However, it was birds I was after but things didn't turn out quite as well as hoped. Although there is a reasonable bit of mangrove boardwalk, which is in good condition, there were few birds in evidence. A few Pied Fantails, a couple of Golden-bellied Gerygones and lots of Collared Kingfishers were about all that was to be seen. Despite playing the call of Mangrove Whistler I neither saw nor heard one, although there seems to be enough mature mangrove remaining to support a few pairs. Common and Dark-necked Tailorbirds were also easily seen and as I was leaving the mangrove boardwalk I happened upon an Eastern Crowned Warbler - a passage migrant.
A Few Migrants
Indeed, the whole site has great potential for passage migrants, situated as it is at the mouth of a major river. Unfortunately I arrived too late in the day to pick up much migratory movement, although I did come across a few common migrants including 1 Brown Shrike, 3 Common Kingfishers, 2 Black-capped Kingfishers and a few waders; 3 Long-toed Stints, 5 Wood Sandpipers, 6 Common Sandpipers and 2 Little Ringed Plovers. Also worth noting was that out of 20-30 Pond Herons seen only 1 Chinese Pond Heron was still in breeding plumage and just 1 Javan Pond Heron - all the others were in winter plumage and unidentifiable.
Chinese Pond Heron
A few flooded areas of grassland produced a few nice birds including some more migrants, 3 Yellow Wagtails, as well as a few Great Egrets, Little Egrets, Cattle Egrets and 1 Intermediate Egret. Also in this area were 3 Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, an Indian Roller, 1 White-throated Kingfisher and a Paddyfield Pipit.
Although the birding was not spectacular, there were enough birds to make it interesting and alongside the ship, the fort and a decent seafood restaurant, this site is worth a visit - even if for just the once.
A pier goes out into the river but even just 1 hour before low tide there was no sign of any mud being exposed although the view out to sea produced many Whiskered Terns, Little Cormorants, a few Indian Cormorants and lots of Great Egrets.
By 1pm I decided it was time to quit and go home, but I always seem to find myself hunting down more birds and in this way I came across a Black-crowned Night Heron and 2 Brahminy Kites.
Public Transport
Public transport to this spot does exist but it would involve such a convoluted set of connections that I don't recommend trying. Come here in a taxi or your own vehicle and stay for a nice lunch.
Lots of Common Species
Although I didn't find many notable birds at Chulachomklao there were lots of birds to see. Brown-throated and Olive-backed Sunbirds were both common as were Oriental Magpie Robin, Streak-eared Bulbul, Scaly-breasted Munia, Asian Koel, Common Myna, White-vented Myna, Asian Pied Starling, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Eastern Jungle Crow, Spotted Dove etc.; all the species that are common in any open-country and park situation.
Other Wildlife
Apart from birds I saw a number of large Water Monitors and two small parties of Long-tailed (Crab-eating) Macaques that were very nervous of humans - probably used to navy personel throwing stones at them. Additionally I happened upon a small green snake which fell out of a mangrove tree onto my shoulder before flicking itself off into the water: I don't know if it was me or the snake that was more shocked. One other bit of (unwelcome) wildlife were a lot of aggressive mosquitos.
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