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Bill Gilmour
Neeraj Pathania
Bagh Sarai, Bandhavgarh
Umaria, Madhya Pradesh
Dear Neeraj,
It was an honour and a pleasure to be your
first guest at Bagh Sarai.
During the seven days I was in Bandhavgarh
in 2007, I saw fifteen tigers and some of
those two or three times. I had about twenty-two
sightings. That is about average for my five
visits to Bandhavgarh. However, averages can
be misleading; on two days in my eight, I
did not see a tiger, this year the most I
saw in one day was five; a female with two
cubs and two mature males.
Sightings were sometimes too brief or were
too distant to photograph. Rather than sending
what I think are my best images, I have enclosed
one picture of each of the eleven tiger I
managed to photograph. The best that can be
said for the photograph of the Raharaha female
is that the tree beyond her is in focus. Both
she and the Raj Behra male are rarely seen
so that with them it is a game of catch as
catch can. According to the camera timer,
he was in view for 17 seconds. In essence
that is the case for the defence.
The names used for the Tigers are those the
Naturalists in Bandhavgarh employ. As I understand
it, the males Charger and Challenger were
known from an event in their life. B1, B2
and B3 were called after their mother Batchji.
While Raj Behra is called for the district
he occupies. Similarly, most females are all
known by the area they hunt, although occasionally
like Batchji and Mohini, they earn a term
of endearment. There are a good number of
young tigers and even mature breeding females;
such as the one resident between Bagh Sarai
and the Gore Gate, that have not been named.
I use a Kodak DCS Pro SLR with Canon lenses;
these photographs were all with my 100 to
400 mm zoom lens. Digital cameras record a
great deal of information, some of which I
have extracted and give here. Personally,
I let the camera expose the image, while I
trying to focus, frame and fire.
Bandhavgarh is may be the best place in India
to see tigers but the other mammals, birds
and the park itself are always a joy.
Best regards
Bill Gilmour©
PS. Can I have the same room next year? |
