This year the ‘monsoon season’ has been pretty mild so far. As usual, the rains came in April and the island’s green areas sprang into life. So come July and August the flowers are out which brings the butterflies, dragon flies, bees and all the other insects. Then in turn the flowers and insects brings in the birds. This year I have seen a big increase in the number of smaller birds like sunbirds, bulbuls, flower peckers and bee eaters. That to me says that last year was a good one weather wise as a large number of young survived and returned this year to their summer homes.
Many of the smaller birds are not really shy but just keep themselves tucked away from the noise and traffic. So, when on motorbikes or other transport, you wont see much as they will be on the other side of the trees and bushes keeping out of harm’s way. However, if you walk and hear the birds chatter there is a good chance you can see something good if you just look. Many birds will even pop up to check you out too, just to make sure you are no threat and then they will just carry on with what there were doing.
That being said, trying to get close with a cat is a challenge although it does have some advantages as the birds give an alarm call which subsequently alerts me to where they are. A good place to start is the common small trees with the bright yellow or pink trumpet shaped flowers. They have many names: cassia fistula (also known as golden shower), purging cassia, Indian laburnum, kani konna, or pudding-pipe tree. These are a haven for Sunbirds and do flower for a couple of months. This gives the birds and you a long-term place for them to feed and you to spot them.
The more common sunbirds around Phuket are the ornate sunbird, brown throated sunbird and the olive-backed sunbird. There are several types here in Phuket and some look pretty similar so I plan to do a whole article on the different sunbirds now I know a bit more about them.
Slow down
The real aim of these articles is to get people to slow down and open their eyes to what can be seen everyday, if we just take the time to look. So many people drive hours and spend money on going to national parks to see wildlife (which is a good thing) but do not look in their own back garden. I do not go out to national parks and wildlife sanctuaries but just walk to and from work, walk to the local 7/11 and walk along the beach. Even in the most busy places in Phuket, such as Patong, there is so much to see, such as king cobras, monitor lizards, great egrets, pacific reef herons and many types of bat including the massive large flying fox (pteropus vampyrus) whose wingspan can be up to 1.5 metres.
Over the next few months my articles will focus on more specific wildlife and not just birds and butterflies that are relatively easy to spot when out and about in Phuket. I do know there are more rare creatures about such as white squirrels, wild pigs, and several types of otter so if anyone does see anything rare or of interest along these lines please contact me so I can get to see them then notify others in due course. In addition to all the great photographers, I am sure there are many every day people interested in the bountiful wildlife around Phuket too.
Simon’s story on finding and adopting Leo (or her adopting him!) can be found here.