OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can itbe? 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.
ORIGINlate 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
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!
Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!
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.
Introduction
My friend had some family business to attend to in Chumphon and I took the opportunity to check out some of the eBird hotspots around Chumphon. I learned about the elephants in Kui Buri National Park and I decided to stop at the Kui Buri National Park on the way back home to Bangkok.
There are only three eBird hotspots in the Kui Buri National Park
• Kui Buri NP (general area)
• Kui Buri NP--Yang Chum Reservoir vicinity
• Kui Buri NP--Ban Yan Sue Reservoir
To skip the information and to go straight to the TRIP REPORT clickHERE
Guide
I booked two afternoon trips with Tontan Travel. I wanted to have two full days, but the national park is only open in the afternoon. Find out more about my Guide athttp://www.tontantravel.com
Dear Aladdin,
Thank you for your enquiry. Great choice to visit the jungle of Thailand!
On the following link (https://goo.gl/maps/E64BXpUAtdr) you will find the location of the entrance of the elephant watching area in Kui Buri. Not too hard to find, just follow the signs 'elephant/ wildlife watching'.
Our guide will meet you here. If you do not see the guide, you can ask the rangers and say you booked with Tontan Travel, and ask them to call our guide.
Below will follow the offer for one afternoon, the rate will be the same for the second day.
Regarding our half day Kui Buri elephant safari, we would like to make you aware of the fact that besides our tour there is another service (not ours!) on offer at the park gate to visit the elephant watching area with a vehicle with local driver and an assistant. The cost for that service is 850 baht per vehicle, excluding entrance fees (200/ 100 baht per adult/ child). This is a lot cheaper than the guided tour you have requested from us (offer to be found below).
The main difference for you as a visitor is that our tour includes a professional, experienced and English speaking guide that is passionate about the wildlife and will help you learn more about the background of the animals and the park itself. Our guides will take the time with the animals when sighted and generally have a better feeling for what you as a wildlife watcher want.
The chance you will get a similar service/ experience (English spoken and with the same passion for the wildlife) when booking the local service on the spot is quite small, as there is a big group of drivers and assistants operating those trip and quality varies greatly.
The local service can only be booked on the spot. And you'd have to arrange your own transport to the park gate (we only offer transfers booked in combination with our tour.). We can not assist in booking that service, nor provide any further information about that service. For more info you'd have to contact the office at the park gate (no English spoken).
I was pleasantly surprising that they gave me a cheaper option in their email so no scamming and cheating here. To go there and book a car by your self and to pay 1050 Baht only. 2500 Baht cheaper and as I have never been there before I chose their service. Now I know how it work and next time I will go by myself.
Yes, English speaking guide, well, if you been around in Thailand you know how this works. And I am sure most of you know how an elephant look.
Land transportation
Public services There are no public services to Kui Buri National Park. There are train and minivan services to Kui Buri Town from Bangkok and Hua Hin, but the town is 30 km from the national park. It is possible to rent a car from Hua Hin and drive there, other alternatives are taxi services or via tour operators.
Many hotels, if not all can arrange car to the Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching.
290 km South of Bangkok
You will need a car and if you don't have your own a taxi is a very convenient way of travelling. It is easy to reach the Kui Buri National Park. Leave Bangkok on Rama II (Route #35) and drive west until you reach highway north of Phetchaburi. Turn on highway #4 going south drive past Phetchaburi and Hua Hin.
Continue south towards Kui Buri and leave highway #4 when you reach road #3217. Drive west along road #3217 until you reach the Yang Cham Reservoir. At the Reservoir #3217 turn towards the north. You continue straight and will reach the Kui Buri HQ after about 10 km.
Depending on the early morning traffic it will take about four hours reach the area. To make sure that the driver understand you can show the below Thai Script: • Kui Buri National Park อุทยานแห่งชาติกุยบุรี
Or show the driver a map. ClickHEREfor a map to Kui Buri National Park HQ
Scan for map to Kui Buri National Park HQ
Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching, if you're going to visit Kui Buri National Park it is a 99.9% chance that you are going for the elephant safari.
So scan below for a map. The Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching is located about 16 km north of the HQ.
