Introduction
Jools Tolboom contacted me saying that he would be in Bangkok
for a conference in October and would like to do some birding
whilst visiting. He explained that his main interest was in
raptors. Well, I told him, he was in luck because the end
of October is just about the peak raptor migration time in
Thailand and a short trip to Chumpon to join the Raptor Watch
would be his type of thing. So that we didn't just end up
racing to and from Chumpon (which is about a 5 hour drive
from Bangkok) we decided to also do some birding in wetlands
in Petchaburi province on the way and on the way back.l.
Car Hire
We used a 2-door Toyota Vigo from Thairentacar which
I collected at their downtown, Bangkok, branch at Petchaburi
road, which is open 24 hours. This was a good, sturdy vehicle
which allowed us to travel comfortably at high speeds on the
highway and not have to worry about hitting potholes.
Road Quality
The roads between Bangkok and Chumpon are largely in good
condition and access to all the sites we visited was possible
with a saloon car. Driving on the roads in Thailand can be
quite dangerous so it is advisable not to drive at night.
Accommodation
We stayed 1 nights at the pleasant Morakot
Hotel in Chumpon, 1 night at a small resort at Tung Wua
Laen beach, Chumpon, and 2 nights at the Sun Hotel in Petchaburi.
Food
Decent breakfasts were available in the mornings at all the
places we stayed. There are lots of places to eat in the night
market in Chumpon but foolishly we went into an air conditioned
restaurant close to the market which served very mediocre
food at inflated prices. We found excellent food at a restaurant
at Tung Wua Laen beach and at the Sun Hotel.
Lunch is a problem when raptor watching at Khao Dinsor (Pencil
Hill) as one must take a stiff walk up the hill and walking
down during the day would miss the best raptor migratory waves.
With this in mind some sort of packed lunch is essential.
Notes on Finding Birds
The nature of the majority of the birding on this trip made
finding birds very easy indeed. At the raptor watch sites
simply finding a good spot with a wide field of view towards
the north (the direction from which the raptors were approaching)
was sufficient along with a little patience. Out in the open
areas of the salt pans and rice fields simply moving around
and scanning for birds was enough - very easy birding!
Finding birds at Khao Look Chang was quite tricky at this
time of year due to heavy foliage and low levels of bird activity,
which is typical in woodland and forest areas at this time
of year.
Bird Calls
We hardly used any bird calls at all on this trip. I mimicked
the call of Puff-throated Babbler and Asian Barred Owlet and
used call playback for Black-headed Woodpecker and Rufous
Treepie, all at Khao Look Chang.
Tung Bang Jak: Black Baza, Asian Golden Weaver, Eastern
Marsh Harrier, Watercock, Black Bittern, Cinnamon Bittern,
Wat Khao Takrao: Spot-billed Pelican, Painted Stork,
Black Kite. Radar Hill: Black Baza, Greater Spotted Eagle, Crested
Serpent Eagle, Crested Goshawk, Booted Eagle. Pencil Hill: Black Baza, Greater Spotted Eagle, Booted
Eagle, Pied Harrier. Nong Yai: Vinous-breasted Starling, Purple-backed Starling,
Grey-headed Lapwing, Pacific Swallow. Khao Sam Roi Yot: White-bellied Sea Eagle, Malaysian
Plover, Terek Sandpiper. Khao Look Chang: Black-headed Woodpecker, Asian Barred
Owlet. Laem Pak Bia: Red-necked Phalarope, Heuglin's Gull,
Slaty-breasted Rail, White-shouldered Starling, Indian Nightjar. Wat Komnaram: Milky Stork, Grey-headed Lapwing, Black-headed
Ibis. Pak Thale: Eastern Curlew, Great Knot.
Birding Diary
21st October: I met Jules at the Pullman
Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit, at 5am and we headed straight
towards the rice fields at Tung Bang Jak close to the town
of Petchaburi; we made very good time arriving around 6.30am.
