Khao
Sok National Park is
the best place to see hornbills along with a wide
variety of exotic tropical birds. Phang Nga Bay
is great for seeing various shore birds, kingfishers,
and birds that inhabit the limestone islands.
Khao
Nor Chuchi has the last
remaining lowland jungle in southern Thailand.
This is the home of the rare Gurney's Pitta.
Thale
Noi is one of
the most amazing places to see birds that prefer
a freshwater marsh environment.
Unusual birds such as the Purple Swamphen,
the Bronzed Winged Jacana, and the Pheasant-tailed
Jacana are abundant at Thale Noi.
When
purchasing birding binoculars, look for
a pair that when you divide the first number into
the second number you come up with the number
five. 7X35 binoculars, for example, equal five
when divided. 10X50 binoculars result in five
also. This is a very rudimentary way of picking
out binoculars, but if you're not a serious birder
and you just want to pick up a pair for occasional
birding, this will help.
The first number is the magnification.
The second number is the diameter of the objective
lens in millimeters. The larger the diameter of
the objective lens, the more light the binoculars
will allow in. This is important as this produces
the brightness and clarity of the image. Many
binoculars are available that offer good magnification,
but without sufficient light and clarity, you’ll
have difficulty finding and/or identifying birds.
If you're
spotting birds from a kayak, higher magnification
will help. In Khao Sok, we often sit in coves
and search high up in the tree tops for birds.
However, there are also plenty of birds in the
trees and bushes along the shoreline. In this
case, it often helps to have binoculars that can
'close focus'. This means that you can focus the
binoculars at a very close distance.
When
walking through the thick jungle of Southern Thailand,
lower magnification binoculars, such as 7x or
8x works well. Another important aspect is the
binocular's ability to focus quickly. A lot of
cheaper models require you to turn the 'knob'
a few time to go from far-off focusing to near-by
focusing.
Try a variety
of binoculars out before buying. There
are plenty of great websites dedicated to instructing
you on how to purchase binoculars. Eagle
Optics is one such site.
Spotting
birds can be difficult
at times. Try locating birds by listening.
Hornbills, for example, often call right before
taking flight. The helmeted hornbill gives
you a lot of notice. It starts out with
a series of 'hoots', then gradually accelerates
into a series of 'ha, ha, ha' notes.
Movement often reveals a bird's location.
There are over 400 species of fig tree here in
Thailand. Find one of these trees in fruit and
you're likely to see at least something feeding.
They support a wide variety of birds and animals.
Wind, unfortunately, can obscure this wonderful
opportunity.
Don't forget to look at the big picture.
Birders can get wrapped up in looking at the various
'parts' of a bird. Notice the various colors on
various parts of the bird's body so you can make
a positive ID, but don't get so wrapped up in
this that you fail to see the overall beauty of
the bird. If the bird you're watching only sticks
around for a few seconds, it's not easy to pick
out the fine details. Perhaps looking at the big
picture first is the best approach.
There
are several field guides for the birds
of Thailand. One of the best is A Guide to
the Birds of Thailand by Boonsong Lekagul
and Dr. Philip Round. There’s a quick reference
is on the inside cover. A map is provided for
each bird showing its range and whether it’s
a resident, winter visitor, or a passage migrant.
The various bird species are given in high quality
drawings.
There are other guides with nice photos.
One is Birds of South-East Asia,
a Photographic Guide to the Birds of Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia
by Morten Strange.
Another photographic
guide is called A Photographic Guide to Birds
of Thailand by Michael Webster and Chew Yen
Fook.
Arguably the
best field guide for the birds of Thailand is
Robson's "A Field Guide to the Birds
of Thailand", published by Asia
Books. The format is the same as Round's book,
though many of the drawings are more accurate.
Actually, the two books compliment each other.
Using one to cross-reference the other assures
accurate identification.
Learn which birds are in the area
that you plan on visiting before going there.
This makes positive identification much easier.
Bird
Calls on CD ROM
One way that
seasoned birders identify birds is by their calls
and songs. The best source for a CD Rom for bird
calls of tropical Asia is Jelle Scharringa's very
impressive CD Rom called "Birds
of Tropical Asia". This will
certainly get you up on your little brown birdies
before coming over. I mean, there are a lot of
babblers that make a lot of noise. It's nice to
know what you're hearing even if you don't see
them. This CD covers pheasants, cuckoos, barbets,
bulbuls, warblers, waterfowl, owls and other raptors
and a lot more. All of my birding buddies own
this CD, you should too.
|
Female
Great Hornbill
