Thursday February 23
Apart from the fact that I was freezing cold, until I put a sweater on, the night passed reasonably quickly. Breakfast at 6.15 where the Bees recounted the tale of a giant velvet-legged spider they'd trapped in their room last night. Not nice when it's over your bed !
Very cold this morning. Vest, thick shirt, sweater and my waterproof jacket for me. Breakfast was eggs, toast, a small pink sausage (ribald remarks), a slice of processed meat and two slices of tomato.
Away by 7 a.m. for one of Choom's roars up the mountain. No hills in Bangkok. We stopped at a footpath entry where we decided not to walk uphill. Choom then dropped us off at the first checkpoint, where we sat in very cold shade. The best sighting was of a Black Baza gliding through. Several other very frustrating glimpses of flying birds and one beautiful day-flying moth which settled on a butter-yellow parked car, allowing a photograph.
Choom was phoned to return to the pathway, where Neil beckoned us out. We descended a short way to view a clearing where we saw several new birds, including this distant Golden-throated Barbet, busy excavating a nesthole in a dead tree. Pam's photo is better than mine.
Pam and I stayed in a raised seating area seeing... not a lot. Neil returned a short while before the others and identified some birds for us. Thank you, efforts much appreciated. Their birding below had been hampered by the noisy tourists, the desired Crake had not been seen..
I did have a go at catching a shot of a very small and active Davison's Leaf Warbler flitting in the branches above us. It's a split from White-tailed Leaf Warbler. What else have we missed ? I feel totally de-skilled without sound recognition. That's what the guide is for and we are often without one - as the fit and active are the primary target. We should have stayed at home, as we often mooted. It was objected to, vehemently, I should have been stronger !
After a lunch of fried noodles back at Mr D's, Pam and I had an hour and a half off during which I downloaded photos and finished writing yesterday's Blog. Pam downloaded 326 photos and found that none of her Silver Temple pics were on the card. Very disappointing.
Neil and the Bees went back up to the boardwalk for a quieter time, sending Choom back for us at 4 p.m. We then spent some time birding the Checkpoint area again, with a couple of roadside stops on the way back down. Choom still has a very interesting technique for driving downhill.........
Neil closed our windows to-night, we should be warmer, no billowing curtains making me shiver.
I did have a go at catching a shot of a very small and active Davison's Leaf Warbler flitting in the branches above us. It's a split from White-tailed Leaf Warbler. What else have we missed ? I feel totally de-skilled without sound recognition. That's what the guide is for and we are often without one - as the fit and active are the primary target. We should have stayed at home, as we often mooted. It was objected to, vehemently, I should have been stronger !
After a lunch of fried noodles back at Mr D's, Pam and I had an hour and a half off during which I downloaded photos and finished writing yesterday's Blog. Pam downloaded 326 photos and found that none of her Silver Temple pics were on the card. Very disappointing.
Neil and the Bees went back up to the boardwalk for a quieter time, sending Choom back for us at 4 p.m. We then spent some time birding the Checkpoint area again, with a couple of roadside stops on the way back down. Choom still has a very interesting technique for driving downhill.........
Neil closed our windows to-night, we should be warmer, no billowing curtains making me shiver.
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