Lung Sin Hide at Kaeng Krachen

OK ok so i've posted lots of photos from this place over the years but the truth is that this is such a great site and such an awesome experience. Whether you are taking photos with your slr or bridge camera, you just can't fail to get some impressive shots.

This visit turned up a few new species that i've never come across before and I managed to get some reasonable pics of all of them, apart from a Grey-faced Woodpecker......

Banded Bay Cuckoo

Common Emerald Dove

Common Green Magpie

Kalij Pheasant

Large Scimitar-Babbler & Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush

Of course there were the usual birds present, so here's a section of my best pics........

Bar-backed Partridge

Black-Naped Monarch

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Puff-throated Babbler

Racket-tailed Treepie

Red Junglefowl

Stripe-throated Bulbul

Tickell's  Blue Flycatcher

Kaeng Krachen

I really love birding the forest of Kaeng Krachen, as there are just so many good birds to see here plus there's really good potential to get a few more southern species that occasionally pop up here. Our list of birds for this site over just a couple of days reads like a "Who's Who" of mouthwatering crackers..... Ratchet-tailed Treepie, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Black-thighed Falconet, Long-tailed, Black-and-red and Black-and-yellow Broadbills, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Violet and Asian Emerald Cuckoos, Golden-crested Myna, Red-throated Barbet, Crested Jay, Tickell's Brown and Great Hornbills and Heart-spotted Woodpecker being amongst some of my personal favourites.

Here's a few photo's..... 

Asian Fairy Bluebird

Black-and-yellow Broadbill

Great Hornbill

Orange-breasted Trogon

Red-bearded Bee-eater

A Few Videos from Thailand.....!

Have been playing around with the video function of my Nikon D7200 whilst spending time at the numerous feeding stations and water holes on my recent Thailand tour.  See what you think......?

This Dark-sided Thrush was seen every time we walked along the boardwalk at the top of Doi Inthanon. It's a bona fide Zoothera thrush and gets my pulse racing every time.

Now who can't be moved by this Siberian Rubythroat.....?

Loved this Northern Red-flanked Bluetail... A bit brief but it's such a sexy bird....!

And best of all, the Rusty-naped Pitta from Doi Ang Khang. A little too close i'm afraid...!

Pak Thale and Laem Pak Bia - Shorebird Heaven

The shorebird heaven of Phetchaburi Province is home to a small wintering population of Spoon-billed Sandpipers and that is obviously the major draw here. And quite right too! Classified as Critically Endangered by BirdLife International they state that there are only 240 - 400 mature individuals left in the wild and this site is undoubtedly the 'easiest' place for visiting birders to go and see this very special bird. We found 3 spoonies, one of which had a green leg flag from the reintroduction project. The worrying thing here is that the owner of these salt pans is considering closing them to visiting birders due to a few instances of bad behaviour........

Spoon-billed Sandpiper

Click here to go to the "Saving the Spoon-billed Sandpiper " website.

The other major target species here is Nordmann's Greenshank, classified as Endangered by BirdLife International with a reputed 330 - 670 mature individuals. They are always difficult to get close too but this year we had our best views ever of several groups and enjoyed watching them on repeated occasions.

Nordmann's Greenshanks and Great Knots at distance

Nordmann's Greenshanks by Nick Upton

Asian Dowitchers have been rather more erratic this year and it wasn't until our last morning in the area that we caught up with them, thanks to Nick Upton's local knowledge. Although a little distant we watched 3 birds at a range of some 50m through the scope and felt a little relieved! Here's a photo of a different group from a tour we did a couple of years ago. 

Asian Dowitchers by Nick Upton

The sandpit of Laem Pak Bia holds White-fronted Plover (Charadrius Dealbatus) and you can read about this fascinating species here. There's also Malaysian Plovers, Chinese Egrets, and a good selection of terns and gulls, which this year held Pallas's, Heuglin's and this Steppe Gull (Larus barabensis) - a new bird for Thailand and previously found by Nick Upton some 6 weeks earlier.

