Pelican's and Storks

Spot-billed Pelican

Have just spent a couple of nights on the coast at Leam Pak Bia/Pak Thale, as always lots of birds. Highlights included 17 Spot-billed Pelican and up to 53 Painted Stork at the research project at LPB and a further 11 at Pak Thale. 

Painted Stork

Though waders numbers were not at levels seen later in the winter there were still plenty around, especially at Pak Thale, where peak counts over a couple of visits included 650 Curlew, 250 Great Knot, 50 Black-tailed Godwit, 40 Broad-billed Sandpiper, 19 Terek Sandpiper, 4 Red Knot, 4 Ruddy Turnstone, 4 Red-necked Phalarope, 3 Grey-headed Lapwing, a single Far Eastern Curlew and a good selection of other common waders. 

  

Pacific Golden Plover

Waders at Leam Pak Bia and the research project, included 850 Great Knot, 225 Black-tailed Godwit, 100 Red-necked Stint, 30 Pacific Golden Plover, 25 Long-toed Stint, 13 Asiatic Dowitcher, 11 Pied Avocet, 4 Ruff and 4 Temminck's Stint.    

Red-necked Stint

 A walk through the mangroves in the research project produced a few migrants in addition to the numerous Golden-bellied Gerygone and a Mangrove Whistler, with at least two Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler, 2 Arctic Warbler, a Black-winged Cuckooshrike and 11 Ashy Minivet. At least 23 White-winged Black Tern fed over the ponds along with mnay Whiskered Terns. At the rubbish dump/abandoned building lots of the standard starlings/mynas as well as 13 Chestnut-tailed and 24 White-shouldered Starling. Also in the area were two Barred Buttonquail, Wryneck, 2 Hoopoe, 4 Indochinese Bushlark and 8 Richard's Pipit. 

  

Ruff

Other species noted along the coast included Lesser Coucal, Slaty-breasted Rail, Black Bittern, Bhraminy Kite, Osprey, 2 Peregrine, Common, Caspian, Little and Gull-billed Tern, Painted Snipe, a dozen Black-caped Kingfisher, numerous Brown Shrike and hundreds of Pale-rumped Swiftlet. 

Green Bee-eater

We stayed a little inland from Had Chao Samaran beach at the very comfortable and friendly Ban Bang Home Resort (www.banbanghomeresort.com/index.php/hom), just five minutes drive from Laem Pak Bia, Green Bee-eaters were very common in the garden along with several stunning Green Jewel Beetles. 

Green Jewel Beetle