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WATCHING BIRDS – MAKING USE OF OBSERVATIONS.
A visitor walking along the trails can simply enjoy watching or listening to the birds encountered along the way, or, with a little bit of effort some valuable information can be obtained.
IDENTIFICATION
The most important aspect of observing birds is identification. Unless a bird has been correctly identified any other information is worthless. Do not expect to identify every bird that you see. Many birds are extremely difficult to identify, even for experts, also you will find that many birds simply vanish into the foliage before you can see enough field-marks to make a positive identification.
Identification is based on a combination of distinguishing features such as size, shape, shape of bill and general plumage colours including special features such as wing bars, crown stripes, supercilia etc. as well as vocalisations. These are compared with the plates in a field-guide. Once you have found an illustration that appears to match the bird in question, refer to the text to make sure that the species occurs in the area, in the correct habitat and within the altitudinal range. Field-guides generally refer to similar species and you may find that you have to look for very specific field-marks to be sure of your identification. Never rely on memory; either take some brief notes about the distinguishing features, or perhaps draw a rough sketch or refer to the field-guide while the bird is still visible. Once a correct identification has been made, the record can be entered in the logbook, and the bird list can be updated if the species has not previously been confirmed from the area.
Further information that can be noted: Some species exhibit sexual dimorphism (males and females have different plumages), and most birds have a distinctive juvenile or immature plumage that differs from that of adults. You can record this information too.
How many individuals were there? What were they doing? Were they in a mixed species feeding party? What was the composition of the feeding party? Were they high in the canopy or in the middle or lower storey?
BEHAVIOUR:
Were the birds feeding, if so what were they eating? Could you identify the food item – fruit, seeds, insects etc.
Were the birds displaying? If so what did the display involve.
Were the birds breeding? Signs of breeding include nest-building, carrying food to feed young, removing faecal sacs (droppings) from the nest, and of course an actual nest. If you are fortunate enough to discover a nest you should take a quick look at the contents if possible, count the number of eggs or nestlings, note the position of the nest, on the ground, in low vegetation, on a branch etc. Then move on swiftly to allow the adult bird to return to the nest. If you disturb the birds too much they may desert the nest altogether or predators may eat the eggs or young in the absence of the parent birds.
MAMMALS
Hard and distinctive evidences are things to look out for when folks take the Trail, i.e. an activity. Some hard and distinctive evidences remain forever in-situ. Some hard evidences can be made, and interested parties can be guided to the sites of the hard evidences (either permanent or temporary) to give them an idea what those evidences actually look like in natural conditions.
In addition, measuring tracks and scrapes (either made up or real at fixed locations and/or otherwise) along the Trail can also be a good interactive activity or training activity for the students and para-wildlife biologists. Plaster-casting of tracks is also good interactive activity.
A short training course can be conducted at the resort for interested parties in identification, measuring, photographing, and plaster-casting tracks. The identification bit can include other hard evidences made by mammals present or known to occur in Thailand.
Night surveys are an interesting activity with guides accompanying all night walks.
Visitors should be encouraged to record their animal sightings or of their hard evidence observations in the resort's log book. A wildlife list (prepared and frequently updated by the resort staff) can be extracted from the log book and displayed on the resort's display board.
Setting-up of camera-traps in the field can be a learning activity, and a folder showing photographs of animals "captured" by camera-traps can assist in developing an interest in the subject matter.
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