Tmatboey - 1st March

Another early start saw us driving along another bumpy forest track, this time to a nice riparian forest along a river where we spent the next few hours scanning from an open area. We hadn’t been here long when one of our local guides came rushing back and told us of a Pale-capped Pigeon feeding in a fruiting tree nearby so we dashed over and sure enough – there it was. An Oriental Pied Hornbill and Green Imperial-pigeon joined in the fun as well. Then an Orange-breasted Trogon began calling and played cat-and-mouse before flying in high over our heads. This spot also had a confiding Abbott’s Babbler calling away from a bare branch and a Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher.  Back at the viewing area we enjoyed a really good picnic breakfast and 3 Violet Cuckoos that seemed to be in the process of some type of display as they chased each other across the treetops in front of us. There was also a Stork-billed Kingfisher present along the river, a couple of Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, Green-billed Malkoha, Two-barred Warbler and several Van Hasselt’s Sunbirds amongst others. Our afternoon walk was pretty quiet save for another Brown Fish-owl, Brown Hawk-owl, Oriental Honey-buzzard, Woolly-necked Stork, Radde’s Warbler, and 3 Giant Ibis. As we walked back to the vehicles we finally nailed a Burmese Shrike that flew around us calling to add to the Rufescent Prinia and Changeable Hawk-eagle seen earlier – our only new additions to the list this afternoon. A pair of Collared Scops-owls were calling in the evening as we drove back to the lodge, but despite a lot of legwork trying to find them they just didn’t cooperate.

Abbott's Babbler