Late yesterday afternoon we headed up to the temple to look for an apparent tame 'wild'
Silver Pheasant, which appears on the steps every afternoon at around 5pm. As soon as we reached the kitchen area at the top of the steps the male
Silver Pheasant was waiting, it was ridiculously tame and it was hard to believe it was a wild bird. According to monks at the temple, the bird first appeared out of the forest to feed on scraps from the kitchen around two years ago and has gradually become tamer and tamer. I have seen
Silver Pheasant around half a dozen times in forest around the temple and have no reason to doubt the monk's story, but never feel happy with a bird being so tame when ones, in the jungle are far more timid.
Otherwise the temple was quiet, the only other birds of note being five
Blue-bearded Bee-eater,
Grey-backed Shrike,
White-throated Fantail and many
Black Bulbuls.
Hi Neil, we were there a couple of months ago, and the SP was in attendance (either begging from or attacking birders, depending on its mood....)
ReplyDeleteWe were told it was released from the offices at the bottom of the hill a while previously, and hangs out at the temple because the monks feed it.
Still, I've heard plenty of western birders are happy to tick it - doh.....
see here for more - http://northernrustic.blogspot.com/2012/01/chiang-dao-odds-and-ends-and-animals.html