Thailand Birding: Common Shorebirds at Pak Thale & Laem Pak Bia

It is mid May now and all but a few of the commoner shorebirds have left Thailand and returned to their breeding grounds further north. However, I spent some time this week reviewing some photographs of the commoner shorebirds that I took at Pak Thale and Laem pak Bia earlier this year whilst leading a photography tour: Photography Tour of Thailand, March 2013.

Here are some of the photos that I obtained on the tour.

Wood Sandpiper

Temminck's Stint

Little Ringed Plover

Common Greenshank

Red-necked Stint

Usually some of the commoner shorebirds begin to return by the end of July; these are the non-breeders and birds that have failed at nesting. This is a good time to see some species in their breeding plumage, particularly Curlew Sandpiper.

Often by August or September Asian Dowitchers begin to pass through and by end of September shorebird numbers are really increasing as migration gets into full swing. Every year we wait for some of the rarer birds to return and usually they have shown by the end of October; the most awaited species is Spoon-billed Sandpiper and hopefully it will arrive again this year even though its numbers are very low now.

By early November all the speciality species of shorebirds have returned to Thailand and Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Nordmann's Greenshank, White-faced Plover and others can be found regularly. If you need any help finding them contact me: nickupton@thaibirding.com

Thailand Birding: Large Waterbirds at Pak Thale

Most mornings at Pak Thale there are huge congregations of large waterbirds, mostly egrets but over recent weeks more and more other species have been joining them. 

Up until a few weeks ago there had been hardly any Indian Cormorants or Painted Storks in the area but there has been an influx; I guess that they are moving to Pak Thale from their breeding colonies, mostly in Cambodia, having finished nesting.

On 27th a flock of Painted Storks kept flying around before joining a large number of egrets to feed in a pool and then several hundred Indian Cormorants came in from the sea. Also amongst these birds was one subadult Black-headed Ibis. However, although I looked closely, there did not seem to be any Milky Storks in the area.

Painted Storks in flight

I am expecting there to be an arrival of Spot-billed Pelicans soon and hopefully there will be a Milky Stork or another rarity to join them.

Thailand Birding: Black-legged Kittiwake

Today a trip to Laem Pak Bia sand spit turned up quite a surprise -a Black-legged Kittiwake!

Black-legged Kittiwake at Laem Pak Bia, digiscoped by Mr Daeng

As Mr Daeng landed his boat on the sand spit a group of gulls and terns took flight and as I looked at them through my binoculars I instantly realized that I could see a first winter Kittiwake. I called to Mr Daeng to take a look before it disappeared but luckily it landed back on the beach allowing us to look at it for more than 15 minutes; Mr Daeng used my camera and telescope to obtain the above photograph.

Eventually the bird flew out to sea not to be seen again either by us or the next group of birdwatchers who went out to the spit later in the day.

Thailand Birding: Migrants Still Returning

Migration continues throughout November and even into December in Thailand with different species having different migratory routes and times.

On the 9th November I revisited Pak Thale and Laem Pak Bia again and there were a few notable differences in numbers and presence of a few migratory species.

The those who are eager of the very latest Spoon-billed Sandpiper news, I saw 2 of this critically endangered species on salt pans at Pak Thale on 9th.

However, it was at nearby Wat Komnaram that I noticed a few interesting changes. Since my visit on 2nd November the number of Grey-headed Lapwings had dropped to 5 birds and the Black-headed Ibis numbers had decreased to 7. However, notable arrivals included more than 100 Red-throated Pipits that seemed to be passing through in the early morning and the arrival of 11 Garganey. Another interesting development were several oriental Skylarks singing when they had not been a week ago.

At nearby Laem Pak Bia I came across a total of 5 Richard's Pipits loafing around on dirt roads. This was a decline from at least 12 Richard's Pipits in the same location on 24th October. Most of these Richard's Pipits were significantly larger than the resident Paddyfield Pipits but the calls of all of them confirmed their identification.

Thailand Birding: Spoon-billed Sandpiper Returns!

