Monday, July 12, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Bala Wildlife Sanctury Trip - 5-7 Mar...
Bala Wildlife Sanctury Trip - 5-7 March 2010
-*-*- Bala Wildlife Sanctury Trip - 5-7 March 2010 -*-*-
-Bala in the morning mist -
Last Friday came a trip I was looking for quite a time. My friends, A.Wanchamai, A.Kua, Kan, Ko, A. Yod, Duan, and I went to Bala Wildlife Sanctuary for 2 nights and 2 days for birding especially the hornbills. We spent around 3 hours traveling plus shopping roadside, arrived Bala at 5 pm. There're local farmers selling watermelons along the road around this time of the year. (I wouldn't dare get out of the car if I went alone, though.) Khun Siriporn, the head of Bala wildlife research, wasn't there, went out for business, but she did prepare for our rooms there. Lam, her assistant, was taking a good care of us and be our birdguide all the time. Thanks bro!
By the evening we get our rooms done, we taking my car out, went out for hornbills since they usually easily spotted in the evening flying back to their nests. Unfortunately, we saw only one flying and not a good sight. (We weren't even sure it's helmeted hornbill or Great Hornbill.) Lam told us he'd be our guide and meet him at 6.30am. So our hope ballooned up.
The first night we enjoyed ourselves doing what teachers always do: talking about students. I don't know why but we teachers always do that. And some did gazing the stars. They are the summer constellations which I know some, the Orion, the Canis Major, the Canis Minor etc. Around dinner time, I am so full I don't have a proper meal. After my trip from Trang the week before, I'd bet my weight is gaining up and this couldn't be a good sign. Slept very well, thanks to A.Yod's beer. Cheers!
In the next morning, I went out early to birding near the house and found a pair of red-eyed bulbuls (นกปรอดสีน้ำตาลตาแดง), my first bird there, and sighted a gibbon (ชะนีมือดำ). Lam took us out by truck to the fig trees that hornbills usually come to feed. They didn't this time. But we found them other place. We were very excited there're a lot of them flying here and there, mostly rhinocerous hornbill (นกเงือกหัวแรด), great hornbill (นกกก). They're so beautiful. Lam showed us a tree hole which hornbills used to used for their nest. Their breeding time is coming but not yet. We can see they paired up and went together all the time. Lam told us they may lay their eggs in a month or two to come.
-Red-eyed Bulbul (นกปรอดสีน้ำตาลตาแดง) -
- Gibbon (ชะนีมือดำ) -
Nearby we sighted some smaller birds Greater Green Leafbird (นกเขียวก้านตองใหญ่), orange-bellied flowerpecker(นกกาฝากท้องสีส้ม), asian brown flycatcher (นกจับแมลงสีน้ำตาล), grey-headed flycatcher (นกจับแมลงหัวเทา). We got excited with whiskered treeswift (นกแอ่นฟ้าเคราขาว)'s weird look and it's cuteness. A greater racket-tailed drongo (นกแซงแซวหางบ่วงใหญ่) perching here and there. It was fun birding time.
-Orange-bellied flowerpecker-
- Cream-vented Bulbul (ปรอดสีน้ำตาลตาขาว) -
At the time we got lunch back to the canteen, there're some birds around the bush nearby. We saw orange-bellied flowerpecker again but now with full sight. The small fig tree, the smallest fruiting fig tree I've ever seen, was a good easy place for kill-the-time birding too. We got cream-vented bulbul (นกปรอดสีน้ำตาลตาขาว) which I've seen and grey-bellied bulbul (นกปรอดท้องสีเทา) which I've never seen. Hooray! And I saw a yellow-breasted flowerpecker(นกกาฝากอกเหลือง) which was uncommon. But we wasn't lucky enough to found crimson-breasted flowerpecker(นกกาฝากอกแดง) which was rarer. Maybe it's saved to lure us there again next time. Well, there'll always be next time anyway.
