Hi Rob,

Many thanks for responding. Paul and I have put this onto the thread not intending it to be a quiz bird as such, but because we just cannot decide between Cinnamon Bittern or Black Bittern. It strikes us as possibly a bit dark for the former but not quite right for the latter, and in any event likely to be a female or juvenile. Its ages since I saw either species in parts of Asia and never actually in Thailand. Paul sees both species regularly and normally finds them straightforward, but mainly flying (often over his garden!) when certainly adult males pose no i/d problem.

As you suggest, these could well amount to a series of record shots of just a dark juvenile Cinnamon Bittern;- (the cap does look dark chocolate brown rather than black). He will probably leave it recorded as small Bittern sp.

The current focus centres on waders, 12 species of which Paul has added to the Province list so far this year, one of these being Temmincks Stint found yesterday, (the first record of this autumn for the whole of Thailand) and which complements his earlier Long-toed Stint. He returned to the site this morning hoping for more photos and found instead several more wader additions- details to follow

Regards,

Mike P.

@From Paul in Yasothon

Here are the  Bittern images referred to in an earlier post.... all input welcome.

-A small correction to my earlier post:- the adult Whiskered Tern was of course moulting out of BREEDING plumage.

Sorry,

Mike P.

03/08/21 Tuesday -Yasothon province

With wader passage livening things up on Pauls local patches, he found another first for Yasothon province in the form of a Long-toed Stint which was loosely keeping company with a Wood Sandpiper and a Little Ringed Plover. His main target currently though is to find a Green Sandpiper, a species which has so far eluded both of us in Thailand. The leading patch worker in Roí Et province (just to the west) photographed one last week but it had moved on before Paul had a chance to catch up with it. 
Thoughts of Long-toed Stint takes me back to August/September 1982 and what was then considered to be a first for Britain when one turned up on Teeside, which I made no effort to go to see as there was on offer what I considered to be a greater prize on show at  Kenfig, South Wales- Britains first Little Whimbrel (aka Little Curlew). We chose the Little Whimbrel on the basis that it was the closest we might ever get to seeing the nearest living congener of the fabled Eskimo Curlew!

Since then there has been a second Little Whimbrel in Norfolk, but still no repeat showing in Britain of a Long-toed Stint - (except for one in Ireland). As a historic footnote a 1970 bird originally accepted as a Least Sandpiper was subsequently reassessed by the rarities committee as the first British record of a Long-toed Stint. 
We live in hope

Regards,

Mike P.

Mike Passant wrote:

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Wednesday 21/07/21

Paul related a little story this lunchtime:-

He had had a drive out to Yasothon Pools yesterday and had noted a Grey Heron on site about half a mile away, (unusual in the summer), so had walked back to his car to get his tripod, intending to take some photos. To his surprise the tripod wasnt there in the back where he normally kept it.

He phoned Pen back at home and after a quick but thorough search she confirmed that it wasnt there either. Thinking back, Paul realised that he had last used his tripod whilst photographing a Yellow Bittern four days previously over in Roí Et province, so he drove west into Roí Et and began retracing his movements searching the rice fields and wetland habitats but without any luck at all.

He returned home annoyed with himself for being so careless. The tripod would cost about £800 to replace, but more than that it had been with him in around 45 countries over the last 17 years and so meant a lot to him.

On arriving home, feeling really down, Pen took things in hand -Come on, well go back and find it!

They drove back the 80 kilometres into Roí Et and knocked on the door of the first house in the first village in that area. There they were told that a local man on a motorbike had been all round the lakeside villages asking people if they knew anything about a strange object that he had found in the marshes and he also left his name and address in case anyone should come looking for it!

Following directions given, Pen (with Paul in tow) found 4 fishermen in a boat, one of whom turned out to be the finder of Pauls tripod. The man had sat by the tripod for two hours after finding it in case the owner should return before deciding to take it home, where it now was. The man declined to accept any money, - for him this was just normal behaviour on his part. At his home in one of the nearby villages Paul gratefully accepted the return of his tripod and did manage to at least press upon the family 1000 baht for the 3 smiling children there.

Paul was pleased beyond measure, not just at the return of his tripod but more about what this says about the people of Isaan and how fortunate he is to live among them, and indeed to be married to one as well.

Regards to all,

Mike P.

 

 

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 That's a great outcome it just shows there are still good people around.

Mike Passant wrote:

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Friday 09/07/2021

With no migration yet Paul has been enjoying some easy list building and site exploration in neighbouring provinces Si Sa Ket and Ubon Ratchathani to the south and east of Yasothon.