For all those birders visiting Thailand over the next few months who were getting nervous about whether this critically endangered species would make it back to Thailand this winter, the good news is yes it did!

Phil Round informed me that at least 2 were seen at Khok Kham from 22nd October and 2 or 3 at Pak Thale from the end of October. I can confirm this as I saw 1 Spoon-billed Sandpiper myself at Pak Thale this morning.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper & Red-necked Stint

Photo by Marco Witte

Lots of other shorebirds were also present and giving good, close-up views. 1 adult Little Stint was amongst numerous Red-necked Stints and 5 Dunlin were with a flock of Broad-billed Sandpipers. A large flock of 1000+ Great Knot, 200+ Eurasian Curlew and large numbers of all the common shorebirds too.

More good news for rarity hunters were at least 9 Nordmann's Greenshank at Laem Pak Bia.

I revisited Wat Komnaram too and the Black-headed Ibis from last week had increased to 18 birds, plus the Milky Stork was feeding close to the road.

Thailand Birding: Shorebirds at Pak Thale

One of the most anticipated arrivals each year is that of Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Birdwatchers from all over the world come to Thailand to watch this critically endangered shorebird at Pak Thale and Khok Kham.

A few days ago on 25th October, 2012, I did a little birding at Pak Thale in the company of Jules Tolboom from The Netherlands. We spent around 1.5 hours in the late afternoon at Pak Thale watching large numbers of shorebirds.

Curlew Sandpipers with Broad-billed Sandpiper

Photo by Alex Vargas

We had a long hard look at all the shorebirds that could be seen from the dirt road at the Spoon-billed Sandpiper site at Pak Thale but despite looking hard none appeared to be present. In fact this is pretty much as expected as it was probably about 1 week too early for the bird.

Despite the lack of Spoon-billed Sandpiper there were very impressive numbers of Great Knot (1500+) and Eurasian Curlew (250+) as well as good numbers of Red-necked Stint, Lesser Sand Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Kentish Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Eastern Black-tailed Godwit and Marsh Sandpiper.

The most uncommon bird was one Eastern Curlew amongst the flock of Eurasian Curlews which I picked out due to its warm brown buffy appearance. Identification was ensured when it began to preen and showed me its dark underwing (pale/white on Eurasian Curlew). It ought to be noted that length of bill is not an identification point here where the female Eurasian Curlews have bills that are as long (if not longer) than the Eastern Curlews.

Other species present were Red Knot, Dunlin, Whimbrel, Spotted Redshank and Common Greenshank.

Elsewhere at nearby Wat Komnaram a Milky Stork was seen alongside two Painted Storks and 6 Black Ibis and 36 Grey-headed Lapwings were feeding.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper should be back next week!

Thailand Birding: Spoon-billed Sandpiper

Lots of people have been e-mailing me about Spoon-billed Sandpiper recently. With the species continued decline more and more birders are keen to see it and it seems that Thailand is just about the easiest and most reliable place to see a Spoon-billed Sandpiper right now.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper at Khok Kham by Jörg Hanoldt

Pak Thale is the best place to find this bird with 5 birds seen together recently on salt pans. The area is fairly easy to find using maps on thaibirding.com and following the signs at the site. If all else fails look for the other birders!

Spoon-billed Sandpipers usually arrive at Pak Thale at the very end of October and are usually not seen beyond end of March (last year I think the last date was around 24th March). During this period they are always present and can be found on salt pans with very shallow water.

For those with less time, at least one Spoon-billed Sandpiper still winters at Khok Kham, close to Bangkok. This site is not as good for other birds as Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale but for those with only half a day to spare, this offers an opportunity to see this rare species. For those with more time, get yourself straight to Pak Thale and see the birds there, then enjoy the many other species that are present.

Thailand Birding: Some Notes on Pak Thale and Laem Pak Bia

I recently spent two days at Laem Pak Bia and Pak Thale (6th & 7th November). After reporting some problems with the road into the Spoon-billed Sandpiper site at Pak Thale I am happy to say that the road has been finished and it is now negotiable by any vehicle again.

