Los
Angeles Audubon Society
Thailand Birding Trip Report
written by Dave Williams - Director of PaddleAsia
Co., Ltd.
Trip organized by Olga Clarke, Travel Director
for the Los Angeles Audubon Society,
Thai Muang - January 27th 2007
Our journey started with a visit to a marsh
and secondary growth area called Thai Muang. We didn’t
get to started until after lunch as the Los Angeles Audubon
Society group didn’t arrive until midday.
This area is beside a golf course. Some littoral
zone plant life is being mowed over in the area and there have
been mist nets in the region lately too. Still, this is a great
place for spotting species that aren’t easily seen elsewhere.
We got out of the van and immediately spotted
Black Drongos, Little Egrets, a Great Egret, Intermediate Egrets
and a flock of Oriental Pratincoles. A Black-shouldered Kite
flew down to the ground very near to where we were standing.
Its wings were held almost vertically and it swooped down on
some probably unsuspecting prey. We couldn’t see where
it landed.
Shortly after that, we spotted some Red-wattled
Lapwings. They are always in this area, as are Grey-headed and
River Lapwings. We strolled over to a lagoon that’s just
inside the sea shore. A pair of River Lapwings were standing
in the shade of some trees. A Common Sandpiper was spotted across
the water. Pacific Swallows zipped by from time to time.
We walked back to the marsh area and spent
quite some time trying to determine whether we were looking
at a couple of Paddyfield Pipets or a Richard’s Pipets.
We voted for Paddyfield Pipets. Birders can practice democracy
too.
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Birders can practice democracy
too!
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Before we moved on, we saw quite a few other
birds; all in all, we spotted 32 species. A couple of them were
life birds for some of these seasoned birders.
1. Little Heron... Butorides striatus
2. Great Egret... Egretta albus
3. Little Egret... Egretta garzetta
4. Cattle Egret... Bubulcus ibis
5. Brahmiy Kite... Haliastur Indus
6. Black-Shouldered Kite... Elanus caeruleus
7. Crested Serpent-Eagle... Spilornis cheela
8. Peregrine Falcon... Falco peregrinus
9. Purple Swamphen... Porphyrio porphyrio
10. Red-wattled Lapwing... Vanellus indicus
11. River Lapwing... Vanellus duvauceliiphoto of Crested Serpent
Eagle
12. Common Sandpiper... Actitis hypoleucos
13. Oriental Pratincole... Glareola maldivarum
14. Spotted Dove... Streptopelia chinensis
15. Plaintive Cuckoo... Cacomantis merulinus
16. Greater Coucal... Centropus sinensis
17. Common Kingfisher... Alcedo atthis
18. White-throated Kingfisher... Halcyon smyrnensis
19. Black-capped Kingfisher... Halcyon pileata
20. Blue-tailed Bee-eater... Merops philippinus
21. Chestnut-headed Bee-eater... Merops leschenaulti
22. Asian Palm Swift... Cypsiurus balasiensis
23. Pacific Swallow... Hirundo tahitica
24. Paddyfield Pipit... Anthus rufulus
25. Forest Wagtail... Dendronanthus indicus
26. Yellow-vented Bulbul... Pycnonotus goiavier
27. Black Drongo... Dicrurus macrocercus
28. Bronzed Drongo... Dicrurus aeneus
29. Brown Shrike... Lanius cristatus
30. Common Myna... Acridotheres tristis
31. Olive-backed Sunbird... Nectarinia jugularis
32. Eurasian Tree Sparrow... Passer montanus
We drove over to the mangrove walkway near
Phang Nga Town. This place can be absolutely magical or completely
dead. Unfortunately, this time it was almost dead. A Forest
Wagtail was spotted, but that was it as far as birds
go. This was, however, a life bird for some of these birders.
Not everyone saw it though. They would later in Khao Nor Chuchi.
We checked in to the Phang Nga Inn, one of
the nicer places to stay in the region. Dinner was at a riverside
restaurant. The food was incredible of course. It was then that
I revealed the truth about this trip. “This is an eating
tour! We only go birding to kill time between meals!”
Heads nodded.
Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary – January 28th
We parked the van and walked less than 100
meters to one of my favorite birding spots. It’s dead
easy to spot birds from this location. There are a couple of
dead trees in the area that provide great perching opportunities
for many species.
The little Dark-sided Flycatcher sentry was
right where he is normally located. The first tick of the morning.
Also as usual, some Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers showed up.
Vernal Hanging Parrots are common here and
we saw several go by from time to time. Swifts and swallows
are always present. Silver-rumped Swifts are almost always seen.
We saw them.
