Oriental Cuckoo and Bluethroat

Lots of birds around the patch this morning at Suphanburi, most notable of which were single Garganey, Oriental Cuckoo and a Bluethroat. Waders and other waterbirds noted included 4 Common Kingfisher, 2 Purple Swamphen, 3 Ruddy-breasted Crake, 5 Pintail Snipe, 11 Common Snipe, 23 Wood Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpiper, 33 Grey-headed Lapwing, 25 Whiskered Tern, 3 Bhraminy Kite, a Painted Stork and at least 5380 Open-billed Stork either side of the south east quarter of the Suphanburi by-pass, with many more distant birds not counted.

Open-billed Storks and Egrets

Plenty of migrants and winter visitors also around this morning, especially warblers with 11 Black-browed Reed, 10 Oriental Reed, 1 Thick-billed, 4 Dusky, 5 Yellow-browed and 4 Two-barred Warbler. Also recorded were 5 Brown Shrike, 4 Black-naped Oriole, 3 Taiga Flycatcher, around 2500 Barn Swallow and 3 Richard's Pipit.

Noteworthy among the resident species was a Long-tailed Shrike and 25 Asian Golden Weaver.

On Thursday I spent a couple of hours driving around the paddies to the east of Suphanburi, best birds was a total of 111 Grey-headed Lapwing in three flocks, on recently ploughed paddies, 33 Little Grebe including three broods of newly hatched young, 53 Pheasant-tailed and 11 Bronze-winged Jacana and at least 2335 Black-winged Stilt but few other waders.