2 Days at Sri Phang Nga National Park

Day 1: The first day for us was very productive, with many species photographed.

Pitta Hide: First thing in the morning, we went for the big star, the Malayan Banded Pitta. After a short walk, we arrived at the hide, with the male Malayan Banded Pitta. I photographed the female the previous year already, so I did not care at all about photographing it. After not even one minute, we saw the bird hopping along the bushes up on the hill in front of our hide. It was a great start already. As it was in the early morning, there was barely any light, so birds could not be photographed yet. Some more people started to come to the hide, so the bird went away for a while. When the lighting got better, more birds started to come, such as the White- Shama. It didn't take long for the pitta to arrive, and we surely did get some good photos.

It was said that there was another highlight species at this hide, and that was the Large Blue Flycatcher. It made quick appearances many times, but it would always be chased off by the big male White-rumped Shama. When the pitta came, the flycatcher would take its chance to come down to the front of our hide, because the White-rumped Shamas are chased away by the pitta. That was when I was able to get better photos.

{Large blue fc picture unavailable}

After a while in the pitta hide, we got a call from a park ranger that he had found a Gould's Frogmouth. We decided to go, since we already had enough and sharp photos.

The Gould's Frogmouth: It was a short ride to where he found the frogmouth, and then we proceeded into the rainforest. After quite an adventure, we finally arrived to where he found the frogmouth. It was simply resting on a branch, but it was quite a challenge to find a good angle for photography. We had a limited amount of time, so I was able to get only a few good shots of this Gould's Frogmouth.

After the frogmouth, the day was pretty quiet. We went to eat lunch, and then attempted to find the Brown Wood Owl. Although we did find it, there was no photo angle at all, so we went back to our resort.

Day 2: Our second day at Sri Phang Nga was mainly walking, and very little time spent in hides.

The Walk: In the morning of our second day, we took a walk along the small dirt roads of the national park. We encountered very interesting birds, such as Purple-naped Sunbird, Maroon Woodpecker, and many other species, although they were too far to photograph. We also heard Banded Kingfishers calling in the distance. After a long time, we finally found some "photographable" birds. A pair of Rufous-collared Kingfishers. I was able to get decent shots of the male, but not of the female, with the spotted wings.

We searched for the Helmeted Hornbill which was heard calling by a park ranger the day before, but it could not be found. Not long after, the same park ranger that had found the Gould's Frogmouth on day 1 called us and said he had found a Blyth's Frogmouth. I immediately decided to go right away.

The Blyth's Frogmouth: The hike to the Blyth's Frogmouth was much farther and steeper than the one to Gould's. There was no convenient trail, since the ranger cleared the path just moments earlier. I almost slipped a couple of times, before we finally made it to the spot. The frogmouth was resting on a thin branch at eye level, although this time it was much harder to find an angle compared to Gould's, and the bird was not facing staright to us. It was facing slightly backwards. A lot of time was spent there, and the pictures were sharp, although the angle was really bad.

After being done photographing the Blyth's Frogmouth, we started our hike back to the car. Along the way, we found a female Malayan Banded Pitta hopping along the ground, probably finding food. It was a great half-day, and we went to eat lunch at the park's cafeteria.

Blyth's PF? After lunch, it was a long and quiet break, before our next bird. 2 hours after we had lunch, someone came to us and said he had found a male (white) Blyth's Paradise-flycatcher foraging along the road. Everyone quickly scrambled out of their seats and ran to the spot where he had told us. Unfortunately, the bird had already gone, and there was no bird there. We decided though, to hang out there for a while to see what other bird would show up. I heard a distant call of a Banded Kingfisher, but wasn't expecting to see it. We were about to move on, when the call of the kingfisher came very close. Everyone slowly approached the sound, and luckily, it was perched right out in the open! It was a beautiful male, bopping its head up and down. Everyone was delighted to see this incredible species.

Female Pitta: Soon after photographing the wonderful Banded Kingfisher, we decided to head back to the place where we saw the female pitta foraging along the forest floor. We set up a hide and tried waiting for about 1 hour. Sadly, we failed on getting any photos. The bird was calling nearby, but we could not locate exactly where it was.

Female Flycatcher: The last bird we went to photograph in this trip was the female Large Blue Flycatcher. It took a short walk, and we sat for only about 30 minutes without a hide, and the bird came. It was not very skittish at all, which was very good. The only reason it was hard to photograph was because an Orange-headed Thrush kept chasing it away. Finally though, I did get good shots of the bird, and then our Sri Phang Nga trip was over.

Trip Summary - 6 key species: Malayan Banded Pitta, Gould's Frogmouth, Blyth's Frogmouth, Large Blue Flycatcher, Banded Kingfisher, Rufous-collared Kingfisher