18th Jan
Today had a similar schedule - birding in the forest in the morning and then a session in another hide in the afternoon. So we set off after breakfast up the road into the park, heading for the camp site again. Part way there we decided on a stop by an open area to do some scanning and were well rewarded with a tiny Black-thighed Falconet sitting at the top of a tree - pretty distant but distinctive nonetheless. Eventually it flew, passing over us a couple of times with its very rapid shallow wing beats. Whilst we were there a couple of huge Great Hornbills flew over, one landing in a tree and enabling me to get a good shot that I could crop to show its massive bill with the large casque on the top. We also had the fortune to see Blue-eared and Green-eared Barbets together, the latter much bigger than the former. By shallow roadside pools we saw Red-wattled Lapwing and a White-breasted Waterhen, and in roadside trees, Black-naped Oriole, and more Thick-billed Green Pigeons.
We reached the camp and then set off on foot, walking about 2km up the road and back. Before we left, we logged Ruby-cheeked and Olive-backed Sunbirds in a tree, and on the ground, 5 Olive-backed Pipits. As we progressed along the track we built up a pretty good list of birds in what was good healthy forest. Great Hornbill and Oriental Pied Hornbills were pretty obvious as always, and a really good find was a pair of Raffle's Malkohas which immediately reminded me of Squirrel Cuckoo of Central and South America. Rather frustratingly they never came fully into the open. There were small birds a-plenty. Swinhoe's Minivets [the IOC name for Brown-rumped Minivet] were a new one for me as was Sulphur-breasted Warbler and Yellow-bellied Warbler in stands of bamboo. Others included Dark-necked Tailorbird, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Pin-striped Tit-babbler, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Great Iora, Taiga Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher and a number of Sultan Tits, and another member of the broadbill family - Banded Broadbill [couldn't get a shot of this one either!], and finally the diminutive Pin-striped Tit-babbler. Walking back, we were delighted to find 5 Orange-breasted Trogons, including a pair with a nest hole, one of which had a large prey item in its bill. We didn't hang around too long as they were looking a tad agitated, not that Trogons can ever look really agitated. We also saw a good selection of butterflies as we walked along the track. Shortly after this as we were driving back to Baan Maka we spotted some Treeswifts overhead so quickly stopping we checked them out and confirmed them as Crested Treeswifts. Back at the resort for lunch we saw the pair of Kalij Pheasants again.
We reached the camp and then set off on foot, walking about 2km up the road and back. Before we left, we logged Ruby-cheeked and Olive-backed Sunbirds in a tree, and on the ground, 5 Olive-backed Pipits. As we progressed along the track we built up a pretty good list of birds in what was good healthy forest. Great Hornbill and Oriental Pied Hornbills were pretty obvious as always, and a really good find was a pair of Raffle's Malkohas which immediately reminded me of Squirrel Cuckoo of Central and South America. Rather frustratingly they never came fully into the open. There were small birds a-plenty. Swinhoe's Minivets [the IOC name for Brown-rumped Minivet] were a new one for me as was Sulphur-breasted Warbler and Yellow-bellied Warbler in stands of bamboo. Others included Dark-necked Tailorbird, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Pin-striped Tit-babbler, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Great Iora, Taiga Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher and a number of Sultan Tits, and another member of the broadbill family - Banded Broadbill [couldn't get a shot of this one either!], and finally the diminutive Pin-striped Tit-babbler. Walking back, we were delighted to find 5 Orange-breasted Trogons, including a pair with a nest hole, one of which had a large prey item in its bill. We didn't hang around too long as they were looking a tad agitated, not that Trogons can ever look really agitated. We also saw a good selection of butterflies as we walked along the track. Shortly after this as we were driving back to Baan Maka we spotted some Treeswifts overhead so quickly stopping we checked them out and confirmed them as Crested Treeswifts. Back at the resort for lunch we saw the pair of Kalij Pheasants again.