We stopped along a road where I had noticed some weavers and
we got very lucky with a couple of male Asian Golden Weavers
still in breeding plumage although it was clear that they
were just beginning their moult into winter plumage. Standing
in one spot we saw lots of common open country species such
as Green Bee-eater, Asian Openbill, Little Egret, Black-winged
Stilt, Red Collared Dove as well as the less common Plain-backed
Sparrow. We also saw out first two raptor species of the trip,
the residents Brahminy Kite and Black-shouldered Kite.
We moved along to the regular mid winter raptor watch spot
but this really only comes into its own when the rice has
been harvested so we did not expect too much of the location.
However, we immediately found a field where a male Eastern
Marsh Harrier was sat preening and shortly after a migratory
Japanese Sparrowhawk sped past us! With Jules being a raptor
man these two species excited him a lot. Staring into the
light we decided to move around the huge rice field in the
car and stopping at various spots we found some nice birds
including a Bronze-winged Jacana with chicks, a Fulvous-breasted
Woodpecker, some Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, a couple of Oriental
Reed Warblers in fine fresh plumage and a Black-browed Reed
Warbler which very uncharacteristically showed itself well
a couple of times. I also spotted some more raptors for Jules
including 4 Grey-faced Buzzards, 2 Oriental Honey Buzzards
and 3 more Eastern Marsh Harriers whilst Jules spotted a passing
flock of 10 Black Bazas.
So far our raptor trip was going well with a total of 7 species
inside the first two hours!
We moved around the rice fields and fish ponds stopping here
and there finding plenty of new birds including a Black Bittern
flying past, a female Watercock flushed from a field, a Streaked
Weaver, Purple Herons, Pheasant-tailed Jacanas and a fishing
Osprey.
The day was beginning to heat up as we headed to Wat Khao
Takrao where I hoped to find some large waterbirds. We were
in luck with 12 Spot-billed Pelicans hanging around (they
are usually gone by mid November) and a flock of Painted Storks.
Nearby we also had nice views of a large flock of Lesser Whistling
Ducks which included around 40 fledged ducklings. Some Yellow-vented
Bulbuls made us work hard for a view but a group of around
30 Black Kites (race lineatus, sometimes considered
a full species - Black-eared Kite) gave Jules his 9th raptor
species of the morning.
We decided it was time to think about making the drive south
but made a little time to look out for more raptors in the
rice fields. We saw a few distant Oriental Honey Buzzards,
plenty of Brahminy and Black-shouldered Kites and a single
govinda Black Kite as well as a Peregrine Falcon.
With the heat increasing and bird activity dropping off we
stopped for a quick lunch in Big C supermarket in Petchaburi
and started driving south towards Chumpon.
The plan was to stop at the first raptor watchpoint, Radar
Hill, as we would reach it first and it was right next to
the highway. The turning to Radar Hill is on the left just
before the Khao Po service station, still in Prachuab Kirir
Khan province. When we went there was a large Raptor Watch
Festival sign indicating the turning. After that we simply
drove up the hill and parked in the small area at the top.
There was a small group of friendly Thai birders already there
and a glance at my watch told me it was 4pm and the view was
great. We arrived moments after a small storm and migration
suddenly took off! Over the next few hours we saw very large
numbers of migrating raptors with numbers of Black Bazas being
somewhere around 5000 birds. There were also large numbers
of Grey-faced Buzzards, Japanese Sparrowhawks and Oriental
Honey Buzzards, indeed, these four species were to make up
the large bulk of the migrating raptors we were to see over
the next few days. Most people were watching with binoculars
and cameras but I used my telescope which allowed me to spot
the raptors well in advance and point out smaller numbers
of Chinese Sparrowhawks, a Crested Goshawk and a Greater Spotted
Eagle to Jules. Some of the birds came spectacularly close
and a Crested Serpent Eagle appeared in front of us from nowhere
at one point.
Raptor watching at Radar Hill provided easy access and excellent
viewing into the far distance and at least 180 degrees visibility.
