Of Cloud and Hornbills: Khao Yai 2019

And the rain came.

Rain came washing the road. Rain came greying down the hill. Rain came obscuring the rainforest.

Droplets covered our faces. Our tired skin soaked it like parched earth.

We were content.

***

Our hornbill pilgrimage was incomplete at home. After covering Malabar Pied in Western Ghats on November, next in line was Austen's Brown Hornbill. Our best chance was Dihing Patkai in Assam. But the February trip was cancelled at the last moment as the political situation became volcanic there.

So on a blue evening of June we arrived at Khao Yai National Park, one of the last refuges of this unfortunate species.

***

Intira and Jay are a couple. They were running this safari business for eight years now. Both are skillful naturalists. On our request they were tracking brown hornbill movement for the last few months. Good news was - a family was frequenting a tree they identified.

In the morning, safari vehicles picked us up from our resort cottages. They drove high speed to park gate then started winding up slowly though the hill road. In half an hour we reached Visitor Centre. Vehicles were parked.

A small hanging bridge took us to a trail. After a few twists and turns we took a narrow dirt track. Soon a hide was found behind a dense bush. Jay pointed to a tree about 40 feet from the hide. With a hole, it was actually a nest. The hide was erected by park authority, so that birds could be observed without disturbing these supremely shy species.

After waiting for a good one and a half hours, cackling sounds could be heard. These hornbills are cooperative breeders. Thus other males help the father to feed the mother and chicks, who were inside the nest. In anticipation a chick came near the hole entrance showing its bill.

Two males came. One by one they sat near the hole, hanging on a creeper. Then fed them fruits, painstakingly taking one by one from their long pocket in their bill. The azure eyes were sad and affectionate.

Our pilgrimage was successful. We had just clocked one of the hornbills, that is getting alarmingly rarer every day.

***

We soon figured out Khao Yai was not just about hornbills. On our way back, Intira spotted a beautiful green pit viper folded on a bush. A family of lar gibbons were high up on a tree. Our drive towards park entrance met with a large family of pig-tailed macaques. Tea was served. We enjoyed it in the company of macaques.

The road became undulating through slopes of grassland. Barking deer found grazing over it. Intira spotted another lar gibbon family. But they moved inside the jungle as we approached.

A camp site arrived. A malayan giant squirrel lazily laid flat on a tree. A moustached barbet kept himself busy. Its cousin green-eared barbet was busy devouring fruit in another tree. And a black crested bulbul. Wow! Its throat was red. It seemed a cross breed of our black-crested and ruby-throated in India.

But the sky was dark. Jay and Intira drove quickly to a park restaurant. A heavy torrential rain ensued. Pork and rice tasted heavenly among the downpour. By the time fresh fruit platter of rambutan and mangosteen was served, the rain had reduced to a drizzle. Eventually sky stopped crying. But droplets refused to leave orchid petals.

A banded kingfisher made a nest on a nearby tree. But they gave a miss today. Instead a white rumped shama hopped from branch to branch. We walked to Haew Suwat Waterfall, made famous by Leonardo Dicaprio's The Beach. Rainy season being yet to hit, the waterfall was not at its prime.

After rain the road became foggy. The park had turned into a true mysterious rainforest. Our guides found a large scorpion on the road. A black lar gibbon resting on a tree top three a reluctant look at us. An Oriental Pied Hornbill spent some time on a bushy branch. Call of blue pitta came along. But did not make any appearance.

Drive to Yod Khao Khieo summit was silent in the afternoon. This area often frequented by silver pheasant, and red headed trogon. At the summit common green magpie was expected. But none of them visited us. We spent some time with a horned beetle and a cicada. The viewpoint offered a beautiful view of the valley.

Downhill we found small temples of Buddhist deities. They accompanied tiger, jungle fowls and other animals. Called spirithouses they are worshipped by locals as the custodians of the forest. Hailing from the vicinity of Sundarban National Park, I could easily relate these deities with our very own Banbibi and Dakshinray.

At the blue hour, we stopped near a reservoir and became mesmerized at the wide open vista.

***

In the evening we boarded a park vehicle. A park ranger and Jay accompanied us with a flashlight. Through pitch dark road, the car drove around. Sambar groups roamed more freely. Couple of porcupines amused us with their funny movements. An indo-chinese water dragon hung still on a creeper over a water channel.

***

Yesterday our focus was on brown Hornbill. We we neglected other famous inhabitants. We saw great hornbills last morning. But did not stop on our rush to their brown cousins. Today, as expected, we found them on our way to the visitor center. Some good time spent with these magnificent birds. On the other side of the valley, a family of wreathed hornbills flew at distance. We just covered all four hornbill species of Khao Yai.

A trek was necessary to spot the gibbons today. The track was densely infested with leeches. That did not deter us, protected by the leech socks. A huge cinnamon tree stood at the trail. Gibbons were found soon.

Their cousins in India, hoolock gibbons, have two distinct colours for male and female - black and brown respectively. But both sexes of lar gibbons can have black and brown morphs. We found both in the family. They were already resting at high branches of the tree. Some of them threw curious glances to us. Noticing our eagerness, they brachiated from tree to tree.

Our enthusiasm had an observer. A beautiful looking lizard paid a lot of attention to us from a moss laden dead trunk.

***

Afternoon found us near a narrow stream. Pig-tailed macaques played around. A sambar herd grazed over a grass field.

The sky was dark. Yet, we jumped into a small trek. The cloud was thunderous. Yet dollarbirds were fearless. We took shelter under a tree till the cars picked us up.

And the rain came.

***

And the rain came.

Rain came washing the road. Rain came greying down the hill. Rain came obscuring the rainforest.

Droplets covered our faces. Our tired skin soaked it like parched earth.

We were content.