Thailand Birding: Pak Thale & Laem Pak Bia

The dreary weather in Thailand continues and we had to deal with drizzle, mist and low cloud today at Pak Thale and Laem Pak Bia. However, we did not let this stop us from finding 3 Spoon-billed Sandpipers at Pak Thale within 10 seconds of beginning our search!

We were able to watch these critically endangered birds for about 30 minutes before they moved on to another area to feed. Also at Pak Thale were 2 Far Eastern Curlew with the Eurasian Curlew flock (identifying them in flight is really the only way), 1 juvenile Black-tailed Gull, 1 Dunlin, 3 Red Knot with a large group of Great Knot, 3 Pied Avocets and a Mangrove Whistler in nearby mangrove trees.

Long-toed Stint

Moving on to Laem Pak Bia we managed to beat the mist and find a total of 39 Nordmann's Greenshank hanging out with Grey Plovers and Great Knots. A flock of 43 Pied Avocets was an unusually high number and more than 50 Asian Dowitchers were seen in the same pool that they have been in for more than a month.

Our afternoon boat trip to Laem Pak Bia sand spit was pleasant and quite successful with a first winter Heuglin's Gull, 1 Lesser Crested Tern, 8 Great Crested Terns, 5 Malaysian Plovers, a male and female White-faced Plovers (alone, not together), 2 Chinese Egrets, 3 Pacific Reef Egrets keeping everyone happy.

Unfortunately, bad weather meant that we had a less than satisfying ending with no sign of any Indian Nightjars where they are usually common.

Thailand Birding: Khao Yai

From 27th to 29th January I spent time at Khao Yai national park with a group of birders from UK. Despite the terrible unseasonal weather which resulted in a lot of rain and poor visibility, we managed to see a lot of good birds.

The very obliging White-throated Rock Thrush and Mugimaki Flycatcher at the Boonson Lekagul camp entry road were a very good start to our first day, but there was no sign of any Orange-headed Thrushes at Pa Gluai Mai campsite. Presumably the wet weather means that the thrush no longer needs to hang around the damp spot behind the toilets.

White-throated Rock Thrush

Over the rest of our time in the forest our highlights were a hard-earned male Blue Pitta which was all the better for the long period of anticipation in seeing the bird, Red-headed Trogon, Collared Owlet, Van Hasselt's Sunbird, female Banded Kingfisher, Dusky Broadbill, Long-tailed Broadbill, Banded Broadbill, Great Hornbill, male Silver Pheasant, several Siamese Fireback Pheasants, Black-and-buff Woodpecker and Heart-spotted Woodpecker.

In addition to our bird sightings we had several elephant sightings including one while we were on foot and a stampeding herd of 13 elephants crossing the road in front of our vehicle; three Pileated Gibbons were also a welcome sighting.

Thailand Birding: Doi Inthanon Summit

The summit of Doi Inthanon is always a lovely place, with its mossy, fern-covered trees and fantastic birds. On 24th and 25th January I made a couple of visits to the summit where it was really quite cold in the early morning and late afternoon.

On both visits the regular species were seen quite easily; Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Bar-throated (Chestnut-tailed) Minla, Silver-eared (Chestnut-crowned) Laughingthrush, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Dark-backed Sibia, Flavescent Bulbul, Ashy-throated Warbler, Yellow-browed Tit, Mrs Gould's Sunbird and Green-tailed Sunbird. However, over the course of the two visits, quite a few less common and harder to find species were also seen, including this very confiding Eurasian Woodcock.

A flock of about 20 Common Rosefinches were seen at the car park in the early morning, including some beautiful males, but I was most excited about a male Brambling that we saw on the boardwalk as it was a bird that I had not previously seen in Thailand.

Other highlights on our two visits were 2 Dark-sided Thrushes foraging amongst the leaf litter, 2 male White-browed Shortwings, 2 Ashy-headed Woodpigeons to add to the Speckled Woodpigeons we saw on the way up, superb views of a singing Pygmy Wren Babbler, 2 Rufous-throated Partridges that we called in behind the toilets, a Northern White-crowned Forktail, a male Snowy-browed Flycatcher and a male Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker.