Scan for map to Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching
Accommodation
I had planned to book at Radison Blu in Hua Hin. Well, when I booked the hotel turned out to be “Previous Radison Blu”
so I booked 4 night at Dhevan Dara Beach Villa, Kuiburi located just 40km east of the Kui Buri National Park HQ and 15 km south of Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park HQ
My room at Dhevan Dara Beach Villa, Kuiburi
My room at Dhevan Dara Beach Villa, Kuiburi
My room at Dhevan Dara Beach Villa, Kuiburi
My room at Dhevan Dara Beach Villa, Kuiburi
My room at Dhevan Dara Beach Villa, Kuiburi
Dhevan Dara Beach Villa, Kuiburi in day light
Equipment
Canon 5D Mk. III + Canon 5D Mk. IV Canon EF 28-300/3,5-5,6 L IS USM Canon EF 70-200/2,8L IS II USM Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens Canon Speedlite 600EXII-RT flash Canon PowerShot G7X Mark II Panasonic HC-W585 video camera
Sound recorder
ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder
Binocular
Steiner Skyhawk 8x32 (Since May 2020)
Weather / climate
Weather at Kui Buri National Park
References/Resources
Thai National Parks - About the National Parks in ThailandA very good web page -Do you know that there are still wild tigers, elephants, leopards, tapirs, gaurs, bears and many monkey species in many tropical rainforests across Thailand? Do you also know that around 10% of all marine species in the world can be found in Thailand? And the fact that Thailand is the best bird-watching destination in mainland Asia?
National parks are protected areas of land because they have unspoilt landscapes and a diverse number of native plants and animals. There are 127 national parks in Thailand, of them 22 marine national parks. These parks offers a diverse range of flora and fauna, home to important population of endangered species.So now it will be easy to find out if there are any National Park close to you.
Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST)- The Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST) is one of the oldestorganisations conserving birds and nature in Thailand and is the country partner of BirdLife International. BCST's role to the local community is to spread awareness about urban birds and reconnect people back to nature.
The Logo Dated back to 1986 when BCST was then a loosely-formed “Bangkok Birdwatching Club”, the Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis), or “Nok Gang Ken Baan” in Thai, has been chosen to represent the organisation.
There are two sites covering Thailand and I have used them many times. These two web pages are actually everything you need for your birding adventures in Thailand. All the information you need about all the birding spots. Click on the map and then select your spot and you will have maps and everything you need to know about the areas. They have put a lot of jobs in to their web pages, North Thailand Birding and thaibirding.com A must to visit before you go bird watching in Thailand.
thaibirding.com- Nick Upton's one stop only for all your birding in Thailand.
Use both www.thaibirding.com and www.norththailandbirding.com and you have a winner. Some of the maps on www.norththailandbirding.com are way better than Nick Upton´s, while some of Nick's maps are much more detailed. So I have found that if I use both the web pages for information, well, nothing else needed.
PBase/Peter Ericson- Peter Ericson, a guy I thought was from USA because of his family name. I met him at Lat Krabang Paddies in May 2020 and turned out that he was Swedish. Anyway, I have used his excellent page PBase since 2016 as help to ID birds by the help from his beautiful bird pictures.
Here you can also find information about birding tours.
Bangkok City Birding- A lot of interesting birding stories and information on this bird watching blog by David Gandy. Bangkok-based patch-worker in Suan Rot Fai, a large park close to the city's famous weekend market. He have recorded 150 species on his patch since 2008. As one of the only big green spaces in the city, “SRF” acts as a real magnet for migrants during spring and autumn, and holds a healthy selection of "sibes" during the winter months.
The East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership- The East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership is a network of partners within the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). The East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) aims to protect migratory waterbirds, their habitat and the livelihoods of people dependent upon them.
The Flyway is one of 9 major migratory routes recognised globally. Partners include National Governments, Inter-Governmental Organisations, International
Non-governmental Organisations, and International Private Enterprise, which agree to endorse the text and support the objectives and actions under this Partnership.
www.tideschart.comGET THE LATEST TIDES IN THAILAND AND AROUND THE WORLD - A must to check out times for HIGH and LOW water when going to look for waders / shorebirds.
ebird- Find birding hotspots with bird checklists from all over the world
Avibase- is an extensive database information system about all birds of the world, containing over 25 million records about 10,000 species and 22,000 subspecies of birds, including distribution information for 12,000 regions, taxonomy, synonyms in several languages
www.oiseaux.netThis web page is also excellent for identifying birds. There is information and range maps for many many birds from all over the world. This page is almost guaranteed to give you any answer you have about any bird in the world.
