Sometimes things do not go quite according to plan.

Hides around Kaeng Krachan national park provide birders with a lot of superb sightings of both common and scarce birds. Right now there are a number of hides where good birds can be seen but one of the most consistently good experiences can be had at Lung Sin Waterhole which I have visited and written about on numerous occasions. However, a recent visit ended up being not quite what we hoped for, with hours of waiting and seeing nothing apart from a few insects, in the hot, sweaty hides. Eventually, in the very late afternoon some good birds arrived but most of the afternoon had been very tedious indeed due to the presence of a Besra.

We arrived at the hide in the heat of the day and with several species of bird and mammal already being present it looked like things could be quite good. The hot, dry weather meant that we could expect a lot of birds to come to bathe and drink at the waterhole. However, within 15 minutes of arriving a small Accipiter swooped in and perched nearby and was immediately mobbed by a couple of Black-naped Monarchs. For more than half an hour this was the state of play until the Besra came down to take a drink from the pool.

Besra

The Besra only stayed for a few minutes before disappearing into the vegetation but it was clear that it had not gone very far by the persistent alarm calls of Black-naped Monarch, Racket-tailed Treepie and Red Junglefowl which carried on for most of the afternoon. Finally, after several hours things began to settle down and a female Olive-backed Sunbird came to drink, joined by a Black-naped Monarch.

Olive-backed Sunbird (female)

Black-naped Monarch

Just as it looked like things would finally get going, the Besra came swooping through, attempting to catch a small bird, sparking off another round of scolding calls and no birds visiting the pool. Another hour or so of this finally gave way to some activity as the day drew to a close with a number of small birds coming to bathe.

Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher

Stripe-throated Bulbul

Pied Fantail

As usual, once a number of the commoner and bolder birds became comfortable bathing and drinking and the activity increased, so a few of the shier birds began to arrive, including a pair of Bar-backed Partridges and two very nervous Large Scimitar Babblers that obviously wanted to bathe but were scared off several times by sharp noises coming from the hides – it is hard to be completely quiet for long periods of time.

Large Scimitar Babbler

Very late on in the afternoon a juvenile Slaty-legged Crake emerged to bathe too so that even though much of the afternoon had been hard to tolerate, we eventually saw some good birds. Birding is not always moment of excitement one after the other, you have to be able to take the rough with the smooth.