Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Small Pratincoles and Red-billed Blue Magpies

Yesterday I visited Kraseio Reservoir near Dan Chang, about 40 kilometers west of Suphanburi, I had been here a couple of times previously fishing and thought it was about time I visited and explored the birding opportunities in the area. The area around the reservoir is dominated by sugar cane and dry scrub, whilst along the shore large stretches of shallow margins look ideal for waders. Most of the morning was spent not far form the dam, a good numbers of Eastern Yellow WagtailsWhite Wagtails and Red-throated Pipits were present along the southern shore. A scattering of waders were also present with at least 30 Wood Sandpipers, 20 Red-wattled Lapwing and smaller numbers of Little Ringed Plovers, Common Sandpiper, Common and Pintail Snipe and best of all three Small Pratincoles. Out over the water at least a dozen Black Kites, six Bhraminy Kites and nine Brown-headed Gulls were waiting for discards from fishermen. Common, Black-capped and White-throated Kingfisher were all present and in reeds and scrub along the shore, along with good numbers of Dusky Warblers, Oriental and Black-browed Reed Warblers. In the dry scrub nearby large numbers of myna's and starlings were present including several large flocks of Chestnut-tailed Starlings and smaller numbers of Black-collared and Vinous-breasted Starling.


Also present in these drier areas was a surprise party of Red-billed Blue Magpie, many Green Bee-eaters, Red Collared Doves, Paddyfield Pipits, several Racket-tailed Treepies and Indochinese Bushlarks. After a couple of hours and with rising heat I headed home, though not seeing anything staggering the site clearly warrants more attention and definitely worth more visits, next time I will try to get to the shallow end way from the dam.

 

1 comment:

  1. Hi Neil, This sounds like a great place - I may visit on my way north in a week or two's time - any advice you can offer on where to focus my energies would be much appreciated. Really liking your blog by the way!
    Very best wishes
    Dave

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