Huay Mai Teng Reservoir

Oriental Pratincole

Glareola maldivarum

นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 21.03.12

I never tire of Huay Mai Teng Reservoir -  the more I visit it the more I like it. On arrival this afternoon in the heat I was really in two minds about the wisdom of being out birding. I am still shaking off the lurgy and felt quite delicate. However as I drove to the water edge on the south side I picked up some water fowl in the air and they were not a familiar species. The duck situation is pretty simple here: Lesser Whistling Duck and err, more Lesser Whistling Duck. This is something which surprises me. These were not LWD with greyish heads, and a whitish upper trailing edge to the wings. I couldn't figure. I set up the scope and thought probably Cotton Pygmy-goose but they were too far away. So I decided to drive into the south side land area that is progressively growing as the water level drops. No surprises: Yellow Wagtail, Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Red-throated Pipit, Paddyfield Pipit, ( x2 possible Richard's but won't claim until I can get a verified photograph), hundreds of Oriental Pratincoles, and equally vast numbers of Open-bills, Little Cormorants and Herons, and good numbers of LWD.

Red-throated Pipit

Anthus cervinus

นกเต้าดินอกแดง

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 21.03.12

I took advantage of the light to take some shots. The Red-throated Pipit is abundant at the moment and gets reasonably close but it is difficult to capture because of incessant movement.

Purple Heron

Ardea purpurea

นกกระสาแดง

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 21.03.12

The Purple Heron is a testimony to the Panasonic EVF. As I moved around I was able to confirm the water fowl were Cotton Pygmy-goose which I have never seen in the main reservoir in numbers before; usually in small numbers, singles, pairs and threesomes, in smaller pools. A large Osprey was perched on a post.

Rain Quail

Coturnix coromandelica

นกคุ่มอกดำ

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir, Ratchaburi Province, 21.03.12

I drove to the north side for the last of the light. On arrival I was sad to note one solitary Small Pratincole. However Rain Quail were out in numbers, at least 20, like children in the school playground. They were on a piece of recently burned scrub. It doesn't matter what camera is used when the light is fading rapidly, the birds are 30-40 yards away and they have a vigorous feeding action and lot of motion - it is impossible to get a decent photograph. But I have never seen so many Rain Quail out in the open, playing and having fun.  I was happy to enjoy the show and was well aware that if I tried to close in on them I would scare them away - so I sat and observed. They were joined by a flock of Plain-backed Sparrows and two Indochinese Bushlarks dropped out of the sky to join the fun. I am going to try and got close tomorrow in the morning if I can get up early enough. 

Happy New Year from Ratchaburi!

Red-throated Pipit

Anthus cervinus

นกเด้าดินอกแดง

Ratchaburi 01.01.12

Almost as an afterthought I decided to go birding at 1630h and headed into the local rice paddy here in Ratchaburi; literally round the corner from where we live. I took my son with me and he very obliging fell asleep! My first bird of 2012 was a Common Myna, the first bird I viewed using my bins was an Asian Pied Starling and the first and only bird I have photographed in 2012 was a Red-throated Pipit.

It was unusually quiet and overcast and in fact conditions were really against photography. I was able to drive out into the middle of the rice paddy as the ground is flat and dry and the steady flow of trucks in and out has made a decent track. I ventured on a Common Kestrel hovering, a Black-shouldered Kite and I had the good fortune to see two Pied Harriers, a male and a female, flying in tandem and immediately even my dodgy eyes could see the female as a bigger bird than the male. There were lots of Red-throated Pipits.

Not bad for an afterthought! Happy New Year once more to you all!

Pratincoles

Darter

Anhinga melanogaster

นกอ้วงั่ว

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir

14.03.11

I met up with my friend Tom Backlund early this morning and we had a very plesant morning's birding at Huay Mai Teng Reservoir. What a joy for me to be on holiday and to be able to go out birding on a Monday morning.Tom has been reading this blog and the presence of the Burmese shrike and Small Pratincoles was too much for him to resist. I am glad to say we were able to locate the shrike without too much difficulty and the Small Pratincoles obliged too....... and for me there was one lifer and a number of new ticks for the patch.

Black-collared Starling

Sturnus nigricollis

นกกิ้งโกรงคอดำ

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir

14.03.11

Our first bird was a Darter, a species I thought I saw here a few weeks ago but didn't feel I could claim as it was literally a flash in the pan. This is a species I have only seen at Bueng Boraphet before. I even managed a shot of it from a distance in the early morning light; this shot also represents a further vote of confidence in my new rig. Tom then called two Black-collared Starlings in nearby trees and these too are a new species for the patch. No sign of Small Pratincoles and also no sign of Saturday afternoon's Bluethroat. Next up came a Red-throated Pipit, a further new species for the patch.

In the absence of Small Pratincoles we moved on in search of the Burmese Shrike which duly obliged at the same location my wife spotted it on Saturday. Phew! Species ⌗468 for Tom's Thai list. I say phew because I don't like to disappoint people and Tom was really after this one. Tom got some nice shots of a Black-shouldered Kite.

