Mrs G

Female gurney's pitta, Khoa Nor Chu Chi.

Look closer and see...

A couple more images from the forest at Khoa Nor Chu Chi - a record shot of banded pitta (it was VERY dark!) and a slightly better one of green broadbill. Lush.

The banded pitta image has had some blur removed from around the bird in photoshop - it is too colourful a species not to have at least a record shot posted, and was the most intriguing of the three pitta species seen on the day with Yotin. This bird was calling frequently with a deep airy "Poww!!", often perched up a foot or so from the forest floor.

The green broadbill appeared above us, calling, as we staked out a ferruginous babbler (which was less photogenic). I got a real kick out of this - a delightful species!

Early Night(jar)

Large-tailed nightjar, Khoa Nor Chu Chi.

Post gurney's pitta celebrations started well with this beauty...

Car Park Birding: KNC style

This was one of two blue-winged pitta in the forested surrounds of the Khoa Nor Chu Chi car park... beats black-headed gulls at Killingworth Lake! Not the best image, but the species essence is captured in this record shot... almost!

A very striking species.

A sure bet

The emerald pool was buzzing with tourist activity during my visit to Khoa Nor Chu Chi, many of which were unaware of the striking bird species that was nesting in a tree hole above them.

This red-crowned barbet was a treat, visiting the nest site every ten minutes or so - and luckily for me - utilising the same branches to perch on prior to descending to the nest hole. Quite a bulky fella' with a hefty bill to suit! One of four barbet species on the trip, but my first encounter with this delightful family.


Photographically I wish that I had brought the 500mm along with me - photo opportunities such as this would generally be worth the effort of lugging a big lens and heavy tripod along, but given the terrain and vegetation encountered, the 100mm-400mm was a better bet for general forest birding.

Whats black and yellow and has a broad bill?

Depression has set in - holidays are over and work recommences this afternoon. Boo.

To keep my spirits up a little I've started the trawl through the holiday images - not too many great shots (most species on the trip were tricky to photograph) but a lot of reasonable record images were obtained.

First up on the blog is a (in my opinion) stunning species - black-and-yellow broadbill, a great advert for Asian birding, unlike any species I've seen before. How crazy is this bird - looks almost like a cartoon character!

This male bird was photographed in the afternoon session with Yotin Meekaeo at Khoa Nor Chu Chi, one of two broadbill species seen (more on the other in a later post).

The use of fill flash was an incredible asset to the trip and will certainly be a route that I'll take for future photography. Sincere thanks go to Colin Bradshaw for the loan of his 580 speedlite unit.

The bird was picked up on call and was one of three birds seen in the vicinity. Other birds seen from this particular location included black-naped monarch, black-bellied malhoka, ochraceous and red-eyed bulbul.

I've also changed the header image for the blog - could not resist the temptation to use one of the gurney's pitta images.... more will follow for sure, including more of the male and some of the female.