A Finnish Winter part 2

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Natures Images

One of the nice parts of running trips is the planning side of things.  Although we have now completed the programme for 2013 and it’s all online now, we’re well into the planning for 2014 and beyond. As well as running the trips and fitting in our own personal projects, we also plan some time to visit places where we hope to run future trips too.

So hot on the heels of this year’s Finnish Winter trip I met up with Danny (along with some other friends in the form of Steve, Nigel and Jules) to spend some time in northern Finland and Norway putting the final elements into place for next year’s new Arctic Winter trip.

Our destination for the first few days was a remote guest house north of Ivalo and almost at the Norwegian border where we based ourselves – and with good reason.  At this time of year the plump Crossbill look-a-like and very local specialist, the Pine Grosbeak, has returned to these northern reaches of the boreal forest and at this particular location there are really good numbers coming to a regular feeding site.  With a bit of gardening to arrange some suitable perches and settings with the dramatic arctic light, we settled into place to capture some images of these stunning birds, and as you can see from this selection they were pretty approachable. One even taking a shine to Danny’s lens when he’d gone inside to get another cup of coffee – a welcome respite from the cold and literally seconds away!

Although Pine Grosbeak are the big draw here, there are plenty of other species to work with including Siberian Jay and the ever so speedy Siberian Tit.  I’ve worked with almost all the Tit species across Europe now and this one has got to be the flightiest of them all but with bags of character too. Equally as confident in coming incredibly close, it took a fair bit of thinking and setting up to finally get a location, lighting and sufficient sitting tome from the bird to get a couple of shots I was happy with.

The other big attraction to this particular guest house is it’s location – it really is in the middle of nowhere and with little more than one car an hour going past, the level of light pollution at night was non existent. As a result and with some good fortune in terms of cloud cover (we had 4 clear nights while we were there) it has got to be one of the best places to photograph the drama of the Northern Lights.  It has been a good winter for them generally this year but the owner told us that pretty much any night that it’s clear there is a show, and this array of images were all taken when the rating was as low as 3 or 4 on a scale that goes up to 10!  There are some tried and tested techniques to capturing the lights like this at night and this was as extended a spell as I’ve ever been able to enjoy. Something I can’t wait to go back for again next winter. If you look at the last of the images you’ll see a building which is the guest house.

As well as making the most of this lovely location we also planned to spend some time across the border in the northern harbours of Norway, specifically Batsfjord and Vardo, where large rafts of wintering sea- ducks gather at this time of the year; they are among the most colourful species to be found in the form of King, Stellars and Common Eider and the once heard never forgotten Long-Tailed Duck.  Gathering in the harbours to keep warm and also in search of food such as sea urchins which gather on the legs of the jetties, there is an excellent photographic opportunity – for example working with an extremely entrepreneurial local fisherman who has pioneered some amazing floating hides and a fixed floating pontoon hide we were able to focus on low level swimming images (some of which really benefitted from the bright colours in the water that the surrounding ships and buildings created) and from the boat some dramatic take off and general flight shots – all quite an exilerating experience wrapped up as we were in our very necessary flotation suits.

The harbour buildings created further photographic opportunities in the form of Kittiwakes who were busy grabbing the best spots in preparation for the forthcoming breeding season – quite a bizarre sight given the freezing temperatures and the amount of snow that was still around!

I’ve been to Norway and Finland on many occasions throughout the seasons, but this was my first time this far north (Svalbard aside) and there’s an undoubted tranquility that goes hand in hand with the harshness of this time of year here.  With some unique birdlife and the promise of an aurora drama each night, it’s no wonder that I’m really looking forward to taking a group there next year.

Mark

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A Finnish Winter part 1

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Natures Images

During February I spent three weeks in northern Finland and part of that was leading our Finnish winter trip. This part of Europe is beautiful but during the winter months it really is a wonderful location for wildlife photography. This was a new trip for us but I had done a recce the year before with Finnature and so we had a packed programme for our guests. The first day of our trip was to be spent in a hide which overlooked a feeding station for Golden Eagle. I have photographed this beautiful species before on many occasions but I still get an adrenalin rush when one lands and you can see it through your view finder. Usually it is a long wait but the first eagle landed whilst it was still dark and so it was a while before I could get a decent shutter speed.

