Ratchaburi Rice Paddy

Pied Kingfisher

Ceryle Rudis

Ratchaburi 26.12.11

I've been feeling under the weather these last few days and awoke this morning with both nostrils blocked with the cold. So on my first day of leave I was more than happy to spend a few hours birding in the rice paddy in Ratchaburi, as opposed to a longer drive to the main action areas - that is  after dropping my son at nursery and my wife at the hair dresser! This morning the sun was shining brightly.

Indian Roller

Ratchaburi 26.12.11

I drove into a small mixed flock of Little & Great Egrets and some of the latter were still sporting that very distinctive aquamarine colour at the base of their bills normally present in the breeding season. I decided to head to my usual haunt which has yielded Grey-headed Lapwing, Common Snipe, possibly Pintail too,  Woodsandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper but today not offering much in terms of diversity: Red-wattled Lapwing, Chinese Pond-Herons and Streak-earred Bulbuls , the latter darting about the border trees and shrubbery. I stopped to admire a solitary Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker and a closer look at the pole shows it ( and others) are probably residing there.

I have little doubt that the next bird up was a Shikra, light grey colours with black primary tips, and dark undertail bands: in the air and heading away from me. Then in the same area I espied a Barbet high on a bamboo tree....a little distant, but my bins confirmed a barbet and rather a lot of red on top. My instinct was Coppersmith but I had doubts because it looked bigger. I had a look at the field guide which raised more issues: for a Coppersmith this had a distinct lack of yellow around the eyes. And so it remains as a mystery as the bird duly legged it before I could do anything else!

Then I had a virtual point blank on a Thick-billed Warbler whose presence in the shrubbery I noticed from the movement of leaves it was causing, then out popped its head and then everything else and it saw me and my bins about 6 feet away and not surprisingly legged it or rather winged it! In compensation an Indian Roller perched up on the other side of the irrigation canal and I was lucky enough to see it and to be able to photograph it.

With no time pressure on me I drove to another part of the rice paddy where last year I saw some Pied Kingfishers. Well they were there for me today and I managed to get a shot of one who was more interested in his prey than me, but not for very long! No these guys do it for me. They really strike me as extraordinarily beautiful and I doubt I could ever tire of them. I think I'll be out tomorrow with the hide to see if I can really get in close and get some shots of these spectacular birds.

Finally at least three Black Kites were soaring in and around the rice paddy during my visit. No sign of harriers, however.

Close to Home

Coppersmith Barbet

Don Tako, Ratchaburi

09.02.11

I did my bit for the kingdom of birds yesterday at school. A colleague told me a small bird was in one of the lower grade classrooms and that the kids were chasing it around and making it feel scared and nervous. So we went to have a look and found a little sparrow  on a ledge in a corner, clearly petrified. I took off my shirt and used it as a net to catch the bird and then managed to pick it up and release it. Most of the kids know of my interest in birds but I don't think they understood it extended to taking off my shirt!

Pied Kingfisher

Don Tako, Ratchaburi

09.02.11

Yesterday afternoon the pied kingfishers were back but a group of small boys were intent on splashing about in the stream so that scared the birds away. I managed a couple of shots. Looks as if the kingfishers are nesting  nearby so maybe a bit of stealth and fieldcraft might enable me to get into position for some decent shots........when my scope comes back. I am amazed that we have 4 species of kingfisher on our doorstep: common, collared, black-capped and now pied. 

With the boys creating mayhem in the river I headed towards the main rice paddy. Flocks of black drongos, plain-backed sparrows and a coppersmith barbet "hooting" in a nearby tree. With the scope I might have managed a decent shot. I proceeded on into the rice paddy and there I watched a black-shouldered kite hover in its very distinctive manner. And in came a male pied harrier for a bit of supper, as ever sending everything scurrying. Sadly too far away to photograph. What a mighty bird!

Black-shouldered Kite

Don Tako, Ratchaburi

09.02.11

The day before's eagle remains unidentified, not very good shots. Tom agrees it is an eagle so we can record an eagle sp. for the local patch and I must keep looking! No sign of it yesterday evening however.

