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Accommodation
We booked all our accommodation prior to leaving, except at Art’s Riverview Lodge in Khao Sok, which fortunately had a few vacant treehouses when we arrived. Strangely enough we were the only people staying at the Morakot except the last night, but I guess this can change from one week to another. We opted to stay at the Maritime Resort in Krabi, primarily because of the comfort and magnificent garden and birdlife. The Maritime is a fantastic place with great facilities. At Khao Sok we stayed at Art’s which has been recommended by other birders, and is truly a nice place. In Bangkok we stayed at the Holiday Mansion which also was a great place within walking distance of Lumphini Park, several shopping centres and the Ploenchit Train Station.

Morakot Resort, Khao Nor Chuchi pittagurney@yahoo.com

Maritime Park and Spa Resort, Krabi

Art’s Riverview Lodge, Khao Sok (booked on arrival)

Holiday Mansion Hotel, 53 Wireless Road, Lumpini, Bangkok

Guides
At Khao Nor Chuchi I used Yothin Meekaeo who can be contacted yotinpitta@hotmail.com. It cost me THB 9,000 for one and a half days of birding including night-birding on the first day. If you want the absolutely best chances of locating Gurney’s Pitta and stake-out species such as Oriental Bay Owl and White-fronted Scops Owl or you have limited time, hiring him is a must! He is very professional using a mp3-player to attract various species. He also used a laser pen to point out species high in the canopy or skulking in the undergrowth, which was very helpful. It is recommended to book him in advance as he can be very busy in the high-season.

In Krabi we went on an obligatory mangrove trip with Mr. Dai. We booked him via the staff at Café Europa. Apparently we were lucky as he was busy during our whole stay except one day. His English isn’t very good but he knows the birds which are interesting to birders.

At Khao Sok we went on a canoe trip arranged by Art’s Riverview Lodge. Their river trip can be very productive according to other birders, but as the staff refused to start any earlier than 9 am we didn’t see much

In Bangkok I used the services of Nature Trails (www.naturetrailsthailand.com) and Patcharee Komolphalin which I booked while in Krabi. We had a great day of birding, but unfortunately we dipped on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

Daily log

25th February : Arrived after a long flight at Bangkok International Airport at approximately noon, where we transferred for our Thai Airways flight to Krabi. After arrival in Krabi, we collected our bags and were met by a taxi who took us to KNC for our three nights stay. After checking in, we went for a short walk along the main road before dark which produced a few birds, including Germain’s Swiftlet, Indian Roller, Stripe-throated Bulbul, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Greater Coucal and Blue-eared Barbet (heard only).Before going to bed, I had to contact Yothin and arrange when we were to start the following day. As there was no signal at the Morakot, one of the staff girls was kind enough to drive me a short distance down the road where there was a signal, so I was able to call Yothin and arrange for him to pick me up at 06:00 the following morning. On second thought I would have arranged this a little earlier.

26th February : Had breakfast at 05:30 which I had arranged the previous evening, before I met with Yothin and we drove to the main entrance. It was still dark, but we could hear both Moustached Babbler and Banded Kingfisher, when we started walking to a spot that Yothin was confident we would see the Pittas. He set up his hide and then we waited for the Gurney’s Pitta to appear (hopefully). It didn’t take more than 20 minutes before we could hear them approaching quickly! It didn’t take long before a pair appeared right in front of the hide. We had brilliant views of both the male and the female for at least 25 minutes before they moved on. As others has mentioned before me, this has to be the best way to see the Pittas, causing minimal disturbance.

Anyway, as the Pittas had disappeared, we moved on as well, following the B-trail. Before long I was seeing lots of lifers including a male Orange-breasted Trogon which gave great views, Yellow-bellied Bulbul, Dark-throated Oriole, Red-throated Sunbird, Little Spiderhunter, Yellow-breasted and Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers, Scaly-crowned Babbler and a Red-bearded Bee-eater right over our heads. A little later at a fork in the trail, there was a gully with some big trees. This place was very productive, giving us great views of Black-and-Yellow and Green Broadbill, Red-throated and Red-crowned Barbets in the larger trees while some smaller trees nearby produced Purple-naped Sunbird, Pale-legged Leaf Warbler and several species of Bulbul. We followed the trail which lead into the gully, where we had brief view of a Chestnut-winged Babbler. The trail followed a small stream for a while which produced even more Bulbuls of various species, before we entered another trail which was very overgrown and barely visible, but we saw a lot of birds here as well, including Short-tailed, Ferruginous and Chestnut-rumped Babbler, Buff-necked Woodpecker, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Great Iora and Purple-throated Sunbird.