On the 6th I saw two Spoon-billed Sandpipers at Pak Thale and 1 on the 7th. I am sure the second bird was also present on the 7th but in a large flock of small waders virtually every bird was roosting will its bill tucked under its wing until workers on the salt pans flushed all the birds which then dispersed over a wide area.

I have been told that a survey in Russia has produced some bad news; in an area which previously held 200 Spoon-billed sandpipers on the bird’s breeding grounds, only 2 were found! With only 2 birds present at Pak Thale on 7th November and none reported from Khok Kham by 5th November things are a bit worrying.

Some Other Birds
Other birds which have been seen in the area include 1 Dunlin, Terek Sandpiper and Grey-tailed Tattler at Pak Thale, plus a few Nordmann’s Greenshank. At least 32 Nordmann’s Greenshank on salt pans at Laem Pak Bia on 6th was the largest count so far this winter.

Sand Spit
So far, on the sand spit, 1 White-faced Plover, as many as 3 Chinese Egrets, 2 Pacific Reef Egrets, a few Greater Crested Terns and Lesser Crested Terns have been reported. As far as I know no large gulls have been seen yet.

Thailand Birding: Spoon-billed Sandpiper Returns

I spent a couple of days with my wife in Petchaburi province on 29th and 30th October doing some birdwatching and some lazing on the beach.

On the afternoon of 29th I headed to Pak Thale to see if I could find a returning Spoon-billed Sandpiper. A new road was being layed part the way into the site and I was unable to drive in, leaving me with a long and hot walk. The workers said it would be finished in three days though. They were laying a concrete road and where it joins the dirt road towards the sandpiper site there is now a large drop of about 7-8 inches. Unless something is done about this, access to the site will be impossible in a saloon car or even a minibus. A vehicle with very good ground clearance will be needed. I will look at the situation on my next visit.

Despite much searching I could not see any Spoon-billed Sandpipers. Lots of commoner waders were present - Marsh Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Rufous-necked Stint, Long-toed Stint, Temminck’s Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Eurasian Curlew, Common Greenshank, Lesser Sand Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Kentish Plover, Black-winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper. Also seen were about a dozen Great Knot, 1 Turnstone and 1 Grey-tailed Tattler.

Having sweated myself silly I moved off and checked some wader flocks on my back to Had Chao Samran. Somewhere near the sign which demarcates the boudary between Laem Pak Bia and Pak Thale I checked out a flock of stints and found a single Spoon-billed Sandpiper amongst them! Hooray, it’s back!

I checked out a couple of other spots and found lots of Brown-headed Gulls with a Caspian Terna dna Black-headed Gull, a flock of c40 White-shouldered Starlings gathering to roost with huge numbers of White-vented Mynas and in some freshwater wetlands a Painted Stork was in the company of an Asian Openbill, a male Painted Snipe and 2 Purple Herons.

Khao Look Chang
A few months ago David Scott took me to some dry dipterocarp woodland at Khao Look Chang, Petchaburi. My wife and I went there for a quick look on 30th October. We arrived at 11.30am so I didn’t really expect much, however, within 30  minutes I had seen an Asian Barred Owlet, 5 Black-headed Woodpeckers, 4 Lineated Barbets, 5 Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, 1 Spangled Drongo, 1 Green-billed Malkoha, 1 Rufous Treepie and a Puff-throated Babbler, not bad for such a quick stop in the middle of the day.

Khao Yoi
Later in the day (about 4.30pm) we were nosing around in rice fields near Khao Yoi. Most of the normal birds for that habitat were easily seen but most impressive was a flock of Black Kites. At first I saw 2 birds but then noticed many more sitting in palm trees. Through my telescope I could see that there were large numbers in all the surrounding palms and more birds began to descend from above. I counted an impressive 473 Black Kites sitting in trees and wheeling around in the sky but with many many more high above and many birds unviewable on the blind side of the trees I would imagine the real total to be somewhere between 6-700.

