Location: Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand

Guide: Tomorrow we will visit Uncle Sin’s pond. You can do half or full day there.
Me: What kind of birds can we get there?
Guide: Mainly forest birds…
I am baffled…did he just say forest birds? Surely this can’t be right! My basic understanding of a pond – fish pond, would be frequented by ducks, kingfishers or even terns! I am convinced there is some mis-communication between us. 🙂

“Where’s the pond?” I ask, when we arrive at location. Our guide beckons us to follow him. We trek deep in to the forest and arrive at a small open ground. No sight of pond, but only to see hides and trees enclave around the area. As we settle in to our individual hides, we are told to wait for Uncle Sin.
“Okay, this is totally weird…I simply don’t have a clue of what’s going on here”. I glanced at my friends and they look equally puzzled . Soon Uncle Sin arrives, carrying with him a huge container. He walks to the depression in the ground, opens his container and pours water in to the hole and leaves! By this time we all burst into fits of laughter! The mystery is solved, the so-called “pond” is actually a water hole!
We are highly entertained by a variety of  water forest birds…where most of them come for a bath! The mouse deer (mouse+deer=mouse deer) is another highlight at the pond!
Below are some of the birds taken at the famous “pond”. 😉 😉

Note to Self- Start my own “pond” when I retire.   😎

red legged crake in bath!

brown cheeked fulvetta

Tinkle Blue flycatcher-male and female

red jungle fowls- male and female

Silver Pheasants- male and female

mouse deer (mouse+deer=mouse deer, simple logic)

Here’s a photo of the hides at the “pond”… 😛

Hides at the Pond area – Photo by Bonnie Chan

List of birds at the “pond” : Silver pheasants, Red jungle fowls, Lesser and Greater necklaced laughing thrush, Tinkle blue flycatcher, Brown cheeked fulvetta, Racket tailed treepie, Red legged crake, Black naped monarch, white rump sharma, Streaked eared bubul, etc.