Corbett trip report (13th-20th March 2010)
by Abhinav Gupta (Age: 15yrs)
A beautiful morning (Pic courtesy: Ajith U.)
Day 1- We reached our campsite at 6 in the morning. The place was very beautiful, set in the heart of nature. We were allotted a tent where we would spend the next 2 days. Then, in the field, we drove through the scenic beauty of Corbett. We would halt every 5 minutes to see a bird and later we even managed to spot one of the rarest birds of the country, the Ibisbill, which was standing on a rock behind a temple. We were a group of 12 along with two very knowledgeable drivers-cum-guides. Throughout the day, there were sightings of woodpeckers, bee-eaters and various birds and also mammals such as macaques and jackals. The food provided to us for all 3 meals was very tasty. In the evening, I learnt how to catch frogs! It was a very slimy but an excellent feeling to learn this art.
White-capped Water Redstart (Pic courtesy: Balamahesh P.)
Day 2- We sighted many raptors such as Lesser Fish Eagle, Brown Fish Owl, Pallas’ Fish Eagle and so on. Again, we were only in the periphery of the park and did a lot of birding. We also got to observe wagtails and redstarts (my favorite being the White-capped Water Redstart) along the stream in which we could dip our feet and enjoy the packed lunch that we were given. After a nice and healthy lunch, we went on with our expedition and noticed fresh elephant dung on the road and tiger claw marks on a tree to get us even more excited. Soon, the day ended and we returned back by evening only to realize that it was Radha auntie’s birthday and 5 of us secretly ventured into the market to buy her a nice cake and some more food for the next day. We returned at dinner, had food and celebrated the occasion by cutting the cake. And thus ended the day.
Safari ride (Pic courtesy: Ajith U.)
Day 3- We started the day with a safari ride to Bijrani. Our group was split up into 2 jeeps and we entered the park at 6:30 and were there till 9:30. We saw a Black Stork right at the entrance of the park and later saw many other types of birds. We had also spotted fresh tiger pugmarks along the way which pumped up our adrenalin but let me tell you that it is not as easy to find one as it seems to be! So, as luck would have it, we didn’t find the tiger but all the time the cameras went berserk, clicking like machine guns taking 300 shots or even more of birds like the Indian roller, Crested Kingfisher, Tawny Fish Owl etc. Later, we also saw a Honey Buzzard crashing into a honey comb and gulping down sweet liquid oozing from it. It was indeed a wonderful sight especially for a newcomer like me. After that we left for Dhikala and saw a few elephants and many a deer on the way. The rest house that we were in was simply awesome with a spectacular view of the whole forest.
Wild Elephants (Pic courtesy: Balamahesh P.)
Day 4- We woke up early and left for the safari at 6 in the morning. By now, I too had grasped quiet a few bird names but wasn’t that good at identifying them. But, in the forest we saw many herds of deer, even elephants and numerous birds. In the afternoon, we had our time off in the campus and we had a fun test on birds and mammals and it was great learning to say the least. After lunch we were about to leave when a monkey jumped over the electrical fencing and reached for my hand pack and cheekily stole a packet of kurkure! In the afternoon, we left for the safari again and sighted many spotted deer and one of my friends got brilliant pics of 2 river lapwings mating!
While we were driving through the forest we came across a herd of elephants. The matriarch fondly called Madhuri came charging towards us when we tried to cross over. It was a pulsating experience indeed. Later we also saw huge herds of 23 elephants grazing together but just then at Mota Sal, we heard very loud and prominent alarm calls. We all got very excited and had 10 other vehicles also coming there in no time. Unfortunately, there was only 10 minutes left for the park to close and the tiger didn’t show up before 6. All we heard was a good roar before we left the place.
The endangered Gharials (Pic courtesy: Balamahesh P.)
