Frustrations!? Not Really!

Little Cormorant

Khao Yoi, Phetchburi Province

19.02.12

A frustrating sort of day I suppose. The early start did not materialise and so when Tom Backlund called from Wat Khao Tahkrao I was still in bed. He reported two Comb Ducks. Wow! This confirmed my intention to head there in the afternoon. However if a week is a long time in politics then an hour is a long time in birding. No guarantees the birds would still be there in one hour, never mind later in the day.

Osprey

Wat Khao Takhrao, Phetchburi Province

19.02.12

When I did make it to the site early in the afternoon  I couldn't find the Comb Ducks. I had a good look for them. I am completely sure the birds had gone because later in the afternoon two Eastern Marsh Harriers began buzzing the assembled waterfowl out of their post-prandial slumbers. This went on for about thirty minutes and would have raised the Comb Ducks had they been resting or reclining. They are so big they would really have stood out. Alas no, not today, but a fantastic record for Tom and his mate.

Whiskered Tern

Khao Yoi, Phetchburi Province

19.02.12

I did, however, get an unexpected solitary Nordmann's Greenshank. In it came to the tail of a large group of ducks, distinct yellow legs and a slightly upturned, stout black and yellow bill. What was significant initially was its solitary status in amongst thousands of ducks. I thought Greenshank and then as I looked more closely I realised it was no ordinary Greenshank, or should I say Common Greenshank. I was really rather pleased with this. It would have been nice to have been able to get in a bit closer to this distant bird to get a decent shot. So again a little frustrating.

Purple Heron

Khao Yoi, Phetchburi Province

19.02.12

I fluffed a chance to get some decent shots of an Osprey. Shrubbery got in the way, however, but this only became obvious when I looked at the shots on a computer screen. Unfortunately the shrubs I was using for cover have cast shadow over the images when I thought I had a clean view of the bird. When I put my rig into the open the bird promptly legged it! Earlier on my way to the site via Khao Yoi, I managed to get a Thick-billed Warbler in focus in the LCD and was about to click when it flew off. Sometimes it can be like this!

But notwithstanding the frustrations I saw some good birds effortlessly today and managed a couple of decent shots of more common birds when I stopped off in the Khao Yoi area. A huge Steppe Eagle flew over the Wat Khao Takrhao site and as I drove towards the highway I stopped to watch a Greater Spotted Eagle and a Booted Eagle on Drongo Lane; this is where I first went birding in Thailand a few years ago. I wonder what I would have made of a Greater Spotted Eagle in those early days when I can distinctly recall being unable to separate Little and Cattle Egret! As I drove home I noted two kettles of Black Kites, each numbering about 30, the first quite literally above the Khao Yoi crags and the second a little bit to the north, near the roost site. So not such a bad few hours really!

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.

Gulf of Thailand: Big Birds

Spot-billed Pelican

Pelecanus philippensis

นกกระทุง

I decided I needed a change of scenery today so took a drive down to the Gulf coast and made a first stop at Bang Kaew just to the north of Cha-am in Phetchaburi Province. In some respects I wish I hadn't because there is heavy land-moving machinery on site. They are building a breakwater and doing a little bit of landscaping and river diversion! A few Malaysian plovers were playing around and there were plenty of Little Terns in breeding plumage. There were three Common Redshanks in the "pond", except it doesn't have a lot of water in it right now. I thought they were different from the more common Spotteds and this was confirmed when they took to the air and showed white secondaries.

Common Redshank

Tringa totanus

นกกทะเลขาแดงธรรมดา

I had hopes maybe of a Milky Stork! Two were reported here in early May. No evidence of them today. I headed up to Laem Pak Bia and made a first stop at the Abandoned Building. Nothing here. Some times there are huge flocks of Black-tailed Godwits here but nothing whatsoever today. So I decided to head into the King's Project and had a fantastic couple of hours. The highlight was nine Spot-billed Pelicans caming in for supper. What magnificent birds. They are quite camera shy and so I had to work to get a decent shot and of course the light was past its best and what was left of the sun was well covered by clouds. Two Painted Stork posed a little for me outside the project in adjacent saltpans. 

Painted Stork

Mycteria leucocephala

นกกาบบัว

Indian Cormorant

Phalacrocorax fuscicollis

นกกานำ้ปากยาว

Little Cormorant

Phalacrocorax niger

นกกานำ้เล็ก

And of course being a simple soul I am happy shooting cormorants and egrets and the Kings Project has no shortage of these species. I am also pleased that I can separate Indian from Little as well. I found myself in the amazing situation of having a bird too close. Hence the "artistic" shot of the Little Egret's head

Painted Stork

Mycteria leucocephala

นกกาบบัว

Little Egret

Egretta garzetta

นกยางเปีย

So a pleasant and welcome change from Huay Mai Teng Reservoir. Indeed I would like to see some of these big birds at the reserervoir.

