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| BIRD OF THE DAY - Mekong Wagtail |
We were always going to start our day on the Mekong River on a small boat searching for the Mekong Wagtail; a small bird that has adapted to surviving on the small vegetated islands that dot the river and, I assume, many of the sub channels. First island a bird was sighted. Poorly. And we were off in pursuit. The bird, however did not read the script and disappeared. And no other bird managed to appear for a considerable time.
When finally a bird was sighted atop a waving small bush, surrounded by other waving small bushes. There was some anxiety. The boats were noisy and difficult to position. The boat men steered with their feet [not kidding - see picture] and struggled to position the boat such that we could see the moving bird on the moving branches from the moving boat in the moving current. The boatmen confidently could not understand english and there were a few disagreements between the boatmen, too, if i am any judge of Cambodian tone. I swore. A few times as things slowly came good...
The boats drifted finally into a good position. The bird finally appreciated it needed to pose and positioned itself accordingly. And the result is above..... and it was a lifer!
A mammal lifer presented itself too - the Irrawaddy Dolphin,
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After the boat trip we went looking for weavers in a nearby wetland however it had become too hot and the weavers proved impossible to find.
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After lunch we went for another long drive to our base for the Seima Nature Reserve. Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Mondulkiri province in the eastern plains with forests of semi-evergreen, evergreen, DDF, and Bamboo, is protected as one of the important reserves for wildlife – birds and especially mammals.
It is home to the largest population of Black-shanked Douc in the world, along with Northern Pig-tailed and Long-tailed Macaque and Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon. It is also land of woodpeckers especially the largest woodpecker in the world – Great Slaty Woodpecker. Other species such as White-bellied, Laced, Heart-spotted and Black-and-buff Woodpeckers, Golden-crested Myna, Red-vented Barbets, Pin-tailed Green-pigeons and hornbills.
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