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Small Pratincoles in November

The headline news from a couple of hours' birding at Huay Mai Teng Reservoir this afternoon was 175 Small Pratincoles. What a beautiful sight and personally a great morale booster. I haven't been able to do much birding lately. A lot of these birds had the most delicate peach colouring around their necks which really enhanced their appearance. I saw a solitary one in October so I now have records for every month of the year, so it would appear that Small Pratincole are not only breeding here but in fact may be resident year round. Sadly no image. They were just a little too far away and the light was very poor.

I had my son with me this afternoon though he was more interested in playing with the gravel today. In the same area as the pratincoles there was an Olive-backed Pipit, a number of Yellow Wagtails and a Little Ringed Plover. Overhead a couple of Pied Kingfishers were fishing and performing their characteristic hover prior to a rapid vertical descent for prey; a  female Pied Harrier nonchalantly flew over too. In the distant islets there was a Purple Heron and also a Grey Heron, not a bird that is seen here very often. Lots of Paddyfield Pipits too and good numbers of Green Bee-eaters.

I only heard one solitary Rain Quail today. I think there probably has been a considerable amount of displacement going on over the last few weeks; this brought on in all likelihood by the rise in water level reducing the amount of suitable habitat. Yes, the water level once more was appreciably up today. So probably the quail are on the move. A phylloscopus warbler, unidentifed beyond this genera flashed through the canopy of a tree, reminding me how much of a novice I really am, the next frontier perhaps!

As Benny and I headed home in the gloom we picked out some Lesser Whistling Duck, Common Moorhen and a Common Kingfisher. How wonderful to be out birding.

Another Good Day

Is there such a thing as a bad day's birding? Clearly some days are better than others. But is there such a thing as a bad day? I think not but today I nearly had one at Don Hoi Lod in Samut Songkram. The  Thais call this area "Meklong"; the eponymous  river connects here with the Gulf of Thailand. I had a strong desire for waders and this area is probably the nearest bit of coast to my home. I set off mid-afternoon in stifling heat. It's been unusually hot these last few days in Thailand, given that it is now the cool season.

Don Hoi Lod  didn't disappoint in terms of birds with lots of Common Redshanks, Common Greenshanks, Pacific Golden Plover, Long-toed Stints, Whimbrel, lots of Lesser Sand-plovers, a good number of Brown-headed Gulls, all the usual suspects you might say. Of course all were out of range!

So I decided to try and get some shots of kingfishers. I set up the hide in a place I know Collared and Common Kingfisher like to feed. The presence of a Collared perched on a post was the motivation. No sooner was I set up that the bird flew! I gave myself an hour in the hide but it didn't return nor did any Common, one of which I had seen perched nearby. As a much needed deluge closed in I decided to head home. No sooner had I got the hide in its carry case than a Collared Kingfisher flew in and perched where I had my lens trained! I scrambled to set up the tripod and get the scope on it but no sooner was I set up than off it went! 'This is a bad" I was starting to think.

As I reached the main road it was clear that a major storm was imminent. I looked up into the dark, foreboding sky, periodically streaked with lightning. There were a lot of raptors kettling high in the sky. I stopped the car got out with my bins and I would say there were between 30 - 40 Brahminy Kites. Brahminy is reasonably common in and around coastal areas but usually in small numbers. I''ve rarely seen more than two and never this number. I wonder what if anything is the significance of this high count. They appeared to be heading south so possibly some migration. I really don't know.

But really that makes it a good day: being able to see something like this, something new, something unexpected. At about 1700h it got very wet, and very windy so I legged it home.

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir: Early Morming

Asian Golden Weaver - female

Ploceus hypoxanthus

นกกระจาบทอง

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi,

10.11.12

Early morning is one of the best times to be up and about in Thailand. You don't have to go very far to come upon monks out collecting alms from the faithful; they make an impressive sight bare-footed in their saffron robes saying a prayer for prostrate donors usually offering some food. For a disillusioned teacher like me seeing this daily ritual is a timely reminder of some of the really good things about Thailand. Of course early morning is also a great time for a bit of birding.

Rufescent Prinia

Prinia rufescens

นกกระจิบหญ้าสีข้างแดง

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi,

10.11.12

There really only was one place I wanted to go birding this morning and that was Huay Mai Teng Reservoir. I decided on a new approach: take a walk with binoculars only and then have an hour in the hide for photography. This worked well. It seems the main action at this current time is on the southern side of the reservoir. There is an extensive flat area of marsh, swamp, grass and scrub. This time last year the area was completely submerged. This year the water level hasn't yet covered it.

