Thaibirds and more

Most folks get excited at seeing the remarkably decorated Heart-spotted Woodpecker. By no means a guarantee but not necessarily left without on a birding trip. However this WP, the Black and Buff is a lot harder to see and easily confused with the Heart-spotted. It has a rather restricted distribution range stretching from Northern and Central Myanmar all the way to Vietnam but not reaching into China. The nape and the hindneck is all white which is the easiest way to tell the birds from Heart-spotted. The male has a read submoustachial strip something the female is not adorned with. Not a bird but never the less a lifer. The rare Fea's Barking Deer. Much darker in complextion then the regular Barking Deer so often seen.

The forest is as we all know a real challenge to photograph birds. (Yes, I know, even seeing birds can be very hard at times)......so it was with great anticipation I set behind a blind at Bahng Songnok waiting to see what would show up. I was under the impression that the Red-legged Crake is a wet season visitor at Kaengkrachan so I was surprised to see this bird show up. This bird was the definite highlite of my day as I have been wanting to photography it for a long long time. Often encountered on a birding walk but seldom seen. Large Scimitar Babbler. Also from Bahn Songnok. This lovely resident warbler has an easily recognized voice. It likes bamboo in the hills. Yellow-bellied Warbler. The Golden Babbler likes it in the thick scrub. This one was lured out with playback Likewise the Red-bearded Bee-eater is a hard to find bird at Kaengkrachan. With its striking colors a definite highlight of my day at Panern Thung.

A couple of days back I managed to get closer to the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. There were 2 birds mixed in with a flock of 200 Red-necked Stints all feeding in a frenzy within 12-15 meters from the car I was in.

The dry season is just around the corner and with it comes the opportunity to see some global rarities. On the 11th I had my first trip for the season in search of Spoon-billed Sandpiper. 4 Germans were on a 10 day birding trip to Thailand and they asked me to help them with the waders. It worked out real well and it didn't take long to locate this lone bird. Each year we have a fair number of Nordmann's Greenshanks over wintering. This time we found 12 individuals. The 3rd rarity is a bird not to be counted on as it is a passage migrant. We were fortunate enough to come across a single bird: Asian Dowitcher.

Splendid sunset at Kaengkrachan damm. 2 day trip to Petburi 21-22nd of September 2010 John and Gordon from Scotland did a short stop over on their way to Australia. The goal was to see as many birds as possible in a gentle but steady pace. J and G had never visited SEA before. We played things by ear and visited several sites. Khok Kham: Someone had recently seen an over summering Spoon-billed Sandpiper here. When we got there it was low tide which meant birds had left for the mudflats. The good news is that an extensive cemented boardwalk has now been put up at the mangroves and one can view the birds pretty good through a scope out there. There were thousands of birds and with so many birds around and the waters retreating we had little chance of finding the Sandpiper. Still, for John and Gordon it meant some new waders: Red-necked Stint, Long-toed Stint, Lesser Sand Plover, Broad-billed Sandpiper being a few. Mai Taeng Reservoir: This is an excellent site for River Lapwing and Rain

Martin Daniel was on a business trip to Vietnam and decided to stop over in Bangkok on his way home to England. Since this was Martin’s 12th trip with me in the field there were quite a narrow set of target birds. We decided to spend the time at Mae Wong National Park some 5 hours drive North West of Bangkok. This area is part of the Western Thailand Forest Complex which stretches over a huge area. The site is the best in the country for Rufous-necked Hornbills, Burmese Yuhinna, Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler, White-necked Laughingthrushes and White-throated Bulbul. Of these Martin had only seen the Hornbill. The prime birding area is at Chong Yen which is located 1340m above sea level. Here is a campground overlooking a forest covered valley. Main drawback with the site is the abundance of sand flies that can be quite a bother. Since September is right in the rain season it was a bit of a gamble to visit. Sure enough, we had plenty of scattered showers on our way to and up the mountain

For 9 months of the year one neither see nor hear the Rain Quail. Then during 3 months of the wet season the loud and far reaching 'clink clink' can be heard in suitable habitat such as at Huay Mai Taeng, Ratchaburi. In the grass lands and scrub near the large dam these little birds are commonly found. Their calls are hard to pin point from where it originates. I found the best way was to drive around in the grass lands by car. Normally they aren't seen well as they seem to stay within the thicket of the scrub or grasses. But as the mating season draws near they start calling and proclaiming their territory. This is best done from a rock where the male will belt out his song. They were surprisingly approachable with the car. Perhaps too occupied finding or calling their mates? And this is how I got these images. The week earlier I had seen them only on foot and through a scope but this time Carl-Johan Svensson came along and with the help of his high clearing veh

The wet season is a good time to see these great looking birds. Unmistakable in flight. Lovely golden 'mane'/neck in breeding plumage as well as a long tail. Truly precocious as they can walk almost instantly once hatched. Still, quite a feat on that wobbly floating vegetation. This is a female bird. They have reversed sex roles so that the male is the one raising and incubating the young ones. Now, I wonder why this male hasn't got a long tail?

Pittas sure are exciting birds. Every so difficult to find outside of breeding season but always incredibly rewarding once found. I have birded in Thailand for many years but still can count on one hand's fingers the number of times I have seen Eared Pitta. So it was with joy I accepted this opportunity to view the bird from a carefully set up blind. It so happened to be the very last day before the chicks left with their mom so I really managed in the 'nick of time'. The bird perched and called the chicks from a perch some 6-7 meter up for a little over an hour before it went on the ground and slowly approached the nest. I don't know why it had such an incredibly slow approach and I don't think it was aware of my presence. When ever any other birds would come near the Pitta likewise would stop showing. It seemed on high alert until it finally decided to feed and then would come every 5-10 minutes. After 20 minutes of feeding I left the blind. Conditions were very h

Most folks visiting Thailand don't get to see Blue-winged Pitta for the simple reason that it is a wet season visitor. A few individuals may stay over winter in the South but no where else. Then in late April/May they start coming in from their wintering grounds in primarily Indonesia. In June they breed and in suitable habitat are quite easy to see. This particular individual was fed worms regularly at the garden of a local bird photographer near Khao Yai. The bird had a nest up the hill but worms strategically placed would overcome its fear and it put on a splendid show. On the day I visited it showed just about every 10 minutes. The chicks must have been quite big to receive all that food! I was able to take pictures for a long time and to experiment with different settings. Great fun!

A little bit of greenery behind 4 walls at the Temple of Heaven helped to produce 4 lifers! Yellow-billed Grosbeak Azure-winged Magpie Red-billed Starling White-cheeked Starling 2.11.0.0