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 north, and many resident species getting towards the end of their breeding cycle. However, there are a few rainy season specialities, particularly in terms of several species being in breeding plumage, and there are some birding sites that remain interesting through sheer numbers and variety of species that can be found there all year round. One such location is Pathum Thani Rice Research Centre, on the northeastern suburbs of Bangkok, a location where experiments with rice ensure that all growing stages of rice agriculture occur on site at more or less all times, resulting in an abundance of birds. Over the rainy season of 2024 I have made several visits and over the course of this time I have consistently seen a lot of interesting birds.

Whenever visiting Pathum Thani Rice Research Centre probably the most obvious birds that are seen all over the site are large waterbirds such as Great Egret, Little Egret, Eastern Cattle Egret, Asian Openbill and Javan Pond Heron. Common in rice fields all over the central region of Thailand it is still fun to see them at this location in big numbers and at close range, as the network of tracks allow birds to cruise around and get close to many of the birds in a car. Javan Pond Heron is a very common bird in much of Central Thailand but most birders visit in the dry season so miss seeing the transformation of this otherwise dull bird into a really smart one in breeding plumage. My rainy season visits have given me lots of opportunities to photograph this under-rated bird as it hunts for a variety of prey items in the rice fields.

Javan Pond Heron

Harder to spot, but still a bird I have seen every time I have visited Pathum Thani, is Greater Painted Snipe; this is a widespread bird but usually a very difficult one to see but this site is excellent for them. Greater Painted Snipe is an unusual bird in that the female is the more colourful of the pair, with the male an interesting combination of browns and the female sporting a colourful maroon-coloured face and breast.

Greater Painted Snipe (female)

Greater Painted Snipe (male)

I have seen Greater Painted Snipe at Pathum Thani at other times of the year but the wet season seems to be the best time of the year to see them and on several occasions at this time of the year I have seen this smart bird in double figures. Another species that is best seen in the rainy season is Pheasant-tailed Jacana. Although it can be present in larger numbers in the dry season this is the only one of the world’s jacanas that has a breeding and non-breeding plumage with them being at their best in the rainy season. In fact the transformation of this bird into breeding condition is dramatic, amking this quite a spectacular bird and although the two sexes look the same this is another bird with a role reversal with males performing all nest duties.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

One species that is only present for the late dry season and throughout the wet season is Oriental Pratincole. This is another unusual shorebird that nests on bare ground and it seems that small numbers are able to be successful here, but bigger numbers gather once chicks have fledged and are able to fly. A really smart bird.

Oriental Pratincole

In the early rainy season these two species along with Bronze-winged Jacana, Black-winged Stilt, Red-wattled Lapwing and Little Ringed Plover are the only “shorebirds” present but by late July and into August returning waders start to appear in freshly ploughed/planted rice fields at Pathum Thani. The first species to arrive in any numbers is Wood Sandpiper but soon after a wider range of the commoner shorebirds start to appear. In early August I went to Pathum Thani on a day full of small storms which provided the perfect weather for finding grounded migrant shorebirds. Wood Sandpipers were joined by good numbers of Long-toed Stints with small groups of Common Redshank and Marsh Sandpiper too. On one visit there was a single Black-tailed Godwit present and on another there was a common Greenshank. On two visits, about a week apart, there were two male Ruff, one of which allowed me to photograph it performing a bit of rhynchokinesis.

Ruff

Long-toed Stint

Little Ringed Plover

Rice, of course, is the main feature of this birding site and when this seeds it attracts a lot of seed-eating birds. Three species of weaver are always present here but in the rainy season they are in their prime; in their breeding colours. Asian Golden Weaver is the most stunning and fairly numerous while Baya Weavers make the most amazing nests and are the most abundant of the three species. The least common is Streaked Weaver which nest in small numbers in low, emergent vegetation.

Asian Golden Weaver

Sometimes there seem to be experiments surrounding how much rice yeild is lost to birds with netted areas but generally species such as Scaly-breasted Munia, White-rumped Munia and Chestnut Munia can always be found feeding here in good numbers alongside the introduced Java Sparrow; a really handsome species.

Java Sparrow

Chestnut Munia

Of course there are some species that are not associated with the rice that grows here and with a lot of trees surrounding the site there can be a lot of migrants, but not during most of the rainy season. Resident species include most of the common arborial parkland birds such as Coppersmith Barbet, Brown-throated Sunbird and Common Iora but a few pairs of Small Minivets are interesting and present throughout the year. This colourful little bird is always a delight to see here and can be tracked down by its high-pitched call.

Small Minivet

Overall Pathum Thani Rice Research Centre is one of the best sites around Bangkok in the rainy season and it is particularly good for photographers or disabled birders as virtually everything is accessible in a vehicle which can be used as a mobile hide.

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