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.
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Sunday, 4 November 2012
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Ratchaburi Raptors
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Around Ratchaburi
My birding day began unusually early just after 0500h as I decided to investigate the screech coming from the golf driving range facing my house. I reckoned it had to be a Barn Owl and so I checked my recordings and sure enough Barn Owl it was. It very kindly flew over my house and I could make out its white mass against a dark night sky.
I had agreed to take Phil Round around my Ratchaburi haunts today as he was eager to get a recording of Plain Prinia and was interested to reconnoiter Huay Mai Teng Reservoir. It was shaping into a hot,sunny day morning when Phil arrived and after a cup of tea we headed into the local rice paddy for Plain Prinia. I'm not sure Phil got a great recording but we got a good selection of birds: lots of Black-browed Reed Warblers, Pied Kingfisher, Black-shouldered Kite, Lanceolated Warbler, a female and a juvenile Pied Harrier, Purple Heron, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow-bellied Prinia and lots of Plain Prinias. For me the highlight was a brief view of Rufous Woodpecker, which flew out of the trees as we approached. Thai lifer ⌗368, no less, thank you Phil, I would not have been able to call this on my own. I would have been able to add Lanceolated Warbler to my list too had I followed Phil out into the rice paddy. I am going out after this one in the next week.
After another cup of tea, we headed out to Huay Mai Teng. Probably not ideal getting there at 1000h but we still managed to see lots of good birds: Little Ringed Plover, Little, Intermediate & Great Egret, Little Cormorant, Whiskered Tern, Pied Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, a solitary, likely juvenile Small Pratincole, a solitary, aerial Oriental Pratincole, Grey & Purple Herons, 5 Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, 1 Bronze-winged Jacana, 1 Black-shouldered Kite, Paddyfield Pipits, Green Bee-eaters, Indochinese Bushlark, Small & Barred Buttonquail, Rain Quail, Oriental Skylark, Common Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Pintail Snipe, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Thick-billed Warbler (heard), Richard's Pipits, Taiga Flycatcher, Martins plus all the common birds. Not a bad haul for such a late start.
Of course the stand out bird for me was Richard's Pipit. Phil sighted an initial bird and pointed out its different call and behaviour from the more common Paddyfield. The Richard's Pipit generally flies off when disturbed whereas the Paddyfield moves only a little away. However the real diagnostic is the call: the Paddyfield has a sort of "chirp" sound whereas Richard's is more of a "schreep". There is an excellent review of the differences between these species and also including Blyth's Pipit on Dave Bakewell's blog. It also helps enormously to be able to go out birding with Phil Round. I would not have been able to make the distinction unaided but once Phil had done it in the field it became much easier; I reckon we had in the region of 10 Richard's Pipits.
Richard's Pipit becomes Thai lifer ⌗ 369. I'm not going to claim Small Buttonquail as I just got a flash of a small, orange quail; work to be done here still though most importantly it was in the "usual" place. So maybe I can stake it out a little and try to get a good look in the months ahead. I am also intrigued by the presence of Martins, not sure whether they were Sand or Plain. SO work to be done here before I can add one or both of these species to my list. Good, however, to know they are at the site.
So a highly informative and fun few hours' birding. For me a real honour and privilege to be able to bird alongside the leading authority on Thai avifauna. Phil pointed out that the name of one of the local villages, Ban Nok Karien, actually means "Sarus Crane Village". This tells us that historically Sarus Crane could be found in this area. Maybe a vagrant might return one day....... Hopefully, later in the winter we'll do some ringing here.
I had agreed to take Phil Round around my Ratchaburi haunts today as he was eager to get a recording of Plain Prinia and was interested to reconnoiter Huay Mai Teng Reservoir. It was shaping into a hot,sunny day morning when Phil arrived and after a cup of tea we headed into the local rice paddy for Plain Prinia. I'm not sure Phil got a great recording but we got a good selection of birds: lots of Black-browed Reed Warblers, Pied Kingfisher, Black-shouldered Kite, Lanceolated Warbler, a female and a juvenile Pied Harrier, Purple Heron, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow-bellied Prinia and lots of Plain Prinias. For me the highlight was a brief view of Rufous Woodpecker, which flew out of the trees as we approached. Thai lifer ⌗368, no less, thank you Phil, I would not have been able to call this on my own. I would have been able to add Lanceolated Warbler to my list too had I followed Phil out into the rice paddy. I am going out after this one in the next week.