The weather conditions were extreme outside which was perfect for some atmospheric images. A front was passing through with heavy snow forecast and strong winds were whipping the snow around. I love these kinds of conditions as it adds that third ingredient to your final results and if you have such a beautiful subject like a Golden Eagle in front of you then you can’t really fail. At first you have to let the birds feed on the carrion because they can be very nervous but after a short while we could then start to take pictures.

I have always struggled with flight shots of Golden Eagles because although they are a big bird, they are also fast. It is difficult to track them especially in a hide with restricted views. These hides in Finland though give you better chance as your overall view is excellent. To do flight shots you need two birds down at the same time as there can be a lot of aggression with one bird trying to push the other off the bait.

It is not easy trying for flight shots in falling snow as the auto focus struggles to lock on to the subject and usually you have an out focus bird but with a sharp snowflake. I managed to get a couple though but had more success once it had stopped snowing.

I have always had a love affair with Ravens as they are such beautiful and intelligent birds. The hides in Finland are also great for this species and trying to photograph their antics around the feeding station is great fun. It also passes the time away whilst you are waiting for the Eagles to show up. At first they were nervous and were perching in the small trees in the background but once the first one had plucked up the courage to come down the rest quickly followed.

The first part of our Finnish trip was in the Oulu region and we had a great bonus in being able to photograph a rogue Capercaillie. The Grouse family has a trait of producing these Rogue birds and although not common from time to time one does appear. I have photographed Rogue birds before in Scotland so I knew what to expect. Basically these birds will display and attack anything in their territory from Deer, Cars and fat photographers, especially fat photographers because they have the advantage of speed. It is a great experience being this close to one of the forests most elusive bird.

Our next destination was to move up to the Kuusumo Region near to the Russian border. This area of Finland is beautiful at any time of the year but during the winter months it turns into a magical place. Our base was in the Oulanka National Park and our main target was Boreal Owls which Kuusumo is famous for. I have tried for a couple of years now to photograph Boreal Owls in Finland and it has been frustrating at times. This time though I got lucky and we had some great opportunities to get images of Hawk Owl, one of the most beautiful Owls in the region. They are much smaller than Great Grey and the speed at which they fly is amazing, to put it in perspective they are about 3 times faster than a Puffin. We had a lot of opportunities with this individual but in the end I only got 4-5 sharp images, frustrating but great fun.

Oulanka is also excellent for some very special Boreal forest birds too and our group had the chance to go into a forest hide to try our luck at photographing species like Black Woodpecker and Siberian Jay. Both birds look stunning in this winter landscape.

This forest hide has got to be one of the best places I have visited for Great Spotted Woodpecker and at one point I could count 13 individuals.

We managed to photograph an amazing amount of subjects in our short time frame and I didn’t expect to get anything else but on our last day our Finnish guides had a surprise for us. Another Rogue Grouse had been reported but this time it was a Willow Grouse and we managed to locate this beautiful bird. This was a highlight for me because it is a species I have seen many times but never managed to get any images off.

I would like to thank Jenny, Sarah, John, Nigel and Julian for joining me on this trip and I am glad you guys enjoyed this beautiful part of northern Europe. I would also like to thank Jari and Leena at Finnature for making the trip run so smoothly. I would also like to thank Ari our guide throughout the trip and Olli our guide in Kuusumo your knowledge was fantastic and your help much appreciated.

Danny

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Fabulous Florida

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Natures Images

Winter visits to Florida can easily bring to mind images of sunshine, Mickey Mouse and large platefuls of food but some of it’s habitats also represent a great place to visit or even live for a large array of bird species and as a result it has for many years been high on birdwatchers hotspots.  It seems to have gone a bit out of vogue with photographers visiting from the UK though so we thought it was worth another look and ran our first trip there this year – 12 months on from my re-visiting many old familiar and researching some new locations last winter on the way home from Yellowstone.

Almost everywhere delivered again in spades (aside from the famous Ding Darling reserve on Sanibel island which can be either fantastic or frustrating and we had one of the latter days this year) and it would have been very easy to turn this blog into an enormous tick-list of species that we photographed in good light, good settings and doing interesting things – it really is that possible to get close up results here.  I’ve decided instead to focus on a couple of habitats and the first of these the seashore, amply demonstrates the accessibility of birds for good photography opportunities here.

This bird is a Willet. They winter here in small groups and frequent the beaches all up and down the gulf coast before heading north up the Atlantic coast to breed.  They’ve been coming here for centuries, but in the recent decades there’s been a lot of people and developments that have come too, also to take full advantage of the warm winter sun and the beautiful beaches.  The birds have however become entirely used to their presence though and as you can see take little or no notice as people walk up and down throughout the day, simply stepping or occasionally flapping out of the way.

