Birding/ Bird watching in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park and Tha Sadet

OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.

Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.

So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

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คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

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E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.

Birding/ Bird watching in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Thailand

Sunday 21 ^st of February 2016 and it was easy to get out of bed at 5 o'clock. Maybe with a little help of the excitements of getting on a new bird watching tour. Today at Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, and I'm looking forward to this even though I don't even expect to come close to yesterday's high light: The bear.

I still had half of my cheese and ham remaining for breakfast. it didn't tasted so good so I had a bottle of diet drink and most of my breakfast ended up in the waste paper basket. My birding palwas waiting for me when I came out at 6 o'clock and we were soon on our way to Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park.

Yet another early morning and I really like to get up early morning. Well, as soon as I'm out of bed that is. Still kind of hard to wake up, but as I use to say. The only thing getting better by getting older is to get out of bed in the morning. And it was a gorgeous morning on the roads to Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. Sunday morning so the roads were almost empty andwhen we arrived to the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park looked empty. Not any sign of any other people except for a girl in a restaurant.

We looked out over a freshwater marsh, and I read on Nick Upton's www.thaibirding.com that it is the largest freshwater marsh in Thailand. Click HERE for Nick Upton's information about Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. And I got inspired by Nick Upton to go visit the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, actually,all my birding/ bird watching trips in Thailand have been to places I have read about on www.thaibirding.com

So if you ever plan for any birding/ bird watching in Thailand I recommend a visit to Nick Upton's web page for a lot of useful information.

There were bridges leading out over the freshwater marsh and we started to get out on thebridge and it took me just a few seconds to realise that it would be impossible tosneak up on any birds.

It was a sturdy bridge but the noise coming out from the bridge while walking scared away the birds no matter what I did to be as quiet as possible.

There were only 2 more people in the park, a Thai couple that was not taking pictures of any birds. They didn't showed any interest in the park, it was selfies on top of their priority list. Here was plenty birds but as they got scared they were too far away for any really good pictures.

The Little Cormorant, I have seen it many times in Thailand, but I had never got any good pictures. Today was the best picture I have got in Thailand. But there are several pictures of the Little Cormorant from India HERE . And the Little Cormorant looks like a black and boring bird, but it is actually a very beautiful bird when you come close.

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Grey-headed Swamphen / นกอีโก้ง

Walking on the bottom as the bird cannot swim

I got nice pictures of the Grey-headed Swamphen, I had pictures of the Grey-headed Swamphen from the Red Lotus Sea in Udon Thani. But they were not exactly any good, so I was happy forthis opportunity.

There were plenty Egrets and Herons at the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. I saw a small bird looking like a very small Heron. My birding pal told me that it was a Yellow Bittern. And it was a very beautiful bird but impossible to get any pictures.

Well, I got plenty pictures but focus on the grass every time and the pictures went straight to the garbage bin. Well, I willhopefully get a chance to see the bird again.

The drawing on your left hand side is a Yellow Bittern and I found it on the internet. I found this page, neornithes.wordpress.com and there are many beautiful drawings of birds.

“My name is Matthew Dodder. After years of thinking about it, I finally began to sketch the birds I see from life. Progress has been slow, but very rewarding, and I think the exercise has improved my observation skills. I hope to post sketches here as I make them, as well as updates from birding trips my wife Cricket and I take together. My regular website is www.birdguy.net ”

It was a gorgeous morning and it was a beautiful and quiet area to walk in. Like balm for the soul and I was in a very good mood. I just knew that I would come back here again. We saw a few red collared doves. Doves and pigeons doesn’t sound very exciting as we see their cousins, the flying rats every day in the city. But some of the Doves and Pigeons are very beautiful.

Red turtle dove - นกเขาไฟ (female)

Red turtle dove - นกเขาไฟ (female)

Red turtle dove - นกเขาไฟ (female)

Red turtle dove - นกเขาไฟ (male)

We left the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park and we decided to go to check out Tha Sadet. My birding pal had discovered this place by accident a few days ago and he told me that it was a very nice place for birding. He had been there 2 times and he had counted to 70 different species during these 2 times. If you look for Tha Sadet on the internet you only find “Tha Sadet Bird Sanctuary in Suphan Buri” North of Bangkok. So I guess my birding pall has hit a new spot.

Leave Hua Hin on highway #4 (Phetkasem Road). You pass road #37 on your right hand side where the roads are merging. Continue 2 km until you reach a intersection and the Fort Dhanarajata is on your right hand side. Turn right in the intersection and you are right at the gate to the Fort Dhanarajata. Don't shit your pants when you see all the soldiers in the gate. They are a friendly bunch and when you tell them that you're going to watch birds at the Tha Sadat they let you pass.

Big gate and it is easy to wet your pants thinking you're trying to sneak in to a huge military fort. But 50 meters after the gate there is a big sign saying TOURIST ATTRACTION.

It is a huge fort so it is quite a distance to the roundabout. You pass the military golf course on your right hand side and after 2 to 300 meters you reach the roundabout. Go around the roundabout and you should head North. That is like a right turn from where you came from. Thailand, left hand traffic, keep left when you reach the turnabout but turn right and you are soon in the right direction for the Tha Sadet Road. Keep following this road and the road will soon bend to left and then just go straight and follow the road until you reach the Tha Sadet Park

Directions to find Tha Sadat - Click HERE for bigger map

We drove through the fort and it was a huge fort. Fort, makes me think about a Wild West fort. This was nothing like a Wild West fort. If it had not been for all the signs I would not havenoticed that we were driving through a fort. There were barracks along the roads, but at a distance so I was really never thinking about it.