After this we travelled the 75 kilometres to Chumpon and checked
into the Morakot
Hotel and had dinner.
22nd October: We woke up to the most suboptimal raptor
watching weather you could possibly imagine; low grey cloud
and rain! Well, there was certainly no need to rush and we
lazily had breakfast from the buffet provided. We also bumped
into Robert DeCandido whose directions in the article "Khao
Dinsor, Thailand: the premier site to observe migrating raptors
in the Orient?" we were to follow to find Pencil
Hill (Khao Dinsor in Thai but I will use the English translation
here) and a number of other birders attending the Raptor Watch
Festival.
Due to the truly awful weather we did not hurry to Pencil
Hill, but instead checked out a small patch of wetlands close
to Chumpon Sports Stadium. Every time I visit this area has
become slightly smaller and this was no different. Still,
we got some very good views of Grey-headed Lapwing, Purple
Swamphen (sometimes dubiously split as Black-backed Swamphen),
Yellow Bittern, Lesser Whistling Duck, Purple Heron and Lineated
Barbet after which time the weather began to improve and we
headed to Pencil Hill. Following the accurate directions in
Robert DeCandido & Chukiat Nualsri's article, we found
the Raptor Watch site easily. Large numbers of people were
present and a noisy opening ceremony was proceeding. We quickly
headed up the trail.
It should be noted that the trail up Pencil Hill is a fairly
steep walk of 30+ minutes but the trail is very slippery with
a steeply sloping concrete base which has rocks imbedded in
it for some stretches and very few for others. On our visit
it had been raining and the trail was quite dangerous; people
with restricted mobility or overweight would find this trail
quite dangerous in wet conditions.
We managed to get up without accidents and joined a small
crowd of birders at the third shelter. Raptor migration was
slow at first due to the poor weather but as soon as things
dried up raptors began to move. Peak raptor migration was
between 10am and 2pm and once again most birds were Black
Baza, Grey-faced Buzzard, Oriental Honey Buzzard and Japanese
Sparrowhawk with good numbers also of Chinese Sparrowhawk.
Once again, a telescope helped me spot raptors much earlier
than others and this enabled us to pick up a few rarer species
such as Eastern Marsh Harrier (2juv females) and Greater Spotted
Eagle (2). Undoubtedly the highlight for us was a great view
of a male Pied Harrier and excellent views of 4 Booted Eagles
were also good. Another interesting bird was a Peregrine that
had many people confused; originally diagnosed by myself and
a few other European birders as a Peregrine others confused
it with a Northern Hobby because of heavy streaking on the
breast. However, shape left it unmistakably a Peregrine but
still it got confused as the race ernesti when in
fact it was just a heavily streaked juvenile japonicus
as it had a clear moustache.
Overall raptor watching at Pencil Hill on one of the main
days of the Raptor Festival was fun because of the large number
of birds and other birders. Being in a group where some people
had telescopes and others had cameras was good for spotting
birds early and getting photos to help with difficult identification.
Having said that, variety of species was very low and I have
to confess to getting a little weary of looking at the large
number of very difficult to identify Accipiters.
At about 4.30pm raptor migration had died down and an approaching
thunder storm made most observers head down the hill. The
storm broke as we were halfway down and made the trail extremely
slippery and dangerous. It took all my concentration and energy
to get down safely and we were fortunate that Chukiat Nualsri
helped Jules get down without accident. Thanks Chukiat!
Having reached the car safely we arranged some accommodation
at nearby Tung Wua Laen beach and then drove back towards
Chumpon town to visit Nong Yai King's Project.
The easiest
way to access this site is to drive to Chumpon railway station
and cross the railway. Turn right and head along the road
with the railway on your right. Eventually you get to a large
left hand turning near a museum, take this left and head uphill
a little, then follow the signs to Nong Yai King's Project.
Cross the large canal for the best habitat in the area marked
on the map.
