Thailand; Day 18 - Kraeng Katchan

   For our penultimate day in Krang Katchan National Park, we spent the morning birding along the road up from the bottom campsite, in the area known as the river crossings. The dirt road through here passes through some excellent forest and has the potential for the best birding in the whole park. We started just after first light and birded the area until midday.

  In total we saw nearly fifty species of bird. Although many were species we had encountered before, there were some new species for me including Oriental Dollarbird which flew around overhead calling nosily, Black-thighed Falconet which was distant but a treat to see and a fabulous feeding group of Thick-billed Green Pigeon. There were not as many mixed species flocks encountered as the previous day, but it was still a phenomenal mornings birding.

  Of course the target for many birders visiting the park are the Broadbills on offer here, and during the morning we had great success with four different species. The previous day we had already seen the striking Silver-breasted Broadbill, but this morning we found a pair constructing a nest. Banded Broadbill and Black-and-yellow Broadbill were both stunning but were always high in the canopy and difficult to see in their full glory. Finally there was Dusky Broadbill, for which we had information on an active nest, making our search for them much easier. There were three individuals blogging around the nest area, of this rather unspectacular addition to our Broadbill list.

  In the afternoon we returned to the park and I opted to bird down the main road after we passed a watering hole that had a RED MUNTJAC drinking from it which flushed as we drove past. In hope that it would have returned if I walked down, but alas it did not. Birdwise it was quite limited, with the only new bird for me being Chestnut-headed Beeeater, but with a nice flyby from three Black Baza and a pair of Crested Honey Buzzards. The deer was of no concern, since we saw it again as we drove out.

  Before dark we checked out a local reservoir just down the road from the Baan Maka Lodge, where we planned to do a night walk and where we had been having our meals. There was information that here there would be a roost of the Chestnut-headed Beeeaters but we only saw a few individuals that were flying around. It was not a total loss however, as in addition to the beeeaters, we also had a Common Hill Myna, which was a lifer for me.

  At night we return to Baan Maka to do a night walk around the lodge grounds. This was recommended to us by John Saddler who was also staying at the lodge, as a way to see Bengal Slow Loris. We had not even left the restaurant area by the time we encountered the Slow Loris, which showed very nicely. Other goodies on the walk included Collared Scops Owl and several lizards and spiders. 

Species List:
Kaeng Krachan National Park: Red Junglefowl, Red Collared Dove, Common Emerald Dove, Thick-billed Green Pigeon, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo, Large-tailed Nightjar, Common Moorhen, White-breasted Waterhen, Red-wattled Lapwing, Bronze-winged Jacana, Little Cormorant, Little Egret, Medium Egret, Crested Honey Buzzard, Black Baza, Crested Serpent Eagle, Besra, Collared Scops Owl, Brown Boobook, Orange-breasted Trogon, Great Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Wreathed Hornbill, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Oriental Dollarbird, Coppersmith Barbet, Green-eared Barbet, Greater Flameback, Black-thighed Falconet, Dusky Broadbill, Silver-breasted Broadbill, Banded Broadbill, Black-and-yellow Broadbill, Scarlet Minivet, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Malaysian Pied Fantail, Ashy Drongo, Hair-crested Drongo, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Black-naped Monarch, Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher, Common Green Magpie, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Common Tailorbird, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Barn Swallow, Black-crested Bulbul, Streak-eared Bulbul, Stripe-throated Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Radde's Warbler, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, Rufous-fronted Babbler, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Common Hill Myna, Great Myna, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Blue Whistling Thrush, Taiga Flycatcher, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Ornate Sunbird, Asian Fairy-bluebird, Blue-winged Leafbird, Scaly-breasted Munia, Grey Wagtail,