PeterHG's BY in whatever form it will take.

[BRACQUENE]

Fabulous birds and pictures Peter ; love that Asian Green Bee-eater ! 

[PeterHG]

Thank you @BRACQUENE!

 

One last bird from the area, also taken at the public hide in the Nam Kham reserve. Already seen in our country, but I loved the chance of getting a flight shot.

 

TH 165. Common Kingfisher.

[pedro maia]

Great shot!

[xelas]

Excellent shot, Peter! Have you used Procapture mode?

[PeterHG]

Thank you @pedro maia and @xelas

1 hour ago, xelas said:

Have you used Procapture mode?

Yes, I have. It is such a good feature for situations like this.

[PeterHG]

Our next stay was at the Fang hot springs area. We did not see as many birds as we had hoped for, but it was a very nice area anyway.

 

184 / TH 166. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker. Fang Hot Springs, February. Our only reliable sighting. It did not wish to pose nicely, bit it is still an unmistakable bird

 

185 / TH 167. Olive-backed Pipit. 

 

186 / TH 168. Blue Whistlnig Thrush. Seen at various places, mostly in shady areas where the colour seems black, but with a little sunshine it is very blue indeed.

 

187 / TH 169. Great Barbet. Again our only sighting rather high up in a tree. 

 

188 / TH 170. Eurasian Jay. Though it is the same species as we have here, its white head makes it look completely different.

 

189 / TH 171. Grey Wagtail. Another familiar sounding species and this one also looks familiar.

 

190 / TH 172. Grey-faced Buzzard. A swift fly-over. We did not see many raptors on the trip.

[PeterHG]

From our accommodation near the hot springs we went up the mountains to Doi Lang West. This produced  some birds we had not seen anywhere else.

 

191 / TH 173. Grey-headed Parrotbill. Active little birds, making it difficult to get a clear shot.

 

192 /TH 174. Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo. Apart from the size the 'flat' head of the lesser racket-tailed drongo sets it apart from its greater cousin.

 

193 / 175. Hill Blue Flycatcher. This is the female. We did see the male, but it did not stay around for a photo.

 

194 / TH 176. Scarlet-faced Lioclicha. A name I could not begin to pronounce. A Dutch couple gave us a tip about the location, quite near the Myanmar border, where we could find it and sure enough it showed within a few minutes.

 

195 / TH 177. Maroon Oriole. It was quite strange to hear a distinct oriole sound and then see an almost completely black bird. The maroon belly is not clear in this photo.

 

196 / TH 178. Stripe-breasted Woodpecker. We saw a few along this road but nowhere else.

 

197 / TH 179. Rufous-bellied Niltava. A rather inconspicuous female with the tell-tale white gorget.

 

198 / TH 180. Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babbler. Only showed for a moment, but enough to get a shot.

 

199 / TH 181. Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher. The male, lured form the forest by a few birders, who had put out some food. 

 

200 / TH 182. Hodgson's Frogmouth. An English birder showed us its location and , of course, we would have walked right past it. Its camouflage is amazing.

 

 

[TonyQ]

The Frogmouth is an amazing bird 

[PeterHG]

21 hours ago, TonyQ said:

The Frogmouth is an amazing bird 

Yes it is. It has an almost prehistoric feel to it.

[PeterHG]

201 / TH 183. Great Myna. Bueng Boraphet, January. I Somehow I skipped this one. It was a lifer when I first saw it, but after a few days we largely ignored them...;)

 

Our last destination on the mainland was Doi Inthanon. Another destination that offered its own set of birds. Well that does not apply to the first one:

 

202 / TH 184. Scaly-breasted Munia. Doi Inthanon, February. Seen at quite a few other locations as well.

 

203 / TH 185. Pied Bushchat. Rather common here, but we did not see them anywhere else.

 

204 / TH 186. Long-tailed Minivet. Striking colours.

 

205 / TH 187. Dark-backed Sibia. We only saw it in the trees at the very summit of Doi Inthanon.

 

206 / TH 188. Blythe's Leaf Warbler. We must have seen quite a few other warblers, but mostly high up in the canopy.

 

207 / TH 189. Rufous-winged Fulvetta. Like most of the following species, we found it while walking the boardwalk near the summit.

 

208 / TH 190. Yellow-bellied Fantail. A brightly coloured little bird that stood out in the dark forest the boardwalk leads through.

 

209 / TH 191. Slaty-bellied Tesia. Undoubtedly the hardest bird to photograph on the boardwalk it kept moving about in the dense undergrowth, only showing itself for less than a second each time. Of course, always too short for the autofocus to lock on. This was the best I could do, while leaning over the railing.

 

210 / TH 192. Bar-throated Minia. Another specialty of the area.

