Duck Bonanza at Wat Khao Takhroa

This afternoon I felt unusually listless as I headed out birding. The plan was to check out a new site in Samut Songkhram province and then head on to Norng Blah Lai. I never found the new site and as I was in the area I ended up driving to the Wat Khao Takhrao area in Phetchburi province. What a piece of good fortune because the large pond was once more full of waterfowl. An even better result was that I was able to drive along a recently reclaimed track, that previously could only be accessed by foot. The bad news - the ducks were too far away to photograph and my cause was not helped by  an Eastern Marsh Harrier who was buzzing them.

I managed a few shots and I was in pole position with the sun behind me; unfortunately the birds wouldn't come any nearer. Most of these shots are between 400 - 800 m away, in hot weather over water. I think they more than suffice as record shots but a real shame I couldn't get in close to get detail. Anyhow the ducks made a fantastic if somewhat noisy spectacle. They were widely scattered and well mixed up so it would be impossible to provide anything other than a very rough estimate - 700+ Northern Pintail, 400 + Garganey and between 2,000 and 3,000 Lesser Whistling Duck. I am quite surprised that there were more Northern Pintail than Garganey - I would expect it to be the other way around.

During a conversation with Tom Backlund during the day he said there is a view that the high number of eagles in the Norng Blah Lai area this year may be attributable to the serious flooding in the Chao Phaya/central plains area last year. I wonder if the presence of such big numbers of ducks here this year is also similarily attributable.

The male Northern Pintail is a truly elegant bird with his chocolate head and the white,vertical line which starts behind the ear and broadens into the neck. Three Cotton Pygmy-Geese in an adjacent pool looked decidedly ordinary. Of note, one Black-headed Ibis but among the ducks nothing particularly groovy or unusual that I could see. I believe this area warrants further investigation in the near future.

I hung out and simply watched the show for an hour or so. A Booted Eagle drifted over languorously; a few Caspian and Whiskered Terns too. I have to say I have a charmed existence.

Small Pratincoles back at the Reservoir

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir rarely disappoints and today was no exception as my son and I headed up for a brief scout around late in the afternoon. I had one objective: to see if the Small Pratincoles had returned. I am delighted to say in the fading light of the day I watched 5 fly above their normal wintering quarters here at the reservoir. They didn't land but I am happy to say they are back in the area and I expect that over the next two months or so their numbers will increase and they will take up their usual position.

I also managed to "see" at least 5, possibly more, Savanna Nightjars. I have used inverted commas because it was virtually dark but nevertheless was able to note three key distinguishing features: white outer tail feathers, white wing patches on the females and finally, and conclusively, the call: it has a really distinctive rasping call which I have checked against other contenders on xeno-canto. It can only be Savanna Nightjar. So Thai lifer ⌗310 goes onto my list. As I drove home I was wondering about the possibility of getting a shot of these birds using flash with a handheld camera: they were coming in so close it seems feasible.

Elsewhere in the site I saw three Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, two Bronze-winged Jacanas, a glimpse of one Blossom-headed Parakeet and one Yellow Wagtail. Plus I managed to flush a small group of about 7 Barred Buttonquail. These are amazing birds: they must have been 10 yards away from me in thickish grass. I didn't have a clue they were so close until they flew off. They really are masters of disguise.

I also rather fancy I saw a couple of Richard's Pipits: they appeared bigger, more upright,stouter billed, longer-tailed and lighter lored with more extensive breast markings. I've just had a listen to both Paddyfeld and Richard's calls , once more on xeno-canto, and I am now doubtful so no claims.

For once I didn't get the rig out. My little boy loves to play with the tripod so I am not sure I would have been able to take any shots. But a most happy scout around the reservoir.

A Blank

A brief 45 minute saunter through the local rice paddy in Ratchaburi drew a virtual blank: no evidence of harriers or eagles whatsoever. A glimpse of a  Thick-billed Warbler, a White-breasted Waterhen and small flocks of Plain-backed Sparrows and Scaly-breasted Munias. I  am a little perplexed about the absence of  harriers, I haven't seen any here since before Christmas: they have been a fixture here at this time on the two previous years. The rice paddy is dry and barren right now so maybe they have moved to better pastures and will return when planting begins which will result in the fields being flooded.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Pak Thale, Phetchburi

The plan this morning was to find Far Eastern Curlew at Pak Thale and in between my efforts scout around for Spoon-billed Sandpiper. I failed miserably on the former but I did see two Spoon-billed Sandpipers and I rather fancy I also saw 3 Little Stints. Thanks to Peter Ericsson's party for putting me on to the Spoonbill Sandpiper. It's nice to be able to add Spooner to this year's list but I wonder how many more years it will come back to winter in Pak Thale. It's also nice to be able to publish a decent shot of Spooner too. Not an easy bird to digiscope as it is on the move with little let up in its feeding action. This shot is heavily cropped to exclude a Red-necked Stint and Curlew Sandpiper.

