Introduction
Having spent weeks at home due to the covid-19 virus, things
began to ease off as Thailand contained the outbreak quickly
with an extremely low number of fatalities and I was keen
to get out of town for a few days and enjoy some time relaxing
at the beach as well as potter around and see a few birds.
This was definitely not a dedicated birding trip but we chose
a beach area that was not particularly built up so that I
could spend a few hours in the mornings enjoying some low-key
birding.
Vehicle
We used a Toyota Revo pickup with a
covered rear section. The cab had plenty of space for just
the two of us and our luggage. This vehicle has plenty of
stability and it is not a problem taking it along dirt roads,
it handles well, is fast and fuel efficient and does not cost
a lot to hire. This is a vehicle I use a lot and it is hard
to beat, certainly far, far better than any saloon car.
Accommodation
We spent three nights staying at the southern end of Pranburi
beach, close to Thao Kosa Forest Park at Sanghiran
Resort, a small but comfortable set of bungalows
run by a friendly and helpful man. The rooms were bright,
clean with fully functioning air conditioning and a large
bathroom with a shower that worked well. This was a cheap
and comfortable place to stay but there are lots of other
places to stay in the area at a variety of budget points.
Food
The area is definitely a low key tourism destination and there
are not as many places to eat as people might expect, although
there are certainly enough locations to choose from along
the beach road. Several small, local Thai restaurants exist
as well as one or two larger, touristic restaurants, the latter
being the type to avoid in my opinion. At the far north end
of the beach is a local night market that specializes in local
Thai food. At a beach car park at the mid point along the
beach was a mobile German sausage and burger van which we
used on one night and provided some decent fast food. One
7/11 convenience store is present at the beach, open 24 hours.
Thao Kosa Forest Park & Beaches: Malaysian Plover,
Pacific Reef Egret, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Blue-throated
Bee-eater, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, (Sunda) Black-naped Oriole,
Cotton Pygmy Goose Ban Mai Swamp: Oriental Pratincole, Oriental Skylark,
Streaked Weaver, Lesser Coucal, Plain-backed Sparrow, Chestnut
Munia, Cotton Pygmy Goose Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park: Blue-tailed Bee-eater,
Grey-headed Swamphen, Common Flameback
Birding Diary
Birding at Pranburi
(Click to watch)
Thao Kosa Forest Park & Adjacent Beaches On each of the three mornings we stayed at Pranburi beach
I spent a few hours birding on the beaches and farmland that
is adjacent to the forest park. The forest park itself consists
of a small area of woodland upon a large rocky outcrop which
is not particularly bird rich but together with coastal scrub,
farmland, a wooded temple grounds and the adjacent beaches
it forms part of a varied piece of habitat that proved to
be fairly rich in birds.
Arriving on the beach early on my first morning I was very
surprised to immediately come across a female Malaysian Plover.
Although the beaches here are not highly developed disturbance
and lack of nesting habitat make it an unlikely spot for successful
nesting. However, the beach had been closed for months because
of the covid-19 crisis and the little bit of nesting habitat
remaining had been undisturbed and had allowed a pair of Malaysian
Plovers to hatch a single chick. As I was the only person
on the beach it was possible for me to sit down and watch
the plovers at close range as they went about their business
unconcerned about me.
Over the course of the few days I also came across several
dark morph Pacific Reef Egrets on the beach south of Thao
Kosa Forest Park. On one morning I sat on a rocky breakwater
and watched a few of these egrets feeding at the water's edge
which allowed me to video and photograph them. The beaches
also held a few non-breeding plumage Lesser and Greater Sand
Plovers as well as small numbers of breeding Little Terns,
feeding some noisy chicks. A huge surprise was a pair of Cotton
Pygmy Geese that I noticed in flight which then landed on
the sea. This is such unusual behaviour that I had to take
a closer look to make sure I wasn't going mad.
In the nearby coastal scrub, gardens and famrland there were
lots of Green Bee-eaters to be seen along with many Blue-tailed
Bee-eaters which were feeding over the sea. Lots of common
species such as Asian Koel, Great (White-vented) Myna, Scaly-breasted
Munia, Spotted Dove, Zebra Dove, Common Tailorbird and Ashy
Woodswallows, to mention a few, were easily seen but also
a few Coppersmith Barbets, a Lineated Barbet and a couple
of nice, resident (Sunda) Black-naped Oriole calling from
the top of palm trees. Perhaps the biggest surprise was an
oriental Pied Hornbill in a tree behind the 7/11 store when
I was buying a drink. It just shows that all sorts of things
can turn up if you spend time birding in a half decent place.
For birders these beaches are quite a nice place to
relax as there are lots of scruffy patches around with Black-winged
Stilts & Red-wattled Lapwings nesting between buildings,
Grey-breasted and Plain Prinias in small vegetable plots as
well as Olive-backed and Brown-throated Sunbirds in gardens
in addition to the above-mention species. Another bird which
was very noticeable was Indochinese Bushlark (video clip viewable
here - Indochinese
Bushlark Singing) which was singing from overhead cables
all around the area in the early mornings, particularly in
nearby dry farmland.
