For our first full day in Kaeng Krachan, we departed our lodging at 05:30, knowing that the park gate was just around the corner. Once through the park, we commenced our drive up to the very top of the park and the top campsite. This took significantly longer than expected and we did not arrive until 07:30, by which time it was already light with activity beginning to bustle around us. Our target up here at the top was Sun Bear, which a friend from Spurn, John Saddler, had seen here two days previous after the reliable individual at the lower campsite had gone missing.
Upon arrival at the top, we sussed out where the bear had
been seen and that we would be keep a vigil there. They had seen it arrive at
08:00 so we knew we hopefully would not have to wait longer before knowing if
we were in luck. Sadly though, the café staff informed us they had not seen the
bear for a while. Still, with optimism running in our veins, we staked out the
area regardless. It was not bad for birds, with a Dark-sided Flycatcher buzzing
around and three Yellow-vented Flowerpeckers showing extremely well in the
area.
And then, at 08:15, the bear arrived. Who knows where it
came from, but we looked down at the area where kitchen scraps were thrown and
there it was, with sleek glossy black fur and impressive claws. Although initially
it was sat comfortably, it soon stuck its face into the waste food and spent a
good half an hour there, meaning we barely saw the animals face at all. Still,
once it had finished gorging itself on leftover rice, it began to walk up the
hill, around the café seating area and then crossed the road, and it was here
that we got truly excellent views. And not only did we see it cross the road
once, a little later on it crossed again right in front of us. Although seeing
it scoff rice without a care was a little bit disappointing, seeing it stride
across the road on two occasions comfortably made it one of the absolute highlights
of the trip.
We birded the top area of the road until around 10:30, birding
back down the road from the top. Along the way we picked up a few birds but generally
the birding was slow. Fantastic views of Great Hornbill were the highlights, as
they really were impressive birds. Other goodies included Speckled Piculet and
Red-headed Trogon, but otherwise we were left to commoner species. We did have
two species of monkey at the top however, with the commoner DUSKY LANGUR mixed
in with BANDED LANGUR, although we only realised this later on when checking
photos.
On our way back down the mountain, just below the dam area,
we found a nice mixed species flock so stopped off to bird the area. What
started as a quick check became an extended hour filtering through the impressive
flock which constantly revealed new bird species. In total I had seven new
species during this phase of the morning, including highlights such as Sultan
Tit and Buff-rumped Warbler. The best of this time however was a fantastic
GIANT SQUIRREL picked out at the very last minute. Honestly, this thing was
about a meter and half long including tail, and absolutely spectacular beast
with striking plumage to go with its impressive size.
After lunch and a few errands, we birded the afternoon around
the lower campsite. Although not as birdy, we still had one of the birding
highlights of the day with three Silver-breasted Broadbill showing nicely and
displaying in response to tape. Additionally there were six other new birds, including
highlights of Ruby-cheeked Sunbird and Orange-breasted Trogon, the latter of
which took some significant effort to find but eventually managed views of the
back of a female.
A lot of the afternoon was dedicated to mammals as well. The
campsite was full of the DUSKY LANGURS with a few individuals showing nicely
before dropping fruit on us. There was also a distant WHITE-HANDED GIBBON which
was a mammal we really wanted to see but until this point had only heard.
Although distant, it was perched conspicuously and now we can hope to see more during
the next few days. We finished the day staking out a watering hole not far from
the entrance gate, where there were reports of GAUR visiting. In the hour we
spent there we had views of five individuals of these impressive bovines,
including an absolutely outrageous adult male. A fine way to round off a brilliant
day birding, and a brilliant day mammal watching.
Species List:
Kaeng Krachan National Park: Mountain Imperial Pigeon,
Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo, Large-tailed Nightjar, Asian Palm Swift, White-breasted
Waterhen, Red-wattled Lapwing, Little Cormorant, Little Egret, Striated Heron, Great
Egret, Black Baza, Asian Barred Owlet, Orange-breasted Trogon, Red-headed
Trogon, Great Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, White-throated Kingfisher, Green-eared
Barbet, Blue-throated Barbet, Speckled Piculet, Greater Flameback, Buff-rumped
Woodpecker, Common Flameback, Silver-breasted Broadbill, Scarlet Minivet, Swinhoe's
Minivet, White-bellied Erpornis, Ashy Drongo, Hair-crested Drongo, Black-naped
Monarch, Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Sultan Tit,
Black-headed Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Streak-eared Bulbul, Stripe-throated
Bulbul, Flavescent Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Pin-striped
Tit-Babbler, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Dark-sided Flycatcher, Oriental
Magpie-Robin, White-rumped Shama, Chinese Blue Flycatcher, Blue Whistling
Thrush, Taiga Flycatcher, Yellow-vented Flowerpecker, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Asian
Fairy-bluebird, Blue-winged Leafbird, Grey Wagtail,
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