Thaibirds and more

 About an hour and 20 minutes drive from my home in Bangkok there is a temple on a little hill. The hill is surrounded by a forest that hold both resident and migratory birds.  At the temple there is a permanent hide with seating for about 8 people. The hide is for free.  A hose with dripping water and a bath is set up for the birds. This hide has some regular species that make use of the water as continuously. I have visited the hide a few times, mainly mid day when birds are hot and come to bath.  Here is a sample of birds I have seen of late.  Siberian Blue Robin, female  Emerald Dove Amur Paradise Flycatcher Streak-eared Bulbul Black-headed Bulbul Racket-tailed Treepie Sooty-headed Bulbul Eye-browed Thrush Chestnut-flanked White-eye Orange-headed Thrush Black-crested Bulbul Verditer Flycatcher Oriental Magpie Robin

Somehow I did not post anything during 2024. So let's start 2025 with a new series of shots of Spoon-billed Sandpiper. It is still annually visiting Thailand!  The bird was about 15-20m away and pictures taken with my normal Canon 7D2 and 100-400mm Mark11 lens. 

This is the first photograph of an Indian Thick-knee from Bangkok on eBird. I stumbled across it this morning on a site in Nong Chok district of Bangkok. A big surprise that brought about a grin on my face! Like a ray of light it gave me joy!

The tree cutters arrived at the house to clear the tree that fell in the storm yesterday and to cut another one in half. We don’t want another tree fall on the property. Once they were done, and they did a good job, it was lunch time and I thought….hmm ‘where should I go’? Ha! Well, the sun was out, the tide was high and I knew Spoonie had arrived. Got my stuff together and did the drive ( less then an hour midday). I arrived at the Bird Center at Khok Kham just before 2 pm and it was hot! There were many pans filled with waders…..which one to start with? Well, I have been there so many times that by now I sort of ‘feel’ where my little friend like to settle. I scanned a little here and there. So nice to see the waders again and in such big numbers. They are all in winter plumage, all grey but all in different shapes, size and bill. I went to a place with a tiny shelter from the scorching sun and set up my scope. I scanned the pond in front of me. Not a lot. To the right there...

I didn’t go out this morning as I had some things to take care of at home. Checking eBird I noticed someone had 2 Red-necked Stints at Latkrabang. Since I haven’t seen them this year in Bangkok I thought I’d give it a go. Got there at 14:30 and the muddy field was full of little peeps. Loads of Little Ringed-Plovers, Long-toed Stints and Temminck’s Stint but no Red-necked. The field was very large so I thought I’d walk on a narrow bund for a bit. Scanning with my KOWA TSN 88 Prominar I suddenly saw something that caught my attention. I had seen several Oriental Pratincoles in my search for the stint but these two birds had slightly pinkish chests and strong eye ring. Could it really be what I started to think? Yes, Small Pratincoles on the mud resting in the scorching sun! Not only a first for my Bangkok list but a first for Bangkok period! My friend Sam Hambly also arrived in time to approach the birds a bit closer and he was as happy as I was and said 'a lot better then ...

It took me 32 years of looking at birds to find a Green Sandpiper in Bangkok! My first one for Central Thailand for that matter. Seen them regularly in the North. This charmer has find a small and quiet wetlands in the SouthWestern parts of Bangkok. It has been reported for a couple of weeks but driving through the city is never much fun so I waited till today, Sunday. Got there and noone else about except for a jogger or two. I worked the area but no sign of the bird. So I stopped in a suitable area and contemplated what to do when it suddenly flew in seemingly out of nowhere!

The last year I have paid more attention to butterflies and odonata (dragonflies and damselflies). Taking pictures of these insects is not as easy as I had imagined. It is very satisfying when some pictures turn out well. Here I am showcasing a few male individuals. Not all have common names. Some are extremely rare and endemic to Thailand while others are common and widespread. Asian Blood Tail Ceriagrion praetermissum Common Parasol Forest Chaser Grenadier Lyriothemis pallidistigm Scarlet Basker Scarlet Dropwing Scarlet Skimmer Sultan Sympetrum thailandensis