Baan Song Nok and Kaeng Krachan Nat'l Park-July 2014

Hooded Pitta

Our last visit to Auntie Aek's Baan Song Nok was December before Christmas. It was a relaxing and enjoyable trip so it was an easy decision to go again with Thai Airways offer of $248 return fare to Bangkok.   As Kaeng Krachan National Park closes from Aug to Oct for the raining season, we needed to go by end July. A call to Baan Song Nok’s Auntie Aek (Tel. 086 048 6330, Facebook) confirmed they could accommodate us. We e-mailed Thai Happy Taxi (thaihappytaxi@gmail.com) to arrange our transport (B4,700 return  fare).  They will pick us at Suvarnabhumi (3 hour's drive) to Kaeng Krachan and bring us from Baan Sok Nok’s 4 days later to the airport.

Black-headed Bulbul

Our flight on Sunday 27th July was delayed but Thai Happy Taxi's driver was waiting when we walked out of the arrival hall. We bought a Thai SIM card (but signals were poor at Kaeng Krachan) and got into a nice MPV.  The driver stopped an hour at one of the highway fuel stops for us to have our lunch at Black Canyon Coffee.  When we arrived at Baan Song Nok, Auntie Aek and her daughter “X” welcomed us back. There was activity in their garden as they were in the midst of adding another unit at the former camping ground. We learned later that the workers were from Bangkok and during the 4 days of our stay there was minimal disturbance and this time we met Auntie's husband who supervised the work and he told us he will return to Bangkok in a few days time when the main structure is completed then to come again when the raining season ends to finish the inside of the building.

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker 

Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush

Pied Fantail 

Green-eared Barbet

Puff-throated Babbler

Red-legged Crake

Hill Blue Flycatcher

We spent the afternoon and the next day at their hide and the usual suspects were there, Auntie showed us her calendar recording the visit of the Green Magpie just the day before and we hoped to see it during our 4 days stay, but it did not show.
We arranged for Mr Biak, the bird guide who had guided us previously for a day to the KK National Park http://www.westernforest.org/en/areas/kaeng_krachan.htm but he was busy so another guide was recommended.

Lesser Necklaced Thrush

Mr Pia came at 6 am on Tuesday 29th and we went straight to Panoen Thun Peak.  Arriving at 7.15 am it was very misty and it started to rain. We took shelter at the canteen and met Neil and his granddaughter who had camped in a tent the night before and were waiting for the time to go down the mountain. The mist got thicker and at the back of the kitchen Mr Pia alerted us to a Yellow-throated Marten scavenging for food.  Whenever the rain stopped we walked around but it was short-lived as the drizzle returned.

Tickell's blue flycatcher-Juv

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta

Golden-fronted Leafbird 

Late morning we drove down to Bang Krang the lower camp site and tried to bird around the trees. It was quiet so we had some lunch and drove down. At the 1st stream area we saw 3 vehicles parked.  Enquiring from one of the photographers who was in one of the cars, we learned people were near the stream taking photographs of the Hooded Pitta and Black-backed Kingfisher. 

Large Scimitar Babbler

Scaly-breasted Partridge

Scaly-breasted Munia

Kalij Pheasant-F

Kalij Pheasant

Red Junglefowl-F

Crested Goshawk

We joined them and were able to get some good shots.  We left the group and continued to bird as we drove down. Although the trip up the mountain was dampened by the weather we had some good photos of the Hooded Pitta. 

On our last morning on the way to the hide at 6.30am we saw a flock of 7 Coppersmith Barbets on one tree in the garden and a surprise visitor, a juvenile Crested Goshawk, a good end to our short visit.  Thai Happy Taxi came at 10.30 am and we were off to Suvarnabhumi and home.

Hooded Pitta-Juv

Streaked Spiderhunter

Black-backed Kingfisher 

Black-throated Laughingthrush

Grey Treepie 

Pin-striped Tit-Babbler

Baan Song Nok Birds  Kaeng Krachan Nat'l Park Birds

June in Panti Bird Sanctuary, Johor

We made a number of visits to the Panti Bird Sanctuary in June and there were still some birds nesting and we saw many active young birds.

Rufous-backed Kingfisher

Banded Kingfisher

The weather has been dry recently and there was some dust kicked up from passing vehicles, but not as much as in some previous years, given that the  logging is no longer underway.

Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike

Scarlet Minivet

We were lucky to see a number of birds that are not commonly seen outside the forests and saw many young, Black-naped Monarchs chasing each other in the trees.

Black-naped Monarch 

Asian Fairy-bluebird

We also came across a group of 5 Dusky Broadbills all helping to build a really huge nest. This communal nest building is evidently common.

Dusky Broadbill 

Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker 

Early one morning we saw a pair of Cinnamon-headed Green Pigeons which was a lifer for us and an unexpected bonus.

Cinnamon-headed Green Pigeon

Common Tailorbird 

  

Fluffy-backed Tit-Babbler

Considering the pace of development in the area, it was good to see that most of the species are still managing to survive and many are flourishing.