We found some nice birds here including Pheasant-tailed Jacana,
Grey-headed Lapwing, Pacific Swallows, Asian Openbill and
a large roost of Vinous-breasted Starlings which are unusually
common in Chumpon; we also found 1 Purple-backed Starling
amongst this group and given Chumpon's reputation as a haven
for migratory starlings this roost would be worth checking
out at other times. The three Red-breasted Parakeets we saw
here are likely to be a relict population of wild birds, I
have been informed, rather than the escapes I initially assumed
them to be.
Standing at Nong Yai with dusk approaching was interesting
with large numbers of egrets and pond herons heading to roost
with the sun setting in the background. We also saw one more
new species; a pair of Pink-necked Green Pigeons, before going
to eat dinner.
23rd October: With a stop at Radar Hill planned for
more raptor migration we felt no need to get up too early
and had a nice breakfast before making the 30 minute journey
north. When we arrived at radar hill the weather conditions
were once again not great for raptor migration with cloud
and spells of rain. However, we once again saw good numbers
of Japanese Sparrowhawk, Grey-faced Buzzard, Oriental Honey
Buzzard and Black Baza. Excellent views of Crested Serpent
Eagle, a Crested Goshawk and a Peregrine made for some variety
before we decided to head off just before midday with a stop
at Khao
Sam Roi Yot national park our next destination to try
and find Jules a White-bellied Sea Eagle.
It took somewhere in the region of two to two and a half hours
for us to reach Khao Sam Roi Yot and as we drove in I spotted
a large raptor in the air. We jumped out of the car and very
quickly realized that this was indeed a White-bellied Sea
Eagle, which was joined by a second bird. Both the eagles
performed nicely for us and their wings held high forming
a deep V made them easy to id even at long range. After paying
the park entrance fee we stopped at a beach close to HQ where
we quickly found some Malaysian Plovers and a couple of Terek
Sandpipers, getting good views of both. From the beach Jules
spotted another White-bellied Sea Eagle soaring over the limestone
mountains.
Unfortunately, the rest of our afternoon at Khao Sam Roy Yot
didn't really prove as successful with virtually all the habitat
destroyed and under cultivation for shrimp farms. Over the
years habitat destruction has become worse and worse here,
making a mockery of the status of national park, with some
luxury homes built on the beach and even a housing estate
under construction on what used to be an interesting wetland.
We did see plenty of commoner waders; Curlew Sandpiper, Broad-billed
Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Pacific Golden Plover, Marsh Sandpiper,
Black-winged Stilt, but nothing else of note. We had an unsuccessful
search for Oriental Hobby amongst the limestone outcrops before
heading off to our accommodation at Petchaburi. Khao Sam Roy
Yot hardly seems worth visiting these days with much better
birding in the wetlands around Petchaburi.
Bird
Watching Trips To Chumpon & Petchaburi:
Chumpon is best visited in October for the annual raptor watch
festival when tens of thousands of birds can be seen
in a single day.
Wetlands near Petchaburi are good all year round but
during the dry season many winter visitors are present.
A few days here is a great option from Bangkok or as
part of a longer birdwatching tour of Thailand.
Contact me to arrange a birding trip and/or to discuss
the best bird watching options for you: nickupton@thaibirding.com
24th October: This morning was about finding an Asian
Barred Owlet for Jules at Khao Look Chang, a small area of
dry dipterocarp forest that was discovered by David Scott.
We left the Sun Hotel at 6.30 am and arrived at Khao Look
Chang at 7.10am. Heading to the appointed spot we quickly
found the reliable Black-headed Woodpeckers, a group of four,
together with Rufous Treepie and both Greater and Lesser Necklaced
Laughingthrushes. This is one of the most beautiful woodpeckers
in Thailand and a bird that I consistently see at Khao Look
Chang - however, it is not easy, one needs to know the right
spot!
Asian Barred Owlet caused as a little more problem but eventually
we had fine, telescope views, for prolonged periods. Other
species we found included Racket-tailed Treepie, Puff-throated
Babbler and Lineated Barbet.