A lone Buff-rumped Woodpecker made a appearance.
It was out in the open for a few seconds; just enough time to
make a positive ID.
A bird landed in a tree very near to all of
us. We all looked at it for a long time. The bird was very helpful.
It turned a couple of times. Thumbing through both Robson’s
book and Round’s, we voted on it being a Little Niltava,
but as this is most likely not possibly in this area, it was
probably a Hainan Blue Flycatcher. There wasn’t anything
else it could be really.
A Mugimaki Flycatcher came by and stopped long
enough for us all to enjoy it.
Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary is a great place
for bulbuls. We saw several Black-headed Bulbuls, Black-crested
Bulbuls, a couple of Scaly-breasted Bulbuls, many Stripe-throated
Bulbuls and a noisy Ochraceous Bulbul.
This place is also wonderful for minivets.
This time we saw three species, the Ashy Minivet, Scarlet Minivet
(male only) and a male Fiery Minivet.
In the afternoon, we headed to Krabi. I don’t
like Krabi as I lived there in the early 90s and it saddens
me to see that it turned out to be just another over-developed
mess with nothing unique to add to the traveler’s experience.
Still, there are birds there.
Olga was itching to see a Brown-winged Kingfisher.
We went to Krabi town to visit the mangrove that’s across
from the busy town. With scopes scanning the flats and the forest,
we didn’t see a Brown-winged, but we did spot a Collared
Kingfisher and a Black-capped Kingfisher. A Great Egret sat
high up in a mangrove tree, while a Water Monitor Lizard slithered
around in the mangled roots. As is typical of Krabi, two longtail
touts hassled us to take a ride in their longtails and wouldn’t
take ‘no’ for an answer. All we could do was walk
away.
We boarded our van, went a bought some wine,
then headed to Khao Nor Chuchi. Along the way, while still in
town, a pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagles were seen jousting
in the air. I’ve seen hundreds of them. I didn’t
really stop to think that these could be lifers for some in
the group. I was soon enlightened.
We saw 36 species in total this day.
1. Grey-faced Buzzard... Butastur indicus
2. White-bellied Sea-Eagle... Haliaeetus leucogaster
3. Rock Pigeon... Columba livia
4. Vernal Hanging Parrot... Loriculus vernalis
5. Collared Kingfisher... Todiramphus chloris
6. Black-capped Kingfisher... Halcyon pileata
7. Chestnut-headed Bee-eater... Merops leschenaultia
8. Buff-rumped Woodpecker... Meiglyptes tristis
9. Asian Palm Swift... Cypsiurus balasiensis
10. Silver-rumped Swift... Rhaphidura leucopygialis
11. Pacific Swallow... Hirundo tahitica
12. Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrike... Hemipus picatus
13. Greater Green Leafbird... Chloropsis sonnerati
14. Ashy Minivet... Pericrocotus divaricatus
15. Fiery Minivet... Pericrocotus igneus
16. Scarlet Minivet... Pericrocotus flammeus
17. Black-headed Bulbul... Pycnonotus atriceps
18. Black-crested Bulbul... Pycnonotus melanicterus
19. Scaly-breasted Bulbul... Pycnonotus squamatus
20. Stripe-throated Bulbul... Pycnonotus finlaysoni
21. Ochraceous Bulbul... Alophoixus ochraceusKhao Nor Chuchi
22. Ashy Drongo... Dicrurus leucophaeus
23. Asian Fairy-Bluebird... Irena puella
24. Blue Rock Thrush... Monticola solitarius
25. Blue Whistling Thrush... Myophonus caeruleus
26. Dark-sided Flycatcher... Muscicapa sibirica
27. Asian Brown Flycatcher... Muscicapa dauurica
28. Mugimaki Flycatcher... Ficedula mugimaki (lifer for me!)
29. Small Niltava... Niltava macrogrigoriae (another lifer for
me!)
30. Crimson Sunbird... Aethopyga siparaja
31. Little Spiderhunter... Arachnothera longirostra
32. Grey-breasted Spiderhunter... Arachnothera affinis
33. Yellow-vented Flowerpecker... Dicaeum chrysorrheum
34. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker... Dicaeum trigonostigma
35. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker... Dicaeum cruentatum
36. Oriental White-eye... Zosterops palpebrosus
Khao Nor Chuchi—January 29th
We my Khao Nor Chuchi guide, Khun Yotin, to
show us around. Having a guide is a wonderful experience. Yotin
was born and raise and lived his entire life in this unique
area. He is the master at finding birds here and targeting certain
species is his forte.KNC - Gurney's Pitta
Guess what we went after first? Yep, the Gurney’s
Pitta. We saw a lovely male right after sunrise. An Orange-headed
Thrush was also in the same area. A female Siberian Blue Robin
hopped around for a bit.