Oriental Pratincole

Glareola Maldivarum

นกแอ่นทุ่ใหญ่

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir

14.03.11

We moved on to the reservoir proper to a part at which I have spent a fair amount of time and Tom managed to flush some Small Pratincoles there. Phew again! Thai species ⌗469 for Tom! I concentrated on some Oriental Pratincoles which were in range so I managed a few shots of this very attractive bird and then turned my attention to the Small Pratincoles which were very obliging. The shot below is what I was looking for on Saturday! As you can see there is a resemblance between the two species but they are strikingly different in size and colouration.

Small Pratincole

Glareola lactea

นกแอ่นทุ่เล็ก

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir

14.03.11

Small Pratincole - flight shot

(© Tom Backlund)

At this point we turned our attention to quail. Tom reckons the habitat is perfect for these species and he called Yellow-legged and Barred Buttonquail in this part of the site. I have also seen Rain Quail here in the not toodistant past. Now after some consideration I am not going to claim either species both of which would have been lifers.  It just doesn't seem right: I saw both species flying off after we flushed them but didn't get the binoculars on either and really couldn't claim to have sighted any distinguishing features for either species. What is important is to know these particular species are in the locale and I will, of course, be back and will endeavour to have a more meaningful contact with them!

Indochinese Bushlark

Mirafra marionae

นกจาบฝนปีกแดง

Huay Mai Teng Reservoir

14.03.11

We drove on to the far side of the reservoir and en route we spotted a Common Kestrel flying off. On the far side we saw some Brown Shrikes, lots of Plain Prinias, a Zitling Cisticola and a Bright-headed Cisticola, my lifer for the day. A little detour in search of another part of the reservoir offered an opportunity to shoot this Indochinese Bushlark.

As always when Tom and I get together I had great day and it really helps to be with such an experienced and knowledgeable birder. Tom's view is this site could yield 100 species in a day due to the diversity of habitats in and around the area.

Local Birds

Plaintive Cuckoo - Female Hepatic Morph Variant (?)

Ratchaburi 25.01.11

I headed home with the sole objective of getting out for an hour of good light to photograph some of the local birds that are in the rice paddy at present. For instance last night I thought I could distinguish Paddyfield and Richard's Pipit, there were Red-throated Pipits, Yellow Wagtails, Sparrows and lots of Pied Starlings, Common Mynas and Cattle Egrets in hundreds. I did not bring my camera last night so I thought they would be back tonight, you know, waiting for me, posing! Alas no. A few Black Kites, hundreds of egrets but not the same range of small birds. I was also being a bit of a dope with the camera, just missing shots and there was quite a lot of noise around me as I was in a new area and people were asking me what I was doing. Anyhow I managed a couple of shots of this female Plaintive Cuckoo and now I have looked at the field guide I reckon it is the Hepatic Morph Variant on account of the light underparts.

Black Kite Bonanza

Red-throated Pipit

Ratchaburi 24.01.11

On arrival home this afternoon after school I was delighted to see Mummy Scaly-breasted Munia and Baby out of the nest and Mummy teaching Baby how to fly. I do not know about Baby 2 but there wasn't any sign of it; maybe in the nest. Upstairs in the veranda the Red-collared Dove according to our housekeeper is sitting on two eggs: I don't know how she knows this but that's what she says!

Black Kite

Ratchaburi 24.01.11 

Encouraged by this activity I headed round to the rice paddy and a few moments later I was attracted by an unusual shape perched on a pole in a field. I wondered if this might be a Common Kestrel so had a look and in fact it turned out to be nothing more than a strangely shaped piece of wood! However I was immediately struck by the sight of two large birds cavorting mid-air and a few seconds later I knew these were Black Kites and a closer look revealed a further 3 kites on the ground and this fellow perched on a pole, making six kites in total.

 Black Kite

Ratchaburi 24.01.11 

I did something quite clever by my standards! I was still far enough away so I got set up and then drove into the rice paddy and got behind the setting sun with the bird in front of me. I managed to use my truck for cover and managed to click away from about 60 metres. I have to say I am pleased with the results. These kites are pretty common in the locale but I never tire of them.

Black Kite

Ratchaburi 24.01.11 

I know nothing about the rice cultivation cycle but in recent weeks the rice has been harvested, the remnants eaten up by ducks, the remaining stalks have been burned, and now the soil has been tilled and in some places watered prior to replanting. It is therefore a feeding bonanza for birds and in among the hundred of cattle egrets, intermediate egrets and other birds was a small flock of Red-throated Pipits, 5 or 6 birds. Alas the sun had set and it was pretty gloomy so my photographs are poor. However common these Pipits may be they were lifers for me. In the same part of the paddy there was a lot of Wood Sandpiper, a few Common Sandpiper and a Spotted Redshank; I don't recall seeing a Redshank before in the local area. 

So not a bid hour after work!