Home of wildlife - Part 1

 

Khao Yai National Park is a pristine landscape that provides sanctuary to countless species of flora and fauna. I knew about this park even before I started birding. Naturally, I was excited for my maiden visit and what it has in store for me. We were just minutes from the main entrance when our guide did a detour. We stopped just outside the borders of the park because that particular locality is a known birding hotspot. As always, have faith in your guide. True enough, the diagnostic wing beats of a hornbill echoed across the vicinity and very few things in life can rival the emotional whirlwind caused by coming face to face with a Great Hornbill first thing in the morning.

I have been birding a long time and through the decades, I have come across a number of truly remarkable species. And believe me when I tell you this behemoth of a bird deserves a place right up there among the best. And it has been too long since I last saw one in the wild.

The smaller Oriental Pied Hornbills were also recorded in vicinity. Naturally, they were overshadowed by their bigger relative. And I only began to take notice of this male once the Great Hornbill was gone.

Another species that I cannot help but to take notice are the Red-breasted Parakeets. Apart from increasing my global life list, they occur here in exceptionally high numbers.  However, they seem to always perch on the tallest trees and good photographic opportunities were hard to come by.

Parakeets are also known to mate for life and this pair certainly appeared to be in the loving mood judging from their public display of affection.

Eventually I did find a lone male perched lower than the rest. It may not be the perfect shot but it will do.

This locality is also the domain of an impressive nocturnal predator and we were fortunate enough to be shown a roosting individual. This trip has been great so far when it comes to owls. This was the fourth species and I can confidently say the best although there are two more days before this Thai adventure ends. The Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl bears some resemblance to the Barred Eagle-Owl back home. But it is bigger and a lot more imposing. When it looks our way, I am grateful I do not form part of its diet.

The Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl alone was a good enough reason to delay our entry into the home of wildlife which is the tagline of the national park. Every bit of birding inevitably effects the lives of the birds that we birders revere. The goal is to keep our intrusion to a minimum. Not only for the sake of the birds but also to give to others a chance to enjoy what you have just experienced.

We spent roughly two day exploring Khao Yai National Park and the one of the first birds to greet our photographic intentions was the diminutive Collared Owlet. Ironically, every owl encounter so far in our trip took place in the daytime. But I for one, am not complaining.

Any habitat that houses hornbills should and must be conserved. The park authorities here are doing a great job and these winged rhinos are still able to roam freely (and safely) within its borders. A male Great Hornbill gorging on a fruiting tree just next to the access road is proof of that.

Resting comfortably in the canopy level of the forest was this male Wreathed Hornbill. The lighting was getting harsh by then and the bird was not exactly close. Still, it was a picture of bliss as we observed him preening and watching the world go by.

Another male was recorded during our exploration of the park. Although this species not be able to conjure up as much emotions as the Great Hornbill, the photographic opportunity provided was so much better.

One glance at the Black-crested Bulbuls found here and any Malaysian birder will notice the red throat that this subspecies possesses that is absent from the ones back home.

Whenever the opportunities present themselves, I would try to improve my images of these ‘red-throated’ Bulbuls.

Quite a number of Bulbuls require scrutiny to determine their identifications. This is pretty much the case for the Puff-throated Bulbul until I found out from my guide that the similar-looking Ochraceous Bulbul, a species I am very familiar with, does not occur here.

I guess sooner or later I have to man-up and write about these two particular species of Bulbuls that I encountered in central Thailand. There are four almost-identical Bulbul species that occur in this country. Luckily, the Olive and Buff-vented Bulbuls (which I have encountered both before) are restricted to the southern region. In Kaeng Krachan National Park, I tried my best to obtain a record shot of the Baker’s Bulbul but it got the better of me on every one of those few occasions our paths crossed. I fared much better in this national park and obtained what should be (after I have given my all in confirming the identification) Grey-eyed Bulbuls.

Fruiting trees are always a good place to stop for a look. We were fortunate to come across a few next to each at one of the camp grounds. Naturally, we spent a considerable amount of time here. And lucky we did. I had a brief encounter with the Golden-crested at the last national park we visited. This time, we had a pair and they stayed considerably longer. By the way, a pair of Common Hill Mynas also alighted on the same tree but they were out of the picture - naturally.

Although not exactly ‘feather-counting’ quality, I obtained the improvement shots I so badly wanted. There is this occasional occurrence in birding when once you finally unblocked a species that you have been trying to do so for many years, it will no longer be as difficult anymore. My second Golden-crested Myna in four days - unbelievable.

Here is an image of the female which finally received my attention when the male moved further away.

The fruiting tree also attracted three species of barbets and all of them new to me. The Green-eared Barbet is probably the most confiding and when any member of this family of birds performs well, one must take full advantage of it. Lord knows barbets can be difficult to photograph due to their preference for the highest canopies.

The plumage coloration of the Green-eared Barbet may not be as striking as some of the others but being new to me is novelty that surpasses beauty.

Because of the recent split, the Blue-eared Barbet was replaced in my life list by the Black-eared Barbet. There was not much reason to celebrate when the Blue-eared Barbet was re-entered back into my life list here in Thailand. Perhaps it was the least interesting to me and I did not put much effort in obtaining a photograph. The Moustached Barbet, on the other hand, had my full attention. The availability of food also made it forgo its natural instincts and provided excellent views which was a true blessing. And emotions certainly ran high for us at the fruiting trees...

In Southeast Asia, there are very few species that can rival Hanging-Parrots in terms of cuteness. Past experiences with the Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrot back home have taught me that they are not exactly easy to photograph. In this neck of the woods, the Vernal Hanging-Parrot replaces it and we were delighted to find a small flock patronizing one of the fruiting trees. I could not help but to feel a little disappointed because I think they were all females or immatures and none of them had a red bill.