It was only 11:30 but it was getting hot and the bird activity decreased so I returned to the Morakot for lunch and a nap and decided to meet Yothin again at 14:30. This time my mother joined us and we headed to a place where the birds (especially bulbuls) come to drink in the afternoon. To get there, we drove along the “plantation” road, making a stop along the way to have a look at a pair of Black-thighed Falconet, two Black Kites and the only Grey-breasted Spiderhunter of the trip. We parked along the road and walked along a trail which followed a stream seeing Banded Bay Cuckoo, Rufescent Prinia, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird and Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycatcher before we came to a bend in the stream were we settled down and waited for the birds to appear. We stayed here for an hour or so, seeing Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Black-naped Monarch and lots of bulbuls, including Black-headed, Black-crested, Cream-vented, Red-eyed, Spectacled, Buff-vented and Streaked. On our way back, we stopped at the plantation were we stayed till dusk seeing and hearing an amazing array of birds, including Violet Cuckoo, Drongo Cuckoo, Silver-rumped and Brown-backed Needletail, Grey-rumped Treeswift, Golden-whiskered Barbet, Banded Broadbill, Ochraceous Bulbul, Asian Fairy Bluebird and Large Woodshrike.

As it was getting dark, so we returned to the Morakot, where we let my mother of, before me and Yothin went out for some night-birding. We entered a small forest patch along the main road where we hopefully would find Oriental Bay Owl. Yothin played its call a few times before the Owl responded in the distance. We waited for a few moments before Yothin turned on his flashlight and we could see the owl perching vertically on palm right on front of us! We had great views for about five minutes before we moved on to another site. Here we hoped to find Barred Eagle Owl and White-fronted Scops Owl, but only found the latter, which was more than adequate. We had to work harder for the scops owl as we had to track it down ourselves as it refused to come to us, but eventually we had great views of this localized species as well, providing a fitting end to a magnificent day of birding.

27th February : Met Yothin at 06:30 and drove straight to the main entrance. Only minutes after we entered the main trail we saw a male Gurney’s Pitta turning over dead leaves in the middle of the trail! We watched it and a Orange-headed Thrush before it disappeared. An unexpected encounter and one of the highlights of the day. We ventured further along the B-trail seeing a lot of new birds, including Bamboo, Maroon and Orange-backed Woodpecker, Banded Pitta (heard only), Hairy-backed Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Abbott’s Babbler and Large Wren Babbler (heard only). Finally, we arrived at a ravine were we hoped to see Rufous-collared Kingfisher. At first there was no sign of the kingfisher, but we did see Crow-billed Drongo, Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycatcher, Rufous-winged Philentoma and a male Diard’s Trogon. After a while, Yothin suddenly pointed out a Rufous-collared Kingfisher in a small tree right in front of us! We watched it for a while before it flew away. On our way back we encountered a Malaysian Hawk-Cuckoo right above our heads which Yothin had attracted by tape-playback.

Returned to the Morakot, only to find a Dollarbird perched in a dead tree behind our bungalow. After lunch me and my mother went to the Emerald Pool for a swim, which was nice. Didn’t see too many birds though, expect a displaying Crested Goshawk, Oriental Honey-Buzzard, Grey-rumped Treeswift, Thick-billed Green Pigeon and two unidentified Hawk-Eagles.

Later in the afternoon I went for a walk along the main road seeing Tiger Shrike, Green-billed Malkoha, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Streak-eared Bulbul and White-bellied Sea-Eagle which is apparently very rare in KNC. After dinner I heard a Collared Scops Owl in the garden, but as soon as I played its call it went silent.

28th February : Breakfast at 06:00, before me and my mother went for a walk to the “plantation”. Didn’t see too many new birds though, but a male Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher, Asian Paradise Flycatcher and two Red-bearded Bee-eaters are worth mentioning. At the plantation clearing itself we saw two Crested Serpent Eagles, Thick-billed Green Pigeon, various swifts and calling Banded, Green and Black-and-Yellow Broadbills. Returned to the Morakot where we saw Asian Palm Swift before being picked up by a local man at 12:00, who would take us to Krabi for 850 Baht.