The consequence of  this is that if you arrive at the beach for sunrise (still a very sociable 6.45 am or so at this time of the year) before the vast majority of day visitors arrive and when the light is at it’s best then you have tame birds, space to work and beautiful settings – what more can you ask for!

The Oystercatcher here is an American species, the White Ibis clearly non UK in origin and the Tern a stunning Royal variety but the Sanderling is the same as here in the UK and a lot more comfortable to work with that some of the remote mudflats and beaches I’ve done so at home!  On one beach we found a group of 3 of these settled into a little hollow in the sand with literally dozens on sunbathers all around – not nesting just in extraordinary proximity. On the same beach we also found a true Floridian highlight and a bird I had wanted to spend time photographing ever since getting interested in US bird species – the truly unique Black Skimmer.  I’ve written more about these on my personal blog, such is how much spending an afternoon with them moved me, but they are an amazing species to watch.

On the fringe of the coasts, and undoubtedly a significant casualty of the coastal development, is the mangrove.  Along with isolated islands in the resulting swamps that act as breeding rookeries for them, these act as a magnet for a multitude of large water birds including Egrets Herons and the ubiquitous Pelicans.  They all have their own fishing styles from the fly and grab approach of the Brown Pelican, the steady stalking of the Great Blue Heron and the wing waving dance and neck contortions of the Reddish Egret.  All great fun to watch and photograph though.

These same birds would all gather overnight in communal roosts or rookeries where they arrive at dusk and then head out again at dawn, unless they were in parenting season (which was well underway) in which case this either meant heavy duty nest building on the part of this particular Heron or even some unattentive parenting on the part of this Great White Egret!

Florida offers plenty of other options and diversity and we also enjoyed time with Burrowing Owls, the ever present Osprey and some stunning sunsets too which this Red-Breasted Merganser helped to highlight.  Even when I try not to reel off a list of species it seems it’s just not possible to avoid it here as it’s such a great place for photography. Away from the cold if winters remain grey and mild in the UK without the allure of snow then I for one will be tempted back once more!

Mark

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Magical Yellowstone

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Natures Images

Yellowstone National Park is one of the most beautiful locations on the planet and during the winter months this magical place is one of the finest places for wildlife photography. This was my second visit to Yellowstone and was completely different from my first. On my first visit the winter was extremely cold with a lot of snow but this time it had been the opposite with a very mild period by comparison. This certainly helped in being able to photograph the more elusive residents of the park with species like Wolf. The Elk population usually escapes the harsh winter conditions and head to lower ground but this year large numbers could still be found. This availability of prey has certainly benefited the resident wolves and we got lucky with a couple of amazing sightings.

It has been my ambition to get images of wild Wolves for many years and I have tried on a few occasions without any success. Our first sighting of this beautiful predator was one of the best things that I have seen and photographed throughout my career, so you can imagine the adrenalin rush that was pumping through me. We had spotted a Coyote first that was feeding on an Elk carcass that had been killed by the Canyon pack just by the side of the road. After a few minutes we spotted a lone wolf coming down a steep bank and heading our way. It paused in the distance for a few minutes and I thought that would be our only chance to get an image of this elusive animal but to my complete surprise it headed to the river and started to cross. It was one of those moments that will last for ever in my memory and I am pleased I stayed calm enough to get the image.

What happened next was just unbelievable as the wolf then headed straight to the carcass which was only 40 feet away from where we were standing. It started to chase the Coyote off the carcass and then fed on the dead Elk for about ten minutes.

We were so engrossed in this wolf that was feeding we never noticed the rest of the pack that was watching us from a ridge. It was amazing to witness the rest of the pack’s body language and behaviour as they greeted their companion after he went back up to the ridge after he had finished feeding.

That first encounter would have been hard to beat but on our next day in the Lamar valley we had another encounter with a different pack. This pack was called the Mollies and they had moved up north from the Hayden valley. The Mollies are a very large pack which contains 19 wolves and they have caused some major disruption with the other packs in the Lamar valley this winter. They had killed a young male Bison by the side of the road at Pebble Creek but the park rangers thought it was too dangerous so moved the dead bison further away. We had been there for about two hours waiting for something to show up and I spotted a Coyote which was hunting across the road. I walked down the road to get some pictures but I noticed a Wolf coming out of the trees and was heading to the exact spot where the dead Bison had been. In hindsight I wished I had just waited near to where the carcass had been because now it seems so obvious that the Wolves would come back to that spot.