This afternoon's hide took a bit of finding. First we had to drive off the main drag onto various dirt tracks and ended up waiting outside a private residence until the owner turned up on his motorbike, whence we had to follow him along various other tracks until we reached a small dirt parking clearing in the forest. It was then a fairly short walk along a narrow track through the undergrowth to the hide, which was split into two sections so we had to spit into two groups with three of us with Paul in one half and the other three with Nick in the other half. We got to the hide at about 2 p.m. and the plan was to stay until dusk. The first bird to appear was rather splendid - a Grey Peacock-pheasant. Although overall silvery grey it had numerous circular metallic blue 'discs' on the wing coverts and the tail, which changed colour between blue and green as the light changed. It quietly walked about and came down to the drinking pool, and after a while quietly wandered off into the undergrowth again. It then looked as though we might not see anything further at all as a longish period of inactivity ensued. Then all of a sudden it was all go, as a group of Red Junglefowl appeared, with single Spotted Dove and an amazing 12 Common Emerald Doves, plus the very familiar Brown-cheeked Fulvetta and Puff-throated Babbler and the 'usual' Bulbuls. Flycatchers also featured with Indochinese Blue, and Hainan Blue, and Black-naped Monarch, plus Siberian Blue Robin, Blue Whistling Thrush and White-rumped Shama. This time an impressive Large Scimitar Babbler actually stayed long enough to allow some good photos. Whilst all the birds were dropping in and out we were also treated to visits from a number of Lesser Mouse-deers {Tragulus kanchil} which came down to the pool to drink. These are the smallest known hoofed animal with a max size of around 45 cms {18 inches} and a weight of around 2 kg. I have a photo of one entering next to a Red Junglefowl - they're about the same size! We had a sudden influx of around 20 Laughingthrushes, a mixture of Greater Necklaced and Lesser Necklaced, plus 6 punk like White-crested Laughingthrushes, and these all foraged busily in the dusty arena and occasionally came to the pool to drink or bathe. A Greater Racket-tailed Drongo also drank at the pool. The stars of the show however, were two highly patterned Ferruginous Partridges which came and scratched around in the dust for quite a while. As the light began to fail I took quite a lot of video of the activity. I have nearly forgotten hide action tho'. As had been the case in the other hides, silence and not too much sudden movement was the order of the day, but at one point there was a sudden gasp and scrape of a plastic chair as Anne got a bit of a shock. There was a gap along the roofline at the back of our hide where the netting met the trees and leaves, and there was a sudden rustle in the dry leaves and a long snake appeared - Anne does NOT like snakes! It apparently made its way along the back of the top of the hide and then appeared through a gap just outside the roof at my end where I saw it for the first time. At first I didn't realise it was a snake - it had an odd shaped head - but I quickly put the camera on manual focus and started to take some photos. It soon became apparent that it was a snake devouring an unfortunate Gecko. Later at dinner I was directed to another guest who identified it as a Golden Tree Snake {Chrysopelea ornata}, which specialises in catching Geckos. About 1.5 m long they are apparently capable of gliding flight.
So after all this action we made our way back to where the bus was parked, and then waited. As dusk fell we were treated to perched and flight views of a superb Great Eared Nightjar and then the icing on the cake in the form of a Large-tailed Nightjar sitting on the track as we left in the bus. A good day had been had by all, and dinner, our last sadly, at the wonderful resort, was enjoyed with a few beers. We also had the pleasure of the company or our fellow Glamorgan Bird Club member, Neil Donaghy and his partner Dorota, who had come to stay at Baan Maka for a few days. My memory is a bit rusty as I type this during the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK but I think we actually first chatted with them at lunch on this day.
So after all this action we made our way back to where the bus was parked, and then waited. As dusk fell we were treated to perched and flight views of a superb Great Eared Nightjar and then the icing on the cake in the form of a Large-tailed Nightjar sitting on the track as we left in the bus. A good day had been had by all, and dinner, our last sadly, at the wonderful resort, was enjoyed with a few beers. We also had the pleasure of the company or our fellow Glamorgan Bird Club member, Neil Donaghy and his partner Dorota, who had come to stay at Baan Maka for a few days. My memory is a bit rusty as I type this during the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK but I think we actually first chatted with them at lunch on this day.