Balenoptera Edeni: Bryde's Whales in the Gulf Of Thailand

Bryde's Whales, Bang Tabun, Gulf of Thailand

My phone call last week to Phil Round about the mystery wader was rather fortuitous. Phil kindly extended an invitation to join his family and friends whale watching in Bang Taboon bay, to the north of Pak Thale. I needed little encouragement.

So this morning out into the watery world we went at 08:30h and after three reasonably uneventful hours we finally located the leviathans in the Meklong area. To be precise 4 Bryde's Whales and they put on an excellent show for us. I have only ever seen a dead whale back in the early 1970s beached on the island of South Uist in Scotland's Outer Hebrides; what I recall is the size and stench. These whales were simply majestic making themselves visible by opening their mouths at right angles and keeping the lower half in the water; apparently they can filter out the water, retain the fish, and then swallow. It was impossible to digiscope and the above is my best effort on a boat that was really swaying; I think you can see a mother and calf with their mouths open for feeding. Notice the commensalism with a tern to the left hoping to scavenge some of the small fish which you can see in mum's mouth: I learned that word from teaching G9 science earlier this year! Indeed the whales attract White-Winged Black Terns of which there were plenty and we also spotted a couple of Bridled Terns too.

In the end I gave up trying to get a digiscoped image and got a couple of shots of the whales using 14-45mm MFT zoom, probably equivalent 35 mm DSLR of about 100 mm. In real terms I was happy to watch the spectacle. What truly beautiful, graceful creatures. The couple of Irrawaddy dolphins we saw on our way out seemed insignificant and the birds, too, were almost secondary: in the region of 70 Great Crested Tern, 20 + Great Cormorants, abundant Whiskered, White-winged Black and Common Terns and a migratory Grey Wagtail.

Click on this link Bryde's Whale for a very helpful summary of information about Balenoptera Edeni.

A Very Wet Afternoon in Laem Pak Bia

Great Egret

Torrential rain meant my efforts to locate the Great Thick-knee at the Abandoned Building area in Laem Pak Bia were unsuccessful. The problem was the volume of surface water on the dirt tracks and I had to get my truck onto a sealed surface to avoid getting stuck or worse. It really was no fun and at various points my truck was effectively out of control; fortunately the terrain is flat here but on a sloping surface this might have been deadly. I did learn from some birders that the bird had been seen in morning. I am in the privileged position of having seen the Great Thick-knee in each of the last two years but a couple of friends are itching to add this species to their lists and are actively contemplating a long distance twitch. In view of this I would have liked to confirm a positive sighting.

So the weather was the story today. Not surprising really. This is the rainy season and it does tend to hammer down, often in short bursts. The only real problem tends to be the effect on unsealed roads of which there are many. Later in the afternoon I almost got stuck at the King's Project as my tyres were struggling to get traction.

Common Redshank juv

With grateful thanks to Dave Gandy & Phil Round for the ID

The good news is there were plenty of waders and in amongst all the usual suspects I was pleased to note Pacific Golden Plovers and Grey Plovers. There were also good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits and Curlews and a fair few Whimbrel too; add in some Greenshanks and Marsh Sandpipers. I didn't see anything unusual but observation conditions weren't so good but I did scan the godwits and curlews for  black bills; unfortunately most of the birds were a distance away and they were roosting with their bills tucked away so pretty difficult to make anything out.

Greater Painted Snipe

There were 7-8 Spot-billed Pelicans two of which I managed to photograph. I am pleased with the shot as they were about 80 yards away and the light was poor. I was also pleased to get all of the Great Egret in the frame and could only have wished for better light to do this elegant bird justice.

I must confess to struggling with the ID of the "tringa". It's those reddish legs that have thrown me. I would expect some red on the bill for one of the Redshank species and on consideration I would expect the legs to be a much richer red. I would say Wood Sandpiper. In Shorebirds ( Hayman et al.)  Woodsandpiper legs are described as "...dull yellowish, usually greenish or brownish-yellow, always looking pale at a distance." That possibly solves the leg issue and of course the bill is undoubtedly that of a Woodsandpiper: once more Shorebirds notes "...a blackish distal half and an olive-green or yellow-green base." I have just learned what "distal" means: furthest away from the centre of the body. So I would say Wood Sand. Of course I would appreciate confirmation or correction.

Update: Dave Sargeant suggests a female Ruff as the reddish legs for a Wood Sandpiper are "off"; looking at the bill which I now see has some decurving, I think he might be right!  Tom Backlund is of the view it is a Wood Sand as "...the bill and legs are way too long..". Dave Gandy thinks it is a juvenile Redshank and he's sure! Fascinating stuff. Well I had to seek Phil Round's opinion because I don't know what it is. From Phil: "Dave Gandy has it right!! It is a juvenile Common Redshank. The legs are far too orange for a Wood Sandpiper. Enough of the back can be seen to show the even upperparts spotting typical of juvenile Tringa. The dull purplish-flesh (no red) to both mandibles indicate juvenile Common Redshank. Also, we already know that we get a massive wave of juv Common Redshanks passing through LPB in mid-August." I am very happy to get this sorted out. Thanks to all for their help and contributions. This process underlines what a complex and challenging task bird identification can be.

The Greater Painted Snipe knew I was near and refused to come out and pose. I'll need to develop my Photoshop skills in order to learn how to remove the strands of grass which are disguising this truly beautiful bird. I have moved one strand which crossed its bill but the others will require a much more precise procedure which I haven't learned yet!