The only thing better than one Spoonbilled Sandpiper is two!

That bill! I could have tried to get closer but I really didn't want to encroach any further. These birds command respect and some care and it seems plain wrong to disturb them at all.

The jury is still out on my putative Little Stints! Tom Backlund's initial reaction was Red-necked Stint. The shots are above and below. I thought possibly Sanderling but the bill is not right and they are much too dark.

Some of the other birders I spoke with today had seen 2 Black-faced Spoonbills earlier but my efforts to locate them drew a blank. They did produce a Black-headed Ibis in a large flock of egrets and Painted Stork. I think it is a juvenile. The ibis was constantly on the move, feeding, and it was fairly congested with birds so it was impossible to get a clear shot of the bird.

Finally a couple of common birds: a Barn Swallow and a Caspian Tern.

So Pak Thale is kicking!

Aquila Eagles at Norng Bla Lai, Phetchburi Province

Greater Spotted Eagle

I am surrounded by avian richness and a 35-40 minute drive today took me early afternoon to Norng Blah Lai in Phetchburi Province. This is home to wintering aquila eagles; these must be some of the most spectacular birds I have seen: big, majestic birds and a magnificent spectacle. The official count today  was 17 Greater Spotted Eagles, 5 Imperial Eagles, 4 Steppe Eagles, 3 Booted eagles, 4 Peregrine Falcons, a few Eastern Marsh & Pied Harriers, a couple of Brahminy Kites, a few Black-shouldered Kites and lots of Black Kites. These are the figures provided by Mr Paan, one of the leading lights in the raptor scene - I saw all the aquila species this afternoon, and only missed out on the Peregrines. You could say the place was buzzing - at times it was a bit like a fly past. Great to see Paan again too.

Eastern Imperial Eagle

I must add it didn't start out too promisingly. As is the tradition here the recently harvested fields were on fire this afternoon, and this meant a huge amount of smoke was being blown northwards across the main viewing area. However I noticed a number of black kites perched on a tree just above the wind and headed in to this area. 

There were plenty of Black Kites on the ground in this area and then the flyby began. In fact the Imperial Eagles came down from high and I was so excited that I messed up the shot! I've got shots of Steppe Eagles too, high in the sky, but they are good enough for identification purposes but not much else. So I won't post them here. The Imperial just qualifies for use here! Amazing to see the four aquila species on the same day in the space of a few hours.

A very pleasant afternoon today and truly sensational birding.

Common Kingfisher, Kanchanaburi Province

The school camp brought me to the Pavilion Mae Kwai Resort in Kanchanaburi Province. I really should make a trip into this area and do some birding here because I have no doubt it will be very rewarding. Maybe later this year.  Like rubbish dumps universally, large resort hotels in Thailand are worth exploring because they often have extensive grounds with usually a few interesting species knocking about. Today notwithstanding the presence of 250 unruly kids I saw some warblers, a Coppersmith Barbet and I managed to get a few shots of this Common Kingfisher which perched up for me nicely. The light was a little against me and it was late in the day so I have not managed to get as much detail as I was hoping for but I am happy nonetheless with the shot - my colleagues and kids were impressed too!

Steppe Eagle in the Rice Paddy

It was one of those fantastically sun-drenched late afternoons today so I nipped round to the local rice paddy to see what I could see. I was thinking that it's been some time since I have seen a Pied or Eastern Marsh Harrier. Soon after my arrival I caught the flight of a falcon species, Peregrine I presume, but I really can't say for sure so I won't name it. I followed its flight into the distance eventually alighting on an electricity pylon. I was just getting its bearings when a much larger darker bird caught my eye circling  around the pylon. It was checking out the falcon as if to say "Be careful, son." Black Kite I assumed until  my view opened up and I saw the bird's upperside wings:  white barring , largish head, light brown upper wings - unmistakable Steppe Eagle. I desperately sought to get set up and in doing so probably attracted the eagle's attention. It drifted off in the gentle breeze. But I was very happy nevertheless. What a fantastic bird, visible from my house in real terms.

