Dartford Waffler

Independent Birding at Zaamin National Park | Birding in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is a surprising country with a wide variety of landscapes, ancient historical monuments, some interesting food and drink as well as good infratructure that makes the country easy to travel in independently. However, my wife and I pushed this a little further than most travelers to the country by visiting Zaamin National Park where [...]

City Park Bird Abundance | Birding in Thailand

For those of us lucky enough to travel internationally to see birds it quickly becomes apparent that in some countries birds are abundant while in others birders have to work harder to see a wide range of species. This was brought home to me most recently spending a morning at Sri Nakorn Kuean Khan Park [...]

Touristing & Birding at Petra | Birding in Jordan

For those of us who travel with non-birding partners it can sometimes be tricky to balance enjoying time together somewhere interesting and the craving to maximise the opportunity to see new birds in new places. Personally, having a good holiday with my wife is the most important thing when planning trips together but doing some [...]

Rainy Season Birding at Pathum Thani Rice Research Centre | Birding in Thailand

There can be times of the year when bird watching hits a trough because a lack of activity, unhelpful weather or overfamiliarity with a smaller selection of species than at other times. In Thailand these factors are all true in the rainy season with a large number of species absent, on their breeding grounds further [...]

Mountain Birding from Chimgan | Birding in Uzbekistan

I have always loved immersing myself in mountain landscapes but over recent years my opportunity to do so has been limited with much of my time spent in tropical forests and wetlands in Thailand so when the opportunity presented itself to spend some time birding in mountain habitats in Uzbekistan I took it without having [...]

Watching Nesting Weavers – Bird Behaviour

May 30th, 2018

Nick

For much of the year the three species of weavers in Thailand are rather dull birds which are normally seen feeding within rice fields. Certainly they are nice to see and many people are very happy to finally catch up with Asian Golden Weaver here but seeing these birds in non-breeding plumage is not much of an event compared to seeing them in full breeding plumage and busy building their complicated nests. Right now that is exactly how they can be observed and quite frankly they become a big highlight of a short birding trip at this time of year.

I recently returned from a three day trip, with Michael Livingston, spending time at Kaeng Krachan national park, visiting rice fields near Petchaburi on our way back to Bangkok. It is easy to find weaver colonies in this area with many of them nesting right next to the road and we were able to watch these interesting little characters engaged in nest-building, mating and chick-feeding activities for as long as we liked.

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Morning Birding at Kuala Selangor – Malaysia Birding

May 8th, 2018

Nick

It is always nice to start a birding trip with some easy birding and a whole load of species, and on a recent tour to Peninsula Malaysia in March open areas, rice fields and mangroves around the town of Kuala Selangor provided this for us. More specifically, spending a morning birding in and close to Kuala Selangor Nature Park was very rewarding, finding many species that we were not to see again on our tour due to the habitat.

Species such as Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, Chestnut-bellied Malkoha, Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, Mangrove Whistler, Little Bronze Cuckoo, Laced Woodpecker were all excellent and there was plenty more seen on a very enjoyable first full morning of birding in Malaysia. Read more »

Some Photos From a Recent Birding Trip – Thailand Birding

April 29th, 2018

Nick

When leading bird watching trips it can sometimes be difficult for the leader to get quality observations of many species because they are busy making sure that everyone in the group is able to see the birds. This is the situation in which I sometimes find myself so when the opportunity does arise to get really good views or see something unusual, those moments become even more special than they would normally otherwise be. Of course, getting photographs of a bird is often the ultimate in getting a good view of a bird and on a recent trip in Thailand that I was leading for Oriolebirding it was nice to be able to get some photographs of some great birds, as well as some nice photos of some more common species. For me exceptional views of Grey Nightjar, a surprise Oriental Plover, a long-staying Crab Plover and a seldom-seen Von Schrenck’s Bittern were birds that will live on a long time in my memory along with several others. Read more »