Fraser's Hill Bird Race 2014

The Fraser's Hill Bird Race is held annually in June. We decided to give it a try this year, and we had a really fun weekend. There was a good crowd, probably the most people we had ever seen, in Fraser's. Each team consists of three persons and this year there were 25 entries, half the number of last year. Evidently this is a World Cup phenomenon that has been noticed previously.

Common Green Magpie (Cissa chinensis)

At 1 pm on Saturday 21st June the race kicked off, and finished 24 hours later, when the log-books need to be submitted before 1 pm on Sunday. During the race, each log-book also had to be stamped by marshals at 4 checkpoints, to ensure you were in the locations where the species are seen at the time you recorded them.

Our team consisted of myself, my wife and her brother Tat. Our "race" was definitely laid-back and it really helped that we had a car to drive to the further locations.We were happy with 41 birds logged (and a White-thighed Leaf Monkey). Some "little brown jobs" were unidentifiable and missed getting into the count.

Large Niltava (Niltava grandis)-Juv

After lunch on Sunday we attended the closing ceremony and could not  believe it when our team  "Funseekers" was announced as, the 2nd Runner-up in the Novice category. A bonus to our fun trip. This is an incentive to return for next year's Bird Race.

There were a number of exhibitors on hand, including Minox, Steiner and Swarovski, where you could get your hands on the latest Binos, Scopes ans other gadgets as well as  information on other birding and nature locations in Malaysia. 

Rufous-browed Flycatcher (Anthipes solitaris)

                                              FH Bird Race 2014

Golden Babbler (Stachyridopsis chrysaea)

Birding Chiang Dao and Doi Lang with Friends - March 2014

Silver Pheasant (Lophura nycthemera)

An invitation from, our friend Lioe, to join their trip saw us back again in Doi Lang/Doi Angkhang. We had been here last September, but the chance of new birds was enough for us. We flew Tiger Airways on the 15th directly to Chiangmai from Singapore and stayed the night in the Old City.

Sunday morning at 5 am Uthai collected us from our guesthouse and we were soon on our way to the Chiangdao temple.   

Silver Pheasant (Lophura nycthemera)

At the top of the temple forest we were very lucky to see the beautiful Silver Pheasant strutting its stuff. There were other birds, of course, but this was definitely the standout of the morning.

After an excellent American breakfast at the nearby Nest resort, we were heading for Angkhang and the Ban Luang Resort, where we had stayed 2 years ago. 

Siberian Blue Robin (Luscinia cyane)-F

Ban Luang is a great place to see birds and a favourite with local birders.

The garden has plenty fruit trees and there is a waterfall and stream only metres away.

White-browed Scimitar Babbler (Pomatorhinus schisticeps)

Some of the winter migrants had already left on their way home but there was still much to see. There were White-browed Scimitar Babblers nesting not far from our room.

Taiga Flycatcher (Ficedula albicilla)

We visited the King's Project and had good views of the Hill Blue Flycatcher, White-tailed Robin, Rufous-bellied Niltava, White-capped Redstart, Taiga Flycatcher and a pair of Silver-eared Mesia.

White-tailed Robin (Myiomela leucura)

White-tailed Robin (Myiomela leucura)

Hill Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis banyumas)

Rufous-bellied Niltava (Niltava sundara)

White-capped Redstart (Chaimarrornis leucocephalus)

Silver-eared Mesia (Leiothrix argentauris)

Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush (Monticola rufiventris) -F

Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)

We drove to the  Thai-Burma Border at Nor-Lae lookout; enjoyed the view and saw the Daurian Redstart very clearly. Later we visited Doi Pha Hom Pok Nat'l Park and got the Eurasian Kestrel, Asian Barred Owlet and Olive-backed Pipit among or sightings.

We then drove to Fang and checked in at the Vieng Kaew Resort for a good nights rest before hitting Doi Lang next morning.

Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus)

Asian Barred Owlet (Glaucidium cuculoides)

Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni)

At 6 am we were on our way and spotted a Yellow-throated Marten crossing the road, followed soon after by a pair of Mountain Bamboo Partridges, one of our target birds. unfortunately no Mrs Hume's Pheasant!

Mountain Bamboo Partridge (Bambusicola fytchii)

Rufous-bellied Niltava (Niltava sundara)-F

Along the way, with the help of Uthai, we lured the Ultramarine Flycatcher out for some very good views.

Ultramarine Flycatcher (Ficedula superciliaris)

Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler (Pomatorhinus erythrogenys)

Later we saw the White-browed Laughingthrush, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler and feeding above in some red flowers were the Grey-headed Parrotbill, Spot-breasted Parrotbill and one Eyebrowed Thrush. On a low branch near to our hide was a nesting Hodgson's Frogmouth, which we tried not to disturb.

Siberian Rubythroat

Hodgson's Frogmouth

The following morning we tried again for Mrs Hume's with no luck, but we did see the the Siberian Rubythroat before she headed North.
In the afternoon we headed back to Chiangmai and stayed, again, in the Old City for our last night.
We enjoyed the trip, even though we missed some of the migrants, and still managed 7 lifers.
Link to Chiang Dao Photos Doi Angkhang Photos Doi Lang Photos