A very successful trip by all accounts, lead by Paul Cardy. Customers Tony Morin and John Davison have kindly sent in these gorgeous images from the tour. It is the shimmering colours that are so transfixing!
A short summary by Paul;
Our fourth Thailand tour was superbly productive, especially for butterflies, its focus, with among very many species vast congregations of crows, and many species mud puddling. Burmese Batwings, Paris Peacocks, White and Green Dragontails, Great Helen, and Great Zebra were highlights among the many swallowtails. Jewelled Nawab was as fine as its name, the scarce Yellow Pasha was new this year, Autumn Leaf settled on our arms, and there were stunning Indian Leaf Butterflies. There were Viscounts, Earls, Counts, Barons, Marquises, and Archdukes! Blues, skippers, whites, yellows, satyrids were many and varied. A great tour for Odonata too, most sites having many species of damsels and dragonflies.
The tour is a latitudinal transect from Chiang Mai in the north to Surat Thani in the south, visiting national parks that give a superb variety and wealth of species as we travel most of the length of the country.
Snakes featured this year with some fine species, namely Oriental Whip Snake, Golden Tree Snake, Pope’s Green Pit Viper, and Red-necked Keelback. Bird highlight was Black-thighed Falconet I think, but there were many more. Four locations for Thai cave geckos, all endemic, are known, and we saw Tiger Cave Gecko as we explored a cave for Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat, perhaps the world’s smallest mammal. Dusky Langurs were in fine forest, feeding on figs together with Great Hornbills. Blanford’s Gliding Lizards displaying on tree trunks and Spiny Terrapin in pristine water, were notable.