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

More from the summit:

 

211 / TH 193 Green-tailed (Doi Inthanon) Sunbird. Doi Inthanon, February. Almost endemic to the area.

 

212 / TH 194. Grey-sided Thrush. Near the Visitors' Centre.

 

213 / TH 195. Mrs Gould's Sunbird. As striking as the green-tailed, but it did not show as well. The same spot, but we were much farther away, so a heavy crop.

 

214 / TH 196. Ashy-throated Warbler. Common around here.

 

215 / TH 197. Himalayan Shortwing. We were told that near the start of the boardwalk, this elusive species could sometimes be seen. It was one of the darkest spots of the walk, but we decided to wait and see if it would show up. And after some 20 minutes, it did. In the deep shade the autofocus struggled somewhat and the iso rose to 25.600, but I got a shot. Another lifer, of course, like so many in this area.

 

At the same spot, but a little higher up inj the bushes, another specialty of the are awaited us.

216 / TH 198. Snowy-browed Flycatcher.

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

We had learned about the possibility of visiting a paid hide somewhere on the slopes of the mountain and as before, this turned out to be a good choice.

 

217 / TH 199. White-tailed Blue Robin. Doi Intanon, Rang Bon Doi Hide, February

 

218 / TH 200. Grey-throated Babbler.

 

219 / TH 201. Buff-breasted Babbler.

 

220 / TH 202. Flavescent Bulbul

 

221 / 203. Streaked Spiderhunter.

 

222 / TH 204. Little Spiderhunter.

[PeterHG]

Before we left the Doi Inthanon area we had one last cup of coffee at Mr Daeng's restaurant and asked if there was any spot we might find the white-capped robin, a species we would love to see and our only chance was here. We got directions from the helpful waitress and after some searching we managed to find it. Again, photographic conditions were very poor, but we could add yet another lifer to our list.

 

223 / TH 205. White-capped Robin. Doi Inthanon, February.

[xelas]

Your photos from Doi Inthanon boardwalk are exceptional, as I remember very well the poor light conditions there, The Himalayan Shortwing is exceptional for those conditions! And all other photos cleaned really well as I assume they have all been taken at very high ISO. Congratulations on passing by #200 Thai birds.

Edited April 19 by xelas

[PeterHG]

The last three days of our Thailand trip we spent on the island of Koh Yao Noi, not too far from Phukry. A quiet little island, perfect for relaxing. We even managed a few additions to the list.

224 / TH 206. Large-billed Crow. Koh Yao Noi, February. We had seen it before, of course, but I had not taken a photo yet.

 

225 / TH 207. Striated Swallow

 

226 / TH 208. Oriental Pied Hornbill. Also seen quite. few times before, but in the garden of our accommodation, they were very approachable.

 

 

227 / TH 209. Brown-throated Sunbird. Not seen anywhere else.

 

228 / TH 210. Brahminy Kite. Abundant here, but I had not seen a single one on the mainland

 

229 / TH 211. Common Myna. Another rare and skittish species concludes the list for Thailand

 

I may have forgotten a few or some may have been too bad for an EBC, but this is it. We had a great time in Thailand and enjoyed the birding the food and the very friendly people. Thanks again @xelasfor you tips!

 

 

[xelas]

4 minutes ago, PeterHG said:

Thanks again @xelasfor you tips!

Thank You, @PeterHG for showing us the excellent diversity of Thai birds, and to showing me that there are many reasons to revisit Thailand. Maybe even with a few relaxing days down south?!

[Galana]

Congratulations on both an excellent trip and an ideal, for 'me' choice for your 200. Whilst no known direct kinship with Brian Houghton Hodgson I still like to see our family name on several species.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @xelasand @Galana

56 minutes ago, Galana said:

I still like to see our family name on several species.

Happy to oblige, although I didn’t realise, of course. I’m sorry to have mentioned the ‘prehistoric feel’ to the species in a previous reply, but I’m sure that must have been the Cheshire branch.

[Zim Girl]

Great set of birds from Thailand, Peter.  I very much enjoyed seeing them.

[michael-ibk]

Congrats on passing #200 Peter, really enjoyed your Thai birds. The Frogmouth is such a bizarrely cool bird, and I love your Kingfisher shot - bravo!

[TonyQ]

Well done on passing 200 for Thailand. Excellent birds, excellent photos.

It has been really enjoyable following this @PeterHG

[PeterHG]

Thank you for the kind words @Zim Girl @michael-ibk @TonyQ!

 

[Kitsafari]

Brilliant frogmouth! beautiful photos of the beautiful birds. 

[Galana]

22 hours ago, PeterHG said:

I’m sorry to have mentioned the ‘prehistoric feel’ to the species in a previous reply,

No harm in that. "We" do go back a long way but the bird was there long before us.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @Kitsafari .  We were grateful someone pointed it out to us !