Birds, gibbons, waterfalls & cliffs

Today we split the class into two teams.  One team went birdwatching, the other to see gibbons.  Tomorrow, we will switch so each student can experience everything.  After morning birds and gibbons, we drove to the southern end of the national park to visit Haew Narok waterfall.  Then on to Pha Diao Dai, the lonely cliff scenic overlook.

Dtoon (left) and Phet (right) are our bird experts and help us every year with birdwatching in Khao Yai.  They both have their masters degrees in bird ecology.

Even though it looks like we're on a busy road, this is a seldom traveled road that leads to a small national park guest facility and is very safe.  We saw some interesting birds here, including Oriental pied hornbills.   

Blaire, Jaime, and Katie checking their bird book to determine the identity of what they saw.  300 species of birds occur in Khao Yai and birders from around the world come here to birdwatch.

Red-breasted parakeets.

Jungle fowl.  It looks like a rooster, but is a wild species that lives in the jungle.  My guess is it tastes like chicken.

This is a really great trail meandering through tall grassland to an observation tower.  In the fall class, we saw a video of a tiger waiting in tall grass to attack some people on elephants.  This was on our minds as we tried to focus on birds.

Katie.

Kyle, Moose, and Max.

We searched for the elusive zitting cisticola.

This observation tower provided an excellent vantage point from which to see wildlife.

Moose in the tower.

Katie in the foreground.

Max.

Crossing streams is sometimes perilous.  Abby asked me not to show my next photo of her going down.  It wasn't a face-plant, but trust me... she got wet.

All others stayed dry.  Annie is next across

We walked to a salt lick where Abby and Jaime couldn't resist the allure of elephant dung.

Ajarn Wayne went with the other group to see gibbons today.  He gave me these photos to post.  Here they are in front of a  medium sized sompong tree.

Ajarn Mink explaining aspects of tropical forest ecology to our students.  She was accompanied by Ajarn Uey, Ajarn CC, and two other staff members.  It takes five to lead the gibbon program for us.

High in the canopy the gibbons brachiate among the branches and sing in the mornings.

Here is a buff colored white-handed gibbon.  This species also has a black form.

Ajarn CC explaining to the group.

Kyle found a good spot from which to enjoy Haew Narok waterfall.  Our college should put this photo on a brochure somewhere.

Here's most of the group at the overlook for Haew Narok.  There were 200 very steep and short steps to get down to this point.

On the drive from the waterfall to Pa Diao Dai, we encountered another wild elephant... this one walking down the road.

We had to follow safely behind it until it turned into the jungle.

Anna at Pa Diao Dai.

Rebecca, Savannah, Abby, and Jaime.

Katie, Alyssa, Alex, and Annie.

Blaire.

Abby.

Rebecca.

Emily.

Max, Colin, and Luke.

Gabby.

Moose.

Katie.

Annie.

Back at our guest house, sambar deer are habituated to humans and walk around like they own the place.

You can pet them.

These are our drivers (Lope, Jai, and Bulapan).  We have the same drivers every year, which really helps in keeping things on schedule.