After another cup of tea, we headed out to Huay Mai Teng. Probably not ideal getting there at 1000h but we still managed to see lots of good birds: Little Ringed Plover, Little, Intermediate & Great Egret, Little Cormorant, Whiskered Tern, Pied Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, a solitary, likely juvenile Small Pratincole, a solitary, aerial Oriental Pratincole, Grey & Purple Herons, 5 Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, 1 Bronze-winged Jacana, 1 Black-shouldered Kite, Paddyfield Pipits, Green Bee-eaters, Indochinese Bushlark, Small & Barred Buttonquail, Rain Quail, Oriental Skylark, Common Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Pintail Snipe, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Thick-billed Warbler (heard), Richard's Pipits, Taiga Flycatcher, Martins plus all the common birds. Not a bad haul for such a late start.
Of course the stand out bird for me was Richard's Pipit. Phil sighted an initial bird and pointed out its different call and behaviour from the more common Paddyfield. The Richard's Pipit generally flies off when disturbed whereas the Paddyfield moves only a little away. However the real diagnostic is the call: the Paddyfield has a sort of "chirp" sound whereas Richard's is more of a "schreep". There is an excellent review of the differences between these species and also including Blyth's Pipit on Dave Bakewell's blog. It also helps enormously to be able to go out birding with Phil Round. I would not have been able to make the distinction unaided but once Phil had done it in the field it became much easier; I reckon we had in the region of 10 Richard's Pipits.
Richard's Pipit becomes Thai lifer ⌗ 369. I'm not going to claim Small Buttonquail as I just got a flash of a small, orange quail; work to be done here still though most importantly it was in the "usual" place. So maybe I can stake it out a little and try to get a good look in the months ahead. I am also intrigued by the presence of Martins, not sure whether they were Sand or Plain. SO work to be done here before I can add one or both of these species to my list. Good, however, to know they are at the site.
So a highly informative and fun few hours' birding. For me a real honour and privilege to be able to bird alongside the leading authority on Thai avifauna. Phil pointed out that the name of one of the local villages, Ban Nok Karien, actually means "Sarus Crane Village". This tells us that historically Sarus Crane could be found in this area. Maybe a vagrant might return one day....... Hopefully, later in the winter we'll do some ringing here.
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Pied Harrier : "Pure Gallus"
Pied Harrier
Circus melanoleucos
เหยี่ยวด่างดำขาว
Ratchaburi 27.10.12
White-rumped Munia
Lonchura striata
นกกระติ๊ดตะโพกขาว
Ratchaburi 27.10.12
This arrival really lifted my spirits enormously - I even let out a cheer! Elsewhere I was happy to locate two Pied Kingfishers, equally gallus! These have moved further up the irrigation canal following a lot of radical alterations to their previous abode. Add in one Black-shouldered Kite, two Lesser Coucals, three Brown Shrike, c200 White-rumped Munias ( no prizes forworking out why it is called "white-rumped"!) with a smaller number of Scaly-breasted Munias mixed up. Lots of common birds, nice, relaxing couple of hours and the locals enquiring after my son!
Scaly breasted Munia
Lonchura punctulata
นกกระติ๊ดขี้หมู
Ratchaburi 27.10.12
Friday, 26 October 2012
Highs and Lows
What started out as a joyful morning turned to disaster at Wat Khao Takhrao; at about 0830h I drove my truck off the road, doing a U-turn on a tight road, and got one of the front wheels stuck in mud. It took 4½ hours to get hauled out. In the great scheme of things I got off lightly with nothing more than a bruised ego, but I resented the loss of time on what had been planned as my last big birding day before returning to work next week. I should have gone home but instead headed on to Pak Thale & Laem Pak Bia after being rescused. To be honest I was in no fit state to concentrate, gripped by frustration, irritability and impatience.
I left home early in what was shaping into a beautiful, bright and sunny morning. There had been a lot of rain overnight. Through Khao Yoi I stopped at some favoured swamp and had an amazing view of a Purple Swamphen in the spotlight of the rising sun against green plants. No sooner was I set up than the bird and its cohorts took off! That's rather unfortunately the nature of digiscoping, indeed of all photography. Soon after I had raptors above me, a first Black Kite of the year and then a Booted Eagle, also a first of the year. As I progressed though Khao Yoi the big waterbirds appeared: 5 Spot-billed Pelicans in the distant sky and then Painted Storks began more visible. Overhead a pair of Osprey passed by nearby.
