Trogon Photo Tours

This month's newsletter is about bird photography in Thailand.  Thailand is one of the most underrated countries in the world for bird photography.  Over 900 species occur there, much of the country is protected in National Parks and most of the Thais have a healthy respect for nature - hunting of birds is quite rare.  The infrastructure of the country is good and tourists are welcome.  It doesn't have many of the dedicated nature lodges that a country like Costa Rica or Ecuador has but there are generally nice places to stay in most areas.  Last November Chuck Gangas, Jim Heupel and I spent nine days photographing the birds and mammals there, this is largely a report on that trip with a bit of information on other areas in Thailand.  Some of the spectacular bird families which are well represented in Thailand include Pheasants, Bee-eaters, Hornbills and Sunbirds. 

Green Bee-eater photographed by Charles Gangas, November 2017 Samnak Maiteng, Ratchaburi, Thailand.  Nikon D500 500F4 1/640 F4, iso 2000, handheld, evaluative metering +1.0.  Our first stop was at Samnak Maiteng, a large lake, the lake was not in good condition for bird photography but we did find a flock of Green Bee-eaters sheltering close to the ground.  Chuck added a stop of light as it was a gray overcast day.  Besides this species we also got good images of the spectacular Red-beared Bee-eater inside Keang Krachan National Park.  

Olive-backed Sunbird photographed November 2017 by Nate Chappell at Keang Krachan National Park, Thailand.  Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1/2000 F5.6, iso 1000, 580ex flash at -1.7, handheld.  We stopped at an overlook up high on the main road in the park and did some calling of sunbirds.  We had several species come in, including Crimson.  What surprised all of us, was the way this male Olive-backed displayed puffing out his yellow sides.  Although this is a common bird, that our guide and I had both seen many times, neither one of us had ever seen it display by puffing out it's sides like this, we didn't even know this species did that, it just goes to show with nature photography you never know what new exciting observation you will make and record.   

Ashy Bulbul photograhed November 2017 by Nate Chappell at Keang Krachan National Park, Thailand.  Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1/400 F5.6, iso 1250, Av mode, evaluative metering -0.3, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley head.  A good place to get a few nice bird photos inside the park is behind the restaurant on top of the mountain.  The reason is compost is thrown out here and it attracts several species of birds as well as mammals such as Yellow-throated Marten.  In addition to several species of bulbuls, we photographed White-browed Scimitar Babbler and the rare Bar-backed Partridge at this location feeding on the leftover rice that had been thrown out.  

Common Green Magpie photographed November 2017 by Charles Gangas from blinds near Keang Krachan, National Park.  Nikon D500, 500F4 1/250 F4, iso 4000, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley head.  While bird and mammal photography within the park is good, the biggest attraction of the Keang Krachan area is the number of privately run hides which are just outside the park.  These can be reserved for a modest fee and a large number of birds and small mammals visit the hides which are baited with fruit and seed.  Each of them have a bird bath as well which the birds use for both drinking and bathing.  This is a spectacular bird that I had seen from a distance but never photographed closely.  I heard it near our blind, so I figured it was coming in, sure enough it landed and posed nicely for us after bathing.  Sadly, I neglected to download my card quickly from that day and it became corrupted and unrecoverable, that is part of the reason I am using some of Chuck's images (he is also leading our next tour there so it makes sense from that perspective as well).  I always preach backing up to my participants but didn't follow my own advice quickly enough in this case.  Oh well, I guess that means I will have to head back there again some time. 

Red-legged Crake photographed by Charles Gangas November 2017 at hides near Keang Krachan National Park.  Nikon D500, 300F2.8 lens, 1/160 F4, iso 2000, manual mode, auto iso, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley head.   One afternoon we were treated to many visits to the bird bath by this spectacular species.  We took so many images of it bathing and flapping near the bird bath.  One thing Chuck and I discovered about Nikon's auto iso is that if you are using auto iso and trying to use exposure compensation with manual settings and auto iso is that if you are limiting how high your iso can go and you think you are adding exposure compensation, the camera is not able to add the compensation if there is not enough light.  This resulted in some of Chuck images being underexposed, he kept adding to the exposure compensation thinking that would increase the exposure but it wasn't having any effect.  I am not personally a fan of auto iso, but if you are using it and also trying to use exposure compensation with it you need to be aware of it's limitations. 

