Thursday, 29 March 2012

Forest Wagtail

Forest Wagtail
Dendronanthus indicus
นกเด้าลมดง
Chaloerm Prakhiat National Park, Ratchaburi Province, 29.03.12

An opportunistic afternoon sortie to Chaloerm Prakhiat National Park in Ratchaburi province enabled me to score lifer ⌗329, Forest Wagtail; I even managed a photograph of it and might have managed a decent shot but for the fact that it wouldn't rest for long enough to enable me to capture and focus. Whatever, a delightful bird, really pleasant on the eye and extremely well camouflaged. Apart from a handful of Hair-crested Drongos not much else, though plenty of interesting sounds. This is not a place I visit very often. From walking around the mid-level today my sense is that much of the original forest has been logged and replaced with bamboo. The upper levels look rich with original trees. I am sure there are a lot of ground dwelling birds here but didn't get any trace today. The park is rich with insects: lots of dragonflies and butterflies. Here are two which I managed to photograph.

Common Indian Crow
Euploca core
Chaloerm Prakhiat National Park, Ratchaburi Province, 29.03.12
with grateful thanks to Dave Sargeant for the identification



Fulvous Forest Skimmer
Neurothemis fulvia
Chaloerm Prakhiat National Park, Ratchaburi Province, 29.03.12
with grateful thanks to Denis Farrell for the identification

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Khao Yai Part II

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
Khao Yai National Park 26.03.12

Monday we spent as a family day but went into the park nonetheless, encouraged by the good facilities and abundant wild life we had seen the previous day. Before we had left our resort we had a very obliging Taiga Flycatcher watch us eating breakfast. Wayne managed to shoot it with his handy 400 - 100 mm lens.
Black-crested Bulbul ssp johnsoni
Pycnonotus melanicterus johnsoni
นกปรอดเหลืองหัวจุก
Khao Yai National Park 26.03.12
 Photo credit © Wayne Hodgkinson

It was essentially a non-birding day and I am happy to say our non-birders enjoyed the day in the park and saw some nice wildlife, birds, trees and plants. We took the boys on a very expensive but enjoyable  elephant ride before entering the park.We even enjoyed a pleasant lunch in the main HQ cafeteria. Wayne and I decided that we would book Isara to guide us on the following day.


Taiga Flycatcher
Ficedula albicilla
นกจับแมลงคอแดง
Pak Chong 26.03.12
 Photo credit © Wayne Hodgkinson


Tuesday morning we picked Isara up bright and early and entered the park just after its 06:00h opening time. Isara recommended we should proceed to a site for Eared Pitta and off we went and en route we saw a very prickly Porcupine cross the main road. An amazing spectacle. We didn't manage to get sight or sound of the pitta which didn't altogether surprise me as I know these pittas are not exactly drive-by birds that show on demand. Au contraire! We decided then to head back to Km 33 to check out a site for nesting hornbills. This involved a hike along the trail we had started to walk on Sunday. We got a brief glimpse of a hornbill flying off and nothing else other than the sight of a nest in a tree. We spent too long here and drew a blank as the hornbills didn't return. As we waited we had views of a Hair-crested Drongo, Crow-billed Drongo, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Black-naped Oriole, Black-throated Laughing-thrush and my colleagues even managed to sight a Large Scimitar Babbler, which I missed out on. So after a couple of frustrating hours we gave up on the hornbills. This was a bit disappointing.

White-rumped Shama
Khao Yai National Park 27.03.12


However as we walked along the trail things began to get interesting. Isara sighted two Siamese Firebacks ahead on the path. I missed them other than for a brief glimpse of them disappearing into the scrub but I can hardly make any claims. Wayne had a great view. Then soon after Wayne called a Red-headed Trogon, perched almost at eye level about 20 m in front of us. We tried to get closer to it but couldn't really do so. The trogon was Thai lifer ⌗326. How I wish I could have got a shot of this fellow.......a true visual feast for the eyes! A Black-rumped Shama posed a little for us soon after and put on a great sound display. There are no prizes for working out why this fellow is called "white-rumped"!

Soon after I got very excited with a small bird with a long white supercilium which was cavorting on the ground; this remains an unidentified species at the moment but as I was watching it I got very excited by a bigger bird also sporting a very prominent supercilium which was also on the ground and moving around rather playfully. "Eared Pitta" I said. That is all I could think as I looked at it. We didn't flush it and as a result we were able to take a good long look at it and it became quite clear it wasn't a pitta and must be a babbler; a prominent streaked breast being its other noticeable feature . We have subsequently agreed  it was a Puff-throated Babbler, Thai lifer ⌗327. As we walked back to the truck we saw Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike and some barbets. I certainly felt much happier having got a couple of decent species in the bag after the morning's earlier debâcle.

