Well, I had been seeing so many Blue and Hooded Pittas posted on Facebook forums in the last couple of weeks, I really had to get some snaps myself.. Chatting to a few old (and some new) friends I got good pointers on the location of both birds.. I must admit I was pretty put off by the fact people were waiting 7 or 8 hours to get a shot!!!! Let me explain, As much as I like birds and photography, there ain't no way on this planet I'm waiting more than an hour for a picture... 8hours!!!! that seriously eats into beer time..... So we arrived at about 10 after leaving Jas over at a friends house (cheers Leon) to find the park full... And I mean FULL !! birders, photographers,families and even cyclists. First point was to be the Blue Pitta, but no chance there.. There were 9 hides in that little clearing !!! So up to km18 for the Hooded. When we got there, there were 4 or 5 hides and one of the guys said the Pitta hadn't shown all morning!! I'm thinking 8 hrs.....no way!!... We must have set up the gear and sat for no more than ten minutes when out of the undergrowth hopped the little green Pitta to the whispered calls of "ma laew - ma laew"... Well, we got some great shots and were just about to leave when he came back for more! A real result , 2 showings in 20 - 25 mins... got the pics and back in the truck..
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| Hooded Pitta |
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| Hooded Pitta |
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| Hooded Pitta | | |
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| Hooded Pitta |
The Blue
After getting the Hooded, we looked back at the site of the Blue.. Still Packed!! So back to Bang Krang to pitch the tent and a spot of lunch.. I think It was about 2 pm when we arrived back at the Blue site, sadly to find it still full of the same people..Seriously, I'm not knocking anyone, but guys, How many shots do you need????? I could see one had left so I thought I have to crash the scene... Again no more than 20 mins
had passed before the first Blue hopped into view... Got my shots, moved the
hide a little to the left and waited for the next show.. Within 15 mins
I was back in the truck again looking for the wife who had wandered off
in search of the Black Backed Kingfisher... She had seen it, so we set
up the hide for a while, but sadly no show.
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| Blue Pitta |
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| Blue Pitta |
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| Blue Pitta |
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| Blue Pitta |
Well, with mission complete it was back to the tent, only to find it surrounded by 3 or 4 families that had all pitched together... A quick look at the time... hmmmm 3;10 Quick smart the tent was down, truck packed, coffee downed, doors slammed and off home.... Kinda reminded of the last scene from "Snatch"....
We saw the Asian Golden Jackals on the way back down too ...The only problem was they were going in the same direction as us!!
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| Asian Golden Jackal |
Back home by 7.. an Indian, a few beers and off to kip..........A great day all round