Day 5- We left early for the safari and some were hoping to see a tiger in action. We saw a lot of green bee eaters and stonechats. We also managed to spot the rare Hodgson’s Bushchat, Collared Falconets mating and the Osprey. The safari was brilliant with so many species of birds to offer and so many pictures to take. Then we were at the watchtower for 2 hours and heard many alarm calls but the elusive cat didn’t show up at all. So we just spent our time relaxing, talking to each other and munching all the time. After lunch, we left once more for the safari. A man from another gypsy suddenly shouted out aloud - ‘tiger!’ However, with the noise of all the cars around it, it moved away and we missed it yet again! We soon had to leave for Gairal and on our way saw the endangered Gharials basking in the evening sun.
Dhikala grasslands (Pic courtesy: Ajith U.)
Day 6- After breakfast, we left for another safari to Dhikala. It was our last ride here and we were getting highly desperate to just get a glimpse of the majestic looking tiger. On our way, we saw several fresh tiger pugmarks in Gairal itself but failed to spot one! Through the rest of the day, we managed to have great sightings of Hog deer, Sambar, Black Francolin and even a Monitor Lizard. To begin with we saw a huge herd of Spotted deer. Later, we also saw 2 Hog deer mating with each other and then a sub-adult Pallas’ Fish Eagle chasing a jackal who had apparently stolen its meat! The sight was a complete delight to any nature lover in the world. We then went to the Dhikala campus and for 2 hours from 12 to 2 lazily roamed around while some had a quick nap followed by a hearty lunch.
After that we knew that we had time only till 4:30 in Dhikala as we had to reach the park exit gate before 6 pm (closing time of the park). I was beginning to get very frustrated and even snoozed off for 10 mins since we had not managed to sight the tiger. When I opened my eyes and turned left to look at the huge grasslands near ‘Madhuri point’, guess what……….it was this strangely well built and long animal looking carefully straight at me and it took me 5 seconds to recover and only then could I elicit, ‘I am not lying, I can see the TIGER !’ Soon, some 20 vehicles from nowhere arrived at the point and with such a loud noise the tiger sat behind a bush. The only thing we could see for after that was the white spot behind its ears. Soon (and sadly so) it was time for us to say goodbye to the tiger and we made way to the gate. We reached there by 6 and many of us also bought souvenirs from the shop near by. Then we freshened up at our original camp site and reached Ramnagar station at 9:15 to board the train which would take us to Delhi. So ended this beautiful and adventurous trip…
It was crazy to be able to spot the tiger right on the last day, our last safari and in the last half an hour. That was what made the day so amazing but what made my trip so special was to find such good friends in each other, gain so much knowledge about wildlife, learn to respect and love nature and understand the importance of saving tigers only to make spotting them more easy for all of us in our future safaris to come! (just kidding!!)
some more pictures from the tour...
The Ibisbill (Pic courtesy: Balamahesh P.)
Oriental Honey Buzzard on a honey comb (Pic. courtesy: Vidya V.)
Skittering Frogs (Pic courtesy: Ajith U.)
The Forest (Pic courtesy: Balamahesh P.)
A mugger (Pic. courtesy: Vidya V.)
Chital herd (Pic. courtesy: Vidya V.)
Barking deer (Pic. courtesy: Vidya V.)
Tawny Fish Owl (Pic. courtesy: Balamahesh P.)
Relaxing in the woods (Pic. courtesy: Vidya V.)
Sambar crossing (Pic. courtesy: Vidya V.)
The group again :) (Pic. courtesy: Prashant U.)
From Left to Right (top row)- Abhinav Gupta, Vidya Venkatesh, Nikhil Pendalwar,
Mahesh Iyer, Prashant Upadhyay, Ajith Unnikrishnan
From Left to Right (bottom row)- Balamahesh P., Pankaja, Saloni Bhatia,
Radha Iyer, Anish Ghosh, Sachin Rai
You can find more pictures by the camp participants on the following links:
Balamahesh P: http://wildlifediaries.com/ppgallery/index.php?x=search&q=corbett
Ajith U: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uajith_set1/sets/72157623675221226/
Prashant U: http://picasaweb.google.com/Prash.Upa/JimCorbettMarch2010#
Mahesh I: http://maheshandradhatravelogue.shutterfly.com/263
AWESOME!!!! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeletevery well written abhinav... cheers
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