About three wolves were moving between the trees and I did manage to get some more images but they never came out in the open but I really liked these images and are my favourite from the whole trip. A young black wolf came out towards dusk and started to hunt mice in the meadow which really just topped off our special encounter.

The Lamar valley is also excellent for many other species and we managed to see and photograph most of them throughout our trip. A large Bull Elk was very impressive and we also found a small group of Pronghorn Antelope which was an added bonus because they usually migrate to lower ground too.

It was nice to be able to get some images of this Bald Eagle pair that was perched in this tree by the Lamar River too.

The Lamar valley is an excellent location but to really get a taste of Yellowstone you have to go into the interior of the park and the only way you can do that is by a special vehicle called a snow coach. We had exclusive use of this for four days and it allowed us to explore the remotest parts of the interior. The Hayden Valley in my opinion is one of the nicest locations in Yellowstone and last time I was here I couldn’t see it because it was a complete white-out as we hit it in the middle of a blizzard. This time though we had some beautiful weather and it allowed us to go into the Valley on our first three days.

We found good numbers of Trumpeter Swans along the Yellowstone River and also bumped into Coyotes in the Hayden on many occasions.

The Hayden Valley can also be excellent for Red Fox and the whole group was really hoping to see this beautiful mammal. After our Wolf encounters I thought we had used all of our luck but we did manage to find a Fox and again it was one of those encounters that will stay long in the memory bank.

Yellowstone is such a beautiful place and is a landscape photographers dream and we stopped off at many different points for this opportunity. I even managed to increase my own landscape portfolio but I don’t have too much time to look through them so just thought I would share some.

So where are the Bison? Well you can’t go to Yellowstone and not photograph this wonderful creature so I thought I would finish with some of my favourites. The weather was very mild for the most part of the trip but on the last couple of days the temperature started to drop and then we really did get a taste of the extreme cold that these hardy animals have to survive.

The temperature went down to about minus 25 and as we headed off in the early morning the conditions were what photographer’s dream of. The trees and vegetation were covered in hoar frost and so were the Bison. It really was a great way to spend the last part of the trip to photograph this iconic mammal.

I would really like to thank Jake our guide for all his help throughout the trip, his knowledge of the park and the Wolves was amazing and how he spotted that beautiful Red Fox I will never know. Jake your sense of humour matched my own and you were great company throughout. I would also like to thank everyone for joining me on the trip and I am so pleased you got to share all these wonderful experiences. Mark’s impression of me washing my hair in the morning was priceless and I am still laughing now. I am planning on returning to Yellowstone next year for the Autumn to cover this location at a different time of the year and I am also going back in the winter of 2014 so if you would like to register your interest then please call me on 07951 945433 or drop me an email and I will let you know all the details. I have a quick turnaround now as I am off to Finland and Norway for three weeks so hopefully I have more of the white stuff to share.

Danny

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Highland winter

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Natures Images

I have just spent a couple of weeks in the Cairngorm National Park – the first week was a personal trip and then during the second week I was running a Natures Images trip together with Mark Sisson and Neil McIntyre. I was hoping for snow and while there wasn’t much around at lower altitudes, there was a fair amount on the mountains and into the northern corries. It was quite strange watching the news and seeing that snow had fallen in Tunisia but not in the central highlands. Anyway the lack of snow made it much easier to get up into the northern corries in search of the beautiful Ptarmigan.

The weather was superb for photographing the Ptarmigan as high pressure was over Scotland for most of the two weeks and the days were clear and crisp. Ptarmigan can be difficult to find in bad conditions as they tend the stay low and sit out the high winds but when the weather is calm they are much easier to see and photograph as the males give the game away by calling and displaying to attract the females. They are also in their pure white winter plumage at this time of the year.

I have been to these northern corries many times in the past to get images of this lovely northern grouse and I have had mixed results but this trip was very rewarding as they were very busy in defending their territories. The snow wasn’t so deep either which made life a lot easier in getting around. This male was beginning to moult into his spring plumage which was nice to get a different range.

