Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates 23rd Feb to 8th March 2025 Locations Visited Kakaijona; Manas NP; Eaglenest WLS; Kaziranga NP and Hollongappar Gibbon WLS Tour Participants Clients: Jannis Göttling and Heike Göttling Naturalist: Ravi Kailas A natural history oriented visit to the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and the Assam Plains produced 31 species of identifiable mammalsContinue reading “Primates, Mainland Leopard Cat and Flying Squirrels aplenty: Eaglenest and Assam, Spring 2025”
Tag Archives: Birdwatching
Endemic Mammals and Birds: Western Ghats, February 2025
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates 1st to 11th Feb 2025 Locations Visited Valaparai (Anamalai Tiger Reserve); Chinnar WLS; Eravikulam WLS (and surroundings); Thekkady (Periyar Tiger Reserve) Tour Participants Clients: James and Jill Hammersley Naturalist: Ravi Kailas A 10 night visit to the southern Western Ghats turned out to be interesting for a gamut of itsContinue reading “Endemic Mammals and Birds: Western Ghats, February 2025”
Asiatic Lion, Indian Wolf and More, November 2024, Trip Report
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates 11th to 15th November 2024 Locations Visited Gir National Park; Blackbuck National Park Velavadar Tour Participants Guests: Mai Phúóng and Martin Walsh Naturalist: Ravi Kailas (with invaluable assistance from Amit at Velavadar) These are highlights from a portion of trip that I guided, primarily in Gir NP, and for oneContinue reading “Asiatic Lion, Indian Wolf and More, November 2024, Trip Report”
Lion-tailed Macaque, Indian Porcupine and Wayanad Laughingthrush, Western Ghats, Feb 2024: Trip Report
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates 1st to 5th February 2024 Participants Client: Hugh Lansdown (For a trip report from Hugh Lansdown and for much other interesting content please follow this link which leads to his informative website with quality wildlife images and reports from across the globe) Naturalist: Ravi Kailas Locations Visited Kabini (Nagarhole TigerContinue reading “Lion-tailed Macaque, Indian Porcupine and Wayanad Laughingthrush, Western Ghats, Feb 2024: Trip Report”
Western and Central India Dec 2023 – raining cats and dogs: Trip Report
Pictures: Jannis Göttling Text: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) A natural history oriented guided tour to Western (primarily) and Central (an aside) India, proved extremely productive for the diversity (and quality of sightings) of mammals and birds, many of them regional specialities and on the pre-tour wish list. Asiatic Wild Cat, Tiger, Leopard, Asiatic Lion, Indian Wolf,Continue reading “Western and Central India Dec 2023 – raining cats and dogs: Trip Report”
Biodiverse Costa Rica, April 2023
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates 16th to 23rd April 2023 Locations visited Arenal Volcano, La Selva Biological Reserve, Monteverde, San Gerardo De Dota “The diversity was striking”, was the first response I had for anyone asking about my (what turned out to be) an all too brief, natural history oriented visit to sample of CostaContinue reading “Biodiverse Costa Rica, April 2023”
One Spring morning at NYC’s Central Park
Author: Ravi Kailas Having missed several opportunities to get the best of Spring migration birding when I lived in the US in the early 2000s, I was very keen to experience at least one hotspot, when I visited in April this year. Sadly, I could only dedicate a couple of hours one early April morningContinue reading “One Spring morning at NYC’s Central Park”
Striped Hyena, Indian Wolf and Asiatic Lion, Gujarat, Feb 2023: Trip Report
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates 16th to 22rd March 2023 Itinerary Outline Day 1, Wild Ass Sanctuary, Little Rann of Kutch Days 2, 3 & 4, Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar Days 5 & 6, Gir National Park Day 7, Transfer from Rajkot Airport Tour Participants Anand Ramesh, Ramesh Venkateswaran and Padmini Ramesh – very keenContinue reading “Striped Hyena, Indian Wolf and Asiatic Lion, Gujarat, Feb 2023: Trip Report”
Endemics and Megafauna, Western Ghats Winter 2023: Trip summary
Author: Ravi Kailas Dates 20th January to 4th Feb 2024 Participants John Wright, Karen Baker, Philip Telfer and Mark Bibby Guides Ravi Kailas and Ganesh Ramachandran Itinerary Outline Day 1: Galibore (Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary). Transfer from Bangalore AirportDays 2 to 5: Kabini (Nagarhole National Park). Days 5 to 7: Bandipur Tiger ReserveDays 7 to 10:Continue reading “Endemics and Megafauna, Western Ghats Winter 2023: Trip summary”
A walk and bit at Pampadum Shola NP
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) This tiny patch of montane forest, where the High Ranges meet the Palani Hills in the Western Ghats of South India, is packed with (the often unique) biodiversity. I have had the privilege to visit numerous times, and this is a brief account from a recent visit in September 2022. AsContinue reading “A walk and bit at Pampadum Shola NP”
Ficus Wildlife and Natural History Tours 