Blue Rock-thrush
Khao Yai National Park 27.03.12

We had agreed that we would restrict our birding to half a day in order to be in position to meet our various work obligations the following day and allowing for the fact that I had a 4 our drive to get home. So we headed to the park headquarters area to finish off. There we were met by a very obliging Blue Rock-thrush perched on a dormitory roof. After we went in pursuit of Slaty-legged Forktail but drew a blank. Wayne and Isara however got very close to a Crested Serpent Eagle and Wayne got some good shots of it. I opportunistically dropped behind thinking that the forktail would likely be very skittish and would move as soon as it sensed movement. So I waited thinking it might fly down the river to where I was standing! Sadly this did not work but it did allow me to pick out a Hainan Blue Flycatcher which very inconveniently sat in front of a branch which has disguised some of its face. Dave Sargeant has confirmed the ID so it goes in provisionally as Thai lifer ⌗328. Mark Fowler on Birdforum has also made some interesting comments for which I am grateful.


I have to say I had a bit of a mental battle with myself during this trip. Part of me felt we should have done more and added more species to our list. But that is simply the obsessive, driven, crazy part of me coming out. It was never planned exclusively as a birding trip; it was always our plan to take it easy in order to be able to spend time with our families. I am glad to say we achieved this. I think the truth is Khao Yai is huge containing a lifetime's birding and this can't be rushed. When I return next time I will hit the trails. That's what I will do differently. But I will be back and I think this is going to be a very rewarding area in years to come. In effect this trip was like a bit of a reconnoître and I feel now as if I really know my way around the the park a lot more than I did before this trip.

Bang Pu & Khao Yai Part 1

Little Heron

It was nice to be able to combine birding with a bit of a family break and to be able to share the experience with Wayne Hodgkinson, ( aka Kiwi Guy on Birdforum) and his son, Luke, who is the same age as my son, and Zoom, Wayne's family helper. Wayne flew in from Vietnam Friday night and we picked them up at the airport and had a night in a nearby hotel; an unremarkable hotel save for the fact that it lacked a lift which is a pain when they put you on the third floor and in addition to small persons you have a lot of baggage. The plan was to do a bit of birding in Khao Yai National Park but also to make it a bit of a holiday for our families.

Brown-headed Gull

Saturday morning at first light we hit Bang Pu on the Inner Gulf at Samut Prakhan. This too was fairly unremarkable but I did manage lifer ⌗323, Oriental White-eye, a pair of which were feverishly feeding in shrubs adjacent to the entrance to the nature reserve. There were lots of good birds around and the usual flocks of Black-headed and Brown-headed Gulls, but nothing exotic. The nature reserve looks quite new with concrete paths providing easy access around the swamp and mangroves. It may pay to spend some time here now that there is easy access. We also parked ourselves in the hide on the mudflats and a few interesting species posed briefly: Golden Gerygone and the above Little Heron. The latter can be a hard bird to photograph by virtue of the difficulty in getting close.

Brown-headed Gull - assuming breeding plumage

Saturday, late morning, we set off for Pak Chong where I had located what I thought would be an interesting resort, a little bit removed from the main tourist areas. Soon after our arrival we were sad to find the resort staff were trapping birds and had a couple of mist nets set up; a cage held a Lineated Barbet. A walk round the grounds showed there were quail present, possibly a Rain Quail, and the rasping sound of a Chinese Francolin could also be heard. The next day a Shikra stoppped briefly on a dead tree. Clearly there were some good birds around.
Brown-headed Gull - breeding plumage


There were a few other issues with the resort so I won't be naming it or making any recommendations. I did have a word with the management and they appeared to be genuinely interested and concerned. I made some suggestions about how they might make the place attractive to bird watchers by exploring the construction of a hide. Again they were interested and asked for information which I have provided in the form of this interesting article. We shall see what progress they make.

Common Flameback

In real terms there is nothing unusual in this type of persecution. It is a fact that it happens and the reason for it is really people just don't know any better. I suspect in this instance that the people are seeking free food; strange to think of humans eating Lineated Barbet and White-throated Kingfisher.

Banded Kingfisher - male

So to Khao Yai National Park, the "big hill". I had never been in Pak Chong before and had only once before visited the national park, entering from Prachinburi on a day trip. I had been advised against approaching from the south east as the main birding areas are most easily accessed from Pak Chong and coming in from the south means longer drives in the park. Pak Chong is a pleasant enough town with all the usual facilities and would probably make a pleasant base as opposed to the numerous resorts that line the main approach from Pak Chong to the park entrance.

Banded Kingfisher - female

I was shocked to see that the entrance fee to the park for foreigners was 400 THB. My Thai drivers license and work ID card got me in at the local rate of 40 THB, ten times less. Ouch for Wayne! Phew, I thought, because my drivers' license and work ID doesn't work at Kaeng Krachan where I have to pay the 200 THB "foreigner" rate. If they had insisted I pay the "foreigner" rate I might have been tempted to turn around.

I must stress this is a "Western" tax, not a "foreigner" tax, but the notice is headed "foreigner": my wife and Zoom, respectively Filipino and Vietnamese, "foreigners" but not Thai, were charged at the local rate when we entered the park en famille the following day; no questions asked. In real terms I have little problem with Western tourists paying more but I do believe ten times more is excessive and oppressive. Whatever, the park is fantastic. Access is good, the roads are sealed and well maintained, there is good signage and there are good, reasonably priced facilities.......and birds, wildlife and trees and plants abound.

