Babblers part two

 

This is the only picture I can get to download.  Not a bad bird though, Whiskered Treeswift.  I am having a torrid time with Blogger right now so will probably change to another site.  I will post later if and when I change.  I am told using the technology should be intuitive.  I rest my case.

Babble, babble, babblers.

Last week we booked with Ian Dugdale and Games Petsri to guide Eunice and I around Hala Bala in the deep south of Thailand, bordering Malaysia.  It is a unique wildlife area of rich forest which has been undisturbed and, as a result, is full of towering trees and luxuriant tree ferns. It is the home of much wildlife that can only be found in the forests of this part of Thailand.  It is also the home of considerable insurgancy campaign which has caused the death of over 2000 people over the past few years resulting in the area being sparcely visited by tourists including birdwatchers and naturalists.  During Ramadan this year a truce has been declared which seems to have resulted in a lower level of activity on both sides.  Ian certainly felt there was a significant reduction in the number of road blocks we had to pass through and we experienced no problems during our stay of six days.  The accommodation expected at the HQ was not available so it was fairly basic with squat toilets and a lilo but this did nothing to detract from the outstanding birdwatching experience.  The food was copious, extremely tasty and predominately fishy.

The area lived up to all expectations and Ian and Games were outstanding in facilitating our stay both in its organisation and the their knowledge of where and how to find birds.  It  was a fest of babblers, woodpeckers and hornbills with a supporting cast of three species of trogon and owls.

I was going to add some pictures but the instructions for writing this blog are mostly in Thai which is extremely frustrating to a techie like me and so I will have to continue on a new posting which I will call Babblers part two.

Chiang Mai July 2013

Had a good run north last week with Emma and Amber.  It was great to get together for a while.  Called at Mae Wong first for an overnight camp and I went to Chong Yen where I connected with a surprisingly large number of birds.  Unfortunately the cloud was low so it was fairly foggy and windy and this kept the birds down.  I just missed the Rufous-necked Hornbills by a few minutes but saw a couple of Long-tailed Sibia, Long-tailed Broadbill, Silver-eared Mesia and Chestnut-crowned Warbler to name but a few.

We then made our way to Chiang Mai and then to Malees.  Green-billed Malkoha showed well as did Asian Fairy Bluebird and Asian Paradise Flycatcher.  A Crested Goshawk regularly displayed over Malees as the day warmed up.

Common Tailorbirds seemed to be everywhere....

A pair of Puff-throated Babbler were also very obliging as well.

The Bird of Paradise flower was impossible for this streaked Spiderhunter to resist but it must make a welcome change from banana flowers.

We were pleased to see a couple of Rhesus monkeys at the Wat and we found another on the Checkpoint road.  It was the first time we have seen monkeys.

Eunice and I travelled up to Doi Lang for day which was never going to be a long enough time.  It was pleasing that even at this time of year there were plenty of birds to see but the thick green foliage made them tricky to get onto for any length of time so good views were hard to get. However, this Slaty-bellied Tesia showed well as did the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush.

Birds of prey were in short supply but a Mountain Hawk Eagle showed well.  The good news is that the broken road has been mended at Km 41 and we could travel the full length of both east and west sides without turning round.  The repair is a massive piece of work but it is already starting to erode in the heavy rains so I don't know how long it will last!

Female Little Pied Flyctacher.

Striated Bulbuls were pretty showy.  Other highlights were Spot-throated Babbler, Brown-throated Treecreeper, Whiskered Yuhina, loads of Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Yellow-bellied Fantail and Black-eared Shrike Babbler, Red-faced Liochichla, Blue-winged Minla, Spectacled Barwing, Rufous-backed Sibia, Silver-eared Laughing Thrush, White-tailed Robin and Large Niltava. I had planned it as an exploratory visit for next winter but there was still loads to see.We also had this snake chasing a frog.  Any ideas?

I can't wait to get back this winter and spend some time exploring the area in more depth.  Back to Doi Chiang Dao.  Early one morning this young Crested Serpent Eagle showed well.  It was reluctant to fly as it was still a bit too cool at 21 degrees!

Marlees we spent quite a lot of time along the Checkpoint road, especially at the highest point.  The road gets up to 1200 metres at this point and it seemed pretty productive.  Maroon Oriole showed well, Grey-capped Woodpecker, Plain Flowerpecker, Yellow-eyed Babbler which was a surprise, Sultan Tit, Ashy Bulbul and probable Deignan's Babbler.  These latter birds seemed surprisingly different as they were darker on the underside and showed more contrasting grey area behind the eye.

Birds of interest around the Wat were Banded Kingfisher, 14 Wedge-tailed Green Pigeons, 12 White-headed Bulbuls, Brown Needletail, Drongo Cuckoo, Bay-banded Cuckoo, Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike, Bay Owl and Orange-bellied Leafbird.  I think the girls enjoyed themselves as well.  By way of a contrast we are off to Hala Bala on Wednesday with Ian and Games.

