What do you do when you have been stuck at home for ages due to covid-19 restrictions when some inter-provincial travel is still restricted? Go birding close to home of course, and although Lat Krabang Rice Fields in on the opposite side of Bangkok to where I live, it is a fairly large area of open land which is visited by few people and would give me the space to do something a little bit different. By mid-May almost all winter and passage migrant species have departed but rice fields in Thailand always hold some nice birds at this time of the year including a few species that look wonderful in breeding plumage while they are rather dull at other times.

What I wanted to do at Lat Krabang was to put together a video based on the morning of birding; a series of video clips of some of the bird specialities as well as me talking to camera about a few of them. A sort of guided virtual birdwatching trip. Of course, as always, I wanted to find as many species as possible as well as obtain some nice still images. Below is a collection of the photographs I took at Lat Krabang Rice Fields as well as the finished video.Arriving at Lat Krabang Rice Fields this was the scene that greeted me. Birdwatching in Bangkok never looked so rural but selective placement of the camera has hidden nearby factories and other buildings.

Javan Pond Herons

However, this scene was inspiring, having been at home for weeks, and is where I began my morning, planning to enjoy the best birds of the time of the year. I decided that I would concentrate on the following seasonal highlights;

1. Javan Pond Heron is breeding plumage

2. Male Asian Golden Weaver in breeding plumage

3. Oriental Pratincole

4. Male Watercock in breeding plumage

You can see if I was successful in getting video footage of these birds in the finished video below. It is the first video of this sort that I have made and was unscripted and unplanned so I am aware that there are many shortcomings and plan to learn from these mistakes to make similar but better videos in the future. Constructive criticism is welcome in the comments section.

As always when birding in rice fields close to Bangkok, one of the most obvious birds was Asian Openbill. It is always amazing to see such a big bird increasing in abundance in such a huge city and not just in rice fields like these. Asian Openbill is a fairly common sight in much more urban areas than this and can even be seen flying overhead in the middle of the city. It is always a good bird to practice photography with.

Asian Openbill

Asian Openbill

One of the birds I always look forward to seeing at this time of the year is Watercock. Although this bird is present all year round in Thailand it is only in the breeding season that the males attain their distinctive plumage. Added to this, the way they mooch around hidden in rice fields and then put thier head up like a periscope every now and then, allowing birders to see them. I was fortunate in getting a better view than that.

Watercock

It was a good morning for Watercock with 5-6 seen but they were, predictably, outnumbered by Javan Pond Herons. This is an extremely common wetland bird in Thailand but in winter plumage they are identical to the visiting Chinese Pond Herons, however, when they come into breeding condition they are something else. Take a look below.

Javan Pond Heron

Javan Pond Heron

Oriental Pratincole is a species that is at its most numerous in the late dry season and wet season, being virtually absent when most bird watchers visit Thailand. They nest on dry areas and as well as wet rice fields Lat Krabang had some dry areas on this visit and good numbers of Oriental Pratincole.

Oriental Pratincole

I think that this is a species that looks more elegant in the air than it does on the ground; a good subject for practising flight shots. The camera setup I have is really good for flight shots of birds, resulting in some nice photos. I use a Canon &D Mk II with a Canon 100-400 IS Mk II lens.

Oriental Pratincole

In between birding it is always nice to take in some of the other surroundings and it was interesting to watch a couple of people planting rice.

While I was on my way to look for some weavers I came across a couple of Bronze-winged Jacanas but they did not really want to have their photos taken and made it hard for me to get any video footage. When the light hits these birds in the right way they really light up due to their irridenscence.

Bronze-winged Jacana

I knew where to find a small colony of Asian Golden Weavers so I waited close to the vegetation they were building their nests in. They are not only beautiful birds but really amusing to watch as they go about their business.

Asian Golden Weaver

Asian Golden Weaver

The morning became way too hot for birding on foot so I toured around a bit in the car and got lucky with a muddy area that had both Black-winged Stilt and Red-wattled Lapwings with their chicks feeding upon it.

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt Chick

Red-wattled Lapwing Chick

These two species of chicks were a nice way to end the day, with the temperature over 40C it was time to go home for a shower and a cool drink.

I hope you enjoyed this collection of photos and the video. Please leave a comment below.