A Red-bearded Bee-eater was on one side of
the trail calling. It flew to another tree, called some more,
then flew across the trail. We got a brief though confirming
view. The call was enough, but we weren’t going to tick
it unless we saw it. I got a brief look at a Black-capped Babbler.
I think someone else got a brief glimpse too.
Male Green BroadbillYotin took us up the trail
further (armed with his awesome Swarovski scope), stopping when
he heard something. He spotted a male Green Broadbill. Everyone
was thrilled, me too, even though I’ve seen them quite
a few times. This is one of my favorite birds. I can’t
get enough of that weird call.
A small flock of Ashy Minivets flew by.
Yotin took us past the Emerald Pool and into
the beautiful jungle. Just before entering the high canopy jungle,
he spotted a Banded Bay Cuckoo. We all got a nice view of it.
Once in the jungle and past the Red-necked
Keelback snake with the frog in its mouth, we came upon a fig
tree in fruit. There were loads of birds feeding. Uncountable
numbers of Orange-headed Thrushes flying back and forth. They
were coming in groups of three and four at a time. Thick-billed
Green Pigeons were also feeding.
We could hear an Orange-breasted Trogon in
the area too, but failed to spot it.
Night Birding at Khao Nor Chuchi
We went on an evening excursion to see the
White-fronted Scops Owl and other night birds. Yotin has put
a lot of time and energy into finding this place and an unscrupulous
birder who went with him to find this spot has now posted a
map to the place! That’s stealing in my book.
Anyway, Yotin took us to the place and had
us stand around while he went out to find it. We heard a Great-eared
Nightjar nearby. Yotin came back and said that it wasn’t
calling so he couldn’t find it. We drove over to another
area to try our luck with frogmouths and other owls.
Again, Yotin had us wait until he found it.
The wait wasn’t long and what he was about to show us
would have been worth a long time waiting.
He motioned for us to come over. To our amazement,
there was a Javan Frogmouth (male) perched on a wire within
about 15 or so meters from us. We even got to see it in the
scope! What an incredible bird. I’ve had them on my life
list for a long time as I used to see them when I lived in Krabi.
But back then all I was going on was hearing the call and seeing
the dark object fly by. Sure, it was a sighting, but this was
a viewing of a whole other level.
We also heard a Bay Owl, but couldn’t
see it.
Yotin got a call. The White-fronted Scops Owl
was calling where we were before. Yotin includes some of the
locals in his business. One of them was asked to keep him informed
about the owl. We headed back.
We parked the van and headed off across a recently
plowed field. The going was tough. We came to the thick jungle
and carefully walked in. We could hear a Large-tailed Nightjar
as we approached.
We could hear the owl from far away even though
the call was soft and light. Yotin broke out the scope. This
was it! We were about to see a White-fronted Scops Owl! There
it was, sitting in the ‘V’ of a tree and calling.
It wasn’t easy to spot. Some of us didn’t see it
right away. The owl was gorgeous. Its hooked predatory bill,
its big round eyes gathering all of the ambient light. I could
stand there and watch it forever.
We headed back to the Morakot Resort for a
well-earned night’s sleep.
Khao Nor Chuchi – January 30th
This day started off with a walk down a trail
where Yotin had spotted a Rufous-collared Kingfisher a couple
days earlier. We didn’t see the kingfisher unfortunately,
but we did manage to see a Moustache Hawk-Cuckoo. Though not
a wonderful consolation prize, it was sure nice getting to see
one fairly close up. We also got to see a Chestnut-breasted
Malkoha.
We saw a few other birds, but it was fairly
slow. We came across a Swedish couple (birders) who asked us
if we’d see the Gurney’s. We said yes. Then they
asked Yotin if he’d ever seen one. He smiled and nodded…
we giggled.
On our afternoon journey, Yotin took us to
a watering hole where he said birds would come to drink and
bathe. I thought to myself that this sounds a bit strange. There’s
plenty of water in the area. Why would this place be anything
special? Wow, was I in for a surprise. Make that ‘we’
were in for a surprise.
We came to a creek and Yotin told us to all
sit down. Well, we looked at each other and followed orders.