Spot-billed Pelican

Pelecanus philippensis

นกกระทุง

I think this gives you a sense of just how big these Pelicans are when you see one close to a little egret.

Spot-billed Pelican

Pelecanus philippensis

นกกระทุง

All the pelican shots were taken after 18:00 so conditions were far from ideal. 

All photographs digiscoped at The Kings Project, Laem Pak Bia, Sunday 26.06.11

Upward Learning Curve!

Some of today's captures from The King's Project, Laem Pak Bia, Phetchaburi Province. I love the spot-billed pelicans. They are such big, peaceful birds with a look of being utterly out of place. There were 19 present this morning and in fact they represent a significant challenge....becaue of the variation in their plumage, grey through bright white.  The digiscope really comes into its own here. I was able to keep my distance and not disturb the birds and manage a few decent shots.

I think this is a great cormorant which is not exactly a commoner and not a regular visitor in the King's Project. A difficult bird to photograph because it gapes, very rapid movement around the gular area, the throat, which is how it keeps cool!

I am very pleased with these shots of this great egret. They are not completely washed out and I have managed to get some shadow in the main white body. They key advance in learning has been to start shooting with the camera lens on infinity, so the autofocus is off and all the focus is done on the scope; this means no last minute operation of the autofocus as I press down the shutter. I have a new head and some other bits coming in the next few days which I hope will lead to sharper, better images. You need to remember most of these shots are taking on a 3 second timer to reduce shake. 

 And finally a little cormorant.

The Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am

Common hoopoe

Upupa epops

นกกะรางหัวขวาน

Sirondhorn Environmental Park, CHa-am

08.09.10

I had a brief look at a few fairly common birds today during the school's educational trip to Sirindhon International Environmental Park. 160 rampant kids are not ideal birding companions! However these axe birds as the Thais call them, or rather, common hoopoes, were very obliging. These were taken with my EOS 500D with the 85-250 mm zoom. I'll photograph any bird and hoopoes may well be commoners but, you can see for yourself, they are very striking creatures. Elsewhere we saw a little heron, a pacific golden plover, common sandpiper, coppersmith barbets, olive-backed sunbirds, little egrets, little cormorants, lesser sand-plovers...... what you would expect. If you were stranded in the Hua-Hin/Cha-am area on a  "conventional"(!)  holiday you could do a lot worse than here. Nice friendly people, good facilities, a decent mangrove walkway, a good stretch of beach, restaurants, toilets ...... Bring the family. There is also a decent exhibition on environmental protection/sustainability themes.

More Huay Mai Teng

I took my new birding companion Tom and his wife Nid up, to Huay Mai Teng Reservoir this afternoon and the River Lapwing duly obliged, once more seven present. Phew! Not for long as they flew off almost on arrival. A lifer for Tom. I had just got my rig assembled and, you got it, off they went. Plenty of good birds today: an osprey high in the sky being a new bird for this patch, but no surprises as this is where it should be! Plenty of oriental pratincoles and two pairs of pied kingfisher. Tom had the urge for lifers and scoured hard for a small pratincole, but alas no, not today. Some reasonable shots showing progress.

I saw three species of kingfisher today : pied, white-throated, & common. I've got a bad shot of the white-throated for the blooper category. Distance and poor light at the end of the day are my excuses. The common didn't wait for me to get set up but I might go back tomorrow afternoon and try to find it because it is a really beautiful bird. Light was behind the bird.

I am reasonably happy with these pictures of a lesser whistling duck. Taken as the light was going, a good distance away and passable.

There is no doubt in my mind that there continues to be improvement. First of all I am getting more and more to grips with the camera operation. I am getting better and faster at getting the bird into my LCD. I am getting better with focus but by no means perfect. I have a lot to learn about exposure. I have no doubt a cable release and a couple of other gadgets that I am in the process of ordering are going to make a huge difference to the quality of my photographs. But I am really enjoying this new development and I believe some time soon I will produce some really good images.

I can see a time in the near future when I shall buy a portable blind (hide) and sit in it for a few hours. This weekend I spent a couple of hours sitting on a deck chair by the water and I have to say it was just such a perfect, relaxing feeling. Watch this space!