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: Siberian Rubythroat at Bueng Boraphet

Over the last few months I have made a couple of visits to Bueng Boraphet in Nakorn Sawan province. This site is most famous for its waterbirds and a boat trip with the excellent Mr Phanom is memorable experience for birders and non-birders alike. Any boat trip at Bueng Boraphet is likely to provide lots of sightings of species such as Purple Swamphen, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Bronze-winged Jacana, Purple Heron, Oriental Darter, Asian Openbill Stork, Lesser Whistling Duck and Cotton Pygmy Goose with many other species likely during the northern winter. However, another highlight for many people is the Siberian Rubythroat that Mr Phanom has provided food for and is now easily observed at close range.

For photographers this particular Siberian Rubythroat is especially attractive as this species is usually very skulking and the photo opportunities this bird provides are very unusual. I took a couple of reasonable photos with a digital camera through my binoculars.

Here is a link to a video clip was taken by Daniel Lopez Velasco in mid February 2009 and shows what a beautiful and obliging bird it is: Siberian Rubythroat at Bueng Boraphet.

Whilst this particular Siberian Rubythroat at Bueng Boraphet is particularly easy to see, in the same area we found 4 more Rubythroats skulking around in dry undergrowth; the dry margins of Bueng Boraphet are one of the best places in Thailand I know of to find this tricky, skulking species.