Vultures

We had amazing views of 3 types of vulture at the watchpoint, Griffon, Egyptian and Long Billed. When we arrived there were just one or two, but Babblu told us if we waited a while (enjoying a breakfast picnic in the meantime!) the thermals would be right and then the vultures would appear en masse. He wasnt wrong! A awesome sight -they were both below us and above and were thrilling to watch and photograph, I just had to take care not to go too near the edge in the midst of all that excitement!

A Few More Photos from the trip

Shown here are Mandy, Roxy and Babblu up at the vulture watchpoint in the park and also a couple of shots from Junglemantra of Rox and Mandy.

Bandhavgarh National Park

A few shots of the park, what a delightful place!

Bird Record Shots

Here are a few record shots of some of the birds we observed. Red-Throated Flycatcher(male), Tickells Blue Flycatcher, Chestnut Bellied Nuthatch, Mottled Wood Owl, and a pair of displaying Black Shouldered Kites

Jungle Cat record shots

I loved coming across these beauties. This one showed itself just after I got up one morning, it was still quite dark so only managed these record shots They are not very confiding and turn tail if you get too close

Theobolds Tomb Bats

On our way up to Bandhavgarh fort we stopped off and Babblu showed us an amazing bat colony, the noise (and smell!) was awesome! What great little creatures :)These pics are courtesy of Babblu, he had shared ownership of my camera gear whenever we were together!!

An afternoon out with Babblu

I enjoyed a great afternoon out on the bike with Babblu. We went off the tourist trail for about 4 hours - he was great company and found me lots of things to marvel at. We saw Hoopoe, White Browed Fantail, Francolin, Common Kingfisher,Redstart, etc which I didnt get any decent photos of :( However I did get these pics, Nilgai (a antelope sp, literally translates as Blue Bull), An Indian Gazelle, and a White Eyed Buzzard (heavily cropped shot)

Return journey part 2

After a leisurely morning in Delhi enjoying the antics of the macacques and a bit of last minute birding it was time to head off to the airport. We both had got badly bitten by mossies (didnt have a problem in the jungle!) Mandy had 20 bites on one arm!!!
Indira Ghandi Int Airport was quite chilled and orderly and we had a bit of time to kill so we treated ourselves to a 30 min back, neck, arm, shoulder and head massage - heaven!!!!
Our flight was on time and took 9 hours to reach Heathrow.
What a shock to the system hitting the cold air of London after being in such a hot climate! We had to wait a while to get a transfer to the hotel.
On Wednesday morning we were faced with having to again lug our heavy bags back into central London to get the tube to take us to the train from St Pancras. We were exhausted so decided the best thing to do was to say no way and just get a taxi straight to St Pancras - it cost a whopping £58!! But worth it for the hassle free option! Our train and coach journey back was relaxed and we arrived to our waiting hubby/bf and big hugs and kisses all round. So relieved to be safely back!
We have lots more photos to upload etc, but it will be done next week when the jet lag has eased and we have caught up with things.

Return Journey part one

We left Junglemantra around 7pm on Sunday evening, not a dry eye in sight! After an hour we arrived at Umaria station in time for the overnight train back to Delhi. It took 18 hours!! We have never been so relieved to get off a train before! We were collected straight away to be taken to the homestay. We hadnt realised it was festival time (Holi) and the whole place was buzzing - it was the Festival of Colours where everyone throws paint on each other - most people were red and green!! Our original driver was apparently too drunk to walk never mind drive and we were lucky that a stand in could be found!!!
We had a relaxing evening in Delhi in the company of two great guys(South African Shem(http://www.shemimages.com/) and Go (Japanese)(www.goyamagata.com) who had just arrived from Japan after photographing amazing wildlife there - thanks for your company guys, it was great to meet you! They were heading off to Junglemantra on Tuesday morning.

Tiger Cubs

What an amazing final day! Within 5 mins of entering Bandhavgarh NP two cubs were located and we stayed with them for 3 hours, at a distance of about 30 yards. Spending time just observing then in their natural state ws surreal and unforgettable, we shall treasure the memory forever:) The tigress didnt return to them whilst we were there but she was around, (the Chital called their alarm calls.) They are estimated to be around 7-9months old, they slept mostly but occasionally stretched and yawned amongst the bamboo. They looked us straight in the eye many times and that connection made it so special :)