As you climb down to lower elevations the Ptarmigan is replaced by Red Grouse and because of the fine weather these birds were beginning their spring courtship too. Like the Ptarmigan the male Grouse call and do short display flights to attract the females. This gives you a fair chance to capturing them in flight and with this shot I just pre focussed and waited for him to burst into flight, the wind was in the right direction too which helps.

The female Red Grouse are also beautiful at this time of the year and the trick to photographing Grouse is to find a relaxed female and then the males are reluctant to leave her. Snow Buntings are another bird to find in these mountain passes and the Cairngorm region supports a small breeding population. This hardy passerine can be found around the car parks of the ski centres during the winter and they can be very confiding.

The second part of the week was spent photographing around Neil’s excellent feeding stations for Red Squirrels and Crested Tits. We visited two feeding stations for the Squirrels, one of them I have been before but his second one is new. This is a fantastic location with the Squirrels posing in some lovely settings and in my opinion is the best site I have been to. The Red’s look beautiful at this time of the year with their winter coats and lovely ear-tufts.

I was also looking forward to visiting the Crested Tit feeding station as this is one of my favourite birds and I don’t have too much coverage of this species. This is another excellent location with 6 individuals visiting throughout the day and it is also good for Coal Tits. I tried to use many different perches but this first one was my favourite and in fact it is one my favourite shots I have taken over the past few years.

The feeding station is in an open area and is great for light all day long. This is important for photographing these species as they are so fast and you have to take a lot of images just to get a few sharp ones. I tried to use the light to back light them too which is great when they erect their crest.

When they land on the perch you only have a few seconds to grab a couple of shots but every now and then one perches for a little longer. This next shot was a case in point and as this male perched on top of this pine sapling he started to trill so I just took a short burst of frames. I have never sen this behaviour before and he kept flicking out his wings which is part of his courtship display as his mate was feeding nearby.

We had a great group of people on this trip and it was great fun too. One guy that I always like to join me on these trips is Ian Haskell as he really is a top photographer that really thinks out of the box and he always get me working on images that I usually don’t do. He convinced us to do some long exposure stuff on an icy river and the results were just amazing. It is a great technique that I have done with Ian before but this time the results were beyond what I could imagine.

We also went out at night to do some long exposure landscapes and one of the best locations was Loch Morlich. Ice had covered the lake for a couple of days but then strong winds had broken up the ice and blown it into the loch shore. This ice made a great foreground especially as we painted it with a head torch. Whilst we were photographing this scene what can only be described as a small meteorite went over our heads and hit the ice on the loch. It was an unbelievable experience and a bit scary too as I have never witnessed anything like it, you certainly wouldn’t want to be hit by one.

This sheet ice was also great in daylight as well and I managed to entice the local Mallards with some bread which made a great image with a wide angle lens.

It’s Yellowstone at the moment and I am hoping we encounter some snow there, although with the way the winter has gone so far I would probably stand more chance of the white stuff in Florida.

Danny

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The Magic of Botswana

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Natures Images

Karin Van Couwenberg and Pia Dierickx are two of Natures Images long standing guests, and they recently contacted us about a project they have been working on in conjunction with a fellow photographer Matthew Copham and Easy Molapisi, who lives in Botswana and has a dream to study.

This book is a tribute to the wildlife and the beauty of Botswana.  Easy Molapisi has written heart warming poems about his country and the three photographers Pia, Matthew and Karin have added corresponding pictures, beautifully illustrating and expressing the emotional connection to this magical place. The book also has a foreword by Dereck and Beverly Joubert, “Explorers-in-Residence” at the National Geographic Society and multiply awarded filmmakers, photographers, writers and conservationists.

The book is self published, which means that all profits will go directly to Easy Molapisi’s studies; he is working in a safari camp in Botswana and it is his dream to study literature and poetry which is where Karin and Pia would like to help. In order to reduce the costs as much as possible, the book is only available from Karin’s website www.wildlife-photography.be and via private distribution.

The book consists of 96 pages, full color and printed on premium paper, measurements 24 cm x 30 cm and with a hardcover and image wrap, price 39.95 euro.For further information, please contact Karin Van Couwenberg via info@wildlife-photography.be Thank you for your support.

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Special Solway

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Natures Images

It’s been a while since I last went out with the camera, as I have had a bit of an enforced break over the Christmas period so I have been itching to get out. I made a last minute decision to go to Caerlaverock and join Mark Sisson on our annual trip to this wonderful location and boy, I’m glad I did as the weather was superb with clear skies and cold frosty starts. This has been the fifth year on the trot to this Wildfowl and Wetland reserve along the Solway coast and when the conditions are good there is no finer place in the UK.