Banded Kingfisher

Rufescent Prinia

Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

Kaeng Krachan 4th to 6th May 2013

Eunice's birthday and a long holiday weekend gave us the excuse to take a trip to our favourite reserve - Kaeng Krachan - Thailand's largest National Park.  As always it didn't disappoint and we clocked over 110 species in 2 1/2 days.  At this time of year the pittas are holding territory and broadbills are particularly easy to see as they visit their pendular nests over the track.  There is also a chance of finding the odd migrant, last year we had Tiger Shrike and this year it was Ferruginous Flycatcher (km 35).  The forests are alive with bird call.  Cuckoos were particularly vociferous with a number of Drongo Cuckoo and an Indian Cuckoo calling.  At this time of year many of the birds are nesting and easy to see. Other interesting sightings were Rachet-tailed Treepie, Red-bearded Bee-eater, Black-thighed Falconet and Banded Kingfisher.  The birds lasted to the very end as a splendid Black Eagle flew only metres away from us as we left the park    The surprise bird of the weekend was a pair of Crested Jay at stream 3 in the evening.

 The distinctive chattering call of Crested Jay can be heard on this recording.

Female Banded Kingfisher

 Male Banded Kingfisher.

 Hooded Pitta.

 Ferruginous Flycatcher

 Red-bearded Bee-eater

 Rachet-tailed Treepie. 

 A couple of Black-thighed Falconets passing food to each other.

 A pair of Black and Red Broadbills at approximately km 13

Black Eagle.  This bird was being mobbed by a drongo as it slowly lifted into the air.

Ang Rue Nai Saturday 27th April 2013

After our successful visit in February, we thought we'd try and camp to get the best out of the early morning.  Previously, the warden, Khun Im, had seemed to suggest that we could camp with no problem.  So when we bowled up at 3.30pm we were optimistic about staying the night.  However it was not to be and we were not even allowed into the main part of the reserve!  It seems like we needed another piece of paper that has to be collected from elsewhere.  If anyone knows more and can help out then please let us know.

However we decided to make the best of what remained of the day by birding near the headquarters, which proved to be pretty successful.  Highlights included: a pair of Dusky Broadbill, Black and Red Broadbill, singing Banded Broadbill, several Red-breasted Parakeets, Black Drongo on a nest, Silver-rumped Needletail, 2 Green Imperial Pigeons, Black Baza, Brown Shrike, several Dollar Birds and several singing Blue-winged Pitta.

On a nearby reservoir at Tha Takiap, birds of interest included: 2 Pied Kingfisher, 15 Oriental Pratincole and Oriental Skylark.

In total 63 species - not bad for a couple of hours birding!

 One of the pair of Dusky Broadbills

 Black and Red Broadbill

 The nest of a Black Drongo

A few of the many Thick-billed Pigeons.

Kaeng Krachan 9th & 10th March

 This weekend we made yet another trip to Kaeng Krachan and as always it never disappoints!  Almost our first bird was a pair of Chestnut-breasted Malkoha.  There seemed a bit of a movement of raptors on Saturday as 4 Black Baza, a Grey-faced Buzzard and at least 10 Oriental Honey Buzzards flew over.  Pacific Swift and Asian House Martin were also around in good numbers.

 We found this pair of Buff-breasted Babblers at km 29.  Shortly afterwards we enjoyed this beautiful pair of Long-tailed Broadbills, which were with 3 Rachet-tailed Treepies.

The morning had started well with a male Banded Kingfisher at km 23 although we didn't see the breeding pair at km 28.  At km 30 Eunice found the bird of the weekend, which was a Silver Oriole.  It returned to the fruiting tree twice in the course of a couple of hours, but sadly easy enough to photograph.

  Doves and pigeons were well represented with Little Cuckoo Dove on the road and a couple of Yellow-vented Green Pigeons at km 22.  There were also the usual Thick-billed Green Pigeons.

 At Banmaka a Black-hooded Oriole was very showy. 

 The star mammal was this Golden Jackal which ran along the road in front of us for a kilometre and even posed for photographs, as you can see above.  This was at about km12 (near the elephant salt licks).

Just before stream 1 we saw and photographed this male Violet Cuckoo.

 Hornbills were in evidence with both Brown (Tickell's) and Oriental Pied Hornbills both attending nests and good numbers of Wreathed Hornbills flying over.

At Bang Krang campsite Common Flameback and 3 Green Magpie were easily seen.  Other birds of interest over the weekend were: plenty of Banded Broadbill singing, Intermediate Egret and a pair of Little-ringed Plover at the entrance and good numbers of Vernal Hanging Parrot.  We also had Speckled Piculet, Swinhoe's, Rosy and Scarlet Minivets and Sultan Tit.  In total 116 species within the national park.  A great weekend!

Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary

Saturday 23rd to Monday 25th February 2013

This was our second visit to this fascinating reserve, which is located 2 1/2 hours due east of Bangkok.  Last time (September 2012) it was large numbers of Blue-throated Bee-eaters that created interest, but floods causing an impassable stream, resulted in us turning round before travelling more than 5 km.  This time there was no such problem and we were able to press on a further 15 km into the forest.  Highlights included:

Oriental Cuckoo

Silver-backed Needletail

Green Imperial Pigeon















White-throated Rock Thrush

Mountain Hawk Eagle

Banded Broadbill

at least 15 Siamese Flamebacks

Mammals included:

Pileated Gibbon

Red Muntjac