Corbett Tiger Reserve

Introduction

Trip Summary

Day 1. – May 16th (Thursday)

Drove from Delhi to Ramnagar at 5:00 AM. Reached Ramnagar at 10:30 AM and were met by Rakesh and Musheer jee (Our local guide and driver respectively. Transferred the luggage into Gypsy before topping up our rations etc. and heading to Dhangarhi Gate for our entry toward Dhikala Tourist Complex 31 km inside the forest, where we were to stay for 3 nights.

Reached Dhikala at 1:30 pm and checked into the rooms. The heat was palpable in the atmosphere and could be seen in the thermals sweeping across the floodplain in front of the complex, with the Ramganga River and Reservoir offering up the refuge to the Elephants, Hog Deer, and Spotted Deer and birds that could be seen. Presumably everything else was in the shade and out of sight at that moment. We got to see young lone Tusker feeding in the forest next to the Dhikala Main Road between Khinanuli and Dhikala while we were driving in.

Afternoon Safari- 3:00-7:00 PM.

Drove out to the other side of the river known as Paar. Were watching a pair of Paradise Flycatchers at their nest when a few Spotted Deer alarms and Rhesus alarms near by had the “Paar” Tigress almost come out near us. Unfortunately another jeep got overzealous and drove unknowingly right into the spot where she was to appear, and so we got glimpses of her as she moved through the forest toward the river and came out onto the road further ahead. We then went and parked on a spot on the rivers edge awaiting her arrival. Plenty of Elephhant herds were moving a couple of hundred metres across on the opposite side of the river, with one in particular that numbered around twenty odd with adult females and young of various ages who came to the water hundred metres away. In between from the opposite side behind us the Tigress walked through the shade of Jamun Trees bordering a small dry nullah leading into the riverbed before vanishing out of sight in a gully 50m from us. Didn’t see her for the rest of the safari.

After an hour and a half at the water’s edge and having a great time observing the elephants , Blue-tailed Bee Eaters, River Tern and Chestnut-tailed Starlings we drove to an area where the tigress had left her four 6 month old cubs. Got extremely lucky to see two of them clearly as they lay on the edge of a nullah next to the track, and glimpsed the belly of the third as it slept a little further under the shade of a Jamun Tree.

Day 2- May 17 th (Friday)

Headed to Paar via Sambar road along the Ramganga River. Saw a pair of young Brown Fish Owls on a tree near the road, and it was evident they were now at the age where practicing flight as often as possible was of essence and was evident from the still to be fine tuned flight they made from one tree to the next as well as from their plumage levels that had enough fluff to indicate still moving out of youth. As we crossed the river into Gethia Rao the jeeps ahead reversed and stated there was a tiger moving towards us the grass next to the riverbed and should appear out onto the stones of the riverbed in a bit. It took a few minutes longer than expected, but soon the Paarwaali Female Tiger appeared and walked out across the riverbed 100m from us before entering the dense vegetation on the opposite side with an alert scan indicating she was out hunting. She then disappeared into the woodland on the opposite side. We reversed onto a stretch of the Gethia Rao riverbed zone where we could see a channel of then Ramganga flowing from the other side of the woodland, and hoped she might come out again in that area or nearer at some point. Though she didn’t appear thereafter, we did get to see a small herd of Elephants cross 300m away, and were soon treated to a pair of Smooth Coated Otters hunting for fish on the same stretch just a couple of minutes after the elephants had crossed. We later went to the area where we had seen her cubs the previous evening, but to no avail either. Got a lovely sighting and close up pictures of Dollarbirds at Khinanauli FRH later that morning.

Got a glimpse of one of the 9-10 month old cubs of the Pedwaali Tigress near the Khinanuli Waterhole before heading back to Dhikala.

