Few days back on a Sunday morning, me and a few others had decided to visit Chilla zone of Rajaji National Park. We left around 11:30 from Dehradun and arrived just within the hour. Gates did not open until 2:30pm so we had plenty of time. On this trip, we only opted to do the afternoon jeep safari. We did all the bookings on arrival. Jeep costs are Rs.2000 plus Rs.250 for vehicle road fee and an additional entrance fee of Rs.150 per person depending on the number of people there are for the safari.
Tag: wildlife
Dudhsagar waterfalls in February
On my last day in Goa, I made a plan to travel to Dudhsagar waterfalls which was just over 90km drive. The waterfall is located in Bhagwan Mahaveer sanctuary within the Western Ghats. This area is rich for birds and wildlife.I had booked a cab a day earlier to travel to this place. We had left early morning by 8am and reached the location by midday. On the way, we had made a quick stop for breakfast somewhere in Panjim. On arriving at the destination, I had to pay the entry fees for the jeep safari which cost Rs.400 as well as camera fees which I think was around Rs.300. The jeep ride was quite bumpy.
Birding at Assan Barrage
Assan Barrage is a small dam located around 40km from Dehradun. The dam is 287.5m long and has water all year round as it is fed water from the Asan river. This dam is responsible for creating of the Asan reservoir or also know as Dhalipur lake. This lake is a good location to view a number of water birds and migratory birds that arrive here in the winter months. The best time to visit between October and December as this attracts a lot of migratory birds to the lake.
November/December trip report to Rajaji National Park
My winter visit to Rajaji NP in terms of seeing much wildlife was very dry. It was not much of an exciting trip. I had done few safaris in Jhilmil Jheel conservation zone in the month of November and had then covered Chilla and Ranipur zones in the month of December. Even though, this particular trip to the national park was not all that great but we were still able to capture some wildlife. We did come across fresh paw prints of various animals such as tiger and sloth bear but to no luck, we were unable to spot them. Anyhow here a selection of images taken from the various safaris I done on those two visits.
Preening behaviour of jungle babblers
Here I was able to capture the preening activity of jungle babblers, taken right from my apartment in Dehradun. Birds preen mainly to remove dust, parasites and also to straighthen their feathers to help in flight. These birds are quite commonly seen in private gardens and woodlands.
Photographing Indian Palm Squirrels
Photography at National Zoological Park, Delhi
Nature Photography at Lodhi Gardens
Lodhi Gardens is also a great place for nature and bird photography. One can spot a number of birds such as woodpeckers, hoopoes, owls, baya weavers and much more however I was only able to photograph a small number of birds and common wildlife such as squirrels. The equipment I used was the Canon 7D and Canon 70-300mm L f/4-5.6 telephoto lens. Here is a small showcase of images I shot that day.
Elephant Sighting at Jhilmil Jheel
Mammals of Rajaji National Park
Here is a selection of images captured during my trips to Ranipur, Chilla range and also Ghori range of Rajaji national park. I had reasoanbly good sighting of animals when I visited the park in the months of May and June. Due to the heat even the animals are not easily seen and are in areas of shade. If planning a trip here in May or June then this is the time when there will be alot of traffic on the roads due to Char Dham Yatra and Rajaji is close to both Haridwar and Rishikesh which attracts alot of pilgrims every year.