Thailand Birding - PHANG-NGA

We are into Day 7 of our 8 days trip and today, we would be heading to Phang-Nga. We checked out of Krung Ching Homestay & Resort at 6am, and because our next destination was an additional add-on to the itinerary, we had to eat 7-11 breakfast on-the-go. After a long 2hrs journey, we had arrived at a place which I could not find it on Google map. The whole place was surrounded by plantations and our shooting area was in the plantation itself. We had a hike upwards into the plantation grounds, and settled down at a Hide at the top overlooking a view of rubber trees, and with lots of commando mosquitoes buzzing around. Mosquito coils were set up for us, and that saved us alot 😁 

We set-up our gears and waited for the changing of shift of the white-morph Blyth's Paradise Flycatcher nesting, incubation period. According to the locals, the shift was changed at every 20~30 mins interval. When we arrived at around 8:30am, the birds had just swapped shift, therefore the next change would be around 9am. It was an interesting sight to watch and capture the beautiful moments. 

We heard the Banded Kingfisher calling from a distance while shooting the Paradise Flycatcher, therefore Guide tried to call it using his mouth. Finally it made a grand appearance here by getting into a fight with the Flycatcher, which I did not manage to get a shot of it.

We spend 2hrs here and had quite a fruitful harvest. We left at 10:30am and headed for lunch nearby at the plantation owner's restaurant. After lunch, we were headed to another Hide, where the star bird was the female Green Broadbill - a plain green bird. 
After everyone gotten a couple of shots of the female Green Broadbill, we packed up and left the place, embarking a 4 hours drive to our Hotel in Phang-nga. We were already starving during the journey down, so just make-do with any restaurant available during our toilet break at around 8pm. We arrived at TP Place Hotel pretty late. When Guide said to fall in at 6am tomorrow morning, our jaws dropped 😂 Then finally, we assembled at 7am, checked out of the hotel, went for a dim sum breakfast, and quickly start our final round of birding.

After lunch, we entered Si Phang Nga National Park just for one bird, the Gould's Frogmouth. Getting to that location was not easy as we had to hike up the hill located along the road, and the shooting was done on a steep sloping ground. One of our team mate saw that steep ascent, gave up immediately, and waited for the rest of us in the vehicle. 

The time spent in Phang-nga was pretty short, basically 1 day for us to catch only the star birds, and off to the airport. We started making our way to the airport at 2pm, right after shooting the Brown Wood Owl. Luckily we arrived at around 4:40pm, enough time for most of us to wash up, changed, and prepare for check-in. 

The Team: 

Thank you for your time on this story, you had come to the end of the trip! 

Our Guide for this trip: Mr Sompong Paan Nuamsawat (available on Facebook)