Ian Dugdale’s trip to Hala Bala helped to finally put and end to a lot of speculation which I had been harboring over the past year or so.

While it is easy to regret no being able to join in on a trip of a lifetime, I was very thankful that Ian was able to photograph a Reddish Scops Owl in Hala-Bala. You see, I had a picture of a Reddish Scops Owl as well, but for the longest time, I doubted if it really was the Reddish. -Why?

-I took the photo of the bird perched in a mango tree in my yard. –And I live in Phuket town, NOT Hala-Bala National Park.

-So how did the bird get here?

I really can’t say, all I know was there was an owl calling for three nights in a row sometime last year and I finally got so upset with this bird disturbing my sleep that I got up at 2 AM and went to investigate. After finally photographing the bird, I sent it to various birders, among whom were mentionable personalities such as Dr. Phil Round, Peter Ericsson and Nick Upton. There was a lot of discussion and some said it looked like it could be a Reddish (juvenile perhaps?) and others thought it was a darker variation of the Collared.

In my mind there was a 90% certainty of what species of owl was as it seemed to respond to the call of the Reddish (does any owl respond well to taped calls?) and looked like it as well. However, there are some burning questions which are crying out to be answered: How did this bird end up in Phuket? –Where does it live? –How many are left in the wild? Such a rare species cannot be passed off easily and this sighting demands an explanation, one I cannot offer.

Since the beginning of construction on a road through the Muang Chao Fah area in recent months and the destruction of much forest and marshland in the surrounding areas, the owl has disappeared, only showing once in March this year for less than 10 minutes. I cannot say if I will ever see the bird again.

However, now with Ian’s photo to use as reference, I’d like to again bring out my old photos from the archives and see what the birding community might have to say about the two.

Even the simple things in life are beautiful.

The White rumped Munia ranks as one of the most common birds in Thailand. This little finch is so common that in parts of the northeast they are routinely trapped and sold as “nok tamboon” for merit-making. These little creatures build nests in trees in gardens and plantations and can raise up to four chicks per clutch. -Not bad! 

Birders are often bored of these little birds since they are so common, yet as you can see from this shot, each and every one of them is a unique individual.

And God thinks the same as well. “Not one bird falls to the ground that your Heavenly Father is not aware of.”

Thanks to Peter Ericsson for permission to use his photos.