Afternoon Safari – Went out to the Khinanauli Waterhole to check for the cubs of Pedwaali. The Macaque alarms told us they were in the dense undergrowth near the water, but didn’t appear after 30-45min of waiting. We then headed out to Paar on the other side of the river to try and see Paarwaali and her cubs. Had a lovely view of one of her cubs as it appeared in the lantana just 10m from us and sat there for 15-20 min, before using it’s stealth skills to enter the small nullah near where it was sitting and go un noticed toward the river almost 70m away before being noticed by the various jeeps waiting there to see them. We left the area thereafter and drove up to the Grasslands near the Dhikala Campus to catch the elephants silhouetted against the light of the sunset. Got lucky to see not only many elephants and deer, but glimpsed a female tiger as she walked out into the grassland near Mota Saal.

Day 3. May 18th (Saturday)

Spent the morning tracking various alarm calls across the Grassland area near Dhikala as well as tracks of a male tiger, but to no avail. Got one of the best sightings of a male Black Francolin giving out it’s signature call from atop a fallen log right next to the track. Then got alarm calls of a Barking Deer from the Mota Saal area of the forest near where we had seen the female tiger the previous evening. Sure enough her fresh tracks indicated she had just passed. Got some wonderful close up views of Blue-tailed Bee Eaters as well as a tusker with a single tusk next to herd close to the road there. Went back into the grassland as we heard alarm calls of Hog Deer near the burnt trees of Sher Bhoji and saw a breeding Golden Headed Cisticola flitting in the grass. The alarm calls then moved closer towards Dhikala before dying out completely. While waiting there we got another set of Barking Deer alarms from the Thandi Sadak track edging the forest with the grassland indicating the presence of a predator. We moved toward them soon after, and as we turned onto the track where we had heard the calls emanating from saw a figure lying facing us on the edge of the track 100m away, and realized it was a tiger. Unfortunately the tiger was in no mood to hang around, and calmly walked into the forest and vanished as we approached it. Once there we realized it was the same female tiger whose tracks we had seen at the Mota Saal crossing earlier that morning. We waited for the next 20 min hoping for her to reappear, but she didn’t and hence left a bittersweet taste of the sighting, as it was just way too short. We then spent the rest of the morning soothing ourselves watching some fantastic elephant behavior as we saw two different herds cross the Ramganga river close to us on Sambar road.

Afternoon Safari– Went straight to the Paar side after having heard of the Paar female having been seen lying on the track late in the morning with two of her cubs. Had no luck inspite of a few alarm calls, and so headed to try and see the Pedwaali family near Khinanauli an hour later. The Pedwaali cubs were at the waterhole as we got there, but so were at least 20 odd jeeps vying for a very small stretch of viewing. Got to see one of the cubs walking through the water and away from us as it headed towards it’s two other siblings in the grassland patch behind 50m from the road. The next 40 odd minutes were spent seeing glimpses of them playing in the tiny window through the vegetation that showed that patch of grassland. A small window, but worth it nonetheless. A huge bonus appeared out of nowhere, when somebody spotted a Spot- bellied Eagle Owl perched in the trees above and looking down curiously at the playing cubs. Only my second ever sighting of this incredible owl species, and so doubly thrilled at the luck. The cubs then went off a bit out of sight and so we decided to move to the grassland to get another shot at the elephants in the evening sunset. No luck with that today, as all the elephants had moved down into the floodplain or further away into the forest. Did get a glimpse of a few Gharials on some of the sand banks in the reservoir though, and that was good to see after quite a few years as well. Got a massive bonus of luck as we hit the edge of Thandi Sadak and Sotha Khaal and had a Male Tiger walk out onto the track in front of us, and casually move ahead of us into the forest and spray mark his territory along the way. He was almost unbothered by our approach until he suddenly turned around and snarled at us letting us know we were a bit too close for his liking, before suddenly sitting down and grooming himself as if nothing had happened. There was an alarm call of a Barking Deer up ahead on the track that had alerted him to the presence of another predator as well, but as we were out of time we were unable to explore it and had to leave him as he got up once again and walked ahead on the track deeper into the forest. There were Spotted Deer alarm calls ringing in the grassland stretch he had come out from as we exited the forest to head back to Dhikala Complex, and thus let us know there was another tiger in there, and most likely the female we had seen earlier that morning near that area itself. Later identification of his pictures had Adil jee identify him as “Romeo” a four year old male cub of the Grassland Female’s previous litter, who had made the grassland area his home over the past couple of years since having turned independent alongside his two brothers, one of whom was still also seen in the grasslands, and the other had been put in captivity for killing a forest labourer at the edge of Dhikala Campus earlier in the season.

