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-headed Ibis

I got lucky a few days ago with some Black-headed Ibises very close to the road near Wat Khao Takrao, Petchaburi. Usually sightings of these birds, in this area, are fairly distant and often made worse by heat haze, but these two birds were very obliging.

Black-headed Ibis, adult & subadult

These birds are to be found in this area all year round, with adults and juveniles often seen; this often makes me think that they must be breeding in the area at some unknown waterbird colony - this is not as unlikely as it may seem with large areas of habitat available that is virtually unvisited by birders. A nearby lake known as Nong Pla Lai, and which has access restricted by a locked gate, is a likely site for any such waterbird colony.

On 17th February I found a total of 26 Black-headed Ibises in the Wat Khao Takrao area.

Thailand Birding: A Morning in the Rice Fields

This morning I spent a few hours birding in rice fields near the Nong Pla Lai raptor watch site in Petchaburi province.

Rice Fields, Petchaburi

I arrived at first light with huge numbers of Asian Openbills landing in the rice fields and a few Black-crowned Night Herons making the opposite journey. I spent a few hours birding a small part of the rice fields, only walking about 1 kilometre in total; this allowed me to see a number of skulking and secretive birds.

Some of the more interesting species I saw were;

Bluethroat - 5

Oriental Reed Warbler - 18

Black-browed Reed Warbler - 2

Watercock - 1 female

Common Snipe - 3

Eurasian Wryneck - 1

Streaked Weaver - 46

Asian Golden Weaver - 17

Baya Weaver - 80+

Ruddy-breasted Crake - 1

Grey-headed Lapwing - 1

Eastern Marsh Harrier - 1

Black Kite - 1

Black-eared Kite - 3

Purple Heron - 4

Plain-backed Sparrow - 9

Black-naped Oriole - 1

The numbers of Openbills were quite amazing; hard to believe that less than 20 years ago there was just one small colony in Thailand.

Asian Openbill Storks

The rice fields around Petchaburi are an interesting birding site and somewhere that many people spend too little time in, missing many nice birds such as Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Jacanas, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Greater Spotted Eagle, Pied Harrier and many others. In the past I have seen much rarer species here, including Blunt-winged Warbler, Yellow-breasted Bunting, Comb Duck, Great Bittern and others. Lots more could be found by those who spend time here.

Thailand Birding: Raptors At Petchaburi

The rice fields around the town of Petchaburi always play host to a good number and variety of raptors in the dry season. The areas known as Nong Pla Lai and Tung Bang Jak are just a collection of rice fields and other mixed agriculture just a few kilometres north of Petchaburi and can be reached by turning left of the highway just as the temples on the hill in Petchaburi becomes visible - a distance of about 2-3 kilometres north of the town.

In the last few weeks I have seen large numbers of Black Kites (100+) as well as 4 or 5 Greater Spotted Eagles. At least 2 Eastern Imperial Eagles are also currently in the area and at least 1 juvenile Steppe Eagle has been seen by myself and other observers and I have seen at least 2 different Booted Eagles. Another interesting raptor that is present in the area is Pied Harrier, although I have only seen juveniles recently, but the fantastic adult males do turn up sometimes.

Black Kites

By Alex Vargas

Black Kites can frequently be seen sitting around in trees and other perches like the birds in the photo, almost exclusively they are of the lineatus race. Other raptors which are commonly seen in this area are Eastern Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Brahminy Kite, Osprey and Black-shouldered Kite.

Rarer raptors do also show up in this area from time to time with a Slender-billed Vulture recently being photographed and last winter a Cinereous Vulture and 2 Himalayan Griffons were seen. A juvenile Amur Falcon was also photographed nearby in recent weeks.

For those birders who are raptor enthusiasts, the rice fields around Petchaburi are a must-visit location between mid November and mid March.

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: A Day in Petchaburi Province

Yesterday I met David Scott in Cha-am and we went on a tour of various habitats in Petchaburi province.

Dry Dipterocarp Forest at Khao Look Chang
Our first stop of the day was a patch of dry dipterocarp forest at a location called Khao Look Chang, it is right next to the Wildlife Friends of Thailand’s Wildlife Rescue Centre and is protected by Look Chang Temple. Our first birds were a pair of Rufous Woodpeckers which were amazingly confiding and gave us an excellent start. I then went back to the car to get something I had forgotten and on the way back saw 2 Blue-winged Pittas. I alerted David to this and after a little searching we both got a good view.

I was surprised to see this habitat so close to Bangkok (a little over 2 hours away) and we managed to find some nice birds that I usually have to go further afield to see or struggle to get a glimpse of elsewhere. These included a group of at least 6 Red-breasted Parakeets, many Lineated Barbets heard and a few seen, lots of groups of fairly confiding Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes, Rufous Treepie and best of all was a group of 4 Black-headed Woodpeckers.

female Black-headed Woodpecker

Photo by Peter Ericsson

Other birds we saw were Puff-throated Babbler, Black-headed Bulbul, White-rumped Shama, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Racket-tailed Treepie, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Spangled Drongo and Striped Tit Babbler.

The Surrounding Open-country
Khao Look Chang is surrounded by scrubby regenerating forest and abandoned farmland. In these habitats we found many of the typical inhabitants including Hoopoe, Indochinese Bushlark, Black-collared Starling, Red-wattled Lapwing, Green Bee-eater, Indian Roller, Sooty-headed Bulbul and mynas.

Pool near Khao Look Chang

(Photo by Nick Upton)

The area was very dry but at one pool we found a number of birds which included White-throated Kingfisher, Streak-eared Bulbul, Yellow-vented Bulbul and Golden-fronted Leafbird. Also at the pool was a sub-adult Booted Eagle! What it was doing there at this time of year I don’t know, it seems way too early.

Tung Bang Jak
After lunch David and I spent a few hours at Tung Bang Jak, just about 1 kilometre north of Petchaburi town. Here we found large numbers of Baya Weavers nesting in trees, Streaked Weavers nesting in Typha and smaller numbers of Asian Golden Weavers also in the Typha.

The wetlands here also served us up a number of Bronze-winged Jacanas, a few Lesser Whistling Ducks, including one female with 6 ducklings, a Black Bittern, several Yellow Bitterns and countless Asian Openbills. Lots of other common open-country birds were present as always, perhaps the most interesting being a Plaintive Cuckoo.

A short drive away at Wat Khao Takrao we found some migrant shorebirds which included more than 100 Black-tailed Godwits and smaller numbers of Greenshank, Lesser Sand Plover, Wood Sandpiper and Common Redshank but the stars of the show were 4 Spot-billed Pelicans and 12 Painted Storks.

Tung Faek
Our final stop was some forest on hill slopes at Tung Faek, close to Cha-am. Unfortunately the rain washed out this part of the day and apart  from some Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes and a brief glimpse of a Greater Yellownape we saw nothing.

Rain is always likely at this time of year but it is much easier to take when you have already had a good day’s birding.

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.