Pied Avocet at Laem Pak Bia

Pied Avocet

Recurvirostra avosetta

นกปากงอน

Laem Pak Bia

16.01.12

It is Teachers Day today and we got a day off  so I headed to Pak Thale and Laem Pak Bia in the afternoon, against the tide. There were huge numbers of Curlews and Black-tailed Godwits at Pak Thale, in fact there were large number of waders in the pools towards the sea, but I couldn't make out any Spoon-billed Sandpipers or Nordmann's Greenshanks. I made some effort to seek out Spoon-billed Sandpiper in fact but sorry to say I drew a complete blank. Lots of frantically feeding Red-necked Stints which raised hopes but no sign of that famous spoon bill.

Grey Heron

Ardea Cinerea

นกกระสานวล

The King's Project, Laem Pak Bia

16.01.12

In view of recent experiences with gulls I will never treat a flock of gulls again with indifference or disdain. They may well contain treasure!  Try as I did today, and I tried all the way down to Laem Pak Bia, but I couldn't find anything other than Brown-headed Gulls with a few Caspian Terns. I did however find a solitary Pied Avocet having a feed. I  was measuring up the front cover shot when a lorry load of workers followed by a cavalcade of motor cycles approached and I had to move as I was blocking the narrow track. The noise scared the bird away. Such is life. The Thai field guide describes Pied Avocet as " หายาก", "ha yak", meaning "difficult to see". I saw sixteen of them in the air on my previous visit. So always pleasing to see, and in this instance, photograph the rarer species. 

White-breasted Waterhen

Amaurornis phoenicurus

นกกวัก

The King's Project, Laem Pak Bia

16.01.12

I went into the Kings Project looking for photo opportunities. It is strange there at the moment as the main ponds are all empty. They have been drained due to maintenance. There are still plenty of birds but not as many photo opportunities. I managed shots of a Black-capped Kingfisher, a Grey Heron and a White-breasted Waterhen: fairly common species but all definitely camera shy; hard to get close to these birds without scaring them. It's these birds which really cry out for a handheld camera with a decent lens: they are difficult to digiscope simply because they  don't allow much time.

Black-capped Kingfisher

Halcyon pileata

นกกะเด็นหัวดำ

The King's Project, Laem Pak Bia

16.01.12

It simply takes one good bird to make a good day and today Pied Avocet did it for me.

On Gulls: Black-headed and Brown-Headed

Brown-headed Gull (1w)

Larus brunnicephalus

Don Hoi Lot, Samut Songkhram Province

29.12.11

Brown-headed Gull (1w)

Larus brunnicephalus

Bang Pu, Samut Prakhan Province

07.01.12

Gulls have been the highlight of 2012 so far for me. Quite unexpectedly so. It's also been very educational too. I think my knowledge of these fascinating pelagic birds has increased sevenfold in 2012. The Brown-headed Gull is the most common gull in Thailand followed by the smaller Black-headed. However, they are not that easy to separate and provide a good introduction to the complexities of gull identification.

Less than two weeks ago I posted the top picture of the gull sitting on water on BirdForum for help with identification. I thought I had a shot of a Black-headed Gull: it had the black ear spot and dark iris referred to in most of the field guides as this species' diagnostics. I must own to feeling unconvinced when told it was a Brown-headed "first winter"! I even posted a second picture to show the detail of the eye! My friend Tom Backlund told me there could be no doubt it was a Brown-headed. Crest-fallen, I was! What was I not seeing?!

Learning point ⌗1: get a shot of the bird in flight or with its wings extended. In the second picture the black primaries and secondaries dispel any doubts about this bird's identification: it is a first winter Brown-headed Gull. This is supported by the dull orange bare parts of the gull: the bill and the legs.

Black-headed Gull (2w - adult)

Larus ridibundus
นกนางนวลซอบชาว

Bang Pu, Samut Prakhan Province

07.01.12

Now apparently the Brown-headed Gull's bill is heavier/stouter than that of the Black-headed. I find this a hard distinction to make. Fortunately I managed the above flight shot of an adult Black-headed Gull. Note the blackish tips of the bird's primaries.  That is one of the key diagnostics. From Harrison's Seabirds : "....prominent ....blackish tips to outer 6 or 8 primaries". Please note this shot was taken with the camera hand-held minus the telescope. That is how close it is possible to get to the birds at Bang Pu. But I would find it impossible to separate this bird from the Brown-headed without being able to see the wings. Apparently it is a smaller bird too, but my eye is not yet good enough to discern a significant difference.

The above shots are a tentative comparison of first winter Brown-headed, left, and the adult Brown-head, right. The most obvious difference is the colour of the bare parts, the bill and legs. In the first winter they are dull orange and in the adult they are a bright red.