Black-crowned Night Herons at Wat Phuttabucha – Thailand Birding

April 24th, 2018

Nick

Black-crowned Night Heron is not exactly a rare bird, in fact it is extremely widespread worldwide, but in Western Bangkok there is an amazing spectacle featuring these birds at the rear of Wat Phuttabucha, a little known temple, to the west of the Chao Praya river. At the rear of the temple is a canal with large overhanging trees where dozens of these birds gather on wires, posts and branches waiting to catch fish. Lots of people come to feed fish and pigeons with loaves of bread and huge shoals of fish thrash around as they are fed, although most of them are far too big for the Night Herons to eat. Instead it seems that they sit and wait for smaller prey to be forced to the surface by the commotion. Read more »

Taman Negara – Malaysia Birding

March 25th, 2018

Nick

Taman Negara, in Peninsula Malaysia, is one of the most legendary birding locations in Southeast Asia. With primary lowland rainforest covering much of the park it is home to many species which are hard to see as well as many that have become very scarce due to habitat destruction making any visit here highly-anticipated. Taman Negara also has a reputation as an extremely difficult location for birding too with high biodiversity but low abundance and observation being tough due to thick vegetation and high canopy. Well, the recent tour I alongside Lee Kok Chung experienced both facets of this amazing forest with birding requiring extreme patience and persistence but with the rewards being superb birds such as Garnet Pitta, Rail Babbler, Helemeted Hornbill, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Large Frogmouth, Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Orange-backed Woodpecker, Scarlet-rumped Trogon, Black-and-red Broadbill, Green Broadbill, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Malaysian Eared Nightjar, Checker-throated Woodpecker, Red-naped Trogon, Fluffy-backed Tit Babbler, Crested Jay and much more. Read more »

Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia Birding

March 13th, 2018

Nick

What to do with an afternoon in Kuala Lumpur? Perhaps visit the Petronas Twin Towers or the Kuala Lumpur Tower. Well, it is possible to do both and do a little birding along the way at Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve Park right in the middle of the city. Although the temperature and humidity were sky high that is exactly what I did this afternoon as I wait to meet my group for the Peninsula Malaysia tour beginning tomorrow. I am always interested and amazed how many birds are able to survive in big cities and here I found a few that surprised me but equally it was a surprise to find a canopy walkway right in the middle of a capital city. Read more »

North & Central Thailand Birding Tour – Thailand Birding

March 10th, 2018

Nick

For the second year in a row I recorded over 500 species while leading a North & Central Thailand birding tour. Over the course of 17 days we visited most of the best birding sites in Northern and Central Thailand with a short incursion into the Northeastern region and the only reason we were not able to record more species were the time constraints at each site. As usual members of the group were surprised at how many species we saw, how many great birds we found and how many of those were really high quality observations; it exceeded the expectations of most participants. We had many successes in finding top birds including Mrs Hume’s Pheasant, male Scarlet Finch, 6 species of Broadbill, Austen’s Brown Hornbill & Tickell’s Brown Hornbill, Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo, Siberian Rubythroat, Giant Nuthatch, Grey-headed Parrotbill, Ratchet-tailed Treepie, Grey Peacock Pheasant, Great Hornbill, Milky Stork, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Himalayan Cutia, Chestnut Thrush, Rufous-throated Partridge, Pygmy Wren Babbler, Chestnut-headed Tesia, Nordmann’s Greenshank, Asian Dowitcher, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Pied Harrier, Blue Pitta, Silver Pheasant, Yellow-breasted Bunting, yellow-vented Green Pigeon, 4 species of Nightjar, 7 species of Kingfisher, Crimson-breasted Woodpecker, Limestone Wren Babbler, Spot-breasted Parrotbill, Chinese Egret, Scaly Thrush and Crested Bunting. Of course there were also a few misses as there are with any birding trip, but only a very few and we did not let that bother us and instead enjoyed the many great birds that we did see. Read more »