Bandhavgarh Pre-trip Mar 05—13, 2006
Posted by Bob Fleming
Bob Fleming
Bob Fleming is one of the foremost experts on Nepal and India. He has spent most of his life in these countries studying birds and leading tours, treks, and study groups, a...Related Trips
The objective of our Bandhavgarh Pre-trip was to attempt to see tigers in the wild, and to find birds and other mammals amid the rich historical and cultural traditions of India.
Our group assembled in Delhi on the warm afternoon of March 7th and poked about historical sites that ranged from 400 to 800 years old. While we learned about the city, we enjoyed seeing a number of Delhi birds including a bulbul, barbet, hornbill, sunbird, two species of large green parakeets, three species of starlings, and others. Our final stop for the day was at the Lodhi Tombs, monuments that date from the 1400s. These grounds are often listed as one of Asia’s finest urban gardens.
The 8th of March was a marathon day for us as we flew to Khajuraho, and then traveled overland through the cultivated countryside to arrive at the edge of Bandhavgarh National Park well after dark.
The following morning, in the dim light of early dawn, park elephants started from their camps, the mahawats and scouts looking for signs of tigers. We also arose early in order to be in place when the park opened. The administration allows topless five-passenger jeeps into the park with a ranger assigned to each vehicle. The wild tigers of Bandhavgarh are habituated to elephants, and so, are not unduly alarmed at the approach of a pachyderm, but a human on foot would be a totally different matter. Once inside the gate, travel on foot is not permitted.
This was our lucky morning as one set of elephant scouts located a family of tigers in a relatively open bamboo forest not too far from a driving track. Jeeps converged on that spot and, after waiting our turn for the elephants, we swayed into the forest to enjoy splendid views of a tigress and her two nine-month-old cubs, one lying atop a rock. The father, walking by, was seen by participants on one elephant. Following this visual feast we learned that another set of elephants had spotted yet another tiger family, and we made our way in that direction, stopping at one point to photograph a Red-wattled Lapwing standing close to the road. This second tiger group consisted of four siblings, almost full-size at 14 months, with one well up a slanting flame tree. No sign of the parents. No matter, as by now we had seen eight different tigers on this, our first morning in Bandhavgarh!
And well that we did, for during our subsequent two-and-a-half days we did not see another large cat. You never know! We did find many other mammals including numerous spotted deer, often thought of as the world’s most beautiful cervid, and the long-tailed gray langur monkeys. Unseasonable rain more or less wiped out our second day and, although we twice ventured into the park, visibility was limited, and both birds and mammals seemed hunkered down.
However, on the morning after the rain, and now on our third day in the area, the sun shone brightly and it took us forever to get to the park, for we “stalled” under flame-of-the-forest trees near town. These trees, in full orange blossom, swarmed with birds feeding and warming in the early rays. Here we saw, among others, five species of starlings (mynas), Plum-headed Parakeets, Gold-fronted Leafbirds, a Common Iora, Black-rumped Flameback woodpeckers, Rufous Treepies, Purple Sunbirds, and Black Drongos. Late in the morning we jeeped to a nearby village to visit with the farmers and to survey the birdlife of their local reservoir.
That afternoon we ventured to a large statue of Vishnu at the bottom of Bandhavgarh Butte and, en route, watched many Malabar Pied-Hornbills come to a fruiting tree on the slope below us. By late afternoon the weather kicked in again and our visit to the 1,000 to 1,200-year-old Vishnu statue was cut short by lightning and rain. Nonetheless, on the way back to the park gate, we were treated to a splendid vocal and acrobatic display of five Greater Racquet-tailed Drongos cavorting in an apparent courtship routine.
On the 11th of March we took all day to get back to Khajuraho, proceeding at a relatively leisurely pace that allowed for stops along the way to add to our photo repertoire and bird list. The countryside in this part of India is mostly cultivated fields with associated villages, scattered trees, and mango groves. This scenery, along with the color and activities of the people, helped to relieve the tedium of the long ride. Once in Khajuraho we had enough energy left to attend the evening sound-and-light show at the nearby Chandela temples, structures mostly dedicated to Shiva or Vishnu that date from the late 900s to the early 1200s. As we sat watching and listening to the program, a giant fruit bat flew over, but we saw no owls.
The next morning we again visited the temples, this time to admire the exquisite carvings of gods, animals, and human figures?the latter sometimes in copulo. These temples are not active today, but just outside the enclosure there is a “working” Shiva shrine where the presiding priest warmly welcomed us. In the temple grounds we had our only good look at the Asian Koel cuckoo, an Indian “garden” bird that is often heard but not easily seen.
After lunch we boarded our bus for the four-hour run to the train station in Jhansi, where we caught the fast Shatabdi express, and two hours later we were in Agra, meeting the main Palace on Wheels contingent.