Cloudbirders- Read birding trip reports from all over the world
Fatbirder- Linking birders worldwide... Wildlife Travellers see their sister site:WAND
Fatbirder is a fantastic web page with information from, I think every country in the world. My first stop when I plan for my bird watching trips. There is information about locations and guides, well, pretty much everything you need to know. Sometimes this is the only place I need to visit to plan my trip.
And the web page you cannot live without. I have been around the world looking for birds. I usually have a Guide, but sometimes it is not possible to find a Guide. So, well, I have lost count on how many times I have had help to ID birds at BirdForum. Joining this forum have been very very good for my bird watching experience.
ClimaTemps.comis the place to learn about the worlds climates with more than 4000 locations documented. Each aspect of the climate is represented using colour enhanced tables and professional graphs so that data can easily be compared by switching between locations in different tabs in your browser.
“A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson”
A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson. New edition updated with 76 species since previous edition “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig” Nick Upton at www.thaibirding.com wrote “This quite excellent book is packed full of quality illustrations and written information on 1251 species recorded in Southeast Asia”
I bought this book for bird watching in Thailand, but it goes for all over SE Asia
I have been very happy with the “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson” But I had a fire in my condo 2019 and I needed to buy a new book. I was looking for the “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson” as I liked the book. But this book is not available anymore so I had to buy the “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand” by Craig Robson.
What a disappointment this was, using the pictures in the book didn't helped to ID any birds.
“Birds of Thailand” by Uthai Treesuconand Wich'yanan Limparungpatthanakij
I met Peter Ericson, a famous bird watcher and he recommended the “Birds of Thailand” by Uthai Treesuconand Wich'yanan Limparungpatthanakij. I bought the book as soon as the book stores opened after the Wuhan virus. And I am very happy with the book and I have managed to ID some birds using the book.
This new field guide will help you identify all 1049 species to have been recorded in the country to date, including the 20 species endemic or near-endemic to Thailand.
-Taxonomy follows the HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World.
-Detailed texts covering status, habitat and behaviour, age, sex and geographical variation, voice, and confusion species.
-Almost 2200 illustrations covering all species and distinctive subspecies, birds in flight, males and females, juveniles and non-breeding plumages, where appropriate.
-QR code for each species, linking to the Internet Bird Collection gallery of photos, videos and sounds.
-More than 1025 full-colour range maps for all species other than vagrants.
-Well-marked subspecies groups receive full accounts, and the distributions of subspecies breeding in the region are clearly mapped.
-Local species name and local conservation status included.
I like the book, but I miss the picture index.
Places to visit
Kui Buri National Park
Kui Buri National Park
Kui Buri National Park is a national park of Thailand in the Tenasserim Hills in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. It was established in 1999.
Geography The park covers parts of the Pran Buri, Sam Roi Yot, and Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan Districts of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.
This is the hot spot covering the whole area and I used this hot spot during the elephant safari and the area north east of the Yang Chum Reservoir going for the elephant safari.
They open the elephant safari at 14:30 and they close at 18:00. I arrived at 14:00 and then they had already started to board the safari cars, pick-up trucks with seating at the back. So I guess you can come here to buy your ticket and to get on board as soon as they open the gate.
Ticket office
Toilets
Gate and car boarding area
Gate and car boarding area
On the way looking for elephants
One of the view points in the park
Buy your ticket and walk over to the gate where the safari cars will wait for you and you will be directed to your car.
This hot spot cover the area around the Yang Chum Reservoir. And I used it for the “ring road” going around the Yang Chum Reservoir. But I spotted most birds at the East end of the reservoir. East end of the reservoir is the barrier itself with a paved road on top. And during dry season you can see the beach below and there are many birds to see.
The barrier
The barrier
The reservoir from the barrier
Low water in the reservoir and no overflow
East side of the reservoir
Driving along the barrier
North side on the reservoir
Reaching the North side of the barrier and there are wires on the reservoir side and we spotted many Blue-tailed Bee-eaters catching yellow butter flies and it looked like they were feeding their young ones sitting on the wire.
Turn left at the T junction and there is a small dirt track going down to the water front driving along a drainage canal and you will see birds in the canal.
Hundreds of African Openbill and many of them are foraging at the water front.
View from the small park
Back up from the track road and you turn left and then you turn left again after 10 meters and you find yourself in a small park. Here you can find some interesting birds.