All in all, a very successful two trips to the summit of Doi Inthanon.

Thailand Birding: Doi Lang

I have just spent three days at Doi Lang in Chiang Mai province and thought others would like to know of some of the amazing sightings from the location. Now that the breach in the road has been repaired and that the mountain is accessible from Fang, there is even better birding on the mountain than before. On the road up from the Fang side there is a lot of great pine forest and we saw Mrs Hume's Pheasant and Giant Nuthatch on the way up. This forest is good for flycatchers and we found Ultramarine, Sapphire, Pale Blue and Slaty-backed Flycatchers. However, it is the photographic stakeouts that make for a spectacular visit.

Large Niltava

I took this photo of a male Large Niltava using a cheap point-and-shoot camera from a distance of about 1 metre as the bird came down to take mealworms. At the same spot I was mobbed by Dark-backed Sibias and also was able to photograph Himalayan Bluetail and Eyebrowed Thrush from a similarly short distance.

Eyebrowed Thrush

Himalayan Bluetail

Other birds that came to this feeding spot at the upper checkpoint on Doi Lang included Silver-eared Laughingthrush, Spectacled Barwing and Blue Whistling Thrush.

Spectacled Barwing

Further down the mountain some photographic hotspots have popped up with access from the Fang side with birds such as Spot-throated Babbler, Siberian Rubythroat, White-gorgetted Flycatcher, Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher, White-bellied Redstart all coming down to take mealworms, but it is the Rusty-naped Pitta and Spot-breasted Laughingthrushes which are the main attraction - both are fairly tame and can easily be observed and photographed after supplying mealworms.

Spot-breasted Laughingthrush 

These last two species are next to impossible to see under normal conditions so it is a real treat to be able to observe them out in the open - thank you to the Thai photography community for having the patience to create these bird hotspots and sharing them with everybody.

Other interesting birds we saw were Spot-breasted Parrotbill, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-babbler, White-browed Laughingthrush, Crested Bunting, Mountain Hawk Eagle and Slender-billed Oriole, all of which contributed to an excellent visit.

Thailand Birding: Boat Trip at Bueng Boraphet

Last week I took a boat trip on the lake at Bueng Boraphet to see the large numbers of waterbirds that occur there. At the "Nok Nam Park" on the southern side of the lake Mr Phanom has been taking birders and photographers out for many years and he always knows what is to be seen on the lake.

Our trip was spent mainly taking photographs of the commoner waterbirds; I have been out on the lake many times but it is always a beautiful sight to see so many birds amongst the colorful water lilies and lotus flowers.

I am not really a photographer but many of the birds were so close that I was able to get a few nice pictures using just a point-and-shoot camera.

Intermediate Egret by Nick Upton

I have used the above photograph as one of many updates to the Bueng Boraphet page on thaibirding.com.

On this visit we were able to see a large number of migratory ducks which had recently arrived; 1200 Northern Pintail, 800 Garganey, 9 Common Teal, 2 Ferruginous Pochard and 1 Tufted Duck; perhaps a rarity will turn up soon.

Thailand Birding: 2012 Year List

Every year I keep a record of the number of species I see; I don't go chasing birds for my year list but it is interesting to record what I see from year to year.

In 2012 I ended up with a total of 743 species having spent 3.5 months in UK and the rest of the time in Thailand.

I managed to get a few new species in 2012 which included Mew Gull, Northern Boobook, White-browed Fantail, Red-crowned Barbet, Balaeric Shearwater, Great Grey Shrike, Shorelark, Little Auk, Red-breasted Goose, Spot-breasted Laughingthrush and Slaty-legged Crake.

For my Thai list I also added Mandarin Duck, House Crow, Red-crested Pochard, Black-legged Kittiwake and Copper-throated Sunbird.

Currently, my 2013 year list stands at one species - this Peaceful Dove on the street in Bangkok as I went for lunch this afternoon!