How to spot binturong in Thailand
Hello,
this is more of a general know-how question, with binturong being a mere mascot of the thread.
We are going to Thailand in January for 2ish weeks for wildlife watching, especially mammals and reptiles, after that we move to the Philippines for diving, total trip is 30 days including flights. I already started a different topic on tips of where to go, we will probably do Kaeng Krachan and Khao Yai, possibly with Hala Bala (I am worried about the security and agile gibbons, rhinoceros hornbills and even siamangs are not worth a bullet).
When I read the reports here, I see the members spot a lot of species. Last time I was in Thailand I was not really so deep into wildlife watching and photography as I am now and I had much less experience, so most of my sightings, however plentiful, were luck based. Now, I am a much better spotter than your average tourist, I had no issues finding sloths in Costarica etc., but I still feel I am missing a lot of skill.
Say, I would like to see a binturong in Thailand (which I very much would). I think this is sort of a low to medium difficulty species, with macaques being easy and cats being difficult. I know it is mostly nocturnal, but daylight observations are not uncommon. I should probably focus on trees in fruit (will need to check which exactly – but focusing on „sloth trees“ in CR did not really bear fruit – haha :/ – they were simply wherever they wanted) and just look and listen (and possibly smell, but that is hard without experience). I will also read up here, what are the best specific spots in the respective parks (such as KK camps for bears or that guard post where martens come). But I feel that is not enough.
I guess, my question in the end is, how to improve in spotting (tropical) mammals?
I do not have a thermal scope, which I guess can improve success rate greatly, but I am also on the market for Nikon D500, „downgrading“ from full-frame for better reach with 100-400 mm and better AF, so I am hesitant to drop even more cash.
My other problem are the „planes” on which to focus. As I am also into herps, and invertebrates, those are mostly seen just a few meters away or less. But mammals and birds are often much further. I find it very difficult to scan the treetops, and the ground around, and the thickery around, and the ground far upfront. I usually am able to do just one, a month or two ago I literally stepped over (not on, luckily) a nicely coiled grass snake juvenile right at the path while looking at the „outer layer“. Do you have any measures for this?
I know this is a difficult and fairly general question, but I will still be grateful for any advice from the more experienced 🙂 .
Thank you.
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