The above shots highlight the difference in bill colours between Adult, left, and First Winter, right; the difference in the iris tone is also clear with the first winter being darker. I am a little disappointed I didn't manage to get some close-up shots of Black-headed. Something for my next trip to Bang Pu.

Bang Pu is a really excellent place to view and photograph gulls. They come in huge numbers and they really do come in close and perch on bamboo stakes close to the pier. Moreover rarities show up most years: my recent visit was to twitch Mew Gull, a real rarity for Thailand and last year there was a Sooty Gull, a first record of this species for South-east Asia. Slender-billed Gulls are also seen here on a regular basis.

An additional attraction is the facilties: at the pier end there are a number of excellent restaurants famed for their sea-food. Bang Pu can get busy, however, as it is a popular spot and a very convenient distance from Bangkok: a bit like Largs and Glasgow, well, errrrr, not quite!

A Mundane Saturday Afternoon at Don Hoi Lod

A short visit to Don Hoi Lot in Samut Songkhram province this afternoon, by recent standards, was disappointing. But I am not complaining. I had 3 species of kingfisher this afternoon, Common, Collared and Black-capped. I only managed shots of the Collared, however. There were about 60 Brown-headed Gulls but the ponds were comparatively quiet: the numbers of gulls, terns and waders were significantly down from my last visit. There were good numbers, nevertheless, of Common Redshank, Common Greenshank and Marsh Sandpiper; add in about 12 Bar-tailed Godwits. Pretty ordinary, really, but a pleasure to be out birding.

On the photographic front I have stopped shooting in RAW for the moment. My friend Tara, Digiscoper of The Year no less, commented that she noticed a grey cast to a lot of my images. She called it "shadowing". I have noticed this too especially when I shoot in .NRW and .JPG. The JPG images are much better: more lustre, better colour, better balance, hue etc. So I reckon it is something to do with shooting RAW and the settings either on my camera or in Aperture, my post-production software. That means reading the manuals - yuk!

Slaty-legged Crake, Bangkok

I had two targets this weekend: Mew Gull and Slaty-legged Crake. Mission accomplished: double twitch! I found Slaty-legged Crake in a garden next to the Department of Geology, Chulalongkorn University in downtown Bangkok early this afternoon. Once more many thanks to Phil Round for the news of the crake's presence. This is another real rarity. My Thai field guide describes Slaty-legged Crake as " หายาก" ( ha yak), "difficult to see"; it describes the Mew Gull as " หายากมาก" ( ha yak mak), "very difficult to see". So a very productive twitch and a couple of big ticks. I must also express gratitude and appreciation to Luna, my wife, who encouraged me to go and indeed gave me her blessing.

The crake didn't immediately show and I had to have a look around, at which point doubt started to set in; am I in the right place....after all it is a huge site? A quick call to Phil Round confirmed I was and then I finally saw the crake rather matter of factly walking around in trees. It presented me with a dilemma. Do I observe it or do I try to get a shot? When I finally spotted the crake I wasn't set up so I really had no choice but to watch. The crake didn't seem too bothered by my presence but was moving around and only occasionally standing still for a few seconds. In the end I managed to get set up and I managed one decent shot of the bird which is above. Both the crake and gull were really in 300 mm lens territory. I am sure one of my mates will get a couple of cracking shots of these birds if they are lucky. Regardless, I managed one reasonable shot in difficult circumstances and that is all I want.

I went back to Bang Pu first thing this morning and the Mew Gull obliged by keeping the right distance away! However as you might see from the white right side edge, noticeably on the head, the sun was in the wrong place! Once more I just wanted a decent shot of the whole bird and this one will do.

I don't think I'll be twitching for a while so I am glad this one was so successful. Slaty-legged Crake was lifer ⌗309.

Mew Gull at Bang Pu, Samut Prakhan Province

Thanks to information from Phil Round I successfully twitched Mew Gull this afternoon off the pier at the seaside resort of Bang Pu, Samut Prakhan. In effect it is suburban Bangkok, just off the Sukhumwit Road about 30 km east of Bangkok. It was a very productive day in fact as I managed two lifers. The Mew Gull was ⌗308 and ⌗307 was Black-headed Gull. I am a little surprised I hadn't got the latter on my last. The Mew Gull is a fairly rare visitor to these parts so it is a great tick. Not a great shot but it will suffice at the moment for the record. This bird however came in so close that it was virtually impossible to use the digiscope! The shot below was taken with my P6000. The above shot really shows the power of the digiscope when compared to the shot below! More later!