Continue on road #3217 north of the reservoir driving along the reservoir and you follow road #3217 and you will soon be West of the reservoir driving South. Farmland and dry reservoir depending on dry season or after the rain season. And here you have different habitats.
Driving along the south side and you will find dry farmland with dirt tracks so you can explore the area.
There is also forest on the east side below the barrier and you enter on a dirt track driving past a cattle farm From there it is a wee bit more adventurous to get through the forest to reach the barrier. But it is possible to get there.
I realised that I had missed this hot spot when I came back home. We had been to Kui Buri National Park HQ. OK, they are next to each other by 200 meter or so. But there is a small dirt track outside the gate to the HQ. SO go straight instead of turning left through the gate.
Entrance to Kui Buri National Park HQ
Entrance to Kui Buri National Park HQ
Entrance to Kui Buri National Park HQ
Entrance to Kui Buri National Park HQ
Inside the gate
The HQ is mostly for camping, but I spotted two oriental Hornbills and some other birds. But it started to rain when we arrived so we left again. But now when I realize that I never saw the reservoir I will have to come back.
Bird checklist
I never use any bird lists, but since I try to make it in toCloudbirders. A very helpful site when planning your birding trips. But they ask for a bird checklist, and if I use their service, of course I want to contribute as well. My two first bird watching trip reports was rejected by Cloudbirders.
So I started to take ideas from the reports I found on Cloudbirders. So I have started to use bird lists, eBird generate one for me and I can post it on Cloudbirders. I will post my birds on eBird and on my different “BIRDS THAT I HAVE OBSERVED” pages.
Full Thai list updated to the taxonomy, nomenclature and sequence of the IOU/IOC World Bird List. The complete checklist, including Thai names and synonyms, can be downloaded in Excel format -Thailand Bird Checklist.- Version 8.2 (2018) - found atwww.norththailandbirding.com
Check lists can come in handy to find out the local name of the bird etc. And Avibase have a list with pictures and sounds, excellent!
So I will post bird checklists here and if my Guides provide me with checklists I will also post them here.
Kui Buri National Park bird checklist from Avibase, clickHERE- eBird version 2019 taxonomy
Avibaseis providing you with bird checklists from all over the world. And I´m impressed by their web page. Select country and area and you get the bird checklist. Like the PDF files I got from Avibase on the links above. You also get the checklist with pictures and sounds.
The best part is that you get the local names of the birds and the online checklist gives the names in English plus the language you have selected. But it seems like the PDF cannot handle some alphabet.
For example the Japanese language so it is blank in the PDF checklist. But it worked excellent with Swedish. But you get them in the local language on the online version.
Bird list
I only list birds I have got on picture on my list of OBSERVED BIRDS. But since I started using eBird I have changed a bit. I list all the birds on the eBird checklist. See the DAY TO DAY report in the itinerary below.
2nd of July 2020and we leave the hotel at 8 o'clock and we stop to buy water at Seven and we are off towards the first eBird hotspot: in the Kui Buri National Park. Crossing road #4 and we leave the road at the exit with 4 elephants.
We drive along road #3217 until we reach the eBird hotspot:Kui Buri NP--Yang Chum Reservoir vicinityand I start my eBird app at 09:17 at the SE corner of the reservoir.
Leaving the hotel driving towards Kui Buri National Park
Leave road #4 at the intersection with the 4 elephants
We drive along the south side looking for birds and after a few hundred meter we turn around and we start to drive across the barrier. We approach the over flow drain and we see a lot of Asian Openbills foraging on the beach. There are also a Little Egret or two.
The Openbill is a huge stork and it was impressive to see them take off but it is impossible to get the pictures to make the storks any justice on a picture. Same as taking a picture of any landscape, beautiful to watch but nothing special looking at the pictures coming back home.
Asian Openbills taking off when we drive along
Asian Openbills taking off when we drive along
Asian Openbills taking off when we drive along
Little Egret
We continue north on the barrier and at the end of the barrier we drive along a wire with Blue-tailed Bee-eaters and we stop. There is thousands of yellow butterflies flying around and the Bee-eaters flying around caching them and it looked like they were feeding their young ones that was sitting on the wire.
Turning left at the end of the barrier and we turn left 30 meters down the road and we are in a little park. I spot 1 Green Bee-eater and the rest of the Bee-eaters are Blue-tailed, and there are many of them in the “wire” area.
