This is what I call forest birding.

Early morning is the best time for any forest birding excursion. As we made our way at first light into Kaeng Krachan National Park (KKCNP) for the first time, we were greeted by an array of calls and that is always a good sign.

When we approached the mid-way point, heavy wing beats echoed along the forest canopy followed by persistent yelping. It could only mean one species – hornbills. Since the vocalization was foreign to me, another lifer was making its way into my global life list and it turned out to be a flock of Rusty-cheeked Hornbills. I had to crank my neck to admire the unusual colouration of this species and the photographs obtained were good enough to me given the shooting conditions of the encounter.

One has to rely heavily on calls when it comes to birding in the forest and I tried to my best not to let familiar call distract me from building up my checklist for the day. Unless the call belonged to a pair of Banded Kingfishers. This is one species I will stop for no matter how far I am away from home. It appeared that Lady Luck has not abandoned us yet and the handsome male revealed his vivid plumage along the middle storey of the forest.

His mate took a longer time before we could lay eyes on her sultry beauty. The Banded Kingfisher is one of the few birds that despite of sexual dimorphism, the sexes are equally attractive. And she even outperformed her mate on this sunny morning.

The rather distinct territorial call of the Asian Barred Owlet was heard in the vicinity for a prolonged period of time. Eventually, it was spotted by our guide vocalizing for the topmost part of the forest and the outcome of the encounter left much to be yearned for.

Arjin has been exceptional throughout the trip. Not only for providing the targets and lifers but for all the other arrangements that made our birding adventure in central Thailand so enjoyable.

If you come across a congregation of birders anywhere in the park, you should join them because there must be something noteworthy present. Our guide practices this strategy and we were rewarded with a pair of Blue-bearded Bee-eaters.

The pair was perched quite high up with the sun behind them as they hunted and courted oblivious to the crowd below. I am grateful for the good and prolonged views. I just wish I could say the same about the photographic opportunities.

While observing the Blue-bearded Bee-eater, a silhouette of what appeared to a Myna alighted on branch below the lovebirds. Earlier on, I casually asked our guide what are my chances of a Golden-crested Myna in KKCNP. It all depends on luck was all he had to say. Then this must be my lucky day. It was a brief encounter – much to my dismay. Because it is one of the birds I really hoped to see during this trip.

I am not sure if anyone else managed to see the Myna. I did shout out the identification when I was certain I was not hallucinating. It was another hot day after all. Anyway, shortly after my lifer flew away, someone spotted a male Orange-breasted Trogon and to my surprise he was resting quite confidingly just above eye level.

When the words Barred Asian Owlet echoed across the vicinity, it caused those present to rush over to the direction of the latest attraction. Normally, you do not get second chances in forest birding. But then again, there is hardly anything normal about this incredible birding location so far.

When the dust settled, we broke off from the congregation and continued to explore the park on our own. Our second Orange-breasted Trogon of the day was a female and she outperformed the earlier male significantly.

I cannot recall any of the Orange-breasted Trogons back home ever being so obliging and we showered her with the love and affection she deserves. That’s a good girl...

Females led the way from then and next in line was a Silver-breasted Broadbill but she was just a little too far to evoke the same level of emotions.

The same goes to this female Asian Emerald Cuckoo foraging along the canopy level.

I have always been a birder who photographs rather than vice versa. And when Arjin found a pair of White-fronted Scops-Owls roosting partially hidden among the thickets, I was still overwhelmed. It did not matter that the photo was awful. What did matter was it was not overlooked and this species is finally a full tick in my life list. The closest I have ever been to this beautiful and scarce night bird were the trees they were vocalizing in during night excursions. And a daytime sighting like this, almost had me in tears.

We explored the upper reaches of the park on our second visit. The dawn chorus was amazing as excepted. In terms of birding, I was not disappointed as I managed to obtain additional lifers like the Black-throated Laughingthrush, Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler and Blue-throated Barbet. However, good photographic opportunities were sorely absent. Long-tailed Broadbills appear to be thriving in this location and I managed to obtain some record shots of this stunning bird.

Flowering bamboo can sometimes attract the nomadic Pin-tailed Parrotfinches as these striking birds have a taste for the flowers. On this occasion, it was difficult just to observe the birds through my bins, let alone photograph. And with no possibilities of improvement shots, we carried on our exploration of this birding haven.

We came across an exceptionally tame Black Giant Squirrel by Malaysian standards during our time here and it also appeared to be feeding in a clump of bamboo. This might explain its bold behaviour but unfortunately, the dense vegetation prevented any better shots to be obtained.

I could not help but to notice signboards erected on certain stretches of the access road cautioning driving visitors to be mindful of butterflies. And based on the big number of butterflies along the sides of the road, it is a just action taken by the park authorities. Non-birding visitors are certainly drawn to these congregations of colours and grace. I guess the butterflies are very much one of the main attractions of KKCNP.

A flock of Scarlet Minivets flitting about the forest canopy is a sight to behold especially the striking males. I briefly followed the movements of one such flock and was rewarded when one of males wandered lower down allowing me to obtain some decent shots of his vibrant plumage.

Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoos often show confiding behaviour and this individual was no exception. Perched on an open branch along the forest edge, it helped contributed to the overall success of our excursions here.

Ashy Woodswallows are usually present near the entrance of the park perched on the overhead electric cables. The lighting at the time of this encounter was quite favourable and the images of these graceful aerial hunters turned out better than I expected.