Within minutes, birds started arriving…
and not just easy-to-see birds, but some really nice one. A
Grey-bellied Bulbul was one of the first to arrive. We couldn’t
have been more than 5 to 8 meters from the water. We witnessed
several bulbuls drinking and bathing, including Puff-backed
Bulbuls, Stripe-throated Bulbuls, Olive-winged Bulbuls, Streak-eared
Bulbuls, Red-eyed Bulbuls and Streaked Bulbuls. Add Black-naped
Monarchs, Puff-throated Babblers, Abbott’s Babblers, Chestnut-rumped
Babblers, Striped Tit-babblers and some others and you’ve
got one awesome way to spend an afternoon! I think I’ll
bring my video camera next time.
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next time remember the video
camera!
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Here’s a list of everything we saw on
our two days in Khao Nor Chuchi:
1. Chinese Goshawk…Accipiter soloensis
2. Crested Serpent-Eagle…Spilornis cheela
3. Thick-billed Green Pigeon…Treron curvirostra
4. Vernal Hanging Parrot…Loriculus vernalis
5. Moustache Hawk-Cuckoo…Cuculus vegans
6. Banded Bay Cuckoo…Cacomantis sonneratii
7. Chestnut-breasted Malkoha…Phaenicophaeus curvirostris
8. White-fronted Scops-Owl…Otus sagittatus (Lifer!)
9. Javan Frogmouth…Batrachostomus javensis
10. Dollarbird…Eurystomus orientalis
11. Black-and-Yellow Broadbill…Eurylaimus ochromalus (male
and female together)
12. Green Broadbill…Calyptomena viridis
13. Gurney's Pitta…Pitta gurneyi
14. Germain’s Swiftlet (Edible Nest)…Collacalis
germani
15. Brown-backed Needletail…Hirundapus giganteus
16. Grey-rumped Treeswift…Hemiprocne longipennis (male
incubating egg on nest)
17. Forest Wagtail…Dendronanthus indicus
18. Green Iora…Aegithina viridissima
19. Black-headed Bulbul…Pycnonotus atriceps
20. Grey-bellied Bulbul…Pycnonotus cyaniventrisphoto of
Buff-rumped Woodpecker
21. Puff-backed Bulbul…Pycnonotus eutilotus
22. Stripe-throated Bulbul…Pycnonotus finlaysoni
23. Yellow-vented Bulbul…Pycnonotus goiavier
24. Olive-winged Bulbul…Pycnonotus plumosus
25. Streak-eared Bulbul…Pycnonotus blanfordi
26. Red-eyed Bulbul…Pycnonotus brunneus
27. Streaked Bulbul…Ixos malaccensis
28. Ochraceous Bulbul…Alophoixus ochraceus
29. Puff-throated Babbler…Pellorneum ruficeps
30. Black-capped Babbler…Pellorneum capistatum
31. Abbott’s Babbler…Trichastoma abbotti
32. Rufous-crowned Babbler…Malacopteron magnum
33. Chestnut-rumped Babbler…Stachyris maculata
34. Chestnut-winged Babbler…Stachyris erythroptera
35. Striped Tit Babbler…Macronous gularis
36. Pale-legged Leaf-Warbler…Phylloscopus tenellipes
37. Arctic Warbler…Phylloscopus borealis
38. Inornate Warbler (yellow-browed)…Phylloscopus inornatus
39. Ashy Tailorbird…Orthotomus ruficeps
40. Siberian Blue Robin…Luscinia cyane
41. Oriental Magpie Robin…Copsychus saularis
42. Orange-headed Thrush…Zoothera citrine
43. Asian Brown Flycatcher…Muscicapa dauurica
44. Brown-streaked Flycatcher…Musicapa williamsoni
45. Brown-throated Sunbird…Anthreptes malacensis
46. Purple-throated Sunbird…Nectarinia sperata
47. Little Spiderhunter…Arachnothera longirostra
48. Thick-billed Spiderhunter…Arachnothera crassirostris
49. Grey-breasted Spiderhunter…Arachnothera affinis
50. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker…Dicaeum trigonostigma
51. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker…Dicaeum cruentatum
52. White-rumped Munia…Lonchura striata
53. Scaly-breasted Munia…Lonchura punctulata
Klong Thom, Krabi Mangrove and Secret
Places—January 31st
We spent the night in a small hotel in Klong
Thom. We woke late… after the sun had risen. Yes, no need
to say it, I know, but we were a bit tired. Besides being able
to sleep in a bit, we were treated to a very nice variety of
birds right beside our hotel. Let’s start with some Orange-breasted
Green-Pigeons, a Lesser Coucal out in the open for a long time,
a couple of Coppersmith Barbets, Banded Woodpecker, some Zebra
Doves (Peaceful Dove) and some Black-naped Orioles.
We were told that there were Jungle Mynas in
the area. Dexter saw one, but no one else did. We trust him.
We saw a few more birds, then headed to Krabi to check out a
new mangrove walkway.
