Sunday, November 26, 2017

Pak Thale Shorebird Site Bird Watching Pt 1

Is not my first visit to Pak Thale, yet is so excited to re-visit this place year after year during the birds migration period. 
The sign was very clear, stay on the bunds. Venture too close will give unnecessary stress to the birds.
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Common sandpiper being one of the most common shore birds.
Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)
Black drongo perch quite near us.
Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala)
Painted Stork in flight 
Little Cormorant (Phalacrocorax niger)
Another bird in flight, this time round was a Little Cormorant.
Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
Long pink leg, Black-winged stilt is such a nice bird to watch.
Red-Necked Stint (Calidris fruficollis)
Red-Necked Stint
Lesser Sand Plover
Lesser Sand Plover also known as Mongolian Plover
Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)
Little Ringed Plover with black ring and yellow eye ring.
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus)
While in flight, this Whiskered Tern pay close attention on the mud flat for food.
Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilus)
Marsh Sandpiper wading through water looking for food.
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus)
The bamboo support at this mangrove re-planted area means no obstacle for this Whiskered Tern.
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)
Caspian Tern are slightly bigger than Whiskered tern and with orange bill.

Friday, November 17, 2017

Sri Phang Nga to Bangkok

After the good trip at Sri Phang Nga yesterday. We will be driving North for our next birding spot  today. Just before the long trip ahead, we pay a quick visit to Sri Phang Nga National Park one last time before depart to north.
Black-crested Bulbul (Pycnonotus flaviventris)
There are many bulbuls that we saw and Black Creasted Bulbul is one of them.
Brown wood owl (Strix leptogrammica)
Another surprise for us is this Brown wood owl (Strix leptogrammica). Really didn't expect to see it in the day!
Thailand is really a big country with so many national park and everyone is unique! From coastal, mangroves to forest!
Saw this truck with 2 very loyal & energetic "worker". They are trained & very skillful worker to pick & pluck the right coconut.
There are so many nice local food along the way and stopover at Kra Buri to buy this buns/dumpling.
They are so good. They use different colour to differentiate different filling. From corn, beans to meat.
These is another type of dumpling that I find it so good and really value for money. This serves as our breakfast!
I will sure to buy this again when I next return here for birding.
Khao Dinsor
We do a slight detour to Khao Dinsor, which is an important raptor migration count station.
Flock of Black Baza
Flock of Black Baza fly pass our head.
Thai noodle
We stop at Amphoe Tha Sae for lunch. We have local noodle for lunch.
Salad
I like their service, free flow of salad for all customers!
The sun almost set when we pass by Huahin - a seaside resort on the Gulf of Thailand, in the southern Thai province of Prachuap Khiri Khan. We will need to travel another hour or two to Ban Pak Thale for shore bird watching the next day.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Day Trip to Sri Phang Nga National Park

When my guide told me that the chance of seeing a Green broadbill is almost zero as the fruiting of the fig tree is coming to an end. He ask me if I still wants to travel thousand of kilometers from Bangkok to South of Thailand? In the Land of Smile, every place is worth to spend time on, be it local market or national park. Every trip to this part of the world, I will get to see something new. So, we are set to travel to Southern of Thailand.

After breakfast at the local market at Khura Buri, we head to Sri Phang Nga National Park.
Sri Phang Nga National Park
What a beautiful morning as we head to the forest.
seed pods
I don't know the name of this tree with the long seed pods.
Cookeina mushroom
So happy to see this very beautiful Cookeina mushroom. Glowing in pink colour!
Cycads fruit
Isn't this cycads fruits cute?
Pitcher plants
 This is the carnivorous Pitcher plants
Skink
 This skink trying to get the best spot to warm up his body.
Red Throated Barbet
 Up on a fig tree is all the actions we are looking for. First was this Red Throated Barbet.
Streaked Bulbul
 Streaked Bulbul is one of the most common birds on this tree.
Not so frequent but we do see warbler darting around this fruiting tree.
 Lesser green leafbird
Lesser green leafbird also join the buffet party.
Chestnut Breasted Malkoha
Is always nice to see bigger bird such as this Chestnut Breasted Malkoha
Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
Another small bird that come for the free buffet party - Orange-bellied Flowerpecker.
Chinese Blue Flycatcher
Sadly, the Green broadbill really no show. But saw an Chinese Blue Flycatcher! Is my first sighting too.
Banded pitta
My biggest surprise & bonus of the trip is this very elusive Banded Pitta! Although is just few seconds,  is really worth the thousands km road trip.
Giant ants
Just before we leave the forest, saw this very scary big jaw ants. I'm sure it will be very painful if bitten.
River
We stop on a bridge to enjoy the sun set and what a very nice way to end our birding trip.

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Day Trip to Khura Buri Town @ South Thailand

Not really a day trip but a stop over before our birding trip to Sri Phang Nga National Park. My guide pick me up at the Bangkok airport around 8pm the night before and we drove straight to Khura Buri at Phang Nga, Southern of Thailand.
Boon Piya Resort
After check-in to our resort, it was already 6.30am. We decided to go check out the local market and see we can get some breakfast before heading for our birding trip.
Khura Buri, Phang Nga
 The market is just across the street of where we stay and is already very bright at 6.30am
market
The scene like this is long gone in Singapore. Open air market is no longer available in Singapore. This really bring back my old memories when I was still a kid.
market
 From local deserts, cakes
vegetables
 to fresh vegetables
bbq chicken
 and cooked food. Just pick what you want.
fresh chicken
 Fresh chicken from the village is available too.
deep fried bananas
 We bough some deep fried bananas as our snacks
deep fried bananas
 is so yummy!
asian pan cake
 We also bought some pan cake freshly baked
hot noodle
We also get a bowl of noodle for our breakfast. With all this goodies, looks like birding has became a secondary objectives for our trip... what will I see later in the National Park?