I recently spent two days at Laem Pak Bia and Pak Thale (6th & 7th November). After reporting some problems with the road into the Spoon-billed Sandpiper site at Pak Thale I am happy to say that the road has been finished and it is now negotiable by any vehicle again.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper
On the 6th I saw two Spoon-billed Sandpipers at Pak Thale and 1 on the 7th. I am sure the second bird was also present on the 7th but in a large flock of small waders virtually every bird was roosting will its bill tucked under its wing until workers on the salt pans flushed all the birds which then dispersed over a wide area.

I have been told that a survey in Russia has produced some bad news; in an area which previously held 200 Spoon-billed sandpipers on the bird’s breeding grounds, only 2 were found! With only 2 birds present at Pak Thale on 7th November and none reported from Khok Kham by 5th November things are a bit worrying.

Some Other Birds
Other birds which have been seen in the area include 1 Dunlin, Terek Sandpiper and Grey-tailed Tattler at Pak Thale, plus a few Nordmann’s Greenshank. At least 32 Nordmann’s Greenshank on salt pans at Laem Pak Bia on 6th was the largest count so far this winter.

Sand Spit
So far, on the sand spit, 1 White-faced Plover, as many as 3 Chinese Egrets, 2 Pacific Reef Egrets, a few Greater Crested Terns and Lesser Crested Terns have been reported. As far as I know no large gulls have been seen yet.