Day 3

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Order of the evening before was to be at breakfast
for 6am, leave in the van at 6.30, which became 6.45, and then sit on our
backsides for the whole of the morning. Welcome to the world of lazy birding.
We drove about 15 minutes to be deposited in a hide at a "birding centre"
on the edge of the forest, where a small clearing had been excavated, with two
small pools and what was possibly a lashing of bird food on the floor. The
promise had been the presence of Silver Pheasant (which didn't turn up) and
Green-legged Partridge (which did turn up) at 7am promptly. They obviously
didn't check their timepieces, since the latter appeared after about an hour.
This could not detract from the excellent birds which did show through the
portals in the camouflaged netting. Most obvious and common were the two
species of Necklaced Laughingthrushes, which came and went noisily and
regularly, and various Bulbuls in the form of Black-crested, Streak-eared &
Stripe-throated. Perhaps the star of the show was the male of a pair of
Siberian Blue Robins, not just for the colours, but also the general shape and
behaviour. Flycatchers were thin on the ground, apart from a pair of Tickell's
Blue & single Taiga. Most cheeky bird had to be a male White-rumped Shama,
which not only sang from a few metres away, and almost in the back of the open
hide, but even flew past my ear and through the slit in the hide. Surprise
appearance must surely have been a Slaty-legged Crake, which is apparently a
very rare passage bird here, and totally unusual in a forest clearing. A couple
of Red Junglefowl always posed the usual captivity or wild poser, but the cock
in particular kept to the forest and seemed quite timid. Mammals made the
occasional visit to the clearing, in the form of Grey-bellied & Plantain
Squirrel, and Northern Treeshrew. A fourth, Western Striped Squirrel, was the
same species as seen the previous afternoon at the park reception, but this
time eating bananas on a hook. An occasional leg stretch outside of the hide
produced Black-hooded Oriole, Common Iora, and Asian Brown Flycatcher.
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Small pools clearing (morning) |
Inside the hide |
Black-crested Bulbul |
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Grey-bellied Squirrel |
Oriental Magpie-robin |
Plantain Squirrel |
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Siberian Blue Robin |
Slaty-legged Crake |
Spotted Dove |
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Streak-eared Bulbul |
Taiga Flycatcher |
Yellow-bellied Erpornis |
The afternoon followed the same pattern as the
morning - another full session sat in hides overlooking a clearing with a small
pool of water as an attraction. We were supposed to set off for this second
site, which had on offer some different species to the first, 15 minutes later
than we did, due to a call from the morning location that the Silver Pheasants
were showing again. Of course, they had departed the scene when we arrived, so
we headed on to the second location, which was set somewhat deeper in the
forest than the first. The mammals were in the ascendency this time, with all 3
Squirrels and the Treeshrew in good numbers, but this one or more species were
on show at almost any time. A fifth mammal of the day was added to this - a
pair of delicate Mouse Deer put in sporadic visits. A fair few of the species
seen in the morning were also here, such as both Laughingthrushes, Black-naped
Monarch, Tickell's Blue Flycatcher, and Streak-eared & Stripe-throated
Bulbuls. Critically though, a Silver Pheasant strolled in mid way through the
session. It was a bit confusing with pinkish legs, when we had expected them to
be grey, but apparently this is well known in this area. A pair of Green-legged
Partridges also put in a quick visit, not staying too long. We had had poor
views of a couple of Large Scimitar Babblers in the morning, but a singleton
this afternoon was much more obliging, bathing and preening for adequate
periods of time. Other new species here was in the shape of Racket-tailed
Treepie, with a group coming to the pool on a couple of occasions early on. As
the light began to fade, some of the species which we had seen at the hides at
the lodge came out - Abbott's & Puff-throated Babbler being the most notable.
The latter even showed why they are so called, puffing out their white throats
to brighten up the lowering light.
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Brown Fulvetta |
Green-legged Partridge |
Large Scimitar-babbler |
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Lesser Mouse Deer |
Racket-tailed Treepie |
Silver Pheasant |
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Western Striped Squirrel |
Stripe-throated Bulbul |
Pin-striped Tit-babbler |
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Northern Watershrew |
Tickell's Blue Flycatcher |
White-rumped Shama |
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