Steppe Gull at Laem Pak Bia by Nick Upton

Chinese Egret

White-faced Plover (right hand bird)

A huge variety of other shorebirds were seen on our tour and on one day we saw 40 species out of a total tour count of 46...! So we saw Oriental Pratincole, 100's of Great Knots, Long-toed Stints, Red-necked Phalaropes, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Far Eastern Curlew, Greater Sandplover, Greater Painted Snipe and thousands of Red-necked Stints. For anyone with an interest in shorebirds, this is the place to be. And if you're not.... Oh well..! But the spectacle of seeing so many birds is something to behold.

Great Knots

Long-toed Stint

More Great Knots

Oriental Pratincole

Temminck's Stint

Curlew Sandpiper

Broad-billed Sandpiper

But it's not just about shorebirds and the nearby rice fields, pools and marshes also produced Baillon's, Ruddy-breasted and White-browed Crakes, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Slender-billed Gull, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, White-shouldered and Purple-backed Starlings, Asian Golden Weaver and so much more.

Spot the Slender-billed Gull

Thailand never disappoints and our tours seem to get better and better every year. Take a look a Nick Upton's blog here. And his Thai Birding website here. 

Eared Pitta by Nick Upton

So I can't wait to return. Next year's tour is already full, but looks like I will be back in June for our Thai Pita tour where we hope to see Blue, Blue-winged, Hooded and hopefully the ever elusive Eared Pitta. We might also make a detour to get Mangrove and Malayan Banded Pittas as well. If you fancy joining us then take a look at our itinerary - click here.

Khao Yai

Birding Khao Yai during a holiday weekend had the potential to be a disaster with so many people visiting the park but as it turned out we did pretty well and scored many of our major target species. It was actually the humid, overcast weather and resulting low bird activity that contributed to long periods without any birds showing. Yet how can you go wrong with a group of Silver Pheasants, a couple of views of Siamese Firebacks, a male Blue Pitta, and 2 superb Great Eared Nightjars flying over us before dusk one evening.

Fruiting trees were in abundance and allowed us to get up close and personal to numerous birds....

Black-crested Bulbul

Green-eared Barbet at a fruiting tree showed very well indeed....

A small feeding station was a bit problematic to visit due to the continuous presence of Thai bird photographers in their portable hides, so we visited when they departed frothier lunch break. Not the best time to visit but we did see 2 Orange-headed Thrushes, Abbott's and Puff-throated Babblers and Hainan Blue Flycatcher....

Abbott's Babbler

Puff-throated Babbler

Orange-headed Thrush

I'm thinking this is a female Hainan Blue Flycatcher

Other good birds seen included Sultan Tit, Banded Kingfisher, Banded Broadbill, Two-barred Warbler, Fork-tailed Swift, Silver-backed and Brown-backed Needletails, Red-headed Trogon, Great Hornbill, White-crested Laughingthrush, Radde's Warbler and Yellow-vented Flowerpecker. 

Non-bird highlights were this White-handed Gibbon, as well as Asian Elephant and Malaysian Porcupine...

Doi Inthanon

The highlight of our time here was a pair of Green Cochoas sat calling back at us from a perch high up in a tree along a leafy trail. Wow! 

A poor shot of a Green Cochoa... 

We also found most of our target species such as Slaty-bellied Tesia, Pygmy Wren-Babbler, White-browed & Lesser Shortwings, Clicking Shrike-Babbler, Golden-throated Barbet, Green-tailed Sunbird, a pair of Dark-sided Thrushes, Snowy-browed Flycatcher etc

Green-tailed Sunbird

Dark-sided Thrush - not sharp but I like the  profile...

Our second full day on the mountain produced even closer views of all the target species, with Rufous-throated Partridges seen from just a couple of meters away, a mixed flock of Long-tailed and Silver-breasted Broadbills, a bold Small Niltava, and we finished off the day with a scoped Black-headed Woodpecker and 3 Collared Falconets perched together in a large, dead tree.

We had a few hours on our last morning and visited our favourite trail where we found a Vivid Niltava, along with Maroon Oriole and White-throated Fantail before heading back to Chiang Mai and our flight to Bangkok.

Other species seen included Bar-throated Minla, Buff-breasted Babbler, White-headed Bulbul, Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush, Martens’s Warbler, Claudia’s Warbler, Siberian Blue Robin, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Blyth’s Paradise-Flycatcher, Golden Babbler, and a very brief Grey-throated Babbler.