Some Good News

Pied Kingfisher - Canon Eos

 I am going to sleep so much better tonight as I have received confirmation that my telescope has reached its destination in Tokyo where it will be repaired. Phew! I have died a hundred deaths over the last few days. And, my Nikon P6000 kit arrived from Tara in the US of A. That means more crap photographs! It also means a short trip to Japan to collect the telescope. So I am mightily relieved.

The local bird scene has been really interesting these last few days. Yesterday evening about 750 m  from my home I had the pleasure of two Pied Kingfishers. I have to say they were close enough that had I my digiscoping rig I might have managed some cracking shots. I managed a couple of decent shots with the EF-S 55 -250 mm zoom, but had I been set up with the rig, who knows?!

The Pied Kingfisher really does it for me. Well they all do really. However the Pied is a new species for my locale.

The merit of simply getting out and looking at the birds that come along really shone through this evening. Obviously I am comparing this to twitching but as the light started to go I noticed a large dark raptor which I automatically categorised as Black Kite. It was hovering high up and came over in my direction. This was no kite but an aquila eagle. I reckon it was a Steppe Eagle but i have sent my photographs off to Tom for an opinion. If not then it will probably be an Imperial as this fellow had a big wingspan and I doubt if it was a Greater Spot. An aquila eagle will be another tick for the local patch. Not really what I was expecting.

Add in a pair of Black-shouldered Kites plus a male Pied Harrier flew over and sent everything scurrying  ........ great to be out birding on my doorstep and seeing such interesting species. Even better now that I know my gear is where it should be.

My wife said to me early this morning that it was going to be hot today. It certainly was - looks like the so called cool season is over. I am sure visitors from colder climes will have found it hot here in the middle of the day. It's now going to be uncomfortably hot.

These are also the first photographs that I have processed using Apple's Aperture software which I bought when I got my new notebook. There is a lot to learn, let's say!

The photograph above gives an idea of what the rice paddy is like right now. In a few weeks this will be all green with the latest batch of rice plants.

The Last Few Days

Barn Swallow - EOS

Alas wretched work commitments mean birding, photography and blogging have to take a second place! Of course I can still manage some birding but just a little. I'll leave these pics of some common birds that I have seen these last few days. News from the major sites is that a Cinereous Vulture remains in the Wat Norng Blah Lai area though no recent sightings of the Himalyan Griffons. In Kaeng Krachan Spot-winged Starlings have been sighted fairly regularily since Christmas. This represents a new record this far south for Thailand.

Scaly-breasted Munia -EOS (front garden)

Zitting Cisticola - EOS

Lotus flowers - digiscoped

Little Egret - digiscoped

Purple Heron - digiscoped

Pied Kingfisher - digiscoped

There are plenty of good birds locally. Yesterday we saw a fair few black-shouldered kites, a black kite and green-billed Malkoha as we toured around the Huay Mai Teng reservoir and its surrounds. Tonight a quick half-hour at the loca rice paddy produced a female Pied Harrier and a Common Kestrel plus Yellow-Rumped and Plain Prinias and an Oriental Reed Warbler. At the school camp, notiwthstanding the racket created by 200 + kids, an unidentified phylloscopus warbler, possibly an Arctic, and one other, two-barred but thereafter who knows and a very pretty Ashy Drongo. I was very pleased to get the digiscope onto the birds for both of the photographs below; the warblers move at speed and the drongo was equally swift. 

Phylloscopus Warbler - unidentified

Ashy Drongo

More Huay Mai Teng

Pied kingfisher is one of my favourite birds, so striking to look at. I went back to the reservoir yesterday, briefly, as I thought the common kingfisher would be about and I really wanted to try to get a few shots of it. Alas no, but no complaints as this fellow makes an excellent alternative. The pics are poor but they highlight some of my issues. You see the leaves in front of the bird, huh?! Well they are in focus but not the bird! Add in vibration from the wind ....... I am not making excuses! But one day I hope to bring you a striking capture of this bird, in focus with "wow" factor! 

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!