Pelagic day trip out of Bangkok

Pelagic day trip 5th of Feb, 2022.

Seabirding in the upper inner Gulf of Thailand is not something I do very often due to the scarcity of birds at sea. But the times I have done it I have been rewarded in many ways.

The norm is to join one of the regular whale watching trips that mostly draw the general public who want to see both whales and dolphins. But there are some trips that cater specifically to birders and targeting some rarities when they do show up.

This was such a trip.

Jirayu Ekkul the man behind https://www.facebook.com/wildencounterthailand contacted me and I quickly decided it would be a trip for me.

As the boat did not have to go very far out to sea in pursuit of whales the time of departure was later then normal. We did not leave until 10:15 and during our time at sea never lost sight of the shore.

It did not take long to get on to a pair of Arctic Jaegers which was my personal target bird as I previously hadn’t seen it in Thailand. We were informed that the Arctic Jaegers were the dominant Jaeger at the moment and we actually never got on to any Pomerines, though identification of Jaegers really is not very easy and I assume there could have been a Pom about.

We headed East of Samut Sakon, crossed the narrow waters of Bangkok and entered Samut Prakan. Along the journey we encountered several Jaeger's. Some in the air, some on floating debris and some hunting gulls that were following trawlers.

Then we entered an area with a lot of poles sticking out of the water (named mussel farm). Here there were many gulls and especially Heuglinn’s Gull which now has been placed under Lesser Black-backed Gull. Don’t ask me how this works but it was nice to see these larger gulls in good numbers mixed with the regular and numerous Brown-headed Gulls irregardless of taxonomic disputes.

A Steppe Gull (L. (cachinnans) barabensis) was a good one to get to photograph.

Of course we kept our eyes looking for rarities and there were 2. An immature Black-tailed Gull (very stylish I think) and a scruffy Black-legged Kittiwake in a very worn plumage. The Kittiwake was a new bird for most folks on the boat.
We also saw a Black-headed Gull but not the hoped for Pallas’s Gull.

As for terns, closer to shore Whiskered Tern was dominant while at sea Common Tern took over and it was interjected with a few Great Crested Terns now and then. We saw no Little Terns to my surprise.
We did have a fly by Black-naped Tern, a bird I have not seen this far North before.

In the afternoon the tide started dropping and that helped to get on to several groups of Irrawaddy dolphins. These are rather small animals but they performed for us much to everyone’s delight.

The people that attended the trip were roughly half Thais and half foreigners. All foreigners residing in Thailand and avid photographers and wildlife enthusiasts.

The boat itself had undergone a major face lift and now sport a comfortable room with AC.
A micro oven and coffee is available as is plenty of cold drinks, all included in the price.

Lunch was provided and prebooked, catering to everyone’s taste.

There were 2 toilets in the back. Both upper and lower viewing deck and enough space for the 20 people or so attending the trip.

We got back to our starting point around 17:00 pm and before leaving got to say our goodbyes.

It was a well balanced trip and had enough birds to keep one busy throughout. Having the AC room available for a little rest was a blessing, especially for the couple of people that ended up getting seasick.

Thank you Jirayu for arranging the trip.