Thaibirds and more

There are 2 BIG TIME rarities in this photo. See if you can tell what they are! BINGO IKE! There has been a single Black-faced Spoonbill in the area for a few weeks now. That huge 'spatula' of a bill really stands out. Black-faced Spoonbill is an endangered species and shows up in Thailand as a vagrant in very small numbers. A few years back I got very close to a pair of them. http://www.pbase.com/peterericsson/blackfacedspoonbill The Milky Stork is even rarer. Mainly confined to Sumatra where a few thousand exist. In Thailand it is extremely rare. There were 2 birds mixed in with 6 Painted Storks.

The dry season is a good time to look for partridges in the forest as the rustling of the birds feet give them away. Still, it is very difficult to get any shots. These shots were taken from a blind by a waterhole where some bird feed had been put out as well. First to the feast was the rather non descript Scaly-breasted Partridge. Easily the most common and vocal partridge in the Central region. What I was hoping for was to be able to get close views of Bar-backed Partridges. I associate these birds with moderate levels of mountains but they had been reported from Ban SongNok which is a forested area almost at sea level. Scaly-breasted is a daily visitor but the Bar-backed coming in is a new happening. Perhaps the abundance of food and water helped to bring them to the area? These birds are so nicely decorated. A group of 4 showed up to my delight. A visit to Ban SongNok is a most rewarding experience.

I went to Kaengkrachan with my son Jaime and a friend from Sweden: Bengt Legnell. We mainly wanted to target owls. We heard 8 different species in the evening: Barred Eagle Owl, Brown Hawk Owl, Asian Barred Owlet, Collared Scops Owl, White-fronted Scops Owl, Oriental Bay Owl, Collared Owlet and Mountain Scops Owl.......the WFS was our main target and we were very close to it but failed to see it. It called for hours but wouldn't show. However, a Javan Frogmouth was a much overdue lifer for me. So happy to finally see one. Blue Pitta showed well on a trail and then in the late afternoon a Leopard gave views on the road. I have seen the black version before but this was my 1st time with the spotted one.