Binoculars in the Backcountry: Nk h̄lāy chnid (Many Birds)

It's been a whirl-wind two weeks in Thailand, and with little internet access this segment of our month in Southeast Asia will have to come in one post. We took a short hour-long hop from Phnom Penh to Bangkok to meet our friend and one of the best guides this side of the international date line - Par Sasirat. Par runs the Wild Bird Eco guide service based out of Bangkok, serving all over Thailand and beyond. This is our third trip with Par and every time has been a fantastic experience.

First stop was a location we've been too before, in fact on each of our trips. Kaeng Krachan National Park is a must see Thailand birding location, with over 500 species tallied there. The birding is phenomenal and the location is beautiful. We spend most of three days there and enjoyed every minute.

Silver-breasted Broadbill

Then we were off to the airport for a short flight down south to Phuket. The south of Thailand was the main focus of this trip as we had never been there before. As you move south new bird species opportunities present themselves.

The first afternoon brought us to a coral beach for a chance at a wish-list bird for Susan and I - Crab Plover. Ever since our miss on this species in Madagascar, knowing we'd have another long-shot chance was exciting. There are currently two individuals wintering a little north of Phuket and with some searching the beach we managed to locate them. What a bird and what a great afternoon.

Crab Plover with crab dinner

By evening we were staged for a big adventure. We were on the edge of Khao Sok National Park for a very early morning trek in the dark to a blind deep in the forest. The local villagers have developed this blind near a lekking spot for the Great Argus Pheasant. The Argus arrives at dawn almost every morning to display for females. In February and March he typically gets some action and the show can be phenomenal. We were up at 3 AM and walked two miles up 700 feet in elevation (at over 80F with nearly 100% humidity - the sweat was pouring off...) in the rain forest. We were secure in the blind well before light. The bird showed at dawn and started his morning chorus.

View through the blind portal

The blind

Returning from the blind

We both got our share of leech kisses during the trip, including this one I got visiting the Argus

The Argus forest

By afternoon we were in a mangrove forest in Khao Sok National Park adding more fantastic birds.

Black and Red Broadbill

Brown-winged Kingfisher

The next two days were spend chasing birds around Sri Phang Nga National Park with one especially difficult target bird - the Malayan Banded Pitta. These exceptionally beautiful birds were a joy to watch.

Malayan Banded Pitta female

Malayan Banded Pitta male

A Javan Frogmouth nest, with adorable chicks, was a special treat.

The nearby waterfall

We moved farther south to Khao Luang National Park and the Krung Ching Waterfall area. The especially beautiful forest held our attention for a couple of days with many amazing birds. The most special was my number one target bird for the entire trip - the Green Broadbill. This bird would round out our set of all the Southeast Asia broadbills. It took some work to get good looks of this treetop dweller, and even more work to get a few photos. Late one afternoon we dragged our guide Par to the waterfall at the end of a 8 kilometer trek through the forest, ending in a 300 foot descent on steps to the base of the falls.

Green Broadbill

Krung Ching Waterfall

The lovely lady at the tiny restaurant where we had dinner for three nights.

The Krung Ching Forest

And finally we were off to our final destination, a special place deep in the south of Thailand - Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary less than a kilometer from the Malaysia border. We've been talking with Par about visiting this location for many years, but it was only recently that it was safe for foreigners to travel this far south in Thailand. Par has been guiding for over 30 years and has only taken three foreign clients to Hala Bala, and Susan and I were numbers two and three. This is the land of hornbills, with no less than 9 species of hornbill possible. We saw a lot, including life looks at Helmeted, Rhinoceros, and Bushy-crested. While birding the area it seamed we could walk no further than 100 yards without picking up another new life bird. It was a fantastic two days.

Our tally for the trip was 268 species in which 97 were new. Our total for Thailand now sits at 548 after three visits. Bird list can be viewed on my Thailand eBird page.

All too soon this adventure was over. A big thank you to our driver Chod who was a never ending source of entertainment, and found a few great birds for us too! And a special thank you to our friend and guide Par, an amazing birder, guide, and all around great person.