It was the same outcome when we encountered these parrots again suggesting it was the same flock. One of the birds ventured exceptionally low, upside down and looking simply adorable. And the disappointment gradually faded away.

Then I caught sight of a single bird resting a little further from the flock. Unless my eyes (and camera) betrayed me, it had a significantly redder bill. But the blue tinge on throat does not give me enough confidence to call it a male.

I think it is safe to say that the Black Giant Squirrels in both the national parks we have been to are exceptionally confiding by nature. With fruiting trees as an enticement, one can almost reach out and touch them on the tail.

The Finlayson’s Squirrel is another stunning species drawn to the fruits and capturing a few images was and including it in my post was the least I could do. One thing that I noticed here is there are not as many birders present when compared to Kaeng Krachan National Park. Even at the fruiting tree we basically had the place to ourselves.

To be continued…

It's a fallout!

The state of Perlis is capable of producing birding surprises due to its close proximity with neighbouring Thailand and the fact it houses some of the least explored birding sites in the country. The commencement of the migratory season is always a good time for a trip up to the northernmost tip of the peninsular and together with Hock Kee and Michael, we arrived at the border post of Wang Kelian in good time. I guess it is a blessing that this is not a popular entry point into Thailand. A crowd would have hindered our efforts to try for Malaysia’s first record of the Vernal Hanging-Parrot – a species missing from our checklist despite occurring just beyond the border. There was a healthy numbers of Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrots in the vicinity and every flock was given its due attention. In the end, they were the only parrot species present. The male Blue-crowned Hanging-Parrots are absolutely adorable and striking as well but they hardly provided any good photographic opportunities. And I had to settle for record shots this time.

There is a phrase that I adhere to when it comes to birding and it is known as Murphy’s Law. Out of all the parrots present, a plain juvenile proved to be most confiding and outperformed the better looking adults. Murphy’s Law? You bet it is...

Perlis State Park is not usually part of my birding circuit nowadays as I find the bird activities there relatively low. The revised admission rate for cameras just became another hindrance because it is simply exorbitant. Having said that, this park still has the potential of providing Peninsular Malaysia’s first Fulvous-chested Jungle-Flycatcher as it is found in the forest on the other side of the border. This and the possibility of other interesting passage migrants was good enough a motivation for me to enter the borders of this park again after a lapse of three years.

Luckily, it was a decision I did not live to regret. The number of passage migrants present were overwhelming to say the least. This fallout was like something out of the movies. To be more precise, the movie The Big Year. Although not quite in the same magnitude, it is probably as good as it will get in real life here in Malaysia. Throughout the morning, we saw around 20 individuals of Amur Paradise-Flycatchers. I am quite sure this is the biggest number I have ever seen in a single day and it was almost surreal. On one occasion, we found ourselves surrounded by at least four of these elegant flycatchers. Unfortunately they in turn, were surrounded by branches. It was a vicious cycle. The dense vegetation and the active nature of the birds hampered most of my photographic efforts.

My lucky break came when one Amur Paradise-Flycatcher foraged lower than the others and alighted briefly on an exposed perch. And I obtained, what would be, my best image of this flycatcher phenomenon.

There were a few white-phased males present as well and I have long yearned for a reasonably good photo of one with the long flowing tail and all. To my dismay, all of them were lacking the long streamers.

Even without streamers, the white males are still a feast for the eyes. It is the only passerine with an almost full white plumage that occurs in the forest of Malaysia and it literally floats through the foliage of the forest when in search of prey. Anyway, there was one with the elongated tail feathers but he managed to give me the slip only to be seen by Hor Kee alone.  You guessed it - Murphy’s Law.

As for our quest for the Fulvous-chested Jungle-Flycatcher, it was another futile attempt just like the Vernal Hanging-Parrots in the morning. But the encounters with not one but three Brown-chested Jungle-Flycatchers minutes apart fully compensated our disappointment or mine at least. This would be my third ever encounter after all these years of birding because I do not have much luck with this uncommon migrant. It has a preference for the darkest parts of the forest understorey and inevitably, both my gear and I were put to the test. Judging from the quality of the photo, I do not see the need to elaborate more on the matter.

I managed slightly better images from our second encounter but they were still nothing to shout about. When we encountered the third individual in almost identical conditions, I gave up shooting altogether and enjoyed the moment old school way - through binoculars.

The fallout was not all flycatchers though. We saw a number of Tiger Shrikes as well. The majority seen were juveniles and the absence of the eye mask literally make their eyes pop out. 

There was one adult male and he was still sporting some of his stunning summer plumage. Like all the other passage migrants, these stopovers is where the Tiger Shrike refuel for the remaining part of their migration. And a juicy Katydid will certainly do.

Brown Shrikes were plentiful too and for some of these common migrants, they have reached their wintering ground here in Perlis state.

I did not expect much from the resident species found here in the park as they are far and few. The appearance of male Lesser Cuckooshrike during one of the few small birdwaves certainly had our attention. After all, the almost similar-looking Black-winged Cuckooshrike has yet to cross the border into Malaysia.

On the way back, we swung by the vast open country of Chuping. It was still a little early in the year for this location but we were hoping to catch some passage migrants there as well. The landscape has not changed much from last season and I am most grateful for that.

It was good to see the local population of Little Grebes making a comeback at the lake area. At one time, it was difficult just even to see one here. Now, you can find dozens paddling about without much effort.

It comes as no surprise that to wrap things up for the day was another migrant flycatcher. The Asian Brown Flycatcher may be the commonest flycatcher of all the migrants but we still had to put it under scrutiny to avoid mistaking a rarer species for it because these flycatchers can look frustratingly similar.