After yesterday’s driving we were up at 3.30am to continue the same theme with a two hour drive to Nam Nao NP arriving there at first light.
We walked the longest trail (roughly 5km) and it took nearly seven hours. This wasn’t due to the sheer numbers of birds, it was just that the habitat looked brilliant for all the ground dwelling species. The stream alongside the trail held at least six Forktails, whilst various mixed species flocks moved through. Despite a very cautious amble, no Pittas or Pheasants were found.
Once on the upper section of the trail, by far the highlight of the last few days was found, this being a flock of six Long-tailed Broadbills, one of the funkiest looking birds out there. A pair of Sultan Tits gave then a close run however. A pair of White-bellied Woodpeckers performed well once in the ‘English’ looking Pine forest, whilst a calling Drongo-Cuckoo couldn’t be persuaded to show itself.
When we finally completed the walk we decided to pay for an overnight stay in a bungalow. Once done this the guard then told us that no food was available and we would have to do a 140km round trip to get some. This soon resulted in getting my money back and instead of staying in this highly-anticipated Park, we forced ourselves away after 5pm to stay south of Phetchabun to reduce the drive to Khao Yai tomorrow.
Before all this though we walked along the stream again and a random blasting of the speaker of Blue Pitta initiated an instant response. It was so immediate and not that distant I was unsure what to do next. The Pitta remained hidden despite responding 90% of the time and finally resulted in us trying to enter the area to find it, which obviously resulted in no more calling, but with time becoming an issue we had to try something. Hopefully three whole days at Khao Yai will be enough to sort this long standing (4 years+) dip.
The drive to our overnight stay roughly 40km south of Phetchabun was very smooth and hassle free. An extremely long day all to be repeated tomorrow, though this will be the last long drive as the end is approaching.
Highlights for today are as follows:
Crested Goshawk - 1
Vernal Hanging Parrot - 2
Blossom-headed Parakeet - 2
Asian Barred Owlet - 1
Red-headed Trogon - 2
Great Barbet - 1
White-browed Piculet - 1
White-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Bay Woodpexker - 1
Black and Buff Woodpecker - 2
Long-tailed Broadbill (L) - 6
Common Green Magpie - 1
Rosy Minivet - 2
Large Woodshrike (L) - 4
White’s Thrush - 1
Siberian Blue Robin - 1
White-crowned Forktail - 4
Slaty-backed Forktail - 3
Sultan Tit - 2
Puff-throated Bulbul - 2
Dark-necked Tailorbird (L) - 2
Plain-tailed Warbler - 2
Yellow-bellied Warbler - 2
Eastern Crowned Warbler - 3
Collared Babbler - 10
Plain Flowerpecker - 1
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| Slaty-backed Forktail at Nam Nao NP |
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| White-crowned Forktail at Nam Nao NP |
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| Crested Goshawk at Nam Nao NP |
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| Sultan Tit at Nam Nao NP |
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| Great Barbet at Nam Nao NP |
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Nam Nao NP has supposedly the largest
number of Elephants, but this was still
all we could manage. Thankfully Khao Yai
saved us!!
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| Nam Nao NP |