As we were leaving a superb adult male eastern Marsh Harrier flew alongside the car, hunting over rice fields.

Thailand Birding: Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale & Tung Bang Jak

The shorebird sites of Laem Pak Bia and Pak Thale are well-known and frequently visited birding locations but by combining a visit to these areas with some time at the rice fields of Tung Bang Jak a wide variety and large number of species can easily be seen in a short space of time.

Recently, I was joined by a group of Dutch birders, Pierre van der Wielen, Marco Witte, Rob Struyk and Alma Leegwater, who spent one and a half days in the area. We easily saw the target species of Spoon-billed Sandpiper, White-faced Plover, Nordmann’s Greenshank and Malaysian Plover giving us time to visit Tung Bang Jak on our second afternoon.

Tung Bang Jak is an area of rice fields and other mixed agriculture which can be reached by turning left at the new road bridge which crosses the Petkasem Highway about 1.5 kilometres before reaching Petchaburi.

Green Bee-eater by Marco Witte

When we arrived there were a number of areas where rice stubble was being burned, and this seemed to attract large raptors; presumably large insects, small rodents and lizards were easy to find in these conditions. With 5 pairs of sharp eyes and Pierre’s expertise in raptors we saw 15-20 Black Kites, 5 or 6 Brahminy Kites, 1 adult Imperial Eagle, 2 sub-adult Steppe Eagles, 2 Greater Spotted Eagles, a juvenile Eastern Marsh Harrier, 1 Common Kestrel and a Booted Eagle.

Apart from the raptors, other interesting birds were 18 Yellow-breasted Buntings (a species which seems to be very scarce these days), 150+ Streaked Weavers at a pre-roost site with large numbers of Baya Weavers, 60+ Red-throated Pipits, 13 Grey-headed Lapwings as well as a single Cinnamon Bittern, Yellow Bittern, Oriental Reed Warbler, Slaty-breasted Rail and Bluethroat.

In all we saw more than 130 species in one and a half days and had an excellent time.

More photos from the trip can be viewed at Marco Witte’s gallery: Birds of Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale & Tung Bang Jak.

Thailand Birding: Spoon-billed Sandpiper & White-faced Plover

On the 21st and 22nd January I made day trips to Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale for shorebirds. Spoon-billed Sandpiper is still one of the main attractions at this area and the signposts which are on the road help people the find the right vicinity for this species. The birds are usually within a few hundred metres of the same place and on 21st I had the luxury of finding one very quickly indeed. In fact as I was showing Doug Kirwin a Red-necked Stint, a Spoon-billed Sandpiper walked into the field of view - perfect!

Unfortunately, Spoon-billed Sandpiper has recently been reclassified as critically endangered and one wonders how much longer they will be showing up at this spot. On the 22nd January, however, at least 4 birds were present at Pak Thale and I was able to show Brian and Claire Cox these birds.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper by Johan Svensson

Out on the sand spit at Laem Pak Bia on the 21st, we had the amazing sight of a Spoon-billed Sandpiper sitting right next to a White-faced Plover - they were just about 6 inches apart and both facing us - a superb sight.

White-faced Plover is now one of the stars of any trip to the Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale area and it can usually be found on the sand spit. In fact I know that some others have had trouble finding this bird, but in around 30 visits in the last 12 months I have found White-faced Plover on the sand spit every time. It can be an elusive bird but by persisting and searching the whole beach I think the bird can almost always be found. In my experience it favours a small bay on the part of the spit which is connected to the mainland until it is disturbed by visiting fishermen and then it usually moves onto the island part of the spit or sometimes onto the rocks. I found a single White-faced Plover on the sand spit after much searching on both the 21st and 22nd January - at one point on 22nd I really thought that we were going to miss it, but persistence and patience got us great views.

White-faced Plover by Mike Buckland

A recent paper on White-faced Plover has proposed the scientific name Charadrius dealbatus if it turns out to be a distinct species. The paper also explains that this bird has been documented in the past by Swinhoe but inexplicably ignored since his time. The paper can be read here: Rediscovery of a lost Charadrius plover from South-east Asia.