By the time I reached Wat Khao Takrhao I had counted four species of Kingfisher: Common, Collared, Black-capped & White-throated. There were five Spot-billed Pelicans gliding effortlessly over the surface of the water and as I scoped the big pond I could see more Painted Stork and lots of smaller birds which were undoubtedly ducks. As the barrier on the gate was up I drove on in the hope of getting a better view of the ducks and other birds. A number of raptors were buzzing the ducks, notably an Eastern Marsh Harrier which came over and passed nearby. The ducks were too far away but lots of Garganey and equally good numbers of bigger Northern Pintails.
I started photographing some Common Sandpipers and then decided to move on. In the process of doing a U-turn on the road, something I have done many times in exactly the same spot, I thought I had enough room to complete the manoevre. Next thing I felt the truck slipping down off the road and that, so to speak, was that: front right wheel half submerged in mud and the remaining wheels not providing enough friction to get me back onto the road proper. Unfortunately I was about 2km from the road so help was not immediately to hand. So I had to call out roadside assistance. Not a good place to come unstuck, or rather to get stuck! In fairness, though, roadside assistance did their job and got me out.
During this period I counted 74 Painted Stork! Once out of my jam I stopped at a nearby pond where 10 Spot-billed Pelicans were paddling about. I just couldn't get a clear shot of them......
Pak Thale was very quiet with no sign of Spoonbill Sandpiper. In fact most of the birds had moved to near the road where there were huge flocks of Curlew Sandpiper, Great Knot and Lesser-sand Plover. I concentrated on a smaller flock of about 60 Brown-headed Gulls; a pair of gulls in this group were strikingly different: their bare parts were much more yellow and they showed signs of moult on their wings; I was also struck by how white their heads were and I started thinking that these might possibly be Slender-billed Gulls.
I managed to get some shots to aid some later research. I have decided against Slender-billed as the two birds in question had black spots behind their eyes. I also remembered from last year year that first year Brown-headed Gulls have yellow bare parts. Anyway, a productive exercise as it got me studying the field guides and Oriental Bird Images; from the latter I learned Slender-billed is also known as Rosy Gull and my field guide noted that Slender-billed's underparts often have a rosy hue. This is certainly confirmed by some of the images on Oriental Bird Images. I rather fancy that next time I might be able to separate Slender-billed.
At Wat Kamnaran I managed to make out 2 Grey-headed Lapwings. Onwards to Laem Pak Bia and the Abandonned Building in search of Rosy Starling which has been reported from there recently. I couldn't bear the smell from the rubbish dump so gave up after 45 minutes. In Laem Pak Bia proper, little to report from a brief stop there in the fading light of the day.My friend Tom Buckland advised that tbere were Richard's Pipits on the road in the Nordmann's area; the ones I saw looked very much as if they were of the Paddyfield type.
A frustrating sort of day really that reconnected me with some of my demons. It was only on the drive home that I understood how much this mishap had affected me, a knock to my confidence. I found myself asking: Why do you do this? Is it worth it? Would it not be better to to be at home with your family? ..........and so on and on. I was actually delighted to make it home and be in the company of my family and my spirits improved markedly.With work looming large on the horizon I am not going to do much birding in the next few weeks. I doubt I will do much travelling other than in Ratchaburi province itself. Spend more time at home, the family man!
I left home early in what was shaping into a beautiful, bright and sunny morning. There had been a lot of rain overnight. Through Khao Yoi I stopped at some favoured swamp and had an amazing view of a Purple Swamphen in the spotlight of the rising sun against green plants. No sooner was I set up than the bird and its cohorts took off! That's rather unfortunately the nature of digiscoping, indeed of all photography. Soon after I had raptors above me, a first Black Kite of the year and then a Booted Eagle, also a first of the year. As I progressed though Khao Yoi the big waterbirds appeared: 5 Spot-billed Pelicans in the distant sky and then Painted Storks began more visible. Overhead a pair of Osprey passed by nearby.
By the time I reached Wat Khao Takrhao I had counted four species of Kingfisher: Common, Collared, Black-capped & White-throated. There were five Spot-billed Pelicans gliding effortlessly over the surface of the water and as I scoped the big pond I could see more Painted Stork and lots of smaller birds which were undoubtedly ducks. As the barrier on the gate was up I drove on in the hope of getting a better view of the ducks and other birds. A number of raptors were buzzing the ducks, notably an Eastern Marsh Harrier which came over and passed nearby. The ducks were too far away but lots of Garganey and equally good numbers of bigger Northern Pintails.
