Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve is a protected area for Blackbucks located around 87 miles from Bangalore. I visited the place on a Sunday, recently. Here are some photos from the trip...
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A friend and I set off early in the morning at about 3 am, in the hope of sighting the Blackbucks before the sun forces them to hide in the woods. We reached the Reserve just before sunrise...
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Soon the sun came out giving us a glimpse of a couple of Blackbucks...
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A closeup of the sun...
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Blackbucks are also known as Indian Antelope. They are extremely wary of humans and will vanish within no time if we approach by foot. But they seemed to tolerate us if we stay in the car. We surreptitiously moved our car closer to them in the grassland habitat. A group of juvenile males were seen...
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A juvenile with its corkscrew horns...
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Two juveniles practice lekking. Male blackbucks engage in competitive displays to entice visiting females. Here the juveniles are supervised by an adult...
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Here's a male adult...
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We moved to another location to find a group of female Blackbucks...
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The females lack the horns...
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The female herd is usually accompanied by a male who keeps a watchful eye. The male ensures that nobody strays away from the group..
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One of them strayed away...
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The male rushes to bring her back to the herd...
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Two dogs played spoilsport. Their presence made the deer vanish, abruptly halting our shoot.
I saw a Red-wattled Lapwing next...
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We drove around in search of birds. A Eurasian Hoopoe was foraging in the grass...
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A White-eyed Buzzard was spotted next...
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A Laughing Dove (Little Brown Dove)...
...A male Pied Bushchat...
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The view of hills nearby...
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I saw another male Blackbuck leisurely regurgitating and chewing to mix the cud with saliva...
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A Blister beetle. It is so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin...
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By 8:30 am butterflies started to become active. A Pioneer butterfly...
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A juvenile Oriental Garden Lizard looked cute...
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Red Collared-Dove (Red Turtle-Dove). There was no dearth of this beauty...
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An Indian Peafowl was seen next. It has almost the same level of shyness as the blackbucks. It did the vanishing act as soon as it sensed our presence...
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A male Rose-ringed Parakeet peeped out from behind a tree...
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It was 9 am and we decided to return. An Indian Roller was seen on our way back...
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We waited for it to fly to capture its stunning wings. But it stayed there with occasional, long, 'Kaarsch' calls for close to 10 minutes...
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And just when we were losing patience, it spread its wings...
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The open wings motivated us and we waited for some more time to see the flight. Then it flew and I clicked at will...
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I got one more shot of the flight from the burst of clicks...
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On the way back we also saw a Greater Coucal, another bird of the extremely shy category...
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The last sighting of the day was a Large Grey Babbler with his meal...
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Thus ended a moderately satisfying trip. This place has many more interesting species and multiple visits are required to see most of them. Hope I can return soon.
I hope you liked the post. Looking forward to your thoughts in the comments section below.
Do join me on Instagram at @shijuvenate
Amazing photography
ReplyDeleteYour sunrise photos are lovely, and I'm amazed at the variety of wildlife you can see so near your home. The photos are wonderful. Such graceful and beautiful creatures.
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Hello,:=) I love your third capture,it's extremely beautiful, and all the Indian Antelope captures are great. You always share so many different bird species, but my favourite today is the Indian Roller bird. Great captures of this beauty in flight.
ReplyDeleteThe antelopes are lovely.
ReplyDeleteEvery bird, even the most insignificant changes a lot with its wings open.
Happy weekend!
What a great series of photos.
ReplyDeleteI especially like the last photos of photo 30, but photo 21 is really perfect.
I also think the deer are very nicely photographed.
Greetings Irma
Hello,
ReplyDeleteGorgeous sunrise, your early start paid off with the sightings of the beautiful animals and birds. The male Blackbucks Antelope are beautiful, I like the corkscrew horns. The female antelope are pretty. What a great series of photos! The Indian Roller, the Parakeet, the Lapwing and the Hoopoe are some of my favorite birds. Great post. Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend. PS, I appreciate your comments and visit.
Your early start was well rewarded. Wish I had been with you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun outing, well worth the early morning drive. The BLackbucks are a handsome animal. Those horns are amazing. I like to see lizards. We don't have many lizards around where I live. I am amazed that this one stayed still long enough for a portrait. My experience with lizards are that they are very skittish. I am not very fast with the camera. Probably my impatience. Your patience paid off waiting for the Roller. The Eurasian Hoopoe is one of my most wanted birds, one exotic that I think I might be able to see at some point. I think they are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful, well done.
ReplyDeleteHello Shiju. Well I definitely think that was worth a 3am start. The Blackbucks are simply stunning in all ages and sexes and you were very clever to get so many superb photos. Like deer all over the world, they have good reason to fear man.
ReplyDeleteHi, Shiju! Your blog inspires me. Your photos are excellent. I appreciate the design of your blog. The size of your photos and your captions ... well done! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWow! Those blackbucks are so awesome to see ~ and fantastic photography alone with excellent photos of our feathered friends ~ love the unique (to me) dove ~ thanks ~ Xo
ReplyDeleteLiving in the moment,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
...my friend, you have a fabulous collection, I would need to go to a zoo to see many of these. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, wonderful photos!
