December

The news this month is concerned with two major events; home improvement and my trip to Thailand. Helen was away in Singapore around the same time.

The reason for the home improvements was that due to a bad design fault we had some water leaking through the ceilings of the two other bedrooms on the second floor after abnormal rainfall. This is because the third floor and consequently the tiled roof is smaller than the second floor and with no guttering the water cascades onto what is essentially the roof of the second floor. The water then runs through drain holes and down some internal pipes. During heavy rain there is an upstairs swimming pool that persists if there is any blockage of the drainage system. This is apparent in the photo shown of the neighbours second floor roof….the weeds don’t help the drainage. 

We have extended the roof out so the run-off water does not sit on the roof of the second floor. There is a further advantage with this as with the resident AstroTurf we can have a relaxing exterior with plants to attract the sunbirds, flower peckers and spider hunters.

There were also other unsealed crevices that allowed water to seep into the wall behind the TV in the lounge. The joins have been sealed and we decided that any watermarks could be hidden behind brickwork that again had a decorative purpose. We are both pleased with the result as it anchors the lounge/dining room area and looks good at night when lit by angular light. The spectator in the first image is one of our Japanese B and B guests.

Dani is enjoying her time in Northern Spain and Nikki is currently in Okinawa. She has had some health issues and has continued the Guy tradition by getting kidney stones recently.

I have been spending a lot of time….possibly too much involved in writing the nature photography book. The second half of the year is always much quieter than the first six months and other than the Tasmanian interlude I have been getting a little field rusty. My main aim for the next year is to explore the local possibilities more. Thailand is included in this plan as it has over 100 national parks and a better infrastructure than Malaysia. The first step was to explore two of the parks near to Bangkok. I also need a lot of information for future reference. I had two friends interested in accompanying me and we hired Peter Ericsson, a Swede bird expert that had lived in the country for 31 years. Peter is married to a Singaporean lady and they are parents to four. Unfortunately Nick Baker had to withdraw from the trip when he had some health issues. My sole travelling companion was Dennis Ho who had been with the group in Kenya and Tanzania last year and other trips previously.
The two parks targeted were Kaeng Krachan to the Southwest of Bangkok and Khao Yai to the northwest.

I flew with AirAsia and unfortunately they use Don Muang airport which was the main airport before being displaced in recent years. I had a late afternoon flight that was made even later by a late arrival of the aircraft. I believe I also got fleeced by the taxi service, which was more specialist than the pink cabs you see frequently. The driver also did not know where the hotel was and blundered around the general area until he thought of actually asking someone. The hotel, the Plai Gardens was rather basic, which did not matter as I did not have time to get fully acquainted. We met Peter around 5.30am the next morning and we were shooting shortly after. We started in nice early morning light at Bang Poo where there was a variety of shorebirds and kingfishers. We later moved further down the coast where there was a large number of shorebirds gathered. Most of these were northern migrants and made the number that arrive in Penang to seem quite paltry (not poultry). The Spoonbilled Sandpiper was one of the most sought-after species because of its rarity. There were many hides set up in the hot sun seeking images so we left the Spoonbill for another time.

The first park we were to explore was Kaeng Krachan, a large park south west of Bangkok and backing onto Myanmar. We stopped at a site near our lodgings to shoot some birds coming into a waterhole. This was located on private property and shooting was in low light from a hide. The lack of light was a problem and we had to wait for some time before the action occurred before it got really dark.

The accommodation for the next four nights was nearby in a nice tree-rich setting with a large pond and trees. The rooms were a tad Spartan but the food was good and the beer was cold. 

In the next few days we explored the hilly park from the lower parts to as far as the road went. The track to the summit required a four-wheel drive so we hired a vehicle and a driver for that purpose. It was nice at the higher elevation and like similar locations the birds were easier to see than photograph, including the three Wreathed Hornbills that flew noisily by. We had an interesting session with a pair of Great Barbets that are very hard to photograph and are quite colourful albeit with a penetrating call. The quiet ridge we had staked out had a small house the Queen of Thailand visited in her younger years. It was currently in a state of deterioration. The vegetation on the hills had it usual 50 shades of green plus there appeared to be a few autumn tints.

We were in Thailand rather early in the season and our time also coincided with the King’s birthday and Constitution Day both of which modified our plans to some degree. The King is in his mid 80s and of failing health. There were many pictures of him in all locations and these portrayals varied from his mid thirties up to relatively recent times. We visited one of his projects on the coast and he was pictured there with a Canon Camera on a strap around his neck which must be valuable silent advertising.

We revisited the hide at the waterhole early one morning and there was quite a menagerie visitors that morning. One of the stars was the male and female Lineated Kalij Pheasants, a species difficult to see in the forest but is also raised in captivity. Along with the pheasants were a number of Red Jungle fowls. In the dull light they were a problem to photograph with their constant ground pecking like overactive sewing machines.  This species represents the ancestor of our domestic fowls. The males are quite spectacular with their colour schemes and iridescent tail feathers. Other birds visited to bath or to feed including the Black-naped Monarchs, Tickell's Flycatchers, Great Necklaced Laughingthrush (shown). Away from the hide a Golden-fronted Leafbird was having a conversation with himself reflected in a stainless steel water heater.

We had intended to stay in the Khao Yai park, one of the most popular because of its proximity to Bangkok. We were to stay outside the park but a rock concert attracting 30,000 people in the vicinity put paid to that tentative arrangement. We revisited the shorebirds on the way back to Bangkok. I could not resist the image shown below….a family living on a shoestring near the sea….managing a litter of pups that had to be removed from the road regularly.  We decided to stay in Bangkok for the last two nights and Peter’s wife had booked us in a boutique hotel that was near their house. The hotel, the Ban-Boon Bali Hotel was delightful and inexpensive. It was a veritable oasis in a big busy city. The gardens and outside décor was very Balinese with a small pool. My room was done in a Chinese style with a four-poster bed and brocade on the walls. There were many nice little touches also. Denis’s room next door had a Western theme that included swinging bar doors, wagon wheels on the bed and a Marlborough man poster on the wall.

On the penultimate day we started early and went to some paddyfields as the sun struggled through the morning mists. Our object was to shoot various species of birds that operate in open fields. The atmosphere was great. Nearby were a group of small trees where a large number of Black-winged Kites that had roosted for the night and waited for the morning thermal to soar into the sky in search of prey. We each had a small, locally-made hide and attracted the birds in with strategically placed mealworms. It was fun but butt numbing.

We later drove up to Khao Yai park. Peter tried to pass Dennis off as a Thai to get a cheaper entry and we figured he should be snoozing so as not to reveal his lack of Thai language. The guard was not born yesterday and asked that Dennis be roused so a conversation could occur…..busted!!!!. I was the innocent in the back seat. We drove around the park and shot a few birds and some resident Pigtailed Macaques. These monkeys appear to be made up around the eyes like they await a role in a Chinese opera.

We had two good species; the White-throated Rock thrush and the Mugimaki Flycatcher. There were plenty of signs of elephants and Sambur Deer were prominent…strolling between the various lodges. There was also a very colourful animal themed shrine to a half dozen people that had been killed in the hills .

The trip home the next day was without any incident after a relaxing morning in the hotel. One little furry dog was very happy for half an hour to see me back.

There is only one thing left for this year is to wish everyone a joyous Christmas with or without loved ones  and a prosperous 2014.

Dennis has made a nice little video of the Thai trip and can be seen here http://youtu.be/NQdcOPWftw0