Our first stop after a pre-dawn start was at Km 33, except it wasn't! The layby was a little before. I think I had been prejudiced by a trip report I read which bemoaned the congestion in the park and the difficulties in stopping and parking. So in the absence of signage I stopped at this lay by, thinking it was Km 33. It was a good place to stop as we were able to take a slow,gentle walk about. There were plenty of birds on the move. In fairness, though, it was difficult to identify much as the birds were high up and moving rapidly. Plus, we were rather hoping for some pheasants and partridges to come out of the trees and walk across the road.

Nothing remarkable to note but I did succeed in identifying lifer ⌗324, a Striped Tit Babbler, a small flock of which moved through the understory. The sound of some crowing Red Junglefowl drew me down the hill from the layby where I managed to pick up, from sound, a pair of Common Flamebacks which I managed to locate working their way up a tree trunk. I managed a bad shot. One Red Junglefowl flew across the road but it did not bring anything more interesting with it. It was at this point I saw a sign saying the Km 33 lay by was 100 m away and so we decided to head to it as this provides access to a favoured birding area.

We walked a little along the trail at the layby and there were plenty of birds on the move but once more they were difficult to identify, an Asian Fairy Blue-bird perching just above us; a flock of Lesser Necklaced Laughing-thrush  passed through very noisily;we decided this would be an ideal location for an early start and retreated back to the truck to proceed further into the park and get some brunch. En route we were alerted to a largish group of photographers so stopped and established that there was a male Banded Kingfisher servicing a nest. The kingfisher was showing well but a little inside the forest so not ideally lit. My rig, however, gave me enough reach and thanks to the tripod and the fact that the bird was sitting rigidly still, I managed to get a few shots of the male, lifer ⌗325, no less; a stunning looking bird and a really unexpected find. A further factor with my rig is that the scope is angled and this sometimes really works in my favour. This was one of these times and so I was able to get some decent shots.

As we progressed through the park on our way to Pa Gluai campsite we also saw a lot of wild life -  Samburs and Red Muntjacs and lots of macaques. We had a scout around the stake outs at the campsite but nothing to get excited about. So we had some early lunch and a nice cool drink. We had agreed to go gently and allow some time each day for our respective paternal responsibilities as well as not pissing off the women so we decided to head back leisurely.

On our way home we stopped once more at the Banded Kingfisher site and this time we were rewarded by the presence of the female; she was perched nearer to the roadside and in much better light. So I got a couple of decent shots. That is all it takes: one bird and a decent shot and this birder is happy. We met a guide at the site, Isara, who had dropped by to photograph the Banded Kingfisher. I was quite impressed with his knowledge and obvious interest in birds and so we took his phone number. I mean it was self-evident Khao Yai is a big, big place and a challenging place to get around and find the birding sites.



Sunday, 25 March 2012

Banded Kingfisher at Khao Yai National Park

Banded Kingfisher - female

I am miles away from internet connectivity so briefly to say we bumped into a stunning male and female Banded Kingfisher in Khao Yai National Park today; they were servicing a nest and showing reasonably well. More later. I am so glad I bought that Panasonic GF 1. I'll let the photos say the rest for now.

Banded Kingfisher - male


Stream Glory/Oriental Greenwing/Chinese Greenwing/Green-winged Demoiselle/Green Metalwing
Neurobasis chinensis
Khai Yai National Park,  22.03.12
with grateful thanks to Denis Farrell for the identification







Thursday, 22 March 2012

Early Start at the Reservoir

Rain Quail
Coturnix coromandelica
นกคุ่มอกดำ
Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 22.03.12

I made it to Huay Mai Teng reservoir for a dawn start this morning and I managed to see lots of good birds but none of them came close enough to give me that really outstanding shot. Today's birds were most unco-operative indeed! Rain quail was present but they are incredibly difficult to shoot as they rarely stand up and pose. The above shot really doesn't do the bird's intricate neck markings and colouration any favours.

White-breasted Waterhen
Amaurornis phoenicurus
นกกวัก
Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 22.03.12

The White-breasted Waterhen is a much more common bird than the quail but they have a similar propensity for constant movement. I wouldn't have got this close to the water hen or the quail without the hide. Maybe I need to put out some worms to draw them nearer.

Oriental Darter
Anhinga melanogaster
นกอ้าวงั่ว
Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 22.03.12

Small Pratincole numbers were very low once more, no more than two in the usual area. However I had a look around and saw a few more flying about near the reservoir edge. I also saw these birds land on a small gravel island in the reservoir and I am wondering if this is where the action is. 

Finally this beautiful Oriental Darter, presumably a juvenile on account of the extensive light markings. It too doesn't like people getting close! There was also an Osprey who got away just in time. Nice few hours in the reservoir this morning.

Wednesday, 21 March 2012

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir

Oriental Pratincole
Glareola maldivarum
นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 21.03.12

I never tire of Huay Mai Teng Reservoir -  the more I visit it the more I like it. On arrival this afternoon in the heat I was really in two minds about the wisdom of being out birding. I am still shaking off the lurgy and felt quite delicate. However as I drove to the water edge on the south side I picked up some water fowl in the air and they were not a familiar species. The duck situation is pretty simple here: Lesser Whistling Duck and err, more Lesser Whistling Duck. This is something which surprises me. These were not LWD with greyish heads, and a whitish upper trailing edge to the wings. I couldn't figure. I set up the scope and thought probably Cotton Pygmy-goose but they were too far away. So I decided to drive into the south side land area that is progressively growing as the water level drops. No surprises: Yellow Wagtail, Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Red-throated Pipit, Paddyfield Pipit, ( x2 possible Richard's but won't claim until I can get a verified photograph), hundreds of Oriental Pratincoles, and equally vast numbers of Open-bills, Little Cormorants and Herons, and good numbers of LWD.

