I don't have a single photo of my own of local birds, just one video of a flycatcher. This bird turned out to be so unafraid and, one might say, sociable… but that was only a rare exception to the rule. Forest birds will never let you get close enough to photograph them without special equipment and prepared observation shelters, along with prior feeding. Simply observing them is also very difficult, but sometimes you can identify a bird by its song. This aspect of forest life remains unknown to me: we find colorful and simple feathers, nests, and eggshells that have fallen from trees or bushes, we hear bird songs, and occasionally we catch a glimpse of the wings of noisy flocks or pairs of birds.

I really wanted to capture a local bird for a painting, one that would help convey the mood of the place and moment. This wish was fulfilled quite quickly. A fellow countryman, an ornithologist and birdwatcher, visited the park. He and his fellow scientists were located far from us, but near that part of Bidoup Nui Ba where many birds live and where we often go ourselves. He was fortunate enough to see and photograph the collared laughingthrush (Trochalopteron yersini), a species endemic to this area and to Vietnam. The bird's habitat is limited to a region just over 25x25 km, and it is not found anywhere else, though many people would love to see this rare bird. Having seen fresh photos of local birds from Sergey Volkov, I asked for permission to use his image of Trochalopteron yersini as a model. This is how this painting came to be — a collared laughingthrush during a meal, excited by the food it has acquired.