Some more photos from the trip to Mae Wong National Park in early May. The nights were surprisingly productive. I guessed it was because of the rain that poured down throughout the days causing a great exodus of alates. These social insects emerge from the ground after heavy rain. They are strongly attracted to light, so there were lots of them on the road up to Chong Yen summit where the passing cars' headlights lured them out. Lots of Crab-eating Mongooses (Herpestes urva) were found along the road during the day, but unfortunately, I couldn't manage to get a single shot. However, the the nights awarded us with an unusually obliging Large Indian Civet (Viverra zibetha).
Large Indian Civet
High five!
Busy feeding on alates
The civet was found just a few hundred metres from our camp. It was too busy feeding on alates, which were abundant. We slowly moved toward it with our car in a safari style. The sunroof could be opened wide, so we just popped our heads up and easily took photos of this stunning animal at close range. It's the first time for me to see this species of civet, even though it is not that scarce. I just love the black and white pattern on its body, especially on the neck and tail.
Unidentified frog
Male Large-tailed Nightjar
Spitting out the pellet
Twin-spotted Treegrom
The rare Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle
Another highlight of the night was a lone and obliging Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus bimaculatus) that was perching just by the roadside. It didn't leave the perch for more than half an hour that we were there, providing us a great opportunity to photograph it both with and without flash. After we finished taking photos of the nightjar, we then drove up to Chong Yen summit where a pair of Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle (Allomyrina dichotoma) was found. It is an extremely rare beetle here in Thailand (even though it's still pretty numerous in Japan), which is the southernmost part of its distribution. We had a great time taking photos of it before driving back to our camp and had a good sleep.
Laughingthrushes are members of the huge Babblers family. It is a large and diverse group of birds. As the name implies, they are about the size of a thrush and also behave similarly by hopping on the ground, picking up leaves on the forest floor. In addition to their thrush-like appearance and behaviour, they all have their own loud and unique laugh-like songs and calls, leading to the name Laughingthrush.
Northern Thailand holds the greatest variety of laughingthrushes in Thailand, with 10 out of the total 12 species found in the country. They are among one of my most favourite bird groups. On May 5, I had a chance to visit Mae Wong National Park in Kampaeng Phet Province along with some other birding friends. The camping ground at the top of Chong Yen is famous for its human-friendly wildlife. Few months earlier, a Leopard Cat and Yellow-throated Martens were the stars of the camp ground. Unfortunately, they have all disappeared during my visit. Anyway, several species of laughinghthrushes did put on a really nice show for all of us.
My favourite White-necked Laughingthrush
Looking much more natural on the tree
The obliging Silver-eared Laughingthrush
Young bird (right) begging for food
There were 3 species of laughingthrushes showing at the camp ground of Chong Yen. The first one that marked the appearance on my SD card was the most obliging Silver-eared Laughingthrush (Garrulax melanostigma schistaceus). There were at least 3 of them, parents and a young adult. The young adult was still begging for food from its parents even though it already looked exactly like them. Some other photographers that were also there put out some meal worms for them and the birds loved it.
White-necked Laughingthrushes
A really cool laughingthrush in my opinion
Preening and relaxing after the meal
The smaller Black-throated Laughingthrush
The next species to show up was the charismatic White-necked Laughingthrush (Garrulax strepitans). It's definitely my most favourite out of the three. I can say with confidence that Mae Wong NP is the easiest place in the world to see this normally extremely elusive species. I still remember seeing an extremely shy flock of them at Doi Inthanon. Here at Chong Yen, everything was different. I just couldn't enjoy them more.
The last species that were coming to the feeding area was the smallest and shyest Black-throated Laughingthrush (Garrulax chinensis lochmius). Because of its small size, it was constantly scared off by other laughingthrushes, I guess. There were only 2 of them and both were fast and shy. I still need to get a better shot of this species. At least, it is widespread and can be found even in my local patch. Hope someday I can get a chance to photograph them nicely.
White-necked with Black-throated Laughingthrush in the background
