Another trip with Ramesh and his good friend Chalinda to
Kaeng Krachan was on the books for the weekend.
We met up at Samarn Birdcamp at 6am on the Saturday morning and headed
straight into the park. I opted to begin our morning along the access road at
around the 8-9km mark. The first bird of the morning was a Common Flameback
Woodpecker which is always a good omen for Ramesh. He has always told me,
seeing a woodpecker as his first bird is his sign of great things to come….
We immediately latched on to great sightings of a male
Banded Kingfisher along with a Black-Thighed Falconet. A little further along
the road an Asian Emerald, Violet and Drongo-Cuckoo all showed well in the same
tree.
Banded Kingfisher |
Fork-tailed Drongo Cuckoo |
Great Slaty Woodpecker |
Before reaching Bang Kran campsite we had already notched up
a great number of birds including 5 lifers for Ramesh. As it was Chalinda’s
first birding trip to Thailand, many more were lifers for him. Other highlights
along the road included Black and Red Broadbills, Black and Yellow Broadbills,
Banded Broadbills, Great-Slaty Woodpeckers, Asian-Fairy Bluebird, Black-Capped
Kingfisher and the majestic Great Hornbill amongst many others.
Great Hornbill. |
After lunch we headed up to Panoen Thung where Long-tailed
Broadbills were busy constructing their nests. At the top at the ranger station
and viewpoint, things were pretty quiet given the amount of traffic as it was a
weekend..
Sunday morning we headed back into the park for a few hours
and managed to notch up a fair few more birds, including; Velvet-Fronted
Nuthatch, Ashy & Swinhoes Minivets, Tickell’s Brown Hornbill, Black-Naped
Monarchs, Rufous-fronted Babblers and Silver-Breasted Broadbills.
Black-Naped Monarch |
Silver-Breasted Broadbill |
On the way out of the park one last great sighting was a
Grey-Faced Buzzard perched on a post as a Crested-Serpent Eagle soared overhead
Grey-Faced Buzzard |
As always a great couple of days birding with great friends,
Ramesh and Shalinda… Two great guys I wish to bird with again sometime soon..
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