Sharing some pics of mini Pentax overseas outing at Hala Bala Sanctuary, southern part of Thailand.
Including me are 3 pentaxian & a Canon user.
No luxurous hotel stay there, we were staying in army camp like with facilities not better than that.
At night when we sleep, we could hear crickets & other insects sound, really under nature environment.
The people there were very friendly, not like what others said it's a dangerous terrorist area.
The food there were excellent, all are tasty real Thai authenic recipes cooked by the land owner. Everything the stay & 3 meals are extremely cheap - only sin$20 per day per person.

A street scene, the place when we 1st landed after the thai custom..


#1 An ugly but rare bird - Javan Frog Mouth
The calling of this bird is very scaring that can make your hair stand.


#2 turned his face..


#3 Spectacled Spiderhunter


#4


#5


#6

[kengoh]

#4 is amazing! Do you have a flickr?

And did you feed the birds or use a hide? My hunting style of photographing birds never yield nice clean backgrounds like yours. I may need to start to plan my shoots more

Thanks Skog.
Yes i've flickr & just started using recently, more pics of these birds:
Hala Bala Sanctuary - a set on Flickr

Only the white rump shama I'm using hide, the rest no.

I have a post of birds with clean green background here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/141707-nature-creamy-green-series.html

[kengoh]

Two thumbs up.

Great stuff Ken.

Tom G

Thanks Tom.

[magkelly]

Very nice, and yeah, that's one wicked sounding bird. Sounds like someone being murdered. I'd hate to be anywhere in the immediate vicinity in the dark hearing THAT!

Javan Frogmouth (Batrachostomus javensis) | on-line sounds from xeno-canto/asia

Second example in particular, makes you want to shiver, that does...

[wildman]

Stunning creatures.

Some predict that within 30 years 1/3 of the species of SE Asia will be extinct.

[Skog]

Thanks Skog.
Yes i've flickr & just started using recently, more pics of these birds:
Hala Bala Sanctuary - a set on Flickr

Thanks for the info I added you as a contact on flickr so that I can follow your submissions. Great photos! That sigma 500 is starting to look pretty tempting

Edit: Just a tip, of you don't know it already; tag your pictures with more info, and add them to appropriate groups (as many as you can). That will give you a lot more views. You'r photos certainly deserve to be viewed more!

[Tamia]

I always enjoy your photos Ken, but this time I particularly like the Javan Frog Mouth. The fine feathers stand out so well, and this unusual bird reminds me of the saw whet owl here in the northeastern US.

[wcchamp18]

Exceptional job Ken! The "ugly bird" in number one just blows me away. I am amazed at it's natural camouflage. You did a wonderful job of capturing the wonderful colors of all the birds. Thank you!

[kengoh]

Very nice, and yeah, that's one wicked sounding bird. Sounds like someone being murdered. I'd hate to be anywhere in the immediate vicinity in the dark hearing THAT!

Javan Frogmouth (Batrachostomus javensis) | on-line sounds from xeno-canto/asia

Second example in particular, makes you want to shiver, that does...

Thanks magkelly for the links to the calling sound of this ugly bird.
The 2nd sound clip really frightening.

[kengoh]

Stunning creatures.

Some predict that within 30 years 1/3 of the species of SE Asia will be extinct.

Thanks wildman, it'll be sad if the prediction is really true.

[kengoh]

Thanks for the info I added you as a contact on flickr so that I can follow your submissions. Great photos! That sigma 500 is starting to look pretty tempting

Edit: Just a tip, of you don't know it already; tag your pictures with more info, and add them to appropriate groups (as many as you can). That will give you a lot more views. You'r photos certainly deserve to be viewed more!

Thanks Skog for the tips on flickr. I'm quite new to flickr, didn't know how to fully use it.
btw have added you as contact. Cheers!

[kengoh]

I always enjoy your photos Ken, but this time I particularly like the Javan Frog Mouth. The fine feathers stand out so well, and this unusual bird reminds me of the saw whet owl here in the northeastern US.

Thanks Tamia for your nice comments.
This bird was quite close to me hence the details..
The only thing is that the lighting is quite dark with some backlight, as such I have to use mirror-lockup at very slow shutter (1/2 sec), using F8 instead of wide open for deeper depth of field. Luckily the bird didn't move much.

[kengoh]

Exceptional job Ken! The "ugly bird" in number one just blows me away. I am amazed at it's natural camouflage. You did a wonderful job of capturing the wonderful colors of all the birds. Thank you!

Thanks Tracy.
Yes this bird is not easy to find, it camouflages itself to the color of the tree, sometimes even it's right in front of you, you may also miss it, it looks like a dead leaf.

[kengoh]

Added the following birds at post #5:

Banded Broadbill
Creasted Serpent Eagle
Red Whiskered Bulbul
Black and red broadbill