Banana's Heart

I finally got a chance to go out birding last weekend. It was a short visit to Wat Thum Phaplong in Chiang Dao. It's a temple area located in the lush green hill of Doi Chiang Dao, the 3rd highest mountain in Thailand. It is among my very first places for birdwatching. I still remember the first moment when I stepped out of the car as I arrived at the temple and was extremely amazed by the voices of birds singing and calling from every direction. In those days, the temple was still very undeveloped. I can still remember a big Calabura tree at the parking lot where we could observe lots of exotic forest birds that came in to feed on its fruits closely. Too bad, the tree was later chopped down and the temple has undergone, and still undergoing, a lot of developmental construction.

Little Spiderhunter

Last weekend, there were not as many birds as I have seen in the past, but still considerably good enough. I walked around the parking lot and came across a big banana heart which was blossoming. I knew that if I wait for a moment, there should be some birds come to feed on this flower. I was right when a single Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra) came in and started sucking nectar from the flowers. Spiderhunters are the main birds that feed on banana flowers. It turned out that there were several birds in the area and they chased each other around, fighting for the nectar. I was surprised when the bigger relative of the species, the Streaked Spiderhunter (Arachnothera magna) suddenly dropped in and chased away all the Little Spiderhunters away. The latter species always seems to be more wary and I was happy to get some photos of it in relatively close range.

Streaked Spiderhunter