Malacca - March 2012

A four day driving trip to checkout some of the birding spots in the Malacca and Muar vicinity. Our main focus was Batang Tiga, a popular birding area of rice fields.

After a quick detour to Panti Forest on the way, we headed for Ayer Keroh, where we checked into the Seri Hotel and had lunch, arriving at Batang Tiga at around 4 pm.

We had little difficulty seeing the birds including Munias, Weaver, Black-winged Kite, Drongo, Egrets, Bee-eaters, Pond herons, Fantail and last but not least the Asian Openbills, of which there must have been 30 to 40 still in residence. We had heard the Openbills had been here for several  weeks, so we were probably lucky they had not all migrated.

Next day was quiet with a walk around the Ayer Keroh Botanical Gardens and a change of hotel to the Puri Hotel in the centre of Malacca old town. Following morning was back to Batang Tiga and more birds including Eastern Marsh Harrier, Common kingfisher, Brahminy Kite and Common Sandpiper.
In the afternoon a quick trip to Pantai Penyengat, south of Muar was not very productive, maybe bad timing.

Another night in Malacca and homeward bound!

Krabi - February 2013

We thought we would try a short break in Krabi from 4 - 8 Feb. staying in Ao Nang.

Although not a serious birding trip we did try our luck one morning around the Mangrove Boardwalk near Krabi town, but we were disappointed with few birds sighted and nothing really notable.

We arranged transport to Khao Nor Chu Chi (KNC) for the following morning thinking we might get lucky with the Gurney's Pitta. But no such luck.

We covered some of the walks in the sanctuary but there were many visitors, especially large groups of school children on their nature appreciation trip, and without a guide we only managed hear the Gurney's Pitta, not even a glimpse. We will organize a guide for our next trip to KNC.

Even though the birds were not cooperating we still enjoyed our stay in Krabi.

Kaeng Krachan - November 2012

On 26 November after a short flight on Tiger Airways we arrived in Bangkok and were met by Tom from Baan Maka, who soon had all our gear stowed in the Jeep and next stop was Kaeng Krachan.

We had booked Mr Piak to guide us and the first day we crossed the three streams and birded up to Panontung (974m).

The second day we birded around the Ban Krang campsite before continuing up to Panontung and the bamboo groves, where we had some super views of the Pin-tailed Parrotfinches.

The third day we birded in the morning and after lunch we drove on to Cha-Am for a couple days R&R before returning home to Singapore.

We managed 83 species with a few lifers and really enjoyed the stay. We planned to return in the future to checkout the "hides".

Khao Yai Nat’l Park–November 2012

We took Air Asia to Bangkok 12 November together with Lioe and Jacky. Uthai, our guide, met at the airport and off to Khao Yai we went.

We stayed 5 days in a 3 bedroom chalet inside the park which was quite clean and comfortable.





We managed to see the Silver Pheasant and the Siamese Fireback among the 84 species spotted, a very satisfying and enjoyable trip.

Sri Lanka 18-25 October 2012

When Tiger Airways started their flight to Colombo it was good reason to revisit Sri Lanka again.  Our flight on Tiger Airways arrived at 11pm on Thursday and there to meet us was Upali our guide from Starron Bird and Wildlife Tours.   There were 7 in our group, and we were glad to get into a 15-seater bus that gave us a lot of space, in view that 4 of us had cameras and tripods.   This time we went from Colombo following the west coast to Chilaw where we stayed the first night.   Our first bird in the morning were the crows calling in the morning but as we walked to the beach we could hear the woodpecker calling.   Next stop was another beach famous for whale and dolphin watching but it was not the season yet although at Dolphin Beach one group came back with sightings of Bottlenose not far from shore.  Our next stop at Kalpitiya produced an Indian Pitta and the highlight of the 8 day trip was the jeep safari to Wilpattu National Park where we sighted a leopard just metres from our jeep.   We also visited the ancient city of Anuradhapura where the Sri Lanka first kingdom began and where one of Buddha’s collar-bone is  kept in one of the stupas.  At the tanks on the way to the ancient city we were lucky to see lots of waders including the Common Coot.  Our last stop was Habarana where were stayed at TOC  The Other Corner where we had happy memories of our two previous visits.   The tank here was surprisingly dry so we did not see as many water birds as we expected.   However within the gardens of TOC and along the bund we had good views of many species like the Prinias, Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher, Brown-capped Babbler and the Shikra.  There was also at least 4 Indian Pittas calling which were too shy to show.  All too soon our trip was coming to an end and on the last day it was a long drive after lunch to Katunayaka for dinner at the Tamarind Tree before  checking-in for the late night flight home.

25 June - Chek Jawa, Last Guided Public Walk of 2012

Public walks to the Chek Jawa sandbar will be suspended due to need to replace the Floating Pontoon. It is scheduled to re-open in December. Here's a few photographs from the last walk.

SGF 2012 Appreciation Dinner

Some shots from the dinner, which was very well attended and well organized.