Thailand 2018 - 27th January

Kaeng Krachan NP & Baan Maka

After last nights efforts to unsuccessfully see the White-fronted Scops Owls, we overslept meaning we were up and ready at 05.40! Anyway we were at the site of where we heard the Blue Pitta between streams 2 & 3. It wasn’t even light and I could hear a Great Slaty Woodpecker calling, and this turned out to be our first bird of the day with a group of five flying over, closely followed by two Greater Yellownapes together. A little walk did produce the Blue Pitta, but annoyingly by call only, with zero response. The walk between the streams was enlivened by a calling Collared Owlet, where after half hour of tape luring and very sore necks, it thankfully showed itself well on a dead tree.

We didn’t stay out too long having had a brilliant species tally for the area. Before exiting the park we stopped at KM 9 but a Green-Eared Barbet was the best we could muster. So therefore we left the park and headed to Baan Maka where the owner, Ian greeted us. We had booked the afternoon at Lung Sin Hide but first went to another hide where a female Siberian Rubythroat was seen briefly. Lung Sin Hide was very good with the highlight for me being a superb Large Scimitar Babbler. The presence of two Lesser Mouse Deer was also.something I had long wanted to see. It was also great to see so many Siberian Blue Robins, with at least 8 males in variable plumages. It was also nice to sit down for a prolonged period after the last few days hard work in the park.



Highlights for today are as follows:

Green-legged Partridge - 2
Red Junglefowl - 1
Shikra - 1
Black-thighed Falconet - 1
Collared Owlet (L) - 1
Dollarbird - 2
Chestnut-headed Bee Eater - 2
Green-Eared Barbet (L) - 1
Greater Yellownape (L) - 2
Great Slaty Woodpecker (L) - 5
Blue Pitta - 1h
Siberian Blue Robin - 20
Siberian Rubythroat - 1
Chinese Blue Flycatcher (L)  - 2 males
Hill Blue Flycatcher - 2
Sooty-headed Bulbul - 1
Grey-breasted Prinia - 2
Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush - 5
Puff-throated Babbler - 3
Large Scimitar Babbler (L) - 1
Brown-cheeked Fulvetta - 4
Paddyfield Pipit - 1

Lesser Mouse Deer - 2

Oriental Magpie Robin at Baan Maka

Lesser Mouse Deer at Lung Sin Hide

Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush at

Lung Sin Hide

White-rumped Shamas at Lung Sin Hide

Puff-throated Babbler at Lung Sin Hide

Siberian Blue Robin at Lung Sin Hide

Thailand 2018 - 26th January

Kaeng Krachan NP

Yet another exceptional day, and our last full day at Kaeng Krachan NP. Before we had even set off a large police patrol arrived at the campsite as apparently the princess was arriving tomorrow. The staff seemed as surprised as we did and set about the whole day trying to sort out everything, which seemed to include demolishing half of the restaurant area.

We spent the whole morning walking from streams 1-3 where although activity was wuiet, we eventually notched up some good species, including a vocal Asian Barred Owlet and a stunning group of Sultan Tit, to name but a few. A near miss was a calling Blue Pitta between streams 1&2, but it soon went quiet as we tried to edge closer into its area. The same group of Black-and-Yellow Broadbills were seen again, but surprisingly no sign of any Silver-breasted.

We arrived back at the campsite around midday and walked up towards the youth camp, where straight away we encountered a top target for ourselves, this being an impressive group of Silver-breasted Broadbills. Not only this, we enjoyed a good number of species in the area, whilst overhead Oriental Honey Buzzards and Crested Goshawks (including one displaying) were also about.

As the Broadbill had now been seen, we dipped out on lunch and yet again ascended to KM 27.5 for the last attack on finding the Treepie. The area initially was quiet although Jake found a small Flycatcher and described it to me, which straight away put me in a mode of panic as I reached for my recording of what I knew it was going to be, and sure enough after a tense minute, a gorgeous Rufous-browed Flycatcher was perched in front of me. Yet again, the continuous dipping of a Treepie led to yet another great bird, and this wasn’t all. A short while later I heard the unmistakable call of a Red-bearded Bee Eater, and after yet more tense minutes, it finally showed. Time was getting on and with no sign of the Treepie still, we pretty much gave up after enjoying yet another mixed species flock. It was not to be for the Treepie this time around, but we wouldn’t have seen so much if it wasn’t for this bird.