Red-throated Pipit
Anthus cervinus
นกเต้าดินอกแดง
Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 21.03.12

I took advantage of the light to take some shots. The Red-throated Pipit is abundant at the moment and gets reasonably close but it is difficult to capture because of incessant movement.

Purple Heron
Ardea purpurea
นกกระสาแดง
Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 21.03.12

The Purple Heron is a testimony to the Panasonic EVF. As I moved around I was able to confirm the water fowl were Cotton Pygmy-goose which I have never seen in the main reservoir in numbers before; usually in small numbers, singles, pairs and threesomes, in smaller pools. A large Osprey was perched on a post.
Rain Quail
Coturnix coromandelica
นกคุ่มอกดำ
Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 21.03.12

I drove to the north side for the last of the light. On arrival I was sad to note one solitary Small Pratincole. However Rain Quail were out in numbers, at least 20, like children in the school playground. They were on a piece of recently burned scrub. It doesn't matter what camera is used when the light is fading rapidly, the birds are 30-40 yards away and they have a vigorous feeding action and lot of motion - it is impossible to get a decent photograph. But I have never seen so many Rain Quail out in the open, playing and having fun.  I was happy to enjoy the show and was well aware that if I tried to close in on them I would scare them away - so I sat and observed. They were joined by a flock of Plain-backed Sparrows and two Indochinese Bushlarks dropped out of the sky to join the fun. I am going to try and got close tomorrow in the morning if I can get up early enough. 





Monday, 19 March 2012

Messing Around

Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Merops philippensis
นกจาบคาหัวเขียว
Ratchaburi Rice Paddy 19.03.12

I got out of my sick bed for the first time in more than two days to play with my new toy late this afternoon. We've all been laid low with bronchial infections, including the baby; I appear to be the worst affected. After three days of antibiotics I am still coughing but I do feel better. Thank God we're all on holiday. Not a lot of action in the rice paddy, simply good to be out. This Blue-tailed Bee-eater perched up just a little too far away. Mustn't grumble; learned a little more about the GF-2 operation and must say I do like it. The shot below of the same bird gives a flavour of what might be possible. Shot at 400 ISO and then brightened - the light was all wrong. I didn't shoot a burst, this is a single frame!

Blue-tailed Bee-eater
Merops philippensis
นกจาบคาหัวเขียว
Ratchaburi Rice Paddy 19.03.12




Friday, 16 March 2012

Digiscoping News: Panasonic DMW-GF1 & 14-45 mm/ f3.5 - 5.6

Bronze-winged Jacana
Metopidius indicus
นกพริก
Ratchaburi  16.03.12



I must say that it is very unlikely that I would have made any progress whatsoever with digiscoping were it not for subscribing to Digiscoping Birds. Members have been generous in their support and help and it is a good place to learn about the craft and what actually works. If you are interested in digiscoping I strongly recommend you to subscribe and lurk! 

It is now recognised that an Electronic View Finder (EVF)  is an absolutely indispensable tool in the digiscoper's box. I have used a loupe to view the LCD since I started and they have limitations. A further factor is my camera of the choice, the Nikon P6000, has comparatively low LCD resolution, at 230,000 dots on its 2.7 inch screen. These factors really govern what you see when you are composing your image and are critical to focus; moreover the birds are rarely up close so getting tack sharp focus is challenging.

When a second-hand Panasonic GF1 kit came up for sale in Thailand a few days ago with an EVF I had to get it. No matter that the model is obsolete, no matter that there are higher specification cameras out there, this appeared to be a perfect camera and having checked with Tara Tanaka, 2011 Digiscoper of the Year and a major Panasonic 4/3 advocate, I didn't need any more encouragement.  The camera has a 3 inch LCD with 460,000 dot resolution. However it has an EVF and while the resolution here is less than the LCD and less than the Nikon P600 at 200,000 dots, the key is it allows the user to magnify focus.

My reading of the reviews was the GF1 was seen as a great improvement on the much lauded G1. It has been replaced by the new GX1. I had a look at the latter's specifications and to be honest I don't need a top of the range specification. The GF1's spec will be perfectly adequate for my needs and will get me started in the 4/3 camera world. I can wait for the much lauded Nikon V1 and the Panasonic GX1.

So the above shot of  a Bronze-winged Jacana would have been difficult at best with the Nikon P6000: I would have lost a lot of the detail and I doubt whether I would have managed to get sharp focus. This is the nub of the matter: the EVF enables you to zoom in for fine focus, no loupe needed. This shot is the result of fine focussing using the EVF, it's been cropped and tweaked a little; it won't win any competitions but there is enough there for me to think I am heading in the right direction. The bird was probably about 40 yards' distant. I used the 14-45 mm/f3.5 - 5.6 Lens attached to the Kowa 25x LER using the Kowa DA-10 adaptor. The lens's adaptor thread is 52 mm so it screws directly onto the DA-10 adaptor without any step rings. Vignetting disappears about 20 mm and the shot was taken at 26 mm.