Ban Mai Swamp
A very short drive inland from our accommodation was an area
of wetlands which didn't seem to have a name beyond "Lotus
Swamp" so I named it after the nearest village. Much
of the area was dry given how there has been a drought this
year but by spending a short time viewing birds here I was
able to add quite a lot to my trip list including a flyover
Oriental Darter, a flyover Black Bittern and good numbers
of breeding Oriental Pratincoles on the drier areas.
As I was having my breakfast by the swamp I heard the song
of an Oriental Skylark. After some searching I spotted it
as a small speck in the sky in song flight but my attention
was then drawn towards several Chestnut Munias feeding in
the waterside vegetation. These lovely little birds are highly
under-rated in my opinion; they really stand out amongst the
vegetation and they are a nice combination of contrasting
colours. Other birds in the wetland included Yellow-bellied
Prinia, Grey-headed Swamphen, Zitting Cisticola, Lesser Coucal,
lots of Purple Herons, some Common Moorhens and Little Egrets.
A small number of Streaked Weavers nesting were a little surprising
and Plain-backed Sparrow, Eurasian Hoopoe and more Blue-tailed
Bee-eaters were also nice birds to see at close range.
I located the swamp by taking a look at Google Earth and
seeing what sort of variety of habitats there were close to
my accommodation. I often do this and look for eBird hotspots
to find good sites for birding when I am travelling on non-birding
trips. Not all beach resorts will have a piece of habitat
as rich as this one but in Thailand there are usualy some
fish ponds or rice fields not far away where some wetland
species can be found.
Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park
Nearby to where we were staying is Khao Sam Roi Yot National
Park. This is a location I have not visited in some years
because every time I go there the valuable bird habitat has
progressively been trashed. We went for a drive to admire
the impressive scenery of the mountains and a seafood lunch
in a well-known restaurant on the coast. While the mountains
are as beautiful as ever virtually all of the wetland habitat
on the seaward side of them has been destroyed either through
neglect of the saltings, much of which are now overgrown,
or by filling them in preparing themfor building. Many of
these areas of wetland were never in the national park but
they did use to be valuable for shorebirds; now there is virtually
nothing left for them at all. More or less the only bird I
noticed of any note was a juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle
that passed by as we were eating lunch.
Khao Sam Roi Yot National
Park
(Photo by Nick
Upton)
Bird
Watching Trips:
Birding in the Pranburi region can be good but most
of the same species can be seen closer to Bangkok at
Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale and Petchaburi Rice Fields which
combine nicely with a visit to Kaeng Krachan National
Park at any time of the year.
Contact me to arrange a birding trip and/or to discuss
the best bird watching options for you: nickupton@thaibirding.com
The freshwater marsh on the landward side of the mountains
has always been a prime site to visit for a variety of wetland
species, including many migrant species at the right time
of the year. June is the month in which there are hardly any
migrant species present but I thought I would drive round
to the Bueng Bua boardwalk to see what I could find.
Driving into the area was quite depressing as most of the
supposedly protected wetland continues to be converted into
intensively farmed fish ponds. There is still quite a large
fresh marsh but it is extremely overgrown with Typha and much
of it was dry and even areas very close to the ranger station
were being burned and converted while the rangers stopped
visitors from entering due to covid-19 restrictions. I saw
Black Bittern, Indian Cormorant, Great Egret, Javan Pond Heron
and large numbers of Grey-headed Swamphens but did not hang
around long. We just took some scenery photos and then headed
off for lunch.
On another morning I revisited the fresh marsh at a different
ranger substation, "Ranger Station 4" on Google
Maps. This location is reached by a road from the seaward
side of the mountains, over a small rise to the other side
of the rocky outcrops, to the edge of the marsh. This location
is quiet and is a much nicer birding spot than most other
parts of the national park and also enjoys much more intact
habitat than most of this horribly degraded "protected"
area. As one enters the area the road passes through a patch
of woodland where I saw a few common species Including Puff-throated
Babbler, a couple of vocal White-rumped Shamas, a Dark-necked
Tailorbird and a flock of noisy White-crested Laughingthrushes.
Lineated Barbet and Common Flameback were perched out in the
open where the woodland met open country and no doubt there
would be some more birds that inhabit this habitat for those
who spent more time. However, I wanted to get some video and
photos of some of the wetland bird so I spent most of my time
in a small area of farmland that is adjacent to the marsh.
Small areas of lotus ponds and pasture were good for seeing
Grey-headed Swamphens, Common Moorhens and Chestnut Munias
at very close range and it was fun to watch Great (White-vented)
Mynas perched on the head of a Water Buffalo. A single Black-collared
Starling was a little bit of a surprise but lots of Blue-tailed
Bee-eaters and an Indochinese Bushlark were more expected.
Plain-backed Sparrow is one of those species that does not
get much attention but when you see the adult male in good
light it is a surprisingly attractive bird and I was treated
to some nice views of one preening on an overhead wire. Paddyfield
Pipit, Eastern Jungle Crow, Plain Prinia and Asian Pied Starling
completed the sightings in this area before I went back to
the hotel for breakfast and then the drive back to Bangkok.
Conclusion
While beach breaks in Thailand usually do not get birders
to prime bird watching locations, it is still possible to
see a lot of species by just poking around whatever habitats
exist close to your accommodation although it is important
not to choose one of the very developed beaches. This accompanying
video presents some of the birds that I was able to see around
Pranburi beach.
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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