We found the place and it looked like a park. There were a big parking area and the place was for sure not looking like a birding place. But we just got out of the car and we had seen 3 beautiful Black-naped orioles.

We walked to the edge and we could see the Pran Buri River below us. Well, river, maybe during the rainy season, now it was more like a small stream with shallow water. It was maybe 10 meters below us and we walked down to the river.

Black-naped Oriole / นกขมิ้นท้ายทอยดำ

Black-naped Oriole / นกขมิ้นท้ายทอยดำ

Pran Buri

Pran Buri

Green-billed Malkoha / นกบั้งรอกใหญ่

It is a very beautiful area

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Streak-eared Bulbul / นกปรอดสวน

Streak-eared Bulbul / นกปรอดสวน

Streak-eared Bulbul / นกปรอดสวน

Streak-eared Bulbul / นกปรอดสวน

Streak-eared Bulbul / นกปรอดสวน

Of course, all bird pictures available on my Thailand
bird checklist of bird I have seen by clicking HERE

Tha Sadet, Fort Dhanarajata in Hua Hin is another place I will visit again. It was a beautiful area and it was very peaceful to walk along the Pran Buri. We could see fishes in the water and ofcourse, there were Kingfishers in the area. And I spotted two new birds, Streak-eared Bulbul and one Green-billed Malkoha.

So it had been a very nice day when we decided to return to Hua Hin. And I was hungry.

We had been alone but when we left there was a couple arriving. They asked my Guide if he was Tom. They had followed him on the internet and that's how they had found the Tha Sadet, Fort Dhanarajata. We chatted with the couple for a while before we left Tha Sadat for Hua Hin. We drove back through pineapple fields and farm lands and I spotteda few Bee-eaters on the way.

It was kind of a interesting way back to Hua Hin and we came back in to Hua Hin from the farm lands so I got to see areas of Hua Hin that I had never seen before.

I was hungry and I asked my birding pall to drop me at the beach front so I could have my breakfast before going back to my room. My friend will arrive to the hotel around 1 o'clock. I had breakfast, it was OK, but the service was one of the slowest I had ever experienced. So this is a place I will never come back to. DARN! I should have gone tothe French restaurant instead. Brasserie De Paris is a safe bet for good food. Well, next time I won't take any chances and I will have smoked salmon and avocado at Brasserie De Paris.

I stopped at the Swedish Bakery and I could see that they had got tea. I asked for tea and a semla . The girl was surprised
- Only one? Yesterday you asked for 3!
I wanted to try one semla first, no need to sit here with 3 semlor that taste like sh*t. Well, I had 4 of them before I asked for my bill. They were OK and I planned to come back here with my friend, but as it is a holiday tomorrow the Swedish Bakery.

Swedish Bakery in Hua Hin

Swedish Bakery in Hua Hin

Swedish Bakery in Hua Hin

Swedish Bakery in Hua Hin

So yes, I have had my yearly semle dose and, well, yearly, it must have been a long time since I had semlor last time. No, thinking about it, I think I had semlor last summer when I was inSweden. So now I don't need any more semlor forhmm, well, I think I can survive without any more semlor for the rest of my life. Anyway, I went to look for a taxi to get me back to the hotel.

Taxi, what a joke! If the Thai Government want tourists to come here they should provide a safe way of getting around.

Motorcycle taxis and some kind of vehicle where you sit in the back. Of course no seat belts. And it is pretty much the same all over Thailand, except for Bangkok. And the airports, Bangkok is no problem, but when you come out to the country side it is a “free for all” Scams and cheating and for a tourist it always means getting cheated. Should be the easiestthing for the Thailand tourist and airport authorities to make sure there are hassle free and safe transportation for the visitors.

But the tourists in Thailand are just abused and, well, they will lose the tourists. I have already spoken with many people not wanting to go to Thailand because of all the scams and garbage all over the place.

I got up in the back of a piece of metal on 4 wheels hoping that we would make it back to the Evergreen Boutique Hotel. We turn down Hua Hin Soi 47 and I see my friend making a U-turn at the endof the soi. He had not been able to find the hotel. He drove towards us and I could see that he was using his phone trying to call me. He could not see me and I put my arm and out of the “taxi” and I flipped the bird.

Well, only one in Thailand flipping the bird and he know it was me in the, well, I just hate to call it taxi. My friend had not been able to find the hotel and when he saw the hotel hewas as disappointed as I had been. For sure, my next bird watching in Hua Hin and I will stay somewhere else.

A stov in the reception as we can see on the picture. This is where they make the breakfast, not exactly what you expect from a hotel, especially when it says that they have a coffee shop. Yet another scam. My friend checked in and we decided to get down to the water. They call it a poolbut that is way too much to say about the small thing they had with water reaching knee height.

Checking in was completed and I soon in the pool relaxing while waiting for my friend and his son to get ready.

We were making plans of what to do here in Hua Hin and as we knew duck all about Hua Hin we decided to go to the Tourist Information center to see what they had to offer. Half day tour today and a full day tour tomorrow and we hope they have something really exciting for us.

We were kind of disappointed when we left the Tourist Information as they only had shopping and markets to offer. No day or half day tours, the girl had recommended the Cicada market as something very special so we went to have a look. And yes, it was a night market with pretty much the same stuff you find along the streets all over SE Asia.

Ready for the pool

We walked around the market for a while and I bought a pair of shoes and 2 T-shirts for my friend's son. We had dinner at a Italian restaurant before we returned to the hotel. So we have a full day in Hua Hin tomorrow so let's see what we will find to do by clicking HERE

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