Corbett Summer

 

Typical of the standard rant these days, the pandemic is to blame for throwing normal life out of whack, causing mayhem in our lives. After multiple false starts, a couple of postponements and a last minute cancellation, we finally made it to the seat in the Aircraft.

Trepidation still in the back of our minds considering the uncertain situation at Delhi, the gang went ahead and made it to Delhi without further incident. Bags collected and as we stepped out of the Airport, we gasped in the heat... Thankfully it was still morning, hence it was not that bad and soon enough we boarded the Cab and settled in for the drive to Ramnagar.

For the monetarily curious, the costs have gone up nearly 20% with service providers across the board scrambling to make most of the spurt in travel. 

With the roadwork mostly completed, the drive was smooth and after a mandatory refreshment stop at the Shiva Dhaba (Mamaji) we made it to Ramnagar by late afternoon and checked into the Corbett Machan resort for the overnight stay.

With a bit of the day still left, we stepped out for a short walk in the sorrounding area and came across a few birds. Summer heat meant that the walk had to be short, but it was a decent experience. Pretty sure the walk would be fantastic during cooler weather, with a lot more birds.

Changes in the timings of entry at the Dhangari gate, meant that you were allowed in at 10:00am or later, instead of early morning as was the case in the past. With such a change, it makes sense to either take the overnight train from Delhi and spend a few hours at Ramnagar refreshing and shopping before driving down to the Dhangari gate or alternately take a late night flight into Delhi and drive down from Delhi to Ramnagar through the wee hours of the morning, braving the heavy commercial traffic on the highway and arrive bleary eyed at Corbett, or the best option being what we did; stay overnight at Ramnagar and drive to Corbett after breakfast.

The overnight rest and breakfast in the morning really help! 

At Dhangari gate, Murphy's law came into play.....our permits were forgotten, causing a few moments of anxiety, while the permits were scanned and sent to the drivers and more fortuitously, the officials at the gate allowed for the scanned images to be printed and soon, we were on our way to Dhikala.

About an hour and a half later of driving through some pristine jungle, with a small herd of elephants halting us for a brief while and providing us with a glimpse of what lie ahead, we reached Dhikala.

With rooms allocated shortly, we had a quick refresh, dropped into the restaurant for a quick lunch and soon ready for our first venture into the forest....and what a trip it was.....

The next 3 days just flew in a blur of amazing scenes of successful and failed hunts, charging elephants, clouds of dust mingling with the pungent odour of naturally growing Bhaang plants. Videos will be available on our YouTube channel, meanwhile here is a short collection of images.

The Crested Serpent Eagle Hunt

On jungle trips, the usual focus is on the glamour species....the Tigers, Leopards, Elephants and so on. Birds are rarely if ever looked at, unless you happen to be a Birder or a serious wildlife photographer, looking for behaviour shots.

The opportunity for a trip to Kabini in Sept 2020, was a God sent opportunity to break free from the Covid Pandemic inflicted lockdown. While the trip report itself will be a separate note, this piece is about the trip highlight.

We were on our last safari of the trip and while the outing itself was refreshing, glamour sightings were disappointing to say the least. We waited a long while for a tiger to come out of the bushes, but our wait was in vain. Forlorn and despondent, we were returning back to camp, when we saw a Crested Serpent Eagle (Pilornis cheela) sitting on a tree by the roadside. Typical of such sightings, we shot a few pics of the bird and were about to move, when we realized that the bird was intently looking down into the bushes below the tree and sensed some action about to happen. 

With the jeep's engine off, we waited intently and were rewarded with a complete sequence of a hunt, kill and eat. Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think....

Searching intently for breakfast, the CSE spots something in the grass

Locking on to the target, the Eagle is now primed.

Tally Ho! The Eagle kicks off from the branch

Swooping down to the ground, the bird lands on the prey

The triumphant look signifying a successful hunt.

Look intently and you may just see the catch

Do you see it now?

The catch is a snake as befits a Serpent Eagle

Here it is.. an Eliot's Shield Tail Snake

The Snake is fighting for its life

The Eagle lifts off with the catch back to the Tree

Once settled in, the bird begins to eat

Trying to rip the snake into pieces

The finally deciding to swallow the prey whole

The satisfied look after a successful meal