Gibbons and birds (Day 2)

Another very full day, although much of it was transportation.  The two teams from yesterday switched so that the A Team went birdwatching before sunrise and B Team went to see the gibbons.  We returned to the guest houses by 10:30 because we had to be on the road by 11:00 to get to the airport in time for our 6:15 pm flight to Phuket.  We arrived in Phuket around 7:30 pm. One hour in the vans to the hotel and another full day is behind us.  We are all excited about tomorrow's diving; there is some nervous anticipation, but that always subsides very quickly once were in the crystal clear 84 degree water.

Check out our leech socks.  Much of the tropical Old World (Asia, Africa) has terrestrial leeches.  They will go through standard socks without slowing down, so we wear homemade socks from more tightly weaved pillowcase material.  This year, leeches weren't bad, but little ticks were common.

Here is Ajarn Mink explaining how poachers scrape wood from certain trees to make personal products.

Off-roading again.  Climbing over, under, or going around downed vegetation.

Here's Blaire at the medium sized Sapong tree.  Another possible CAFNR brochure cover.

This is the B Team at the Sapong tree.  We wear dark colored clothing when observing the gibbons to minimize the likelihood that they will be disturbed by our presence.

While we waited for the gibbons to start singing, Ajarn CC (beige shirt) handed out forest ecology concepts on cards and had the students explain them using examples from this spot.  What a great classroom setting!

The gibbons were high in the canopy.

Never open your mouth while looking straight up at gibbons.  Guess where their bathroom is.

Khao Yai has two species of gibbons; this is the white handed gibbon.  We've seen the pileated gibbon only once in 12 years (last year).

The A Team went birdwatching today.  Here's Gabby looking through the spotting scope.

Someone else was in the vicinity.  We dubbed this the Year of the Chang.

Oriental pied hornbill at dawn.

Red whiskered bulbul.

Blue winged leafbird.

Indian roller... one of our favorites.

The A Team also didn't see the zitting cisticola.  I'll have to wait until next year.

From the observation tower.

Colin, Alyssa, Gabby, Luke.

Anna and Franny.

I've got to stop assigning Max and Luke as roommates.

Although we're sad to leave Khao Yai, we're excited to be headed to Phi Phi!  Here we're taking our seats on a Thai Airways 747 to Phuket.  We'll stay in the Crystal Hotel tonight, then on to a ferry for Phi Phi in the morning.