Ban Song Nok, Petchburi

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker - male

Dicaeum trigonostigma

นกกาฝากท้องสีส้ม

Ban Song Nok, Kaeng Krachan District, Petchburi Province

04.10.12

My trip to Ban Song Nok threw up two lifers today in an otherwise fairly low key trip. The undoubted highlight was a brief glimpse of a Blue-bearded Bee-eater whose identification was confirmed by its very distinct, monosyllabic call. I am not ticking this because it really was the briefest of views, I saw a clear powder blue beard, and then it was gone. I don't know at what point I would take the tick, but this was way below "better view required". I must have some sort of reasonable contact with the bird and this wasn't it!

Orange-bellied Flowerpecker - female

Dicaeum trigonostigma

นกกาฝากท้องสีส้ม

Ban Song Nok, Kaeng Krachan District, Petchburi Province

04.10.12

I will claim the Tickell's Blue Flycatcher because I got a number of clear if somewhat fleeting views of the front and rear, not enough to photograph, but enough to identify it. The Large Scimitar Babbler was too large and too near to fit in the LCD. In fact a pretty ugly bird not helped by the fact it was having a good splash and so getting wet. So Thai lifers #364 and #365.

Large Scimitar Babbler

Pomatorhinus hypoleucos

นกระวังไพรปากยาว

Ban Song Nok, Kaeng Krachan District, Petchburi Province

04.10.12

The joy however is the simple business of photographing the flowerpeckers. The Orange-bellied is sublimely beautiful and it's still there, much to Ba Ek's surprise.

Black-naped Monarch

Hypothymis azurea

นกจับแมลงจุกดำ

Ban Song Nok, Kaeng Krachan District, Petchburi Province

04.10.12

But this is not easy-peasy stuff. Light conditions in the hide area are actually very difficult for digiscoping. Slow shutter speeds are the order of the day and this is not ideal for birds which are often moving about very rapidly. Also I  often have too much magnification so can't frame the whole bird! I do think the hide is 300 mm territory. Whatever I had the place to myself today and I got a couple of decent shots, so I'm happy.

Pak Thale & Laem Pak Bia

I am wondering if some or all of the birds in this shot are Little Stints. They were at Pak Thale this morning and they stood out because they were in their own little flock in their own little salt pan. There were plenty of Red-necked Stints in the adjacent pans and what initially struck me was these ones appeared bigger. As I scoped them the split supercilium, visible on the two right side birds, was apparent. Broad-billed Sandpiper, I wondered, but of course their bill is all wrong. On looking at the photo I am encouraged by the fine bill point and the brownish cast these birds have. I've referred the matter to the experts and shall await their judgement!

On Monday the first Spoon-billed Sandpiper of the winter was reported at Khok Kham in the Inner Gulf. So I thought it might be worth checking out Pak Thale and Laem Pak Bia. No Spooner for me today but plenty of Red-necked Stints. A huge flock of Eurasian Curlews took off for the shore soon after my arrival. I also recorded 61 Brown-headed Gulls, the first gulls I have seen in this migratory cycle. A sizeable number, 150+, of Marsh Sandpipers

Laem Pak Bia was pretty quiet. I think most of the waders had headed for the coast and the fresh offerings of the new low tide. 3 Gull-billed Terns stood out amongst hundreds of Whiskered Terns. One Spot-billed Pelican, 2 Painted Stork and a handful of mixed waders, with a good number of Pacific Golden and Gray Plovers; 2 Temminck's Stints and 3 Black-tailed Godwits at the Abandonned Building. I bumped into Mr Daeng who advised that the Great Thick Knee has been about, but not today. In the King's Project I snatched glimpses of a Painted Snipe and a Pintail Snipe; otherwise fairly quiet.

But what fun to be birding on a Wednesday........ perfect!

Wat Khao Takrhao & Khai Yoi

Well my health improved enough to enable me to get out for the afternoon and take a gentle drive down through the Khao Yoi area to Wat Khao Takrhao in Phetchburi province. Lots of big water birds. In the course of the afternoon I would estimate I saw about 50 Spot-billed Pelicans, about 20 of which were paddling around the large pool at Wat Khao Takrhao; otherwise they were liberally scattered about the Khao Yoi area and mixed up with greater numbers of Painted Stork. No surprises at Wat Khao Takrhao but huge numbers of Lesser Whistling Duck, thousands of them. I didn't make any effort to count them as they were scattered everywhere. Unfortunately my "road" has been "resurfaced" and on the basis that I was sinking into it I didn't bother to drive. So no access to the area which allows good views over the pool with the added benefit of having the sun behind you in the afternoon.

