Pench delivers—again
Romance was in the air today!
It all started this morning at Pench Tiger Reserve in central India. We’ve had numerous safaris through Pench over the last three years, but today was the first time we’d ventured to a distant end of the reserve.
That’s when we saw her, strolling along the road enjoying the solitude of a chilly morning. Within seconds she spotted us and bolted into the bush before we could get a pic. We raced forward in the Gypsy (small four-wheel drive) to where she’d vanished, but she was now just a blur in the scrub. We lingered a while, hoping she’d gather courage and reappear, but nope.
As we were about to give up and turn back, he came in to view, padding toward us, yet not seeing us.
It didn’t take long to figure out he was a man on a mission. He zigzagged back and forth across the road, sniffing the ground, the grasses and the air. Ah, yes, he was on her trail.
And for the next 70 minutes we watched poor Albert (I’ll soon explain why I’ve called him Albert) do his best to lure her out of hiding.
He sniffed and scratched, piddled and sprayed, and sawed. Male leopards make the most extraordinary bellowing when they are trying to call a female to them. It’s called sawing and that’s because it sounds exactly like someone cutting down a tree with a handsaw.
Anand and Deepti say it is most unusual for leopards to linger in plain view for as long as Albert did. They are naturally skittish and a sighting of a minute or two is considered a long viewing.
But Albert had only one thing on his mind, and it wasn’t us. So we were left to follow him for as long as he stayed within view. He roamed back and forth across the road, scratched trees and sat on rocks to saw pitifully.
Either the girl was far away by now, or just not interested. His woeful sawing reminded me of another Albert, a likeable yet semi-tragic figure who graces some of the stories on Fifty Words Daily.
I hope both Alberts end up getting the girl.
As for us—it was the most remarkable leopard sighting I will probably ever see.
P.S. I took about 200 photos in 70 minutes and it’s been hard to choose the ones to share. Plus I had to rush before the lodge turned off the internet—my first connection in a week. I may be compelled to share more later. 🙂
Amazing animal – amazing photos – thanks Peggy.
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Thanks for visiting, Terry.
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Absolutely beautiful!!
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I know. So lucky to see them.
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Albert is so excited to be named after such an amazing animal! And to be honest Albert doesn’t usually do excited. I don’t think I’ve seen him smile so much before! Thanks – hope you’re having a great time. Brilliant post as always!
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I rather hoped Albert would enjoy this. I think I can even see his smile beaming towards me.
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To be honest, his winning smile can seem quite disturbing but this time it actually seems quite sunny! Hope you’re having the very best of times! Nick
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Albert sunny? Oh my! We are having a great time.
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Great shots, Peggy. A real once in a lifetime experience.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Definitely once in a lifetime. I feel so lucky.
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Such beautiful animals and how lucky of you to able to see him for so long. Wonderful pictures!
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We felt so fortunate. Can still see him in my mind’s eye.
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Thanks. I know we were so lucky.
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Wow!
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Yeah, wow!
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Beautiful photos of a beautiful, majestic animal! Lovely.
🙂
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Thanks so much,
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Great photos, and a very handsome model. Lucky you!
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Very handsome indeed! 🙂
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This will stay in your mind for a long time as one of your more unique experiences.
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Yes, it will probably stay in my mind forever.
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What a wonderful encounter.
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Truly wonderful.
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Great photography!
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Thanks.
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Simply amazing that you got such great photos….. and the chance to shoot over a long period of time.
How lucky your are.. Leggy Peggy photographer of the year 2016… Contact National Geographic….
Sy
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Oh thanks, Sy. We felt so lucky to have so long to watch and photograph for such a long time. A true blessing.
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That poor boy. It’s all so useless. Give it away, would have been my advice. It’s not what it is claimed to be. Did you have a word with him, Peggy? Pitifully sawing away there. How sad. 😉
Great photos, Peggy.
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Oh Gerard, I reckon you need to have a chat with that fellow. I tried, but he wouldn’t listen. Maybe a man-to-man chat would help. 🙂
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Wow!