Checked in at the Maritime Resort in Krabi, which was an absolutely stunning place! Went for a short walk in the magnificent gardens, seeing Collared, Brown-winged and Black-capped Kingfisher, Peaceful Dove, Brahminy Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Pacific and Striated Swallow, Blue Whistling Thrush, Streak-eared and Yellow-vented Bulbul and Scaly-breasted Munia. I also saw a huge Water Monitor at the Garden Pool!

Went downtown for lunch and to arrange various things, such as train, ferries and bus tickets at the Andaman Wave Master while the staff at Café Europa booked the trip with Mr. Dai who fortunately was available the 2nd, but he was fully booked for the rest of the week!

Spent the rest of the evening at the Maritime Resorts jetty, seeing eight Smooth Otters and a troop of Long-tailed Macaques along the river, and hearing Brown Hawk Owl and Great Eared Nightjar. As a lot of mosquitoes appeared at dusk it became very uncomfortable staying there as I had forgot any repellent.

1st March : Went for a walk around the gardens before breakfast, seeing a few new birds such as Black-bellied Malkoha, Mangrove Pitta (only heard in the mangroves) and Greater Racket-tailed Drongo.
Took the free shuttle bus from the Maritime to Ao Nang after breakfast, where we arranged for a longtail to take us out to Koh Poda where we spent most of the day swimming and suntbathing. Nice place, but it was a bit crowded. Didn’t see many birds here except an Oriental Pied Hornbill, Brahminy Kite, Olive-backed Sunbird and Collared Kingfisher. Went back to Ao Nang later in the afternoon where we had dinner. Went for a short walk in a hotel garden opposite the Pakasai Resort (can’t remember the name though) where we saw Coppersmith Barbet, Pied Fantail, Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrike, Asian Glossy Starling and several amusing flying lizards. Returned to the Maritime by songthaew, but didn’t arrive until after dark.

2nd March : Met with Mr. Dai at 09:00 and we headed to the mangroves. The first birds seen were a pair of Oriental Hobbies near the limestone peak opposite the Maritime. We also heard a Mangrove Pitta, but as the tide was still low we were unable to venture further into the mangroves, so we decided to head out to the mudflats instead.

As we approached the river mouth a lot of terns appeared, mostly Lesser Crested Tern, but also Common Tern. Mr. Dai scanned the mudflats for waders. The first flock we found only contained Whimbrels and four Bar-tailed Godwits. We moved on and found another flock which looked more promising. At first I had big problems getting good looks from the boat, before I realized that I could step out of the boat as it was only about 30cm deep! The water was quite murky, so I couldn’t see where I put my feet, so you might want to wear sandals. Aren’t stingrays often associated with estuaries? Anyway, a quick scan through the flock showed that there were two Nordmann’s Greenshanks present! At first, it surprised me how different they are from the more familiar Common Greenshank. I had great views of them and the other waders which included, Terek Sandpiper, Great Knot and Eurasian Curlew. As the water was rising quickly, the flock moved on, as did we. We returned up-river to see if we could find some more birds in the mangroves. It started to get quite hot, so there was little bird activity, but we still managed to find a few new birds such as Common Flameback, Ruddy Kingfisher, Mangrove Whistler and Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, but no pittas. I guess an earlier starts is more ideal, but unfortunately the tide made it impossible this day. We headed back to town and said our goodbyes, before returning to the hotel where we spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool.

3rd March : We spent most of the day relaxing by the pool, but I went for a walk in the garden before breakfast and again later in the afternoon. This time I explored the gardens north of the hotel buildings which were less well-kept than other parts of the garden. More bushes and trees meant more birds. In addition to a lot of birds seen before, some of the new trip-birds seen today were Common Kingfisher, Brown Shrike, Black-naped Oriole, Red-vented Bulbul and a flock of White-rumped Munia. Another amusing addition to the trip list was a Blue Rock Thrush which accompanied us by the pool.

