No wonder my friends think I'm crazy. What other kind of person would wake up at 5am in the morning, only to step outside into a single-digit degree air temperature and go sit in a portable hide in the middle of nowhere in almost pitch darkness. I think I need not elaborate further, but that's exactly what I did. And that is all part of the thrill!
We were actually lying in wait for the
Mrs Hume's Pheasant Syrmaticus humiae which is often seen by some lucky birdwatchers at KM34. At around 6.45am, a sudden loud barking call broke the silence. It sounded from nearby and kept repeating while moving further away into the valley. After about ten minutes, the sun began to brush the topmost leaves of the trees and the calls stopped. The dawn chorus began and we decided that today was a no show for the pheasant.
We then headed uphill for the Chinese cemetery and Pea Farm. It was to our utter disappointment that the mist was so thick! This was rather unusual as it is seldom misty during winter over here and it even rained a few drops earlier. Among the birds that we still managed to see were a number of
Japanese Tits Parus minor and a pair of
White-browed Scimitar-Babblers Pomatorhinus schisticeps.
As it was threatening to be a bleak morning, we quickly decided to leave this place for another time and instead head for the back of the Royal Project Restaurant, a favourite haunt for Thrushes. We were not disappointed as the feast had already begun and did not cease even when we planted ourselves there!
Finally my camera could be put to good use here. The most obliging were the several pairs of
Black-breasted Thrushes Turdus dissimilis and a
Scaly Thrush Zoothera dauma (honestly I have no idea how to differentiate this species from the
White's Thrush Zoothera aurea, so I'm just leaving it at that for now)
.
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| First there was one... |
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| ...then came another... |
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| ...and that makes it three! All of them in almost the same position. |
There was at least one
Eyebrowed Thrush Turdus obscurus but it stayed far away from the reach of my lens and the lighting was subdued too. One
Dark-sided Thrush Zoothera marginata was also seen skulking around the edges of the area, flicking up dry leaves as it foraged for grubs. I managed to get only one decent shot of this species.
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| A true skulker. Doesn't enjoy sharing the limelight (or the same food) as the rest seem to have. |
When the larger birds left from time to time, a male
Hill Blue Flycatcher Cyornis banyumas would fly down to feed.
But only if it was not chased away by a female
Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis. Otherwise, it would wait patiently for its turn on a small creeper clinging to the rock. A
Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea also hung around for awhile but probably decided the food was not its cup of tea.
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| "What's for lunch?" |
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| "Now's my turn!" |
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| "But when's mine?" |
Once satisfied, we walked around the gardens of the Royal Project, admiring the many beautiful blossoms. It was truly a sight to be treasured and I think I could spend days on end amongst these fields of flowers.
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| One of the many enchanting blossoms around the garden. |
We then had a look around the bamboo forest just up the road and were rewarded with spectacular views of a male Black-breasted Thrush again. A male
White-tailed Robin Myiomela leucura also dropped by for awhile, even to chase off two juvenile females of the same species.
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| Hardly cropped image. He was that close! |
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| He stood so still for such a long time I could go right down to ISO100. Oh joy! |
Just before we bundled into the van, a
Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach made us go running out again. We certainly didn't mind delaying our lunch for quite some time.
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| The L.s.tricolor subspecies. That's why we followed it wherever it went. |
Lunch at Baan Khum was a simple affair of
khao soi. When we walked around the village, we spotted one of the stalls selling a certain type of fruit we had never seen before. It was oval shaped, of variable sizes and had a smooth, hard green surface. When we sampled it, it tasted fresh, juicy and so fragrant, very unlike any other fruit we had eaten before. Within seconds all of us were addicted! We initially bought a bag of the fruit, but then we bulldozed through it so fast before you could say Jack Robinson. Before we knew it, we bought another two bags to last the rest of the day.
Our local friend told us that the fruit is called
phutsa in Thai but could not think of the English name. I have looked it up on the web and believe that it most accurately fits the description for
Indian Jujube Ziziphus mauritiana. If I am wrong, do correct me.
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| A healthy addiction. |
After lunch, we decided to go to Mae Per Forest Trail. A large flock of
Mrs Gould's Sunbirds Aethopyga gouldiae were most hyperactive even at this time of the day. They simply moved too fast and were a bit too far for me, so I ended up just birdwatching most of the time.
A number of faraway trees across the valley proved fruitful with a lone
Blue-throated Barbet Megalaima asiatica, a puffed up and evidently stuffed
Golden-throated Barbet Megalaima franklinii, a male
Stripe-breasted Woodpecker Dendrocopos atratus, several
Ashy Drongos Dicrurus leucophaeus and several
Ashy Bulbuls Hemixos flavala hildebrandi.
Further down the trail, we saw a pair of
Velvet-fronted Nuthatches Sitta frontalis and a pair of
Orange-bellied Leafbirds Chloropsis hardwickii besides more Sunbirds.
As evening set in, we proceeded to the army camp (I think it's at KM19). After some customary touristy photographs at the viewing platforms, another Long-tailed Shrike captured our attention, followed by a shy
Grey-backed Shrike Lanius tephronotus and several
Grey Bushchats Saxicola ferreus.
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| Whoever knew we managed to see a Hornbill here! |
When there weren't any other birds to see, we could always count on the
Flavescent Bulbuls Pycnonotus flavescens which are common around here.
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| I always love montane scenery as it makes everything so picturesque. |
On the way back to Baan Luang, we stopped by the Checkpoint as well as Mae Per Noi but it was a bit too late for birdwatching. I just entertained myself by photographing the dogs around there (especially the cute puppies!).
It goes without saying that dinner was full of mushrooms again.