A further factor in persuading me was the transaction would not attract customs duty which sometimes can add a further 20% to the total cost. Plus it included a 20 mm pancake lense, a spare battery and a release cable. I'll need to get a step-up ring to use the pancake lens; I am told this is a great lens.

So watch this space and hopefully you'll see better quality images as I get to know my way around this new system. But let me just say this set-up works and potentially works very well for digiscoping birds.

Pak Thale & Laem Pak Bia

Spoon-billed Sandpiper
Calidris pygmeus
นกชายเลนปากช้อน
Laem Pak Bia 12.03.12

Thanks to school holidays I was able to meet up with Dean Nicholson from British Colombia, Canada yesterday who contacted me as a result of reading this blog. In the end we decided to hit Pak Thale and Laem Pak Bia, Thailand's premier wader sites. Dean brought Hans Matheve, from Belgium, whom he met in Kaeng Krachan a few days earlier. Hans brought his non-birding girlfriend along too. So in real terms we were mob-handed! Much more importantly we managed to meet up in Phetchburi on time and at the agreed location - no mean achievement!

Our first target was Black-faced Spoonbill, two of which have been reported regularily and appear to favour salt pans near the gas holders at Pak Thale. We had a good look but couldn't locate them. We did see good numbers of Painted Stork however and we had some debate about whether a whitish bodied bird, with black fringing at the base of its wing edges as it stood up, was a Milky Stork, another regularily reported rarity from the same area. We agreed it wasn't. I have to say that having just reviewed the photos on Oriental Bird Images I think we might have got this wrong and that it was in fact a Milky Stork!

In Pak Thale we had to work to find Spoon-billed Sandpiper but we did in the end see one in salt pans towards the mudflats. Hans called it and he and Dean walked in a little bit to get better views. Phew! Always a relief to sight this fellow and I was delighted for our visitors. Lots of Lesser Sand-plovers, some Greater Sand-plovers,  good numbers of Kentish Plovers, a fair few Broad-billed Sandpipers, a handful of Great Knot, and the resident flocks of Curlew and Black-tailed Godwits.

Next up we headed to the sand spit at Laem Pak Bia. I had arranged beforehand that Mrs Daeng would serve an early lunch at 1030h and I have to say it was perfect. Mr Daeng got us onto the sand spit and the undoubted highlight was a Pallas's Gull, identified by Hans as first winter. In fact Hans gave a mini-lecture on why it was a first winter and its key diagnostics: grey streaking around the eye, long thin bill with black tip, streaking on the neck, white upper tail covert....... So helpful to have such expertise to hand when this type of bird is in front of you. No less Thai  lifer ⌗322 for me. I have to say this gull is huge and dwarved the Brown-headed Gulls and Crested Terns which were keeping it company; a brief aerial display confirmed other key diagnostics not to mention its comparative enormous size.

Five Lesser Crested Terns were in a mixed flock of Greater Crested Terns, Brown-headed Gulls and Little Terns. Abundant numbers of plovers with 6+ Malaysian Plovers but no White-faced. One solitary Chinese Egret and on the way back we had a Heuglin's Gull on a small sand flat opposite the sand spit: once more a massive bird, dwarfing the four Brown-headed Gulls which it was with.

We decided to keep our focus on waders so next we went to the Abandoned Building and Dean got very lucky here with a number of lifers including Ruff, Indian Nightjar , Indochinese Bushlark and Plain-backed Sparrow.. It was good to see birders putting themselves out to get a decent view of Plain-backed Sparrow because as I have often said before, it isn't plain. Dean flushed the nightjar which left a fledgling behind. I hope they manage to reconnect


We then decided to head north back to Pak Thale for the final chapter in our day's birding. Even though it was low tide there were still good numbers of waders in the ponds near the mudflats. Here we were excited by the possibility of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper but after exhaustive enquiry and observation, we decided we couldn't claim it and that it was more likely a Long-toed Stint! Our cause was not helped by distance and the fact that the bird was onnly showing its rear quarters. We also took a lot of time observing Curlews feeding on the mudflats and were drawn into the possibility of one being Eastern: it appeared darker, had a longer bill which seemed to start straight and only curve downwards at about three-quarters of its length. We looked, looked and looked but it wouldn't give us a sight of its uppers or unders so we had to give up on it as a "curlew species". A number of very busy Terek Sandpipers were seen busily feeding on the mudflat.


A great day's birding indeed. Thanks to Dean and Hans for their expertise and good company. As we drove into Phetchburi town I stopped the car to view an unfamiliar shape in the sky, quite low down. Mmmmmmm, a kite! As in a toy kite! 


So few photographs? Yup! On Wednesday I went to the Eastern Seaboard, alternatively the Pattaya overspill, where I bought a second hand Panasonic GF1. It was such a good offer I could hardly refuse it. The package included an Electronic View Finder. Well I managed to leave the EVF at home! So I decided not to bother with photography today. Not an auspicious start but I have high expectations that once I have learned the camera.


