Today was our day to cover the lower elevations of Kaeng Krachen National Park but unfortunately we awoke to heavy rain. We hoped it might follow the same pattern as yesterday and clear after a couple of hours so after our pre-dawn breakfast we headed into the National Park. Whilst quite atmospheric with mist rising from the forest it was disappointing to be birding what appeared an excellent tract of lowland forest in such wet and gloomy conditions. A large feeding flock of Oriental Pied Hornbills gave us hope that we would find some Brown Hornbills but sadly a pair of waterlogged Great Hornbills were the only other Hornbills encountered. The heavy rain didn't read the script and persisted for all of the morning. The heavy rain then gave way to heavy showers for the afternoon but we managed to walk the road from the campsite to the third stream and back but birding was hard going and we saw little. Just when it felt things couldn't get much worse I managed to break the lead to my minidisc speaker. With evening approaching we decided to call it a day and weren't sorry to be leaving a still very wet National Park. Our efforts were then rewarded as on seeing a flock of White-vented Mynas perching atop some trees in the farmland near the National Park we stopped and found a pair of Vinous-breasted Starlings amongst them - our new bird for the day! After dark we made a night drive to the National Park entrance and back successfully spotlighting 2 Large-tailed Nightjars.
Red Junglefowl 10
Yellow Bittern 1
Pond Heron sp. 5
Cattle Egret 20
Little Egret 2
Moorhen 10
Red-wattled Lapwing 12
Emerald Dove 2
Peaceful Dove 2
Thick-billed Green Pigeon 40
Large-tailed Nightjar 2
Indian Roller 2
White-throated Kingfisher 2
Black-capped Kingfisher 1
Blue-bearded Bee-eater 4
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater 2
Oriental Pied Hornbill 30
Great Hornbill 2
Coppersmith Barbet 2
Common Flameback 1
Vernal Hanging Parrot 2
Ashy Woodswallow 12
Scarlet Minivet 4
Brown Shrike 1
Black-naped Oriole 2
Hair-crested Drongo 4
Black-naped Monarch 2
Black-headed Bulbul 4
Black-crested Bulbul 2
Sooty-headed Bulbul 2
Ochraceous Bulbul 4
Swallow 10
Yellow-browed Warbler 6
Sulphur-breasted Warbler 1
Common Tailorbird 2
Pin-striped Tit-Babbler 4
Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush 6
Asian Fairy-bluebird 2
White-vented Myna 30
Common Myna 4
VINOUS-BREASTED STARLING 2
Asian Pied Starling 2
White-rumped Shama 1
Dark-sided Flycatcher 1
Taiga Flycatcher 5
Olive-backed Sunbird 2
Grey Wagtail 1
Olive-backed Pipit 2
An atmospheric but wet and gloomy Kaeng Krachen National Park
A deer in Kaeng Krachen NP
Dusky Langurs sitting out the rain in Kaeng Krachen NP
The excellent lowland forest in the vicinity of the three stream crossings in Kaeng Krachen NP
Thick-billed Green Pigeon in Kaeng Krachen NP
Juvenile Oriental Pied Hornbill at Ban Maka
Female Oriental Pied Hornbill at Ban Maka
Great Hornbill probably too waterlogged to fly!
Blue-bearded Bee-eater in Kaeng Krachen NP
Yellow-browed Warbler in Kaeng Krachen NP
Looking back at Kaeng Krachen NP on leaving
Farmland just outside Kaeng Krachen NP
White-vented Myna and Vinous-breasted Starling near Kaeng Krachen NP