- Grey-bellied Bulbul -
- Yellow-breasted flowerpecker -
Lam managed to get us to a natural bird bath. It's a kind of very small stream. I've got to get into the blind with my camera. But shot bird bathing with a 600mm lens isn't that great idea because it means I've to get a longer distance than shorted focus lens. This is officially my first time in a blind. It's kinda dark for taking photograph and I don't want to use flash. Anyway, the birds are great. We saw a chestnut-backed forktail (นกกางเขนน้ำหลังแดง), my new and first forktail ever. I saw a red spot flying in front of me and it turned out to be a rufous-backed kingfisher. Hooray again.
-Rufous-backed Kingfisher-
- Pale Blue Flycatcher-
-Good Bye-
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Doi Inthanon Census 2 Days, 3 Nights...
Doi Inthanon Census (6-7 February 2009) : "2 Days, 3 Nights and 4,000 kilometers"
-*-* Doi Inthanon Census (6-7 February 2009) : 2 Days, 3 Nights and 4,000 kilometers *-*-
1. To Chiang Mai
Doi Inthanon Birds Census was held on last weekend. To travel 4000 kilometers from Pattani, far south of Thailand, to Chiangmai, the northernmost, and spend 2 days 1 Night at Doi Inthanon, it's of course an are-you-out-of-your-mind trip. Actually I still keep thinking: did I just lost my mind?! But it turned out well. I don't sure if it's worth it. There too many people,too comfortable, too cold, too sunny, not too much birds. Am I complaining too much?
I fly from Hat Yai to Bangkok Friday night. My d*** flight was delayed. That means other 29 people on the trip had to wait for me for another hour. This made me feel much guilty.
I met many new friends from internet: P'Dr.Nut, Dr.Pang, P'Jeab, Pa Tai, the Pai family:P'Aek, P'Da and Nong'Pai. Plus friends I've known before since Doi Lang: P'Deb, Pa Pug, P'Jew. (P', pronounced 'pee', means your older brother or sister. It's a polite way to address other people)
Anyway, we arrive at Doi Inthanon at 6.00am. There're many birding people at the starting point and they seemed to know all each other. Well, the birding society of Thailand is not that large, you know.
I met P'Oh. She introduced me to Dr.Mong who held the census. Cool. And I got to meet P'Beegee and P'nong Oh which I had known on the internet for long time but never get to see them.
2. Doi Inthanon: Khun Wang Area
My team, Go4get2, went for bird census to Khun Wang, one of the Doi Inthanon census Area. This place is a secret place for winter flower blossum which isn't popular yet. It's quite a long way to go. The birds were not bad. There're many little birds feeding on a huge fig tree: Oriental White-eye, Chestnut-flanked White-eye and some Bulbuls.The tree was so tall I can barely see the birds clearly using a bin, let alone taking photo.
Taking a photo of my lens in a beautiful background.
The birds are quite good here. Red-throated Flycatcher* were perching. Grey Buschat* were around the bushes. Olive-backed Pipit are feeding on the ground. Great Tit* can be easily sighted in the a little wave with white-eyes and warblers. Oriental Honey-Buzzard*, Common Buzzard* can be spotted in the sky.
Grey Bushchat (Female)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thale Noi 29-30 January 2010
-*-* Thale Noi 29-30 January 2010 *-*-
I went to Thale Noi by chance.
Actually I decided to stay home this week because I went out for trips two weeks in a row this month, Thale Ban National Park last week and Bala Wildlife Sanctuary the week before . But my former teacher and now my colleague Wanchamai invited to go to Thale Noi. Thank to her, I didn't miss a chance then.
It's actually an trip in class of Toxicology, taking students to some workplaces in toxicology in Songkhla. We got to stay at Thale Noi for a night, though, and have a time to birding in the next morning. We went to Thale Noi by a long bridge over the Ranote watershed and stop for birding on a parking point on the bridge for a while.
Many egrets (นกยาง), lesser-whistling ducks(เป็ดแดง), little cormorants (กาน้ำเล็ก), swallows (นกนางแอ่น), black-winged stilts (นกตีนเทียน) and many other shorebirds are all around the place .
White-bellied Sea Eagle (นกออก) came in sight and I can take its picture. Cool!
White-bellied Sea Eagle (นกออก)
Fascinatingly, we spotted 10 black-headed Ibis (นกช้อนหอยขาว) flying over head, a pity I missed to take the photo in this unusaul chance. I wished I could have another chance to take their photo again.