Having had a successful spell at Khao Look Chang we moved
on to Laem Pak Bia to check out shorebirds and open country
species in the area; the drive took about 1 hour. We started
at a scrubby piece of wetland just before Had Chao Samran
beach where we were able to get good views of a couple of
juvenile Eastern Marsh Harriers, a couple of Grey-headed Lapwings
and a single Black-headed (Chestnut) Munia.
After lunch we spent time in both Laem Pak Bia and Pak Thale
districts taking a look at shorebirds. A large number of species
were found including 1 Far Eastern Curlew among a flock of
250+ Eurasian Curlews, 1 Red-necked Phalarope, c1800 Great
Knot, c10 Red Knot, 5 Dunlin and many other common species.
Gulls and terns that had returned included 1 Heuglin's Gull,
1 Black-headed Gull and around 200 Brown-headed Gulls plus
Great Crested, Little, Common, Whiskered, Gull-billed and
1 White-winged Tern.
However, it was our stop at Wat Komnaram that produced the
best bird of the day in the form of a Milky Stork. This was
with a group of Painted Storks and with the knowledge that
there are sometimes leucistic Painted Storks that closely
resemble Milky, we examined the bird with much scrutiny. We
were able to get great views and confirm the id of this bird.
At the same site we also came across 36 Grey-headed Lapwings
and a few singing Oriental Skylarks. We also managed to add
Common Kestrel to our raptor list here.
With the day growing old I decided that we would make out
final stop at the King's Project, Laem Pak Bia, to see what
was lurking in the experimental reedbeds. As usual we were
able to get good views of both Common and Pintail Snipe skulking
in the wet areas; these are easy to identify in flight as
the Pintail Snipe has dark under the wings and no white in
the trailing edge of the wings. However, on the ground the
best feature to observe is the steep, square forehead of the
PIntail Snipe, plus relatively short bill, against the gently
sloping forehead of the Common Snipe. We were able to see
these features nicely through the telescope. I was expecting
crakes at this spot but the only one to put in an appearance
on this occasion was a splendid Slaty-breasted Rail.
With dusk quickly approaching I ushered Jules over to another
part of the King's Project where a tree often hosts flocks
of starlings as they come in to roost (this tree has been
consequently cut down along with most of the others in the
King's Project, during works in 2011-2012). We were successful
in seeing a small party of White-shouldered Starlings as they
gathered before flying off into the mangroves. By now it was
dark but time for just one more bird - an Indian Nightjar
in the headlights, viewed at a range of about 3 metres as
it sat in the road.
Half an hour later we were drinking beer and ordering our
dinner!
25th October: For our last day of birding together
we decided to head back out into the rice fields around Petchaburi
to see if we could find any more flocks of migrating raptors.
As we toured around the large area of agriculture we came
spotted a number of the raptor species that we had seen before
but added no new species to our list of raptors; 3 Oriental
Honey Buzzards, 3 Black-eared Kites, 2 Grey-faced Buzzards,
4 Eastern Marsh Harriers, several Black-shouldered Kites,
a Peregrine Falcon and a number of Brahminy Kites.
We made the short drive back to Wat Khao Takrao to see if
there was any sign of the large numbers of Kites that had
been present a few days earlier, hoping that there may be
other raptors with them, but we were out of luck, however,
present in one small pool were a total of 109 Spot-billed
Pelicans which was quite an amazing sight.
The rice fields always offer good birding at any time of year
and our day total of species must have been very high with
raptors, open country species, wetland birds and others seen.
We added a few species to our list that had eluded us so far
on the trip; 1 female Cotton Pygmy Goose, a couple of Lesser
Coucals in the road, 2 male Cinnamon Bitterns, 3 Long-tailed
Shrikes, Common Iora, Red-rumped Swallow, Zitting Cisticola,
Baya Weaver, White-rumped Munia and Scaly-breasted Munia.