Day 4. May 19th (Sunday)

Final morning drive and we headed out to Paar to try and find the Female with her 4 cubs. No luck with the family inspite of a few spotted deer alarm calls in the area. Got some good Elephant sightings with particularly one family really close to the track in the Ringora Grassland. Decided to head out to the Grassland on the other side, whlist stopping for a morning cup of Chai at Khinanauli FRH. Could hear a very good Barking Deer Alarm coming from behind the Rest House in the forest, but nothing appeared inspite of the call sounding promising. Met a Jeep who had seen a male Tiger slightly earlier at a waterhole on Sambar Road and headed towards the main Dhikala Road, and so headed out back to Dhikala with the hope of trying to run into it. Found the tracks of a Male and a Female Tiger heading ahead of us toward Dhikala, and saw a shape walking on the edge of the road half a km away as we approached the Dhikala Grassland through the forest, and realized it was a Tiger. It kept walking as we closed in, but crossed over towards the hilly side of the forest that lead upto Kamarpatta Road as we got within 100m. We then came forth and positioned ourselves with a view of the fireline that lead up towards Kamarpatta road parallel to the Bichu Bhoji fireline track in the Dhikala Grassland. A couple of minutes later the Tiger appeared, and we realized it was a female. We initially identified her as Pedwaali, but picture reference with another guide a bit later confirmed she was the same female tiger from the grasslands we had encountered on the previous two days. She headed up toward Kamarpatta, and though we took a short cut there to wait for her, and even spooked a Wild Boar who suddenly saw us as it appeared out of the vegetation, it appeared she had changed her track and was either relaxing somewhere in the forest, or found another trail she fancied. We then went back down toward the Dhikala Grassland and spooked a small herd of Elephants on the slope track down from Kamarpatta as we did so. Found a Magnificent Tusker in the Grassland very close to the Dhikala FRH Complex. Other highlights included a Gold Fronted Leaf Bird and male and female Grey-Bellied Cuckoos. An interesting episode revealed to us later as we were exiting the park was that while we were attempting to photograph the leafbird, our jeep was parked above a small bridge on the grassland, and unbeknownst to us beneath it lay a tiger. Later as the forest department elephants were returning from tracking the tiger got spooked from underneath the bridge and walked out. We had decided to end our safari by doing a loop through the hill forests of Kamarpatta and come back around from near Khinanauli along the Dhikala main road. We encountered the forest department elephants just a couple of minutes after entering the hill forests as they and their mahouts made their way back to the Dhikala FRH Campus and spooked that tiger from underneath the bridge along the way.

Checked out post breakfast just past 11:00 AM and stopped at Khinanuli Waterhole with a hope of seeing the cubs of the Pedwaali tigress again. No cubs came out, but at quarter to twelve Pedwaali herself treated us to her presence as she came out onto the main road from close to the waterhole, having heard something on the opposite side. Gave us excellent close up views as we passed her, and went back into the thick vegetation after padding a few steps up the road. Couldn’t have asked for a better goodbye gift. Looking forward to hopefully going back there next season and seeing how the wildlife and tiger families are coming along. A Really Big Thank you to Rakesh Bhatt Jee (Our Guide), Musheer Jee (Our Driver), Adil Jee for all their help at making this an incredible trip.

A big thank you to Surya for making this trip happen, and always being the naturalist par excellence as a reflex.

Finally a big thank you to Shreyas and Payal whos happy go lucky attitude just allowed all of us to pivot with the flows of the forest during safari. Just a fabulous group to be with and share a wilderness experience like above with as well.

