EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT COMES FROM ABOVE FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHT.......James 1:17


I was in the very North of Thailand having had a couple of super days of birding at Doi Lang. In the evening at my hotel room I was praying about what I should do on my last day. There was still the possibility of several lifers at Doi Lang and there was the possibility of going to Doi Inthanon to photograph a male Daurian Redstart. Then, the answer came, Alex Vargas, a friend of mine, gave me a call. He excitedly told me of a male Rusty-naped Pitta showing at Chong Yen, Mae Wong National Park.
Anyone ever having tried to see this bird knows how extremely difficult it is. It is widespread in the mountains but just about never seen. The possibility of capturing some images struck my senses.
I barely could wait for the morning light and set off on the 620 kilometers journey. I did a lot of praying (I know it may seem funny but I believe a lot of things can go wrong without prayer) and I was praising God for engineering this possibility so perfectly. Any other time this period and I wouldn't be free to pursue it.

I got to the park after noon (yes, I did drive fast)...there were only a couple of blinds (hides) as I got in. The bird showed a few times but was hard to shoot as it was hidden partly behind a low fence.
I had to lay down on my back, couldn't use the tripod and it was very hard to get shots at such low shutter speeds.

The next morning a good number of SUV's started to arrive. News spread fast. Some folks resolutely lifted up the fence to unblock the obstruction. Now there were about 10 blinds. I waited for the bird to show and tried to get better shots. After showing once (it cleaned up all the earth worms placed there as bait) it went back down into the gully.

Here are a few of my shots. I hope you can share my joy.

Thank you Alex for so unselfishly sharing the find.