we've now been here a week of what is essentially a family visit involving socialising, sight seeing, working on the farm, with some birding when the opportunity presents itself.

A few common species were frequenting the garden of the Bangkok house, with Pied Fantails zipping around in typical fashion, all but landing on me in response to my squeaks.

In the local park we found several Openbill Storks, a nice but furtive adult Yellow Bittern, numerous Common Koels, Chinese Pond Herons, and honking Large-billed Crows to kick start our listing. Copper smith Barbets, a White-breasted Waterhen, were outnumbered by the very common but showy Oriental Magpie Robins. Overhead, Swiftlets defied confident identification, but were probably of the Edible-nest species.

Friday saw us heading south out of Bangkok's nightmarish traffic congestion for a night in a beachside hotel at Cha-Am.

En route, the plan was to spend a couple of hours checking through the waders at Tak Thale salt pans for a hoped for Spoon-billed Sandpiper, likely to be knocking about with the numerous parties of Red-necked Stints.

When we finally found the correct site, we were already behind schedule, as we needed to secure beds for the night, knowing that many Thai families come down here for the weekend to escape the city. It was therefore with some relief that we finally located our target bird within minutes of having to give up.

Other species present were numerous Black-winged Stilts, Bar-tailed Godwits, Marsh Sandpipers, Kentish Plovers, Sandplovers, (we had neither time nor patience to devote to splitting Sandplovers), Greenshanks, (no Nordman's, which anyway we had seen before), a Curlew Sandpipier, a Whimbrel, a Long-toed Stint and a Spotted Redshank.

On Sunday Paul drove the 700 kilometres (11 hours) north-east to Isaan, where they have the farm.

En route, we took in the temple at Wat Phra Phutabath Noi for the Limestone Wren-Babbler, this being an easy site for this species.

I have now started a new list for the farm area. This is not prime birding country, as the land is given over to rice farming, and birds have traditionally been seen as a food source, and are quite wary accordingly.

Nevertheless, sandwiched between farming chores (i.e. helping to install an improved irrigation system for the vegetable garden) I have so far managed several quality species from a European perspective: Brown Shrike, Brown Flycatcher, Thick-billed Warbler, Dusky Warbler in addition to more exotic but common resident species.

More to follow,

Best Wishes,

Mike P.