I started photographing some Common Sandpipers and then decided to move on. In the process of doing a U-turn on the road, something I have done many times in exactly the same spot, I thought I had enough room to complete the manoevre. Next thing I felt the truck slipping down off the road and that, so to speak, was that: front right wheel half submerged in mud and the remaining wheels not providing enough friction to get me back onto the road proper. Unfortunately I was about 2km from the road so help was not immediately to hand. So I had to call out roadside assistance. Not a good place to come unstuck, or rather to get stuck! In fairness, though, roadside assistance did their job and got me out.
During this period I counted 74 Painted Stork! Once out of my jam I stopped at a nearby pond where 10 Spot-billed Pelicans were paddling about. I just couldn't get a clear shot of them......
Pak Thale was very quiet with no sign of Spoonbill Sandpiper. In fact most of the birds had moved to near the road where there were huge flocks of Curlew Sandpiper, Great Knot and Lesser-sand Plover. I concentrated on a smaller flock of about 60 Brown-headed Gulls; a pair of gulls in this group were strikingly different: their bare parts were much more yellow and they showed signs of moult on their wings; I was also struck by how white their heads were and I started thinking that these might possibly be Slender-billed Gulls.
I managed to get some shots to aid some later research. I have decided against Slender-billed as the two birds in question had black spots behind their eyes. I also remembered from last year year that first year Brown-headed Gulls have yellow bare parts. Anyway, a productive exercise as it got me studying the field guides and Oriental Bird Images; from the latter I learned Slender-billed is also known as Rosy Gull and my field guide noted that Slender-billed's underparts often have a rosy hue. This is certainly confirmed by some of the images on Oriental Bird Images. I rather fancy that next time I might be able to separate Slender-billed.
At Wat Kamnaran I managed to make out 2 Grey-headed Lapwings. Onwards to Laem Pak Bia and the Abandonned Building in search of Rosy Starling which has been reported from there recently. I couldn't bear the smell from the rubbish dump so gave up after 45 minutes. In Laem Pak Bia proper, little to report from a brief stop there in the fading light of the day.My friend Tom Buckland advised that tbere were Richard's Pipits on the road in the Nordmann's area; the ones I saw looked very much as if they were of the Paddyfield type.
A frustrating sort of day really that reconnected me with some of my demons. It was only on the drive home that I understood how much this mishap had affected me, a knock to my confidence. I found myself asking: Why do you do this? Is it worth it? Would it not be better to to be at home with your family? ..........and so on and on. I was actually delighted to make it home and be in the company of my family and my spirits improved markedly.With work looming large on the horizon I am not going to do much birding in the next few weeks. I doubt I will do much travelling other than in Ratchaburi province itself. Spend more time at home, the family man!
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Ratchabrui Rice Paddy
For the first time in many months I took a spin round the local rice paddy encouraged by yesterday's glimpse of a first harrier of the season nearby. The weather quickly became very overcast and then the heavens opened; I imagine most harriers would be parked on a well protected branch under cover. Plenty of good birds though: first up was a juvenile Lesser Coucal, a fair few Brown Shrikes, a Black-capped Kingfisher, plenty of White-thraoted Kingfishers, a Pintail Snipe, a Black-shouldered Kite, some Plain-backed Sparrows and a flock of over 200 White-rumped Munias, a tick for the patch and good numbers of Black-browed Reed Warblers, identifiable mainly on sound than on observation...... it shall be interesting to see what the winter months throw up here.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, Nakhon Ratchasima
Siamese Fireback
Lophura Diardi
ไก่ฟ้าพญาลอ
Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, Nakhon Ratchasima
20.10.12
Siamese Fireback
Lophura Diardi
ไก่ฟ้าพญาลอ
Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, Nakhon Ratchasima
20.10.12
As a courtesy I dropped into the reserve headquarters late afternoon Thursday 18th October, the day before my planned visit, to ask permission to enter the reserve the following morning. This resource is by no means open access to all comers so I wanted to be sure that I could enter without incurring anyone's wrath. I would recommend anybody contemplating a visit to do likewise because there may be days and times when the reserve is completely closed.