You can find Whooper Swans at a few other reserves but Caerlaverock is one of the best places to get images of this beautiful bird. The Swans are fed twice a day in front of one of the main hides and this gives you a great chance of capturing a range of different behaviour, from preening, bathing, displaying and aggression.

Once the Swans have finished feeding they start to head off to another lake on the reserve to roost. This gives you a great chance of capturing them in flight especially if the wind is in the right direction.

During the late afternoon the Barnacle Geese also return to the estuary to roost after spending the day feeding on the fields that surround the reserve. This is one of the greatest spectacles in the UK as there can be up to ten thousand of these birds that spend the winter here. These Geese have spent the summer breeding in the high Arctic islands of Svalbard and during October they return back to the Solway.

If the conditions are clear which they were for the four days that we were there, you can get some amazing colour in the sky and this reflects on the water’s surface. This makes a great backdrop as the birds take flight and head back to their daytime feeding sites after spending the night roosting on the estuary.

There are plenty of other birds that use the reserve for the winter months like Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler. Small passerines can also be found in good numbers too like Yellowhammer and Tree Sparrow.

Caerlaverock is also an excellent place to photograph Roe Deer as there is a healthy population on the reserve. During the early morning and late afternoon they can be found feeding in the fields and sometimes you can find one quite close to the small hides that are dotted along the paths.

The whole of the Solway coast is worth exploring during the winter but one location that I never get bored in going to is the large Starling roost. I have photographed this particular roost many times over the years but rarely under such clear conditions. The sunset was beautiful and made the perfect backdrop to this wonderful spectacle. The numbers weren’t as high as on my previous visits but it was still an amazing display of one of the top sights to witness in the UK.

Caerlaverock is a special reserve and has always been very productive for me on my many visits. It is also one of those places that few people go to so it never feels busy. This is one of the first places that we ran a trip here and I have a feeling it will be a permanent fixture.

Danny

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OPOTY 2011 Mark collects his awards

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Natures Images

Mark attended the OPOTY awards do last night to pick up his wins for On the Wing, World Wildlife and Overall Winner categories. After spending a heady night with journalists and PRs in London, he’s now on his way up to Caerlaverock for the first of this year’s trips. He mentioned that he’s not on the Red Bull yet, just lots of coffee!

Here are the winning images, taken in Yellowstone and Bosque. About the winning image of the Yellowstone Bison, OPOTY said “occasionally an image would appear on the screen that compelled us to vocalise our wonderment, but this particular image left us speechless”.

Seriously well done Mark and well deserved!

ps there are still a couple of places left for Bosque if this has captured your imagination! Use this link to find out more Bosque

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Seasons Greetings

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Natures Images

With Christmas and New Year fast approaching we thought a seasonal slideshow wouldn’t go amiss.

Enjoy the festive season one and all and we look forward to you joining us for some equally enjoyable photography in 2012

Mark, Danny and all the Natures Images team!

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Beautiful Bandhavgarh

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Natures Images

Bandhavgarh National Park is a rich mixture of Sal and Bamboo forest mixed with rolling meadows and is one of India’s finest reserves. This beautiful park is also one of the best places to see and photograph the majestic Bengal Tiger as it supports one of the highest densities of Tigers in the world. I last went to Bandhavgarh nearly ten years ago and so I was really pleased to be back and try my luck at photographing this elusive feline again.

Tigers once ranged widely across Asia from Turkey in the west to the very far eastern edge of Russia. Since the beginning of the 19th century they have declined by 95% due to habitat destruction and poaching for their skins and body parts which are used in traditional medicine practices. Now there is estimated to be only just over 3,000 wild Tigers left and that number is still shrinking. The populations that are left are so fragmented that only a few populations can be self-sustaining. A dire situation for one of the most impressive large carnivores that has ever walked the earth.

Whilst I was at Bandhavgarh news also spread about the sad death of one of the world’s most famous Tigers, B2/Sundar. He was an old male of 14 years of age and had dominated the Tala range of the reserve since the age of three. He was one of the most popular Tigers and was also a very impressive animal. He died as a result of a territorial fight with another male called Shashi who has now taken over Sundar’s range. Madhra Pradesh has now lost 4 tigers in the past month alone, two of which were to the hands of poachers which just goes to show the intense pressure that Tigers face. When I last visited Bandhavgarh I was very lucky in seeing and photographing Sundar and I was so hoping to see him again. This news of his death was a very sad time for the people that work in the park as he was such a loved individual.

