Thaibirds and more

Man Nai Island, Rayong, Thailand 24 th of April 20014 For the last two years Fairy Pitta has been photographed at this island as the birds pass through on their way to their breeding grounds in China and Taiwan, having spent the winter in tropical Borneo. (Or elsewhere?) This year I found myself in Thailand in April, something I try to avoid due to the intense warm weather during this time. So, I hoped for the opportunity to visit the Island and was waiting and waiting for someone to give the ‘green light’, meaning the birds were not only showing but possible to photograph. Well, this year a banding station had been set up for the entire month of April which make access to the hill side not possible. In other words there were no regular Fairy Pittas being reported coming for worms. In the end I decided I better go anyhow before it was too late. Seeing the island itself is a worthy experience and the possibility of various migrants is exhilarating. I joined u...

I don't know what it takes to readily ID any of the many variations of White's Thrush there are.  This individual showed up at the King's Park in Greater Bangkok area. It has stockier bill then the Scaly Thrush (Zoothera dauma) and instead of 12 tail feathers it has 14. It is also said to be more pale in the plumage but apparently that is not a reliable feature. So  here is the Zoothera auera aka White's Thrush.

I went to visit the park together with Ike Suriwong. Nick Upton had reported a Sakhalin Leaf Warbler singing in the park last weekend and that is something I haven't experienced.  We ended up seeing two Pale-legged/Sakhalin's Leaf Warblers. None of them were calling but one was singing, clearly revealing its identity. The two species have very different songs and can only be separated safely by song or in the hand.  There were other migrants in the area. 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 1 Arctic Warbler, 1 male Green-backed Flycatcher seen by Ike and sadly not by me, 1 female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and a very active flock of 40 Ashy Minivets. Also two cute Forest Wagtails on the floor added to the migratory bird list.                                                                       Female ...

Supsadao, Khao Yai, Watprabhutabahtnoi, Don Muang 8-10 th of April 2014 I have wanted to visit the Sapsadao substation of Taplan National Park for a long time but never got around doing so. When Ike Suriwong came for a visit we both thought it to be a good idea to give the place a try. The area is primarily a dry dipterocarp covered forest with several species not found in more wet deciduous forest on higher levels of nearby Khao Yai National Park. It was tricky to get information of how to get to the place and as it turned out the reported kilometer markings were all changed and of no help. Instead we had to stop frequently and ask the locals for directions. Basically we drove from Bangkok passed Nakorn Nayok and kept going towards Kabinburi where we turned left onto highway number 304. This is a major road connecting the Northeast with the Southeast and has a lot of traffic on an at times narrow road crossing the mountains on its way to the plateau of the No...

Sri Pangnga National Park and Krung Ching waterfall 19-26 th of March 2014 For a few years I have been wanting to visit Sri Pangnga in the pre breeding season for the Malay Banded Pitta.  This year it worked out for me to do so. Driving the 800km from Bangkok basically took all day and I arrived in the late afternoon when I briefly visited Sri Pangnga National Park. Instead of staying in park bungalows I opted for a Homestay about 6 km North of the park turn off. The Homestay had Wifi, air-con, hot showers and was cheap at 350Baht/night. Being in the Southern forest is always refreshing.  A lot of different sounds from Central and Northern Thailand. I enjoy hearing the birds almost as much as seeing them which is good cause in this environment seeing them isn’t all that easy. During my stay at Sri Pangnga I had several  ‘sessions’ with the Banded Pitta, both male and female. The birds had acquired a taste for meal worms and were easily lured out in th...

It had been a month and a half since I last visited this great site. Helge Sorensen from Denmark, a dedicated photographer from Denmark happily agreed to give the site a try. I had seen a number of good species at the site already and was curious how things had developed.  On this morning the weather was rather odd. Gloomy and a drop in temperature. It is very warm in Bangkok now so to sit in the blind at 21C was quite pleasant. Some of the birds I had seen before never showed up: Bluethroat, Red-throated Pipit, Zitting Cisticola and Oriental Skylark to be precise. Instead there were 2 new ones and the 1st one was a surprise: Long-tailed Shrike. This Paddyfield Pipit stayed with us during the entire 2 and half hours in the hide. Happily the Rosy Pipit still showed well though not more then 3 times in the time we were there. The malars are now gone and some of the streaking on the flanks and breast have disappeared. I hope it stays another month. Last ...

In the late afternoon of the 27th I paid a short visit to the King's Project at Lampakbia.  As I drove in to the project something flew across the road in front of me. It looked very weirD and not like anything that I could ID on the spot. I stopped the car and managed to get a couple of shots. Tossing different ideas around: Grey-headed Long-tailed shrike in a molting stake?, mantle of Burmese, eye mask from Brown, etc, I concluded 'this is weird'. Yesterday i posted the image on a FB group. After some deliBeration it seemed that a lot pointed towards a Bay-backed Shrike, a bird that is not on the official Thai bird list. On the day following,  Philip D. Round paid a visit to the site and confirmed the ID. A 1st for Thailand!