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| Kaeng Krachan, Tung Bang Jak & Khao Yai 8-11th May 2008 | ||
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Introduction |
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Notes
The park entrance fee for Kaeng Krachan, at the time of writing, is 200 baht per person (for foreigners) and 30 baht per car; if you are staying outside the park you will be charged this fee every day. Tickets can be purchased at HQ or (more efficiently) at the park gate. Keep your tickets as they will be checked as you exit the park. We visited Kaeng Krachan on a thursday and friday when it was quiet; birding along the road was not hampered by traffic and only a handful of cars passed us the whole time. At weekends the traffic can make birding along the road quite unpleasant. The campsite at Ban Krang has toilets and showers but nothing else; at times the guards here can supply food, but I asked and they were not providing this service on our visit - do not rely on food here. The campsite at Panoen Tung has tents for hire and a small restaurant. The Toyota Fortuner was more than adequate for all sites and coped with the very bumpy highway at high speeds without having to worry about safety. The highways in Thailand can be in a very bad state and sometimes huge bumps can make travelling in a saloon car quite scary. However, the large Fortuner was rather thirsty on fuel, which similarly to other countries is increasing in price weekly. At the time of the trip petrol was 35 baht per litre. At Khao Yai we stayed at Duangporn Resort; a pleasant place with friendly and helpful staff and reasonably priced. The sign for this is only in Thai but the website has some English: Duangporn Resort. The rooms are large with huge beds and the staff turned on the air conditioning for us before we arrived back after birding, making for a nice cool room. Probably the main reason for staying here is that the food is good and very reasonably priced; in many of the other resorts near Khao Yai the food can be bland at best. Unfortunately, breakfast is not available until 7am so one must either take snacks for breakfast or get something cooked the night before - all rooms have refrigerators so keeping the food fresh is not a problem. Food is available at Khao Yai at headquarters, Pa Gluai Mai campsite, Laem Ta Kong campsite and Haew Suwat waterfall. Service seems to be with a snarl at all locations these days. The entrance fee for Khao Yai is 400 baht per person for foreigners and 50 baht per vehicle. This must be paid daily if staying outside the park - the gate opens at 6am, although it is worth getting there earlier as the guard will sometimes open it if a vehicle is waiting. |
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| Field
Guides 1. A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand 
by Craig Robson2. Guide to the Birds of Thailand 
by Philip D. Round & Boonsong Lekagul3. Raptors of the World 
by James Ferguson-Lees & David Christie4. Pipits and Wagtails of Europe, Asia and North America by Per Alstrom, Krister Mild & Bill Zetterstrom 5. A Guide to the Large Mammals of Thailand 
by John Parr. |
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Daily log 8th May : Picked Shoko's group up from the Baiyoke Boutique Hotel and headed towards Kaeng Krachan. The quickest way is to get on the expressway and head towards DaoKanong (signposted from most spots on the expressway), after crossing the large bridge over the Chao Praya river follow signs to Samut Sakon and continue along the main road for a couple of hours towards Petburi. After taking the turning for Kaeng Krachan off of the main highway we began to see lots of birds; Mynas, Storks, Egrets, Indian Roller, White-throated Kingfisher etc. These are all common birds and we would see them all on our visit to Tung Bang Jak so we continued to drive to the forest so that we could make the most of the morning birding. We arrived at the park gate at about 6.45am. The first birds we saw were right at the park gate. A group of 3 Green-eared Barbets were feeding in a tree and these were joined by Streak-eared Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul and Stripe-throated Bulbul. Another nice bird was a Puff-throated babbler which was calling in the undergrowth nearby. However, these were all common birds and we wanted to see some of the real specialities of the forest so we continued onwards. It turned out to be a very slow morning's birding. With virtually all the winter migrants departed there are far fewer birds in the forest at this time of year, added to that there are far more leaves on the trees, making it much harder to spot the birds that are present. With the high humidity making food and water abundant, birds are more spread out than in the dry season and all of these factors together made birding fairly frustrating at times. However, our next stop produced Oriental Pied Hornbill, Drongo Cuckoo, Green-billed Malkoha, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Blue-winged Leafbird, White-rumped Shama and a fantastic view of a Mountain Hawk Eagle perched on a tree so our efforts were not wasted. We moved on down the road where it is usually enough to cruise along until one sees something interesting and then get out for the birds. This time though we struggled to find very much. One stop for some Oriental Pied Hornbills also turned up a juvenile pale morph Oriental Honey-buzzard, a Crested Goshawk and a very friendly Rufous-fronted Babbler. With the slow birding I decided to head straight on to Ban Krang campsite where there is always something of interest. Here we were lucky enough to come across a pair of Black-and-red Broadbills attending their nest and pair-bonding. This is a really strange bird with a bright blue bill and not one that is encountered frequently. Also in the campsite were several photogenic Spangled Drongos, feeding fledgelings in the nest - a very nice sight. With the heat and humidity we were ready for some lunch, a rest and some cold water. This is where we learnt not to rely on food being available at Ban Krang. I spoke to the guards but they said that the food was finished and they were waiting for new supplies. Considering they were all tucking in to lunch and watching TV I have my suspicions that they just couldn't be bothered - better to bring lunch along. With this small setback we decided to go and check into Ban Maka and have lunch there. This proved a good decision and with lunch, a little rest and lots of cold water we were ready for more birding. I should also mention that the grounds of Ban Maka were good for birds too. Just close to the restaurant we managed to see Puff-throated Babbler, White-rumped Shama and Lesser Necklaced Laughinthrush along with the resident Oriental Pied Hornbill in the restaurant itself (this is an ex pet which now lives here). After lunch we drove directly to Ban Krang and continued to the second stream where we got out and walked. Once again, however, birding was extremely slow and we encountered no mixed flocks all day. Patience in the forest always pays off though and by being still and locating birds by their call we managed to find a beautiful Orange-breasted Trogon ( always one of my favourite birds), a pair of Silver-breasted Broadbills at their nest, a noisy Green Magpie, a lone Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, 2 Great Hornbills and the fantastic sight of a pair of Great Slaty Woodpeckers displaying to each other. Add to this Grey-eyed Bulbul, Ochraceous Bulbul, Bronzed Drongo and Asian Fairy Bluebird and the afternoon was fairly productive although a lot of perseverance was required. On days like this it is a good policy to stop and listen intently for bird calls and we found the small dam in the stream, between streams 2 and 3 a good place to sit and wait for birds. At about 5.30pm we started to drive back to Ban Maka, stopping along the way for Grey-headed Woodpecker, Golden-crested Myna and lots of Large-tailed Nightjars on the road outside of the park near Ban Maka. These were very easy to get close to and make very good subjects for photographers. We had an excellent dinner back at the guesthouse and I spent a frustrating time looking for a Collared Scops Owl which was calling just 10 feet above my head but couldn't be seen due to the thick foliage - maybe others will have better luck. |
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9th May : Breakfast was supplied at 5am and a packed lunch ready for us in a cooler bag. We began our drive to the forest at 5.30 and made a quick stop just outside the guesthouse grounds for a couple of Coppersmith Barbets in a dead tree. Whilst watching these 2 Koels flew in and these were shortly followed by 2 Black-collared Starlings which proceeded to feed the Koels. Obviously these starlings had had their nest invaded by Koel eggs! The staff at the park gate processed our tickets quickly - this is far more effecient than stopping at HQ to get them - and we were in the forest. Unfortunately, things were slow again but stopping for photographs of some common species meant that we missed the 7.30am cut off for driving past Ban Krang. Not to be deterred we continued on foot. Once again, the best policy was to go slowly and listen for bird calls. In this way I located a magnificent Stork-billed Kingfisher, several groups of Silver-breasted Broadbill, Bamboo Woodpecker, a very close-up male Orange-breasted Trogon, a pair of Blue-bearded Bee-eaters nesting beside the road a little before stream 1, Banded Broadbill, a pair of Black-and-yellow Broadbill, Green Magpie, a pair of Dusky Broadbills and a fantastic group of Tickell's Brown Hornbills which allowed us to watch them for about 30 minutes. All these birds were found within 500 metres of the first stream. In this area we also heard several Banded Kingfishers and Blue Pittas, but unfortunately we couldn't find them. We were happy that although low in quantity, the birds we had seen were quality species. We also came across a soaring Black Eagle, a perched Black-thighed Falconet, a hovering Crimson Sunbird, several Red Junglefowl and a group of Oriental Pied Hornbills, all of which made for quite a satisfying morning We had our packed lunch at stream 1 where it rained for a short time, and afterwards we drove along a little to just beyond the second stream. Once again things were slow, this time very slow and we saw very little all afternoon - just a few Ochraceous Bulbuls and Asian Fairy Bluebirds along with a couple of Dollarbirds. In fact things were so quiet I decided to go back to Ban Krang campsite where there is nearly always something of interest. This turned out to be the case once again and we got excellent views of Greater Flameback and Greater Yellownape along with the nesting Spangled Drongos. After two long and tiring days we were all ready to head back for dinner and although we stopped a couple of times for birds we pretty much headed straight back. One stop which is worth mentioning is the large pond right at the park gate. Although there is rarely very much there it may be worth a look for birders who are not spending any time in wetland habitats. We found our only Little Heron of the 4 day trip there along with Little Grebe, Red-wattled Lapwing and Little Egret. |
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10th May : Once again we had breakfast at 5am and headed off for Tung Bang Jak, an area of rice paddies and other wetlands close to Petburi. It took about 50 minutes to get there from Ban Maka and we were in time for a lot of bird activity. Just a short way from the tunr off from the main highway is an excellent spot for Green Bee-eater and these provided a very colourful start to the day. Also an Indochinese Bushlark always sings from the same tree and we kept our appointment with this little bird. Alongside the road here is a drainage canal and in its fringing reeds is a large colony of Streaked Weavers which gave us superb views and these were accompanied by small numbers of Asian Golden Weavers - the males are quite amazing in their summer plumage. One of the features of this area are the large numbers of Asian Openbill Storks and we took lots of time to admire them at close range. Watched carefully it is easy to see them very skillfully extract snails from their shells and in some places large piles of snail shells build up. Feeding alongside the storks were some very handsome Javan Pond Herons and a single Indian Pond Heron; an very uncommon species in Thailand. Whilst we stood watching all these birds a few Lesser Whistling Ducks flew around, several Yellow and Cinnamon Bitterns passed by and a Black Bittern flew overhead. Add to this Red Collared Dove, Peaceful Dove, Plain-backed Sparrow, Baya Weaver, Scaly-breasted Munia, Plain Prinia, Great Egret, Black Drongo, Greater Coucal, Indian Roller, Black-shouldered Kite, Watercock and Brahminy Kite and things can be a little overwhelming for first-time Thailand birders at this stop. We made several more stops along the road here, the most notable producing a Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker and 3 late Oriental Reed Warblers but it was a wet field along the access road to Wat Khao Takrao that was really interesting. In this piece of wetland we found some of the species the group really wanted to see; both Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed jacanas in breeding plumage - beautiful birds. Also here was an enormous group of Asian Openbill Storks right next to the road. Some other birds we found here were Little Cormorant, 6 Lesser Whistling Ducks, 3 White-breasted Waterhens, 4 Cotton Pygmy Geese and 2 Purple Herons. Although it was very hot and humid this was a nice spot to sit and watch a large number of birds and whilst we did this 2 Long-tailed Shrikes appeared. With time getting the better of us we made just one more stop of note where a huge number of egrets and pond heron were feeding. We also found 7 late Whiskered Terns here, 6 of which were still in non-breeding plumage so presumably they are first year birds. With these additions to our list we started on our journey to Khao Yai - about a 4.5 hour journey. It is worth noting that along the way we found very few suitable places to stop for lunch and in hindsight it would have been better to find something in Petburi as we were in Bangkok before stopping. We arrived at Duangporn Resort at about 3.30pm and checked into our rooms as it began to rain. Fortunately, the rain, although quite hard, didn't last too long and as I asked the staff for something I noticed some Parakeets in a distant tree. With the telescope we got excellent views of a pair of Red-breasted Parakeets and some accompanying Coppersmith Barbets. Close to Duangporn Resort is an abandoned resort which leads to the well-known bat cave. We decided to do some birding here before watching the bats emerge. Whislt we didn't find a huge amount here we got some nice sightings of Sooty-headed Bulbul, White-throated Kingfisher, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Lineated Barbet, White-crested Laughingthrush, Indian Roller and a Crow-billed Drongo. A very tiring wait in extreme humidity saw the bats emerge at 6.20pm and it took 5.5 minutes for them all to come out in a long a winding stream of bodies; a nice end to the day! An even nicer end to the day was an excellent dinner in the Duangporn Resort restaurant, for a ridiculously low price. 11th May : We were ready for the Khao Yai gate to open at 5.30am even though it is not supposed to open until 6am. Luckily for us a park ranger opened up and let us in at 5.40am. The weather did not look promising for the day with huge, heavy clouds dominating the sky but turning up early payed off for us as when we stopped at a salt lick at exactly 6am we were traeted to the site of a huge bull Asian Elephant scraping in the dirt, about 100 metres away. Unfortunately due to the poor light because of the early hour and cloud cover my photos didn't come out too well. |
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Also at this spot we found a noisy little Bright-headed Cisticola calling from the wires and a family of Ashy Woodswallows. Our next stop was near the jusnction with the Prachinburi road where we got lucky with some nice birds. First was a pair of Greater Flamebacks displaying on a dead tree, followed by some very beautiful Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters and a male Red Junglefowl. This spot also produced a noisy White-throated Kingfisher and a Brown Shrike - a late winter migrant. With these birds under our belt we felt a little better about the weather, which was still dry, and we headed on up to Pa Gluai Mai campsite which is usually guaranteed to be alive with birds. Alas, this time it was not to be so. In tune with the days in Kaeng Krachan birding proved to be very slow and we worked very hard for Moustached Barbet, Puff-throated Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Blue-winged Leafbird, Black-headed Bulbul, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and Asian Fairy Bluebird. Here we also saw our only Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, usually a very common bird, although we did get excellent views of a number of Fire-breasted and Yellow-vented Flowerpeckers on a small fruiting tree; it was quite amausing to see them taking fruit that was as big as their tiny heads. With the slow pace of birding we stopped for a late breakfast at the restaurant in the campsite. The people running this place aren't very friendly or helpful and drinks are on a help yourself basis and the staff must be interrupted from their conversatiopn before orders will be taken. Food is served up on the counter and one must collect it oneself. Shoko particularly wanted to see Hill Myna, so I took the group to Laem Ta Kong campsite where they can usually be seen easily. This is when the rain began. When the rain falls in the forest, birding is extremely difficult and most people simply stay indoors and read a book. With this being the group's last day, we persevered and walked out onto the old golf course where we came across a group of 8 Sambar garzing with White-vented and Common Mynas feeding alongside and on top of them. Eventually, as the rain got harder we got good views of 2 Hill Mynas but as the rain poured down we retreated to the shelter of a large tree. We waited in vain for a lull in the rain and eventually went back to the car, seeing only Large-billed Crow, Asian Fairy Bluebird and Red-whiskered Bulbul on the way. On rainy days it is diffiult to knwo what to do but I thought a walk to the Nong Pak Chi wildlife viewing tower night turn something up. On the way there was a break in the rain and I stopped immediately to take advantage of it. Here we saw a few more common species but were lucky enough to see a Japanese Sparrowhawk chased off by a Red-wattled Lapwing and a large group of about 20 White-crested Laughingthrushes all perched briefly in a tree. Then it began raining again and it never really stopped for the rest of the day. We got very wet and muddy walking to the wildlife watching tower but we got good views of Dollarbird, Hill Myna and Red-whiskered Bulbul once in the shelter. We also saw, briefly, a Cinnamon Bittern and Stork-billed Kingfisher at the pool here. After an hour in the shelter things were painfully slow and the rain kept pelting down so we went back to the car and to HQ for a late lunch. By now it was 4pm and still raining! We kept on trying though and patience was rewarded by a couple of nice sightings along the road. Just a short distance from HQ we saw a female Thick-billed Pigeon, a pair of Blue-winged Leafbirds and a Mountain Imperial Pigeon, all seen through the telescope which was nice. Further along near the tiger zone sign we found a fruiting tree which contained a large group of Thick-billed Pigeons and some Moustached Barbets and nearby 3 Blue-bearded Bee-eaters were giving good views. Frustratingly, Blue Pitta and Red-headed Trogon were calling nearby but despit 45 minutes of trying, neither would come into view. Most of the group were ready to head back now to make an 1.55pm flight back to Japan but one last stop again at Pa Gluyai Mai campsite gave us the sight of 20-30 Oriental Pied Hornbills coming into roost as well as a look at a few Dollarbirds, Brown-backed Needletails and Moustached Barbets. Also of note is the Golden Jackal that we saw on an area of grassland on our way along the road. It had a bad leg as it limped away - presumably it won't last long in this condition. As we headed out of the park towards Prachinburi we saw a couple of Large-tailed Nightjars and the amazing sight of 2 Asian Elephants in a salt lick just a few metres from the car. The only other wildlife sighting after this was a number of leeches that we seemed to have picked up and brought into the car with us. One bite on my stomach had bled so much that it looked like someone had tried to kill me - leech socks are available at HQ and it would have been a good idea to get some. The drive back to the airport took 3.5 hours exactly and the man from Thairentacar was waiting at the allotted spot to collect the car - very efficient. I took a taxi home from the airport. When getting a taxi here one must go to a desk outside the terminal, tell them where you are going and get a ticket. This will then be exchanged for another ticket and you will be paired up with a taxi driver. The fare is on the metre and there is an additional 50 baht charge for being picked up at the airport - don't forget this and think that the driver is overcharging you. |
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| Nick Upton (nickupton@thaibirding.com) | ||
| Species list with sites and notes | ||
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Kaeng Krachan: KK Tung Bang Jak: TBJ Bat Cave Area: BC Khao Yai: KY |
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1.
Red Junglefowl: A number of groups
at KK & KY. |
68. Little
Heron: 1, KK. |
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| Nick Upton can be contacted at nickupton@thaibirding.com | ||
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Click for more information on Kaeng
Krachan Click for more information on Khao Yai |
Click for information on Birdwatching Tours/Guiding | |
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