Fortunately, my chance came next morning. We took a boat into the lake for sightsee. The boat driver knew the birds and its habitat so we can see them again!
Black-headed Ibis
And we went to the botanic garden nearby. I was informed the Buffy Fish Owl just leave their nest last week. Poor luck me. Here I got nothing much but asian brown flycatcher and some sunbirds.
Asian Brown Flycatcher (นกจับแมลงสีน้ำตาล)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A Weekend at Tale Ban National Park
-*-* A Weekend at Tale Ban National Park -*-*-
1. Pha Dam Waterfall and Ton Nga Chang Waterfall, Hat Yai
At 6.30 Saturday morning, I drove off Pattani, headed to Pha Dam Waterfall, a waterfall in Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary, in Hat Yai. I've heard it's the nice place around Hat Yai to birding, beside Ton Nga Chang waterfall which I usually went birding there. Ton Nga Chang waterfall is a nice enough birding place, especially when the fig is fruiting, there'll never be other place better. But when the fig tree is not fruiting, the birds seems to go where else. So this time I try my luck at Pha Dam waterfall instead.
Unfortunately, I was lost going there, so I went to Ton Nga Chang waterfall instead for just a brief birding before go to Tale Ban National Park, the real destination of my weekend. It seems my luck didn't run dry, I found my new birds at Ton Nga Chang Waterfall anyway. Emerald Dove is bathing in a little pond near the waterfall's restroom. It saw me and then fly perching on a tree branch nearby. This beautiful green dove 's my new bird. And my second bird was Spectacled Spiderhunter, perching on the top of the tree. Nice.
2. Tale Ban Nation Park, Satul
I headed to Tale Ban National Park in the afternoon. It took just an hour to get there. But the birds were no where to be seen because it's early in the afternoon. I went looking around the park anyway. I ran into two academics-looked trekkers. One of them came from Bangkok and the other from Hat Yai, looking for some Noi Na plants. And, same as me, they have no luck either.
The forest look a little dryer. In front of the tourist centre, some trees are leaving their leafs. A Bar-winged flycatcher-shrike flocks having fun flying around.
Whiskered Treeswift
At 19.30 Saturday night, the evening was already dark and silent as usual in the national park. I walked in a small cafeteria in Tale Ban Nation Park in order to recharge my phone's battery, hoping the electricity will not cut down yet in the night as in some other national park. My mobile is always good at its own price, being like a little computer to me, but it keeps bugging me that its battery is a little too short life. But tonight there was a ranger in the cafeteria watching some TV Program. It's a live football match between Thai-Denmark in King's Cup. Oh good, at least there'll be something to start the conversation. I always love talking to strangers to learn some new aspect of some thing in life but the start's sometime the most awkward part to me. Football is one of the good conversation starter. But with this ranger, it's unnecessary.
"Can I watch the game?"
"Oh, please do sit down" The ranger told me with a warm welcome smile. He seemed a little younger than me.
"Thanks."
"Are you from Pattani, the one setting up the tent there on the camp ground?" Then he asked me. It seemed he knew about me.
"Right, that's me"
"You know, I'm from Pattani too. I lived in Kok Pho District"
"Great, I'm from Sai Buri District"
Knowing we're both from Pattani, then the conversation flew easily. We talked along the game, about the national park, the conservation problems in the ranger's point of view. The ranger actually come from the family which do the birds trade, the Red-whiskered Bulbul trade, of course, which is the problems in southern Thailand, causing the bird to be nearly extinct in the southern wild but easily seen in cages in town. He no longer do the trade, though, because his father had died. And he said it conflicts with his work as a ranger.
Even we talked just to kill some time, but it's always a pleasure to talk to a stranger and learn new things from other people's experience.
1. Pha Dam Waterfall and Ton Nga Chang Waterfall, Hat Yai
At 6.30 Saturday morning, I drove off Pattani, headed to Pha Dam Waterfall, a waterfall in Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary, in Hat Yai. I've heard it's the nice place around Hat Yai to birding, beside Ton Nga Chang waterfall which I usually went birding there. Ton Nga Chang waterfall is a nice enough birding place, especially when the fig is fruiting, there'll never be other place better. But when the fig tree is not fruiting, the birds seems to go where else. So this time I try my luck at Pha Dam waterfall instead.