Our first sighting was of a female Tigress called Wakeeta who we encountered along a road in the Barua Nallah region as she was busy marking her boundary to her territory. The excitement in seeing your first Tiger is an amazing experience and it really does get the adrenalin flowing.

It is always a nice feeling to get your first sighting in the bag as it takes the pressure off you. As Wakeeta was scent marking she was turning round and then doing what is called the “flehman response” which basically smells her own scent and also smelt the scent which was left by another Tigress called Vejaya.

Our next sighting was of a female called Jaya who was a beautiful Tigress of four years of age and we encountered her along the Nilgai Marg road. The first set of images are of her as she was walking straight towards our jeep. Our driver was excellent in backing off and giving her space so she carried on walking and then sat down in the road for a quick rest.

She was on a mission though and was busy hunting. When she walked into the forest it gave us the opportunity to capture her in the environment. One of the main reasons why I ran this trip in November was seeing my good friend Andrew Parkinson’s shots of Tigers and the lush colour of the vegetation that he achieved in his lovely portfolio. It is harder to see the Tigers at this time of the year but for me that is the challenge in producing something slightly different.

The following morning we got lucky again and bumped into Jaya again this time along the Suki Dam in the Raj Berha meadows. It was still early in the morning so the light was at its best; she was also walking in the meadow habitat which was great in placing her in context with this beautiful environment. This set of images was my favourite by far and she really was a beautiful Tigress.

Light is always the key in any image but to photograph such a beautiful animal as a Tiger was a real privilege. As she walked past the edge of the forest she then turned and headed straight towards our vehicle.

I am extremely grateful to David Fidler at Canon UK for getting me the loan of their new 300mm F2.8 lens as this was the perfect lens to use working with the Tigers. The light can be very low in the Jungle at times and because I was shooting from the back of a Jeep a tripod was out of the question and most of the images were hand held. The extra 4 stops in the image stabiliser was a real bonus and even hand holding at around 1/60 of second gave me some really sharp results. The auto focus is spot on too and never missed a beat and as the lens is much lighter than the older model it wasn’t a problem for me in carrying this lens as well as my 500mm F4. This is certainly going to be my next purchase of equipment as it’s such a good lens. Our next sighting was of the new dominant male that has taken over B2′s range. This new male is called Shashi and we encountered him in the Chakradhara Meadows.

Working with the 300mm gave me the chance to photograph the Tigers in a slightly different way than if I was working with the 500mm and so I have included more of the beautiful surroundings. This next image was my favourite from the whole trip and shows Shashi surveying the Chakradhara meadow in the early morning for any potential prey.

Bandhavgarh is not just about Tigers though and a whole range of animals and birds can be found in this wonderful park. Hanuman Langurs are always available and make great subjects too.

One of the reasons why Bandhavgarh supports such a healthy Tiger population is the availability of prey. Spotted Deer or Chittal are their favourite prey but the will also take Wild Boar, Samba and even Langurs too. One of the best ways to find a Tiger is to listen out for the alarm calls, especially of the Chittal Deer. When a Tiger is on the move the whole Jungle erupts.

The birdlife too is very rich and many species can be found from Rollers, Beeaters and the elusive Scops Owl.

Tigers are not the only predators in Bandhavgarh as the park also supports Leopards and Sloth Bears which we had a glimpse of the latter. We also had good sightings of two of the smaller predators in the form of Jackals and this lovely Jungle Cat.

I ran this trip through Natures Images and I would like to say a big thank you to Kay and Satyendra Tiwari our hosts in India. I would also like to thank Hariam and Sanjay, our drivers in the park for their skill and knowledge that they were so keen to share. I would also like to thank Sam, Mark, Andrew and Peter for their great company on this trip and this image of a pair of young Rhesus Macaques is for you guys. As you can imagine the jokes were running fast and even though it was childish it was a very funny moment. As Hariam said those berries are damned good.

I can’t believe it has taken me ten years to go back to Bandhavgarh and I won’t wait that long to go back. I am running a trip there in February 2013 so if you would like to join me then please drop me an email and I can pass on all the information. Just to round off with another image of Jaya who was such a star and I hopefully I get the chance to meet her again.

Danny

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