Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Birding at Doi Lang, North Thailand Part 2

After coffee break, we continue our birding at this beautiful place.
Orchid
 What a unusual place...  high up the mountain on the dry branch. This orchid have all the sunlight to itself!
air plants
 Can I call this hanging on a thread?
Collared owlet
 Took us quite some time to locate this very well camouflage Collared owlet (Glaucidium brodiei).
Mrs. Gould's Sunbird
Mrs. Gould's Sunbird as stunning as usual. Is quite a challenge to take photo of this always on the move bird.
short-billed minivet
We arrived at this spot at the right time, just in time to watch the bird wave. First was this male short-billed minivet.
short-billed minivet
 The female follow right after the male appear.
Cutia
 What a surprise to see Cutia in the bird wave too.
Large Niltava
 Large Niltava
Vivid Niltava
 My first seeing this Vivid Niltava.
Ultramarine flycatcher
Not difficult to understand why this bird was called Ultramarine flycatcher! Like the super blue colour!
Spot-breasted Parrotbill
 Another familiar bird that I saw the last time I visited this place. This must be the usual spot for this Spot-breasted Parrotbill to "hang out"
Fork-tailed swift
After several try, finally managed to take a photo of this fast flying Fork-tailed swift. Just didn't get bored coming back to place over and over again.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Birding at Doi Lang, North Thailand

After the cold Doi Inthanon trip, we travel further North to Fang to prepare for visit to Doi Lang the next day.
Doi Lang, North Thailand
 The temperature is slightly warmer compare to Doi Inthanon.
Doi Lang, North Thailand
 This is one of the best birding site at North Thailand.
Doi Lang, North Thailand
 We set off early to wait for our target.
Olive Backed Pipit
 The first bird that make an appearance is this Olive Backed Pipit.
Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler
 It was follow by Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler .
Mrs. Hume's pheasant
Finally our target appear... Mrs. Hume's pheasant. We know that this pheasant will cross the road early in the morning but not sure when. Is lucky that we get to see it just after about 10 minutes of waiting.
Mountain Bamboo Partridge
This Mountain Bamboo Partridge is more shy than the pheasant. It just dash through the road without stopping.
Japanese tit
Is good to see this Japanese tit aka Oriental tit again after so many years. The last time I saw it was 9 years ago in Japan.
Female Grey Bushchat
 A rather common Grey Bushchat (female)
Male Grey Bushchat
 A Male Grey Bushchat.
Grey-backed Shrike
A Grey-backed Shrike showing his super skill of perching on top of a vertical branch!
Chestnut-vented Nuthatch
I always amaze this tiny bird that can walk up and down a tree trunk. Defy gravity to the max.  :)
Is time for lunch and coffee... to be continued

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Doi Inthanon - Birding at Roof of Thailand

The plan for Day 2 of our birding is to the Roof of Thailand - Doi Inthanon. Is the highest spot in Thailand.
Doi Inthanon
I was told that it has been raining for the past week. We really hope to have a good weather for our birding. It started to drizzle the minute we pass the Gate up the Doi Inthanon.
Doi Inthanon
 As we go higher, the rain stopped but was very misty. Visibility dropped to just few meters.
Doi Inthanon
 Saw these nice water droplets on the spider web.
Eggplant
 Wild eggplants can be found at the roadside. Isn't it cute?
Golden Babbler
The weather get clearer after lunch and saw this Golden Babbler. Taking photo of this bird really challenging, it hardly stop for more than 2 seconds on the same spot.
Yellow Bellied flowerpecker
We stop by a fruiting tree and saw this Yellow Bellied Flowerpecker.
Grey Sided Thrush
 Also come for the fruits is this Grey Sided Thrush.
Collared Falconet
 The weather get better as we descent and saw this Collared Falconet.
Butterfly
Weather is so good that the butterfly also come out and play!  :)

Monday, January 15, 2018

Winter Bird Watch at North Thailnd - Day 1

I like to visit North of Thailand during the winter period, cooling weather is one big attraction to get away from the hot & humid weather back in Singapore. This is also the best season of bird watching where we get to see both the resident as well as the migratory birds.
Khao soi
Once we leave airport, we head straight for our lunch. Khao soi is one food that I will not miss whenever come to this part of Thailand as it is only available here.
I have ice-cream waffle as dessert before drive south to Ban Hong for our Day 1 birding.
Asian Brown Flycatcher
As soon as we arrived at the car park, this flycatcher perch just on top of us.
Ashy Wood Swallow
There are also quite a number of Ashy Wood Swallow and they fly quite low so I took a flight shot of it.
After waiting about 30 minutes, there are some movement in the bush. Can you see what is moving in the bush?
Green Peafowl
Yes is Green Peafowl and more of them appear.
Green Peafowl
Their appearance is just slightly different from the Indian Blue Peafowl that I cam across. Other than their colour, Green Peafowl also have yellow facial that not present in Blue Peafowl.
Green Peacock
This Peacock put up a good show. He show his beautiful tail for solid 30 minutes!
Green Peacock
After stop for few minutes, the peacock continue is show before disappear in the bush back to the forest.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Black Eared Kite Village

My last leg of oversea birding is the Black Eared Kite Village not far from Khao Yai National Park on our way to the airport to catch our flight home to Singapore.
Black Eared Kite
 Huge statue at the entrance of the village. Will I get to see this endemic kite of Thailand?
House Sparrow
 Saw these House Sparrow
Asian Pied Starling  (Gracupica contra)
 Asian Pied Starling are quite common here.
Pond Heron
 Still no sign of the kite but we saw this Pond heron.
plaintive cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus)
 A plaintive cuckoo perched on top pf the sprinkler.
Plain prinia
 Plain prinia call out loudly, so not easy to miss.
strawberry finch (Amandava amandava)
 Very bright colour Red Avadavat or strawberry finch.
Purple heron
 Purple heron on a very nice background.
 Great Egret
  Great Egret is fishing patiently in the paddy field.
red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus)
 Red-wattled lapwing
little cormorant (Microcarbo niger)
 Still no sign of the kite but got this food in mouth shot of the little cormorant
Black Eared Kite (Milvus lineatus)
 Finally get to see the Black Eared Kite.
Black Eared Kite

Black Eared Kite
 There are so many of them!
Black Kite
Among all the Black Eared Kites there are Black Kite too! With this beautiful shot, is time to catch our flight. This conclude my oversea birding trip in 2017. Hope for another great birding experience in 2018!