First Trip.
After spending many hours exploring at my little known
National Park in Ratchaburi for the last year or two, things took a dramatic
turn recently. I was contacted by a friend regarding another entrance into the
park. We met up to try to find the Rusty-naped Pitta which had been spotted in
recent weeks. This area, “the other side” of the park looked really promising.
We set up hides and waited….. White-rumped Shamas were first to show, followed
by Abbot’s, Buff- breasted and Puff-throated Babblers and a pair of Scaley-Breasted
Partridges. Then the first Blue Pitta turned up. After getting a few shots, the
Rusty-naped Pitta began calling. We waited for a while getting more shots of
the Blue but the Rusty didn’t show this time.
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| Blue Pitta |
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| Buff- breasted Babbler |
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| Puff-throated Babbler |
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| Scaley-Breasted Partridge |
An interesting lizard showed for
a while giving us an amazing insight into its camouflage and colour changing
abilities. I think I am right in saying it was a “Boulenger's Pricklenape”.
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| Boulenger's Pricklenape |
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| Boulenger's Pricklenape |
We stayed around the area for a few more hours, meeting up
with some interesting guys that gave us more information on exciting sightings
of this area. The weather was now closing in, so we made the drive back down
the mountain vowing to return for further explorations.
Second Trip.
The following weekend we planned to meet up again. I left
the house at 3:45 am, driving for about 2 hours in the pouring rain. Arriving
at the park area the rain had stopped and it was looking good. As I arrived at
the top of the mountain, the rain began again. It didn’t last too long and I
was soon in the hide hoping for some Rusty action….. Blue Pittas seemed to be
everywhere, but Rusty was silent. All the previous week’s birds showed plus a
Banded Broadbill was seen and a Silver-breasted Broadbill was heard. Some
Hornbills flew overhead but were not seen. From the sound, I would say more
than likely Great Hornbills. Walking around the area turned up more Blue
Pittas, Asian Fairy Bluebirds, various Bulbuls, Lesser-necklaced
Laughingthrushes and Oriental Honey Buzzard.
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| Blue Pitta |
The drive back down the mountain also turned up many more birds including: Blue-bearded Bee-Eaters, Yellow Vented Flowerpeckers, Olive-Backed Sunbird and of course another Lizard.
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| Blue-bearded Bee-Eater |
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| Yellow Vented Flowerpecker |
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| Olive-Backed Sunbird |
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| Lizard |
I will definitely be
back in there soon. Anyone interested in finding out more about this place,
drop me a line at thaibirdspot66@gmail.com
