Entries about pench tiger park

After a lovely rest this lunchtime (apparently I missed a fabulous lunch by having a siesta instead of eating), I feel ready to take on more adventures on this afternoon's safari.

The Gypsy arriving at the lodge for the afternoon safari. I love the misspelling of the word 'seat'.

We drive through a couple of villages to get to the park, with the usual daily activities

Gaur
The first animals we see this afternoon are the gaur, AKA Indian bison, the world's biggest wild cow.

Giant Wood Spider
These things are enormous! They measure about the size of your palm with even more gigantic webs. Every arachnophobe's worst nightmare.

Pench is a pretty park, with some beautiful scenery and attractive features.

Rose Ringed Parakeets

Indian Grey Hornbill from underneath

Hanuman Langur

Indian Pond Heron

Red Wattled Lapwing

Back at the same wetlands we visited this morning, we see some sambar deer lying down.

And in the background a White Throated Kingfisher.

Lilac Breasted Roller

Chital Chase

On our right we see a few spotted deer sprinting along at great speed, followed behind by a huge herd of them, all looking like they are running for their lives.

They just keep on coming, more and more and more.

Something must have really spooked them.

Then we see the reason for their panic: a couple of wild dogs! How exciting!

As the hounds close in on the chital, I begin to fear for this little girl's life – I really do think she is going to become dinner.

But she gets away and joins her friend. Phew.

The two dogs soon become seven as other dholes (Indian wild dogs) join the pack.

Then a Golden jackal turns up.

To be joined by two others.

I am hoping for an angry stand-off with the Wild Dogs.

But nothing happens unfortunately. The spotted deer survives for another day; and the dhole and jackal go hungry for a bit longer. We eventually and reluctantly move on.

Hanuman Langurs
We arrive back at the wetlands area where we were before; and the light there now is fabulous.

The shoreline is also full of langurs, drinking, preening and playing.

We spend some time watching their antics

As we are sitting on the only dry ground that leads from one side of the lake to the other, the langurs are having to jump across the water, providing us with a perfect photo opportunity.

The little one doesn't quite make it all the way across.

It's getting late, so we start to make our way towards the gate again, grabbing what wildlife sightings we can on the way.

Indian Grey Hornbill

Tigger woz 'ere
Just like domestic cats, tigers like their scratching posts too – this one has been used by a male tiger fairly recently.

Banyan Tree
This single tree, part of the fig family, began its life as an epiphyte (a plant that grows on another plant, where a seed has germinated in a crack or crevice its host). The Banyan Tree is the national tree of India.

Keelback Water Snake
We see a dead snake in the road, all shrivelled up, and I lean out of the car to try and get a better picture of it, when it suddenly raises its head, hisses furiously at me and slithers off. OK then...

What an exciting afternoon we've had, we the chase and then the backlit jumping langurs!

The moon
As we leave the park and drive back to the lodge, I notice the moon is very bright tonight. It is full moon in a couple of day's time, so that makes sense.

Dinner
Tonight's dinner is interesting, unusual and probably best described as a little staccato. First we are served a plate with fish fingers, pappad pakora and chick pea patties.

Then a soup, followed by a plate of sprouted beans.

When the waiter brings out bowls of roast potatoes, we assume it is as an accompaniment to the main course. It is not; it's a course in its own right. Oh well, I like roast potatoes.

By the time the main course of grilled chicken, vegetables and garlic rice arrives, I am full up!

I do manage to make room for the delicious strawberry delight dessert though.

We linger with a drink after dinner as we don't have an early start tomorrow. Stay tuned for the next instalment as we move on to Tadoba.

There appears to be some sort of confusion about our park tickets for today. It seems our agent booked them for the wrong gate, some 60km away. Hence the very early start of 04:30. Rakesh (the driver who brought us down from Jabalpur) is picking us up and driving us to the gate in his car, where we will change into the open top safari vehicle (known as a 'gypsy'), so that we won't get frozen solid by taking the long journey in an open top car. Wise move.

4:30 comes and goes. No Rakesh. At 05:00 I ask the young receptionist what is happening. He wanders off to check with the manager. After a few minutes, he comes running back and continues on to the car park.

A short while later a Gypsy arrives for us. There has been a change of plan. We are going to the nearest gate just a few kilometres away after all; and will pay for a new ticket instead, saving all the hassle of the long journey. That sounds good to me, as it would take well in excess of an hour to travel 60 km on these roads.

We also have to pay for a (compulsory) park guide who will accompany us on this morning's safari. Once that is all in order, we can enter the park.

The first thing we spot, is an Oriental Honey Buzzard, another new tick on our life list.

Seeing very fresh tiger pug marks is promising for a sighting this morning.

The sun is just beginning to break through the mist as we make our way deeper into the forest.

Dhole
We are very excited when our guide spots a rare and endangered dhole (Indian wild dog) in between the trees. Our very first sighting of this species in the wild.

There are thought to be fewer than 2500 of these animals left in the wild, so it is in fact even more rare than the tiger.

We follow him as he makes his way through the forest.

Indian Ghost Trees
Found all throughout the park (as well as being quite common elsewhere on the subcontinent), the bark of this very distinctive tree (Sterculia urens) exudes a gum that is used for laxatives.

Rufous Treepie

Jungle Fowl

The sun is slowly warming up the air, but the mist is still hanging over the lower ground, creating a mystical and eerie atmosphere.

Yellow Footed Green Pigeon

Spotted Dove

Indian Peafowl

Indian Pond Heron

Indian Pond Heron

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Another Peacock sunning himself

Brown Fish Owl
The guide keeps telling us the name of this bird, but I just can't get what he is trying to say. It sounds something like 'ground peace owl'. It is not until very much later that I realise he is saying 'Brown Fish Owl'.

We pass a flooded area with a Green Sandpiper feeding in the shallows.

Golden Jackals in the far distance

Indian Roller

Breakfast
We stop for breakfast in a dedicated picnic area. A structure has been created to provide shade or shelter you from the rain, but as the temperature this morning is still very much on the cool side, everyone remains outside to catch some warmth from the sun's rays.

The breakfast box is rather disappointing this morning, especially considering how superior the food was at the lodge yesterday.

A rather hideous plastic Mowgli adorns the site, which is appropriately called Mowgli Picnic Area.

We continue to a large wetlands area that is teeming with birds, and spend some time with binoculars picking out various species, many of which are new to us. It is all rather exciting.

Indian Cormorant

Bonelli's Eagle

Green Sandpiper

Little Ringed Plovers

Painted Storks

White Rumped Vulture

Indian Pond Heron having a bad hair day

Great Egret

There are also a couple of jackals around.

We reluctantly leave the pond area behind to go in search of more wildlife.

Hanuman Langurs

Red Wattled Lapwing

Hoopoe

Chital

Nilgai
This is the first nilgai we see on this trip, and then only for a few seconds as she disappears into the forest.

Jungle Owlet

Black Drongo

Upon hearing loud warning calls, the driver stops the car and we sit and wait. There is obviously a predator in the vicinity, and a lot of very distressed langurs. We wait. And wait. And wait. As time is now getting on, we eventually have to move, despite not having seen any tigers.

It is time to leave the park and return to the Lodge as the park rules have very strict timings for just morning and evening safaris rather than the whole day as we are used to from Africa.

On the way we spot these two gorgeous Indian Rollers, one with his lunch.

As we were up so early this morning (plus I didn't sleep well last night), I decide to forego lunch and spend the time snoozing instead.

Stay tuned for the next entry.