Thailand Birding: Greater Flamingo

Whilst Greater Flamingo is not on the Thai checklist of birds, it is a species frequently seen in the wild by many birders here. The reason for this is that a Greater Flamingo which has been resident in the Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale region for a number of years now is in fact an escaped bird.

The above photograph was taken on mudflats at Pak Thale on 20th December, 2008 by Esa Keikka.

When this bird first turned up in the area in the early 2000s it was thought by many to be a genuine vagrant. However, when I went to the area with Phil Round we could clearly see that all the secondary feathers growing back in a straight line, indicating that at some point they had been cut and that the bird had escaped from a waterbird collection.

I get many reports of this bird from birders excited to find a new species for Thailand and whilst I have to inform them that it is an escape, it is still a beautiful bird to see.

Thailand Birding: Day Trips to Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale

The Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale area of Petchaburi province has established itself as the best shorebird site in Thailand and one of the best in the world. What is impressive about this site is:

1. The Size
2. The sheer number of birds
3. The variety of species
4. The quality of species

Recently, I have been to this area 6-7 times and each time have seen 85 species plus, including a number of very rare birds and a few that are uncommon. It is not that unusual to see more than 100 species in a day.

On the 8th December I spent the day at Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale with Des and Tina Langford from UK and we had an excellent day starting with Nordmann's Greenshank (it's good to get this bird early before work on the salt pans flushes them away) and then moving on to look for Spoon-billed Sandpiper in it regular location (also good to see this bird early for the same reasons). This bird took some time to find and it was getting tot the point where we thought we might not see it; fortunately as things were getting desperate we found 1 bird on the last pool we looked at.

The Sand Spit We hired a fishing boat to take us out to Laem Pak Bia sand spit which is a great place to find Malaysian Plover. This is a non-migratory shorebird with a restricted range; confined to sandy beaches in Southeast Asia. As sandy beaches in South East Asia suffer from development pressure from the tourist industry, this species is threatened. The boat trip takes about 30-40 minutes to get to the sand spit and Malaysian Plover is easy to find. White-faced Plover is also usually present but often requires a lot more effort to locate - we found one in a roosting flock of Greater Sand Plovers, Lesser Sand Plovers, Kentish Plovers, Curlew Sandpipers, Sanderling and Red-necked Stints.

Freshwater Wetlands The Petchaburi region has a lot of freshwater wetland areas too and a short distance from the main shorebird sites are a small area where a good number of species can be found. From the main crossroads near Hat Chao Samran one should drive back towards Petchaburi and take the first right hand turning (about 1km). This turning is for a temple and as one approaches a village there are some nice reedy areas on the right of the road. Here we found Painted Stork, Asian Openbill, Black-faced Spoonbill, Purple Heron, Pied Kingfisher, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Oriental Reed Warbler and Greater Painted Snipe.

Also in this area was a very strange Little Egret with some sort of aberrant plumage.

The King's Project This area is great for seeing lots of birds at very close range. Lots of egrets, herons and shorebirds such as Pintail Snipe and Ruff can be seen easily. One must enter before 6pm but between 5pm and dark large numbers of birds come to roost in the nearby mangroves. In the region of 10-15000 Black Drongos sometimes pass through and in the winter there are always small flocks of White-shouldered Starlings too. We saw around 150 White-shouldered Starlings and some other good birds we saw were Oriental Reed Warbler, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Caspian Tern, Black-crowned Night Heron and Collared Kingfisher. Indian Nightjar can be found here too. Upon entering, one is sometimes given a brochure which explains what the purpose of this area is.

Conclusion Whether you are with a guide or choose to go independently, birders will find that Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale gives a great day's birding. Indeed, many experienced and well-traveled birders have told me that it was their best day ever! Most people visit for just 1 day but I am increasingly often spending 2 days in the area and by visiting a variety of habitats can see in excess of 130 species over the 2 days. I would suggest that more people take their time in this area and find many species that they did not expect on their Thai birding holiday.