-*-* 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.
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.
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.