Attached (provided I dont mess it up!) is a decent record shot of a Crested (= Oriental) Honey Buzzard which he photographed recently in April in Pha Taem Nat. Pk. Ubon Ratchathani. This species may be of interest to those of you who possibly have seen this species in Israel where it is noted annually these days in small numbers amid hundreds of thousands of migrating Honey Buzzards, after famously being recorded as a West Paleactic first in 1994 by Hadoram Shirihai whilst photographing migrants from a mountaintop hide above Eilat.
Groundbreaking i/d papers by Dick Forsman and Hadoram were published highlighting the key differences from Honey Buzzard, these mainly centred upon Crested Honey Buzzard showing six rather than five distinct primary fingers lack of blackish carpal patches on the underwing, and birds being 5/10 % bulkier than Honey Buzzards.

I have found that the main confusion species in Asia can be the similarly sized Changeable Hawk -Eagle, especially when briefly glimpsed passing overhead through trees, when birds often end up as raptor sp !

Regards,

Mike P.

 

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Mike Passant wrote:

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A dragonfly species which I photographed on the floor of Paul and Pens kitchen in 2018 has been identified as a female of Neurothemis tullía (with a few English names :-Blackspot Widow, Pied Percher, etc.)

Thanks are due to Richard Gabb for his help and expertise. I recall seeing the species regularly on my riverside morning walks. In terms of its habitat preferences, Richard tells me that it haunts pond edges in lowland areas, and open wasteland.

Regards,

Mike P.

-- Edited by Mike Passant on Friday 25th of June 2021 06:39:15 PM

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25/06/2021 - Friday

Paul has now found ten territories occupied by breeding Blue-winged Pittas, three in Roí Et province and the rest in Yasothon, often quite close to each other and all but one close to the meandering Chi river. This morning he visited the site of his first Pitta find for Yasothon the Bhoong Khla community forest in the eastern extremity and found another new province species, a Grey-eyed Bulbul, a most welcome addition though nevertheless an ordinary looking creature.

Speaking to him this morning I was surprised to learn that the national parks which he visited yesterday are (due to COVID restrictions) in fact currently closed for two months until mid July; this in fact is no bad thing during the breeding season. At the entrance to the first park the staff were nevertheless sat outside in deckchairs with wads of tickets to hand which they were of course unable to sell so his birding was limited to strolling around the perimeter.

At the second park a woman manning the entrance post was fast asleep in her chair so he crept in and quietly got on with some birding. Upon leaving she was very much awake and chastised him somewhat though mainly out of embarrassment that she had been caught napping.

Regards,

Mike P.

Wednesday, 16/06/21

With the onset of the wet season now in Thailand, the rice is growing tall and Paul is presently just logging the usual species of his local patch either in/over the garden compound and rice fields mainly in passing as he gets on with outside chores.

I have attached a couple of his photos;- one depicting one of the pairs of Blue-winged Pittas which he has discovered as breeding summer visitors to both Yasothon and to the adjacent Roí Et province as a new species for both provinces, and of a Javan Pond Heron, which he recorded in fair numbers in the greater Bangkok area. This latter species has so far eluded me in Thailand for the simple reason that I have never visited in the late spring or summer months when the species is in its distinctive breeding plumage. At other times in non breeding plumage it is not safely separable from the abundant Chinese Pond Heron, which can be taken as the default species, especially up in Isaan region.

I suppose that the same I/d problem applies to the Indian Pond Heron in the winter months, though that is a much scarcer beast in Thailand.

26/05/21 Wednesday morning, Kut Chum.

An early morning walk along the riverside and adjoining rice fields of the next farm on his local patch rewarded Paul with another new province species - a pair of Barred Buttonquails which he was able to watch quite readily from the raised bank of the riverside bund as they shuffled through the young rice shoots which are only some 4/5 centimetres high at present. While this species is a widespread resident in Thailand (which I have never seen anywhere myself) I imagine that seeing one is not always as easy as one might suppose?

In general with the spring migration just about over, things are fairly quiet. The Stonechats have all departed north, leaving only the resident closely related Pied Bushchats making it onto daily counts. I have noticed that the Eastern Stonechats seen here over the winter months are referred to on ringers and other birders sightings logs as almost exclusively Stejnegeri or less often Eastern or Siberian for simplicity.

Regards,

Mike P.