4th March : Today we had decided to take the ferry out to Ko Phi Phi. After much asking around the previous days, we had learnt that the ferry leaves from the New Pier west of Krabi Town. We took a taxi there and while waiting for the ferry which was due to depart 09:30 I saw a few Greater Crested Terns among the more numerous Lesser Crested which were flying around down river. The ferry departed on time, and it was a nice journey even though there weren’t too many birds around except a fly-by Pacific Reef Egret and five distant Frigatebirds.

As we arrived at Phi Phi Don we arranged for a longtail to take us out to Phi Phi Leh and Bida Nok islands. At first the boatman was quite reluctant to visit the latter because of rough seas, but it didn’t turn out be a problem after all. First we headed to Bida Nok and it didn’t take long before we could see frigatebirds circling the skies. There were at least 100+ frigatebirds above our heads, but they were quite high up, so I had some difficulty getting a good look at them because of the swell. Nevertheless, I managed to identify a few of each Christmas Island and Lesser Frigatebird, but unfortunately no terns whatsoever. We then continued to Maya Bay on Phi Phi Leh for some snorkelling and relaxing. The snorkelling wasn’t particularly good, compared to the Red Sea, there was a lot of dead corals. The bay and the beach however, were very beautiful. There weren’t many birds though, except a pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Grey Wagtail and Blue Whistling Thrush. After a couple of hours we returned to Phi Phi Don for our return-ferry.

Back on the main island. I scanned the ridges for Pied Imperial Pigeons, but I didn’t see any. Back on the ferry I fortunately saw one individual flying along the eastern ridge just as the ferry was about to leave. The return journey didn’t produce much except another unidentified frigatebird and a Zebra Shark seen at the surface which was quite surprising. We arrived in the late afternoon, in Ao Nang this time where we took a songthaew back to the Maritime

5th March : Went for a long walk by myself to the area south of Krabi today, hoping to find something interesting. As it turned out, I didn’t see that much, but worth mentioning is, Great and Little Egret, Eurasian Curlew, Asian Koel, White-breasted Kingfisher, Brown Shrike, Black-naped Oriole and Asian Glossy Starling. Spent the rest of the day by the pool, before studying swiftlets from the roof. In addition to large numbers of swiftlets there were also Grey-rumped Treeswift and Asian Palm Swifts present. Even though they gave relatively good views, the swiftlets were hard to identify because of the clinal differences in rump-colour and tail-fork.

6th March : Our last morning in Krabi, before departing for Khao Sok NP. We were picked up by a bus at the hotel, who took us to some sort of bus station where we transferred for our bus to Khao Sok. We arrived after a couple of hours and we checked in at Art’s Riverview Lodge. We had lunch in beautiful surroundings watching the macaques bathing in the river.

After lunch we went for a walk to Smiley’s Huts which is supposedly a good vantage point to look for hornbills, eagles etc. Didn’t see any though, but on our way back to Art’s, a beautiful adult Rufous-bellied Eagle flew across the valley. Other new birds were Plaintive Cuckoo and lots of Fork-tailed Swifts.

Later in the afternoon I went for a short walk to a big valley on the other side of the river. Didn’t stay for long as it was getting dark quickly, but I added Grey-faced Buzzard and Forest Wagtail to the trip list. Asked the man in the reception at Art’s, if it was possible to get breakfast at 06:30, but it wasn’t. He also claimed that the park didn’t open before 08:00 which proved to be wrong

7th March : Up at 06:00 and started walking towards the park gates. We paid 400 baht to get in, and started walking along the Ton Gloy trail. As soon as we entered the forest it became clear that there had been elephants there recently. Small trees, bushes and bamboo along the trail were destroyed. We could still smell them! Later that afternoon, we were told by the staff at Art’s that the elephants had frequented this area during the nights lately and was the reason they had cancelled all their spotlighting trips. They are quite aggressive so I’m glad we didn’t meet any. Anyway, it was a nice walk with quite a few birds, many that we had seen before, but quite a few lifers as well. Some of the first birds of the morning were Red-throated Barbet, White-rumped Shama, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Chestnut-winged Babbler, Striped Tit Babbler, Puff-throated Babbler, Forest Wagtail, a flock of Ashy Minivets and a pair of Red-and-Black Broadbills. After a while we came to some sort of visitor centre, but it didn’t seem to be in use though. We sat down here for an hour or so, seeing lots of birds. A fruiting tree attracted Asian Fairy Bluebird, an unidentified Leafbird and several species of bulbuls including, Ochraceous, Buff-vented, Red-eyed, Hairy-backed, Yellow-bellied, Black-crested and Black-headed Bulbuls. Other birds seen here included Plain Sunbird, an unidentified Hawk-Eagle, two obliging Chestnut-bellied Malkohas, but unfortunately no hornbills. We walked a little further along the trail, which was getting narrower. We saw a few birds before turning back, most surprising was a much-wanted Pin-tailed Parrotfinch and a calling Rufous-fronted Babbler. Before returning to Art’s, we saw a beautiful Dusky Langur at the “closed” visitor centre.

