Ferruginous Flycatcher

Both walks around the local patch Thursday and Friday morning had to be cut short due to torrential downpours. Best bird of the two brief walks was a superb Ferruginous Flycatcher in scrub close to the house. There seemed to be a few extra migrants/winter visitors around with increases in the numbers of Eastern Stonechat, Yellow-browed Warbler and Taiga Flycatcher. Also present were two Asian Brown Flycatchers, single Eastern Crowned and Thick-billed Warbler, 4 Black-capped Kingfisher, 2 Black-naped Oriole and the first Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler of the winter. During better weather on Friday four adult Bhraminy Kite and two Black Kite were recorded over the house.

Most of today spent driving north to Lampang, birds on the way included a Rufous-winged Buzzard  near Thoen, plenty of Black-shouldered Kite and once north of Thoen lots of Pied Bushchats on roadside wires.

Monday we move onto Chiang Dao, where we will be based for the next three months. Whilst there i hope to record the raptor migration over the area during the next three or four weeks as well as trying to see as many species as possible in the area during this time, i will keep you posted.

Red Collared Dove

Red  Collared Dove
by Fred Rowe

Sunday/Monday was spent visiting relatives in Phitsunalok, despite this did manage to jam in a quick walk around some local scrub and paddies, though not rare the most unimpressive sighting was the huge numbers of Red Collared Doves present, birds were everywhere at least 800 on roadside wires and additional birds as far as the eye could see. Also of note was an Oriental Darter over head, good numbers of Blue-tailed Bee-eater, a couple of Black-caped Kingfisher, Purple Heron, Ruddy-breasted Crake and two Grey-headed Lapwings.

Before heading back we made a quick visit to the nearby temple Doi Suthep 2, which is situated on a nearby forested covered hill. Lots of Olive-backed Subirds  in flowering trees and shrubs, as well as single Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Black-naped Monarch and a couple of male blue and orange flycatchers which i saw only briefly.

Kingfishers

Black-capped Kingfisher
by Fred Rowe

Common Kingfisher

White-throated Kingfisher

With more or less four consecutive dry days, things locally have started to dry out and on Saturday morning it was possible to have a decent wander around, most of the patch is still underwater but the tracks and some of the bunds are starting to dry out. It was clear as soon as I got out of the house that in recent days there had been an arrival of Black-capped Kingfishers with at least seven noted. It turned out to be an excellent morning for kingfishers, with totals of 5 Common, 2 Stork-billed, 4 White-throated and best of all 2 Pied Kingfisher, a species i see rather infrequently.

At least 300 Oriental Pratincoles were again present, along with three much scarcer Small Pratincoles, i spent at least an hour trying to get some photos, but with all the paddies still flooded and all birds feeding relatively high over the fields all I ended up with was lots of photos of empty sky. Once again a few migrants were present, including 3 Asian Brown Flycatchers, female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Eastern Crowned Warbler, 3 Yellow Wagtails and 2 Red-rumped Swallows.

Other birds present included 6 Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Green-billed Malkoha, 3 Pintail and 4 Common Snipe, 12 Whiskered Tern, 3 Brown Shrike, 4 Eastern Stonechat, 2 Yellow-vented Bulbul and 2 Brown-throated Sunbird.

Many thanks to Fred and Marian Rowe for letting me use some of the photos in this and future posts.

Viz mig

I was late up and about yesterday after a busy day in Bangkok the day before, it was a clear warm sunny morning which felt good for a few raptors to be on the move south so spent most of the morning looking upwards. It was not long before the first raptor an Oriental Honey Buzzard was picked up heading high to the south. Over the next few hours a steady trickle of birds moved south, totals betweened 0830-1300hrs as follows;

Black Baza 3

Oriental Honey Buzzard 22

Eastern Marsh Harrier 2 adult males

Chinese Spaarowhawk flock of 19

Japanese Sparrowhawk 6

Local raptors included several Shikra, 3 (2 adults, 1 immature) Bhraminy Kite and the first returning Common Kestrel of the winter, which completed a respectable list of raptors for an inland non mountainous site.

 Good numbers of Oriental Pratincoles were moving in all directions it was impossible to know how many birds were seen but it was probably around 150-200. Several small groups of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters headed south and several hundred Swallows fed over the house. In nearby scrub there were single  Asian Brown Flycatcher, Brown Shrike and an Arctic Warbler.

Migrants

Common Myna

It was impossible to get onto the local patch this morning due to high water levels, birding was confined to the drier areas of scrub around it's edges and Suphanburi. Despite this I did manage a decent list of migrants and returning winter visitors, migrants included a male and female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, 3 Asian Brown Flycatcher, 4 Black-naped Oriole, Eastern Crowned Warbler and an Arctic Warbler. Winter visitors present included 3 Common Kingfisher, 5 Brown Shrikes, 3 Eastern Stonechat, 6 Dusky Warbler an 2 Black-browed Reed Warbler.

Also recorded were 250 Oriental Pratincole, 50 Baya Weaver, 2 Stork-billed Kingfisher, 2 Vineous-breasted Starling and 2 Freckled-breasted Woodpeckers. Along with the usual egrets, Open-billed Storks etc.    

Thai bird records June-August

Latest summary of Thai bird records for June-August can now be found on the Bird  Conservation Society  of Thailand website, click here to view.

Bangkok

Arrived back in Thailand a few days ago, weather grim, grey skies, heavy rain, warm and humid and the usual talk of floods. First couple of days spent in Bangkok, only birding done was out of the hotel window, where eye level views of House Swifts and usual common species such as Ashy Woodswallow, Tree Sparrow, Peaceful Dove and Red-collared Dove.

Now back at Suphanburi where all birding from the house, where a Brown Shrike in the garden, flock of 30 Whiskered Terns overhead and a few Oriental Pratincoles.

Yesterday in heavy rain had a drive around the edges of the local patch, which seems largely intact apart from a new school in one corner and yet more scrub cleared. Hopefully weather permitting will get out and about over the next few mornings but looking at water levels getting around the patch will be tricky.