Kit's Fledgling BY

[Kitsafari]

187: Streak-earred Bulbul, Krung Ching Waterfall/Khao Sok NP June 15/16

 

 

This is another songbird species, found in Indochina, Thailand and Malaysia. It is found mainly in moist or semi-moist forests - i guess tropical rainforests. 

[TonyQ]

Some lovely additions here.

Sorry to hear about your dog - best wishes to you all.

[Kitsafari]

thank you @TonyQ

 

188: Yellow-Vented Flowerpecker, Krung Ching Waterfall carpark, June 15

 

 

The yellow-vented flowerpecker is not as bright or colourful as its other cousin flowerpeckers but it is just as small and just as flighty. it was among the scarlet-backed flowerpecker, orange bellied flowerpecker and yellow breasted FP that kept returning to this tree for the fruits. but i just couldn't catch the yellow breasted. This yellow-vented FP can be found from the Himalayas foothills to southern China, Southeast Asia, Sumatra down to Bali, and Borneo.

[Kitsafari]

189: Red-Rumped Swallow, Ao Phangan NP, June 14

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

190: Black-Crested Bulbul, KhaoLuang National Park, June 15

 

 

Not a perfect EBC, I'm afraid, but it was quite badly backlit and I had to lighten it up post-processing. This species is found in INdian sub-continent, southewest China and Southeast Asia. It likes to forage in forests and dense scrub and feeds on fruit and insects. 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

Best wishes for your dog's speedy recovery!

[Galana]

More birds for us to envy.

My only query is the Red-rumped Swallow which surely should have light coloured under parts and a clear cap?

Are these not Red-breasted?

[Kitsafari]

@Galana as always, I believe you are right! I relied on and fully trusted an enthusiastic birder who had ID-ed several birds correctly, and didnt think to check it. so thanks for querying it and keeping me on my toes. I've searched the WWW and, although it does look like the red-breasted swallow (cecropis semirufa), which is found in Africa, a similar looking bird is also found in Southern thailand but bears a different name and scientific name - cecropis badia or Rufous-bellied swallow. I think it makes sense for it to be the latter which is endemic to the Malay pensinsula, and southern thailand is in the isthmus adjoining Malaysia to Thailand. So I am going for the rufous-bellied swallow. 

 

so amending to : 

189: Rufous Bellied Swallow - according to records, this is a recently split species from striated swallow 

 

https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=E08FAF8EAD713CCC

 

Edited July 29, 2018 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

@Peter Connan thank you. but not great news today after she went for a blood test this afternoon. we'll just continue to make sure she's comfortable and not in pain, and if there's a chance, we'll fight for it without compromising her quality of life. 

[Galana]

@Kitsafari

Sorry about the news of your dog. Never an easy decision so good wishes for the outcome.

 

Happy to help with those Swallows.

Even the 'experts' can't agree on the Scientific names, some have them as Hirundo and others Cecropsis, so what chance us poor mortals?

[Kitsafari]

@Galana thanks for the thought. I'm staying up with my dog, so I may as well use the time to further update the thread. still continuing with the Southern Thailand count.

 

191: Black-and-Yellow Broadbill, Krung Ching Waterfall carpark, June 15

 

The broadbill was tinier than I had expected but what a flash of turquoise blue its beak is! The black-and-yellow broadbill is near threatened (IUCN) as rapid habitat destruction has thinned its ranges. It is native in all the Southeast Asian countries, although it is regionally extinct in Singapore where wooden forests have been replaced with concrete ones. 

 

[Kitsafari]

192: Green Broadbill, Krung Ching Waterfall carpark, June 15

 

 

Also on the near threatened list is the Green Broadbill (sometimes known as the lesser green broadbill). This is quite a tiny cutie (about 17cm long) but it's far shyer than the Black and yellow cousin as it appeared for a fleeting minute than flew away, hence the butt shot. EBC-worthy? This broadbill is also native to Southeast Asia but extinct in Singapore with the last seen in 1941. because of its natural blending in with leaves, it is hard to see them especially since they like to stand still. 