Unfortunately, I was lost going there, so I went to Ton Nga Chang waterfall instead for just a brief birding before go to Tale Ban National Park, the real destination of my weekend. It seems my luck didn't run dry, I found my new birds at Ton Nga Chang Waterfall anyway. Emerald Dove is bathing in a little pond near the waterfall's restroom. It saw me and then fly perching on a tree branch nearby. This beautiful green dove 's my new bird. And my second bird was Spectacled Spiderhunter, perching on the top of the tree. Nice.
2. Tale Ban Nation Park, Satul
I headed to Tale Ban National Park in the afternoon. It took just an hour to get there. But the birds were no where to be seen because it's early in the afternoon. I went looking around the park anyway. I ran into two academics-looked trekkers. One of them came from Bangkok and the other from Hat Yai, looking for some Noi Na plants. And, same as me, they have no luck either.
The forest look a little dryer. In front of the tourist centre, some trees are leaving their leafs. A Bar-winged flycatcher-shrike flocks having fun flying around.
Grey Wagtail 's still been here since the winter began.
Velvet-fronted nuthatch is creeping on some dead branch.
Ashy minivet flocks are quite a lot. Large Woodshrike, my new bird, looking like a crossed-breed of bar-winged flycatcher-shrike and Ashy minivet, are enjoy themselves here too. It seemed to me there were a lot of insectivore birds this time. Maybe there're a lot of insects because of the air grew dryer and telling us that the draught season is coming.
Ashy Minivet
But the most regular bird was Whiskered Treeswift. I really falling in love with this little funny-looking bird. They're always perching on some dead branch or an electric wire solemnly, not aware of my present. They fly catching some insects once in a while and then fly back to the exact same place as before. Cute.
Whiskered Treeswift
There're also a lot of other birds, Whiskered Barbet, Red-eyed Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul, Grey-bellied Spiderhunter, Spectacle Spiderhunter, even Orange-headed Thrush, my first thrush of the winter. There also the local common but hardly seen in photo, Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot.
Gold-whiskered Barbet
Black-headed Bulbul
Grey-bellied Spiderhunter
Orange-headed Thrush
Yellow-browed Warblers
Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot
3. Some Talk in the Night
At 19.30 Saturday night, the evening was already dark and silent as usual in the national park. I walked in a small cafeteria in Tale Ban Nation Park in order to recharge my phone's battery, hoping the electricity will not cut down yet in the night as in some other national park. My mobile is always good at its own price, being like a little computer to me, but it keeps bugging me that its battery is a little too short life. But tonight there was a ranger in the cafeteria watching some TV Program. It's a live football match between Thai-Denmark in King's Cup. Oh good, at least there'll be something to start the conversation. I always love talking to strangers to learn some new aspect of some thing in life but the start's sometime the most awkward part to me. Football is one of the good conversation starter. But with this ranger, it's unnecessary.
"Can I watch the game?"
"Oh, please do sit down" The ranger told me with a warm welcome smile. He seemed a little younger than me.
"Thanks."
"Are you from Pattani, the one setting up the tent there on the camp ground?" Then he asked me. It seemed he knew about me.
"Right, that's me"
"You know, I'm from Pattani too. I lived in Kok Pho District"
"Great, I'm from Sai Buri District"
Knowing we're both from Pattani, then the conversation flew easily. We talked along the game, about the national park, the conservation problems in the ranger's point of view. The ranger actually come from the family which do the birds trade, the Red-whiskered Bulbul trade, of course, which is the problems in southern Thailand, causing the bird to be nearly extinct in the southern wild but easily seen in cages in town. He no longer do the trade, though, because his father had died. And he said it conflicts with his work as a ranger.
Even we talked just to kill some time, but it's always a pleasure to talk to a stranger and learn new things from other people's experience.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Cream-vented Bulbul
I found this
Cream-vented Bulbul at Hala-Bala Wildlife Sancturies, 160 km from Pattani, evertime I visit there. But this time it came close that I can take this amazing photo.
Cream-vented Bulbul at Hala-Bala Wildlife Sancturies, 160 km from Pattani, evertime I visit there. But this time it came close that I can take this amazing photo.
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