Laem Pak Bia: Gull Crazy

Heuglin's Gull (2w)

I decided late morning 3rd January 2012 to head to Laem Pak Bia in Phetchburi province.  It was an amazing day and any initial concerns about travelling later in the day, after the morning high tide and into busy roads with New Year trippers heading back home, were soon diminished. First a Black Kite circled above me a little bit down the Petchkasem Highway from home and then the  eagles put on a completely unexpected show for me, also above the highway, this time as I passed the Norng Blah Lai area: 2 Booted Eagles, 2 Greater Spotted Eagles and 1 Steppe Eagle. Just like that!  They hung around long enough for me to stop the car, get out and have a look.

Heuglin's Gull (2w)

Initially Laem Pak Bia was very quiet. I went into the Abandoned Building but nothing to get excited about here. A couple of Black-tailed Godwits, a few Red-necked Stint and, on the way out, a Common Kingfisher. The track out into the salt pans was blocked so access was impossible.

I then drove up to Laem Pak Bia proper past the King's Project and large flocks of waders were visible on my left and almost on cue they took to the air and moved towards the sea; mainly Great Knot I believe. I headed down the side road onto the sea side salt pans proper and met with a small flock of Curlew Sandpiper and Red-necked Stints. I could see huge flocks of birds massing further in and proceeded on towards them. These birds were on the move as I approached which provided great views of fast moving waders: thousands of birds.

I then witnessed one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my short time as a birder: a small flock of 16 Pied Avocets put on an aerial display, first of all as a group within a much larger group of waders and then they broke away on their own and swooped and swerved above the salt pans for a few minutes before disappearing. I want to know how these birds can perform with such poise and ability and at speed and not crash into each other! The avocets' colours, a very bright white with pronounced black primaries and other black markings on the scapulars and coverts, really enhanced the spectacle. I was in no doubt about this identification even though this was only my second sighting of Pied Avocet.

No photographs sadly but I was just happy to observe. I proceeded further along the track: huge flocks of Plovers and Great Knots, lots of Marsh Sandpipers and Spotted Redshanks, and plenty of other smaller waders. For my efforts I was rewarded with 4 Nordmann's Greenshanks and no sooner was I set up to photograph them than off they went. This looks to be avery reliable spot for Nordmann's as I saw them here on my last visit. Then all went quiet and I decided to investigate a flock of gulls.

This is when it got complicated! In the middle of a large dispersed group of Brown-headed Gulls there were some big gulls that were definitely not Brown-headed. I counted nine of them in total. They really do stick out as they look so different and are considerably larger. Unfortunately I was facing into the sun plus the birds were 200 - 250 m away. Add in my real inexperience with such complex species. But I was buzzing, I was excited, because I really didn't know what I was looking at it.

So I legged it round to the main road and walked into the salt pans. This way I managed to put the sun behind me. For the first time in a long time I switched to the 20-60 zoom eyepiece and cranked it up to 50 mm. In view of the wind I also had to shoot at between 200 to 800  ISO in order to use a fast enough shutter speed to eliminate shake. So these are not the clearest shots but they serve their purpose for records and for assisting with IDs.

Twenty-four hours later I am still struggling to ID most of these gulls. I've had a lot of help from Lou Salomon, a BirdForum member, who called the pictures above of the second winter Heuglin's Gull.  But I have also learned from my efforts that the identification of large "white-headed gulls" remains highly problematic. Let me quote Craig Robson, A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South-East Asia, on this subject:

The systematics and identification of all taxa formerly considered as races of either Herring Gull L. argentatus and Lesser Black-backed Gull L. fuscus occurring worldwide have received much attention in recent years. There is growing evidence, based on the study of qualitative differences in morphology, moult, behaviour, ecology,voice and mitochondrial DNA sequences, that several forms, previously regarded as subspecies of either one of the above-mentioned species may, in fact, be better considered full species. Among the most perplexing taxa of all are those that occur or are likely to occur in South-East Asia." ) (My underlining).

So I am mightily relieved to learn it is not simply me! But I do want to learn more about these amazing birds. I am not going to even attempt to ID these birds. I am happy to admit I am out of my depth. So if you can assist with ID please feel free to comment. There are some enquiries pending too so maybe I will be able to make further progress with the IDs.

For me, a perfect day! I am so glad I made it down to Laem Pak Bia. Ah, as I write, I have just finished my first day back at work. I have a very busy schedule over the next two months so I am not sure I am going to be doing a lot of birding.  But what a great  time I have had this last week or so, a great fix. The not insignificant matter of the birth of our second child is imminent, mid-February, and work will be crazy in the build up to the end of the academic year at the end of February. I am not complaining.......