ReplyDeleteI especially like the third photo - the one with the sunrise just above the treetops
Oh the photos are amazing
ReplyDeleteI really like the photos
Those horns don't look real when you look up close. How wonderful to see so many wonderful 'critters'!
ReplyDeleteI went back to look more closely at the birds. The parakeet is a prize winning photo and I love the Indian roller when he flies!
ReplyDeleteI love them all! I've never even heard of a blackbuck!
ReplyDeleteThese are MARVELOUS! Thank You
ReplyDeleteOutstanding!! I can see why you waited for the colorful wings. Stunning. And the antelope are beautiful too.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoyed your weekend and thanks for linking in.
That Indian Roller and Hoophoe are fabulous. Oh, those wings on the Indian Roller -- I applaud your patience. I was well worth it! The antelope are handsome, too. As always I feel like I was there with you, thanks to your wonderful eye and fabulous camera technique!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful creatures and your photographs are marvelous!
ReplyDeleteVery fruitful trip to the Blackbuck reserve. Lovely sunrise. Beautiful antelopes. As always, you take great photos of all the beautiful critters.
ReplyDeleteGreat animal shots. Love them
ReplyDeleteWOW! what fabulous photos and those corksrew horns amazing :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a sunsetblackbucktastic week 👍
Great captures! Those blackbucks are so neat.
ReplyDeleteYou are an early bird. You go up when I go to bed. :) I was thrilled to see the beautiful Antelopes and the Hoopoe bird.
ReplyDeleteYour antelope is really gorgeous in shape and color. And you got some good shots of the Hoopoe. It is strange. I painted the bird last week and now I see it in many blogs. Myself I have only seet it flying away so I have no shots of my own. :(
Such magnificent animals and such beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteSuch delicate and beautiful creatures!
ReplyDeleteHi Shiju, I am your newest follower on Instagram. Thanks for the link. 4ufromjohnr
ReplyDeleteIncredible photography!
ReplyDeleteThose blackbuck shots are stunners!
Wow, how beautiful wings the Indian Roller has! The blackbucks are adorable animals <3
ReplyDeleteLoved the antelope and birds. That Indian Roller has amazing blue wings!
ReplyDeleteThose horns are mesmerizing. Love the beautiful birds, too.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos! I love those horns, how cool to have corkscrew horns!!
ReplyDeleteYour trip to this wildlife reserve was a great success. Your photo of the male Blackbuck looking straight into the camera is terrific. Your bird photos are wonderful. Yes, I greatly enjoyed seeing this post, and am impressed by your skill and talent.
ReplyDeleteYou a really blessed with such kind of trips.
ReplyDeleteAnd your photos are perfect!
Thank you a lot for the entrance. For a period of time I am the host of the game and I open it on Tuesday evening.
Happy WW!
I am always in awe of your pictures and it was fascinating to look at your pictures of the blackbucks. Beautiful!
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The antelopes are beautiful creatures. The females look so much deer. Maybe you remember we lived in the forest, and deer were a daily sight. The female deer with their young were much more on their own. We seldom saw a here with females and males together. Also love the butterfly, beetle d blue bird. All beautifully captured, Shiju! What a great post!
ReplyDeleteThe blackbucks look very graceful. I like their curling antlers. Your other photos are all beautiful --the parakeet was my favorite as it had an expression of curiosity on its face.
ReplyDeleteGetting up so early was very rewarding. And as for the colourful bird's wings at the end...Oh MY!
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you link up for #lifethisweek. Next week, the optional prompt is Water. See you at Denyse Whelan Blogs then too I hope. Denyse.
Once again you've presented us with some stunning photos. Well worth getting up early for!
ReplyDeleteWhat a grand adventure---and fabulous photos!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots.
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos. The corkscrew horns make them very photogenic. I think I recognize some of your photoprints hanging on the wall?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots of the blackbucks. I learned about a new animal today because of you.
ReplyDeleteGreat series sir again! Loved the bucks and birds
ReplyDeleteAmazing pics. Thanks for sharing your beautiful day at Funtastic Friday Link Party.
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos, as usual. The blackbucks are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYour photos NEVER fail to amaze! Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2021/10/montezuma-castle.html. I always enjoy your posts.
The spiral horns are amazing. Beautiful creatures. Thank you for linking up.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for protected areas. I want my grandchildren to be nature lovers and to have places to visit although they live in a beautiful area with parks and mountains and lots of nature to see...Michelle
ReplyDeleteVery happy to discover your blog! Amazing photographs
ReplyDeleteThe horns are epic! And so are your photos. You spotted much more than the blackbucks. What a great day on photo safari.
ReplyDeleteWaking up that early was so worth it. You got to see and take wonderful photos of the wildlife there. Lovely photos! I can see why you waited for the wings to open, they are beautiful.
ReplyDelete-Soma
Oh WOW - YES! Getting up early was worth it! You managed to take great photos of the Blackbucks! And you also captured many other animal sightings wonderfully. Your patience with the Indian Roller was rewarded - but I also think the plumage of the two pigeons is beautiful. And the Oriental Garden Lizard really has an extremely cute face!
ReplyDeleteAll the best
Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2021/10/babybauch-shooting-und-die-farben.html