It was some time since I had been to Bang Poo but on Sunday afternoon (30/03/08) I spent the afternoon there. However, it was somewhat disappointing with thousands of people partying, feeding the gulls, picnicking and doing aerobics and not too many birds. In the past I used to get away from people by walking to the pools in the mangroves where waders feed and roost but this area has now been made into a nature reserve, sponsored by the WWF, and is now closed to casual visitors!!!!! A few local birdwatchers were in this area and when I appraoched the gate I was told, not too politely, to get out. Obviously the concept of public access to nature reserves in order to promote the message of conservation has not reached this corner of Thailand and I found it quite surprising that the WWF would sponsor a project that made access to this area so restricted when managing access for all those that wish to watch the birds here would be so easy.

On the pier I managed to watch the Brown-headed Gulls which had a few Black-headed Gulls for company but waders were limited to a few hundred Pacific Golden Plovers, 20-30 Common Greenshank, some Marsh Sandpipers, a few Lesser Sand Plovers and Kentish Plovers. It was interesting to note, however, that amongst the large number of pond herons present there were no Chinese Pond Herons at all, and with all the birds in breeding plumage this identification problem is now easy.

Tired of the noisy crowds I walked around the quieter corners of the site finding a pair of Chestnut (Black-headed) Munias, a couple of Plain-backed Sparrows, more than a dozen Wood Sandpipers, a Grey Heron, many, many Pied Fantails and a pair of Golden-bellied Gerygones feeding young. Quite frankly, things were quite slow and the large numbers of people milling around didn’t fill me with enthusiasm so I just played around with my camera, getting this blurry picture of a Little Egret.

As it began to get dark a few Mynas came in to roost, but in far lower numbers than I have seen in the past, but a group of cirlcing Asian Openbills gave me something to look at before leaving. Next time I come here it will certainly be during the week and I will try and find out how to gain access to the shorebird roosting pools. Finding the right information on birdwatching in Thailand can be tricky.

Here are a few photos from Bang Poo.