Tuesday 26 February 2013

Fishguard Harbour 16.00 26th Feb.

Very quiet in the harbour on a very low tide, a single Heron & a summer plumaged Great Crested Grebe on the Stena side the main interest other than the usual collection of commoner gulls.

Monday 25 February 2013

It's on the way.



A pair of Peregrine Falcons displaying high over Fishguard this morning.

Sunday 24 February 2013

Aonang Thailand.





The last five days of the trip were spent at the Sabai Resort , Nopparat Thara near Aonang. The plan was to wind down after all the excitement of KNC but hopefully still connect with a few birds.The accommodation was small detached Bungalows nicely situated in pleasant gardens, our one having a handily placed leaking tap close by where we could watch some of the local birds coming down to drink & bathe.The birds pictured from top to bottom: Streak Eared Bulbul ( a common bird everywhere we went in Thailand ), Dark Throated Tailorbird, Pied Fantail, Yellow Vented Bulbul ( the male being of the white headed variant ).

A few other Thailand birds.






Little Tern, Chestnut Headed Bee-Eater, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Asian Openbill Storks, The last two being mixed Wader flocks.

A few other Thailand pics. ( Not birds )







Tsunami Warning signs, Aonang Beach with Long Tail Boats, Beach seller, nice Hot Chicken with Rice ( the green things are chillies ! )The preferred mode of transport in Aonang, motorbike with seating on side 60 Bahts from NT to Aonang town. The bottom one is the early evening advertising for the late night show, we didn't quite manage to catch up with it though !! 

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Fishguard Harbour 19th Feb.

A good mix in the harbour this afternoon, 2 summer plumage Black Gillies & from Fishguard Fort , 2 Black Throated, 2 Red Throated & a single Great Northern Diver.

Many Thanks to the Pauls Grennard & Mahiques for passing on the information.

Khao Nor Chuchi ( KNC )

About an hours drive south from Krabi is the hallowed area of forest that is the Khao Nor Chuchi National Park. Home to many avian specialities of the region, this was to be our home for the next 2 days where we would hopefully connect with a few of them. Firstly you need somewhere to stay so we booked a night at the Morakot Resort, not as posh as it sounds but adequate for our needs for the one night. The next item on the agenda being that we would need a guide.This turned out to be a bit more tricky as they are few & far between & nearly fully booked to the Bird Tour holiday companies Wildwings, Ornitholidays etc.One guide actually said he didn't do it anymore as KNC was too hard !  However after the swapping of many e-mails before we left the UK & the use of the FREE internet at the Dee Andaman Hotel, as arranged our guide Yotin Meekaeo duly arrived at the pre arranged time of 05.30 to collect us.
To say Yotin is a skilled jungle operator is probably one of the biggest ornithological understatements anyone could make, him & his birdfinder named Nohk ( bird in Thai language who creeps around the forest invisibly ) are a complete necessity for the success of a trip to KNC, i can honestly say without them we would probably have seen NOTHING !

To secure Yotin's services you can contact him on:
66 081 539 6157
or

yotinpitta@hotmail.com

Yotin Meekaeo & the Morakot Resort.

KNC.


Chestnut Bellied Malkoha & the Khao Nor Chuchi Mountain

KNC Birds.



Orange Bellied Flowerpecker, Brown Throated Sunbird & White Bellied Treeswift.

KNC Birds.



Banded Broadbill ( Top ), Black & Yellow Broadbill, Green Broadbill.

KNC Birds.



Malayan Banded Pitta, Goulds Frogmouth ( Middle ) , Blyth's Frogmouth ( Bottom )

Sunday 17 February 2013

Krabi Town .





Asian Glossy Starling, Pacific Swallow, Blue Rock Thrush, Striated Swallow & Tree Sparrow.

Krabi Town.

After 2 nights in Bangkok we flew south to Krabi Town, happily the collecting transfer was there to meet us at the airport something which didn't happen on our initial arrival in Bangkok. We were booked for 5 nights at the Dee Andaman Hotel just a short walk outside of the town.


We found Krabi Town to be a typical bustling Asian town with more shops than you could ever want & the usual market place which was open day & night.We used a handily placed floating restaurant the first couple of nights we were there where apart from the excellent food we had the company of a breeding pair of Pacific Swallows & the ever present Tree Sparrows.As darkness fell we were also treated to the eerie sound of the Cicada's singing from the island the other side of the estuary.  

More from the Park




Common Myna, Large Billed Crow, Little Green Heron & Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

Lumphini Park Bangkok.





Brown Shrike, Peaceful Dove, Ashy Drongo, Black Naped Oriole & Asian Pied Starling.