Pak Thale and Laem Pak Bia - Shorebird Heaven

The shorebird heaven of Phetchaburi Province is home to a small wintering population of Spoon-billed Sandpipers and that is obviously the major draw here. And quite right too! Classified as Critically Endangered by BirdLife International they state that there are only 240 - 400 mature individuals left in the wild and this site is undoubtedly the 'easiest' place for visiting birders to go and see this very special bird. We found 3 spoonies, one of which had a green leg flag from the reintroduction project. The worrying thing here is that the owner of these salt pans is considering closing them to visiting birders due to a few instances of bad behaviour........

Spoon-billed Sandpiper

Click here to go to the "Saving the Spoon-billed Sandpiper " website.

The other major target species here is Nordmann's Greenshank, classified as Endangered by BirdLife International with a reputed 330 - 670 mature individuals. They are always difficult to get close too but this year we had our best views ever of several groups and enjoyed watching them on repeated occasions.

Nordmann's Greenshanks and Great Knots at distance

Nordmann's Greenshanks by Nick Upton

Asian Dowitchers have been rather more erratic this year and it wasn't until our last morning in the area that we caught up with them, thanks to Nick Upton's local knowledge. Although a little distant we watched 3 birds at a range of some 50m through the scope and felt a little relieved! Here's a photo of a different group from a tour we did a couple of years ago. 

Asian Dowitchers by Nick Upton

The sandpit of Laem Pak Bia holds White-fronted Plover (Charadrius Dealbatus) and you can read about this fascinating species here. There's also Malaysian Plovers, Chinese Egrets, and a good selection of terns and gulls, which this year held Pallas's, Heuglin's and this Steppe Gull (Larus barabensis) - a new bird for Thailand and previously found by Nick Upton some 6 weeks earlier.

Steppe Gull at Laem Pak Bia by Nick Upton

Chinese Egret

White-faced Plover (right hand bird)

A huge variety of other shorebirds were seen on our tour and on one day we saw 40 species out of a total tour count of 46...! So we saw Oriental Pratincole, 100's of Great Knots, Long-toed Stints, Red-necked Phalaropes, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Far Eastern Curlew, Greater Sandplover, Greater Painted Snipe and thousands of Red-necked Stints. For anyone with an interest in shorebirds, this is the place to be. And if you're not.... Oh well..! But the spectacle of seeing so many birds is something to behold.

Great Knots

Long-toed Stint

More Great Knots

Oriental Pratincole

Temminck's Stint

Curlew Sandpiper

Broad-billed Sandpiper

But it's not just about shorebirds and the nearby rice fields, pools and marshes also produced Baillon's, Ruddy-breasted and White-browed Crakes, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Slender-billed Gull, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, White-shouldered and Purple-backed Starlings, Asian Golden Weaver and so much more.

Spot the Slender-billed Gull

Thailand never disappoints and our tours seem to get better and better every year. Take a look a Nick Upton's blog here. And his Thai Birding website here. 

Eared Pitta by Nick Upton

So I can't wait to return. Next year's tour is already full, but looks like I will be back in June for our Thai Pita tour where we hope to see Blue, Blue-winged, Hooded and hopefully the ever elusive Eared Pitta. We might also make a detour to get Mangrove and Malayan Banded Pittas as well. If you fancy joining us then take a look at our itinerary - click here.

Khao Yai

Birding Khao Yai during a holiday weekend had the potential to be a disaster with so many people visiting the park but as it turned out we did pretty well and scored many of our major target species. It was actually the humid, overcast weather and resulting low bird activity that contributed to long periods without any birds showing. Yet how can you go wrong with a group of Silver Pheasants, a couple of views of Siamese Firebacks, a male Blue Pitta, and 2 superb Great Eared Nightjars flying over us before dusk one evening.

Fruiting trees were in abundance and allowed us to get up close and personal to numerous birds....

Black-crested Bulbul

Green-eared Barbet at a fruiting tree showed very well indeed....

A small feeding station was a bit problematic to visit due to the continuous presence of Thai bird photographers in their portable hides, so we visited when they departed frothier lunch break. Not the best time to visit but we did see 2 Orange-headed Thrushes, Abbott's and Puff-throated Babblers and Hainan Blue Flycatcher....

Abbott's Babbler

Puff-throated Babbler

Orange-headed Thrush

I'm thinking this is a female Hainan Blue Flycatcher

Other good birds seen included Sultan Tit, Banded Kingfisher, Banded Broadbill, Two-barred Warbler, Fork-tailed Swift, Silver-backed and Brown-backed Needletails, Red-headed Trogon, Great Hornbill, White-crested Laughingthrush, Radde's Warbler and Yellow-vented Flowerpecker. 

Non-bird highlights were this White-handed Gibbon, as well as Asian Elephant and Malaysian Porcupine...