The small park is like a platform overlooking the reservoir. There is a ring road in the park, about 100 meter long so it is a very small park. Red-wattled Lapwing was present, of course. We spot two Zebra Doves and the male is busy flirting and I want to take a video of the dance.
But he give up by the time my video camera is ready.
We continue and we spot a hoopoe and at the gate we see another two hoopoes.
There is one Indochinese Roller outside the small park and I can put one more bird on my eBird report. We continue west on road 3217 for a bit before we turn around and drive back to the barrier. We drive across the barrier slowly while looking for birds and when we are across we turn towards the HQ and I turn off the eBird app.
As we have put the dry season behind us the water was very low so the reservoir was not impressive. But at the end of the rain season the reservoir will cover a much bigger area.
Today's track at Kui Buri NP--Yang Chum Reservoir vicinity
eBird Report
Kui Buri NP--Yang Chum Reservoir vicinity, Prachuap Khiri Khan, TH Jul 2, 2020 09:17 - 10:25 Protocol: Traveling 6.44 kilometer(s) 14 species
Zebra Dove 2 Red-wattled Lapwing 6 Asian Openbill 150 150++
Little Egret 2 Eurasian Hoopoe 3 Green Bee-eater 1 Blue-tailed Bee-eater 25 Wires full of birds carrying yellow butterflies to the young ones. Driving along the dam barrier and the bee eaters chasing the yellow butterflies
Indochinese Roller 1 Ashy Woodswallow 6 Streak-eared Bulbul 1 Common Myna 5 Great Myna 11 Oriental Magpie-Robin 2 Plain-backed Sparrow 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
We drove west from the Yang Chum Reservoir to the next eBird hotspot:Kui Buri NP--Ban Yan Sue Reservoirfollowing the road south of the reservoir. We reach the gate to the HQ and we enter. I think this area was mostly camping grounds. It started to rain when we parked so we left again. There were some birds but too far away for ID.
The hotspotKui Buri NP--Ban Yan Sue Reservoiris 200 meters away or so and I never reached the reservoir. So I will have to come back again to look at the reservoir.
Today's track at Kui Buri NP--Ban Yan Sue Reservoir
eBird Report
Kui Buri NP--Ban Yan Sue Reservoir, Prachuap Khiri Khan, TH Jul 2, 2020 10:36 - 11:01 Protocol: Traveling 2.05 kilometer(s) Checklist Comments:We only visited the HQ as we missed the road to the reservoir. But it is the same area, 200 m apart. Started to rain when we arrived and we left as I didn't wanted to walk around with the camera 2 species
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
We left the HQ and it was 11 o'clock and as soon as I am on the safari car there will be no eating until 7 o'clock in the evening. So we drove to Kui Buri to look for a restaurant. I only found one KFC and I am not going to eat at KFC. Looking around and there was no decent restaurant to be found. I told the driver that I just wanted an ice cream. - You like ice cream?
He told me that he knew a ice cream place and we went to a place called Mr. Dam. We entered the place and they actually had a menu so it was not only ice cream they served.
Mr.Dam 130 Coffee at KuiBuRi
Mr.Dam 130 Coffee at KuiBuRi
Mr.Dam 130 Coffee at KuiBuRi
Mr.Dam 130 Coffee at KuiBuRi
Mr.Dam 130 Coffee at KuiBuRi
Mr.Dam 130 Coffee at KuiBuRi
Mr.Dam 130 Coffee at KuiBuRi
Mr.Dam 130 Coffee at KuiBuRi
Mr.Dam 130 Coffee at KuiBuRi
We leave Mr. Dam and we drive back to Kui Buri National Park and we are a little early so we drive around the area looking for birds and I see two Oriental Pied Hornbills. There are some people at Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching. I meet my Guide from Tontan Travel and she go to arrange the tickets and we are soon on the back of a pick-up car.
We leave the gate driving north on a gravel road through the national park. We don't need to drive very long before we see a group of elephants in the forest. But it is almost impossible to see them as they are behind a lot of trees. We continued and we were soon spotting a very old elephant on the other side of the road.
On our way through the National Park
Elephants in the forest
Elephants in the forest
Lone old elephant
Lone old elephant
Common Iora
Hoopoe
We see some birds but to take any pictures is very hard. We reach the end of the allowed road there is a view point and we could see Gaurs several kilometres away and I told my Guide that I wanted to leave. The allowed road is not very long and people spend a lot of time here to stretch the visit until 18:00 when they close.
