The Boys are back in Northern Thailand....!

Thought i'd just post a few photos from our first full day in northern Thailand, from the fabulous mountains of Doi Ang Khang and Doi Lang. It was a really good day for some quality birds such as repeated sightings of Giant Nuthatch, 13 Black-headed Greenfinches, a pair of Pale Blue Flycatchers, male Ultramarine Flycatcher, Hodgson's Frogmouth and others. But i'm still trying to forget the pair of Rusty-naped Pittas that only myself and Nick Upton managed to see - didn't even take a photo! 

So here's a selection of the best pics from today...

Hill Blue Flycatcher

Siberian Blue Robin

A large flock of Silver-eared Mesias came in to the feeding station.

Streaked Wren-Babbler

Really loved these Black-headed Greenfinches

Himalayan Bluetail

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher

Ultramarine Flycatcher

Hodgson's Frogmouth - LIFER..!!

New Thailand Tour - Pitta Special...!

Have just posted a brand new tour to Thailand arriving in Bangkok on 28th June and departing 6th July. The emphasis of this short tour is on seeing Eared, Blue-winged, Hooded and Blue Pittas, which during this wet season period are rather vocal and dare I say it, slightly easier to locate. My current group with Nick Upton leading, has just seen an Eared Pitta at Khao Yai on 15th February 2015 - so it is possible!

Eared Pitta

Also at this time of year up to 6 species of broadbill are usually quite confiding and often nesting close or even over the roads at Khao yai and Kaeng Krachen. Other species such as Banded Kingfisher, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher and Asiatic Golden Weaver are also very confiding and offer great photo opportunities. In fact the nesting colonies of weavers (Asiatic Golden, Streaked and Baya) are quite spectacular. 

Banded Broadbill

Black-and-red Broadbill

Black-and-yellow Broadbill

Dusky Broadbill

Long-tailed Broadbill

One of the things about visiting Thailand at this time of the year is that usually the local Thai birding community has most of these species 'staked out' either at a nesting site, or a special feeding station. Last year a Giant Pitta was performing to mealworms in southern Thailand and Hodgson's Frogmouth was pinned down at a day roost in the north - so you never know.... 

For me this is all very exciting and the possibility of not just seeing a select bunch of mouth-watering birds, but seeing them extremely well is what this tour is all about. Yes it is the wet season and we expect some rain, usually in the afternoons and a few leeches, but this is THE time to go and see pittas.... Our itinerary will remain flexible and we can act on current information to make the most of our time in this fabulous country.

Just follow this link for the tour itinerary: http://www.zootherabirding.com/page_3222263.html

Eight Go Mad at the Seaside...

Left early and headed to the Phetchaburi area and staked out a small marshy area where we saw some Greater Painted Snipes, along with Chestnut Munia, Brown Shrike, and many Germain’s Swiftlets overhead, whilst some Plain-backed Sparrows and Chestnut-tailed Starlings were inspecting holes in bamboo poles. Across the road we had a Plaintive Cuckoo, Black-headed Ibis, and a frantic pair of Freckle-breasted Woodpeckers that were partaking in some courtship display.

Freckle-breasted Woodpecker - now split from Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker

Our next stop was near the abandoned building in the salt pans where an odd reed warbler type got our pulses racing and it certainly sounded and looked to me like Blyth’s Reed Warbler – one of less than ten records for Thailand. From the photos below you can see the supercilium is short and narrow behind the eye, the primary projection rules out Blunt-winged Warbler, the crown is plain, and there's an all pale lower mandible. I would welcome any comments on this bird please..............

A motley selection of poor photos of poss Blyth's Reed Warbler

Moving on to another set of salt pans we spent some time with the waders again and as well as getting more close-ups of Broad-billed and Marsh Sandpipers, both Greater and Lesser Sandplovers, Long-toed Stints, Pied Avocet and Pacific Golden Plovers, we also found 3 Asiatic Dowitchers and 14 Nordmann’s Greenshanks. 

Nice selection of waders - Asiatic Dowitcher in the foreground.

Checkout the short-billed Curlew Sandpiper - different race maybe..?

We ended with a Ruddy Shelduck, Oriental Skylark and flyby Black-eared Kite to bring our trip list up to 461 species seen in wonderful Thailand. What a great time we had here thanks to Nick Upton and for me, the close Spoonies we had a few days ago was one of the major highlights. So here's one final photo of a very busy salt pan....

Happy memories of Spoon-billed Sandpiper...

Can’t wait to return soon.......

Kaeng Krachen Rocks...!

You can’t get much better than starting the day with a pair of Black-and-red Broadbills beside the trail we were following this morning. 

