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 [...]

Six Months Back Home: British Birding

November 15th, 2014

Nick

After spending 6 months back home in UK, I recently returned to Thailand. While I was home I got out as much as I could to go birding, mostly within an hour’s drive of my mother’s home in Kent, although I did have a few short trips into Suffolk, Norfolk, East Sussex, East Yorkshire, The New Forest and South Wales.

It is always nice to go back home and see some birds that I rarely see as well as a few new ones. For me many of the seabirds and winter migrants are species that I have seen very little of over the last 10 years so it is always good to see them as well as many of the less common resident birds. On this blog posting I will mention some of the birds which were highlights for me over the last 6 months. Read more »

Dartford Warbler Excitement – Birding in Britain

September 16th, 2014

Nick

Today I spent a day in Suffolk, visiting Thorpeness, Sizewell, Minsmere and Dunwich Heath. All four locations provided me with views of some nice birds on a lovely sunny day, including one which was a lifer and another which is my all-time favourite bird! On top of this a wide variety of birds throughout the day gave me an impressive day list of waders, woodland birds, gulls, waterfowl and other species. Read more »

Limestone Wren Babbler in Kanchanaburi – Thailand Birding

May 16th, 2014

Nick

More than 10 years ago I visited Hellfire Pass, in Kanchanaburi, because I was interested in the history of World War II from that area. As the site was partially forested I took my binoculars and was lucky enough to see a pair of Limestone Wren Babblers, the crispifrons race rather than the calcicola race that is normally seen at Saraburi.

Last week I revisited the site to see if the Wren Babblers could still be found there and was pleased to easily find a pair within about 20 minutes of entering suitable, rocky habitat. What was most interesting about this sighting was that it occurred in exactly the same spot as I had seen them over 10 years ago.

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Photos from Huay Mae Taeng Reservoir – Thailand Birding

May 16th, 2014

Nick

A few days ago I got up early and drove to Huay Mae Taeng Reservoir in Ratchaburi province; leaving at 5am I was there for around 6.30. Unfortunately the water level was high so there was only a little marginal habitat in which to find birds, on top of which a large area on the south side of the reservoir was being infilled – hopefully this is not another wetland that is being turned into a sterile, steep-sided fishpond. Despite this I was able to find quite a few interesting species including Rain Quail, Blossom-headed Parakeet, Chestnut-capped Babbler, Oriental Darter and Small Pratincole.

Some of the photographs taken at Huay Mae Taeng on 14th May 2014 follow.

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Nesting Small Pratincole – Thailand Birding

May 3rd, 2014

Nick

A few weeks ago I found myself in the town of Chachoengsao with time to kill, so I drove out to Klong Si Yat Reservoir, a location I had passed in 2013 on my way to somewhere else, in order to see what I could find there.

Most of the species I found were the typical birds of open-country and water’s edge but a few interesting birds included Vinous-breasted Myna, Oriental Darter and 2 pairs of nesting Small Pratincoles. Numerous oriental Pratincoles were also nesting at the reservoir, but they had chosen mud and grassland to nest on, whereas the Small Pratincoles were nesting on an area of rocks and stones. It was unbearably hot on the day I visited Klong Si Yat and the Small Pratincoles looked like they were suffering as they protected their eggs. Several times the male and female changed over, with the incoming bird having waterlogged breast and belly feathers. Presumably this behaviour is to provide some cooling to overheating eggs.

Some of the photos I took of the Small Pratincoles on their nest follow;

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Last of the Migrants? – Thailand Birding

April 23rd, 2014

Nick

This morning I spent a few hours at Sri Nakorn Kuen Khan park to see if I could find some interesting migrant birds – there is always the chance of something really rare at this time of year. Despite arriving early the heat and humidity was very uncomfortable from the beginning (7am) and there were few migrant birds to see until around 8.30am, which seems to be normal. Spending around 4 hours birding the park it was obvious that the number of migrant birds passing through were significantly fewer than on my last visit on 9th April; again, this is to be expected as it is getting towards the end of migratory period.

Even with this lower level of activity I managed to find a good number of species including one very scarce species – Green-backed Flycatcher.

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Some Bird Sightings From Thalebun National Park – Thailand Birding

April 21st, 2014

Nick

Last week I made two short visits to Thalebun national park in Satun province. This national park does not seem to receive visits by many bird watchers, probably because it is a long journey for many people and a lack of information. These facts coupled with the difficulty of accessing good habitat and that many people will think that Satun is one of Thailand’s southern provinces mean that there is little recent information on the birds to be found at Thalebun.

My short visits provided me with sightings of some good birds including Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, Malayan Banded Pitta, Grey-and-buff Woodpecker, Banded Woodpecker and Green-backed Flycatcher with plenty of other commoner birds to make for some interesting birding.

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