The national park is huge but most of it is closed for visitors. But they have spotted a tiger here 5 years ago and not long ago one of the Park Guards / Ranger had spotted a Leopard at one of the viewing points. So you never know what you will see.
Ranger
noun 1a keeper of a park, forest, or area of countryside.
2a member of a body of armed men, in particular: • a mounted soldier. • US a commando.
3(Ranger or Ranger Guide) Brit. a member of the senior branch of the Guides.
4a person or thing that wanders or ranges over a particular area or domain: rangers of the mountains.
We leave the view point and we start to drive back towards the gate. We pass a ranger house and my Guide ask me if I want to stop for a look. Lucky to say yes, we could see the back of an elephant behind a ridge. Not so exciting, but suddenly there was an elephant coming out behind a tree. The elephant started to drink from the lake.
Elephant come to drink
Elephant come to drink
A beautiful sight and when the elephant came out in the lake there were several more elephants coming down to drink from the lake. And it was fun to watch the small baby elephants. I tried to get pictures but the elephants was partly covered by the trees. But again I was lucky.
The first elephant steps out in the lake and the other elephants came out in the lake to drink as well.
First elephant stepping out in the lake
More elephants coming out in the lake
More elephants coming out in the lake
More elephants coming out in the lake
More elephants coming out in the lake
The elephants start to swim across the lake
The elephants start to swim across the lake
The elephants start to swim across the lake
Elephants swim across the lake
Elephants swim across the lake
Elephants swim across the lake
Baby swimming
Baby swimming
3 elephants walking along the lake
3 elephants walking along the lake
Lone elephant walking along the lake
The elephants swim across, well, I think the big ones was walking but the babies was swimming with the trunks sticking out of the water. I was extremely lucky to get to see the swimming elephants. And we also got to see 4 elephants walking along the lake.
So we were very happy when we left the ranger station. We continued towards the gate and we were close to the gate when we discovered elephants in the forest on our right hand side. We stopped as it looked like the elephants were moving towards the road to cross the gravel road.
We waited and the elephants looked to be moving back inside the forest. We continued and we heard one elephant using the trumpet on the left hand side. We stopped and the Guide told us that the herd was split. So the elephants we had seen would cross the road to join the rest of the road.
We waited 10 minutes or so and we spotted the first elephant coming out on the road behind us. And I managed to get a video of the elephant crossing.
Elephants in the forest
Elephants in the forest
The elephants disappeared in the forest and we continued to the gate. We were all in a very good mood as we had been very lucky today. Swimming elephants and a group of 9 elephants crossing to gravel road very close to us.
So the spirit was high while driving back to the gate and I was really looking forward to my elephant safari tomorrow afternoon. Back at the gate and I said good bye and I was soon in the hotel van.
Today's track at Kui Buri NP (general area)
eBird Report
Kui Buri NP (general area), Prachuap Khiri Khan, TH Jul 2, 2020 13:16 - 17:21 Protocol: Traveling 21.62 kilometer(s) Checklist Comments: Elephant safari
14 species (+1 other taxa)
Chinese Francolin 1 Heard only
Red Junglefowl 9 Feral Pigeon 10 Spotted Dove 1 Greater Coucal 3 Green-billed Malkoha 2 Red-wattled Lapwing 5 Little Egret 1 Eurasian Hoopoe 1 Oriental Pied-Hornbill 3 bee-eater sp. 2 Too far away and moving so no ID
Indochinese Roller 2 Common Iora 4 Black Drongo 10 Great Myna 15
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
I decide to stay at the hotel until 11 o'clock tomorrow morning as there is really not much birding to do in the area. So I will look for birds at Yang Chum Reservoir vicinity and then go straight for elephant safari. And after the breakfast this morning it was a pleasant surprise to have my dinner. The food was really good.
And I was excited for tomorrow’s elephant safari when I went to bed with my alarm set to go off at 4 o'clock.
3rd of July 2020and we leave the hotel at 11 o'clock and I start my eBird app at 11:46 below the Yang Chum Reservoir barrier. I want to explore the area below the barrier. Leaving the paved road and driving along the dirt track until we have passed the farm. From there it is pretty much off road.
Not many birds that we could see and we were soon leaving driving up on the paved road on the barrier. We spotted the Blue-tailed Bee-eaters on the wire as yesterday. Crossing the barrier and we drove around the reservoir following road #3217. Not many birds seen during the tour.
