part one
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part one |
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In early 2001 we received an email from Singapore inviting us to attend an
informal birding-trip to Thailand primarily to search for the 'Big G' or
Gurney's Pitta, a lowland species of a bird currently thought to number
fewer than 30 in the wild. Our friends Lim Kim Seng and his brother Kim
Chuah were organizing a trip to the Krabi area of southern Thailand to look
for the pitta and then planning to spend some time further north at Kaeng
Krachan National Park accompanied by birding friends from Singapore and
Malaysia. We were also accompanied by Peter Ericsson, a Swedish birder
fluent in the thai language.
We left Brisbane on the morning of Saturday 28 April and after a couple of hours stop-over in Brunei (in which I gained a Borneo list of one species....House Swift!) we arrived in Bangkok Airport and met Peter and travelled on to Phuket where we hired a car and drove to an area south of Krabi (here we were forced to employ the assistance of locals as we got lost searching for Khao Nor Chuchi.....this is where Peter's skill in the Thai language was first put to the test!) Arriving at the Morakot Resort at 2 am we were surprised to be met by Kim Chuah and after travelling for over 24 hours the prospect of sleep in the bungalow was very welcome. However after only three hours in bed reveille was called and the search for the Big G commenced! The remaining (known) habitat for the pitta is a rather small patch of forest about one kilometre from the Morakot Resort, sadly it is rather depleted and far worse than I had anticipated after reading the available literature. We spent the morning searching the area to the west of the road and unsurprisingly saw little evidence of the pitta. One excellent sighting though was a male white-phase Asian Paradise-Flycatcher which although noisily exclaiming his presence was incredibly difficult to photograph. Purple-throated Sunbird was spotted in the secondary forest though I failed to see the Large Wren-Babbler which most of the rest of the group had observed. Black and Yellow Broadbill and Dark-throated Oriole were seen well on the eastern side of the track
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Gurney's Pitta by Phil Round |
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Khao Nor Chuchi |
Morakot Resort |
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Dark-throated Oriole |
The Team |
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Black and Yellow Broadbill Image by Laurence Poh |
Black and Red Broadbill Image by Tee Lian Huat |
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Asian Paradise-Flycatcher Image by Suppalak Klabdee |
| Marie and I continued birding until lunch-time and returning to the Morakot saw our first Spectacled Bulbuls (rather unremarkable birds but not seen by the rest of the team.) The afternoon saw a storm and so birding was confined to the immediate area of the resort where Blue-winged Pitta, Black and Red Broadbill, Blue-eared Kingfisher and Brown Shrike were recorded. The rain continued into the evening and we couldn't help noticing that frogs and toads were giving a show, a few species were photographed. |
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Painted Frog |
Treefrog |
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Pond Frog |
Spot the Flying Lizard! |
The following day began with a rainbow behind the Morakot and as one of the
team Kim Keang declared, that there will be "a pot of gold at one end and a
Gurney's Pitta at the other!" This was to be prophetic as a Mr Yothin, the
local bird-guide had been contracted to show us the specialities of the
area including the most famous. In the morning we were taken to a spot and
split into two groups Unfortunately I cannot divulge too much detail of the
site (for obvious reasons), but we were amazed when a handsome male
Gurney's Pitta hopped past about 20 metres from where we were watching.
Later the second group were rewarded for their patience with an excellent
view. Fortunately Prof. Ng Soon Chye managed to capture the male on video
and has made a 'screensaver' which can be downloaded from his website
Asiabird
After lunch Yothin took us to the area behind the 'Crystal Waters' natural
swimming-holes, the vegetation here seems rather more pristine and we were
fortunate to see Scarlet-rumped Trogon, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird,
Short-tailed Babbler and I 'dipped' on Fulvous-chested Flycatcher near the
nest of a Wallace's Hawk-Eagle. In the forest we heard the incredibly
strident call of an Indian Cuckoo and whilst searching for it I missed
another male Gurney's Pitta which a couple of the group saw well.
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Marie at Crystal Waters |
Gurney's Pitta habitat |
| Tuesday began with some last minute birding around Khao Nor Chuchi although few new birds were added to the list. We set off for Krabi through some very heavy rain and found accomodation at the Vieng Thong Hotel opposite the floating restaurant. The hotel room was comfortable and had aircon, quite a pleasant change after the humidity of Khao Nor Chuchi. Peter organized a boat for our excursion into the mangroves the following morning with a cheery boatman named Mas (we had heard that the legendary Mr Dai was very expensive.) In the evening we ate an excellent meal on the floating restaurant and were amazed when a Great Eared Nightjar flew out of the mangroves opposite and over our heads towards town. We awoke the next morning to heavy rain and the prospects for our mangrove birding looked grim. Mr Dai found us and tried to talk us into using his services with the prospect of exciting birds but admitted the weather wasn't looking very promising. Eventually Peter explained to him that he had already made a deal with Mas and we would have to stick with him. We boarded the covered boat and headed towards the passage between the two odd-looking islands to the north. |
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KC and Mas the boatman |
Krabi Islands |
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Expeditionary team! |
Left island from north |
| Shortly after setting off the weather improved and it wasn't long before we saw our first Brown-winged Kingfisher - a striking bird with a restrictive range. The mood of the group picked up and someone heard a bird singing in the vegetation under the cliff of the western island, Mas expertly guided the boat close enough for us to get excellent views of a Mangrove Blue Flycatcher (a 'lifer' for most on the boat) Overhead a pair of Striated Swallows were seen and nearby a Mangrove Pitta called. We continued upstream until we reached habitation then turned the boat around, this was probably the most exciting moment of the boat-ride as a Ruddy Kingfisher flew over the boat calling and alighted in a nearby tree, sadly though it was in a difficult position for photography. Also seen from the boat were Common and Greater Flameback, Collared Kingfisher, Brahminy Kite and Striated Heron. We all agreed it was an excellent two-hour trip and great value for 800 baht between 9 of us. |
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Mangrove Blue Flycatcher Image by Peter Ericsson |
Brown-winged Kingfisher Image by Ooi Beng Yean |
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