Thursday, 13/05/2021

Paul was birding the west side of the Chi river this morning, exploring further potential Blue-winged Pitta sites in Roí Et Province where he and Pen had located another pair on territory a few days earlier. He is finding that this migratory species seems able to utilise quite small residual forest patches for breeding even in these rice growing areas, provided that they are relatively close to the river. The same river also forms the boundary with Mukdahan Province (to the north of Yasothon), so he is confident that he might find other territories there as well as the three locations he now has in Yasothon.

Earlier on 09/05/2021 in Si Kaeo at the Khok Yai reservoir he logged 24 species amongst which the highlight was a mixed gathering of about 17/18 migrating marsh terns, comprising 6 Whiskered, with the rest summer plumage White-winged Black Terns, - these latter a further addition to the Yasothon list. These had departed by the following day, with Osprey, Openbill Stork, and Freckle-breasted Woodpecker the only additional species relative to the previous days count.

My last encounter with summer plumaged White-winged Black Terns was the superb Elton duo of May 2014, followed by Brian Fieldings find 8 days later- the excellent Little Bittern! Eltons purple patch; - was it really 7 years ago??

Regards,

Mike P.

Saturday, 01/05/2021

Pauls beaming smile said it all on Facetime today. He had undertaken an exploratory trip this morning to the easternmost extent of his home province after studying satellite imagery looking for suitable mid altitude forested habitats worthy of exploration. The chosen site (Bin Nom Khao/Boong Khla Community Forest) yielded only 12 species in sapping humidity; - it was rather slow initially with not much to show for his efforts and he very nearly packed up but thankfully carried on. Of the 12 species, remarkably five were new for the Yasothon list, underpinning the fact that the place is drastically underwatched. The five additions were 3 Hair-crested Drongos, a stunning male Blyths Paradise Flycatcher, 7 Puff-throated Bulbuls, a Crimson Sunbird, and best of all a pair of Blue-winged Pittas, watched ahead of him along the forest trail;- apparently the first Pittas of any kind (at least on the Ebirder system) ever recorded in Yasothon Province. - Nothing new here for his life list or Thailand list, but its apparent that good birds are there to be found if you put in the time and effort.

I just wish we could share the fun more directly.

Keep birding!

Mike P.

Monday, 19/04/21 - midday.

Driving within his home province yesterday, Paul pulled in to check out a perched raptor which turned out to be a new species for Yasothon- a Rufous-winged Buzzard. We first turned up this species as a lifer for all of us four years ago in Pha Taem Nat. Park where we were camping, close to the Mekong border region with Laos. Its a readily identifiable species which when seen perched reminded me very much of an outsized Kestrel in terms of size and general plumage pattern. This again underlines the view that Yasothon still has species yet to be found when a bird like this has hitherto remained under the radar.

Once out of his vehicle Paul flushed from his feet out of the rank grass verge a Quail species which flew some 20 metres and landed never to be seen again, nor specifically identified. He surmised that it was most likely a Rain Quail and one to be alert for in future.

Regards,

Mike P.

Meanwhile, back in Thailand Paul has been quite active in the field now that his construction project is largely behind him, often out with Pen and stepson Art.

He started 2021 (04/01/21) in twitching mode with a Common Shelduck at the Khon Kaen University water treatment lagoons and followed this up on 16/01/21 with two Eye-browed Thrushes whilst birding in Phu Wiang Nat.Park, also in Khon Kaen Province.

Khon Kaen lies some 3 hours drive further west from Yasothon, but has more active birders based there and a rather riicher avifauna. On a return visit on 04/03/21 at a site known as the stakeout bridge (Kang Lawa) Paul recorded 65 species, notably including a Pied Harrier, 4 Temmincks Stints, 4 Oriental Pratincoles, 4 Freckle- breasted Woodpeckers, his first ever Lanceolated Warbler, a handful of Bluethroats and Sib. Rubythroats, 20 (approx.) Red Avadavats, and 2 Black-faced Buntings. On the following day in the same general locality he logged 2 Ruddy Shelducks, 42 Glossy Ibis, and the main target, the object of a major twitch in Thai terms - a vagrant Lesser Whitethroat, well seen and photographed by many.

In April (3rd) Paul and Pen undertook a road trip south down into Chon Buri Province on the east side of the head of the gulf of Thailand and at the mouth of the Bang Prakong river added Pacific Golden Plovers, a Black-headed Ibis flyover, and 3 Golden- bellied Gerygones. On more familiar ground in Krung Thep Maha Nakhon ( = Bangkok Province) working the Lat Krabang Thap Yao rice paddies (a site I have yet to visit) they logged 56 species including 80 Oriental Pratincoles, 2 Indian Cormorants, 9 Spot- billed Pelicans flying over heading south, 2 Blue-tailed Bee eaters, and 15 Zitting Cisticolas. Later the same day back in Suan Luang Park near their Bangkok home Paul added a Ferruginous Flycatcher, and also there on 04/04/21, photographed a cute pair of Spotted Owlets.

