India 19-28 Nov 2018

One of my long-standing ambitions has always been to see a Tiger in the wild. These cats have always been in my consciousness, since I was a child - the combination of Jungle Book, exploration stories, zoo visits and an interest in nature. it is one of the world's ultimate creatures. Finally the opportunity was here with a short group itinerary to Pench and Kanha in central India. A flight to Mumbai and then on to Nagpur took us to central India with its culture shock of noise, colour and chaotic driving...... and to our first lodge. There aren't many Tigers and their forest habitat is huge, so sightings are by no means guaranteed. Morning and evening jeep drives took us through a mixture of forest. at times fairly dense, and more open savanna-type country, the good deer population throughout attesting to the presence of Tiger prey, and therefore the big cats themselves. Listening to the "barking" alarm calls of the deer, and also of the monkeys in the treetops, gives a clue to the predator's movements. Our 3 drives at Pench gave us a brief glimpse of a Tiger in a river bed and then in the undergrowth, but obscured and at a distance.....not very satisfactory....... We arrived at Kanha with renewed hopes as this reserve is usually quite productive for sighting, but we heard that the week before our arrival a female had had 2 of her 3 cubs killed by a male from another area, which had disrupted the Tiger behaviour. So day 3 at Kanha arrived and still no sightings - we had seen plenty of tracks in the sand but nothing more! We headed to the further reaches of our allocated sector, and a roaring in the nearby forest had us listening, every sense straining. Our guides used the twisty undulating tracks to get us as close as they could to our quarry as the sound seemed closer, and then as we came round a corner there emerging from the bamboo on the side of the track was a beautiful, sleek female Tiger - a memorable moment as she looked at us with her cold yellow eyes, then walked unhurriedly across the track right in front of us to disappear all too soon into the bamboo on the other side. The moment will remain etched on all of our memories....... We had 2 further sightings in all, of a large male Tiger in the grass, and then crossing the road, so brief views but time for a couple of photos and the experience will stay with me. Also plenty of birds at Pench and Kanha, with Ibis, Storks, Vultures, Owlets, and colourful Indian Rollers. But the best birding was on the coast of Gujarat on a 2-day extension I arranged with an fantastic local guide, Yashodhan Bhatia -there is no hunting or shooting in Gujarat, so the birds are generally fairly confiding - the highlight was superb views of a flock of several hundred Crab Plovers at the high tide wader roost, one of the world's most sought-after shorebirds - with the bonus of Terek Sandpipers and Great Knots. The Jamnagar saltpans were excellent for wintering waders, here we also logged Painted Stork, Marsh Sandpiper and Temminck's Stint, as well as great views of another of my targets, Great Thick-knee with its amazing upturned bill. All in all, a very successful trip - I count myself extremely fortunate to have seen Lion, Leopard and Tiger, all in 2018.