Viraj Karekar's Nature and Wildlife Photography: Over the mountains, through the woods

More like rolling hills than snow-covered mountains, the Western Ghats contain a large proportion of the country's plant and animal species; many of which are only found here and nowhere else in the world. Western Ghats also known as Sahyadri is a mountain range that covers an area of 140,000 km² in a stretch of 1,600 km parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, traverse the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

One of the places I love to visit in the Western Ghats is the Muthodi, which is considered the most popular section of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary. This site is situated at a distance of about 32 km from Chikmagalur town. Some of the animals like tigers, sambar deer, elephants, spotted deers and gaurs, to mention a few and number of bird species including horn-bills can also be spotted by visitors at Muthodi Forest. Here are few images from the Muthodi forest and nearby places which I got to capture.

Sambar deed stands to a height of 135 -150 cm at the shoulder and can weigh up to 300 kg. Males have antlers measuring up to 1m. Its coat is dark brown in colour. It is characterized with large muzzle and broad ears. It has tick fur and orange spots on its body. Males are larger than the females. Its tail is 22- 35 cm long. Males have thick mane of hairs around the neck.

The Indian giant squirrel, or Malabar giant squirrel, (Ratufa indica) is a large tree squirrel species in the genus Ratufa native to India. It is a large-bodied diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel. It has a conspicuous two-toned (and sometimes three-toned) color scheme. The colors involved can be creamy-beige, buff, tan, rust, brown, or even a dark seal brown. The underparts and the front legs are usually cream colored, the head can be brown or beige, however there is a distinctive white spot between the ears. Adult head and body length varies around 14 inches (36 cm) and the tail length is approximately 2 ft (0.61 m). Adult weighs about- 2 kgs.

The Indian giant squirrel is an upper-canopy dwelling species, which rarely leaves the trees, and requires "tall profusely branched trees for the construction of nests. It travels from tree to tree with jumps of up to 6 m (20 ft). When in danger, it often freezes or flattens itself against the tree trunk, instead of fleeing. Its main predators are the birds of prey and the leopard. The Giant Squirrel is mostly active in the early hours of the morning and in the evening, resting in the midday. They are typically solitary animals that only come together for breeding. The species is believed to play a substantial role in shaping the ecosystem of its habitat by engaging in seed dispersal. Diet includes fruit, flowers, nuts and tree bark. Some subspecies are omnivorous, also eating insects and bird eggs.

An Antelope. The English word "antelope" first appeared in 1417 and is derived from the old french antelop, itself derived from Medieval Latinant(h)alopus, which in turn comes from the Greek word anthólops. It perhaps derives from Greek anthos (flower) and ops (eye), perhaps meaning "beautiful eye" or alluding to the animals' long eyelashes. This, however, may be a later folk etymology.

A closer look at the Antelope.

The gaur, also called the Indian bison, is the largest extant bovine. Found this between dense forests of Muthodi.

A herd of Gaur at Muthodi Forest.

A fight! Strongest one wins..

Path leading to to the dense forests of Muthodi.

Gray langurs, sacred langurs, Indian langurs or Hanuman langurs are a group of Old World monkeys native to the Indian subcontinent constituting the entirety of the genus Semnopithecus. Most taxa have traditionally been placed in the single species Semnopithecus entellus. These langurs are largely gray (some more yellowish), with a black face and ears. Externally, the various species mainly differ in the darkness of the hands and feet, the overall color and the presence or absence of a crest.

A Leaf Bird.

Pileated Woodpecker

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo.

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo taking off the flight.

Brown-headed Barbet.

Plum-headed Parakeet.

Yellow-cheeked Tit. This species frequents in forest, open temperate and deciduous or mixed forest with oak and pine trees. In some parts of the range, it can be found in evergreen hill forests.