Siamese Fireback
Lophura Diardi
ไก่ฟ้าพญาลอ
Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, Nakhon Ratchasima
20.10.12
The Siamese Firebacks obliged in the finest tradition of drive-in birding. Well correction, a ten minute stroll along the road from the HQ barrier was required! On Friday morning (19th October) I saw 5 males and 1 female feeding on the road with 8 Red Junglefowl. I was surprised by how comfortable some of the birds were around human beings and apart from the poor light on account of the early hour, they really do provide a potentially brilliant photo-opportunity. What magnificent birds! The male is quite respsendent with his crest feathers and in fairness the female is equally striking, with black and buff barring on her upperside. I even managed good views of the male's "fireback": it is exactly that but it is well covered up by his wings: a yellow and orange patch that becomes visible when the bird flaps its wings.
Red-breasted Parakeet - male
Psittacula alexandri
นกแขกเต้า
Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, Nakhon Ratchasima
20.10.12
Of course I have an excellent ability to balls things up and as I was getting ready to start shooting I realised I had left my electronic viewfinder in the truck. So I legged it back to the vehicle and got the EVF and then legged it back to the birds which were still feeding out in the open. Then I realised I had left my cable release trigger in the truck so had to head back down again. When I got back the birds had gone. So I was most miffed as I knew I had missed an outstanding opportunity.
Red-breasted Parakeet - female
Psittacula alexandri
นกแขกเต้า
Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, Nakhon Ratchasima
20.10.12
Anyway I came back the next morning, Saturday 20th October, and there were 5 males and 2 females feeding with 4 Red Junglefowl in exactly the same area. I also had company: about 100 school students with guides and teachers. Our presence did little to deter the Firebacks and we got good views and the school party headed on into the nether regions of the reserve. I was left alone and the birds obliged.
Pacific Reef Egret - dark morph variant
Egretta sacra
นกยางทะเล
Koh Kood, Trat Province
17.10.12
There's never been and there never will be an easy digiscoped image. Early morning in a forest means poor light; that means slow shutter speeds and inevitably that means a lot of blurred images except for those few moments when the birds stand still. In that time I have got to frame the bird, fine focus and shoot. For once the birds were so close it was impossible to fit them in the frame! So I am delighted with these images.
Blue Rockthrush
Monticola solitarius
นกกระเบื้องผา
Khao Yai National Park, Nakhon Ratchasima Province
22.10.12
The reserve is also a good place to see Red-breasted Parakeet which can easily be found in the dipterocarp forest in the lower part of the reserve. Once more I was lucky and managed to get on a couple of birds that my wife, Luna, saw as we drove out on our courtesy visit. These guys very obligingly were parked on treetops with strong sunlight on them; the forest gave me enough cover to get on the parakeets and of course the digiscoping rig gives me a lot of reach. So in these circumstances I can get reasonably good images of birds.
I love this place though I can hardly say the birds came out to dance for me. I was very happy to get the firebacks, but I didn't get much else: Emerald Dove, Tickell's Blue Flycatcher, White-rumped Shama, good numbers of Asian Brown Flycatchers and a Red Muntjac showed and did some very loud barking. Lots of glimpses of unidentified smallish birds. I would hardly say, however, that I cleaned up! Anyhow I was very happy with the firebacks, Thai lifer ⌗367.
I must also add how helpful and accommodating the reserve staff were. There was a very pleasant atmosphere around the main centre. On both mornings a Buddhist monk walked down past the firebacks and gave a dhamma talk to the assembled staff in Headquarters. I very much want to return.
I've added a couple of shots from elsewhere. I had another chance at the Pacific Reef Egret, dark morph variant, while on Koh Kood waiting for transportation to the mainland. Much sharper and better image than previous postings. And lastly we drove through Khao Yai National Park on our way home from Korat and this Blue Rock-thrush performed a little for me. Not much else seen.
This morning, back home in Ratchaburi, I caught a first sight of a harrier in the sky. Not sure if it was Eastern Marsh or Pied but good to know the harriers are back local. So a return to the local rice paddy is imminent.
Finally in Korat City, where we spent a couple of nights on our travels, I enquired about the price of a captive Red-breasted Parakeet which was on sale at the night market with a host of other birds, including Brown-collared and Spotted Doves. I was quoted 8,000 baht. I was also appalled by the condition of a couple of caged White-rumped Shamas - they looked as if they were about to drop. They could hardly have been more different from wild ones. Terrible business. Most avowedly, these birds were not made for life in a cage.
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