Thursday, December 23, 2010

Birding in Thailand

Exams are finally over!
My  parents took us to Krabi for a vacation and we were rewarded with some of the coolest birds I have ever seen!

There were white-bellied sea eagles flying everywhere (just like all the mynahs here)! They swooped gracefully and came so close to us.

 White-bellied Sea Eagle

 Lesser Frigatebird
- that's the only photo I could find :(

We spotted a whole flock of Lesser Frigatebirds circling around Phi Phi islands. Too bad Dad didn't bring his huge camera to capture it. This always happens when the coolest birds appear!

Compared to the Greater Frigatebirds we saw at the Everglades in Florida (details of that trip another time), these birds were slightly smaller in size. 

 Male Greater Frigatebird (with his red pouch) in Florida

Female Greater Frigatebird in Florida

And now for the best part of our trip....

KHAO SOK NATIONAL PARK

This is Hornbill Paradise! Situated at Chieow Lan Lake (a man-made dam), the tropical rainforests and fruit trees are a breeding ground for these huge, gorgeous birds. 



We took a longtail boat to look for hornbills.




And we saw lots!


Oriental-pied Hornbill
- hiding in the trees

Female Wreathed Hornbill

Male Wreathed Hornbill (so colourful!)

Mama and Papa Wreathed Hornbills together on a tree

Great Hornbill
- This ancient bird is so big that its wings make a strange helicoptor noise when it flies. You can even hear them when they glide. Super cool! Males have red eyes. Females have white eyes. 

Other birds we saw were:

Brahminy Kite

Another kite which flew by so fast, I could not see what it was
(does anyone have an idea?)

And we saw lots of non-bird wildlife as well:


 Trapdoor spider's home

 Tarantula!

 Dusky Langurs

Dusky Langurs are famous for their great leaping abilities.

White-handed Gibbons
- these are an endangered species of ape. You can hear their calls everywhere early in the morning

What a wonderful trip it was!

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