Kit & Herman Year 2

[Kitsafari]

6 hours ago, Tdgraves said:

Oh dear @Kitsafari sending wishes for your poorly pooch

 

thanks @Tdgraves and @TonyQ it doesn't look good, I'm afraid to say. 

[Kitsafari]

7 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

we are unlikely to get any more new species unless one completely rare one turns up somewhere on our little red dot.

 

 

 

As soon as I said that, we heard that two Himalayan griffon vultures were seen at Hindhede quarry this evening. It is incredulous - the scavengers won't find any carcass or anything to scavenge - Singapore is too clean! Not that we can rush to the sighting, but perhaps if they are still around tomorrow (which is highly unlikely), Herman can pop over while I stay home with Jasper. 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Galana]

Caught up on the new additions and first to commiserate on the poorly pooch.

Then after congrats on some further additions I must ask why the poor Whiskered Yuhinia is disliked by herders?

Keep them coming. We have over 32 hours left here so you must have more than 24 left to nail those Vultures and anything else. Good luck.

[Kitsafari]

Did I mention that Doi refers to the Mountain in northern Thailand?

 

For the second day, we travelled to Doi Sanju - the western section of the Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park. there's a place along the road to see the Mrs Humes Pheasant - one of the big targets of birders - and no, it did not make its grand appearance. 

 

So we stopped somewhere along the road at 5am+, and in the dark, we set up the hides along and on the road, and my friend said - don;'t worry, no cars ever drive here in the early morning. as soon as we settled in the hides, cars appeared and wanted to drive through. But the birds still came. 

 

562/CM13: Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler

 

found in himalayan ranges, northern Myanmar and Thailand, southern China and Indochina. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

563/CM14 : White-browed scimitar-babbler

 

Distributed in similar areas as the rusty-cheeked scimitar babblers, these babblers like to forage in the undergrowth, mid-level bushes or on the ground. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

564/CM15 : Bar-tailed Treecreeper

 

EBC right? so I have to resort to that to record my sightings! A young man with very sharp eyes in a group of Thai birding enthusiasts spotted this lurkish birdie high up on the tree. Honestly, it took me a while to see it in the shadows of a hundred tall trees in the forest,  and it was perfectly camouflaged being as dull as the trunk bark, but  I was quite pleased to be able to spot it finally because the species has such a fanciful name. It sure crept up the tree speedily. 

The treecreeper is a high altitude bird with a short decurved bill and a long tail. It is found along the Himalayan ranges, southern China, and northern Myanmar and THailand.

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

565/CM16 : Grey Bushchat

 

A small forest songbird that also likes open scrub and farmland and often found in pairs. The female was posing frequently on a stalk in the beautiful dawn light while the male was a little shyer. Well distributed along the Himalayan ranges, China, Myanmar and Indochina, stopping short of Malaysia. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

4/CM17: Spotted Dove, town of Fang

 

Already in my Singapore list

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

54: CM18 : Ashy Drongo, Doi Sanju

 

In my Singapore list. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

85: CM19 : Scaly-breasted Munia, town of Fang

 

Odd how the common munia in Thailand are good pursuits for Singaporean birders. 

 

[xelas]

@Kitsafari, as the year is ending also in Europe, and based on the latest news from other participants to the Big Year 2019, I think it is time to congratulate the winner of BY2019!

It was (and probably there will be a few more birds added) a pleasure to follow your thread, not only for the high quality of the photos but even more for the informations given to each bird presented.