Our final stop took us to Khao Yoi where I thought we had
an outside chance of finding Oriental Hobby on the limestone
cliffs. We had a moment of excitement as a medium-sized falcon
swooped past us and then later landed on the cliffs. We managed
to find the bird using the telescope but unfortunately it
turned out to be a male Peregrine falcon. Our final bird of
the trip was a Blue Rock Thrush, spotted at the very top of
the limestone cliffs, before we decided to head back to Bangkok
and a well-earned shower.
A total of nineteen species of raptor was very pleasing and
the total of 179 species was quite high considering that we
had limited our options by visiting only a few different types
of habitat and focusing our efforts on raptors.
Tung Bang Jak: TBJ
Wat Khao Takrao: WKT
Radar Hill: RH
Pencil Hill: PH
Nong Yai: NY
Khao Sam Roi Yot: KSRY
Khao Look Chang: KLC
Laem Pak Bia: LPB
Wat Komnaram: WKN
Pak Thale: PT
1. Lesser Whistling Duck: a150
at WKT. 2. Cotton Pygmy Goose: 1f at
TBJ.
3. Little Grebe: A few at TBJ. 4. Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker: 1
at TBJ. 5. Black-headed Woodpecker: 4
at KLC. 6. Lineated Barbet: 4 near Chumpon
& 1 at KLC. 7. White-throated Kingfisher: Common
at all wetlands. 8. Black-capped Kingfisher: TBJ,
WKT, LPB & PT. 9. Collared Kingfisher: 2 at
KSRY & 1 at LPB. 10. Common Kingfisher: 1 at KSRY
& 1 at LPB. 11. Green Bee-eater: Fairly common
at TBJ, LPB & KSRY. 12. Blue-tailed Bee-eater: Many
migrating at all sites. 13. Greater Coucal: 1 at King's
project, LPB. 14. Lesser Coucal: 2 on the road,
TBJ. 15. Plaintive Cuckoo: 2j at TBJ. 16. Asian Koel: 1m at NY &
1m at TBJ. 17. Green-billed Malkoha: 2 at
TBJ. 18. Indian Roller: Common in
open areas. 19. Dollarbird: 1 at RH. 20. Red-breasted Parakeet: 3
at NY. 21. Common Hoopoe: 1 at King's
project, LPB. 22. Germain's Swiftlet: Many
at all sites. 23. Asian Palm Swift: Common
at TBJ, KSRY, LPB, PT. 24. Fork-tailed Swift: 30-40
at PH. 25. Brown-backed Needletail: a10
at PH. 26. Barn Owl: 1 at King's project,
LPB. 27. Asian Barred Owlet: 1 at
KLC. 28. Indian Nightjar: 2 at King's
project, LPB. 29. Feral Pigeon: Common. 30. Spotted Dove: Common. 31. Red-collared Dove: Common
at TBJ, LPB, PT & KSRY. 32. Peaceful Dove: Common. 33. Pink-necked Green Pigeon: 2f
at NY. 34. White-breasted Waterhen: A
few at TBJ & LPB. 35. Watercock: 1f at TBJ. 36. Purple Swamphen: a10 near
Chumpon. 37. Common Moorhen: A few at
TBJ, LPB & KSRY. 38. Slaty-breasted Rail: 1 in
King's project, LPB. 39. Pintail Snipe: 2 at King's
project, LPB. 40. Common Snipe: 6 at King's
project, LPB. 41. Eastern Black-tailed Godwit: a150
at PT. 42. Whimbrel: a10 at PT. 43. Eurasian Curlew: a250 at
PT. 44. Eastern Curlew: 1 at PT. 45. Pheasant-tailed Jacana: a40
at TBJ. 46. Bronze-winged Jacana: a50
at TBJ. 47. Spotted Redshank: A few at
PT. 48. Common Redshank: a40 at KSRY. 49. Marsh Sandpiper: Common at
