WYKE BIRDING: THAILAND - 3rd February

Saturday, 6 February 2016

THAILAND - 3rd February

Arrived in Bangkok the evening of the 2^nd but it was already dark so no birds were seen apart from a PIED FANTAIL catching insects attracted by the lights of the hotel. Up at first light to get a taxi to Suang Luang Park for a couple of hours where waterbirds included several ASIAN OPENBILLS flying high overhead, a couple of YELLOW BITTERNS hiding in the reeds surrounding a quiet pool, a few Night Herons, many confiding JAVAN POND HERONS everywhere, a very smart BLACK-CAPPED KINGFISHER, a Common Kingfisher, a couple of Eastern Yellow Wagtails and many Little and Great White Egrets.

The thickly wooded park then produced many PINK-NECKED GREEN PIGEONS, lots of noisy ASIAN KOELS, a couple of COPPERSMITH BARBETS, a few BLACK-NAPED ORIOLES, an ASHY DRONGO, lots of BLACK DRONGOS, a COMMON IORA, a few OLIVE-BACKED SUNBIRDS, a single TAIGA FLYCATCHER, many cool ORIENTAL MAGPIE-ROBINS, lots of STREAK-EARED BULBULS, a couple of YELLOW-VENTED BULBULS, an ARCTIC WARBLER and a PLAIN PRINIA.

Other birds included ASIAN PALM SWIFT, BLACK-NEST SWIFTLET, HIMALAYAN SWIFTLET and Barn Swallows overhead, SPOTTED DOVES and ZEBRA DOVES wandering around, a little flock of SCALY-BREASTED MUNIAS, Tree Sparrows, a few LARGE-BILLED CROWS and lots of Common Mynas.

We then drove south to the Petchaburi area and once we got our shit together we went to a recommended birding site nearby for a couple of hours which consisted of some scrubby bushes, some salt ponds, a rubbish dump and a big abandoned building! There were plenty of waders on the salt ponds including Black-winged Stilts, Pacific Golden Plovers, a single LONG-BILLED PLOVER, Little Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Red-necked Stints, Temminck’s Stint, Long-toed Stint and Curlew Sandpiper while other waterbirds included a PAINTED STORK overhead, INDIAN CORMORANTS, Little Cormorants, Grey Heron, Intermediate Egret, Cattle Egrets, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern and BROWN-HEADED GULLS.

Landbirds in the surrounding area included a BRAHMINY KITE, a Peregrine hunting the abandoned building, RED-COLLARED DOVES, a couple of COLLARED KINGFISHERS, a few LITTLE GREEN BEE-EATERS, several BROWN SHRIKES, a pair of PLAIN-BACKED SPARROWS, WHITE-VENTED MYNAS, ASIAN PIED STARLINGS, an INDOCHINESE BUSHLARK and a Zitting Cisticola.