Meklong River Estuary, Inner Gulf

As often happens with teachers we get sick when we go on holiday and sadly I am streaming with a heavy cold and a sore throat. When I should probably have been in bed we took a drive yesterday afternoon, Saturday, around the west side of the Meklong river, Inner Gulf so to speak, south of the main highway near Samut Songkram, more exploratory than anything else. We also had a brief look on the east side of the Meklong around Don Hoi Lod but not much of note. The bird of the day was Tiger Shrike, I counted four of them in three different areas, skulking in scrub, suggesting a bit of a migratory wave in progress. Elsewhere lots of Redshanks, a few Greenshanks, one Marsh Sandpiper, 4 Brahminy Kites, a few Whiskered Terns, a pair of Lesser Sand-plovers, 8 Pacific Golden Plovers, a Common Kingfisher, a  couple of Collared Kingfishers. Strange being in this area and not seeing any gulls, whose arrival must be imminent. Today, Sunday, I am confined, happily confined, and hopefully will make up for this in the next couple of weeks once I am fit again. This week I got  a couple of excellent links via the various bird groups to which I subscribe. So this is my current browsing: http://wallace-online.org/ and Oriental Honey Buzzard Satellite Tracking Project.

The Deluge

I left home in bright sunshine and rather fancied when I got to Huay Mai Teng Reservoir about 1530h  that I was going to be lucky in avoiding rain. Twenty minutes later it was battering down and 90 minutes later it was much the same. My priority became the avoidance of getting stuck in mud and keeping my equipment dry. Not many birds today such was the donwpour. However I was at different parts of the site today so did see a Black-shouldered Kite, 2  Bronze-winged Jacanas and a mixed flock of about 30 Asian Golden and Baya Weavers. I couldn't help notice the rate of habitat loss: where until recently there was secondary forest, with lots of scrub, this has now been cleared and a water tower has been installed and electricity pylons erected. I wonder what the future holds here. Glad to say I got home without needing excavation.

Reservoir Update

Lesser Coucal

Not such a great day for photography but a pleasant afternoon, if a little wet, for birding. The question is this: have the River Lapwing moved on from Huay Mai Teng Reservoir? No sign of them today. This is consistent with the last three years - the River Lapwing have usually gone by now. So, too, however, had the Small Pratincoles in each of the last three years, but again today they were present in numbers, around 100 or so. Perhaps the lapwing are still around.

Lesser Coucal

We have had a lot of rain this week and it was reflected in an appreciable rise in water levels at the reservoir. It's still low but it appears to be filling up. The bird of the day was Yellow Wagtail, of which I would estimate at least 60 putting on aerial displays. Good numbers of Oriental Skylarks and lots of vocal Rain Quail; only two seen in brief snatches of flight but I do wonder how many of these quail are here. A solitary Pied Kingfisher performed its spectacular hover before plunging into the water in pursuit of prey. Sadly light and rain meant I was not set up.

Eastern Stonechat

A Peregrine Falcon flew over high and a distant Chinese Francolin could be heard. Plenty of Zitting Cisticolas, Oriental Pratincoles, (but no evidence of a build up of numbers) and Paddyfield Pipits. In the last light of the day I saw a pretty sight: a Lesser Coucal with two juveniles. Sadly the juveniles took cover before I could get a shot of them but the adult stayed in the clear for long enough; I would have liked a shot of the juveniles as they are really quite distinct and quite pretty.

I also saw three Brown Shrike, 2 Black Drongo, 3 Whiskered Tern and 1 Eastern Stonechat today: normal migrants that take up residence at the reservoir for the "winter".

A-whaling We Will Go

Bryde's Whale

(© Photo Credit: Samanya Rodorigo) 

I spent the day whale watching today with a group of "foreign" teachers and their families and friends. That's our designation in this country but we were a truly international group, seventeen of us to be precise: Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Indian, Camerounian, American and Scottish. Most importantly we saw one whale and in fact got so close we could almost see down its large throat. Spectacular views as this youngish Bryde's whale filled up with small fish and the terns swooped in an attempt to scavenge some sustenance. As the organiser I was delighted for everyone, and relieved too, though I think most people would have been happy with the boat trip in itself. My own view is we were fortunate to see this one whale and in no small measure our thanks are due to Loong Lek, our very able skipper. If you want to go whale watching Loong Lek is your man and his boat is ideal.

The birds were equally good: I observed 2 Bridled Terns, 2 Lesser Crested Terns, 32 Great Crested Terns, 40+ Great Cormorants. I even managed a few shots which is remarkable. I think the Great Cormorants are amazing, real pelagic birds.

Reservoir: Weekend Notes

River Lapwing

Over the weekend I made two visits to Huay Mai Teng Reservoir. There is nothing quite like patch birding; hard to explain really. I saw everything that I expected to see. I was also on the look out for Little Stint. During the week Phil Round had advised me that he had received a record from Tak, several hundred kilometres north of here, also inland, of Little Stint and it made perfect sense that they might alight at the reservoir on their journey south. No stint species whatsoever on either day this weekend, but good to be aware of the possibility of a rare wader by Thai standards.