On the way back down we stopped to look at some Banded Langurs, but I immediately heard a Yellow-vented Green Pigeon singing away, but it was so distant we couldn’t find it. However, all was not lost as at stream 1 a superb Great Eared Nightjar was flying over us.......awesome!!

The evening ended with our third night drive from KM 15 - KM 1 where we found s small group of Gaur. And once back at the campsite, the continuous drumming sounds of White-fronted Scops Owls teased us, and expedly remained unseen.

Highlights for a superb day are as follows:

Bar-backed Partridge - 1
Red Junglefowl - 1
Crested Goshawk - 2
Crested Serpent Eagle - 1
Oriental Honey Buzzard - 3
Yellow-vented Green Pigeon - 1 (heard only)
Asian Barred Owlet (L) -  1
Great Eared Nightjar (L) - 1
Orange-breasted Trogon - 2
Dollarbird - 1
Silver-breasted Broadbill (L) - 10
Red-bearded Bee-Eater (L) - 1
Great Hornbill - 3
Great Barbet- 1
Coppersmith Barbet - 1
Blue Pitta - 1h
Ashy Minivet (L) - 4
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo - 1
Golden-fronted Leafbird - 2
Great Iora (L) - 1
Rufous-browed Flycatcher (L) - 1
Verditer Flycatcher - 5
Hainan Blue Flycatcher (L) - 1
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch - 4
Sultan Tit (L) - 4
Two-Barred Warbler - 1
Thick-billed Flowerpecker - 1

Black-and-Yellow Broadbill between

Streams 1 & 2

Asian Barred Owlet at Streams Crossings

Dollarbird at Stream 2

Silver-breasted Broadbills at Ban Krang Camp

Blanford's Flying Lizard

Rhinocypha fenestrella at Stream Crossings  

Red-bearded Bee-Eater at KK 27.5

Stream Crossings

Thailand 2018 - 25th January

Kaeng Krachan NP

Let’s get the negative news out the way first. Yet again, after much searching we failed to find the Ratchet-tailed Treepie today, however this led to a fantastic array of birds to be found, some of which are rarely seen in this NP, or even Thailand itself.

After a rubbish nights sleep we arrived at first light at the stream crossing, and up until 9am we birded between all the streams. After many hours trawling through the field guide and glaring at the Broadbill page, today we were finally rewarded with the stunning Black-and-Yellow Broadbill, all four of them that showed very nicely. A Banded Kingfisher was heard distantly and couldn’t be enticed in, but another star of the morning in the form of a Streak-breasted Woodpecker was found.

After this great start, we ascended again with our eyes glued to the road, and just as well as a Grey Peacock Pheasant was found, and instead of typically running off, kept to the verge of the road and showed good enough for a few minutes, however trying to photograph it hanging outside the window whilst trying to control an automatic car was more painful then successful. Anyway this was a massive result and carried on the good luck theme of the day.

We arrived at KM 27.5 and slowly walked uphill but mainly concentrated our efforts around this spot. Despite our efforts there was no Treepie, so we made our way up to the upper Campsite and had some lunch. Whilst eating a trio of lifers were on show (strange as I spent a whole day here four years ago)  that included Mountain & Ashy Bulbul and Striated Yuhina.

It seemed at this point that our luck from this morning was starting to dwindle, but once arrived near the Tor Tip Waterfall parking area we stumbled across a superb group of White-handed Gibbons with some showing off their tree swinging techniques. It was from this point that it all went a bit crazy. After deciding not to visit the falls we slowly walked back up to the car stopping at a set of trees, where quickly a superb Raffles’s Malkoha appeared, showed nicely before disappearing, and straight after from the same tree a stunning Chestnut-breasted Malkoha appeared. Two mega skulky birds in a matter of minutes was brilliant, as were the four male Crimson Sunbirds that also appeared. A crazy ten minutes.

Our final bit of luck came when we arrived back at the KM 27.5 marker now very late on. This came in the form of a flock of nine Tickell’s Brown Hornbills, yet another superb addition to our already impressive day list. Still no Treepie, but if we’d seen it yesterday we may not have seen all of this stuff today.

No real dramas today apart from Ian discovering a hungry leach on his leg whilst having a shower.

