Chris Lansdell's Birding & Nature Diary: Thailand Day 14, 15 February 2013, Ao Nang

As we'd arrived in the south after dark the previous night my first look at the area was this morning and the gardens and trees around our accommodation - The Mountain Paradise at Ao Nang. The resort of Ao Nang isn't really my cup of tea as it's very touristy and busy. Luckily our abode was tucked away off the main street down a quiet side road and overlooked by a massive limestone cliff.
We had just a day in Ao Nang before catching a ferry to Phi Phi Don the following day so the only actual birding was around the Mountain Paradise and the beach area.
Even being restricted I managed a couple of new birds in the form of Asian Glossy Starling and Pacific Swallow. I'd noticed a couple of strange swallows around our accommodation looking superficially like Barn Swallows without tail streamers and they turned out to be this species that I later went on to discover is quite numerous in these coastal ares. I also managed to see 2 Coppersmith Barbets, Greater Coucal, 2+ Peaceful Doves, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Black Drongo, Black-headed, Red-whiskered and Streak-eared Bulbuls, a single Brahminy Kite and Taiga Flycatcher.