2. Everything coming together.

On our third day in Kerinci the weather changed for the better and we made the most of it by getting up early and doing a bit of 'thermalling' looking for frogmouths and owls before trying again for the elusive Sumatran Peacock Pheasant in the hide.

As well as the weather our luck changed with Sumatran Frogmouth at last responding to calls and coming to take a look and providing us with decent views.

We moved to a higher elevation near Camp 2 (2,020 m above sea level) for the scarce Rajah Scops Owl named after James Brook, Rajah of Sarawak. We'd heard one calling on a previous foray in the dark but failed to see it. Almost immediately one responded to the playback tape and descending into a dry river bed we all enjoyed good views when Dan picked it up on the thermal.

Realising we were very close to the endemic  Salvadori's Pheasant roost picked our way quietly along the boulder strewn dry river bed and obtained much better views of this near threatened species roosting above us.

Buoyed by our success we returned down the trail to one of the hides to try again for the Bronze-tailed Peacock Pheasant at 1st light. Entering the hide we made ourselves comfortable and settled in for the long wait. Unfortunately for us a couple of Chinese photographers arrived who had absolutely zero field craft or common sense - sticking long lenses through the hide opening and trying to set up a tripod in the confined space whilst his wife was outside continually standing up and making a noise. Fortunately for us they decided to move before one of us committed an assault and wrapped the tripod round his head! Chinese photographers are universally disliked because of the appalling fieldcraft and rudeness and I had several run - ins with them in Thailand earlier this year.

Even more fortunately, after a further wait, the pheasants made an appearance with two separate birds being seen! Success at last.

Sumatran Robin

After breakfast in the field and a hot sweet black tea we headed back up the trial towards 'camp cochoa' where we hoped to catch up with the endemic Sumatran Cochoa. Our luck continued when several Schneiders Pitta's crossed the trail in front of us. I felt happy for fFred as we'd managed to catch up with all his target birds in Kerinci despite the poor start.

Our climb towards 'Camp Cochoa was punctuated by the fantastic calls of the worlds largest gibbon the fabulous Siamang and we stopped to watch these primates move effortlessly through the trees. The noise they make is incredible.

Moving higher we tried several times for Sumatran Wren- Babbler but despite hearing them several times we couldn't see them. A pair of Snowy-browed Robins feeding a youngster were unconcerned by our presence and even tolerated the young Indonesian hikers that passed in groups heading towards the summit of Kerinci.

The trail between cap 2 and Camp Cochoa was particularly gnarly with tree roots and mud and with the altitude approaching 2500 m we were soon out of breath and sweating profusely.

Camp Cochoa is one of the best places to see the endemic Sumatran Cochoa. Hard to see due to its secretive and sluggish nature it is one of the 'must see' birds of Kerinci. Camp Cochoa is also one of the best places to catch up with Sumatran Shortwing and Sunda Laughing Thrush. We failed with the Cochoa but saw both the other species well. 

After a long but successful day in the field we headed back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and a shower before heading out for dinner.