Highlights for the day are as follows, with lifers shown by (L):

Grey Peacock Pheasant (L) - 1
Crested Goshawk - 1
Mountain Imperial Pigeon - 2
Thick-billed Green Pigeon - 8
Green-billed Malkoha - 2
Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (L) - 1
Raffles’s Malkoha (L) - 1
Oriental Pied Hornbill - 12
Tickell’s Brown Hornbill (L) - 9
White-browed Piculet - 1
Speckled Piculet (L) - 1
Streak-breasted Woodpecker (L) - 1
Black-and-Yellow Broadbill (L) - 4
White-throated Fantail - 2
Asian Fairy Bluebird - 10
Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike - 1
Eyebrowed Thrush - 1
Dark-sided Flycatcher - 3
Mountain Bulbul (L) - 2
Ashy Bulbul (L) - 1
Sulphur-breasted Warbler - 5
Golden Babbler - 2
Buff-breasted Babbler (L) - 1
Collared Babbler - 3
Striated Yuhina (L) - 5
Olive-backed Sunbird - 1
Black-throated Sunbird (L) - 4
Crimson Sunbird (L) - 4
Streaked Spiderhunter - 2

Black-and-Yellow Broadbill at KK. The smallest Broadbill on our route, 

but certainly one of the best lookers.

Streak-breasted Woodpecker at KK Stream Crossings

(phone-scoped by Jake)

Grey Peacock Pheasant at KK 22

Eyebrowed Thrush at KK 27.5

White-handed Gibbons near Tor Tip Waterfall

Raffle's Malkoha near Tor Tip Waterfall

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha near Tor Tip Waterfall -

photo taken by Jake

Crimson Sunbird near Tor Tip Waterfall

Near to stream crossings

View from KK 34

Thailand 2018 - 24th January

Laem Pak Bia, Pak Thale & Kaeng Krachan NP

Well it turns out there is signal at KK. An early start (but with a surprisingly good sleep under the belt) saw us at the abandoned building finding mostly the same species as yesterday, with the addition today of hundreds of Spotted Redshanks.

Moving onto Laem Pak Bia and with the tide soon to be high, we witnessed a very large gathering of Waders, mostly Great Knot but also thousands of Sandplovers and thankfully, after much searching, a single Nordmann’s Greenshank. With this in the bag we soon moved north again to Pak Thale, and again with luck on our side we picked out a very smart Asian Dowitcher. Spoonies had been seen by others but we felt best to hit the road to Kaeng Krachan, via Phetchaburi for supplies.

On the road to KK I happened to notice a stunning Black Baza on a roadside wire, this being a much wanted bird, and was therefore my third new bird of the trip. We quickly passed through KK entrance gate and moved non stop to KM 9 but little there, and with arrival at Ban Krang Campsite bang on 1pm, we turned the car to 4WD and ascended the mountain up to KM 27. Here we walked for a couple of hours up to KM 29 and back without finding our target, the Ratchet-tailed Treepie, however we still have potentially three days to see this. There were plenty of other bits to take our minds of the dip with a mixed group of Black-throated Laughingthrushes, White-browed Scimitar-babblers and Collared Babblers (formerly White-hooded), an impressive sight. By 5.30pm the heavens unexpectedly opened and we were forced to retreat fearing the downhill could cause a few issues. Frustratingly with the weather being as it was, it got very dark in the understorey and therefore  I wasn’t able to make out much detail on a crossing Pheasant, but a female Kalij was almost certainly what it was. Back on lower elevations, three Dollarbirds were found causing chaos with a mixed group of Drongos.

We arrived at Ban Krang C/S (our base for three nights), had dinner, a shower with as little energy as me at this point, and took on an illegal night drive. Straight away we found two Golden Jackal, then over a period of nearly two hours found several East Asian Porcupines, Indian Nightjar, Sambar Deers & a Large-tailed Nightjar. The most byzarre sighting was of a roosting Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher! 

Highlights for the day are as follows:

Indian Cormorant - 35
Yellow Bittern - 1
Pied Harrier - 1
Greater Spotted Eagle (L) - 1
Black Baza (L) - 1
Lesser Sand Plover - 4000
Greater Sand Plover - 2000
Asian Dowitcher - 1
Spotted Redshank - 300
Nordmann’s Greenshank - 1
Terek Sandpiper - 2
Great Knot - 2000
Broad-billed Sandpiper - 150
Vernal Hanging Parrot - 1
Greater Coucal - 1
Green-billed Malkoha- 2
Dollarbird (L) - 3
Blue-tailed Bee-eater - 3
White-browed Piculet (L) - 1
Golden-bellied Gerygone - 1
Black-naped Oriole - 1
Grey-chinned Minivet - 2
Bronzed Drongo - 1
Spangled Drongo (L) - 3
Ochraceous Bulbul - 2
Marten’s Warbler (L) - 1 (helpfully calling)
Black-throated Laughingthrush (L) - 4
Yellow-bellied Warbler (L) -  3
Collared Babbler - 6
Ruby-cheeked Sunbird - 1

Sandplover central - surprisingly mostly Greaters at Laem Pak Bia

Painted Storks at the abandoned building

Asian Dowitcher (right of BW Stilt) at Pak Thale

Black Baza - although very few raptors seen this trip,

this is easily the best of them.

