Although I have lived in in the city since 1996 I am always amazed that there remain lots of birds in Bangkok. I am not talking about the birding sites just outside of the city, I am referring to the birds which somehow manage to make a living within the concrete jungle itself. There are many species of birds that are adaptable and are able to do well from the scraps of land between buildings, gardens and city parks. Thailand’s capital city is somehow a good place for observing urban birds, with many of the birds in Bangkok being very colourful and impressive in a variety of ways. Here I will talk a little about some of those I have seen this week while I have been going about my business in the city. Read more »
Wetland Birding in Khorat | Birding in Thailand
Thailand is full of Birds Thailand is an extremely popular birding destination because of a number of top-quality sites around the country that provide the opportunity to see a wide variety and number of species, including many that are hard to see elsewhere or have very limited global ranges. Many species of birds are more [...]
North Sulawesi Highlight Species | Birding in Indonesia
After leading the highly successful 2026 edition of the Calidris Birding Tours North and Central Thailand tour, I had some time to spare and decided on a return to Indonesia. previously, in 2024 to focus on North Sulawesi’s endemic species. This trip report covers top sites on Sulawesi’s Minahasa peninsula — Gunung Mahawu, Dumoga-Bone and [...]
Gull Feeding Frenzy at Samut Sakhon | Birding in Thailand
A beautiful sunrise, thousands of birds, the sound of the sea; all the ingredients for one of the world’s birding hotspots, but in reality this is the atmosphere I was able to enjoy on a short morning excursion from Bangkok when visiting the “Red Bridge” coastal boardwalk in neighbouring Samut Sakhon province. Rather than being [...]
Birds in a Park in Bukhara | Birding in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is one of those countries that is great for birding and at the same time extremely interesting in touristic terms too; an ideal place to travel with a non-birding partner and then to find time to go birding in locations near the tourist spots and to visit some really spectacular scenery. In late April [...]
Top 5 Birds of Vietnam Birding Tour 2025 | Birding in Vietnam
ietnam is the country in mainland Southeast Asia with the highest number of endemic species and the best place to see a number of regional endemics too as well as a fantastic supporting cast of more widespread birds. Leading the Calidris Birding Tours trip to Southern and Central Vietnam in March/April 2025 gave all participants [...]
Thailand Birding: A Day In Petchaburi
June 3rd, 2013 
Nick A couple of days ago I spent the day with Phil Round touring around a few sites in Petchaburi province. We began with Khao Look Chang, to look for Black-headed Woodpecker, then moved on to Laem Pak Bia, Wat Khao Takrao and then, finally, Nong Pla Lai.
Although early June is not the time of year that most people would choose for birding in Thailand over the course of the day we saw a fair number of good birds and enjoyed watching some species in breeding plumage and feeding young. Read more »
Rice Fields Near Petchaburi – Thailand Birding
May 27th, 2013 Nick Rice fields around the provincial capital of Petchaburi are at their most productive for birds in the dry season when there are lots of migrant species present, perhaps most notably large raptors. However, during the wet season this area of agriculture has some ornithological attractions that are not available in the drier months.
A few days ago I made a day trip to this area with a visiting photographer to see if we could obtain some good photos of some of the wet season specialities. Read more »
Thailand Birding: Common Shorebirds at Pak Thale & Laem Pak Bia
May 9th, 2013 Nick It is mid May now and all but a few of the commoner shorebirds have left Thailand and returned to their breeding grounds further north. However, there are always a small numbers of shorebirds to be found, mostly birds in their first year that did not mature enough to head to their breeding grounds and other individuals that did not put on enough weight to migrate. Species such as Marsh Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Lesser Sand Plover and Kentish Plover can usually be found in small numbers.
I spent some time this week reviewing some photographs of the commoner shorebirds that I took at Pak Thale and Laem Pak Bia earlier this year whilst leading a photography tour: Photography Tour of Thailand, March 2013. In March there were still large numbers of waders to be seen and a number of birds were coming into breeding plumage then too. We were able to get close to a number of the commoner species and get lots of photos. Read more »
Thailand Birding: More Migrants In The Park
April 16th, 2013 Nick With the weather conditions seemingly still good for finding grounded migrants I made my third trip in three days to Nakorn Sri Kuan Kan park, hoping that I could find a much anticipated “lifer” – Siberian Thrush or Narcissus Flycatcher were in my mind as possible species.
Arriving early, at around 6.30am, things were pretty dead on the migrant front; overcast skies were creating very humid conditions and with no sun to bring out the insects, bird activity was low. However, I knew that things would likely liven up a little later so I decided to focus on the places that had been good for migrants over the last few days and also to try and take some photographs of some of the resident bird species. Read more »
Thailand Birding: Sri Nakorn Kuan Kan Park Again
April 15th, 2013 Nick Last night it rained for a long time, only stopping a little before first light – as such I decided that it should be a good morning for grounded migrants and so went back to the park once more hoping for something good.
In terms of seeing different species from the previous day it was a little disappointing, I was hoping for a new arrival of birds, which there were, but mostly larger numbers of the species from the day before. However, there was a good variety of species and a few surprises which certainly made for a very nice morning of bird watching. Read more »
Thailand Birding: Sri Nakorn Kuan Kan – More Migrants
April 14th, 2013 Nick With migration still underway I decided that another trip to Sri Nakorn Kuan Kan park was in order, particularly considering it is not far from where I live. I arrived a little too early, just before 6am, and found myself having to wait a little while for it to become light enough for birding.
By 6.15am, though, birds were active and close to the park gate I found the first of many passage migrants; 2 Eyebrowed Thrushes.With this promising start I decided to get up the bird watching tower to see what else might arrive. Read more »
