Mugger from Satkosia Gorge

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Just came back from Satkosia Tiger Reserve. Clicked few images. Sharing one of those.

Marsh crocodile - Crocodylus palustris.

EF 70-200 f2.8 L IS II USM, EF 2xII TC at 140mm, ISO 400, f5.6, 1/1000, full frame image.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Exceptionally sharp image. Huge reptile. Great details. Nice walking pose.
Satkoshia-Baisipalli T.R can boast of both Mugger and Gharial other than Corbett T.R. Odisha is the only state where all the three species of crocodiles are found. What a rich inheritence ! Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Mrudul Godbole]

Wow that is close. Lovely details. Nice to see it moving towards the water. Were there some more crocodiles in the background? Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The black out of focus spots in the background are the cormorants. I am happy to have sighted this croc. These crocodiles have remained virtually unchanged from millions of years, and have only become smaller in size. They deserve our respect. In comparison to them, we humans are a much much younger species.

The crocodiles mostly do a semi erect walk which look more like gliding into water. In this case you can see an erect posture.

There were other crocodiles but not close by. Each crocodile has got its spot. Generally teh smaller ones get less favourable spots.

[Dr Ajay Kumar Singh]

Gr8! image. It seems you were too close to take the full tail portion. Gr8 relief to to know that such sharp image is possible with "EF 70-200 f2.8 L IS II USM, EF 2xII TC" combination. I am struggling to have sharp image with this combination. Thanks for sharing such a nice image.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Hi Ajay,
The boat man kept on moving closer, and I didn't want to speak as it would have disturbed the crocodile. It was on its leisurely walk. The Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 L IS II USM lens works well with the 2x II TC. You can see the review here http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/canon-70-200-f2-8-l-is-ii-usm-review/

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Dr Ajay Kumar Singh]

Yes I have seen the review that gives nice idea of the above said lens combination with some great pics. In fact through this review only I came to know about IndiaWilds.

Thanks for the great review.