Black-and-red Broadbill

To then see a close Blue-bearded Bee-eater sunning itself in a bare tree right overhead was an even better start! 

Blue-bearded Bee-eater

We then birded the forest road between the three streams and bumped into a big flock with a Banded Woodpecker being something of a surprise, along with Greater Yellownape and Bay Woodpecker. Then 6 Tickell’s Brown Hornbills flew over and landed in a large tree right overhead. We followed this with a pair of Dusky Broadbills feeding and called right overhead.

Dusky Broadbill

After lunch we drove up the hill to a fruiting tree where Greater Green Leafbird and scope views of Yellow-vented Green–Pigeon  was very satisfying. Lots of Thick-billed Green-Pigeons were also present, with a good selection of barbets as well. Afterwards we had a brief Rufous-browed Flycatcher, and eventually a group of Collared Babblers appeared. 

Collared Babbler

We finished with a large flock with Swinhoe’s Minivets, more Collared Babblers, and other previously seen species. Then a Dark-sided Flycatcher was spotted on the drive down to end another great day in Thailand.

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Broadbills.......!

There are a number of iconic SE Asian birds present in Kaeng Krachen National Park and I’m pleased to report that we saw a good selection today. We began with 4 Great Slaty Woodpeckers scoped at some distance along the main park road, followed by a pair of cracking Black-thighed Falconets. 

Black-thighed Falconet

We followed this with Black-and-yellow Broadbill and a skulking Blue Pitta. Not bad for a morning! 

Black-and-yellow Broadbill - wow!

Other species seen between 6am – 12noon included Cinnamon Bittern, Crested Serpent-Eagle, Common and Greater Flamebacks, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Grey-rumped Treeswift, Eye-browed Thrush, Ochraceous and Black-headed Bulbuls, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Thick-billed Warbler, Sultan Tit, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Thick-billed Flowerpecker, and a Golden-crested Myna. 

Grey-rumped Treeswift was new for this tour.

Sultan Tit

Ochraceous Bulbul

During lunch a Blue-eared Barbet was seen excavating a nesting hole beside the restaurant.

Blue-eared Barbet

We spent the afternoon ‘up the hill’ in search of one of the rarest birds of the tour – Ratchet-tailed Treepie. It took several hours but eventually we were rewarded with prolonged and close views of this strange-looking species. 

Ratchet-tailed Treepie

We came across a couple of large mixed-species flocks as well that held many previously seen species including Sulphur-breasted Warbler, Swinhoe’s Minivet, Black-naped Monarch, Yellow-bellied Warbler, and Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo amongst others.

Long-tailed Broadbill

We also found Rosy Minivet, Asian Paradise-Flycatcher and at least 4 delightful Long-tailed Broadbills that had been calling constantly for ages but proved extremely difficult to track down. Well that was until they decided to hang around over the road right in front of us! 

This displaying Mountain Imperial-Pigeon gave crippling views.

Overhead, a Rufous-bellied Eagle was a new raptor for us, to add to the Mountain Hawk-Eagle we had seen on the drive up.

Kaeng Krachen Hides Again...

It took a while this morning, but eventually we tracked down a Black-headed Woodpecker and enjoyed prolonged scope views in the morning sunshine. So with the major target bird under our belts we drove to a nice lodge near Kaeng Krachen National Park and were able to enjoy a little ‘free time’ before meeting for lunch. Anyway, a few of us saw Pale-legged Leaf-Warbler and an Eastern Crowned Warbler near the dining room, along with a few Greater and Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrushes.

Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush

After lunch we drove to one of secluded drinking pools and settled into the photo blinds and waited to see what would appear. As it happens it took several hours for things to kick off and apart from the laughingthrushes again nothing much happened for a while. Over the next hour or so birds started to trickle in with Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Black-naped Monarch, White-rumped Shama, Racket-tailed Treepie, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and others.

Black-naped Monarch

White-rumped Shama

Racket-tailed Treepie

Eventually, 3 Scaly-breasted Partridges came in and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when a lone Bar-backed Partridge started feeding in front of us. 

Bar-backed Partridge

Scaly-breasted Partridge

Later in the afternoon more and more birds flew in to bathe and we saw several Tickell’s Blue Flycatchers, a single female Blue-throated Flycatcher, White-bellied Erpornis, Pied Fantail, Puff-throated and Abbott’s Babblers, and a  couple of Lesser Mouse Deers also appeared. 

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher - female.

Best bird was the extremely shy Large Scimitar-babbler that appeared a couple of times – wow!!

Large Scimitar-Babbler

Large Scimitar-Babbler

Driving back to the lodge we stopped as a Large-tailed Nightjar was sat on the road and giving fine views.