Cracking Keang Krachan

*Orange-breasted Trogon – an early Keang Krachan delight*

We’re nearing the end of our extended stop-over in south Thailand – returning to England today. We’ve spent the last couple of days birding the wonderful Nation Park of Keang Krachan, staying at the birders accommodation at Kum Nangpaya. We spent a full day in the park – with a mid-day break – and saw some cracking birds. Too many to list but I hope the photos give an indication of what’s on offer at this exceptional location. One of the early highlights was several Orange-breasted Trogon but the wildlife highlight of the day came at the very end, when we were just leaving the park. As we rounded the bend before the campsite a ‘big cat’ dived into the trackside vegetation – all we saw was the hind quarters and two foot tail. The local troop of Spectacled Langur went berserk. A local guide, leading a night walk, looked for it using his thermal imager, as it moved along the stream-bed through the campsite. The campers mostly oblivious to the occurrence. Can’t be sure of the id but the size fitted with Panther and there had been a couple of sightings over the previous couple of evenings. The wildlife activity continued the following day when we did an early morning session in one of the nearby hides – getting unforgettable views of some hard to see species. A couple more stops on the way to Bangkok took our trip list total to 246. A really good trip with more good food, scenery and birds – all carefully planned and delivered by Neil and Nicola. We’ll be back to Norfolk and ‘normality’ in the next 24 hours – hopefully!

*There was plenty of hornbill action – this Oriental Pied was having breakfast at the hide*

*Blue-bearded Bee-eater – a forest dweller*

*Another member of the broadbill family – this is Silver-breasted*

*One of the most stunning and difficult to find forest birds came late in the day – Blue Pitta*

*Hopeful observers looking for the ‘big cat’ at the campsite in Keang Krachan*

*Up close and personal with the birds in the hide – Hill Blue Flycatcher*

*This Jungle Fowl would have been tastier than our final meal at KFC Bangkok before heading to the airport*

Si Phang Nga NP

Feb6

*We enjoyed a great day birding the National Park of Si Phang Nga* *today*

We’ve just enjoyed a delightful day birding in the small rain forest reserve of Si Phang Nga. We saw some excellent birds throughout the seven hours we were in the park, including good views of Wreathed Hornbill, Black Baza, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Ashy Minivet, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Pacific Swallow & Golden Whiskered Barbet. In addition to the birds, other wildlife sightings included White-handed Gibbon and Pigtail Macaque (subject to id confirmation). But perhaps the most amazing wildlife encounter was of a pair of Forest Crested lizard – looking after their clutch of eggs. When we got back to our hotel Jane found a Peregrine (peregrinator) sat on the local radio mast. An excellent day of Thai birding, taking our total to 192.

*Rufous-bellied Eagle in the skies above Si Phang Nga*

*Wreathed Hornbill presumed visiting near-by known nest site*

*A female Crested Forest Lizard checks her newly-laid eggs before burying them and covering with leaves*

Forest to sea

Feb5

We’ve travelled west to the Andaman Sea, after two days (three nights) birding the rain forests around Khao Sok. As at our previous forest sites the birding was hard work, with the most productive periods the two hours after sun rise and before sun set. By walking and methodically birding we did eventually clock up quite a list and did get to see some lovely birds. Yesterday we drove to the coastal mangroves around Phang Na before exploring a coastal estuary at Pakarang Beach, it was then on to our hotel of Palm Scenery Resort at Ban Nam. In the process of the past few days I’ve got over the ‘500’ line for birds in Thailand – our current trip list stands at 182. Last night it rained – heavily! There’s already evidence of an insect emergence – which could be good for the birds, if not the bites!

*Some of the forest birding highlights – this is Large Woodshrike*

*Not the best view but perhaps the best bird – Blue-banded Kingfisher*

*Chestnut-naped fork-tail – difficult to see in the dark forest at dusk*

*This guy was having breakfast outside our cabin yesterday*

*and we found this guy in the forest on one of our walks*

*Spectacled Spiderhunter around the Khoa Sok visitors centre*

Krung Ching to Khao Sok

Feb2

*White-crowned Hornbill – possibly the stand-out bird of Krung Ching*

We’ve just spent the last couple of days birding the rain forests of Krung Ching, staying in a lovely home-stay at Ban Phi Tam. The birding certainly had its amazing moments but generally it was very hard work with most birds only heard or occasionally glimpsed. A few stand-out birds remained visible to see, enjoy and photograph – Buffy Fish Owl, Black and Yellow Broadbill, White-crowned Hornbill and Wallace’s Hawk-eagle included. On Sunday we made the 8k (return) trek to the spectacular Krung Ching waterfalls – great scenery, very few birds and – in the hot and humid conditions – utterly exhausting. Today we travelled to Khao Sok National Park with more forest birding in prospect.