16th Jan
The plan for the next two days was to spend them in the famous Kaeng Krachan National Park, which is the largest national park of Thailand and lies up against the border with Burma, contiguous with the Tanintharyi Nature Reserve in that country. It consists mainly of evergreen rain forest on the eastern slope of the Tenasserim Mountain Range. The highest elevation in the park is 1,513 meters, in a "joint area of Thailand and Myanmar".
After a 6 a.m. breakfast we set off for the park entrance, a short drive. As we entered we immediately spotted a Greater Flameback, a very impressive woodpecker if ever there was one, then a little farther along we came to a clearing where we found a new Barbet for the collection - Green-eared Barbet, plus a couple of Indochinese Rollers and soaring overhead, a Crested Serpent Eagle, plus a Crested Goshawk which I failed to pick up on. This clearing was in a kind of dip in the road and gave good all round views. Whilst we scanned around there were plenty of Black-headed and Black-crested Bulbuls and some Grey-rumped Treeswifts flew around. On the larger side were some Oriental Pied Hornbills plus a lone Tickell's Brown Hornbill, and then a Blue-bearded Bee-eater flew in and sat in a tree, plus the first of many Thick-billed Green Pigeons.
Moving on along this very productive road we stopped again. Four good birds were found straight away - two Common Hill Mynahs and also two scarcer Golden-crested Myanhs. Also in the vicinity we found Blue-winged Leafbird, Ashy Drongo, Blue-eared Barbet, Streak-throated Bulbul, Brown Shrike, the diminutive Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Black-naped Oriole, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, very smart Sultan Tits [a new one for the list], Brown Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher, a couple of Dark-necked Tailorbirds, and Olive-backed Sunbird. Farther along the road we came upon a fruiting tree where there was quite a bit of activity so we stopped to see what we could find. Amongst what were by now very familiar birds to us, there were quite a few Thick-billed Green Pigeons, a couple of striking Asian Fairy Bluebirds, White-rumped Shama, Bronzed Drongo, and Oriental Pied Hornbills. A massive Great Hornbill was sitting in a nearby tree, avoiding the camera lenses, but eventually flew in to have a feed. A Grey-headed Woodpecker provided some interest, being of the subspecies guerini and sometimes known as Black-naped Woodpecker. A Two-barred Warbler was nice to see, in complete contrast to two Crested Honey Buzzards circling overhead. A bit farther along the road was a stand of large bamboo and here we heard, then saw the machine gun rattle of a tiny White-browed Piculet as it hammered on a thick bamboo stem - quite a racket! Two Green-billed Malkohas were here, plus Thick-billed Flowerpeckers and more Sultan Tits.
We eventually ended up at the Bang Krang campsite where we parked up and wandered around the area. A fruiting tree near the campsite offices produced Olive Bulbul of the subspecies cinnamoventris, which according to the IOC classification in my database is considered by some authorities to be a split from Grey-eyed Bulbul. Indeed I had originally recorded this observation as Grey-eyed until I read Paul's Oriole Birding trip report, so I amended the entry and got a free extra life 'tick' for the trip! Taxonomy eh?! The same tree held a female Blue Rock Thrush, Asian Fairy Bluebird, a Blue-eared Barbet at its nest hole, Arctic Warbler, and also a Yellow-vented Flowerpecker although I didn't get that one. By now it was the middle of the day so we went back to Baan Maka to have a relaxed lunch in the open-sided dining area whilst being distracted by birds coming into the adjacent shrubbery and trees, the highlights of which were Chinese Blue Flycatcher and Hair-crested Drongo.
After a 6 a.m. breakfast we set off for the park entrance, a short drive. As we entered we immediately spotted a Greater Flameback, a very impressive woodpecker if ever there was one, then a little farther along we came to a clearing where we found a new Barbet for the collection - Green-eared Barbet, plus a couple of Indochinese Rollers and soaring overhead, a Crested Serpent Eagle, plus a Crested Goshawk which I failed to pick up on. This clearing was in a kind of dip in the road and gave good all round views. Whilst we scanned around there were plenty of Black-headed and Black-crested Bulbuls and some Grey-rumped Treeswifts flew around. On the larger side were some Oriental Pied Hornbills plus a lone Tickell's Brown Hornbill, and then a Blue-bearded Bee-eater flew in and sat in a tree, plus the first of many Thick-billed Green Pigeons.
Moving on along this very productive road we stopped again. Four good birds were found straight away - two Common Hill Mynahs and also two scarcer Golden-crested Myanhs. Also in the vicinity we found Blue-winged Leafbird, Ashy Drongo, Blue-eared Barbet, Streak-throated Bulbul, Brown Shrike, the diminutive Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Black-naped Oriole, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, very smart Sultan Tits [a new one for the list], Brown Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher, a couple of Dark-necked Tailorbirds, and Olive-backed Sunbird. Farther along the road we came upon a fruiting tree where there was quite a bit of activity so we stopped to see what we could find. Amongst what were by now very familiar birds to us, there were quite a few Thick-billed Green Pigeons, a couple of striking Asian Fairy Bluebirds, White-rumped Shama, Bronzed Drongo, and Oriental Pied Hornbills. A massive Great Hornbill was sitting in a nearby tree, avoiding the camera lenses, but eventually flew in to have a feed. A Grey-headed Woodpecker provided some interest, being of the subspecies guerini and sometimes known as Black-naped Woodpecker. A Two-barred Warbler was nice to see, in complete contrast to two Crested Honey Buzzards circling overhead. A bit farther along the road was a stand of large bamboo and here we heard, then saw the machine gun rattle of a tiny White-browed Piculet as it hammered on a thick bamboo stem - quite a racket! Two Green-billed Malkohas were here, plus Thick-billed Flowerpeckers and more Sultan Tits.
