February 21, 2020. From dawn till dusk at Kaeng Krachen National Park
This is Day 8.2 of a 19-day birding tour of Thailand; it was a private group arranged through Field Guides, adhering to their typical itinerary. The pictures in this post are just some of the many Thailand pictures I’ve uploaded to GreatBirdPic.com. Check out the site before you leave: see the Latest Pics uploaded by our members or read the About GPB to find out more about the site. You are welcome to join if you enjoy bird photography.
After lunch we set out again, realizing that the afternoon was not the best time to be searching for birds. We were pleasantly surprised when we came across this female Greater Flameback.
As we went along the road we came to an open area where a couple of birds were perched out on limbs. We saw the Bronzed Drongo first, with it’s shiny body and nearby was a Chines White-faced Drongo (also known as an Ashy Drongo, with it’s pale-faced perch.
.
We came to a trailhead, and like many places in Thailand there there were a couple of Buddhist temples. Not the grand temples like we saw in Bangkok but little homemade temples placed at strategic spots like this one.
The trail was fairly quiet, as expected in the afternoon, but we did find this large Green-billed Makoha above us. Note how long its tail is and if you look closely you’ll see a band of red around its eyes and a glimpse of its green bill.
Further down the trail we spotted this female Olive-backed Sunbird nestled back in a tangle of vines.
As we emerged from the trail we were greeted by this little Radde’s Warbler. Interestingly enough, warblers in Thailand look pretty drab compared to the ones we see in the U.S., which makes them very difficult to distinguish. The Radde’s Warbler’s white supercilium (eyebrow stripe) made it easier to ID.
As the vans took off toward home we passed this sign. I wasn’t sure if it was a warning or an attraction. Either way we never heard or saw any wild cats.
Just before exiting the park our vans pulled over at a known nesting spot for the Kalij Pheasant. Sure enough we got to watch as first the male and then the female emerged from the nest. The male was very striking with its flame-red head yet the female was quite plain.
As we drove out of the park we had a beautiful vista of the sunset to the west. We returned to our lodging in the dark and after reviewing our Field Notebook for the day we climbed into bed in anticipation of another good day of birding at Kaeng Krackan National Park. Day 6 of our adventure next.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
For you overachievers here are the Ebird checklists for that afternoon:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S64835002
https://ebird.org/checklist/S64843048
https://ebird.org/checklist/S64812582
https://ebird.org/checklist/S64812584
https://ebird.org/checklist/S64813552
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Glad you found GreatBirdPics.com. Check out the site before you leave: see the Latest Pics uploaded by our members or read the About GPB to find out more about the site. You are welcome to join if you enjoy bird photography.