{"id":7545,"date":"2012-03-31T22:09:35","date_gmt":"2012-03-31T20:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=7545"},"modified":"2019-12-22T22:11:29","modified_gmt":"2019-12-22T09:11:29","slug":"birds-and-elephants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/birds-and-elephants\/","title":{"rendered":"Birds and Elephants"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the crazy times of flooding in Bangkok, our family decided to spend some time in higher ground and what could it be better than Khao Yai, with the National Park of the same name which is a World’s Heritage Site from Unesco and a paradise of wildlife and with my good friend Guide A, a keen birder’s guide living in Pak Chong City, a few miles away.<\/p>\n

I went out with Guide A three times in those days and every time came home with a smile and great birds in my memory cards… I highly recommend you this gent that knows the area as his hand and has a relaxed way of getting you to find and enjoy wildlife, which by the way, it’s abundant! To complete the story, Guide A is an avid wildlife photographer and this helps you as he knows and shares the moves to get the cool image, beyond the cool sight.<\/p>\n

The first time we hunted photos together, was November 11th and it was a nocturnal session in the search for a good looking and not easy to get Brown Hawk-Owl; it was amazing. The bird was at Guide A’s spot like if was waiting for us and by the first time I had a real… no, a surreal photo-moment with the elusive bird. A total of 4 owls and 2 nightjars were the summary of the adventure in Pak Chong City.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Asian Elephant by Alex Vargas, Thailand 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

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Guide-A by Alex Vargas, Thailand 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Brown-Hawk-Owl by Alex Vargas, Thailand 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

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Greater-Spotted-Eagle by Alex Vargas, Thailand 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

The second time (Nov 14th) Guide A took us (daughter and me) to some fish farms where our target was a good image of the Black Kites that are always around catching fish. Just before the ponds, we saw a bird on the distance and was notoriously bigger than a kite… oh yes, a lot bigger! as it resulted to be a Greater Spotted Eagle, a young bird having a piece of fish in the pasture lands<\/p>\n

The Black Kites then were considered a bonus and to finish on style, Guide A found us an owlet in daylight!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Black-Kite by Alex Vargas, Thailand 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

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Elephant-night-KY by Alex Vargas, Thailand 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

The second part of the adventure was at night and with my girls (wife and daughter) searching for mammals. Again, a massive success!. Guide A was pretty happy of finding a Gaur (massive wild cow) at a salt-lick and the adventure seemed already pretty promising. We found several mammals, but the most exiting encounter happened with a family of Asian Elephants on the roadside… the very first time my daughter saw a wild one ever, an important occurrence. With my beloved and powerful flashlight, photos and videos were possible<\/p>\n