By August and September the first rains have come and gone and everything has had a good two to three months to grow again. Many of the birds that were around for the past six months have gone to where they go to breed or avoid the rains, while others make the most of the new plants and seeds they live on, like the White Rumped and Scaly Munia.
With the burst of new plants and flowers brought out by the early rains we get lots of new baby birds that hatched a few weeks ago now all feasting on the nectar from the new flowers, in particular the various beautiful sunbirds. Here in Phuket we have many types from the Ornate Sunbird, Crimson Sunbird, Brown-throated SunBird, to name just a few. The day is filled with birdsong just as soon as you get out of the din of the towns.
The new meadows and grasslands bursting into life bring huge numbers of butterflies in their thousands. So many in fact the grass areas in the hills above the holiday towns are a must if you like wildlife or photography. It is worth having an afternoon exploring. It does not take long between showers and a few rays of sun before they swarm out to get a bit of warmth. So, it’s an easy way to spend an afternoon on a non-beach or lazy day.
If you walk, and keep your eyes open, you will see a lot more than birds and butterflies. Many times when looking for very small birds I have seen things that seem very odd to me as a European. Among them, one time was a small flying lizard flitting from tree to tree. It’s known as ‘Thai flying dragon’, or barred flying dragon (Draco taeniopterus), and is a “flying” lizard capable of gliding from tree to tree. They are small but once you see them you will see they are everywhere.
However, do be slightly wary when getting too close to plants like the banana plant (it is a plant, not tree; well, actually it’s a herb) but we won’t spend time on that now as there really is so much wildlife to see. You do get small tree snakes that really are cute. They are not venomous, but if get too close they could give a little nip if they feel you are a threat. As with most snakes they will flee if they can instead of fight. These little guys will just go about their business and not mind you at all. They feed on geckos, small frogs and the like ‒ and the ones I was watching were trying to catch very small birds called Flower Peckers. Without any luck, I may add, but still nice to watch.
Something that did give me quite a surprise was something I really did not expect up a tree above my head: a monitor lizard. They are fairly common in Phuket. They can grow up to two metres long in Thailand and weigh up to 70-90kg at the very top end, and oo in size they could see a medium-sized dog as prey. Most you see are around 1.5m long, but are normally on the ground or even swimming. So to see one above my head was a bit of a shock.
When you do see one, don’t panic or get too close as they can run up to 22 miles per hour (36km/h), which is faster than most of us. BUT don’t worry, they can’t run for long. They can’t breath and run at the same time. So they do a short spurt and stop. So as long as you have a good head start, you should be fine.
I did see one during COVID that was around waist height and two metres long (though longer with the tail, but I have been told two metres is really the biggest they get). It stopped and looked at us, so we stopped as it was clear it did not want us around it. Then it just went on its way. I may have to do a whole article on lizards as there are so many here.
So, for nature lovers Phuket in the monsoon season is a great place to be as it is cheaper, away from the crowds, less humid and with so much varied wildlife that so many people will not see, as they just don’t venture away from the towns. As a photographer and nature lover, I can see so much potential for nature tourism and photography here in Phuket… if only people just knew that so much was here.
Simon Lomas is an expat who has been living in Phuket for more than 12 years, and takes enjoying nature and the island’s surroundings to heart.