Nikhil Gaikwad Photography

03/01/2023

Indian Fox.

It was cloudy weather and around 5:30pm we spotted Indian Fox.
There were 3 Indian Foxes but this one was Bold and came quite close to our Vehicle.

Even at 6400 ISO, Canon R5 produced a quite good image.

03/01/2023

Pench National Park, The land of Mowgli - Part 2

A few more gypsies were gathered around that spot. By nature, Leopard is a shy animal, and looking at many gypsies definitely, it must have got scared. I took out my camera and managed to get a few clicks and knowing animal behavior I was sure that the leopard will try to run. So boosted ISO to 4000 in anticipation that I might be able to get running Leopard click.

Plan worked! As soon as the leopard got some space it started running and I managed to get one good running shot.

What a memorable tour that was in the Land of Mowgli’s...

03/01/2023

Pench National Park, The land of Mowgli - Part 1

My first visit to Pench was in Mar 2016. There was a total of 12 participants for this trip and we were pretty excited to see the good sighting in the Pench.

The first 2 safaris went dry and we were into our third safari. The evening safari was about to end. One of my friend (Sameer) asked the question "Nikhil, Suppose in this low light condition if we get to see any Tiger or Leopard then what camera setting is recommended?" My Simple answer was to boost the ISO setting of the Camera to get a sufficient shutter speed so we can able to capture the moment (record shot). Luckily, I was carrying Canon 7D ii (Crop sensor camera) and Canon 5D iii (Full frame camera) and in no time I shifted my telephoto lens from 7D to 5D, just in case we get to see any activity of Big Cats.

Around 6 pm, our gypsy started the return journey towards the gate and we were ready to accept one more dry safari. Suddenly, someone from our gypsy shouted "Leopard" "Leopard" "Leopard”!!! The driver pulled the brakes of the gypsy and we started to search the area where one of our friend spotted the Leopard. Forest was dry and all leaves were scattered in the jungle, we were facing difficulty spotting the Leopard as it was so camouflaged with the surroundings. Finally, we saw one sub-adult leopard sitting in the surroundings and staring at us.

01/01/2023

01/01/2023

30/12/2022

Indian Darter.. Snake Bid

30/12/2022

Indian Skimmer.
Your wings already exist. All you have to do is fly.

30/12/2022

Until you spread your wings, you will have no idea how far you can fly!!!

29/12/2022

Tadoba in Monsoon... Aug 2016

Tadoba has always been very close to my Heart. My 1st ever safari visit was from Tadoba in Oct 2012. Since then this was my 7th visit.

Aug 7, 2016
A real Tadoba Queen. As such, she was walking on the ramp in this case that was Tadoba lake road. There were around 15 odd vehicles that witnessed this Royal Bengal walk. definitely a show stopper of Tadoba !!! !!!ara and started approaching us. Within no time our driver took the reverse and now our gypsy was ahead of Maya.f Maya.ya.ya.

Once we reached Panchdhara area some 3-4 gypsy's were coming towards us and signaling go-back go-back. We were confused and by the time we realised, Majestic Maya entered from water stream of Panchdhara and started approaching towards us. Within no time our driver took the reverse and now our gypsy was ahead of Maya.
Wow !!! what a Sightseeing that was !!! Maya is just 15 ft away from us and no one in between us.
She was doing her normal routine of territory marking near Tadoba lake. Our guide and driver were experienced enough to understand which are spots on the climb are good to take habitat clicks while Maya walking on the Tadoba lake road.

We got plenty of habitat shots, head-on shots, close up shots, territory marking shots. Maya was understanding all our thoughts and posing just how we wanted. She is definitely a show stopper of Tadoba !!!
A real Tadoba Queen. As such she was walking on the ramp in this case that was Tadoba lake road. There were around 15 odd vehicles who witnessed this Royal Bengal walk.

29/12/2022

Choti Madhu,
Tadoba Monsoon Diary 2018...

You can witness 50 shades of green in Tadoba during the Monsoon season.

In Aug 2018, this was our last (4th) Safari, all earlier 3 safaris we didn't see any tigers. During Monsoon, Tiger sighting is very difficult as plenty of water sources are available to animals and the forest also becomes very dense. Which reduces the chances to spot the Tigers.

28th Aug, Morning safari started in Devada buffer gate, there was news that Choti Madhu tigress crossed the agarzari-devada highway and went to deveda buffer side. We got excited and were hoping to see Choti Madhu. We had a very good knowledgeable guide, who spotted tiger pug marks as soon as we entered into Devada zone, and then we decided just to follow the pug marks. After following the Pug mark for 15-20 mins, at one place we were not able to find the pug marks. From that point 2 roads were going inside the jungle, we decide right road and tried to track the pug marks but our Gypsy got stuck in the mud. We got down and pushed the Gypsy out of the mud and decided to go back and follow the left road.

Our guide was continuously trying to track the pub marks, and after a few mins, he saw the pug marks and decided to take the reverse and go back to the same junction. As soon as the driver took the reverse and drove like 100 mts suddenly he pulled the brakes and we were wondering what happened.

Choti Madhu was standing on the road, she was looking at us. We took out the Cameras and managed to click a few photos of Choti Madhu.
And then she again went into the jungle, it was just 10 seconds sighting but it was totally worth it.

This was one of the most memorable safaris from Tadoba, tracking Choti Madhu was indeed a great experience...

29/12/2022

Madhuri is known as ‘Royal Queen’ of the buffer zone. The tigress has delivered 19 healthy cubs in the span of 8 years.

A reminiscence of Madhuri’s litters highlights that the tigress had delivered her 1st litter of 3 cubs in the year 2010 at Yenbodi area in Mohurli. The 1st litter didn’t live to see adulthood, as all cubs were exterminated by Waghdoh male (Considered to be the largest male tiger in India) who defeated their father Yeda Anna.

Madhuri’s 2nd litter, of 4 cubs, in 2011 was parented by Waghdoh male. This litter was popularly recognized as the “Telia” sisters —Geeta, Sonam, Lara and Mona — made renowned by a documentary film on their growing days, broadcasted by a wildlife channel. After 2011, Madhuri was expelled by her daughter Sonam and relocated to the buffer. Today, Sonam has taken over Telia lake area and is parenting two litters — one in 2015 that delivered 3 cubs and another last year with 4 cubs.

After being relocated in the buffer, Madhuri delivered 4 cubs in 2014 sired by Wagdoh male in Mohurli. Her fourth litter of 4 cubs came to life in 2016. This litter was sired by Khali (T55), who had thrown out Waghdoh. Now, Madhuri has yet again delivered 4 cubs sired by Khali. This royal tigress’s cubs have been documented by Tadoba Wildlife Safari team. Nevertheless, it is a big question mark where these tigers would go after achieving adulthood.

28/12/2022

The Indian courser

(Cursorius coromandelicus) is a species of courser found in mainland South Asia, mainly in the plains bounded by the Ganges and Indus river system. Like other coursers, it is a ground bird that can be found in small groups as they forage for insects in dry open semi-desert country.

(Information Courtesy: Wikipedia)