Whilst still in Bangkok on 05/04/21 he bumped into a lifer by the BTS station near Kasetsart University, - a party of at least 12 Daurian Starlings in trees by the canal.

Cheers,

Mike P.

Friday 26/03/2021

Since the turn of the year Paul has been pretty active exploring new sites and has added quite a few new species to the Yasothon province list. I must add now that this is not too difficult as Yasothon occupies something of a birding backwater largely given over to rice growing, and with Paul as the only regularly active birder there; - in short it is underwatched relative to the well known much visited sites in the west especially. Of the 76 provinces of Thailand, I am told that some months ago it ranked next to bottom in terms of species ever recorded, though now with a list of 149 species, it has shot up to 70th place!

By way of contrast, Chiang Mai in the north west is the top ranked province with some 660 species recorded.

The list for Thailand stands presently at just over 1000 species recorded, with a handful of top listers (all resident there of course) with just over 900 species apiece;- staggering totals indeed and a level to which I can never hope to aspire. 
Paul has introduced me recently to the E birder recording system so I have just finished entering over 100 of my daily checklist totals covering the 14 provinces in which I have been birding in the past for the years 2001, 2017, 2018 and 2019. I quite enjoyed reliving some of my birding adventures anew as part of the process. Hopefully this autumn may present an opportunity to get back there to fill in more than a few blanks!

Regards,

Mike P.

Kutchum - Wednesday 28/10/20 

Paul is battening down the hatches ahead of typhoon Molave which is already battering Vietnam, and scheduled to reach Yasothon province in the small hours (about 9 pm UK time), though thankfully at greatly reduced strength.

He noticed much heightened chattering among the garden birds at dusk with the dogs by way of contrast seemingly unusually subdued. He is accordingly bringing them indoors for the night and hoping that his newly planted trees will still be standing upright by dawn.

Cheers,

Mike P.

Sunday, 19/07/20

With no prospect of any of us based in Europe getting back to Thailand before next year, at least as some consolation one of the family in the meantime is able to get on with birding there.

With Khao Yai recently reopened for visitors, on sudden impulse, Paul shot off on Friday intending to spend four days camping and birding in the park. Rumour has it from park staff that after months of lockdown, animals are increasingly conspicuous and roaming more openly around the park HQ in the absence of hordes of visitors.
A 6 am start on Saturday saw him exploring the same trail where he turned up last Februarys Eared Pitta. All was unusually quiet until he heard ahead of him a calling Blue Pitta which obviously got his juices flowing. Advancing carefully, he gave a playback call and as the birds calls became louder and closer he stopped and soon glimpsed some movement in the leaf litter before seeing the culprit, - a male Blue Pitta suddenly hopped up onto a log. He was able to watch his first of the species for some minutes before birding his way back down the 4 Kms. to the main access road. 
With weekend visitors from the cities beginning to materialise he noticed a group of Thai birders scoping something up in the roadside trees. Upon enquiry it transpired that they were scoping a Banded Broadbill visiting its nest; - another quality species which he hadnt seen for a number of years, so he waited a while and was duly rewarded.

Moving on, it was still quite early and hoping to escape the increasing numbers of visitors, he tried another longish trail deemed worthy of exploration where eventually quite unexpectedly he encountered another good bird just ahead of him a metre or so off the trail showing interest in a small muddy pool, - a Blue-winged Pitta (a regular wet season breeding visitor to Thailand) - nevertheless his second self found lifer of the morning.
He is on something of a roll with Pittas of which he has self found 4 lifers over the last 17 months. As the weather was rapidly deteriorating with heavy rain coming on he decided to cut short his stay. He had covered some 20 kms. on the trails (which were unusually almost leech free at least) was soaked with sweat but well satisfied with his brief visit. 
He updated us (with beer in hand) with news of his adventure via FaceTime this morning. He is now under orders to find a Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo, and to search the Bangkok parks for migrant Fairy Pittas next April.

Regards,

Mike P

Another relevant split noted as I browse through 14 years of sundry taxonomic updates - all references to Indian Roller (C. benghalensis) in previous posts concerning the birds seen in Thailand should now be read as Indo-Chinese Roller (C. affinis). 
On comparing the two forms, affinis shows more uniform dark purple cheeks throat and breast, barely streaked on the throat as compared to the paler underparts of benghalensis; though it strikes me that juvenile birds are rather trickier to differentiate?

