Saturday 30 June 2007

Thailand And Peninsular Malaysia, Dec 05 - March 06

I started off at Khao Yai NP, just north of Bangkok, where i spent 3 weeks in the dense forest. I then hired a car for a week from Bangkok and had 6 days soaking up waders on the boiling hot salt pans of Pak Thale. A short flight south to Kuala Lumpur, Peninsular Malaysia then saw me spend 8 days at Kuala Selangor before finishing off at Taman Negara for nearly 6 weeks.




Butterflies Feeding




Slaty-Backed Forktail

Coral-Billed Ground Cuckoo

Friday 29 June 2007

A Complete Shambles




I went in to the forest at first light one morning and when i returned to the camp site i couldn't believe my eyes. There were cars everywhere and 100's of tents. It turns out that most of Bangkok come to the park every weekend and stay up all night singing and drinking. It was a complete shambles. Fortunately the people are scared of the forest so i could at least escape them during the day.



Pig-Tailed Macaque


This male stole my washing powder out of my tent while i was hanging some washing out. It got a shock when it tried to eat it and ran off in to the forest coughing.

Northern Forest Crested Lizard

Moth




I found this moth on the fridge door of the camp site office.

Tockay Gecko


The males give an amazingly loud call, 'tuc-keh', which often sounds like 'tockay'. This one was on the camp site office.

East Asian Porcupine



Heard a rustling near the tent in the middle of night so investigated it. Found a pair of Porcupines feeding in the leaf litter. Very aggressive, they would rattle their tails at me and it sounded just like a Rattle Snake.

Croc ssp




This Crocodile was present in the river next to the camp site. I'm no expert on croc's so dont know if it is a true Siamese or hybrid Siamese x Saltwater.



Night Market In Pak Chong



A good stop-over place when visiting Khao Yai NP.

Asian Dowitchers, Samut Sakhon, Thailand


Ban Pak Phale, Thailand




I explored the vast salt pan complex of Pak Thale for 6 days, spending many hours each day studying the Spoon-billed Sandpipers and other waders. I regularly found 8 Spooners each day.

Spoon-Billed Sandpipers




Sand Plovers and Broad-Billed Sandpiper

Black-Winged Stilt

Grey Phalarope - First Record For S.E Asia




I found this 1st winter Grey Phalarope with four Red-necked Phalaropes while searching for Spoon-billed Sands. It was present from 15.30hr - dark.