Over the last month I have made a couple of visits to Huay Mae Taeng reservoir in Ratchaburi province, Thailand. The water level is extremely low, exposing large areas of grassland habitat which is used by lots of Paddyfield Pipits and Oriental Skylarks; in fact I am not sure there is a better place to see oriental Skylark in Thailand than Huay Mae Taeng when the water level is low. In addition, there are currently several hundred Small Pratincoles to be found at the water’s edge as well as lots of Oriental Pratincoles scattered over the dry, grassy areas.
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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 [...]
Photography at Huay Mae Taeng – Thailand Birding
March 8th, 2016 
Nick 
Great Birding at Kaeng Krachan – Thailand Birding
March 7th, 2016 Nick A few days ago I spent three days birding at Kaeng Krachan with a group of visiting birders from UK and it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and productive visits to this national park that I have had in a very long time. In contrast to a visit last week, when some strange weather made birding quite difficult, there were lots of flocks of birds with quite a few surprises, and at the same time we were able to find almost all of our target species, obtaining great views and photos of many of them. A high abundance of birds and lots of really spectacular species made for really enjoyable birding which was enhanced by being with an enthusiastic and patient group.
North & Central Thailand Tour, February 2016 – Thailand Birding
February 28th, 2016 Nick For the last seventeen days I havebeen in Northern and Central Thailand. This year we saw over 470 species in the 17 days of the trip with another 5 leader-seen-only and 10 heard only species recorded despite some unusual weather conditions resulting in some difficult birding at several locations. Some personal highlights included Rusty-naped Pitta, Green Cochoa, Silver-eared Mesia, Baer’s Pochard, Falcated Duck, Jerdon’s Bushchat, Black-headed Bunting, Red-headed Bunting, Pied Harrier, Western Marsh Harrier, Pygmy Wren Babbler, Rufous-throated Partridge, Black-headed Woodpecker, Chestnut Thrush, Grey-sided Thrush, Blue Pitta, Silver Pheasant, Siamese Fireback, Great Hornbill, Mrs Hume’s Pheasant, Black-and-red Broadbill, Long-tailed Broadbill, Black-and-yellow Broadbill, Red-headed Trogon, Collared Falconet, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Asian Dowitcher, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Steppe Gull, Red-bearded Bee-eater, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Baillon’s Crake and Spot-billed Pelican.
Starting on 11th February we visited Northern Thailand first in order to miss the poor air quality that can build up in early March, but with this being a very dry year there was already a haze in the northern skies and the cool weather was already over but we were still able to find a lot of good birds; Read more »
Watching Rusty-naped Pitta: Thailand Birding
February 11th, 2016 Nick Pittas are one of the most sought-after group of birds in Thailand as well as one of the hardest to observe so it is always a special experience to see any of the species that occur here. Of all the Pittas in Thailand, Rusty-naped is one of the hardest to see when bird watching in the forest with it lurking down steep gullies in mountainous areas making it very hard to approach as well as not being particularly responsive to call playback. So, it was a real pleasure to be able to watch a pair of Rusty-naped Pittas this afternoon, at Doi Ang Kang, feeding out in the open at a distance of only a few feet away for more than half an hour.
Birding in Petchaburi Province: Thailand Birding
February 7th, 2016 Nick I sometimes wonder where the best place to live in Thailand is in terms of the potential for the best birding. Chiang Mai is an obvious candidate with a wide variety of forest types and wetlands but my recent 6 day trip in Petchaburi with a group of birders from South Wales produced a wide variety of great birds, raising the possibility that this could be the Thai province with the widest variety of bird species. Some of our highlights included 5 species of Broadbill, 44 species of shorebird including 3 Spoon-billed Sandpipers & 450+ Asian Dowitchers, 21 species of raptor including 2 male Pied Harriers, Great Hornbill, 2 species of Trogon, Blue Pitta, amazing views of Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Siberian Rubythroat, 4 Baillon’s Crakes, Red-bearded Bee-eater and many more. Read more »
Photos From South Korea
January 29th, 2016 Nick I am back in Thailand enjoying the warmth after leading a cold but successful birding tour of South Korea alongside Nial Moores of BirdsKorea. Despite the unusually severe temperatures we found a high proportion of our target species including a magnificent Steller’s Sea Eagle, Relict Gull, 25+ Scaly-sided Mergansers, 3 Solitary Snipe, Red-crowned Crane, Hooded Crane, White-naped Crane, Long-billed Plover, Pallas’s Reed Bunting, Oriental Stork, Glaucous-winged Gull, Saunders Gull, Varied Tit, Swan Goose, Baikal Teal, 200+ Asian Rosy Finches, Siberian Accentor and many others.
A full trip report will follow but for now I will just post some photos from the trip with some notes about them;
Details of the next trip can be seen here – South Korea Winter Birding Tour.
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Birding at Laem Pak Bia & Pak Thale: Thailand Birding
December 26th, 2015 Nick The twin sites of Laem Pak Bia and Pak Thale on the Gulf of Thailand are well-known for being a great place for watching shorebirds. It has been suggested by an increasing number of birders that it may, in fact, be the best shorebird site in the world. Indeed it is hard to think of anywhere which has a combination of such huge numbers of birds, massive variety of species coupled with critically endangered and endangered species which can be regularly seen.
I have made several visits over recent months and on every occasion I have left feeling like more time spent at these adjacent sites would have been well spent. Spoon-billed Sandpiper is every birder’s prime target here and on every visit I have been successful in finding them with a maximum of 4 birds seen on one recent trip but also on every visit the list of rare and sought-after species has been satisfying.
