Bahkplee, Nakorn Nayok

I couldn't resist paying another visit to this great open area. It is 120 km from my house so it means an early rise to be there at sunrise. Today there was more traffic as many folks were headed out of Bkk to celebrate the up coming New Year.

My target for this trip was to find an Australasian Bushlark. A bird that has eluded me till now. It actually didn't take all that long to find it as I had reviewed the bird's song. There is was singing away in a towering flight display. I later stalked one but never got close enough for any decent shots so had to settle for scope views.

A lot of singing in the air included Striated Grassbird, Oriental Skylark and the afor menetioned Bushlark.

So I put up my hide again. The birds seemed quite eager to grab the worms. Perhaps the cool night, 14 C, had made them hungry?

This time there were two male Bluethroats coming in. The one brighter then the other.

It seemed that Rosy Pipit had more rosy on throat and breast this time. Do these birds start to assume breeding plumage this early?

I rather sympathetic looking Stejnegri Stonechat showed nicely in the early morning light.

I also wanted to see if I could find the resident Black Kites (Milvus govinda)found in the area. The area holds a massive roost for wintering Black-eared Kite (M. lineatus) but also a few Black ones. I got really lucky when this individual showed up on the bank of the canal next to my car for a few brief moments. Black Kite has yellow cere and feet and is also more slender then Black-eared.

A Yellow Wagtail also came to the party. This one has an odd yellow spot on the breast.
Not sure what race this is?

Oh, so photogenic!

I just love the light in the early morning!

Comments

Thaibirdspot said…

Australasian Bushchat??? Can't seem to find anythying on this.... Does it go under any other name..ie pied bushchat...

December 30, 2013 at 4:16 PM

Thaibirder said…

Sorry, I meant Bushlark of course......

December 30, 2013 at 11:06 PM

Wut Tum Prathoon, Chonburi

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

Emerald Cuckoo

This shiny little bird always causes excitement. Quite easy to observe at Pah Gloaymai campsite at Khao Yai during the right time of year. It is simply very busy gleaning grubs from the fairly low trees found at the campsite.

Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler and Lanceolated Warbler

It took me quite some time to develop an interest in various types of Warblers. There are so many other more obvious birds full of color and easier to see then this often rather skulky group of birds. But evidently one starts to wonder what is making all those sounds that eminate from the reed beds so armed with curiosity and a lot of trial and error the quest began. This spring before these bird migrated to their breeding grounds in Siberia etc I spent more time getting to know them and trying to learn both sounds and behavior a bit better. One of the more attractive one is the Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler aka Rusty-rumped Warbler. It belongs to the family of Locustella warblers but this family which now has been split in to 2 clades. Helopsaltes is a genus of passerine birds in the grassbird family Locustellidae . A comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study of the grassbird family Locustellidae published in 2018 found that the genus Locustella consist...

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