesh. Banas river to the northeast which is a tributary of Chambal river. Across the river Banas, lies the Keladevi sanctuary famous for Birds & Hyenas , the Sawai Man Singh sanctuary lies to the south of the Park. Both these sanctuaries, along with the Ranthambhore National Park, are part of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. Today this Project Tiger Reserve spans over 1334 sq. km of area, of which 282 sq. km is the Ranthambhore National Park.

It is home to over 40 species of mammals which includes the Flagship mega fauna Tiger & other carnivorous animals like Leopards,Carcal, Hyena, Jungle cats , Jackals, 350 species of birds , over 40 species of reptiles including the monitor lizard & marsh crocodile and over 300 species of plants with a terrain of mostly rugged hills , plateau & valleys with mostly of sandstones.

Summers start during end of March and last through June. During this season the days are very hot and dry. During May and June, day temperature can cross 48 degrees centigrade and the minimum night temperature still hangs around 36 degrees centigrade. The monsoon or the rainy season lasts from July to September. The winter season lasts from November to February. The night temperature stays below 10 degrees centigrade during winter & sometimes can drop to 2 degrees also, while the day temperature stays at 20 degrees.I had visited this place in the end of May , so all the pictures were taken during the very hottest season of the year.

The purpose of coming to Ranthambhore at this scorching 48 degrees with a four time cold bath had a cause & that was to attend the Naturalist Leadership Course 2010 conducted by a NGO called Tiger Watch at Sawai madhopur.

The RNP has 5 tourist zones & tourist are allotted to enter these zone at the ticket counter prior to entry, I had been to Zone 2,3, & 5 during my entire stay.

We were greeted by this long billed vulture which is a resident bird in this park. I was told about this by my INW friend Mr.Arijit Bannerji (Arijit dada) who is an IFS Senior Environment Officer(Kolkata).

Indian Long Billed Vulture

He had also mentioned to lookout for Indian King Vulture which is now critically endangered in IUCN list.

Indian King Vulture

It was a bright sunny day & we were in the Zone 3 , excited to see striped yellow beast & to our luck we did not spot a mammal for nearly an hour & as we were passing on a rough terrain I spotted a small yellow patch with 3/4th of itself submerged in a pool of water under a big tree shade, initially it was very difficult to spot as it was very far from us.

It was perfectly camouflaged to the long dry forest grass, he then got up from the pool & walked towards us. At first it looked calm & then a bit curious walking straight towards us.

My Nikon D300s with Sigma 500mm rocked & perhaps I have taken almost 200 shots at 8fps of this beast & could make a movie if I could join them. It came so close around 12 feet that I saw only its pupil through my lens, i just stopped shooting & saw this charismatic powerful creature walked by 10feet from us with grace.

It was exciting !!!! .. it went further climbing a rocky hill & gave a lovely pose saying "I RULE THIS PLACE" .

RNP has variety of mammals , reptiles & birds & I have posted a few photos them.

Sambar Deer

Rufous Treepie

Crested Bunting

Jungle Bush Quail

RNP is also very good birding spot especially the track 2 & 3. I spotted more than 80 species of birds, but unfortunately you cant get down from the vehicle, so for photographing birds on would need a minimum telephoto lens of 300mm and above for better shots..

Some of the birds mammals & reptiles i shot in RNP.

Alexandrine Parakeet

Marsh Crocodile & Painted Stork

Black Winged Stilt

Blue Tailed Bee Eater

Marsh Crocodile

Hare

Stay: Nearest town is sawai madhopur.
How to reach RNP (Ranthambhore National Park): Nearest railway station is Sawai Madhopur railway station -11Kms.

Nearest Airport: Sanganer Airport Jaipur which is 180Kms.

Many resorts & lodges are abundantly available here with budget range starting from Rs.1500/head which includes breakfast,lunch ,dinner & stay for a night up to Rs.20,000/head . This depends on seasons too. I stayed at Hammir resorts which was fairly reasonable.

Indian Peafowl

JLR Naturalist Training Programme - March 2010

2010-04-01T22:05:00.048+05:30

This was great experience & a one step ahead to know the nature unfolding un noticed with complexities & yet so simple to eyes. Couple of months back came across a blog & the experience of a NTP, had not known till then there exists a training like this & left a email to Karthikeyan( Great guy.. everybody call him Karthik), luckily got a email few days back about the programme going to happen on 26th till 28th of March 2010..more luckily i got selected & we were in the campus of JLR bannerghatta.

Well this course was conducted by S.Karthikeyan, Chief Naturalist at JLR, who was earlier with WWF for more than 17years, Knows anything on plants, insects, reptiles, birds & mammals, In fact i came to know that FIG is a flower & not a fruit, how wonderfully he explained its full lifecycle & from then on my perspective towards plants changed.