I am looking forward to see yours and Herman's birds (just put them into the same count) also in 2020. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

@xelas thank you for the advanced congratulatory note. I've still many more to finish before wrapping up, and I do want to share the Thailand birds with you all as they were all quite beautiful. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

566/CM17 : Hair-crested Drongo

 

a flock flew above us, but thankfully, one rested on a tree directly above us. a stocky very dark bird with apparently iridescent wings - not that we could see. they have long and thin hair-like feathers on its forehead - hence its name. It's distributed in eastern Himalayan ranges, India, China, Indochina down through Borneo to eastern Indonesia. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

567/CM20 : Great Myna, town of Fang

 

A myna with a cool crested hairdo and a white vent, the bird is found in northern Myanmar down to Malaysia and east to Indochina, although I saw them in HK last year. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

568/CM22 : Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch

 

I called it the ninja bird because of its incredible speed in picking up the feed then winging away leaving me with blurred UFO shots . A small bird with a wedge-shaped head with a lovely chestnut markings on its rear flanks edged with red bands. Although this red band marks it from other nuthatches, it was hard to distinguish this from giant nuthatch, except for the size. Found in China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. 

 

Edited December 31, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

569/CM23 : Giant Nuthatch

 

Looking almost like the chestnut-vented nuthatch, the "giant" cousin is slightly larger and its black band is broader and higher towards the crown than its smaller relative. Found only in small parts of CHina, central Myanmar and norther Thailand. Because of its fragmented locations, and continuing destruction of forests, IUCN reckons there are only 1,000-2500 individuals, putting the giant nuthatch on the Endangered list.  which makes our sighting very precious. so a few more photos of it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

570/CM24 : Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

 

The male is stunning with a bright blue crown and upper parts but I probably didn't get the male. all I saw across the tall treetops rising from the valley below was a bird in the shadows hopping along a large branch, often upside down. That's a typical behaviour for the velvet-fronted nuthatch - so an EBC for this count.  Found in India, HImalayan ranges, southern China, Indochina down to Indonesia.

 

 

[Kitsafari]

571/CM25 : Spot-breasted Parrotbill

 

This was the first time I had heard of the species of parrotbill - sometimes called crow-tits - which is found only in east and SOutheast Asia. A rather friendly bird who posed very well for us. They are small and non-migratory. 

Found in China, northern Myanmar and THailand and Laos. 

 

[Kitsafari]

572/CM26 : Mountain Bamboo Partridge

 

Very nervous large birds, the partridges scurried away when they heard some sounds but came out quietly way up the road so Herman and I didn't have a good view from where our hide was. Despite its name, the partridge is not restricted to bamboo thickets. Found in eastern India, Bangladesh, southern China, and northern parts of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand and Vietnam.

 

 

[pedro maia]

Congrats on the 2019 victory, are you going to reach 600?

 

And also an impressive number for Singapore, it’ s tropical but it’s a small country.

[PeterHG]

I'll add my congratulations for a well-deserved win this year! Please pass on my compliments to Herman for the gorgeous photography you both presented us with. A joy to watch your thread and don't hesitate to still add as many as you like from Thailand ( or anywhere else, for that matter). You have shown an abundance of birds from a part of the world largely unknown to me, but I don't know how much longer I can keep away...;)

 

[Kitsafari]

573/CM27  : Olive-backed Pipit

 

the fatest-looking and cutest pipits that I ever seen and loved them! they were just waddling around on the ground, most of the time trying to hide in the grasses before emerging in the open. This pipit prefers  more forested areas than other pipits. 

 

 

[Dave Williams]

I'm thinking there must be more to come. Fabulous thread and well done on the total ( to date) Quality and quantity!

 

[Kitsafari]

thanks much @pedro maia @PeterHG @Dave Williams . at least 20 more to go, I think. 

 

574/CM28 : Rufescent Prinia

 

Behaving like a tailorbird we have in Singapore, this enchanting prinia is part of the cisticola family. Found in the subtropical or tropical dry forests of northeastern India, southern Yunnan and Southeast Asia.

Edited December 31, 2019 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

575/CM29 : Siberian Rubythroat

 

Formerly part of the thrush family, the species is now thrust into the flycatcher family. Described as a perky long-legged songbird, it wasn't that nervous about coming out into the open. With a bright red patch bordered by black and white on its throat, the bird is easily distinguishable. Distributed in eastern russia across to northern Japan and China, the bird winters in INdia, Bangladesh, Thailand and Indonesia. It is a vagrant to western Europe.