Indian Nightjar

East Asian Porcupine

An Egret fest. at the abandoned building

The world famous Pak Thale - home to wintering

Spoon-billed Sandpipers

Kaeng Krachan NP

Thailand 2018 - 23rd January

Pak Thale & Laem Pak Bia complex

On another cold Monday morning I picked up Ian and Jake for yet another ‘Eade’ tour, this time to Thailand. Having been before with Ian (and Chris Glanfield) visiting the central parts, we are targeting just a few species here before venturing into the unknown to the northern parts of Thailand, all in all a solid three weeks of birding. Unfortunately Jake can only join us until the 1st of Feb.

Anyway after a long flight (stopping half way in Dubai) we quickly went through immigration, got our bags and swiftly got our monster of a hire car. Only once did I slam the break thinking it was the clutch so all in all a promising start with the car. Things were going well despite my anxiety about what things could’ve gone wrong, and the ‘going well’ continued with a cracking selection of species seen on our first day.

We started at Pak Thale, and despite the tide being out, over two visits we hit the jackpot with a lovely Chinese Egret. This was a big target for me and Ian and later on in the afternoon and a second visit yielded the mega Spoon-billed Sandpiper, and not just one, but two birds including one that was flagged. Despite them flying off when initially viewed at a distance, we quickly located both birds really close and enjoyed simply stunning scope views. Despite not being a lifer, this was a memorable occurrence.

In the afternoon we persuaded Mr Daeng to take us on his boat and out onto the sand spit. Thankfully he did as this saves us a lot of time tomorrow, and again we done really well, with the undoubted highlight being the unique, but un-tickable White-faced Plover, with a steady supporting cast of a pair of Malaysian Plovers also showing well. This was our last Wader of the day, and our 30th Waders species for the day.

Last but not least with all of us sleep deprived and severely dehydrated, we finished off at the abandoned building where just before dusk, no less then 6 Indian Nightjars started calling, with two showing nicely in the torchlight. The first of probably twenty-one Fried Rice with something for dinner was had on the sandy beach nearby, and we checked into the Squid Hotel, that held more Crickets and Spiders then anything else.

Highlights for the day are as follows, with the lifers having a (L) next to the species name. Next few days I’ll be out of any signal so don’t expect much until the 27th.

Little Cormorant - 40
Intermediate Egret - 1
Chinese Egret (L) - 2
Pacific Reef Egret - 1
Striated Heron - 4
Brahminy Kite - 5
Kentish Plover - 5
Malaysian Plover - 2
White-faced Plover - 2
Lesser Sand Plover - 2500
Greater Sand Plover - 1500
Spotted Redshank - 30
Marsh Sandpiper - 50
Terek Sandpiper - 4
Great Knot - 8
Red-necked Stint - 300
Long-toed Stint - 3
Spoon-billed Sandpiper - 2
Broad-billed Sandpiper - 20
Greater Crested Tern - 5
Indian Nightjar - 2 + 4h
Collared Kingfisher - 6
Oriental Reed Warbler - 1
Indochinese Bushlark - 3
Plain-backed Sparrow - 3

Red-necked Stint at Laem Pak Bia

Temminck's Stint (left) & Long-toed Stint (right) at Laem Pak Bia

Marsh Sandpiper at Laem Pak Bia

Intermediate Egret at Pak Thale

Mudskippers at Laem Pak Bia

Spoon-billed Sandpiper at Pak Thale

Chinese Egret at Laem Pak Bia

'White-faced Plover' at Laem Pak Bia

Malaysian Plover at Laem Pak Bia

Part of the Pak Thale saltpan complex

Our trusty vehicle that ended up doing 2579 miles for our trip.

All Laem Pak Bia area

A cheeky selfie with Mr Daeng who as usual found us the 

birds we wanted to see.