Bang Pra is an excellent site for seeing a wide range of species, with woodland, grassland and wetland habitats it is possible to see a high number of excellent species here. Combined with an afternoon at wetlands near Bang Poo and some coastal birds at Bang Poo itself, an excellent day of birdwatching is possible; this is exactly what Dierdre Robinson and I did on 26th April. Dierdre had contacted me as she had just one day in Thailand before moving on to a volunteer job in Bhutan and as she hadn’t been birdwatching in Thailand before, these three locations offered an excellent chance of seeing a lot of nice species well.

Having picked her up from the Queen’s Garden Resort hotel near Suvarnampum airport we arrived at Bang Pra at the peak of the bird activity. Before we had got out of the car we had been treated to the site of a flock of White-crested Laughingthrushes feeding on the road and calling to one another, several White-throated Kingfishers, Indian Rollers and Greater Racket-tailed Drongos; impressive birds all. After parking the car we made the most of the high level of bird activity. There seemed to be Lineated Barbets in every tree, giving us fine looks at this handsome bird and Racket-tailed Treepies seemed to be following us around. Within a short distance of the car park we also saw an Asian Brown Flycatcher – a late departee, a single Lesser Whistling Duck and excellent views of several Yellow Bitterns.

The level of bird activity in the region of the car park and small lake was quite remarkable and other species included Black Drongo, a migrant leucogenis Ashy Drongo, 2 colourful Black-headed Bulbuls, Sooty-headed Bulbuls, more White-crested Laughingthrushes and Green Bee-eater. Also notable was the high number of Hoopoes we saw. I usually see Hoopoe at Bang Pra, but this morning they were everywhere and I can only assume that the resident population had been increased by passage migrants. Before we had gone very much further we saw another good bird, Crow-billed Drongo. This passage migrant isn’t so often seen and many birdwatchers with long lists are still looking for it. As we moved alongside the woodland a pair of Vinous-breasted Starlings caught my eye. Unfortunately, Dierdre missed them as they flew into the woodland quite quickly but when we went into the trees to hunt the starlings out Dierdre noticed a Spotted Owlet watching us. As we returned its stare another flew away into the woods and eventually the bird that we had such a good view of joined it.

With Greater Racket-tailed Drongos and Hoopoes all around us we moved towards the grassland, seeing a Green-billed Malkoha on the way. The grassland habitat here used to be excellent for many species of quail, but now the raised water level and overgrazing of what grassland remains has degraded the habitat severely and we didn’t see a single quail. We did, however, hear a number of Chinese Francolins and they taunted us as we searched for them. One bird high in a tree was particularly frustrating as we should have been able to see it but just couldn’t. Still, we saw a lot of birds in the grass and at the water’s edge: Indochinese Bushlark and Australasian Bushlark were seen side by side and each was performing its own characteristic song – Indochinese from a post and Australasian from the sky. We also found a number of Paddyfield Pipits, a lovely Bright-headed Cisticola and many Zitting Cisticolas.

I was interested to see quite a number of winter migrants still present – it is always nice to note the latest dates that wintering species are seen. Those that we saw included numerous Oriental Reed Warblers in song, several Black-browed Reed Warblers, also singing, 2 Brown Shrikes, an Osprey, a few Chinese Pond Herons, 2 Common Sandpipers, 1 Little Ringed Plover , 2 Red-rumped Swallows and 1 tschutschensis Yellow Wagtail. Of course, these were far outnumbered by the breeding species such as Green Bee-eater, Red-wattled Lapwing, Oriental Pratincole and Black-winged Stilt which seemed to be everywhere we looked.

Waterbirds were a little thin on the ground and they also suffer from habitat degradation here, but we got good views of Painted Stork, Great Egret, Little Egret, Little Cormorant, White-breasted Waterhen, Javan Pond Heron and Chinese Pond Heron (Both very handsome in their breeding plumage) and a flight view of a male Watercock.