Highlights

137 Species of Bird including A Paradise Flycatcher pair at a nest, a fabulous Spot-bellied Eagle Owl, a pair of juvenile Brown Fish Owls, Great Hornbills, 8 species of Woodpecker including Great Slaty Woodpecker, a Golden-headed Cisticola in breeding plumage, 8 species of Raptors including the endangered Lesser Fish Eagle and Pallas’s Fish Eagle, and some great views of Black Francolin and Blue- tailed and Blue-bearded Bee Eater.

11 Species of Mammal including 100-150 Elephants, 10 different Tigers and 2 Smooth Coated Otters

6 Species of Reptile including the endangered Indian Gharial, Marsh Crocodiles, Bengal Monitor Lizard, Softshell Turtle and Black Turtle

Diary of Highlights

Day 1

1. Lone Tusker next to main road just a few km before reaching Dhikala Forest Rest House
2. Paradise Flycatchers on a Nest.
3. “Chhoti Paar Waali” Tigress as she walked on the road near the nesting flycatchers, and then half an hour later into a grassy patch next to the river.
4. Multiple Elephant herds in the Ramganga Floodplain
5. River Tern skimming the water.
6. 3 six month old cubs of the “Chotti Paarwaali Tigress” later in the afternoon

Day 2

1. 2 Young Brown Fish Owls on a tree near the track on Sambar Road
2. “Chotti Paarwaali” Tigress seen stalking at the edge of the Ramganga Riverbed
3. Elephants seen crossing the water channel near the same stretch of riverbed
4. A pair of Smooth Coated Otters hunting for fish in the same river channel as the elephants were crossing above.
5. Dollarbirds at Khinanauli Forest Rest House
6. A 9 month old cub of the “Pedwaali” Tigress seen near the main road
7. Close up view of one of “Chotti Paarwaali” Tigress’s 6 month old cubs
8. Great view of multiple Elephant Herds in the Dhikala Grasslands
9. A glimpse of an adult Female Tiger as she walked out for a few seconds into a grassland near the edge of the forest.

Day 3

1. Lots of Alarm Calls of Spotted Deer, and Hog Deer all morning in the Dhikala Grasslands near the Forest Rest House Complex. Searched unsucessfully for one of the two Male Tiger brothers who moved around the grasslands.
2. Excellent views of a Black Francolin Male giving it’s territorial Call on a broken tree close to us in the grasslands
3. An Elephant Herd with a Single tusked Male
4. Superb Blue-tailed Bee Eater views
5. A fleeting glimpse of an adult female tiger as she sat on the edge of a track bordering the grassland and the forest due to a strong Barking Deer Alarm from the area. She was shy, and hence slowly moved into the forest across the track as soon as she saw us 50-60m away.
6. Fabulous sightings and observations of 2 different Elephant herds as they crossed the Ramganga River next to Sambar road
7. 3 Nine Month old cubs of the “Pedwaali” Tigress seen playing in the grass in the afternoon
8. Excellent View of an adult Spot-Bellied Eagle Owl perched 20m above them.
9. Gharials and Crocodiles glimpsed in the distance on the edge of the Ramganga Reservoir from the Grasslands
10. Excellent View of a young Adult Male Tiger as he walked out onto the track from the edge of the grasslands and headed into the forest.
11. Lots of Spotted Deer alarms signaling the presence of another possible tiger from the grassland patch the Male Tiger had walked out from.

Day 4

1. Good close up views of an Elephant Family feeding in one of the grasslands across the river
2. An Adult Female Tiger seen as she walked on the Dhikala main road and crossed into the forest just before the opening of the grassland. Had found her tracks on the main road and so tracked her movement to up until we saw her in the distance and finally got a decent view of her in the forest next to the road.
3. A magnificent Tusker in the Grassland right near the Dhikala Forest Rest House Complex
4. Good views of Grey Bellied Cuckoo male and hepatic female
5. Very good close up sighting of the “Pedwaali” Tigress on the Main Road as we headed back to the gate after checking out from the complex late in the morning.

Itinerary

Cost

Inclusions

Gallery