橙腹啄花鸟 (Orange-bellied Flowerpecker)

Ban Song Nok: A few kilometres outside of the national park Ban Song Nok is a private garden and guesthouse owned by “Auntie Ek”. She maintains a waterhole and blind as well as providing daily food to birds, meaning that this is usually a hotspot for certain species, particuarly if the weather has been dry.

Ban Song Nok is a popular spot so you usually need to book places at her blind in advance, but she does not mind people just turning up to have a word with her and book the hide; if there is nobody there already you can usually go straight in. Red Junglefowl, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, Kalij Pheasant, Bar-backed Partridge, Scaly-breasted Partridge and Siberian Blue Robin are all regular visitors here in the dry season, along with many commoner species, and Red-legged Crake often shows up in the wet season.

Birds at Ban Song Nok are not confined to the blind area with the garden providing plenty of habitat and adjoining the forest. Birds such as Golden-fronted Leafbird, Lineated Barbet, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher and Common Flameback all being regularly seen – Orange-bellied Flowerpecker will be feeding on fruit in the wet season – so it is worth having a look around for some of these species before or after you sit at the blind.

It costs 200 baht per person to visit the blind at Ban Song Nok and flash photography is not usually allowed as it can disturb some species, particularly the shy partridges – ask before using flash. Auntie Ek also requests that people do not use call playback here too, please respect her wishes.

http://www.thaibirding.com/locations/west/kk.htm