I did fiddle with a loupe and managed a usable shot of Spoonbill Sandpiper. In this instance the bird is of no consequence. What is significant from a photographic perspective is even though  the bird was 60 - 70 yards away, the focus and sharpness is a significant improvement. I doubt whether I would have been able to produce a usable image with old faithful, the Nikon P6000. To underline this check this two shots of a Yellow-vented Bulbul taken Wednesday at Bang Phra Non-hunting Area, Chonburi province.



The above is uncropped and I haven't tweaked it in anyway. It's an unremarkable, bland shot of a bird that is a bit out of reach. However the focus is sharp. So look at the same image cropped below. Not a great image either but the detail is good and as far as I am concerned it is a significant improvement on old faithful. The crop would have been much more blurred. The new camera enables finer focus.


So upwards on the learning curve I proceed and I hope there will be a corresponding improvement in the quality of my images, once of course I have learned the new camera and system and so long as I remember to bring the EVF!


Monday, 12 March 2012

Some Birding Sites in West Central Thailand


The highlight of a truly outstanding day's birding was sighting 2 pairs of Small Pratincoles on the ground in the usual place at Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province. This time last year there were more than fifty pairs and I had been able to watch their numbers build from Christmas Day 2010. They were a significant presence and it was quite clear they were nesting. I hope that as far as this year is concerned numbers will now increase.

But a truly outstanding day, a day of superlatives. I was joined by Dave Sargeant and we met up with Tom Backlund. It is a real privilege for a rank novice like myself to be in the company of such experienced birders, true lifelong devotees of the craft. I had agreed to show Dave around some of the local, "lesser" sites. Tom was able to join us. As Tom and I always wax lyrical about Wat Khao Takhrao in Phetchburi Province this seemed a good place to start.


Thanks to Dave's sharp eye and strong sound recognition skills respectively I started with two lifers, a Wryneck (⌗319) and soon after a Laced Woodpecker, ,(⌗320). I might have got the Wryneck but no way would I have got the woodpecker; at the very best I would have got "woodpecker sp." but sound enabled Dave to find it in the upper story of some tall trees adjacent to the big pond at Wat Khao Takhrao, and then to confirm the identity, notably to separate it from Streaked Woodpecker. We were all hoping that Tom's recently sighted Comb Ducks might show but alas,no sign today. Plenty of ducks, however, somewhere in the region of 1200 Garganey and lesser numbers of Northern Pintail. No other duck species. Lots of Brown-headed Gulls, a number with their very distinctive Brown-headed breeding plumage, lots of Caspian Terns, Whiskered Terns and a couple of Little Terns. We also had three aerial Black-headed Ibis and I managed to pick one out at ground level.


Next we decided to head south to the dipterocarp forest at Wat Khao Look Chang, about an hour's drive away. Almost immediately on arrival I managed lifer ⌗321 with a couple of Rufous Treepies. There were a lot of good birds: Red-billed Blue Magpie, (sound), Lineated Barbet, Red-breasted Parakeet, Indian Roller, Green-billed Malkoha, Lesser Necklaced Laughing Thrush, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo but no woodpeckers and no sign of Spotted Owlet. We also had a glimpse of a sizeable kettle of migrating raptors but they were too high to be able to identify.


After a pleasant lunch we bade farewell to Tom. Dave and I then decided to head north to Huay Mai Teng Reservoir in Ratchaburi province, just under two hours away. On arrival at the southern side of the reservoir we observed one Eurasian Coot and Dave picked out a notable new species for the reservoir, a Grey-headed Lapwing; the numbers of Oriental Pratincoles continues to grow in this area. There were also a few Red-throated Pipits


We had a little scout around the site during which Dave managed a Rufous Woodpecker which I  missed; it would have been another lifer. We had stopped to try and get views of a Small Buttonquail which had scrambled across the track and disappeared into the scrub. A nearby  perched Eurasian Kestrel moved as we closed in for a photograph and Dave had that experience every bird photographer has -  shot composed and about to release the shutter when the bird, in this case an Oriental Pratincole, legs it. We had to make do with Yellow-eyed Babbler - good to see this fellow as much of his habitat at the site has been destroyed to make way for planting.


Back at the main birding site for the last light of the day, we hit pay dirt. Four Small Pratincoles were on the ground in the usual place. It is usually possible to get quite close to these birds and get some decent shots and using Dave's car as a hideI managed some reasonable shots.  Rain Quail responded to a little playback and we estimated we sighted between 15 and 20 of these as we moved around in vain efforts to get a view of some of them on the ground. We also flushed a Savanna Nigthjar. In the final light of the day an Oriental Darter flew directly over us on its way to roost.


Notwithstanding the dark we were by no means finished. Dave got out his sound recording gear and I believe he managed to get good quality recordings of the Savanna Nightjar's call as a number of them exuberantly circled around us in full voice. Earlier efforts had been frustrated by the loud noise of jet-ski engines on the reservoir. There were also clear calls from at least two Indian Nightjars.


