Leopard in Monsoon @ Kabini

[Vijay Rajan]

Although I'd been advised by my friends not to venture out onto Kabini (Nagarahole) owing to lack of predator sightings and the heavy downpour, I still went ahead just to enjoy the jungle in the rains. Out of the 4 safaris, I sighted herds of Elephants, Gaurs & a Leopard in each of the 3 safaris while the last one was washed out due to heavy rain.

While it was about time for everyone to begin driving back to the exit without any cat sighting on a rainy day, our Jeep got stuck in the slush and all of us had to get off the vehicle to push it back onto the track. The moment we took to the track, we heard alarm calls of spotted dear as well as langurs. We turned around the bend and there he was, walking ahead of us right on the track. We kept following him at a leisurely pace for over 2 KM before he decided to dismiss his audience & get back into the lush green undergrowth. A chance sighting of the male known as "Scarface". It truly was exhilarating to meet up with him after a long time & to know that he still rules the roost in his domain. It is interesting to note his nonchalant ways in an area ruled by a dominant Tiger.

Canon 7 D, Canon 500 mm f/4 L IS, f/4, 1/2000, ISO 1000 (bumped up the ISO since the light was poor & I'd anticipated him to bolt back into the undergrowth), -2/3 EC, beanbag support.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice sighting during rains. Nice image with the head turn, amid greenery. 'Smell of the forest' after rains, has attracted nature lovers to visit them, where permitted, for long, long years. Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Mrudul Godbole]

Lucky sighting. Nice to see that he is doing well. Lovely head turn and eye contact. Nice feel of the monsoons. Thanks for sharing.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice. Good eye contact and pose. His coat seems to be turning pale with age. what was the WB mode?

TFS
Roopak

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice sighting. The colours look slightly off.

The depth of field is inadequate. In this pose, it becomes a challenge to get the head and the hind portion in focus. Your focus is on the hind portion. With a tele lens and a f4 aperture you missed getting the head in focus. The additional sharpening has resulted in artifacts in the face.

And finally, the additional copyright bang on the subject makes it hard to enjoy. I understand that it is done to prevent people from copying, however there are many large files available for people to download in the net and the images posted here doesn't have the resolution to be used for commercial purposes.

Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi