My first sighting for this season was the coppersmith barbet. Now this is where I know I've got used to my environment, knowing which birds are commonly found in the garden. So, one fine morning, while having breakfast, I found myself looking out of the window and realising that the bird perched on the branches of the mango tree was not the usual "resident". What struck me was the red crown, shining beautifully in the sunlight. Jumped off my seat, coffee in hand, and looked for my binoculars.
But I couldn't get it in time and he flew off. It was much later in the morning (after I had moved my coffee drinking spot to the balcony) that I spotted him again. No mistake, it was a coppersmith barbet. I had spotted two at the Suan Rot Fai park near Chatujak Market last year. So, that made my day. And a few days later, I saw him flying from tree to tree around my place, and can also be found on the pole as I exit my apartment building in the mornings. And I finally also matched the call to the barbet (thanks to the birdinginmalaysia website, all photos here taken from that website).Just FYI, the neighbours are Mr and Mrs. Scarlet Backed Flowerpecker, Mr. and Mrs. Streak Eared Bulbul, Mr. and Mrs. Black Naped Oriole, Herr Pied Fantail often seen splashing at the swimming pool, the unidentified Herr Warbler, Mr. and Mrs. Asian Koel and Mr. and Mrs. Oriental Magpie Robin. For the season, as the trees are fruiting, Mr. and Mrs. Asian Pied Starling have built a nest on the mango tree. And confirmed too, the common tailorbird. These days a pair of the yellow-vented bulbuls also make their appearance.
So, my list is slowly building here in Thailand. My colleagues and I had a great time in Jedkod nature park in the province of Saraburi, just 2 hours away from Bangkok, during the New Year holidays. A couple of things to note about the place:
▪ Many people make camp out there - families, friends etc (though some looked like they just moved their kitchens from the town to the forest - its interesting how sophisticated cooking was accomplished for a night out in the forest:))
▪ It appears, based on a completely unscientific methodology, that the proportion of Bangkok households that own camping gear, is higher than those in Kuala Lumpur
▪ The semi-evergreen forest is much easier than the dense rainforest, to spot birds (naturally)
The first afternoon when we arrived, I went for a walk to get a sense of the forest. I heard a humdrum of activity but it was almost impossible to spot any of them. It was also because of the number of people walking up and down the path as it led to the waterfall (dry this season). Later in the day, the whole lot of us went for a short trek at the downstream of the waterfall, I wasn't too hopeful as it was a cloudy day and it was a popular walk, so there were lots of people around.
The walk was nice, wouldn't have been that easy during the wet season as we had to cross the river a few times, possible when the water levels are so low. On the way out, voila! in action, was a chestnut headed bee-eater that had just caught itself a dragon fly. It was there long enough for me to share with my colleague, to show that I was not crazy:)The next morning, I walked the same route - I was on a mission. Before we left for the trip, I told my colleagues that I wished to see the Black Baza, the Asian Paradise Flycatcher and the Sultan Tit - among the 260-over species of birds spotted around the Khao Jai nature reserve, of which Jedkod lies towards the south west.
So, when the Black Baza was the first one I spotted on my morning walk, I was ecstatic! Its beautiful, not intimidating and generous enough to let me have a view. I was encouraged.
As I stood observing the Baza, I began to hear noises from the shrubs, something was obviously foraging for food on the forest floor. It was also very noisy. I didn't have enough information to tell whether it was a bird or a mammal, though I had read that there were pheasants as well. Anyway, it wasn't too long before I caught sight of the noise-makers - it turned out to be the white-crested laughing thrush! And what a show! Both sightings were less than 100m away from the campsite, and I spent my first 15 minutes without moving too far from the madding crowd:)The forest was a cacophony of sounds at that hour, and it was frustrating for an untrained person to even guess what was out there. But I guess that's part of the learning process - excited at every ruffling of feather or chirping - only to learn that its the hill myna or that flycatcher you can never ID because its way too small and moves too fast.
I definitely heard the hornbills, but have no idea which ones they were. But good to note for myself. After about an hour and a half, as people started on the trek, I decided to head back, and that's when I saw the greater racket-tailed drongo!
Hadn't expected that, even though we had seen the crow-billed drongos the evening before at the sunset point. The racket tail and the crown were unmistakable! I thought I had a good morning:)After breakfast, I decided to go around the lake hoping to find a kingfisher or some other water birds. We had been entertained by the red wattled lapwigs by the lake, which appeared un-afraid of the people around the area. And it was also close to the campsite that I saw the lineated barbet - I first thought I had spotted a kingfisher but on closer look, I realised it was a barbet. Despite the noises close by, he remained on the tree for quite a while.
No kingfisher but I came across the black crested bulbul, in a group and putting up a very entertaining show by the water. This is where I also spotted the warbler, pruning itself, what a sight. And the grey wagtail amidst the playful bulbuls. Back at the site as we started packing up, I glanced up to the trees and saw the beautiful dollarbird and nearby were a few common ioras. It really didn't take much effort! A good place for amateurs like me to get used to identifying birds. For now, Jedkod is high on my list as a birdwatching place, easy to access, clean, good facilities, and plenty of birds willing to put up a show or two for the visitors, if we cared to watch them:)
So, mission was accomplished, I saw more than I expected - 20 out of the 262 on the list:) I'll get there someday, when I get less anxious about the tiny fellas. And part of the mission was to recruit new members, so now I have spread the word of, not God, but birds - to my new circle:)
Updated 28 January:
A new friendly neighbour: the Ashy Drongo - took a while to figure out, but I think this is the right one.
