Birding trip report - April 2006
Khao Nor Chuchi, Phang Nga Province, Khao Sok, Phuket

Story by Dave Williams

Joining me on this trip was seasoned birder Mr. Sean Conklin. Sean lives in Malaysia and sees montane birds all the time. His goal on this trip was to see lowland jungle birds.

Our very first stop was at a small mangrove walkway near Phang Nga Town. This strange little place produces some incredible birds. We weren’t more than a few meters in when I spotted a Mangrove Pitta! This was a new bird for Sean and even though I’ve seen them plenty of time, I was still very excited. We watched as it hopped from mangrove root to mangrove root.

We would end up seeing Streak-breasted Woodpeckers, a Ruddy Kingfisher and Black-and-red Broadbills! What an incredible place. We didn’t see a White-chested Babbler. I have seen them many times in this area before and was really counting on it being there. Oh well, that’s all part of birding.

On the morning of April 6th, 2006, Khun Yotin, our Thai birding guide, met us and we immediately headed to his secret hide. The hide was a camouflaged nylon shelter with a dozen semi-circular zippers that opened to allow a narrow glimpse of a fairly dense ravine. We could hear a Green Broadbill just behind us. It was difficult summoning the courage to not look out the hide to see it. Its call told us that it was very close.

Suddenly, we could hear a male Gurney’s Pitta. It wasn’t far off. We could hear a female in the distance as well as another male. The male that seemed the closest, seemed even closer as we sat motionless.

To our delight, a gorgeous male Gurney’s Pitta walking right in front of us! It couldn’t have been more than two meters away. I’ve seen the Gurney’s several times, but this was my closest encounter. We sat for many minutes admiring this wonderful creature. It called constantly. Its head bobbed up and down with each call. This is what birding is all about: seeing a rare bird without disturbing it.

We left the hide with our minds racing and our appetite growing for more species. We were in Khao Nor Chuchi, so we knew that our appetite would soon be appeased.

Sean told Yotin and me that he really wanted to see a Green Broadbill. We didn’t get to see the one that was near the hide, but I knew that Yotin would definitely find one for us. I was right.

We visited a towering Ficus tree (fig) where spiderhunter and sunbird sightings are common. We picked up several species of each… as expected.

Yotin told us that he had stumbled upon a Giant Pitta just down the trail from where we were. Excited at the prospect, we walked slowly, looking all around. No luck this time though.

Sean said that he’d love to see a Banded Kingfisher. He said that kingfishers were one of his favorite birds. So, Yotin called one in for him. It was just that easy.

Further down the trail we heard an Indian Cuckoo. This would be a new bird for me. The three of us wrenched our necks trying to see the bird up in the top of the canopy. We’d see it dash by and head to the next tree. It kept calling and we kept looking. Eventually, Yotin spotted it. He used a laser pointer to show us where. Sean and I finally saw it. We were very pleased to say the least.

Yotin finished the trip with showing us a male Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Rufous morph) sitting beside a nest. What a treat.

Khao Nor Chuchi is always a great place to bird. Hiring Yotin to show us around pretty much guarantees a high species count. After all, he was born and raised in the area.

Next, Sean and I headed to Phang Nga Province and checked into a hotel in Phang Nga Town. The next morning, we headed to Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary. This is yet another awesome place to see a lot of birds without having walk around much. We set up the spotting scope and started seeing birds immediately.

Vernal Hanging Parrots are actually common here. We saw a few. Treeswifts, bulbuls, flowerpeckers, sunbirds and plenty of other birds flew around in the trees in view. The highlight though was seeing a Brown Barbet right out in the open. We got the scope on it right away and marveled at its beauty. It was a new bird for Sean and only my second sighting.

Our next stop was Khao Sok National Park. One of our goals here was to see hornbills. Khao Sok is definitely THE place for seeing them. I’ve seen eight species there so far.

It was hot, so we got some rain in the afternoon. That, however, did not dampen our bird sightings. We watched gigantic Great Hornbills flying overhead. We saw a large number of Oriental Pied Hornbills zoom around in a bamboo forest. Eventually, we saw several Bushy-crested Hornbills. I normally see Helmeted Hornbills, but this didn’t happen on this trip unfortunately. We did hear them off in the distance. We also heard Great Argus many time. Now that would be an awesome sighting.

We did get to identify several species of warbler. Most of them were scene as we sat in a two-person kayak parked in the shade. White-handed Gibbons serenaded us as we searched for birds. Babblers kept us on our toes. We only saw Striped Tit-Babblers and a Puff-throated Babbler. More were their but their skulking skills were better than our sighting skills… at least this time.

The afternoon showers came hard and heavy at the end of the day. After considering our options (Sean had a midday flight out of Phuket the next day) we opted to pack up and head for Phuket. This way, we’d get more birding time in before Sean’s flight. Phuket is a great birding destination.

We started off with a visit to the city landfill. Holding our noses we crept up over a bluff to see a marsh. Right off the bat, we saw Watercocks, Lesser Whistling Ducks, plenty of Egrets and a few Little Grebes.

