Bar-bellied Pitta

A return to the ONP Trail early this morning started off quietly except for our sighting of a Heart-spotted Woodpecker as we made our way to the breakfast point. We then sat down just off the trail and watched and waited and just listened to the sounds of the forest coming to life: Germain’s Peacock-pheasant, Orange-breasted Trogon, Banded Broadbill, Asian Paradise-flycatcher, and Pale-legged Leaf-warbler amongst others were all calling. So we decided to split up and were able to cover more ground. A pair of Large Scimitar-babblers were particularly showy for this usually very shy species and the fabled Orange-necked Partridge was also heard, but it was our sighting of a male Bar-bellied Pitta flying along the path in front of us that stole the show. That was until it hopped across the path in front of us and freezing in the shadows allowing us to scrutinize its intricate and beautiful plumage for a couple of minutes before melting away. Further brief glimpses followed but never out in the open, so we returned to the lodge where we had a tasty lunch before driving a couple of hours to Kratie. The rice fields on the edge of town were pretty busy with numerous Yellow Bitterns flying over the marsh, a brief Cinnamon Bittern, Watercock, White-browed and Ruddy-breasted Crakes, Black-crowned Night-heron, Lesser Coucal, Dusky Warbler, and several Pallas’s Grasshopper-warblers also being seen. 

Bar-bellied Pitta