We hit the road at 0530h and finally made it home to Ratchaburi at about 1930h. A classic day's birding and I remain overjoyed at the return of the Small Pratincoles. I didn't do a lot of shooting today. It was quite overcast, with some light rain in the morning and with the exception of the Small Pratincoles I didn't really get close to any birds today. But I am not complaining! Good to be able to focus on the birds per se

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Khao Look Chang, Phetchaburi Province

Spotted Owlet

Well less than 24 hours since my disaster I have my truck back, fully repaired and probably driving better than at any time in the three years I have owned it. The rescue and repair cost 5850 THB, that is about £115 GBP. I am a fortunate fellow. So I had to go to collect it today which meant another trip to Kaeng Krachan. I discovered there are vans running to Kaeng Krachan village from Petchaburi so it is possible to get there by public transport. However birders and visitors will still need to arrange transport from the village to the park and indeed up the mountain.


To celebrate my good fortune I decided to go to Wat Khao Look Chang, a nearby dipterocarp forest adjoining a temple. I was hoping for Black-headed Woodpeckers. I also stopped in at the animal refuge there which is managed by Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand; I hitched a ride yesterday in Kaeng Krachan in a car which was transporting some of their volunteers. A worthwhile visit as I learned a little about the refuge's current situation and difficulties with officialdom. I would suggest you go to their website for more information and I would add this is a worthy cause.

Red-breasted Parakeet - female

I dipped on all woodpecker species. A shame because the forest trees show plenty of their work. However I am far from disappointed as I managed another two lifers and for good measure, before entering the forest, two Black Bazas flashed past briefly in pursuit of prey. I presume the Bazas are migrating northwards and have parked up here.

As I walked into the forest the first bird I observed was a Racket-tailed Drongo. I walked further in and was a little cautious as I was aware that it would be rather easy to get lost. This was a concern as wold have to negotiate my way out and I decided I didn't want to have to do that in the dark without a torch.


I managed to follow a moving bird onto its perch and when I got the bins on it I was rather pleased to see it was a small owl. Initially I thought it was an Asian Barred Owlet but now that I have been able to look at my photographs I am pretty sure it is a Spotted Owlet. Barred Owlet lacks they eye detail this fellow has and the white chin and neck markings. So I am going to add it to my list as lifer ♯317. Please correct me if I have this one wrong. (Thanks to Rockfowl on Birdforum for confirming this ID.)


And soon after I managed to observe Red-breasted Parakeet. There was a small flock calling. I believe this is a female and I am sorry to say I didn't get a look at the male which, according to the field guide image, is a much more attractive creature. So Thai lifer  ♯318 goes onto the list. Nearby  a beautiful Indian Roller perched and then flew as I was ready to shoot. It was resplendent in its breeding plumage - what a transformation. A fair few Black-naped Monarchs were swooping around too.

So a very satisfying 90 minutes in a much neglected location. I must come back and spend some more time here. There must be several species of woodpeckers in this forest judging on the dead trees and the tell-tale marks on them.

Another photography issue that has arisen over the last two days is shooting birds back lit by the sun. Unfortunately forests don't let you choose your stance so it can be impossible to get the sun behind you. This means getting a shot with lots of blown highlights; fortunately I have been able to capture the birds' details reasonably well. Another vote for a 4/3 camera and telephoto lens!

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Disaster at Kaeng Krachan

Brown Hornbill

In the final analysis I am grateful to be home safe and sound, at worst a little out of pocket following my day yesterday in Kaeng Krachan National Park. It could have been so different. Energised by seeing two lifers in quick succession, Silver-breasted Broadbill and Brown Hornbill, I decided I was going to head up to Km 27 in search of further goodies. A couple of other birders told me my truck would make it. I knew from a previous attempt that it was unlikely. Foolhardily I decided to give it a go. I made it up the mountain as far as Km 20 and then the truck conked out. In retrospect I was lucky because the clutch might have gone while I was on the slope and that could have left me struggling to control the vehicle on a steep, narrow uphill slope  - that is a scary thought as I might have ended up rolling off the road down the mountainside. Plus the engine was on the point of overheating..... so a lucky escape, I rather fancy

Kalij Pheasant

The recovery however is a classic example of just how wonderful the Thais can be. A passing driver, and there weren't many about yesterday as the park was very quiet plus it was late afternoon, picked me up and drove me down the mountain. Thank God he did because otherwise I might be still up that mountain! Park officials hardly raised an eyebrow when advised of my predicament. They said there was no problem removing the truck in the morning. The driver was taking a small group back to their resort  so we went there first. Next to a garage in Kaeng Krachan village where a mechanic said he would collect my truck in the morning and fix it. He too was unfazed about heading up the mountain and bringing the vehicle down. The classic British line : "This is going to cost you" accompanied by a gleeful smile and greedy, rubbing hands, didn't materialise! The mechanic estimated between six and seven thousand baht in total and that includes repairs. That sounded like a good price so I left my keys with him and said I would see him tomorrow afternoon. Then the guy drove me home to Ratchaburi, about 100 km away. Does it get better than this? If so, pray tell. Now I haven't got the truck back so perhaps I'd better be a little circumspect with the praise until then.