KSRY, LPB & PT. 50. Common Greenshank: A
few at KSRY, PT, LPB & WKN. 51. Wood Sandpiper: Common
in all wetlands. 52. Terek Sandpiper: 2
at KSRY. 53. Common Sandpiper: A
few at TBJ, KSRY, PT & LPB. 54. Ruddy Turnstone: 2
at KSRY. 55. Red Knot: a10 at
PT. 56. Great Knot: 1500+
at PT. 57. Red-necked Stint: Flocks
of a500 at KSRY, LPB & PT. 58. Temminck's Stint: 4,
LPB. 59. Long-toed Stint: a150
at KSRY. 60. Dunlin: 5 at PT. 61. Curlew Sandpiper: a30
at KSRY & a60 at PT. 62. Broad-billed Sandpiper: A
few at KSRY & PT. 63. Red-necked Phalarope: 1
at LPB. 64. Black-winged Stilt: Common
in all wetlands. 65. Little Ringed Plover: A
few at KSRY & LPB. 66. Kentish Plover: Small
groups at KSRY, LPB & PT. 67. Malaysian Plover: 4
at KSRY. 68. Lesser Sand Plover: Flocks
of 300+ at KSRY, LPB & PT. 69. Greater Sand Plover: a100
at PT. 70. Oriental Pratincole: TBJ
& NY. 71. Pacific Golden Plover: a10
at KSRY & a30 at LPB. 72. Grey Plover: 2
at LPB. 73. Grey-headed Lapwing: NY,
WKN, LPB & TBJ. 74. Red-Wattled Lapwing: TBJ,
WKT, WKN, LPB, PT & NY. 75. Heuglin's Gull: 1
second winter at LPB. 76. Brown-headed Gull: a200
at PT & LPB. 77. Black-headed Gull: 1
at PT. 78. Great Crested Tern: 12
near PT. 79. Common Tern: a500
at PT & LPB. 80. Gull-billed Tern: a15
at PT. 81. Little Tern: a12
at LPB. 82. Whiskered Tern:
Common at PT & LPB. A few at TBJ. 83. White-winged Tern:
1 at LPB. 2 at TBJ. 84. Black Baza: 10
at TBJ. 5000+ at RH. 1000+ at PH. 85. Oriental Honey-buzzard:
TBJ, RH & PH. 86. Black-eared Kite: A
few at TBJ. a20 at WKT. 87. Brahminy Kite: Common
at TBJ, WKT, LPB & PT. 88. White-bellied Sea Eagle:
3 at KSRY. 89. Osprey: 1 at TBJ. 90. Eastern Marsh Harrier: A
total of 10 including 1 adult male at TBJ. Others seen at
TBJ, LPB & PH.
91. Pied Harrier:
1 male at PH. 92. Shikra: a10 at
PH; 1j at KLC. 93. Chinese Sparrowhawk:
a10 at RH; a50 at PH. 94. Japanese Sparrowhawk:
a100 at RH; a300 at PH. 95. Crested Goshawk: 2
at RH. 96. Grey-faced Buzzard:
4 at TBJ; a150 at RH; a400 at PH. 97 Greater Spotted Eagle:
1j at RH. 1ad & 1j at PH. 98. Crested Serpent Eagle:
3 at RH. 99. Booted Eagle: 4
at PH; 1 at RH, all dark morph. 100. Black-shouldered Kite:
Common at TBJ. 101. Peregrine Falcon:
A few, TBJ, PH, RH. 102. Common Kestrel:
1f at KLC; 1m & 1f at LPB. 103. Little Cormorant: Common
in wetlands. 104. Indian Cormorant: 2
at TBJ. 105. Little Egret: Common
in wetlands. 106. Great Egret: A
few at all wetlands. 107. Intermediate Egret: A
few in most wetlands. 108. Eastern Cattle Egret: Fairly
abundant. 109. Grey Heron: Fairly
common at KSRY & WKT. 110. Purple Heron: Fairly
common at TBJ; 1 near Chumpon. 111. Chinese Pond Heron: Common
in most wetlands. 112. Javan Pond Heron: Common
in most wetlands. 113. Black-crowned Night Heron: Many
at LPB. 114. Little Heron: 2
at LPB. 115. Yellow Bittern:
3 near Chumpon. 116. Cinnamon Bittern:
1 at TBJ. 117. Black Bittern:
1 at TBJ. 118. Black-headed Ibis:
