Great Hornbill and Slaty Woodpeckers

Great Hornbill

Uthai Cheummarung

http://www.chiangmaibirding.com

Wednesday morning we headed back into Kaeng Krachan National Park, we walked between kilometers 9 and 10, though the forest here looked degraded we saw a fantastic range of species many of which we had excellent views. Several flocks of Oriental Pied Hornbill flew over just after dawn, followed by a Great Hornbill which flew over the road and then fed for a while in a fruiting tree just a few meters off the road. The area was excellent for woodpeckers with 2 Great Slaty Woodpeckers seen well, along with multiple sightings of up to half a dozen Greater Flamebacks, 3 Greater Yellownape and a Grey-headed Woodpecker. There were plenty of fruiting trees in the area, which was probably why there was at least 100 Thick-billed Green Pigeons and 3 Golden-crested Myna in the area. Two Black-thighed Falconet showed well in a dead tree and also in the area where up to 4 Dollarbird, 12 Black-naped Oriole, 2 Greater necklaced Laughingthrush, Crested Goshawk, 4 Blue-eared Barbet, 6 Grey-rumped Treeswift, 4 Racket-tailed Treepie and 2 Vinous-breasted Starling.  

Dollarbird

As we approached the 10 kilometer marker we surprised to see yet another Leopard walking down the road a few hundred meters in front of us, which was followed a few minutes later by a Golden Jackal crossing the road.       

Asian Emerald Cuckoo

The rest of the day was spent birding along the road between stream one and three, like the previous visit there was always plenty of birds around, Silver-breasted Broadbill were once again very much in evidence with 4 seen and another half a dozen heard, half a dozen Orange-breasted Trogon were also either seen or heard, including some which showed down to just a few feet. A group of 9 Tickell's Brown Hornbills were seen between streams 2 and 3, where there was also at least one Heart-spotted Woodpecker, an Asian Emerald Cuckoo and a very vocal pair of Banded Broadbill which called for half an hour without showing themselves. The two White-fronted Scops Owl were at their usual roost by the second stream. Also in the area were a Grey-capped Pygmy, Rufous Woodpecker, 3 Common Flameback, Green-eared Barbet, 8 Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, 2 Swinhoe's Minivet, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Blue-throated Flycatcher, 2 Sulphur-breasted Warbler and 4 Sultan Tit.
 

Orange-breasted Trogon

The small group of White-handed Gibbons were again between streams 2 and 3 and there were plenty of Dusky Langur around.

Dusky Langur