In general in spite of more species than ever being endangered, there now seem to be about a thousand new species (ie 10800 or so) than used to be the case 15 years ago. 

Concerning the earlier post below about Phu Khieo (which does seem to have several spellings) by way of correction it is not a national park but is a wildlife sanctuary, with access accordingly rather more restricted than would be the case with a national park. The White- winged Duck is possible but supposedly only in the company of a ranger involving a considerable hike to the favoured pools. There is a good selection of mammals and supposedly between 10/20 tigers though these very rarely seen.

Regards,

Mike P.

I have been reading up on certain splits of late. Accordingly concerning my post on this thread of 16/03/19, any reference to Red-flanked Bluetail (T. cyanurus) should be read please as Himalayan Bluetail (T. rufilatus).
I understand that the latter has been split from the former as it is a short distance migrant form, the male also sporting generally brighter blue plumage on the upper parts and especially on its supercilium. Females remain more problematic?

Regards,

MLP.

Hi again Pete,

Its pretty remarkable that in many parts of the world one can bump into lone birders who not only turn out to be Brits, but Brits that one already knows;- a small world in many ways and always really nice, (like you bumping into Broomy in a Thai filling station for instance!)

We are probably back in January though not sure yet what we shall do;- the girls probably will prefer heading south for some beach stuff;- (god knows theyve earned it after being dragged along 100s of forest trails these last few years).

Best Wishes,

Mike and Barb

10/06/19 Monday,

It is now quite wet (rainy season) and the newly transported and planted large trees appear to be taking well, - the idea is that these will afford more cover and shade.

Although not new birds for the garden list, an Indian Roller was foraging on the ground last week (a first of sorts) and a Black-shouldered Kite is spending more and more time within the garden compound. 

Cheers,

Mike P.

17/04/19 Wednesday,

Paul advised yesterday that he had a new bird for the garden list - a Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker. - Pleasing this, as it is the first woodpecker species of any kind on his local patch and hopefully the first of many as his trees mature and offer more shade and cover.

Surprisingly, the Rubythroat is still present.

Cheers,

Mike P.

26/03/19

A summary of our trip from a birding standpoint came out at 226 species seen, (plus 1 heard only). The trip had given me personally a further 84 species boost to my growing Thailand list (of which just 13 were species completely new for me) so I was well pleased and it was really nice to become reacquainted with some stunning Himalayan species which I had not seen for some 20 years or more. The most productive leg of our wanderings was in the Doi Lang area which is part of the Doi Pha Hom Pok Nat. Park in the border area with Myanmar. I found myself wishing that I could share these at some time perhaps with my regular birding pals (you know who you are) with whom I have enjoyed so many birding adventures in the past. Having said that though I still have many reserves and Nat. Parks (such as Doi Inthanon) yet to visit.

My own personal favourites on this trip included Humes Pheasants, Crimson-breasted Woodpecker, Scarlet Finch, Black-throated Tits - all these either rare or barely touching NW Thailand with their wing tips. Among my new species I was grateful to catch up with a stunning male Silver Pheasant, an obliging two day Rusty-naped Pitta, Crested Finchbills, Giant Nuthatch, Spectacled Barwing, Spot-breasted Parrotbill and White-bellied Redstart. Of the three Siberian Rubythroat seen, the one wintering in Pauls garden was easily the most handsome (well, it would be anyway wouldnt it?) and deserves mention.

Much of rural Thailand is blighted by illegal trapping of birds by poor people scratching out a living, but hopefully an increasing level of affluence generally will reduce this activity over time and it was noticeable that in the two large No Hunting wetland reserves which we visited we encountered keen helpful and seemingly dedicated staff and impressive growing numbers of Egrets, Ducks, and Waders.

Best Wishes,

Mike P.

23/03/19 Saturday after a 06.00 breakfast we returned to the same reserve and after grilling various Snipe through the scope we ascertained that all were Common Snipe. Checking through the massed Egrets out in the centre of the main lake we were pleased to find 11 Painted Storks - apparently a scarcity in Thailand. Among the usual Lesser Whistling Ducks were a feeding pack of Spotted Redshank and a scatter of Garganey but search as we might we found no additional duck species other than those already regularly recorded. With the temperature rising and a fair bit of travelling still ahead of us we packed up at 10.00 and continued off south - our birding adventures perhaps concluded for now.

Cheers,

Mike P.