With the sun becoming unbearable we headed towards some shade but it was difficult to ignore new birds as we ran into a small colony of Baya Weavers, several Rufescent Prinias, Plain Prinias and Grey-breasted Prinias. Also a pair of Chestnut-capped Babblers was very nice indeed. However, with these successes we went back to the car for a drink and a rest. After a short break we decided on an early lunch and to head towards Soi 119 for new birds. This decision was taken because Dierdre had a broken toe and the idea of birding from the car sounded like a good one.

So, a few hours later we found ourselves at Soi 119, and that after I said I was unlikely to come back here very soon. Well, this time things were much more birdy and we saw a good selection of waterbirds here. Striated Grassbird, Bronze-winged Jacana, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Barn Swallow and Whiskered Tern were all quick additions to our day list at a very productive spot near the University building.

A little further along we found more Jacanas and as we wondered whether the gathering clouds were going to drench us we found a beautiful male Asian Golden Weaver sitting up on a post just begging us to watch him.

As we moved along we found some excellent pools where we found some very attractive species; 10 Cotton Pygmy Geese, White-browed Crake, male and female Watercock, Intermediate Egret and several White-winged Terns in full breeding plumage were very spectacular. With so many interesting and attractive birds to see it was difficult to move on but I wanted to give Dierdre a good look at Asian Openbill Storks. This was easy to do and we spent some time observing this species and we were amazed at the huge number of old snail shells in the area, these having been discarded by the storks. Close to the storks we found a single Grey-headed Lapwing which seemed to be very far south at a time I would expect it to have departed.

Although we had seen plenty of Baya Weavers, we hadn’t  seen any males so I kept stopping to find some. When I finally found a male we got out of the car and viewed this busy little bird and as we did a large V of Indian Cormorants flew overhead, a juvenile Brahminy Kite passed by and 2 Parakeets whizzed past us. I couldn’t identify the Parakeets, but they seemed green-headed but too small for Alexandrine; I suspect they were feral Ring-necked Parakeets, a species which I have heard is starting to establish itself in Thailand as it has done in England. However, the best bird of the day (at least for me) was just about to show itself. Behind us a starling had landed on a wire and was calling harshly. Through binoculars the light wasn’t good enough for me to be sure of its id, so I got the scope on it. The bird turned out to be a juvenile Rosy Starling, a new bird for me as I have always missed this species in UK and in Thailand – it is not at all common in either country. We had quite some time to watch this bird and eventually it flew off into some palm trees.

With a good haul of species and in need of a rest we headed to nearby Bang Poo. We parked up and walked along the pier to get a drink. However, we couldn’t ignore yet more species as we strolled along. Good numbers of Brown-headed Gulls were still present but most of the birds were sub-adults and had not yet come into breeding plumage. Plenty of Pacific Golden Plovers were also easily seen but this was the only shorebird species in any number; we also found a few Lesser Sand Plovers, 1 Common Greenshank and 1 Whimbrel. 2 Black-capped Kingfishers were also late wintering birds, very welcome by us, and a number of Little Herons was another new bird for the day. Other notable birds were around 100 Whiskered and White-winged Terns yet to depart for their breeding grounds.

After sitting in the air-conditioned restaurant on the pier, drinking coconut juice we were reinvigorated for a few last birds before leaving and we stood on the end of the pier to get good views of the shorebirds. As I was scanning the distance for something I took a moment to rest and spotted an Indian Pond Heron in breeding plumage right in front of us! This unusual bird for Thailand is being seen increasingly at this time of year when it can be separated from the Javan and Chinese Pond Herons but this was the first time for me in Thailand, although I had seen plenty in India. Eventually it flew away and we walked to the car as the rain finally began.

A little drive around Bang Poo found us 3 new birds for the day – Black-crowned Night Heron, Collared Kingfisher and Pied Fantail. Who can believe it took us all day to find a bird as common as Pied Fantail? I guess strange things like this is what makes birdwatching interesting and certainly unpredictable. With these species and a massive number of birds for the day I took Dierdre back to her hotel and we said goodbye.
birds, birding, thailand, nature