Wat Khao Takrhao & Laem Pak Bia

Milky Stork

Benedict and I headed off to Phetchburi province this afternoon for a look at Wat Khao Takhrao and thereafter onto Laem Pak Bia to coincide with high tide. I do hope I can start many more blogs with this introduction! It was fantastic to be out birding again and it was great to have Benny with me.

There was little to suggest that we were going to run into anything interesting. The drive through Khao Yoi was unremarkable. We saw a small flock of Painted Stork as we drove through the swamp to Wat Khao Takrhao. At Wat Khao Takrhao I was prepared for a good number of Painted Stork and some Spot-billed Pelicans and I was hoping there might be some sign of Great Thick-knee.

The story however was Painted Stork, in their thousands. Impossible to count: there was a huge central core of about 1,200 birds in the middle area of the big pool and then there were smaller groups scattered everywhere. A scan revealed a pair of Spot-billed Pelicans and then Black-headed Ibis, 16 of them: quite unexpected I hasten to add. There were also a handful of Whiskered Terns and 50-60 Lesser Whistling Ducks. In terms of waders there were good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits, some Common Greenshanks, Marsh Sandpipers and Wood Sandpipers.

Asian Dowitcher

As we headed towards the temple I noticed some Godwits in one of the many pools and at this time of the year, with waders on the move, you dismiss them as a group of Black-tailed Godwits at your peril. I got a glimpse of a long, black bill with my bins and then of an incredibly strong whiter supercilium; I had the scope up in no time and all I knew was that it was neither Black-tailed nor Bar-tailed on the basis of the bill colour. I was hoping it would be a Long-billed Dowicher but that is just because I want lifers. Of course I didn't have a field guide with me so I had to get some shots of it. A call to Tom Backlund confirmed the likelihood of it being Asian. I think the photo confirms it is indeed Asian. I wonder where this fellow has come form and I wonder where his journey will end. While I took the shot Benny did splendid work in advising the oncoming traffic to be quiet!

We then drove to Pak Thale which rather surprisingly was as good as bird-free; I must confess it is almost virtually water-free right now as most of the salt pans are empty. Strange not being able to see a Curlew or a Lesser Sand-plover. No doubt it is going to get very busy here over the next few months.

We then headed down to Laem Pak Bia. Given the near dearth of birds at Pak Thale I thought they must all be down here. Five Spot-billed Pelicans and a small group of Painted Stork and little else other than some Redshanks. Except there was a Milky Stork in the among the Painted Stork. Now this bird has been around for a few weeks so I was really pleased to connect with it and I managed to get a few shots of it.

The Milky Stork is a pretty rare bird and in fact has an IUCN rating of Vulnerable. Its numbers are in decline with its stronghold in Sumatra, Indonesia. It pops up here infrequently usually in solitary numbers, tending to associate with flocks of Painted Stork. As you can see it could easily be confused with Painted Stork. The most obvious difference is the Milky does not have any pink feathering and the visible black feathers are restricted to the outer fringes of the wings when the bird is standing; the bill colour is different, a yellow pink whereas the Painted is orange, reminiscent of Cheddar cheese. I also rather fancy the Milky has a head fringe which appears to be lacking in the Painted; what I mean is the feathers extend more onto the Milky's forehead.

No sign of Great Thick-knees and not a lot else but a great afternoon and a great selection of birds.

Digiscoping and Post-production

The last two weeks have been difficult and challenging. When I should have been doing a lot of birding I have in fact been either too worn out or sick. We have had two consecutive long weekends. Last weekend exhaustion took hold of me and we scrubbed our scheduled trip to the wilds of Kanchanaburi province. It was the right thing to do as I needed the rest. This week I have been laid low by a severe case of the trots and it is only in the last 24 hours that I am getting back to normal. In the great scheme of things, fairly high class problems!

Long-toed Stint - unprocessed

Long-toed Stint - processed by Peter Ericsson

A week or so ago I was talking to Peter Ericsson about my images. Peter needs no real introduction as he is one of the best bird photographers in these parts. He told me he thought I should definitely be getting sharper images and he took one of my images and put it through Photoshop and in effect proved his point that "no image is done until it has been processed in PS". Peter's produced a tutorial which includes a basic PS treatment: it can be found here. Well the difference is very striking if you take a cursory look at the above two images.

So it's perhaps just as well that I have been out of sorts as it has enabled me to start learning how to harness the power of Photoshop. I have managed to get some instructional material and I am working leisurely through this. The Painted Storks below are in fact the same file but the first one has been processed using PS. I have also cropped it so it is not quite like for like but post-production has really transformed the image.

I am also very pleased with this picture of a Great Knot dating back to February at Pak Thale. The PS processed image, with some cropping, comes first and the original follows. It really is a no brainer!

So it's good to get started finally on post-production and Photoshop. Up to now I have done most of my post-production in Aperture. It's pretty simple and offers a very effective solution for image management. Photoshop is very different however and I am very aware of really just dipping my toe into the water, so to speak.

My indisposition also lead to me purchasing a 2 TB external drive and I am going to try and archive my images. Good as this may sound, I reckon I am going to be deleting an enormous number of image files. However I am going to try to get through them because there are some images which I can improve with some post-production.

On reflection I think I have been lazy. I should have made more of an effort with Photoshop. However it is not a load it up and play it sort of programme. It needs effort. I think I have also been guilty of accepting inferior results. Digiscoping allows for many mitigating factors!

So let me thank Peter for pointing me in this direction and I hope to get out birding in the very near future.