Spent most of the afternoon relaxing at Art’s, but I went for a short walk to Smiley’s, which this time produced a magnificent Great Hornbill flying across the valley. Unfortunately this proved to be the only hornbill I saw in Khao Sok, which was a bit disappointing, because it was the only hornbill in the area which wouldn’t be a lifer. I guess I was just unlucky. A quick look on the other side of the river at Art’s produced, Black-naped Monarch, Little Spiderhunter and a single Crimson Sunbird.

8th March : Today we had decided to go on a canoe trip that was quite nice, but we didn’t see many birds even though others have seen quite a lot. The main reason was probably that the staff didn’t want to start any earlier than 09:00 which ruined our best chances for some new birds. Only birds of interest were Common Kingfisher, a Grey-faced Buzzard and lots of Dusky Crag Martins.

Returned to Art’s where we packed our bags and went out to the main road where we waited for the bus to Surat Thani to arrive. The bus arrived on time, and we were quite surprised how nice and comfortable the bus was. We arrived in Surat Thani an hour and a half later, where we waited for our nigh-train to Bangkok to arrive. The train was a little delayed, but it finally arrived and we settled in at 1st class which was quite nice.

9th March : Arrived in Bangkok early in the morning, where we took a taxi to the Holiday Mansion Hotel in the Sukhumvit area. Holiday Mansion turned out be a great place to stay, cheap and within walking distance of Lumphini Park, skytrain station and shopping districts. Spent most of the day relaxing, but went for a walk to Lumphini Park, which was only a 5 minutes walk away. Nice place with quite a few birds including Black-collared Starling and White-vented Myna which both were lifers. Other birds included Coppersmith Barbet, Common Iora, Pied Fantail, Ashy Drongo, Brown Shrike, Streak-eared Bulbul and Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker. There were also quite a Water Monitors around, including a very big one. Later in the afternoon I saw a Plaintive Cuckoo in the hotel backyard. It was nice to finally see one, after only hearing them in Khao Sok.

10th March : Went shopping at Siam Square for most of the day. We also visited Wat Phra Kaeo in the afternoon which was really amazing, which even the most hardcore birders should take time to visit. The bins really came in handy when watching the Emerald Buddha, even one of the guards wanted to have a look! Not too many birds seen today though, except Ashy Woodswallow and Red Collared Dove at Wat Phra Kaeo, which were new for the trip.

11th March : Picked up by Patcharee at 06:00 and headed straight for Khok Kham. After a while we arrived and started scanning the mudflats. Some of the first birds of the morning included, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, a single Nordmann’s Greenshank, Pacific Golden Plover, Brown-headed Gull and a Blue-tailed Bee-eater.

We then moved on to the saltpans hoping to find a Spoon-billed Sandpiper amongst the numerous Red-necked Stints, but to no avail. We stayed here for an hour or so, but although we didn’t see any spoonies, we saw some other interesting birds including, Ruddy Turnstone, Red-necked and Long-toed Stint, Curlew and Broad-billed Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Lesser Sandplover, Grey Plover and a single Javan Pond-Heron.

We decided to head further south to Pak Thale hoping for better luck there. We spent a couple of hours here as well scanning through numerous flocks of Red-necked Stints. Although we eventually dipped on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper here as well, some interesting additions to the trip-list were, Little, Gull-billed and Whiskered Tern and loads of Little Cormorants. As it was starting to get late, we decided to call it a day and return to Bangkok. A female Eastern Marsh Harrier, flying over the saltpans was my final lifer of the trip, providing a fitting end to a magnificent trip! Arrived back at the hotel two hours later, and went straight for the airport for our late-evening flight bound for Amsterdam.