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Yeah, wow!
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Wow what an exciting sighting. Looking forward to some more photos of your close encounter of the furry kind. Beautiful cats to watch in their natural habitat.
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Thanks Dorothy. The leopards were amazing, but still waiting to see a tiger on this visit.
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Ah, the sad story of unrequited love. Even in leopard land. It should make a good country-western ballad. Great photo, Peggy. –Curt
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Oh wow, Curt, what a great idea. Perhaps I should run a competition for country-western lyrics.
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There you go… 🙂 –Curt
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How marvellous!
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I know. We felt so lucky.
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Wow Peggy! You are really lucky!
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We were very lucky.
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I must confess to having a soft spot for Albert I. And now I’m so delighted by Albert II (and envious of you) I’m sharing this on Facebook.
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Thanks for the share. I have a soft spot for both Alberts. Glad you do too. 🙂
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Wonderful pictures. What a beautiful sighting
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It was amazing.
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Having stalked a few leopards with very limited success, I know how very lucky you were! WOW is all I can say to that – what an incredible experience!
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Wow pretty much sums it up. 🙂
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Beautiful! What a spectacular experience!
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It sure was. Thanks for stopping by.
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I’ve emulated sawing logs in a bedroom environment as well, and my mate didn’t think it was romantic either! 😉 Lucky leopard shots. I’ve never been in a position to see one in the wild.
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Oh Dave, you’ve given me a huge laugh. Sorry your sawing hasn’t been any more successful than Albert’s. 🙂
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OMG! Jealous! What a fabulous experience. So happy for you.
Alison
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Thanks. It really was fabulous.
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Fabulous!!! Stupendous! and the photographs are pretty amazing too!!!
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Thanks so much. An exciting experience.
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Gorgeous creatures.
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Really gorgeous, and so streamlined.
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I hope you are compelled to share more later – such a majestic animal.
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I promise to share more. 🙂
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Wow! Such an experience! Such beautiful pictures. Lovely creatures!
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I’d seen leopards in the wild before, but this experience was truly breathtaking.
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Such beautiful and amazing animal
thnak you so much for sharing Peggy
kisses
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They are totally amazing. Thanks for stopping by and kisses back to you.
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oh you are welcome
kisses
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Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous 😍😍😍 the combination of strength and grace is breathtaking!
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Yes, an amazing creature. Thanks for visiting.
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Wow how very lucky you were! I am totally envious!
Peta
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We were so, so lucky. Thanks for stopping by.
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Am thinking of planning a trip to India from SriLanka for the purpose off seeing these beauties
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I can highly recommended the triangle of parks—Pench, Kanha and Panna. Three times we have travelled the country with Overland Expeditions India. Can put you in touch with them if you are interested.
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Yes please do.
Thanks
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I will ask Deepti to email you.
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Peggy, you have made my day! 🙂 Truly. What a wonderful sighting! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing. These frames are simply gorgeous.
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Oh my goodness, thanks so much for your kind words. It was an incredible sighting—how could I not share? 🙂
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Terrific pictures! 🙂
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Thanks so much.
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Whoa, very cool shots. What amazing creatures.
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Thanks. They are extraordinary.
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Wow, how cool! Great photos, thanks for sharing!!!! Very jealous
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Thanks for visiting. It makes the trip more rewarding to share. 🙂
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Fantastic! Lovely photos!
Tony
http://breadtagsagas.com/
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Thanks Tony.
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Though I’ve been here before, I just popped over from the rolling pin recipe post, and boy am I glad to have met Albert, again. What a wonderful adventure you had – the photos are spectacular. He is one handsome dude. Too bad you couldn’t have come back in a few months to see if there were leopard cubs roaming around.
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Albert is always worth a second visit. I’m sorry the Fifty Words Daily website has been disconnected because it was worth a second visit too.
Perhaps it’s time for us to return to India to see if our Albert got lucky.
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