Next, we headed north to a pond. We picked up Little Cormorants, a Cinnamon Bittern and plenty of Pintail Snipes.

After that, we headed to another marsh area to look for lapwings. We saw Red-wattled Lapwing and River Lapwings in addition to Grey Herons and Purple Herons as well as Purple Swamphens.

Our next destination was a fruit orchard. We got a Blue-eared Barbet there. We were hoping for a Blue-winged Pitta as I’ve seen them there before.

We heard many birds that we didn't see, such as the Great Argus, Red -throated Barbet (which we would normally see in Phuket), Buffy Fish-Owls (which are very common in Khao Sok), Helmeted Hornbills (we almost always see them, but they didn't cooperate this time), Banded Broadbill, Moustached babblers, White-Chested Babblers, Scaly-crowned Babblers, Chestnut-winged Babblers, Rufous-crowned Babblers, and Abbott's Babblers.

All in all, our trip netted us 150 species and we had a great time in the jungles and on the water.

Here is our impressive bird list:

1. White-browed Crake                        Porzana cinerea
2. Little Grebe                                        Tachybaptus ruficollis
3. Red Junglefowl                                  Gallus gallus
4. Lesser Whistling-duck                      Dendrocygna javanica
5. Pintail Snipe                                      Gallinago stenura
6. Common Greenshank                      Tringa nebularia
7. Common Sandpiper                         Actitis hypoleucos
8. Oriental Pratincole                            Glareola maldivarum
9. Golden Plover                                    Pluvialis fulva
10. River Lapwing                                   Vanellus duvaucelii
11. Red-wattled Lapwing                        Vanellus indicus
12. Little Cormorant                                Phalacrocorax niger
13. Little Egret                                         Egretta garzetta
14. Great Egret                                        Casmerodius albus
15. Intermediate Egret                            Mesophoyx intermedia
16. Cattle Egret                                       Bubulcus ibis
17. Grey Heron                                        Ardea cinerea
18. Purple Heron                                     Ardea purpurea
19. Chinese Pond Heron                        Ardeola bacchus
20. Little Heron                                        Butorides striatus
21.  Purple Swamphen                           Porphyrio porphyrio
22. Cinnamon Bittern                              Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
23. Brahminy Kite                                    Haliastur Indus
24. White-bellied Sea Eagle                  haliaeetus leucogaster
25. Osprey                                                Pandion haliaetus
26. Crested Serpent Eagle                    Spilornis cheela
27. Crested Goshawk                             Accipiter trivirgatus
28. Grey-headed Fish-Eagle                 Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus
29. Lesser Fish-Eagle                            Ichthyophaga humilis
30. Black-shouldered Kite                      Elanus caeruleus
31. Oriental Hobby                                  Falco severus
32. Black-thighed Falconet                    Microhierax fringillarius
33. Orange-breasted Trogon                 Harpactes oreskios
34. Brown-winged Kingfisher                 Halcyon amauroptera
35. Common Kingfisher                          Alcedo atthis
36. Ruddy Kingfisher                               Halcyon coromanda
37. White-throated Kingfisher                Halcyon smyrnensis
38. Black-capped Kingfisher                 Halcyon pileata
39. Blue-eared Kingfisher                      Aicedo meninting
40. Banded Kingfisher                            Lacedo pulchella
41. Blue-tailed Bee-eater                       Merops philippinus
42. Greater Coucal                                  Centropus sinensis
43. Indian Cuckoo                                   Cuculus micropterus
44. Red-billed Malkoha                           Phaenicophaeus javanicus
45. Black-bellied Malkoha                      Phaenicophaeus diardi
46. Green-billed Malkoha                       Phaenicophaeus tristis
47. Chestnut-breasted Malkoha            Phaenicophaeus curvirostris
48. Raffles’ Malkoha                               Phaenicophaeus chlorophaeus
49. Indian Roller                                       Coracias benghalensis
50. Dollarbird                                           Eurystomus orientalis
51. Vernal Hanging Parrot                      Loriculus vernalis
52. Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot         Loriculus galgulus
53. Greater Flameback Woodpecker   Chrysocolaptes lucidus
54. Rufous Piculet                                   Sasia abnormis
55. Green Broadbill                                 Calyptomena viridis
56. Black-and-Red Broadbill ------------- Cymbirhychus macrorhynchos
57. Gurney’s Pitta                                    Pitta gurneyi
58. Brown Barbet                                    Calorhamphus fuliginosus
59. Blue-eared Barbet                            Megalaima incognita
60. Coppersmith Barbet                         Megalaima haemacephala
61. Golden-whiskered Barbet                Megalaima chrysopogon
62. Oriental Pied Hornbill                       Anthracoceros albirostris convexus
63. Bushy-crested Hornbill                     Anorrhinus galeritus
64. Great Hornbill                                    Buceros bicornis
65. Silver-rumped Needletail                 Rhaphidura leucopygialis
66. Asian Palm Swift                               Cypsiurus balasiensis
67. House Swift                                       Apus affinis
68. White-bellied Swiftlet                        Collocaclia esculenta