Black-winged Stilt and Asian Openbills
Black-winged Stilt - Juvenile on the left hand side and adult on right hand side
Asian Openbills
Back at the barrier and we drove down to the water on the small dirt track. I spotted several Asian Openbills in the water. There were 3 Black-winged Stilts and of course Red-winged Lapwings. I see one Paddyfield Pipit before we leave.
We make a visit to the small park and I see a couple of juvenile Blue-tailed Bee-eaters.
Blue-tailed Bee-eaters
Today's track at Kui Buri NP--Yang Chum Reservoir vicinity
eBird Report
Kui Buri NP--Yang Chum Reservoir vicinity, Prachuap Khiri Khan, TH Jul 3, 2020 11:46 - 13:22 Protocol: Traveling 27.84 kilometer(s) Checklist Comments:Elephant safari 12 species
Spotted Dove 2 Zebra Dove 2 Black-winged Stilt 2 Red-wattled Lapwing 2 Asian Openbill 150 Little Cormorant 1 Little Egret 1 Blue-bearded Bee-eater 11 Indochinese Roller 1 Common Myna 3 Great Myna 3 Paddyfield Pipit 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
We left for the elephant safari and as we were a little bit early we drove around to look for birds. I spotted one Lesser Coucal and I asked my Driver to stop. I got a few pictures and when the bird took off I discovered a second Lesser Coucal that had been in the scrubs.
Lesser Coucal / นกกระปูดเล็ก - 3 July 2020 - Kui Buri National Park
Lesser Coucal / นกกระปูดเล็ก - 3 July 2020 - Kui Buri National Park
Blue-tailed Bee-eaters
There was a Blue-tailed Bee-eater that I got on picture as well. It was almost 2 o'clock and we drove back to the elephant safari to see if they had opened the ticket office. It was raining so I was a little worried about the safari.
eBird Report
Road 4024 South of Elephant Watching Centre, Prachuap Khiri Khan, TH Jul 3, 2020 13:45 Protocol: Incidental 3 species
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
I met my Guide from Tontan Travel and she went to pay the ticket and we were soon in the back of the pick-up truck on the way to look for elephants. No sign of any elephants and we were almost at the end of the road when we spotted a ranger on a motorcycle taking pictures.
We stopped and we discovered a groups of Gaurs feeding and we were lucky as they were pretty close to the road. There were plenty Cattle Egrets feeding around the Gaurs.
Lucky to come close to the Gaur
Lucky to come close to the Gaur
Lucky to come close to the Gaur
Lucky to come close to the Gaur
Lucky to come close to the Gaur
Lucky to come close to the Gaur
Lucky to come close to the Gaur
Lucky to come close to the Gaur
Lucky to come close to the Gaur
We left the gaur and we made a U-turn at the view point at the end of the road and we started to drive back towards the end of the road. We stop to make a recording of a Chinese Francolin and we hear another Chinese Francolin a little further down the gravel road and I get a second recording. This was the third Chinese Francolin we heard during the trip.
And we see a Little and an Intermediate Egret in a small pond approaching the gate. Otherwise nothing. No elephants seen today, but I had been lucky with the gaurs. And I had been extremely lucky with the elephants yesterday.
So I was happy when we were back at the gate and the car.
Today's track at Kui Buri NP (general area)
eBird Report
Kui Buri NP (general area), Prachuap Khiri Khan, TH Jul 3, 2020 14:04 - 16:47 Protocol: Traveling 15.73 kilometer(s) Checklist Comments:Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching 12 species (+1 other taxa)
Chinese Francolin 3Heard only Red Junglefowl 7 Greater Coucal 1 Lesser Coucal 1 Red-wattled Lapwing 6 Intermediate Egret 1 Little Egret 1 Cattle Egret 50 pond heron sp. 1 Oriental Pied-Hornbill 5 Indochinese Roller 3 Black Drongo 12 Great Myna 5
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Going back to the hotel for my last dinner and when I approached the restaurant I could hear music from the beach front. Friday and a lot of guests had arrived while I had been on the elephant safari. But no people in the restaurant so ni problem to get my dinner.
Back in my room and I was soon in bed with the alarm set to go off at 04:00 and the driver will come to pick me up at 8 o'clock. We will drive to Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park where I will check in to Longbeach Inn before going for bird watching in the national park.
ClickHEREto find out if I see any birds at the Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park