Local Birds

Plaintive Cuckoo - Female Hepatic Morph Variant (?)

Ratchaburi 25.01.11

I headed home with the sole objective of getting out for an hour of good light to photograph some of the local birds that are in the rice paddy at present. For instance last night I thought I could distinguish Paddyfield and Richard's Pipit, there were Red-throated Pipits, Yellow Wagtails, Sparrows and lots of Pied Starlings, Common Mynas and Cattle Egrets in hundreds. I did not bring my camera last night so I thought they would be back tonight, you know, waiting for me, posing! Alas no. A few Black Kites, hundreds of egrets but not the same range of small birds. I was also being a bit of a dope with the camera, just missing shots and there was quite a lot of noise around me as I was in a new area and people were asking me what I was doing. Anyhow I managed a couple of shots of this female Plaintive Cuckoo and now I have looked at the field guide I reckon it is the Hepatic Morph Variant on account of the light underparts.