Kalij Pheasant, female phtoographed November 2017 by Nate Chappell in hides near Keang Krachan National Park, Thailand.  Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1/60 F5, iso 2000, Av mode, evaluative metering -1.0, 580ex fill flash at -1.3, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley head.   We had several males and females of this species near our blind and this species is very regular at hides near the park, along with numerous Red Junglefowl, Green-legged Partridge and occasionally Ferruginous Partridge.  This shot is full frame with the 500F4, the other lens I brought along was the Sigma 150-600 which was a mistake, I should have brought the 300F4.  The reasons are twofold, often the Kalij Pheasants were too close to fit into the frame so I ended up with head shots and secondly while there are lots of amazing species which come into these blinds, they are located under the canopy in quite dark areas, so a 300F4 or even better a 300F2.8 is preferable to a zoom with a wide open F stop of 5.6 to 6.3.   

Silver-eared Mesia photographed December 2012 by Nate Chappell at Mae Wong National Park, Thailand.  Canon 5D3, 500F4 1/1250 F5.6, iso 1250, Av mode, Gitzo Tripod, Wimberley Head.  While by far my favorite area for bird photography is the Keang Krachan area there are lots of other great locations for bird photography in Thailand.  Mae Wong National Park in the Northwest near the border with Burma is one of the better spots.  At the ranger station, they put out food which brings in laughingthruses, mesias and bulbuls as well as Yellow-throated Martens.  They also have hides which attract the rare Gray Peacock-Pheasant and Rufous-throated Partridge.  Accommodation options are not as good, but the park has some dated chalets they rent out, you can stay in a nicer resort outside the park but then you have a long drive to the birds. 

Chinese Pond Heron photographed November 2012 by Nate Chappell at Beung Borapet, Thailand.   Canon 7D 500F4 1/2500 F5.6, iso 400, Av mode, evaluative metering -0.3, handheld from boat.  While the majority of this article has focused on land bird photography there is also some very good water bird photography to be found in Thailand.  The large lake, Beung Borapet being the best freshwater location.  There are boats which take people out for birding and photography here, the boats are noisy and vibrate too much (they turn the motor off at times), but they do get you in range of a lot of interesting water birds including jacanas, pond-herons, open-billed storks, kingfishers, bitterns and herons.  When there we usually stay at a nice hotel in Nakan Sawan, a good sized town which is nearby.  Another good location but in the South of Thailand is Thale Noi, this large lake has many of the same birds as Beung Borapet, the highlight at Thale Noi being the numerous Brahminy Kites there.  As far as salt water wader photography the best locations are on the Gulf of Thailand not too far from Bangkok, Laem Pia Beak and Samut Sakhon.  Here a great variety of sandpipers and plovers can be photographed as well as with some luck, the endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. 

Blue Pitta photographed by Nate Chappell January 2009 at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand.  Canon 1DMk3 500F4 1/25 F5.6, iso 1000, 580ex fill flash at -1.3, Feisol Tripod, Wimberley Head.  This was taken some years ago on our first Thailand Bird Photography Tour at Phu Khieo.  Phu Khieo is a great spot but not always welcoming to visitors.  But this species or other pittas can show up at the blinds at Keang Krachan or other locations.  For me this is one of the big attractions of Thailand bird photography, when you are sitting in a blind in the forest at any moment something can walk up which totally surprises you.  It's a bit different than photographing at fruit feeders in say Ecuador or Costa Rica where you have a reasonably good idea what is probably going to be showing up.  For information about photographing mammals in Thailand see last month's newsletter

Besides excellent bird and mammal photography, Thailand offers wonderful food, friendly people and neat cultural sites to see and photograph, including many temples.  All in all, it's just a nice, relaxing place to do some wildlife photography.