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| White crested Laughingthrush |
One of the interesting experiences available near Baan Maka is to visit hides made by local people so visiting naturalists can sit and watch wildlife that would otherwise be very difficult to see and/ or photograph.
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| An artist - hide constructor extrordinaire! |
The cost to use them is 200 Baht or under A$10.
These hides are a labour to construct. One would have to identify the area. Make a reasonable track to it. Build a hide and seating. Create bird baths, appropriate natural perching, in some cases lighting. Place feed in appropriate places and feed them regularly so that the birds are habituated. While the hides are a labour, in some ways they are an art form as well.
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| Rustic Hide; interior complete with spiders and a bat |
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| view from the hide |
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| a more formal affair... |
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| complete with lights for the later afternoon... |
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| the view from the above 'formal' hide. Bird bath lower left and upper right. Thick leaf litter edges with seed and scattered seed in foreground |
I visited three hides while here at Baan Maka and saw some truly wonderful birds.
The first hide was a new one and my first experience. I was asked to attend by Games, the Baan Maka guide and her client, Graham, an Australian gentlemen from Sydney. It was excellent! Three species of Laughingthrush - these birds work the forests in noisy but flighty flocks and are very nervous and jumpy. These birds were heard before they were seen - bounding in in good numbers. Between the Laughingthrushes - small passerines came in for water - a good practice for the heat of the dry season.
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| Lesser necklaced Laughingthrush and Greater necklaced Laughingthrush |
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| Lesser necklaced Laughingthrush |
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| Greater necklaced Laughingthrush |
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| White crested Laughingthrushes relaxing and allopreening |
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| Chinese Blue Flycatcher - female |
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| Chinese Blue Flycatcher - male |
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| Chinese Blue Flycatcher - male |
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| Large Scimitar Babbler |
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| Large Scimitar Babbler |
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| Green Magpie |
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| female White rumped Shama |
And then, if that wasn't enough, the Partridges began showing; three species in all. These birds would be very difficult to see if you were just stumbling around forest trails. And if you did encounter them your views would be, almost certainly, poor. Here at the hides they all showed well.
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| First in was the Green legged Partridge |
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| Green legged Partridges |
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The Ferruginous Partridge
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| Bar backed Partridge |
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| Ferruginous Partridge |
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