March 19 2011. Last week, I went for a 4 days (12 to 15 March) birding trip to Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand. One of my main target was to photograph the Long-tailed Broadbill. I have tried many times searching for it at Fraser's Hill but were without success. About 2 weeks before my trip, I received news that the Long-tailed Broadbills at Kaeng Krachan had started the breeding and nesting activities. I was very excited upon hearing the news. With the nesting activities, it made sighting the birds more easy.
It was a week-end when I arrived at Kaeng Krachan. Knowing that the park will be packed with visitors, I opted to photograph the Pheasant, Partridge and other common birds at some small pond outside the park. We will look for the Long-tailed Broadbill inside the park on Monday and Tuesday when traffic is lesser along the mountain road.
We started the day early on Monday (14th March) morning. The morning called was on 5 am and breakfast was served at 5.30 am. By 6.30 am we were already at the park main gate.
The ride to the km27 near the summit was about an hour. There were plenty of scenic views during the ride uphill.
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| The blur photo caused by the bumpy ride behind the Hilux. |
Upon reaching the km27, I was delighted to hear a series of voice of pseew, pseew, pseew, I realized that the target was nearby, my adrenaline rush when I was setting my gears. I decided to carry only minimum gears and opted to shoot with my Eos 1 D mk4 with the EF 800 lens only. I left behind the flash system. I realized that we have to do some miles of hiking today thus weight is a critical factor.
We found an uncompleted nest at a tree beside the mountain road. The adult birds were busy carrying nesting materials back to the nest. The birds would perched at some twigs nearby before heading into the nest.
Isn't it cute ? A cartoon look bird.
Happy faces, after the close encounter with the Long-tailed Broadbill :
We found another nest further uphill from the first location. This one was already completed and the adult bird was incubating inside the nest. I stop briefly near the nest and quickly proceeded to the next location.
Later at another location, we all have to squeeze under some bamboo trees for getting perfect picture composition of the subject.
The black color feather at the head section reminded me the classic hair style of "Elvis". Elvis is alive at Kaeng Krachan !
By noon, I had accomplished my objective and so do my partners. We all left km27 with a happy face.
