Birding Challenges

One view from our balcony is this mass of leaves and branches and vines. We hear the birds, but if they aren't moving about, it's really hard to see them. There was a olive backed sunbird moving about when I took this picture, but when I enlarge this and scan each square inch I only see something that looks a little like a bird, but I think it's just a leaf.



But this red bellied squirrel (that's what Tony Ball called it and the websites I looked at didn't really have any good pictures but some mentioned a red bellied squirrel in Thailand) has been entertaining us since we got here. I also saw a striped squirrel in the trees on the other side at the same time, but not clearly enough to get a picture. The red squirrel's belly is vaguely the same cinnamon color as the lettering in the picture.

The pictures from the book are from นกเมืองไทย
by นายแพทย์บุญส่ง ดสขะกุล, the second link is to a site in
English telling about the book's author:

Dr Boonsong Lekagul (1907–1992) was the most important personality in shaping the modern conservation movement in Thailand , and devoted most of his life to the study and conservation of wildlife. The country's national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, and current high level of environmental awareness, are part of his priceless legacy.

But yesterday (Sunday) we got a good look at a green billed malkoha (170) outside our balcony. We've seen these before last year and this, but it took a while to be sure. The long tail, underneath is striped white and dark. That's what got us to the malkoha in the bird book, but we never saw one close enough or sitting still long enough to see much more of it. But Sunday, even though mostly hidden in the tree, the bird is big enough that we could see the head now, the tail later, and then it got out on a distant branch and we could see the whole bird clearly in the binoculars. Definitely had a green bill and red patch on the eyes. Very cool bird. It was back again this morning, so maybe I'll be able to get a picture of it before we go back to Alaska.


There's also been a brownish bird - well in small flocks of up to about 7 or 8 - that looked sort of like a bulbul, but really not too distinctive. Tony Ball suggested Saturday that it sounded like a streaked eared bulbul. But you look in the book and there are a bunch of birds that look a lot alike and you have to go back and look for details. One trick that makes it easier is to look at the maps to see which birds are in your area (though this isn't foolproof.)


Sunday, when the birds came by, I looked carefully at one that got close enough, for the white streaks, and sure enough they were there. Tony also reminded me that the pictures in the books are of one bird in one pose in one lighting condition, and in this case, as rendered by the artist. So colors aren't always quite what they seem. So our not so green birds do fit here.