Rufescent Prinia

Prinia rufescens

นกกระจิบหญ้าสีข้างแดง

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi,

10.11.12

There was a beautiful cool breeze blowing as I got to grips with the first birds of the day, a rather raggedy Lesser Coucal, followed some Green Bee-eaters and Drongos. There were a lot of Cattle Egrets as always loitering around the herd of cattle that usually hangs around some ramshackle huts at the road head. Immediately a Chinese Francolin's unmistakable rasping call could be heard someway off. Booted for once, I took to the track and was soon up to my thighs in water as I crossed a short flooded section. In fact I had made a conscious decision to wear boots as opposed to sandals so I could walk with impunity and not worry unduly about snakes and insects.

There were a lot of Oriental Skylarks in and around this area quite easy to distinguish on account of most of them being crested. I would estimate between 10 - 12 but they were on the move so difficult to be precise. The were also 8-10 Richards Pipits which are now easier to separate from the default Paddyfield: totally different flight action when flushed and of course the vocalisation, the shreep is quite distinct from the Paddyfield's cheep. Thank you once more, Phil Round. A Pheasant-tailed Jacana and two Common Moorhens flew across my bows so to speak while an Eastern Osprey hovered above me in search of a bit of breakfast.

Rufescent Prinia

Prinia rufescens

นกกระจิบหญ้าสีข้างแดง

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi,

10.11.12

As I walked I could hear Rain Quail but not as many as on recent visits and I managed to flush a few; I suspect I also put up a few Barred Buttonquail but they are up and away so quickly that it is very difficult to call them. There were also a lot of Purple Heron, as many as 12. I recorded Small, Intermediate and Great Egrets for good measure too. I have an unidentified fly-catcher, a little brown one which didn't seem to be Asian as it lacked any grey and it wasn't Taiga as it didn't have any white lateral patches on its tail. I think next time I might carry in the hide and rig and set up here for some photography as there were lots of calls coming from the scrub.

A pleasant and wet walk. I set up the hide for an hour and managed some shots of an Asian Golden Weaver ( female?) and a Grey-breasted Prinia. (Ed. correction: now that I have processed the images I believe it is a Rufescent Prinia; strangely enough a Grey-Breasted has a ....err, a grey breast! This one doesn't. For me the longer, supercilium, going a little behind the eye and the graduated tail with light tips swings it to Rufescent. Please advise if I have this wrong!) There were some very interesting calls too coming from the scrub but nothing showed.

As I packed up a Common Kestrel was visible hovering nearby showing brown upper wings with black primaries and a dark tipped longish tail. What a perfect start to the day!

Reservoir: Banded Bay Cuckoo

A quick spin up to Huay Mai Teng reservoir this afternoon proved very worthwhile - a rufous colooured bird perched on a tree with lots of drongos was not clear enough to distinguish using binoculars but allowed me enough time to get back to the truck and get the scope on it. It was unmistakably a cuckoo but it wasn't plaintive female or the variant. I noted a very prominent and long blackish mask extending back to the nape and a white supercilium; these were the stand-out visible features. In keeping with my commitment to shambolic birding I didn't have a guide book or data card so sadly not even a record shot. But from looking at the field guide now I am home, it can only have been a Banded Bay Cuckoo. That is a lifer and another patch record.

It was a beautifully warm and sunny afternoon at the reservoir. Just nice to be there and to be out in the fresh air. Not a lot else of note: plenty of Rain Quail heard, also a Thick-billed Warbler, a juvenile Pied Harrier, lots of Green Bee-eaters, Paddyfield Pipits, good numbers of Zitting Cisticolas, a few Indochinese Bushlark and two Purple Heron.

Ratchaburi Raptors

Finally I got some time late afternoon to go birding and fortunately my immediate locale is buzzing. I love Peregrine Falcons and this one stayed long enough on the pylons for me to drive into the nearby Rose Garden estate and take the shot. I don't know whether it is a local breeder or the perigrinator ssp; however it is very rufous so possibly peregrinator. A gentle couple of hours in very hot sunshine. Elsewhere in the rice paddy I had good views of a female and juvenile Pied Harrier quartering and a Black-shouldered Kite perched on electric wires. It becomes so much easier once the more difficult birds have been pointed out to you and this afternoon Rufous Woodpecker flashed away in the same place as it did last Sunday; I also heard Lanceolated Warbler and had reasonably good views of a couple of noisy Zitting Cisticolas. Plenty of Plain Prinias and a Common Kingfisher perched over the irrigation canal.