Thaibirds and more

At around 11:10 am 29th of March, 2017,  Nick Upton graciously posted a finding of Oriental Plover on a secluded beach 3 hours drive  from my home. Now this is a top top bird and very difficult to see in Thailand. I thought of my options and by 11:30 had decided to go…..at 11:45 it unexpectedly started to rain hard with strong winds. Having had weird weather for a few days it served as a damper on my enthusiasm. Then after lunch my wife reminded me I had to take our youngest son to the  Embassy the following morning. Ouch, what to do but to take it on the chin! I kept thinking of the bird throughout the day and kept getting,  ‘who is kept by the Word of God and prayer’. Now that is a Scripture which might not be specific about a bird but it kept coming to me and I started to think I should give it a go after the Embassy visit.  As usual  God speaks in a still small voice, an inner conviction or a hint. Rarely is the voice yelling nor is he bashing me on the head unless I am really in n

There are so many 'hidden' jewels inside the deep forests of the Earth. Our part is the digging, the seeking, the going, putting oneself in the situation to make things possible for the 'miracle to happen'! I had 4 major targets for visiting Southern Vietnam and one of them was the Orange-breasted Laughingthrush, an endemic to South Annam. Having seen and photographed its closest relation, the Spot-breasted LT some years ago made this even more special. Our local guide, Tim , had a spot where he knew the birds would frequent at times. We positioned us in a small hide and waited. Nothing showed till 8:30 so we set a 'deadline' at 9 am. At 8:55 the miracle happened!  It was very dark so I had to shoot at ISO6400 with 1/40s shutter speed. Orange-breasted Laughingthrush!