Doi Inthanon

The highlight of our time here was a pair of Green Cochoas sat calling back at us from a perch high up in a tree along a leafy trail. Wow! 

A poor shot of a Green Cochoa... 

We also found most of our target species such as Slaty-bellied Tesia, Pygmy Wren-Babbler, White-browed & Lesser Shortwings, Clicking Shrike-Babbler, Golden-throated Barbet, Green-tailed Sunbird, a pair of Dark-sided Thrushes, Snowy-browed Flycatcher etc

Green-tailed Sunbird

Dark-sided Thrush - not sharp but I like the  profile...

Our second full day on the mountain produced even closer views of all the target species, with Rufous-throated Partridges seen from just a couple of meters away, a mixed flock of Long-tailed and Silver-breasted Broadbills, a bold Small Niltava, and we finished off the day with a scoped Black-headed Woodpecker and 3 Collared Falconets perched together in a large, dead tree.

We had a few hours on our last morning and visited our favourite trail where we found a Vivid Niltava, along with Maroon Oriole and White-throated Fantail before heading back to Chiang Mai and our flight to Bangkok.

Other species seen included Bar-throated Minla, Buff-breasted Babbler, White-headed Bulbul, Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush, Martens’s Warbler, Claudia’s Warbler, Siberian Blue Robin, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Blyth’s Paradise-Flycatcher, Golden Babbler, and a very brief Grey-throated Babbler.

Last Day on Doi Lang

Great views of many birds at the feeding stations on Doi Lang today and we spent quite some time enjoying this amazing spectacle. I've put a few assorted photos below of some of my best shots from the day.

Hill Prinia

Himalayan Bluetail

We saw 3 different Siberian Rubythroats today

Slaty-blue Flycatcher

White-browed Scimitar-Babbler

Spot-breasted Parrotbill

General birding today was also rather productive and amongst a lot of new trip birds were Slender-billed Oriole, Indochinese Cuckooshrike, Chestnut Bunting, Blyth's Shrike-Babbler, Hume's Treecreeper, Sapphire Flycatcher, Chinese Leaf-Warbler, Rufous-backed Sibia and Golden-throated Barbet. Best of all were the two male Mrs Hume's Pheasants feeding alongside the road on the way up the mountain at first light. It was a good, fun day although there were inevitably slower periods during the heat of the day and it was good to get back to the hotel a little earlier and have a nice cold beer!

Rare Buntings and Bluetails

The big news from the Zoothera Birding tour to Thailand with Nick Upton today was our discovery of 7+ Black-headed Buntings and a pair of Red-headed Buntings in Thatorn rice fields late this afternoon. There are apparently less than 10 records of both species for Thailand..... In company with them were also some Yellow-breasted Buntings as well. This was a magical couple of hours trying to get definitive views and although I have the following Black-headed Bunting photo, it was Nick Upton who managed a record shot of a Red-headed Bunting. This totally overshadowed the male Jerdon's Bushchat and Baikal Bush Warbler found a little later....!

Black-headed Bunting

Also liked the views of this Pintail Snipe today

Earlier in the day we had birded Doi Lang from the Thatorn side and may well have found one of the few records of Northern Red-flanked Bluetail for Thailand. Although a female and pretty much unidentifiable in this plumage, the call was totally different from the several Himalayan Bluetails in the same area....

female Northern Red-flanked Bluetail

male Himalayan Bluetail

We saw all the usual suspects at the feeding stations and thoroughly enjoyed the mind-blowing views you get here. It really has to be seen to be believed, so here's a few of the best photos from today...

female Large Niltava

male Large Niltava

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher

Scarlet-faced Liocichla

Davison's Leaf Warbler

Baer's Pochard

For a break from forest birding we drove to Chiang Saen today and birding close to the Laos border and the mighty Mekong River. Stand out finds today were the superb drake Baer’s Pochard (the 3^rd time we’ve seen it on this tour over the years) and a drake Falcated Duck. Views were good through the scope but too far for photos.

Birding was typically slow throughout the day but we did find many top birds and amongst other species around the lake were Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Garganey, Pintail Snipe, Grey-headed Lapwings and Plaintive Cuckoo. Along the Mekong was a flock of Small Pratincoles, with Citrine Wagtail, Kentish Plover and Temminck’s Stints. We also had close Red Avadavat, Bronze-winged Jacana, Striated Grassbird and Slaty-breasted Rail. 

Eastern Marsh Harriers

Ending the day watching 200+ Eastern Marsh and Pied Harriers flying in to roost was awesome, and we even had better than usual looks at Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler. The male Western Marsh Harrier we saw at the roost was also a special bird as there are less than 10 Thai records. So a good haul and our perseverance was rewarded with plenty of quality sightings despite the heat today.