6 at WKN. 119. Milky Stork: 1
at WKN. 120. Painted Stork:About
50 at WKT; a20 at WKN; a20 PT. 121. Asian Openbill: Many
at TBJ; a20 at NY. 122. Spot-billed Pelican: 13
at WKT on 21st & 109 on 25th. 123. Brown Shrike: Common
in all open areas. 124. Long-tailed Shrike: 3
at TBJ. 125. Black Drongo: Common at
all sites. 126. Ashy Drongo: 1
leucogenis at TBJ & 1 nigrescens at
RH. 127. Spangled Drongo: 4
at KLC. 128. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo: 8
at KLC. 129. Eastern Jungle (Large-billed) Crow: A
few at TBJ. 130. Rufous Treepie:
2 at KLC. 131. Racket-tailed Treepie: 1
at KLC; 1 at TB. 132. Black-naped Oriole: 1
at PH; 2 at KLC. 133. Ashy Minivet:
a10 at PH. 134. Pied Fantail:
Fairly common in open country. 135. Common Iora:2
at TBJ. 136. Blue Rock Thrush:1
at Khao Yoi. 137. Asian Brown Flycatcher: 2
at KLC. 138. Taiga (Red-throated) Flycatcher: A
few at KLC. 139. Oriental Magpie Robin: A
few at TBJ. 140. Eastern Stonechat: A
few, TBJ. 141. Ashy Woodswallow:
A few at KSRY & TBJ. 142. Asian Pied Starling: Common
in open country. 143. Purple-backed Starling: 1 at NY. 144. White-shouldered Starling: a15 at King's project, LPB. 145. Vinous-breasted Starling: a100 pre-roost at NY. 146. Common Myna: Common in open country and towns. 147. White-vented Myna: Common
in open country. 148. Barn Swallow: Common
at all sites. 149. Pacific Swallow: 3
at NY. 150. Red-rumped Swallow: 2
at TBJ. 151. Black-headed Bulbul: 3 at
KLC. 152. Streak-eared Bulbul: A few
at LPB, KLC & TBJ. 153. Yellow-vented Bulbul: 6
at WKT. 154. Golden-bellied Gerygone: 2
at King's project, LPB. 155. Zitting Cisticola: 3 at
TBJ. 156. Yellow-bellied Prinia: 1
at TBJ. 157. Plain Prinia: A
few, LPB & TBJ. 158. Common Tailorbird: 1
at PT; 2 at KLC. 159. Black-browed Reed Warbler: 1
at TBJ. 160. Oriental Reed Warbler: A
few at TBJ. 161. Yellow-browed Warbler: 1
at KLC.
162. Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush: 3
at KLC. 163. Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush: 2
at KLC. 164. Puff-throated Babbler: 1
at KLC. 165. Brown-throated Sunbird:1male
at TBJ. 166. Olive-backed Sunbird:2f
at KLC. 167. Richard's Pipit: 14 at LPB. 168. Paddyfield Pipit:A few at
NY, PT, LPB & TBJ. 169. Indochinese Bushlark:3 at
LPB. 170. Yellow Wagtail: A few at
KSRY & TBJ. 171. House Sparrow: Several at
LPB & TBJ. 172. Plain-backed Sparrow: A
few at TBJ. 173. Eurasian Tree Sparrow: Common
around buildings. 174. Streaked Weaver: 1 at TBJ. 175. Baya Weaver: Common at TBJ. 176. Asian Golden Weaver: A few
at TBJ. 177. White-rumped Munia: 6 at
TBJ. 178. Scaly-breasted Munia: A
few at TBJ. 179. Chestnut Munia: 1 at LPB.
If you are interested in arranging a bird
watching tour you can see some suggested itineraries here
- Birdwatching Trips
- and you can contact me at the above email address to discuss
the best options.
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