Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/05/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Wonderful series! You have the same kind of understanding of these animals as Doug does of the birds. You are both masters. Cheers, Nathan Nathan Wajsman Alicante, Spain http://www.frozenlight.eu http://www.greatpix.eu PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ YNWA On May 5, 2013, at 3:26 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj wrote: > Just a tiger story as it played out in Ranthambhore last month. A lot > of the shots were taken at long distance, through trees, grass, twigs > and leaves and then cropped - and the first one has been included for > the story's sake. The lighting for the morning shots was also quite > difficult - shooting into the sun, with a water body reflecting > everything. Anyway, here goes, hope you enjoy the tale: > > Our first sighting was the female T22, the mother of T24: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_0719-Edit.jpg.html > > Our next sighting, after a few minutes, was the male T24, the dominant > male of the southern end of Ranthambhore, dragging a half eaten > carcass through the trees, periodically stopping to eat a morsel: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_0762.jpg.html > > When he reached a clearing, it was apparent that the carcass was that > of a young Nilgai, a large antelope. It was also getting apparent that > T24 had stolen the kill from his mother T22, and they were not > together for mating (tigers in Ranthambhore are notoriously > incestuous): > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_0799.jpg.html > > It was clear that he was making for Phoota Kot, a water body close by: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_0848.jpg.html > > He dragged the carcass into the water, and entered with quite a splash: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_0857.jpg.html > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_0864.jpg.html > > He gave us a snarl or two as a general warning: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_0878.jpg.html > > He then stashed his scavenged kill in the water. Tigers do this both > to slow down the decomposition of the meat, and to easier defend it > against other tigers.: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_0887.jpg.html > > After this, his mother also came to the water, probably to try and see > if she could get something out of her son - no such luck - his ears > pinned back, hair bristling, growling, he saw her off in no time. > Unfortunately this encounter was half hidden from our position, and I > got no shots of it. > > We came back in the afternoon, and he was there, cooling off and > guarding the carcass. The ears and the body of the nilgai is visible, > floating in the water, at the top right: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_1090.jpg.html > > A last shot - the wind acted up, and a thunderstorm was imminent, and > he obviously smelt something!: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/April2013/Ranthambhore_20130418_1143.jpg.html > > Please see LARGE > > Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome. > > Cheers > Jayanand > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >