Skip to main content

A few from the South in May 2014

Francesco Veronesi  and his birding friend Leonardo Beghellini had been asking me to see the Malaysian Rail Babbler for a long time. So when I got news of one showing at Krung Ching in Southern Thailand they immediately wanted to visit. Francesco is a dedicated photographer with over 3200 species in his portfolie as well as a lister and Leonardo is a global lister with over 6000 birds seen.

Along with the Babbler they gave me a list with rather difficult birds and so I was faced with both a logistic challenge as well as finding the birds. I couldn’t set a fixed itinerary since we didn’t know how long it would take to nail down the Babbler.

I flew down to Krabi in advance as I wanted to visit Satun some 4 hours drive to the South of Krabi.
I used a Honda City from Hertz which turned out to be a reliable vehicle for the entire trip.


It was interesting to see the landscape and the make up of this area as I drove through the western part of the very South. Satun has not had any influence of the violence found in the bordering provinces of Naratiwat, Yala and Pattalung and the people seemed rather relaxed.

I visited the mangrove forest as I was targeting Cinerous Tit. I have only seen Cinerous Tit on Komodo Island but that is a different subspecies. It was quite strait forward to see it inside of the grounds of the mangrove research and learning center. The birds also sang away with songs reminding me of Great Tit from my home country.

I also recorded Mangrove PItta, photographed Brown-winged Kingfisher and noted Mangrove Whistler, Golden-bellied Gerygone and Common Flameback in the mangroves.

Unfortunately I didn’t see the Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker and the Pied Triller and it wasn’t until a couple of weeks later I found out there is a boardwalk near the port itself and that is the place for these birds. Ouch! Next time!

Lodging was easy and these days most accommodation in Thailand has free WiFi, air-con and hot showers as well.

I spent one night in Krabi. Loads of Guest House style of lodging right in town. Had a simple meal at the market by the river and prepared for the days to come.




I


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Birding trips out of Bangkok!

Daytrips out of Bangkok The following are a few sites that I regularly take visiting birders to. I often do one site in the morning and another in the afternoon and sometimes even fit in one midday.  Depending on the time of year number of birds seen will vary. Most migrants are here from September – April yet there are others that only visit in May-August.  I find it very fulfilling for people on business or others with limited time circumstances to invest in a guided trip with someone that not only knows the birds but also how to get around and has years of experience living in Thailand. Fields of Latkrabang, Bangkok: My local patch and a gem in the city concrete with still rice fields and scrub present. The roar of the traffic in the background and airplanes lifting to the sky is subdued a bit and the birds present are clearly heard. Many a good wetland birds as well as warblers and other birds have been recorded. On a normal morning I average 70-80 species. Pe
Post a Comment
Read more

Blue-naped Pitta, 1st March 2022

 I am not quite sure how or when to begin this story. Back in the day when all I had was the birds in my garden and the fantastic illustrations of magical birds found in the field guide I could only dream of one day seeing them in real life. My life was restricted and very little opportunity to set out in pursuit of ‘imaginary birds’! Ha! Well, a long story cut short. Things changed and slowly I started to lay my eyes on the real things I had only seen drawn in literature. I remember my first Pitta, the Blue-winged, on an excursion to a waterfall with some rumbunctious kids but it didn’t stop me from seeing one crossing the pathway. (as a note, the late Jon Hornbuckle, who eventually saw all recognized Pittas of his day, told me his last one was the Blue-winged. Just goes to show how this rather ‘easy’ to see bird is not very easy unless you are in the right area at the right time.) So, here in Thailand we have a lot of Pittas. Some are regular, none are easy, and som
Post a Comment
Read more

Alone with Spoonie!

  I have been fortunate enough to spend time on my own with Spoon-billed Sandpiper this season. I have seen this bird over 100 times but feel like I never have enough.  These pictures are from Khok Kham, Samut Sakorn about 1 hour from Bangkok.  
Post a Comment
Read more