Birding in Thailand

Whenever I am traveling to a new place, I try and squeeze in a bit of birding. Well, Thailand was no different. This time,a “bit” happened to be a day 🙂 . Well, you may say that it is NOT a bit. And you would not be wrong. I must thank my supportive family for that.

Though the day dedicated to birding happened to be the penultimate day of our trip to Thailand (read starting here if interested), birding did not happen just on that day. As with most birders, even when you are walking around and not doing birding, your “birder brain” is still working in the background looking out for birds 😀 . So my first lifer came when my wife and I visited a park not too far from our hotel in Bangkok the day we arrived. It was a Black-collared Starling.

Our family vacation had us spending the next few days on a paradise island called Koh Tao. I had my binoculars with me most of the time when we went around, even during the hike up to the John Suwan viewpoint 🙂 . On this hike I got to see a White-bellied Sea-Eagle, a Indochinese Roller and an unidentified accipiter. It came flying over my head just as I was reaching the top of the climb 😦 . I could also several Black-naped Terns flying around. I got my next lifers when going around in a boat as part of a snorkeling tour around the islands. They were the Pacific Reef-Heron and the Pied-Imperial-Pigeon. I also got to quite a number of Bridled Terns circling around one particular island.

The next serious birding was on the day dedicated to birding. Since time was limited, I generally look to engage a local guide for such trips. For this one I had engaged Nick Upton. He came and picked me up from my hotel before dawn and we were off. The first stop was to be around Bang Phra. It was a hour or so drive away from Bangkok on the expressway. Once there I got my next set of lifers; the Indochinese Bushlark, Sooty-headed Bulbul and the Racket-tailed Treepie.

Walking a bit around had us hearing a Chinese Francolin calling away. It sounded close by but the tall grass did a good job of hiding it 😦 . I finally got a fleeting look of an individual at another spot. It darted back into the thick grass when it saw us walking on the path.

The Golden-headed Cisticolas were thankfully more obliging. They were getting ready to breed I think; they were perched out in the open and singing away continuously.

Another bird that gave us good views was a Lesser Coucal. It spent some time doing a “full split” for us 🙂

Some of the other birds that I got to see around were the Green-billed Malkoha, Yellow Bittern, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Siamese Pied Starlings, Yellow-eyed Babblers and Plain-backed Sparrows.

We drove off to another location around the area. This had a mix of water body and a small forest patch. There I got my first sighting of the Asian Golden Weaver. It was a female bird that showed up first. And then came the male. What a stunning bird!

The other unexpected bird (as per Nick) was a pair of Lesser Adjutants.

At the small forest patch, we saw an immature Plaintive Cuckoo. Scanning the area, at a bit of distance away we saw a raptor perched on an open tree branch. We initially thought it was a Crested Goshawk. But after looking at the picture I took I think it is likely to be a Besra. What do you think?

The other exciting birds in the forest patch were a few Streak-throated Bulbuls and a couple of Chestnut-capped Babblers.

But the stars were a pair of Black-throated Laughingthrushes that decided to pass through just as we about the reach the main road. Their calls caught our attention and we quickly jumped back into the patch where the calls were coming from. After a bit of struggle and peering through gaps in the thick cover I managed to see one of them!

We moved on to another area to try for other birds. Here are the White-rumped Shama and Brown-throated Sunbird I got to see from there.

Next we decided to try our luck at some wetlands. Our first stop was over a long bridge. What should have been a common bird, the Javan Pond-Heron, initially took a while to be seen. Then they were in plenty 🙂 . We also got to some Lesser Sand-Plovers, a Wimbrel, Gull-billed Terns and a Common Redshank.

Our next target spot was an area around salt pans. We were not sure what to expect as it was end of the winter migration season. I had seen some previous reports of winter visitors still being around in the period. So I kept my fingers crossed 🙂 .

Upon arriving we could see a fairly large flock of small waders at a distance. As we got closer to them, they turned out to be a mixed flock of Lesser Sand-Plovers and Red-necked Stints 🙂 .

As we walked further on, I saw a small group of what seemed like Godwits. We decided to inspect them closer. And I was glad we did. It was a mixed flock of Asian Dowitchers and Black-tailed Godwits.

Another bird that I hoped to see was the Milky Stork. But it was not to be. While we did see many Storks, they all turned out to be Painted Storks.

There were many Germain’s Swiftlets flying around. I managed to click one too 🙂

Another lifer that I got here was the Swinhoe’s White-eye. They played hide and seek in bush as we walked back to the car.

It was time to head back to my hotel in Bangkok. But Nick had planned one more stop enroute. And I am glad he did. In addition to the many other common birds like the Pink-necked Pigeons, Jacanas and Bitterns, I got my first sighting of the White-browed Crake. I ended by seeing three of them. They were not shy birds unlike the usual behaviour of Crakes.

It was time to call it a wrap. But just as we sat in the car, an Asian Golden Weaver landed just besides the car. I somehow managed to get an angle to take some photos of it:

Video

Here is a short video that I took of some the birds seen during the day

Summary

Thailand is a fantastic place to bird. I can only imagine what it will be during the winter migration season. Remember it is one of the places where one has a chance to see the Spoon-billed Sandpipers 🙂 . It is a fairly large country with may different types of habitats. It definitely needs many more days to do any justice to it, days that I did not have in this trip. So I would definitely have to be back, may be for a dedicated birding trip. Well, till then, it was good bye.