Thailand - at last!

A quick walk around the hotel this morning in a very pleasant temperature resulted in some decent birds to kickstart the tour. I think pride of place goes to a small group of Java Sparrows knocking about in a dead tree. Although not native to Thailand they have been here for many years and probably what we in the UK would term a Category C species. Nice! Several Asian Koels were around and pretty vocal, whilst Common and White-vented Mynas, Zebra Dove, Spotted Dove, Red Collared-dove and Common Iora were all more expected. A male Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker lent a touch of exotic to proceedings before it was time to head inside, have breakfast and finish packing. A walkway took us into the airport and an almost uneventful flight got us to Chiang Mai just before midday.

After loading the luggage into our minibus we set off towards Doi Ang Khang, a journey of almost 3 hours. A few Indian Rollers, a Rufous-winged Buzzard, Striated Swallow and a flock of Fork-tailed Swifts were the only birds of note before the road began to wind its way up into the mountains. We made a quick rest stop alongside the road and had a brief Black-throated Sunbird and a Hair-crested Drongo before continuing ever higher. At the Chinese Cemetery we spent a pleasant couple of hours in the late afternoon sunshine. First up was a pair of Large Cuckooshrikes, followed by Chestnut-flanked White-eye, a stunning male Mrs Gould’s Sunbird and a White-browed Laughingthrush showed briefly. Further along the road we found the first of several Yellow-browed Warblers to be seen today, as well as Himalayan Swiftlet, White-throated Fantail, Hill Prinia, Grey Bushchat, Japanese Tit, Ashy and Bronzed Drongos and a Long-tailed Shrike. A bit more perseverance was necessary to get decent views of a White-browed Scimitar-babbler, and even more for Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babbler. Our bulbul list began to grow with Sooty-headed, Brown-breasted and Himalayan Black Bulbuls seen well, along with a Red-whiskered as well. At the rubbish dump we also had Silver-eared Laughingthrush, and whilst trying to tease out a male Siberian Rubythroat that did show to some of us, also picked up a few Olive-backed Pipits. So not a bad start at all and with news of  a few goodies to stake out tomorrow we retired to bed eager for the next day to come quickly….

Thailand Here We Come!

Well, it has been a while since my last post from South India and now we are firmly into 2013 i'm looking forward to the first tour of the year. I have two back-to-back trips in Thailand starting next week and thought it was a good time to reflect on some cracking birds from last year's tours - and some stunning photo opportunities this amazing country can give you.

Starting at Kaeng Krachen, if you have a small group then it is possible to get crippling views of some beautiful and skulking species.

Bar-backed Partridge

Kalij Pheasant - apparently!

Scaly-breasted Partridge

There are also a number of cool passerines coming in to the drinking pools at Kaeng Krachen, and it doesn't get much better than this male Siberian Blue Robin.

Siberian Blue Robin

But there's so much to see in Thailand and each year seems to get better and better........

The Day of the Dog

So how could we top yesterday then…..? Well on entering the safari vehicle the naturalist-guy asked kinda smugly what we’d like to go for today, having been with us yesterday afternoon for the Tiger. So naturally we said Wild Dog or Leopard which really wiped the smile off his face I can tell you. So we drove out to the open areas near the river and had a look, and there were a few birds around but I suspected it was going to be a bit dull this morning. Well how wrong can you be? As I scanned the far side of the grassland I picked up a couple of Dholes (Wild Dogs) and rather frantically said “dogs, dogs, dogs…!” Not too cool really. But then what transpired couldn’t have been more amazing as there were 7 Wild Dogs and they had tried to reach a calf Gaur which was hiding behind a group of adults just inside the forest. Then a huge bull Gaur came charging forward and tried to scare the pack away but only succeeded in getting surrounded and it looked at one point as if it would get taken down. 

Wild Dogs Attacking Gaur

But three other adult Gaurs came charging out and saved the lone bull. So the dog pack quickly gave up and settled down for a play in the middle of the meadow where they remained for several minutes, a picture of serenity and calm. But just then a couple of domestic dogs ambled out into the grassland and the Dholes saw them immediately and gave chase. They were unbelievable fast and came hurtling past our jeep and soon caught up with one of the domestic dogs and the last we saw of them was when they disappeared into the forest. The chase was enlivened by the almost Attenborough-esque commentary from Jeff although it couldn’t be repeated on a public forum such as this, but I think you were right and those domestic dogs definitely did poop themselves!

So with that excitement over we headed back to the lodge and after breakfast we left, checking out a nearby area where we had Richard’s Pipit, Malabar Lark, Indian Black Ibis, and both Woolly-necked and Painted Storks before driving on to Mysore, a long and boring journey which eventually resulted in our arrival at a nice hotel in time for a late lunch. We did check out the nearby hills a little later but saw very little, so had to settle for a lovely evening meal to round the day off nicely.

Indian Black Ibis

Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright.......!

This morning’s jeep safari took us inside the Tiger Reserve, but minus the tigers! There were plenty of Spotted Deer and the odd Wild Boar, but no predators on offer. In truth, we spent the 3 hours or so birding rather than searching for mammals, but with tape playing not allowed this severely dented our ambitions. There was plenty to look at, such as Indian Cuckoo, Bronzed and Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, Malabar Starlings, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, and Indian Pygmy Woodpecker.

 Lunch back at the ranch and a little time off in the heat of the day led to the first of two sightings of Jerdon’s Leafbird beside our cabins, and with a Short-toed Eagle and a dark-phase Booted Eagle soaring overhead just after we had been looking at a pair of Mottled Wood-owls in the gardens and we were flying! More birds here than in the reserve huh?

The afternoon jeep safari started off promisingly as we prompted the driver and park naturalist that we were primarily interested in tracking Tigers, which I think confused them a little after our protestations earlier today about only looking for birds. Well, we got a few miles inside the park and checked out a waterhole where there had been a sighting yesterday – but nothing. Then as we were driving away, we heard the alarm call of a Spotted Deer up ahead. And another. So we drove rapidly along the bumpy track and killed the engine. Waiting for more calls. And waited. Then another call moments later, so we sped off through the trees and up ahead was another jeep with all its occupants staring intently into the forest. They’d just had a Tiger walk in front of them and it melted away into the forest. Oh no! We waited and our guide and tracker looked forlorn. “Sorry” they said, as if it was all over. I was reluctant to go, so we waited a while in the forlorn hope of the beast returning. With a few glum faces in our jeep everything came sharply into focus; the responsibility mainly and having done 5 tiger tours in the past, I knew there was always a chance. So I asked the driver if there was a track running parallel to the one we were on and preferably in the direction the Tiger had gone. There was and we were off. 

Err it's a Tiger

And a few minutes later we were driving slowly along another track. Up ahead there was some movement between the trees and there it was….. a young male Tiger. I just couldn’t believe our luck. We slowly drove closer and stopped. And even though I’d seen maybe 30-40 before, seeing this majestic creature still got the pulse racing. We watched it walk on a bit further before sitting down in the middle of the track where it watched a herd of Gaur further along. It stayed for maybe ten minutes until another jeep came from the opposite direction, so it walked inside the forest and sat down again, this time partially concealed. Wow, what a sighting! To say we were buzzing afterwards is an understatement. Can’t really remember seeing anything else after that and we had a few beers to celebrate later….