On our previous visit to Kaeng Krachan we did not have time to checkout the bird hides in the vicinity so this time the hides were the focus of the trip. We stayed at Samarn Bird Camp for a change, to give it a try.
There were 4 in our party and we arranged an MPV taxi from Bangkok airport to SBC with Thai Happy Taxi for ฿2,600 one way, which was less than our previous trip. The rooms at SBC were clean, comfortable and air-conditioned. The food was also quite good, but we heard it was better when Samarn's wife is there.
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| Banded Kingfisher (Lacedo pulchella)-Juv |
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| Long-tailed Broadbill (Psarisomus dalhousiae) |
We had Mr. Samarn for our guide on the first day into the KK National park and later in the evening to Mr. Yeow's hide, where the Oriental Scops Owl appeared right on schedule, like clockwork.
We spent the following morning at Uncle Sin's hide and later went on to Ban Song Nok for Auntie Aek's hide. She also has accommodation for up to 5 people with aircon (Tel. 086-048 6330). It was raining when we arrived so while waiting for the rain to slacken, we enjoyed a coffee and snack and went over our photos from the morning. Auntie Aek was delighted to ID one of our sightings from the morning as the, quite rare, Eared Pitta.
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| Eared Pitta (Hydrornis phayrei) |
Samarn seemed to concentrate on nesting birds so we had some excellent views of the parent birds feeding their young. We enjoyed our brief visit and our 3 days gave us 38 species including 3 lifers.
