nope, not sure at all. I can't even find anything about them migrating and I can't see anything saying flamebacks are recorded there. There are olive-backed woodpeckers down lower so it could have been one of them (it was way at the top of a tree so I'm not sure on the ID, I was just told that's what it would have been by a local birder there).
hmm, well it was seven years ago so I don't really remember now. The boardwalks go through the forest so there would no doubt be a lot of interesting plants and fungi along the way. Not sure of the conditions there now, though.
:) When searching the internet to see if anyone had posted about the hike at Juwangsan (I wanted to discover it's level of difficulty for my mom) I came across your post.
Sweating while drying yourself after a shower? That made me laugh! I enjoyed the way you wrote the post, even if I kiiinda snoozed at the bird stuff ;)
Following in your footsteps in Sumatra Hello,
Don't know if you check this blog any more but just wanted to let you know that I am on my way to Medan tomorrow to search for oranges as you did. Will be following same path as you but sans the vehicle drama I hope. If you see this in next day or so and have any other input, love toheR from you. Cheers, Kathy
hey Kathy,
not much to add I think, except that now one is required to have guides when in the forest at the park (when I was there I could wander about by myself).
Vietnam Hello - as a fellow wildlife enthusiast who , like you, travels the glove to see critters, I do enjoy reading your Travelblogs. Vietnam is on my list - but not high on my list - , as I have heard that much of the wildlife was killed there during the Vietnam War, when starving people turned to the native animals for food. A lot of the wildlife was killed for food. This might partly explain the low level of remaining critters that you mention ?
hey Craig,
yes the seemingly endless wars there did an enormous amount of damage, most particularly when the Americans arrived and started an active exterminate-the-ecosystem campaign. Mowadays poaching is incredibly high in the country also. Basically, outside of the protected areas there is no wildlife left, and within the protected areas it is all getting hunted out. Soon everything there will be gone.
sunfish In the middle of the 1950's a friend and myself were down at the foreshore in Dunedin where we found a large round fish, we are pretty sure it was a Sunfish. Just wondering what the history is on the sunfish on show is?
great blog! Ive been thinking about going to vladivostok since i was surprised yesterday that russia was so near and cheap to go to from korea. This is helpful. But it looks like its not a fun city
Many years back I also met a very sweet young lady on the train to Butterworth. We got along great inspite of me being such an oldie at 30. We parted ways after she kindly refused my invitation to stay at the same hostel. Well, later on as I was waiting for transportation the same girl was walking around the back packers asking if they wanted to share room with her. No success. She meekly came up to me and said; 'ok, I'll accept your offer on one condition, no foul play'. Ha! Well, being a nice guy I stuck to my words and a 'proper' friendship developed.
plagues I like your ranting about the plagues of Egypt. Good one!
Well, unfortunately the world is in a fallen state and the curses on Egypt still linger. As you know, even in ideal and perfect circumstances such as at the Garden of Eden, man still fell for the Devil's temptations and brought curses upon himself. When will we learn?
They really ripped you on the transportation charges from Bkk to Petchaburi and onwards. Amazing! That would not happen to me, believe me! Then again, I have been a greater fool then that in other areas not to be mentioned here.
How about using Birdingpal from time to time in your travels? Some local know how might enhance your experience?
Peter
Ptychozoon kaengkrachanense Ah.. Interesting.. "Ptychozoon kaengkrachanense" is not even in Wikipedia.. The species I have on website are imported from wiki (which is free to import), so I will have to create a page at Wikipedia for it first.
frogs and the rest.. Thanks, I will add the other species you mentioned to the list later today..
I was afraid I wouldn't find any list for frog species specific to national parks, so I skipped it for time being.. When I get back to KK after November I will take a note of frogs from the visitor center and add them too!
I thought that Brian was the Scottish guy I met, because as you described, the guy I talked to also had a house nearby Kaeng Krachan, he is also regularly visiting the national park. I maybe mistaken about his nationality as he told me he had a house near Loch Ness..
More than anything, I would love to create list of insects, but unfortunately even more difficult to get a "complete" checklist... Something I may conciser further ahead..
Here some of species I have photoed mainly in KK and few other national parks, I have many more photos really but just better ones in the photo album;
http://www.flickr.com/rushen
Please feel free to send me any other "uncommon" species you may see in any national parks. I am planning to create a "open source" style web site next 6-8 month where people can contribute to checklist of species in Thailand and Asia. The checklist content will be free to download so that people can use on their own web site.. The idea is that where-ever people see a specie, they will record it on this new site.. The more people contributes, the more reliable data will become.
Kaeng Krachan is a lovely place..
The Brian guy, was it the elder Scottish guy? I saw him at Ban Krang site roughly 6/7 weeks ago, lovely guy. He had run into a Asiatic bear while he was walking alone, and also seen a kings cobra just few hundred meters away from the campsite. He had also seen the clouded leopard and many other mammals.
I have been at KK like 4/5 times since November and few times a year ago, loved it so much that I build this website;
http://www.thainationalparks.com/
Thanks for mentioning Elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata), I have added it to checklist of reptiles in Kaeng Krachan;
http://www.thainationalparks.com/kaeng-krachan-national-park/wildlife
If you know any other species not there, I would appreciate if you emailed to me..
P.s. Ratchet-tailed tree-pie is a very rare bird, I am lucky and seen one, took even couple of bad pictures. You should have reported those bastards anyway. I wish I was there, I would see how much muay-thai he could.
Regards,
/Rush
Brian is English, and travels with his Thai wife and daughter.
That is a very good website you have, I am impressed. With a quick browse you are missing lesser cuckoo-shrike from the bird list, Fea's muntjac from the mammal list, and Ptychozoon kaengkrachanense from the reptile list. Also there is no frog list? In the main building at the Ban Krang campsite there are many photo boards showing species found in the park and one is dedicated to frogs (probably about twenty species on there).
I live in New Zealand. I started this blog when going on a 2006 trip through southeast Asia for three months to see the wildlife. Since then I've been on more trips through NZ, Fiji, New Caledonia, Australia and back to Asia a few times looking for animals. Anyone who is not interested in animals and who thinks nature is a waste of space shouldn't be reading this blog. Go back to your bars and your temples and your massage parlours; the kind of birds I'm contemplating would not excite you. ... full info
Peter
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Greater tend to be seen on higher levels then common but there are some overlapping. OB is a darker greenish bird.