[Leica] Bandhavgarh and Kanha

[jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj)]

I had gone to the National Parks, and prime tiger reserves, of Bandhavgarh
and Kanha last month as my first outstation trip post covid. The weather
was extremely hot, with the mercury touching 42/43C, and the full day
safaris that we undertook, on open top vehicles, were tiring. However
thanks to constant hydration with water, chaas and  lemon juice, I seemed
to have sailed through with no after effects. I was quite surprised at my
own resilience. I have not posted for a long time, but this seemed a
fitting occasion to resume!

I was testing a lot of new equipment on this trip - the Nikon Z9, the
Nikkor Z100-400mm f4.5-5.6S and the Nikkor Z24-70 f2.8S. As  it was they
performed flawlessly, and the AF eye tracking mode on the Z9 was nothing
short of magical. As an example, a male tiger walking behind grass, part of
a burst of 6 shots:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220426-067.jpg.html

The Z24-70 f2.8S is, without a doubt, the best normal zoom I have ever
owned, so let us start with two photographs taken with that lens, mounted
on a Nikon Z7:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220427-067-Editb.jpg.html

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220426-045-Edit.jpg.html

Because of the intense heat, all animals were looking for cool places to
rest in:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Bandhavgarh-20220422-351-Edit.jpg.html

Of course, waterholes were popular places in late afternoon:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220425-1765-Edit.jpg.html

The Z9 has exceptional high ISO performance if the frame is exposed
correctly. As you will notice, none of my photographs in this set taken
with the Z9 are at low ISOs. However, here are two examples at ISO12800 -
the first one from late in the evening after sunset, and the second being
early in the morning as the sun was coming up:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220425-1565-Edit.jpg.html

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220426-359-Edit.jpg.html

Two shots of a male that came out of a thicket:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220426-1545-Edit.jpg.html

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220426-1533-Edit.jpg.html

This same dominant male, a huge fellow, was following the scent of a
tigress, when he came upon our vehicle! These shots were at under 200mm:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220426-1463-Edit.jpg.html

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220426-1731-Edit.jpg.html

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220426-557-Edit.jpg.html

A vigorous shake of the head when on patrol:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220426-470-Edit.jpg.html

To round things off, some raptors. The first two are of two different
Crested Serpent Eagles with its prey:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Kanha-20220427-1056-Edit.jpg.html

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Bandhavgarh-20220422-289-Edit.jpg.html

The last one is a portrait of a Changeable Hawk Eagle:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Kanha/Bandhavgarh-20220423-940-Edit.jpg.html

Please see LARGE, I have posted in a reasonably big size.

Comments and criticism, as ever, are welcome!

Cheers
Jayanand