Wow, some nice work went into this new attraction.
I sure hope it doesn’t fall apart anytime soon. We were
after a Brown-winged Kingfisher for Olga. But first, I spotted
a Slaty-breasted Rail. Unfortunately, no one else had the pleasure.
As usual, it was creeping around in the undergrowth and it disappeared
within seconds. I got a wonderful look before it left the scene.
We started seeing lot of Pied Fantails…
lot of ‘em. Then, out of nowhere, a Brown-winged Kingfisher
zipped by. “Olga!’ I said, “Did you see that?”
“No… where?” she replied. Crickey! She missed
it. I felt bad for her. She was disappointed. Suddenly, “come
here… quick”, I said to the group. There it was,
a beautiful Brown-winged Kingfisher sitting in a tree. It stayed
there long enough to get the scope on it. Everyone, including
Olga, got a eye-full of this gorgeous creature.
But wait, it gets better. Not a minute later
I spotted a Black-and-red Broadbill. Most saw it, but some didn’t…
right away at least. The bird moved around a bit, making it
difficult to see. But by the time it left the area we all got
a decent look. Ah, the wonders of looking for birds in the mangrove
forest.
Our last stop was a place that Yotin recommended
we visit to see the Spectacled Spiderhunter. We arrived, stepped
out of the van, looked up and there it was.
My van driver told me to follow him. He pointed
up in a very tall tree. To my delight, there was a Coluga! I’ve
only seen this crepuscular animal a few times. This was the
best sighting I ever had. Everyone got to see this lovely doe-eyed
gliding animal from the order– Dermoptera. This order
contains the Coluga and flying lemurs. Lemurs are only in Madagascar.
The coluga is not a lemur.
Here’s what we saw on our last day:
1. Chinese Pond Heron…Ardeola bacchus
2. Little Heron…Butorides striatus
3. Great Egret…Egretta albus
4. Little Egret…Egretta garzetta
5. Cattle Egret…Bubulcus ibis
6. Brahmiy Kite…Haliastur Indus
7. Slaty-breasted Rail…Gallirallus striatus
8. Common Sandpiper…Actitis hypoleucos
9. Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon…Treron bicinctaCoppersmith
Barbet photo
10. Zebra Dove (Peaceful) …Geopelia striata
11. Lesser Coucal…Centropus bengalensis
12. Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopacea
13. Brown-winged Kingfisher…Halcyon amauroptera
14. White-throated Kingfisher…Halcyon smyrnensis
15. Indian Roller…Coracias benghalensis
16. Coppersmith Barbet…Megalaima haemacephala
17. Banded Woodpecker…Picus mineaceus
18. Black-and-Red Broadbill…Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos
19. Pacific Swallow…Hirundo tahitica
20. Common Iora…Aegithina tiphia
21. Black-headed Bulbul…Pycnonotus atriceps
22. Yellow-vented Bulbul…Pycnonotus goiavier
23. Olive-winged Bulbul…Pycnonotus plumosus
24. Streak-eared Bulbul…Pycnonotus blanfordi
25. Black-naped Oriole…Oriolus chinensis
26. Arctic Warbler…Phylloscopus borealis
27. Dark-necked Tailorbird…Orthotomus atrogularis
28. Ashy Tailorbird…Orthotomus ruficeps
29. Oriental Magpie Robin…Copsychus saularis
30. Pied Fantail…Rhipidura javanica
31. Common Myna…Acridotheres tristis
32. White-vented Myna… Acridotheres grandis
33. Jungle Myna…Acridotheres fuscus
34. Ruby-cheeked Sunbird…Anthreptes singalensis
35. Olive-backed sunbird…Nectarinia jugularis
36. Spectacled Spiderhunter…Arachnothera flavigaster
37. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker…Dicaeum cruentatum
Although not everyone in the group got to see
every bird, they did see the majority of them. My bird count
was 143 species.
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The Audubon Society gang...
look out birds, here we come!.
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About
the Author: Dave Williams, a lifelong naturalist and
animal lover, is an American expat who has lived in Thailand
in both Phuket and Krabi since 1992. Dave is well-traveled having
lived in New Mexico (born is Roswell), Florida, Indiana, Hawaii,
and Virginia. He left Virginia in early 1992 and headed for
the tropics. Dave is the only kayak tour operator in southern
Thailand who was an expert level paddler before getting in the
paddling business! He's a paddler first and foremost and in
the business second.
North by North East is proud to support Paddle
Asia's mission to provide discriminating travelers the opportunity
to see the less-visited areas in Thailand’s national parks
and conservation areas with the most highly trained guides in
southern Thailand..