Common tailor bird was the first photograph i took as soon i came to this place.

Indian Pea Fowl

The program concentrates on birdwatching, plants kingdom to some extent of reptiles & Butterflies.My tent was just next to the training hall, as soon as i got into my tent & i saw this big spider in the toilet :O

This bird was making very sweet calls to take its photo & posed for a longtime ;)

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

To say ..it was a good informative & a well drafted for the beginners on introduction to nature & its importance for existence. We had some trails in morning & evenings everyday briefing on the plants , insects & birds.

Bannerghatta had some mammals (herbivorous track) like nilgai, black buck ,India gaur, sambar , barking deer & spotted deer.

Black buck in its full colours as its name says ;)

It was pretty hot during day times & i usually see the barking deer & birds come near campus the to drink water .

Barking Deer

Second day of training, we had the chance to meet Sandeep who was the alumni of First batch 2005 NTP & now currently running a NGO which is doing some good job like clearing plastics from forest areas & educating tribal & village children.

Sandeep briefing to participants

Asian paradise flycatcher

Blue Bearded Bee-Eater

Golden Fronted Leaf bird

Grasshopper i suppose

White Browed Fantail

Goose

Collared Scops Owl

Overall it was a nice & informative programme with a responsible approach towards learning nature & to protect them by knowing its importance of its very existence.

Masinagudi Birding & Trekking

2010-03-10T21:15:00.018+05:30

This is the first trip to Masinagudi & Madhumalai forest located in the border of Karnataka and TamilNadu.

As usual, I being the first person to initiate any wildlife place in our group, googled places and also asked reviews on net for stay & birding opportunity around Masinagudi. So, started to check for accommodation in & around of Masinagudi & this time it was with family and kids.

My cousin managed to finalise on stay and food @ Green Valley Resort, though we dint get any confirmation on guided birding tours.This place is located inside Madumalai forest, accommodation starting @ 1500/twin room. Mess bill has to be paid separately.

We hired bird guide from the resort,rather you can call him a forest route guide (local person with full knowledge of forest routes). He is not from any govt department, charged Rs.300/head. We shall have to let him know about the species which we are looking for, say either mammals or birds in prior and he takes the routes accordingly (that's what he said).

I, my cousin and guide started trekking @ 5:45 a.m in the morning, sited many species of birds and finally came back to resort @ 11:00 a.m. It was totally a 10 km walk for us, we had not packed any breakfast so had to return inevitably.

It was really a wonderful trekking in the thick forest, saw Tiger,Leopard,Sloth bear scats & many were fresh too.. BEWARE!! you are not armed and all on your own in the thick jungle.

A person from neighbouring resort told that we should have hired Kuravi Kuttan.. a professional bird watcher and a guide who is available for Bandipur, Masinagudi and Gopalswamy Betta :P (But, our guide was also good).

Our intension was to shoot Malabar giant Hornbill which I missed for some reasons.. the guide has promised to take us next time to the place where we can find hornbills in particular.

I have posted some pictures of Masinagudi in my Flickr account.. please check on this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/saandipng/sets/72157623262808227/

Most and most IMPORTANT thing to keep in your mind is to carry insect repellent cream (may be Permithrin) without fail.. Forgetting your batteries for camera is excusable but not the repellent, you ll have to pay for your deed...I forgot to carry and was bit by tics. These can fix on your body for more than 3 days even if you take hot water bath daily.. It causes severe itching and red boils emerge which some people find years to come out of this problem... Its not only seen in this forest, it is very common in any deep forest or any trek. Now I am on medication..

Resort : http://www.greenparkmudumalai.net/

Bird Guide : Raju: 09787848683

Check out Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar

2010-02-02T10:11:00.003+05:30

Title: Save Our Tigers Join the Roar
Link: http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=853758002782035239331

Nandi Hills

2010-01-25T16:58:00.013+05:30

There are many stories about the orgin of the name Nandi Hills. During the Chola period, Nandi Hills was called Ananda Giri meaning The Hill of Happiness. Another story is that Yoga Nandeeshwara performed penance here, and so it was named after him. A temple of Yoga Nandeeshwara is situated on top of the hill. Nandi is also commonly called Nandidurga (Fort) because of the fort build here by the ruler Tippu Sultan. It is also perhaps called Nandi Hills because the hill resembles a sleeping bull (Nandi).

Route:On Bangalore Bellary road, reach Devanahalli cross, which is on the 36 th milestone. Take the deviation on the left and travel 11 kilometers to reach Nandi cross. The foot of the hill is 3 kilometers from here. On the Doddaballapur road, turn right to reach the road that leads to the top of the hill. From the foot is 8 kilometers of the top.
Timings: Nandi hills is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Climate : The temperature is 25 to 28 centigrade during summer and 8 to 10 centigrade in winter. Nandi receives a rainfall of 100 to 150 cms every year.