[Kitsafari]

193: Coppersmith Barbet, Sa Kaeo, Tha Sala District, June 14/15

 

 

The coppersmith barbet, also known as crimson-breasted barbet, is so called because of the mechanical calls it makes that sounds like a coppersmith hammering onto metal. It has a wide range from Indian sub-continent to southern China and down to Southeast Asia. it has a crimson forehead (which you can see in the photo) and a crimson breast (which is not so clear). it is supposedly a common bird in these regions, but I have yet to see one in Singapore. The first photo was taken at a petrol kiosk and the next two were at early morning at the pretty little lodge we stayed at. 

 

[Kitsafari]

194: Osprey, Khao Sok National Park, Ratchaprapha Dam, June 14

 

 

we saw a number of raptors in the waters of the Ratchaprapha dam, including this osprey. It is a winter migrant to Southeast Asia, most possibly from Australia. 

 

[Galana]

The Black & Yellow Broadbill is a real stunner.  Its Green cousin is  good enough for EBC status and of course the first of the two Osprey shots certainly is. Epic. The poor old Coppersmith Barbet, cute though it is, just cannot compete although a great picture..

I feel a magic number looming. Hope you have something nice for us.

As you say it will take your mind off other matters.

[PeterHG]

A truly beautiful bird, that Black and Yellow Broadbill! You are supplying us with a steady flow of interesting species. Onwards to 200!

[Zim Girl]

What a lovely collection of birds

 

Keeping my fingers crossed for your dog.  I know it will be a hugely worrying time for you.

[Dave Williams]

6 to go...outstanding result already!

[lmSA84]

@Kitsafari - fingers crossed for your canine friend

 

Add my name to the list admirers of those Black and Yellow Broadbill shots. I also looked up the Green Broadbill - what a stunner. 

 

Definitely learning a lot about Asian birds from this thread 

[Kitsafari]

@lmSA84  I was disappointed I wasn't able to take the full frontal photo of the green broadbill. I was hoping to see more of the broadbills in Frasers Hill, but they'll just have to wait for me. 

 

@Galana I can only hope that the magic number will be a satisfactory choice. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

195: Blyth's Frogmouth, Krung Ching HQ, June 15

 

 

talk about EBC-cringeworthy photos, here's one - although you can just make out the eyes and mouth. I couldn't believe how tiny they were (around 19cm)! i've always thought frogmouths were, or rather they looked tiny in the dark of the night, perched high above us. I had declined to join the younger souls to trudge in the black night of the dense forest, but the guide came out to get two of us into the trees and then he forgot to shine his torch to show the way so we were stumbling along in the dark, and I think something bit me my head which later swelled for the night, though nothing serious. There doesn't seem much to be said about the Blyth's frogmouth, other than it is native to Southeast Asia, suggesting that there isn't much research done on the species. 

 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

196: Little Bronze Cuckoo, Krung Ching HQ, June 15

 

 

We had been pursuing this cuckoo in Singapore, but I unexpectedly nailed it in Southern Thailand. At 17cm and 16gm, this is the world's smallest cuckoo and can be found in Southeast Asia to Australia. Like other cuckoos, it is a parasitic species. In Singapore, its young had been seen being fed by a tiny golden-bellied gerygone. 

[Kitsafari]

197: Oriental Hobby, Khao Sok National Park, June 14

 

 

quite an overload of photos of the hobby.

we were bobbing on the boat on the way back to the ferry terminal when we saw this black spot against the blue skies. it was tucking into afternoon supper - a smaller bird but I can't recall which species. we circled below it a couple of times, when at one point, it looked straight down into our cameras while eating. I was quite pleased that despite the boat's movements my photo of it looking at us came out sharper than I had expected. The Oriental Hobby looks like a peregrine falcon but is much smaller and has black head and sides of head, and has a large rufous area on its belly and underside. This species can be found India, southern China and Southeast Asia. 

 

[TonyQ]

A wonderful series of the Oriental Hobby-not an overload at all.

That 200 is very close.

[Galana]

You really are getting close to EBC country with Blythe's Frogmouth. Well done on both counts.

Cuckoo is lovely and as @TonyQ says the Hobby sequence is in no way overload.

I can almost hear the drum roll for #200.