I had observed a Common Kingfisher perching on an a small fish trap so I went back to try and get a shot of it by using my hide. A Green Bee-eater and Whiskered Tern obliged for me but not the kingfisher which took off the minute I trained my lens on it. Good numbers of waders: notably Black-tailed Godwits, but also a few Marsh Sandpipers and Pacific Golden Plovers. Things are building up very nicely.

Meklong River Estuary, Inner Gulf

As often happens with teachers we get sick when we go on holiday and sadly I am streaming with a heavy cold and a sore throat. When I should probably have been in bed we took a drive yesterday afternoon, Saturday, around the west side of the Meklong river, Inner Gulf so to speak, south of the main highway near Samut Songkram, more exploratory than anything else. We also had a brief look on the east side of the Meklong around Don Hoi Lod but not much of note. The bird of the day was Tiger Shrike, I counted four of them in three different areas, skulking in scrub, suggesting a bit of a migratory wave in progress. Elsewhere lots of Redshanks, a few Greenshanks, one Marsh Sandpiper, 4 Brahminy Kites, a few Whiskered Terns, a pair of Lesser Sand-plovers, 8 Pacific Golden Plovers, a Common Kingfisher, a  couple of Collared Kingfishers. Strange being in this area and not seeing any gulls, whose arrival must be imminent. Today, Sunday, I am confined, happily confined, and hopefully will make up for this in the next couple of weeks once I am fit again. This week I got  a couple of excellent links via the various bird groups to which I subscribe. So this is my current browsing: http://wallace-online.org/ and Oriental Honey Buzzard Satellite Tracking Project.

The Deluge

I left home in bright sunshine and rather fancied when I got to Huay Mai Teng Reservoir about 1530h  that I was going to be lucky in avoiding rain. Twenty minutes later it was battering down and 90 minutes later it was much the same. My priority became the avoidance of getting stuck in mud and keeping my equipment dry. Not many birds today such was the donwpour. However I was at different parts of the site today so did see a Black-shouldered Kite, 2  Bronze-winged Jacanas and a mixed flock of about 30 Asian Golden and Baya Weavers. I couldn't help notice the rate of habitat loss: where until recently there was secondary forest, with lots of scrub, this has now been cleared and a water tower has been installed and electricity pylons erected. I wonder what the future holds here. Glad to say I got home without needing excavation.

Reservoir Update

Lesser Coucal

Not such a great day for photography but a pleasant afternoon, if a little wet, for birding. The question is this: have the River Lapwing moved on from Huay Mai Teng Reservoir? No sign of them today. This is consistent with the last three years - the River Lapwing have usually gone by now. So, too, however, had the Small Pratincoles in each of the last three years, but again today they were present in numbers, around 100 or so. Perhaps the lapwing are still around.

Lesser Coucal

We have had a lot of rain this week and it was reflected in an appreciable rise in water levels at the reservoir. It's still low but it appears to be filling up. The bird of the day was Yellow Wagtail, of which I would estimate at least 60 putting on aerial displays. Good numbers of Oriental Skylarks and lots of vocal Rain Quail; only two seen in brief snatches of flight but I do wonder how many of these quail are here. A solitary Pied Kingfisher performed its spectacular hover before plunging into the water in pursuit of prey. Sadly light and rain meant I was not set up.

Eastern Stonechat

A Peregrine Falcon flew over high and a distant Chinese Francolin could be heard. Plenty of Zitting Cisticolas, Oriental Pratincoles, (but no evidence of a build up of numbers) and Paddyfield Pipits. In the last light of the day I saw a pretty sight: a Lesser Coucal with two juveniles. Sadly the juveniles took cover before I could get a shot of them but the adult stayed in the clear for long enough; I would have liked a shot of the juveniles as they are really quite distinct and quite pretty.

I also saw three Brown Shrike, 2 Black Drongo, 3 Whiskered Tern and 1 Eastern Stonechat today: normal migrants that take up residence at the reservoir for the "winter".

A-whaling We Will Go

Bryde's Whale

(© Photo Credit: Samanya Rodorigo) 

I spent the day whale watching today with a group of "foreign" teachers and their families and friends. That's our designation in this country but we were a truly international group, seventeen of us to be precise: Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Indian, Camerounian, American and Scottish. Most importantly we saw one whale and in fact got so close we could almost see down its large throat. Spectacular views as this youngish Bryde's whale filled up with small fish and the terns swooped in an attempt to scavenge some sustenance. As the organiser I was delighted for everyone, and relieved too, though I think most people would have been happy with the boat trip in itself. My own view is we were fortunate to see this one whale and in no small measure our thanks are due to Loong Lek, our very able skipper. If you want to go whale watching Loong Lek is your man and his boat is ideal.

The birds were equally good: I observed 2 Bridled Terns, 2 Lesser Crested Terns, 32 Great Crested Terns, 40+ Great Cormorants. I even managed a few shots which is remarkable. I think the Great Cormorants are amazing, real pelagic birds.