Dartford Waffler

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

Vietnam 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 [...]

A Day Birding in Qatar | Birding in Qatar

My annual migration between Thailand and UK has not only seen the cost of direct flights rise dramatically but I have grown very tired of sitting on a plane for twelve hours, if only I was able to make the journey under self-powered flight like a Bar-tailed Godwit! Indirect flights are, of course, a solution [...]

Parakeets & Peafowl | Birding in Thailand

One thing I have learned over the years that I have been bird watching is that there are many different ways for people to enjoy birds. I started birding by going on long country walks in England with birds being perhaps the most accessible category of wildlife to enjoy along the way. Friends of mine [...]

Eurasian Oystercatchers | Bird Behaviour

May 11th, 2020

Nick

Which birds excite you the most? For many people rarity is a key factor in which birds they enjoy seeing. Of course we all like seeing rare birds but are they really the ones that mean the most to you? Are they the birds that you enjoy watching again and again or are their other factors involved in certain species gaining your affection? For me the birds I enjoy the most, the species that I always love to see, are the ones that have a story or meaning that is special to me. For that reason my favourite birds are seldom the same as those of other birders; Eurasian Oystercatcher is one of these.

Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) is one of those birds that I always enjoy, no matter that it is common in many places, in fact because it is common is one of the reasons I like this bird. I always enjoy seeing large gatherings of Oystercatchers as they flock at high tide roosts and it is amusing to watch them squabbling and interesting to observe them feeding. In fact the feeding behaviour of Oystercatchers is something that a number of ornithologists have studied but anyone who has watched them for even a short time will have noticed that they have a variety of foraging techniques, including probing, picking and prizing. For those who would like to learn more about Oystercatchers with me I have put together some of the best photos I have taken of them, talk about some of their ecology and give some links to ornithological studies on them.

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Little Egret Foot Stirring Feeding Technique | Bird Behaviour

May 6th, 2020

Nick

Actually watching birds is something that a lot of birders forget to do. By this I mean that all too often bird watchers get their thrill from seeing a new bird for their list, be it their life list, local patch list or just their day list. I think we have all fallen into this trap at times, particularly on a day with lots of species present or when first arriving in a new country. However, the most fundamental aspect of bird watching is actually observing birds and seeing thme do something interesting. Many birders will have first been excited by birds due to some aspect of their behaviour, be it backyard birds squabbling over food, a majestic raptor soaring overhead or even feeding ducks at a local duck pond.

When we actually take the time to observe bird behaviour we see the most remarkable things. Many birders will be familiar with the foot-stirring technique used by some egrets, plovers and some other birds; this can be regularly seen in Little and Snowy Egrets around the world. For those not familiar with this it is best described as;

“Briefly, the feeding heron extends one leg and vibrates or quivers it, especially the foot, then stabs at any prey that darts from the disturbance.”

It is obvious to anyone that has observed this behaviour that it is a feeding technique but, what are they actually doing? Read more »

Birding Asia 31 Free Download

May 1st, 2020

Nick

I have been a member of the Oriental Bird Club (OBC) for well over ten years now. This British-based charity furthers ornithology in the oriental region as well as engaging in conservation projects. As a birder based in this region I was keen to support conservation in Asia in this small way as well as learning more about birds across the continent. The OBC publishes a bulletin (Birding Asia) twice a year as well as Forktail once a year which contains a collection of scientific papers from around the region. In a move to give birders something to read when many of us are unable to get out and go birding as we would normally like to do the OBC has provided a free download of Birding Asia 31 for anyone who would like to read it. From the OBC homepage I found it a little tricky to navigate my way to the right page for the download so I thought I would explain to others how to benefit from this offer and give a description of some of the contents that most interested me. Read more »

Thailand’s Wading Birds in Flight | Thailand Birding

April 30th, 2020

Nick

Wading birds (shorebirds to some) are group much-beloved by some birders but equally they often elicite a response of “I don’t do shorebirds” from others. I have accompanied birders with both attitudes to the Gulf of Thailand, which is undoubtedly one of the best locations in the world to observe waders. Those who love wading birds are always in their element here, admiring the large number of birds and huge variety of species while the excellent views allow others to learn a lot of about the identification of this tricky group of birds. While I enjoy watching them on the ground over the last few years I have really enjoyed getting photos of these birds in flight. Not only do flight shots show shorebirds at their most graceful, these types of photos also allow us to see details that are otherwise hidden to us. Below are a selection of flight shots of shorebirds from the Gulf of Thailand, taken over the last six months. Read more »

“Winter” Thrushes at Mae Fa Luang Arboretum – Thailand Birding

April 2nd, 2020

Nick

In normal years anyone going birding in Thailand to see a variety of thrushes would be sincerely disappointed. Although there are a large number of species on the Thai list, many of them are very rare migrants that are not even seen annually. A few species do regularly visit Thailand and a few others are even resident species, but all can be tricky to connect with much of the time. However, in late 2019 and the first few months of 2020 a phenomena occurred that I cannot remember having previously happened, in that something of a thrush festival took place at Mae Fa Luang Arboretum at Doi Chang Moob in the Doi Tung area of Chiang Rai province in the north of Thailand. I was lucky enough to make three visits to this site over the course of early 2020 and here I have compiled a set of photos of thrushes from those visits. Read more »

A Few Sites Around Chachoengsao Province | Thailand Birding

March 31st, 2020

Nick

I spend much of my time in Thailand visiting the very best birding sites over and over again as I show people the most exciting and sought-after species within the country. However, earlier this month I found myself with some time to myself and decided to visit a number of sites in and around Bangkok; sites that I have never visited or have seldom visited. For one of my days out I decided to take in a few eBird hotspots in the province of Chachoengsao, a little to the east of Bangkok. The first of these was a large copse of trees in a Toyota factory which is maintained as a learning resource and then drove around the surrounding rice fields and fish ponds. Secondly I visited a set of salt pans that I have been to before and then a strange temple built over the mudflats. The variety of habitats made for an impressive number of species through the day including a few nice surprises. Read more »

People’s Park, Yangon – Birding in Myanmar

February 4th, 2020

Nick

At the end of January I visited Yangon, Myanmar, for a few days. Although it was not exactly a birding trip, I managed to fit in a fair bit of birding around the city in between conducting the business I was there for. On my first morning I visited People’s Park which is probably the most accessible site for birding within the city and it also provides spectacular views of the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda. People’s Park is quite large but much of it is quite manicured, containing quite a few buildings. However, there are enough scruffy corners and lots of mature trees that seem to attract a decent variety of bird, certainly enough for a morning of birding and I even found one species that is a rarity in Myanmar. Read more »