Its been one amazing week. It started off with a friend of mine who bought himself a new car and wanted to take it out of the city for a day long drive. He was determined to go to BR hills and we left very early in the morning so that we could return on the same day. The omens were good as a mongoose crossed our path and our visit to BR Hills was rewarded with my first ever leopard sighting in that area. It passed in front of us so quickly that we didn’t have any time to react. We just got a brief glimpse as the leopard walked off into the undergrowth. Was glad for the sighting, but hoped I would get a chance to photograph a leopard again.

Later in the week I was on a mini vacation and decided to visit Bandipur, but this time luck was on my side. Quite similar to BR hills, we had the same sighting, but this time the leopard obliged us for a few more seconds, enough for me to take a couple of pictures.

The froth at the edge of the mouth seems to indicate that it had eaten something recently,though I am not 100% sure that is the reason for the froth. Leopards are truly fascinating creatures. They are highly sensitive to their surroundings and will jump into a thicket or on top of a tree at the first sign of danger.  This one gave us a good 10 second glimpse and then went into the bushes, looked at us for a few more seconds and then silently disappeared. 
We also saw a huge sloth bear and the rare spot bellied eagle owl but unfortunately could not make any images of those as the sightings were very brief and in extreme low light situation.

Came back today from a quick trip to Bandipur. I went to Bandipur via bus this time, and the journey was excellent. Not once did I have to wait for a bus or stand while I was in it. Due to the quality of the service and the frequency of the buses, I was able to reach Bandipur on time and return quickly as well.  The Airavatha (Volvo) bus service was excellent. We Karnataka people are spoilt for choice..

In Bandipur sightings were not all that great. We saw some tiger pug marks, but as is the case in south india, getting a glimpse of the king is a rare event.  Of the images I managed to take, this barking deer is the one I like. They are usually shy and do not often come out in the open for a long time, hence was glad I could make some decent images.

A sudden trip due to some other plans getting cancelled resulted in one of the best experiences of my life so far. I got to spend a few days in the jungles of karnataka and experienced some of the best wildlife in this part of India. 

We came across a water hole and were looking at a sambar deer when suddenly one of my friends spotted him just behind the sambar walking and we all knew instantly that it was a Tiger. Several nervous moments passed as I clicked away from my camera with its limited lens capability and we watched as the king stopped, gave us a long hard look and disappeared into the bushes. 
This short audience left be breathless and wanting for more, and so we returned to the same water hole after an hour and he was back there sitting and cooling off in the middle of the day before getting up and leaving us again. 
Happy, I returned home having forgotten the disappointment of not traveling for a few months and had a nice peaceful sleep knowing that I have seen one of the most majestic and beautiful creatures to roam our forests.  How anyone can poach such an animal is beyond me..

Here is a pic… the quality is almost non-existent but I cant resist sharing this..

More photos from the trip to follow later…