Bhadra
Price: ₹22,500.00
Bhadra
April 2019 | 4 Safaris|Rs. 22,500
WHAT YOU LEARN
A great opportunity to learn about and make wonderful images of the River terns and their various behavioural aspects, among many other things. You will understand the nuances of wildlife photography. How best to use the available light to create high impact images. How to position yourself properly and wait for the right moment rather than go trigger happy. A lot of interactions on the field and off it regarding compositions and post processing will help you to up your photography skills many notches.
Bhadra Tiger Reserve
River tern Rendezvous
Bhadra Tiger Reserve is one of the jewels of the Western Ghats. Close to 80 sq.km of highly diverse habitat, ranging from an elevation of 615 m (2,018 ft) to 1,875 m (6,152 ft), the Bhadra Tiger Reserve its a bio-diversity hotspot. It is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. Made of dry deciduous, moist deciduous, semi evergreen and the unique shola forest, at its highest elevations, make this one of kind in the Western Ghats.
Bhadra supports more than 120 species of plants. Wide variety of mammals, including an estimated 33 tigers, leopards, sloth bears, wild boars, small indian civet, pangolin and many many others.It boasts of more than 300 species of birds, many resident and a some migratory. Some of the species include the grey jungle fowl, red spurfowl, malabar trogon, painted bush quail, emerald dove and many others.
Birdwing’s tour to the place is with a focus on River Terns. We head to the Jungle Lodges Resorts property, wonderfully and strategically located, overlooking the beautiful Bhadra Dam. This place is known as the River Tern Lodge, getting its name from the multitude of these birds that come down there each year, to nest. One can even get a great view of these birds right from their room’s balcony !
This is the high point during summer. A huge congregation of River Terns that come down to nest on the small islets formed on the backwaters of the dam, built over the Bhadra river. There are usually more than 10,000 of these birds. A boat safari into the backwaters brings one to witness this nature’s spectacle. A sight of such a huge flock of birds, taking off, all at once, as the boat nears an islet, is just mesmerising. Their calls, creating a symphony of sorts over the waters, is a treat to ones’ ears. An experience that is beyond description, something that one must just see to believe.
During all this, a majestic tiger might just walk out onto the backwaters and give you an open view. Elephant herds might come out for a drink or just to play around in the water, late in the evening. Osprey, perched on partially submerged tree stumps, might give a relaxed, stretching display. Opportunities are endless in Bhadra.
Day 1 – Apr 19th (Fri)
We leave early in the morning from Bangalore, say by 5:30-6:00 AM. The drive to our destination, Lakkavalli, just before Shimoga, should take around 5-6 hrs. We arrive at the Jungle Lodges & Resorts’ property, our place of stay, by around 11:00-11:30AM. Having checked into our rooms, we quickly freshen up and get together for brief orientation and introduction session. We could a quick round of the property as well or take some rest, before our lunch.
Post lunch, we sit together for a session, giving an overview of the place and what to expect for the next couple of days. After that, we get our camera gear ready and go on our first boat safari into the backwaters.
This should yield us many opportunities for photography. And of course , the River terns, for which we have come here, should give us some fabulous opportunities. Learning about their behaviour and filling our cards with great images, we head back to the resort.
Over tea, we would do a quick image review session and discuss about our learnings from our first safari and tips/suggestions to improve upon.
That would be the Day 1, we have dinner and retire for the day.
Day 2 – Apr 20th (Sat)
We rise early and head on to our second boat safari. Mornings can be quite different, with sometimes, misty atmosphere, creating an ambience for amazing imagery. River terns, also should be getting ready for their chores in the morning, bathing themselves in the water, going around fishing. After the rather busy photographic safari, we head back for our breakfast.
We can again do a quick image review. Post that, we can roam around the property, looking for other subjects to photograph. May be landscape, or some macro stuff and such.
Post lunch, it will be a boat safari again, to get those images, that we missed on our first two outings.
Then, come back, and end the day over a discussion of our experiences.
Day 3 – Apr 21st (Sun)
Morning, we can choose to go for a boat or for a jeep safari. For a change, we could try a jeep. Wildlife is unpredictable and one might sight anything, a tiger or a leopard even. After coming back, we have breakfast and pack our stuff to head back home.
THINGS TO NOTE

CAMERA & LENS

Comfortable & Dull colored clothes

25° to 31°

MISCELLANEOUS

Bring your own toiletries

A pullover or sweater

ID card that was given while booking the tour.

General medicines
TERMS AND CONDITION
Payment Terms
- INR 10,000/- advance required for provisional reservation
- Needed towards securing of forest permit with valid ID proof.
- The final cost displayed will be inclusive of payment gateway charges
- Remainder (100% ) within 30 days from the first payment
Cancellation Policy
- 60% refund if cancelled before 2 months from the date of travel
- 20% refund if cancelled after 2 months and before 1 month from the date of travel
- No refund if cancelled within 1 month of the date of travel
Stay :
- Rivertern lodge – Run by Jungle Lodges & Resorts.
Note: The date of written communication ( email ) stating the intent to cancel will be considered as the date for applying the cancellation policy.
GET IN TOUCH
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