69. Grey-rumped Treeswift                     Hemiprocne longipennis
70. Whiskered Treeswift                         hemiprocne comata
71. Pintail Snipe                                      Gallinago stenura
72. Spotted Dove                                    Streptopelia chinensis
73. Little Green Pigeon                           Treron olax
74. Emerald Dove                                   Chalcophaps indica
75. White-breasted Waterhen                Amaurornis phoenicurus
76. Watercock                                         Gallicrex cinerea
77. Purple Swamphen                            Porphyrio porphyrio
78. Common Moorhen                            Gallinula chloropus
79. Mangrove Pitta                                  Pitta megarhyncha
80. Blue-winged Leafbird                       Chloropsis cochinchinensis
81. Asian Fairy Bluebird                         Irena puella
82. Brown Shrike                                     Lanius cristatus
83. Black Drongo                                    Dicrurus macrocercus
84. Ashy Drongo                                      Dicrurus leucophaeus
85. Large-billed Crow                             Corvus macrorhynchos
86. Black-naped Oriole                           Oriolus chinensis
87. Pied Fantail                                       Rhipidura javanica
88. Fiery Minivet (male + female)          Pericrocotus igneus
89. Common Iora                                     Aegithina tiphia
90. Green Iora                                          Aegithina viridissima
91. Great Iora                                           Aegithina lafresnayei
92. Asian Paradise-flycatcher                Terpsiphone paradisi
93. Asian Brown Flycatcher                   Muscicapa dauurica
94. Red-throated Flycatcher                   Ficedula parva
95. Yellow-rumped Flycatcher                Ficedula zanthaopygia
96. Siberian Blue Robin                         Luscinia cyane
97. Oriental Magpie Robin                     Copsychus saularis
98. Asian Glossy Starling                       Aplonis panayensis
99. Common Myna                                  Acridotheres tristis
100. White-vented Myna                           Acridotheres grandis
101. Blue Whistling Thrush                       Monticola solitarius
102. Barn Swallow                                     Hirundo rustica
103. Pacific Swallow                                 Hirundo tahitica
104. Black-headed Bulbul                        Pycnonotus atriceps
105. Black-crested Bulbul                         Pycnonotus melanicterus
106. Streaked Bulbul                                 Hypsiptetes mcclellandii
107. Ochraceous Bulbul                            Criniger ochraceous
108. Stripe-throated Bulbul                       Pycnonotus finlaysoni
109. Yellow-vented Bulbul                         Pycnonotus goiavier
110. Streak-eared Bulbul                          Pycnonotus blanfordi
111. Red-eyed Bulbul                                Pycnonotus brunneus
112. Spectacled Bulbul                             Pycnonotus erythropthalmos
113. Grey-eyed Bulbul                               Iole propinqua
114. Buff-vented Bulbul                             Iole olivacea
115. Hairy-backed Bulbul                         Hypsipetes criniger
116. Ochraceous Bulbul                            Alophoixus ochraceus
117. Scaly-breasted Bulbul                      Pycnonotus squamatus
118. Brown-cheeked Fulvetta                  Aicippe poioicephala                      
119. Common Tailorbird                           Orthotomus sutorius
120. Dark-necked Tailorbird                    Orthotomus atrogularis
121. Arctic Warbler                                   Phylloscopus borealis
122. Two-barred Warbler                         Phylloscopus plumbeitarsus
123. Eastern Crowned Warbler               Phylloscopus coronatus
124. Yellow-browed Warbler                    Phylloscopus inornatus
125. Yellow-bellied Warbler                      Abroscopus supercilliaris
126. Pale-legged Leaf-Warbler               Phylloscopus tenellipes
127. Oriental White-eye                            Zosterops palpebrosus
128. Striped Tit Babbler                           Macronous gularis
129. Puff-throated Babbler                       Pellorneum ruficeps
130. Pied Fantail                                       Rhipidura javanica
131. Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker        Prionochilus maculates
132. Yellow-vented Flowerpecker            Dicaeum chrysorrheum
133. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker          Dicaeum trigonostigma
134. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker         Dicaeum cruentatum
135. Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker    Prionochilus percussus
136. Plain Sunbird                                     Anthreptes simplex
137. Brown-throated Sunbird                   Anthreptes malacensis
138. Ruby-cheeked Sunbird                     Anthreptes singalensis
139. Olive-backed sunbird                       Nectarinia jugularis
140. Crimson Sunbird                               Aethopyga siparaja
141. Purple-naped Sunbird                      Hypogramma hypogrammicum
142. Little Spiderhunter                             Arachnothera longirostra
143. Grey-breasted Spiderhunter            Arachnothera affinis
144. Spectacled Spiderhunter                 Arachnothera flavigaster
145. Thick-billed Spiderhunter                 Arachnothera crassirostris
146. Forest Wagtail                                   Dendronanthus indicus
147. Paddyfield Pipit                                 Anthus rufulus
148. Yellow Wagtail                                   Motacilla flava
149. Scaly-breasted Munia                      Lonchura punctulata
150. Eurasian Tree Sparrow -------------- Passer montanus - Just to get it to 150