Birds of attraction: Coucals, Sunbirds, Common Chiffchaffs, Bulbuls, Sunbirds, Mynas, Crows, Sparraows, Wagtails, Robins, Orioles, not many kinds were fond to us as we had less time to head back anticipating rush traffic in city.

Valley School

2010-01-25T14:20:00.025+05:30

The Valley School, established in 1978, A Krishnamurti Foundation India. The school is based on the teachings of the eminent philosopher and a great thinker Jiddu Krishnamurti. The school is located near Thatguni which is about 17 km to the south west of Bangalore, in a picturesque valley with undulating hills and farms with a reserve forest on the fringe. It has about 104 acres of dense vegetation, a semi wilderness haven with a lake on one side and a running stream. You can find species of Birds like- Barbets, Bush chats, Warblers, Bulbuls, Kites, Insect Eaters, Sun birds, Cormorants, Kingfishers, Wagtails, Crows, Sparrows, Mynas, Parrots, Bee eaters, Woodpeckers,Drongos, Shikras, Owlets, Swifts, Swallows, Tit & Robins, Bee Eaters & many more.

Approach: Driving from Bangalore towards kanakapura, reach Thalghattapura & from there about a Km you will find overhead Nice-road flyover, underpass the flyover & keep looking on the right side of the road for a sigh board of valley school, turn right & head about 2km to reach valley school security entrance. Also keep looking on the sides of the road to find many kinds of birds on that 2Km stretch.

Usually you will be greeted by this dog near the gate & follows your entire birding in valley school.

Tips:park vehicle on the right side of parking bay & enter your details in security & head down the tar road & followed by mud road cross the banyan tree, go till the end of the near old study centre fencing, take left again & join to mud road which branches out many pathways where you'll find water stream, Lucky i found the Kingfisher near the stream. Many bird species are found here.

Reach Valley school within 7:00am & you do birding till noon.

You can check more of birding pictures of Valley school on http://www.flickr.com/photos/saandipng/sets/72157623422155342/ .

Lalbagh Bengaluru

2010-01-12T00:04:00.015+05:30

Lalbagh Botanical Garden is located in the heart of Bangalore city, about 4 km from the State Legislature – the Vidhana Soudha.Lalbagh remains open daily from 6.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. throughout the year, Biannual flower shows are organized every year in January and August on the occasion of the Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations.

The garden is an institution of botanical and environmental importance, a treasure house of our state and nation, also an important lung space of Bangalore.

Recently it has been improved & well maintained but the lotus pond needs more maintenance.

Lots of flora & fauna around this place.

The Kites usually settle down near the lake around 9:30am when there are less morning walkers around & its fascinating to see them bathing & preening.

My Favourites were White Throated Kingfisher, Oriental Oriole, Koels & Coppersmith Barbet.

I can say a good place for birding beginners. Lalbagh is one among bird census locations of Bangalore, many migratory birds & butterflies can be seen during December to February.

Check out some photos of Lalbagh Birds on http://www.flickr.com/photos/saandipng/sets/72157623195871928/

Bandipur & Chammanahalla Vacation

2010-01-04T20:47:00.002+05:30

Anticipating the continious holidays during christmas, some of us planned to visit bandipur as we had no other interesting place to relax on holidays. Last minute we got confirmation of stay in bandipur..many thanks to our friend pranesh who works for conservator of wildlife office in mysore & also bro-in-law of my good friend Suresh. Pranesh is down to earth kind of man with lotzz of patience.

When once the plan was set, we thought to take a cook along to maximise the effortless stay. We hired a cook & we all (Me, shashi, guru, vatsa & one more guru ) started fully loaded with luggage & utensils, handygas & ofcourse my photography gears in my safari dicor & headed mysore to pick pranesh from his home & reached bandipur . We had booked a dormetry, spent one day in bandipur & later moved on to chammanahalla guest house in moolehole range of bandipur near karnataka & kerala border. Its a heaven on earth kind of a place.. there isn't proper facilities for drinking water & only solar lights are available, but these adds to preserving natural beauty of wilderness. I was able to capture many species of birds during this vacation, check these photos on the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/saandipng/ .

Partial Lunar Eclipse 2009-10

2010-01-04T17:24:00.001+05:30

There was a partial lunar eclipse on December 31st 2009 - January 1st 2010. Though it was a cloudy on the eve of New Year, some parts of India observed partial lunar eclipse. The sky cleared a bit during prime time of the eclipse and I was able to take some pics from 11:30PM to 2.40 AM(As i am not a TV Freeko)from the terrace of my home.
These pictures were taken on Nikon D60 with 70-300mm Tamron lens, with Velbon CF tripod. Some of the pictures were taken on shutter mode to avoid clouds. The photographs were later cropped and stitched using Adobe photo element to fit in single picture.