Small Pratincole 

There were five Pacific Golden Plovers on Saturday afternoon, a patch first, and following last week's Whimbrel, clear evidence that migratory waders are making pit stops at the reservoir. In addition the presence of three River Lapwing was very pleasing. There were also big numbers, at least 50, of Small Pratincoles. I was pleased to note a first, solitary Brown Shrike of the season and the distant call of a Chinese Francolin. Add in lots of Yellow Wagtails, Zitting Cisticolas, Little Ringed Plover, Lesser Whistling Ducks, Little Egrets, Openbills, Little Cormorants and a solitary Pied Kingfisher. A few buttonquails flashed out of the undergrowth but too quick for me.

Pipit sp

I rather fancy there were Richard's Pipits as they did appear to have bigger bills and their movements appeared to be different from the usual Paddyfield Pipits.  They proved difficult to photograph and most importantly they were reluctant to close their bills! This one, photographed above, also appears to have a very upright stance; however the bill doesn't appear to be very stout. The darker upper bill and the yellowish lower also supports Richard's.......I don't know! Maybe Birdforum can help! ( 12.09.12: the  Birdforum gurus are unanimous is declaring this to be a Paddyfield Pipit. There's now a good thread on Birdforum with useful comment and an excellent link to a very authoritative summary by Dave Bakewell.)

Great Egret

Early Sunday morning the reservoir was at its most serene. Warm and sunny. I was struck by an aerial cluster of 250-300 Oriental Pratincoles; these birds usually assemble here around this time and I expect their number will increase over the next few weeks. There were lots of Small Pratincoles too, between 80 -100. I set up the hide and managed to get a few shots of some of the more common birds. On my way out I flushed 3 Rain Quail and some other buttonquail species which once again were too quick for me. However I now have a definite marker and will be back to explore this in future.

Small Pratincole - juvenile

Common Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Back to the Patch

Small Pratincoles

What a joy to be out birding on my local patch at Huay Mai Teng Reservoir. A recent request for records drew my attention to not having visited the site for over a month. Tut,tut! So Benedict and I headed out in the afternoon. The water level is as low as I have ever seen it. Two stand out records: a Whimbrel, a first for the patch, and amazing to see it so far away form the sea;  and the presence of about 50 Small Pratincoles, mainly juveniles, which look as if they are "over-summering'. I say this as in previous years I have no records of Small Pratincoles from September to the end of December. There were also two River Lapwing present.

The amount of land reclamation going on is unprecedented. The topography is changing fast and most importantly bird habitat is being reduced. Half a small forest has disappeared and it looks as if the foundations are  being laid for new buildings. Electricity pylons have been erected and roads, gravel tracks at present, are also under construction. I have seen Yellow-rumped Flycatcher in this area and Nick Upton has reported hearing Siberian Rubythroat there too.

However just good to be out on the patch, looking for my own birds.

Laem Pak Bia

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler

A thoroughly enjoyable day in Laem Pak Bia. My Saturday class was cancelled which freed me to join Phil Round and his team for a morning of bird ringing at The King's Project. There can obviously be no other way of getting so close to birds as having them in your hand! It really is great experience for a novice like myself and it is particularily good to connect so directly with the science of ornithology. The highlights today were 5 Yellow-rumped Flycatchers and 2 Pallas's Grasshopper Warblers. I banded a number of Baya Weavers, Asian Pied Starlings, and Collared Kingfishers. I have to say I felt much more comfortable handling the birds this time. The most difficult part of the whole process is removing the birds from the mist nets. They do get tangled up. However it becomes easier with practise and more importantly the bird can be removed much more quickly.

Cinnamon Bittern - female

We ringed 50 + birds today and recorded simple vital statistics for the more common species: weight and the  length of the leading wing. A much more detailed analysis is made of the Warblers and Flycatchers including the removal of feathers for possible DNA analysis. Phil keeps a large database of all ringed birds; retraps and recoveries combined with sharing information with other ringers enable field biologists to provide answers to some of the many questions we have about birds.

I need to say that in all of this the welfare of the birds is of the utmost importance. The objective is to get the birds out of the nets, processed and released as quickly as possible. It was therefore sad to see a dog attacking a pond heron in one of the beds. I hasten to add this was not a trapped bird. I was having a wander around after we had finished ringing and the hound was in one of the grass beds and had managed to disable the bird so it could not fly. I scared it off but I rather fancy that having disabled the bird it went back later to finish off the job.

Immediately prior to this I managed to photograph this Cinnamon Bittern but it too took off when the dog appeared on the scene. I think it is a female, a beautiful bird and it becomes even more beautiful when it elongates its neck. There are a lot of good birds in and around the Kings Project.

Mid-afternoon we had a spin aroud Laem Pak Bia. We chanced upon a flock of approximately 1,200 Great Knot which according to Phi is unusual so early; we could make out a solitary Red Knot in this flock. In or nearby we counted about 450 Whimbrel, 30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 11 Terek Sandpiper, 1 Asian Dowitcher, 1 Milky Stork, 2 Spot-billed Pelicans.....Laem Pak Bia is starting to happen.

The only bummer was we failed to see either the Great Thick-knee or the Indian which have been reported recently. However little to be down about, a truly memorable day.