Four days off the bicycles. Two nights at Baan Maka Nature Lodge, last night at Samarn Bird Camp, both near the Kaeng Krachan National Park and tonight we're back in Hua Hin.
Our vehicle is a well-used Suzuki Vitarra. I thought that a 4x4 was an overkill but it came in handy getting up to the top of Kaeng Krachan.
We took a scenic route to Baan Maka, first stopping off at Samarn Bird Camp to book the last night there. Both places have excellent reputations in the birding community but it turns out that both have closed their own bird hides that had delivered good birding for us on our previous visits. This didn't bother us too much because the birding around the accomodation remained good and our primary reason for being here was to visit the national park.
Grey-bellied Squirrel (Callosciurus caniceps) are common in the grounds at Baan Maka, especially near the restaurant area.
We spent the first afternoon birding in the grounds at Baan Maka. We were up at a quarter to five the next morning so that we could be in national park at sunrise. The park is closed during the wet season from August until the end of October but it was clearly still quite wet. After our experience with the leeches at Nam Nao we thought it prudent not to walk the forest trails and stuck to birding from the road.
Oriental Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris) , male on the right and his missus on the left. She has a smaller casque and wears purple lipstick.
We heard Lar Gibbons (Hylobates lar), also known as the White-handed Gibbon, calling a number of times but only had views of this one which was right above us and was very difficult to photograph. If you look carefully you might notice what he was doing (warning: it's not a pretty sight)..
The second morning was spent birding in the grounds of Baan Maka before checking out as late as possible to head over to Samarn Bird Camp.
Ornate sunbirds (Cinnyris ornatus) are common in garden environments. This female was at her nest in passion fruit vine while her mate was on a power line above her.
In the forest just a few meters away were three different species of Drongo. Here's a Hair-crested Drongo (Dicrurus hottentottus) . The scientific name of the Hair-crested Drongo is an anachronism and would be offensive to many South Africans but what does one do with names that fall foul of modern sensibilities? Scientific names are supposed to be immutable and the line between what is acceptable and what isn't shifts over time.
Samarn Bird Camp is less than ten kilometers from Baan Maka. From Samarn to the entrance to the park is only a kilometer. Samarn was a lot quieter than Baan Maka with only one other guest while we were there. So it was wonderfully peaceful.
A nice looking iguana just outside our room at Samarn Bird Camp.
The last morning we had another five thirty breakfast and were in the park soon after six o’clock. Then it was a slow thirty kilometer drive to the upper campsite, the second part of the road being one way in alternating directions at specific times became is narrow, rough and steep. The little Suzuki performed better than I expected given the poor road conditions and the climb up to almost a thousand meters above sea level.
At the top it was far colder than to what we have become accustomed and we were wrapped up in woolen shirts and down jackets.
A terrible photo but the joint bird of the day was this White-browed Piculet (Sasia ochracea) found near the top, sharing the honour with a group of Pin-tailed Parrotfinches (Erythrura prasina) found later lower down. The Parrotfinches were impossible to photograph, hiding away in a thicket of flowering bamboo.
Once we had dropped the car off back in Hua Hin we returned to the Phuangpen Villa Hotel where the bicycles have been resting for the past four days. Tomorrow we have a short day back to Cha Am.
