7th February, 2008: Sungai Burung, Penang

My first weekend back home, so I took the family out on a little birding excursion. The way to motivate the kids is to give them points for every species they see, and double if they can identify it!

Here's my youngest doing some protracted study...


But what is she watching so carefully?


...This fine Black-capped Kingfisher, alert and searching for prey!



Target spotted, closing in!



Coming in for the kill!


Gotcha!







Returning to base, mission accomplished.



One crab, swiftly dispatched down the hatch!





This fish took a little longer to subdue.



Finally, after much whacking against the post, it is ready to be swallowed.


Suddenly, the hunter becomes aware that he might be on someone else's menu!



Watch out - there's a White-bellied Sea Eagle about!



This one's already caught its dinner though.


A Great Egret flies in, also hoping for a catch.


A Common Sandpiper sizes up some mudskippers.


And this resident Collared Kingfisher soaks up the last of the sun's rays.






















One of the eagles keeps up a vigil as the sun dips below the horizon.

29th January, 2008, Doi Inthanon, NW Thailand

My last day's birding dawned bright and clear - an answer to prayer! Up at the summit at dawn it was chilly, but at least there was no fog.






















On the summit trail birds materialized in waves out of nowhere, and then were suddenly everywhere, leaving me scarcely knowing where to look!





















































Some common bird wave participants were Yellow-bellied Fantails, Yellow-cheeked Tits and Rufous-winged Fulvettas.


This leaf warbler appeared briefly in front of me. It seems to have a different head pattern (especially the eyestripe and lores) from the one I photographed on the 26th, so maybe it's the other one of the White-tailed/Blyth's pair!


The real treat was the presence of some thrushes. Wintering thrushes are difficult to see except as brief fly-overs. Here though, there was a large flock - perhaps 30-40, feeding in the dense undergrowth. Most were only visible as they were disturbed by some workmen. I managed to identify Grey-sided and Chestnut, and got a few snaps of the latter.





I was able to get a few 'improvement shots' of birds I photographed on the first day. Here's a Chestnut-tailed Minla grappling with a large fruit in a manner reminiscent of a tit. The weird orange background is actually the sphagnum bog in the early morning light!


A Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush defending his territory with his loud, distinctive song - "RRRREEEEP-ee-cheep"!


And a Dark-backed Sibia in front of a popular mobile phone company advert!

After a few hours I decided to go down the mountain in search of warmer temperatures!























I caught up with both male and female Grey Bushchats by the roadside.

I decided to spend my last few hours in the hide at Mr Deang's. In contrast to yesterday, the stream in front of the hide was birdless for over an hour. Then finally several birds arrived at once.


The male Hill Blue Flycatcher is obvious enough, but did you notice the Dark-sided Thrush on the left?


Here's a slightly better pic of the flycatcher...




... and of the thrush. Watching the thrush feeding, it was easy to understand why this species is difficult to see. It moved across the ground extremely slowly, and would spend long periods completely motionless. Once it found a good spot for food, it stayed in exactly the same place for an hour and a half, digging and removing leaves and root wads, and even small branches, in order to extract the grubs that were underneath. Eventually it had dug a very noticeable hollow, completely cleared of debris.



Mmmm - looks delicious! Who'd like to try some? Check out those rictal bristles. Perhaps it should be called 'Bearded Thrush'!



What do you do while watching a stationary bird for an hour and a half? I experimented with different camera settings! This is one taken without flash, handheld, at 1/15th of a second!



One more pic of my 'old friend', the female Siberian Blue Robin.



Right at the end of my time in the hide, a surprise! After sitting in the hide over several days, I thought I had seen everything that frequented this particular spot. Then, this male Lesser Shortwing suddenly popped out of the undergrowth. That's the great thing about birding - you never know what you're going to see!

A nice end to my Thai trip!

28th January, 2008, Doi Inthanon, NW Thailand

With the weekend over, the big plan was for me to head for the summit today. Unfortunately the big plan hadn't taken into account that today, for the first time since August last year, it rained almost all day, and the summit was shrouded in dense cloud!

Still, what could have been a wash-out actually turned out to be my best day yet! This was entirely due to meeting up with two Thai bird photographers, who invited me to join them. Time to introduce the team!


In front, Uncle Deang and his lovely wife; at the back from the right, Dr Piya and Mr Porn, and yours truly!

The latter two kind gentlemen took me along to a 'stake-out' at dawn, to see two eagerly sought-after species at Checkpoint 2:






The rarely photographed White-gorgeted Flycatcher...


... and the spectacular Rufous-bellied Niltava. These were about the only shots I got that didn't turn out milky due to the swirling fog.

Dr Piya and Mr Porn then decided to go and look at a nesting Great Tit. Great Tits are nice birds, but don't have a big draw factor for me, with them being rather common in the UK, so I decided to stay at Mr Deang's and sit in a hide that had been erected under the restaurant. A stream caused by wastewater from the kitchen (laden with rice and other bits of food) proves a magnet for certain birds.



This female Siberian Blue Robin was my constant companion, and was ludicrously tame.







A Dark-sided Thrush is a regular visitor at Mr Deang's. Usually a skulker in thick undergrowth, fleeting views in poor light are normally the best one can hope for, so what a treat to get frame-filling views for over an hour!

After lunch the urge to get to the summit overcame me, so, despite the weather, I set off on my rented motorbike for the top! The fog was dense and the temperature extremely cold, so a I found a place behind the kitchen of the summit restaurant (I'm a fast learner!) and sat and waited!



This Blue Whistling Thrush was a brief visitor.

After about 45 mins, when I had almost reached the limit of my resistance to the cold, three Rufous-throated Partridges walked into view.







Well worth the wait! (Spot the raindrops on the birds!)

So, despite the weather, a fantastic day. Still, I prayed for better weather tomorrow!