Kalij Pheasant - female

An annoying end to an otherwise great day's birding. This was to mark my first day on holiday after a long, tiring and demanding academic year. I felt I deserved a treat! I have said before that I don't visit Kaeng Krachan often enough and notwithstanding today's problems I must do so more often as the quality of birding is of the highest order. My first species of the day, a few kilometres after entering the park, was a Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher a really cracking looking bird. Next up in the same area came an Asian Brown Flycatcher and a Common Tailorbird. This latter immediately posed a question: could the tailorbird be a Dark-throated? This one definitely wasn't as there was no evidence of a dark throat, funnily enough, but it made me mindful especially as one that might be flew into the understory. It had dark central streaking in the throat area. So I had a quick study of the field guide and decided that to claim it I needed the dark throat and the absence of the Common's supercilium. So I couldn't claim this one as I hadn't been able to resolve the supercilium issue.


Kalij Pheasant - male


As I drove around a corner at the 5 km marker I noticed four large pheasants on the road. I managed to stop without scaring them and reckoned these were Silver Pheasants, a foursome of two males and two females. I even managed some shots in very poor light. No Silver Pheasant, no lifer. These confirm Kalij Pheasant, of the lineata crawfordii sub-species. (Thanks to Steve Pryor from Birdforum for clarifying this; he also advised that there is some contention about how Silver and Kalij and their sub-species are split. ) So looks like I am still going to have to go to Chiang Dao in pursuit of Neil Lawton's Silver Pheasant! 


Dollarbird


I deliberately took my time and drove slowly stopping all the time to check birds. A lot of the more common species but great fun and it appeared that I had the lower reaches of the park to myself. There were a few  White-rumped Shamas  and lots of Orioles flying around.  I stopped to view a female Sambar standing near a bridge, a first and also the first time I have seen a large mammal in the park. She didn't let me get the digiscope on her. As soon as she sensed movement she turned back into the forest. At the same bridge I managed to claim lifer ♯313, Dark-throated Tailorbird: unmistakable dark streaking on its throat and no supercilium. An Emerald Dove briefly showed for a drink of water and a Sultan Tit was nearby too but wouldn't sit still for the photograph!  




I noticed a lot of bulbul species: Streak-eared Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Stripe-throated Bulbul and Ochraceous Bulbul. It's been some time since I last saw Ochraceous so I needed to study the field guide  to call it. I was thinking it might be a babbler species with its crest and white beard but it was really all wrong. There were more than a few unidentified species including warblers. That's the nature of birding as the little creatures flash past. A Dollarbird posed for me high up in a dead tree.

Yellow  Grey Wagtail
(Thanks to Pete Kinsella for the correction)

I made it after about two and half hours to Ban Krang camp which was always my plan: stay low and concentrate on the action before reaching the high ground. On arrival at Ban Krang a Pied Hornbill was showing well in the trees at the rear but otherwise there wasn't much of note. I drove along the track to to the rising ground, just past the third stream and all I could muster was a Green Magpie and some Black-naped Monarchs. I decided it was time to have a snooze as I was feeling quite tired.

Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo

An hour or so later I traversed the lower ground and caught a glimpse of some pheasants but they scarpered pretty quickly into the undergrowth. Then something quite amazing happened. A truck pulled up out of which emerged four birders, including two Taiwanese birders who I met the last time I was here in May 2011. We shook hands because we remembered each other. Last time these guys put us on Black-backed Kingfisher; this year they were in pursuit of Banded Kingfisher. Sure enough on their arrival the birds came out. First a small wave of approximately five  Silver-breasted Broadbill,, lifer ♯314. Now these are stunning beautiful birds, looking as if they were designed by cartoon artists.

I bade farewell to my Taiwanese friends saying I would see them next year! No sooner had they gone than I got views of a Brown Hornbill, lifer ♯315, at a nest in a hollow in a tree. I presume it was feeding but I can't be sure as I didn't see any sign of a chick. A Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo posed for me. Then high in the canopy I observed a woodpecker, all green with what appeared to be a fluorescent yellow crest. A new species, a Yellownape. However I can't make any claims as it might be Greater or Lesser; it didn't hang around long enough for me to check out any more detail. Its yellow nape was the key feature that stood out.....it really was glowing. I would say that on size it was probably a Greater. In much the same way as with Dark-sided Tailorbird, I'll need to wait until I see it again: then I'll know what I am looking for.

So I thought to myself: I am going to go for it, I am going to go up that mountain and I am going to find the Long-tailed Broadbills. Sadly it was not to be. I did however manage to observe Fork-tailed Swift, lifer ♯316. This was a large swift, really obvious long wings, with a clearly visible fork tail and if it is not Fork-tailed then I cannot see what it else it could be. The alternative would be Dark-rumped described by Lekagul and Round, A Guide to the Birds of Thailand, as a "very rare winter visitor; little known." There was a small group of 7 or 8 of these birds mixed up with other smaller swifts so I am pretty confident in this claim.

I took some shots but I have to say, and I have said this before, forests are far from ideal for digiscoping. I think a good DSLR or 4/3 camera with a 400 mm lens would be the best solution in such a habitat. Light is constantly an issue in that it is rarely adequate, plus the birds do tend to be on the move so an ability to change settings rapidly is important. Digiscoping doesn't really allow this. Sure you can change settings but it takes more time to get the bird in the viewfinder and get focus: take more time to adjust settings and the likelihood is the bird will have flown! I'll post the better shots when I have some time.

Another excellent day's birding and while I am disappointed about the truck I'll be philosophical and be grateful that I am unscathed, notwithstanding my rashness.