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!

Colourful Rainbow Lorikeets in Changi Village

So many of them!

Kent Ridge Park

I saw the weirdest and most amazing bird!

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

It had the longest tail feathers I have ever seen! 2 loonggg tail feathers with "rackets" at the tips. 

Too bad we didn't have a proper camera to capture its pic! 

Backyard Birds

In Boston, we had a bird feeder on our balcony. In winter, many cool birds visited us.
We had regular visitors. They came every afternoon and finished all our birdseeds. We even prepared treats such as peanut butter. They were like our friends!

My favourite birdie friends were:

 Mourning dove

- we had a pair of lovers who came everyday!

 Eastern Phoebe

- sometimes up to 30 would fly in and out!

I looked around Singapore for some backyard birds. Think if I put out a bird feeder, all the ravens and mynahs would swarm my house. But here are some common Singapore backyard birds I found around my house:

Oriental Magpie Robin

- it sings beautifully!

Black-naped Oriole

Olive-backed Sunbird

Yellow-vented Bulbul

 

Birding at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Exams are coming! For a change from all the studying, my parents and I decided to take a drive to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve for a walk. We heard that this was one of the last few places in Singapore where you could see shorebirds without trekking through swamps and forests. 

Some of the birds we spotted were..

                                         Cattle Egret                                                   

                                         Little Egret

                                          Little Heron

                                          Grey Heron

                                         Egrets in flight formation

                                         Common Redshank

                                         Marsh Sandpiper

   White Breasted Waterhen (walking around everywhere!)

There were lots of pretty Kingfishers who posed for pics, called out loudly and fished for us to see.. 

                                          Collared Kingfisher

                                          White-throated Kingfisher

                                          Storkbilled Kingfisher 

And birds up on the trees.. 

                                          Olive-backed Sunbird

                                          Eastern Broadbilled Dollarbird

                                          Pink necked green pigeon

                                          Rufous tailed Tailorbird

There were cute little Pacific Swallows flying everywhere! We were lucky to catch them taking a break..

 It was still not enough for us, so Dad drove us around Kranji to look for more birds.

And I was rewarded with my all-time fav....raptors up in the air on display!!

                                          Black-winged kite hovering in the air (cool!)

                                          Brahminy kite (what a beaut!)

                                          Baya Weaver Birds' Nest