Behavioural shots are often what bird photographers aim for. However, I am usually happy if I happened to get a sharp shot of a bird doing nothing. When the opportunity does present itself, the sense of achievement can be ecstatic like this food-in-mouth shot.

Below the hunting Woodswallows, another species was also busy foraging. Unlike the former, the Grey-breasted Prinias rarely stay put and the strains of grass of their undergrowth home further hindered my photographic efforts. But they showed enough character to win me over in the end and wrap things up for this post.

Checklist of birds recorded at Kaeng Krachan National Park:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S307861287

https://ebird.org/checklist/S307862775

https://ebird.org/checklist/S307867792

https://ebird.org/checklist/S307868679 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S307869350 

Thailand Part 1: A feast fit for a King

 

Six long years has passed since my last birding trip abroad. It was an amazing adventure to Cambodia taking place just before the dreadful Covid-19 pandemic. The same companions for that trip sent me an invite to join them for another one and this time, to the jungles of central Thailand. It was going to be an eight-day exploration of a variety of habitats from the coast to the hilly interiors. A couple of months later, I found myself touching down at Suvarnabhumi Airport to meet up with Nigel, Kok Siong and our guide Arjin before heading to our first destination of the trip – the river banks of the mighty Chao Phraya in Bang Ban district.

A few days before we embarked on this journey, our guide promised us two things in our Whatsapp group. Pied Kingfishers to kick off the tour and Giant Freshwater Prawns for lunch to celebrate this striking lifer. And he delivered both as promised. Although the lighting was harsh, the aerial agilities of the Pied Kingfishers were still a breath-taking sight.

Unlike any other Kingfisher I have encountered before; this species hunts by hovering high above the waters before plunging down to capture prey close to the surface.

I am no stranger to heat as I lived all my life in this region but it was really hot here in central Thailand. With the scorching heat along this river bank, shade is a prized commodity. However, in the days to come, I have learned to welcome the heat as it played a significant role in the productivity of our birding endeavours.

Brahminy Kites were also present in the area but I doubt they are any threat to the kingfishers. This common but beautiful raptor scavenges as much as it hunts and a river like this would be able to provide a living for it.

Although the succulent river prawns were calling our names from a nearby restaurant, we spent a considerable amount of time at the river bank. One of the main reasons was because we were waiting for decent opportunities to capture the Pied Kingfishers perched. And a male bird, told by the full band across his chest, finally let down his guard and provided the memories we were seeking.

You would think this paragraph would now be about the much-anticipated local cuisine but we were held back again. However, it was not by a bird. But a Golden Tree Snake with a freshly caught Tokay Gecko. In fact, this rare sight almost overshadowed the performance of the Pied Kingfishers – almost.

Shortly after, we left the snake to savour the meal to come in peace and proceeded to have our own little feast. The prawns did not disappoint as well and it was a good start indeed for the three of us.

Since we are on the subject of food, we got to taste any array of local dishes throughout the tour. Our bird guide apparently is also a knowledgeable food guide – much to our delight. Well fed birders are happy birders and happy people are more easily pleased than hungry, cranky ones. Yes, our guide had certainly put much thought into this strategy.

Now back to the birds. We were taken to an urban park within Bangkok city next. In fact, Chatuchak which is a popular tourist destination, is not the kind of place one would expect to visit during a birding tour. But you always got to have faith in your guide especially one as accomplished as Arjin. Soon we were surrounded by a Black-capped Kingfisher and Indochinese Rollers providing ample flight shots for all the photographers present. Unfortunately, this endeavour was a little beyond the capabilities of my modest setup. The Indochinese Rollers did linger around the vicinity and resting birds are just as beautiful in my book.

Eventually I was lured away from the others by a pair of foraging Black-collared Starlings. It may be a common species to the locals here but it does not occur naturally in Peninsular Malaysia. It was a delight to observe and capture them going about their daily routine and rather vocally if I might add.

The Siamese Pied Starling is more familiar to me because it is not uncommon in the northern Malaysian states like Perlis. Like its larger cousin, this species also possesses a personality and aesthetics that is hard to resist.

Great Mynas here are the equivalent of Common Mynas back in Peninsular Malaysia. It is probably amusing to my guide and other local birders that I show so much interest in Great Mynas. Status aside, I find this species to be visually appealing.  

Elvis is in the house...

House Crows are rare or absent from this part of the country and to take their place are the bigger Large-billed Crows. The latter is no longer a common sight in Penang and a confiding individual like this one deserves a mention in this post.

Little Herons are just as common here as in Malaysia and can be found foraging along the edge of the ponds of this park.  

As always, birds are top priority for me wherever I go especially in a foreign land. But this Finlayson’s Squirrel had enough appeal to momentarily distract my attention. This species also goes by the name Variable Squirrel due to their highly variable plumage colouration and a pale variance like this individual is exquisite.

A sizable Water Monitor Lizard had its afternoon siesta interrupted unintentionally be a foreign birder exploring its territory.  

One bird that truly tugged my heart strings here in Chatuchak Park was the adorable Spotted Owlet. And any diurnal sighting of an owl is usually a mesmerizing affair.

We have encountered this species before during our trip to Cambodia and observing it again after all these years certainly brought back memories of our Cambodian adventure. And now, this little fellow has become an integral part our Thai adventure as well.

At nightfall, we reached the coastal salt farming district in the outskirts of the city. Tomorrow is a big day as we will be hunting down one of the main targets of the trip and that will be covered in my next post.

The checklists of birds recorded:

1. Bang Ban riverside

2. Chatuchak Park