The highlight of a very pleasant afternoon's birding was a Great Thick Knee in the Wat Khao Takrao area, Phetchaburi province. It's in exactly the same place as it was last year. I saw it just after 6:00 pm in what was very poor light and it even put on an aerial display which really showed off its features. I inadavertently flushed the Thick Kneee as I approached not knowing it was there. My initial reaction to seeing its wings was that it was a gull, but I did think it was a little bit big, but its identity became clearer once I had my bins on it.
Stitch that! A Panorama Shot (3 files) stitched together
I was in this area because I had seen a large group of Painted Stork from the road in the large pond, approximately 105, and I was trying to get closer to get a shot. Earlier I had seen three large groups of the storks in aerial formation in the Khao Yoi area. As you can see the light and distance were against me in terms of getting a really sharp image with detail. There is a Spot-billed Pelican in among these storks but he is well covered up. I was also excited by the prospect of other stork species being in this group but I think these were all juvenile Painted Stork.
It was a grey, overcast afternoon with lots of rain, most of which I managed to avoid. However not ideal conditons for photography. However being able to use the histogram was once again a great help in getting decent balanced shots in poor light.
I also had good views of a Black Bittern in the Khao Yoi area, however it was distant. It's not an uncommon bird just elusive and beautiful! And it would make a fantastic photograph. Something to aspire to!
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