We eventually ended up at the Bang Krang campsite where we parked up and wandered around the area. A fruiting tree near the campsite offices produced Olive Bulbul of the subspecies cinnamoventris, which according to the IOC classification in my database is considered by some authorities to be a split from Grey-eyed Bulbul. Indeed I had originally recorded this observation as Grey-eyed until I read Paul's Oriole Birding trip report, so I amended the entry and got a free extra life 'tick' for the trip! Taxonomy eh?! The same tree held a female Blue Rock Thrush, Asian Fairy Bluebird, a Blue-eared Barbet at its nest hole, Arctic Warbler, and also a Yellow-vented Flowerpecker although I didn't get that one. By now it was the middle of the day so we went back to Baan Maka to have a relaxed lunch in the open-sided dining area whilst being distracted by birds coming into the adjacent shrubbery and trees, the highlights of which were Chinese Blue Flycatcher and Hair-crested Drongo.
After lunch we set off to spend the whole time in one of several hides in the area. These are not quite the comparative luxury we are used to in the UK. They comprise an enclosed 'bothy' comprising heavy netting draped over a crude framework or even surrounding foliage, with holes or slits cut in the front to enable viewing, seating being on hard plastic chairs. These hides overlook a cleared area which usually has a drinking pool somewhere in the middle. Sometimes food is put down for the birds [usually meal worms] although that hadn't been done at this particular hide. It was certainly the case at the thrush location on 6th Jan and at the photo stakeouts in Doi Lang. The hides are set up pretty close to where the birds come so it's important to keep silent and still - not easy in a hot and humid confined space - there was ususally not enough height to stand up. The views of the birds of course were superb although given the location amongst fairly dense foliage, low light was a consideration.
So, at this first hide we settled down for a long session. It was pretty awesome, with a continuous parade of birds coming and going often bathing or drinking at the pool. Going through my photos I have the thrush/pipit like Puff-throated Babbler, Streak-eared, Black-crested and Stripe-throated Bulbuls, Black-naped Monarch, White-browed Scimitar Babbler, the very plain Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, and Abbott's Babbler. Rather larger than any of these were a couple of very smart Scaly-breasted Partridges, and accompanying them on the ground was a tiny, very jumpy Lesser Mouse-deer, not much bigger than the Partridges! We also had male and female Siberian Blue Robins which were pretty nervous and stayed in the background, unlike White-rumped Shama, Racket-tailed Treepie and Greater Racket-tailed Drongo. Common Emerald Dove {aka Asian Emerald} and Spotted Doves also made an appearance, alongside a tiny Burmese Striped Squirrel. In the mix we also had good views of Indochinese Blue Flycatcher and Hainan Blue Flycatcher and last but not least, a tiny White-bellied Erpornis and a Malaysian Pied Fantail coming for a bathe.
Eventually the light was going, and to be honest we were pretty 'birded out' so we left the cramped conditions with some relief and had a good stretch before heading back to Baan Maka, for another great dinner and of course 'the list'. There's just a few of the photos I took below [click each one for a larger image]. There's loads more in under the galleries menu.
So, at this first hide we settled down for a long session. It was pretty awesome, with a continuous parade of birds coming and going often bathing or drinking at the pool. Going through my photos I have the thrush/pipit like Puff-throated Babbler, Streak-eared, Black-crested and Stripe-throated Bulbuls, Black-naped Monarch, White-browed Scimitar Babbler, the very plain Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, and Abbott's Babbler. Rather larger than any of these were a couple of very smart Scaly-breasted Partridges, and accompanying them on the ground was a tiny, very jumpy Lesser Mouse-deer, not much bigger than the Partridges! We also had male and female Siberian Blue Robins which were pretty nervous and stayed in the background, unlike White-rumped Shama, Racket-tailed Treepie and Greater Racket-tailed Drongo. Common Emerald Dove {aka Asian Emerald} and Spotted Doves also made an appearance, alongside a tiny Burmese Striped Squirrel. In the mix we also had good views of Indochinese Blue Flycatcher and Hainan Blue Flycatcher and last but not least, a tiny White-bellied Erpornis and a Malaysian Pied Fantail coming for a bathe.
Eventually the light was going, and to be honest we were pretty 'birded out' so we left the cramped conditions with some relief and had a good stretch before heading back to Baan Maka, for another great dinner and of course 'the list'. There's just a few of the photos I took below [click each one for a larger image]. There's loads more in under the galleries menu.