19th January

Went back to the Ministry of Public Relations on 19th and found that the single Spangled Drongo  had been joined by a further three individuals, all feeding in a flowering tree.

More Spangles

An early morning walk at the Ministry of Public Relations produced a single Spangled Drongo feeding in a flowering tree, two Black-naped Monarchs, the wintering Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, two Black-naped Orioles and single Taiga and Asian Brown Flycatchers.

hard to Swallow

First trip of the year to Suan Rot Fai this morning produced a nice selection of year ticks, with highlights being the female Chinese Blue Flycatcher (first seen in December), a Radde's Warbler and a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler all in "The Ramble".  The pale-legged surprised me as I have not seen one in mid-winter in the city before this week, but I also found one near my house yesterday.  I met a couple of local bird photographers who told me that the male Chinese Blue Fly from December is also still present.

Radde's Warbler

The other notable bird this morning was a Swallow spp that I saw for a couple of minutes in poor light soon after sunrise  - it was either a Red-rumped or a Striated (I think the latter because the rump was quite dark and I could not see any pale/reddish nape; the bird didn't quite seem to have the right proportions for red-rump and the flight seemed relatively "lazy" for a hirundine). Whilst Red-rumped is a common winterer in much of Thailand I have only seen them a few times in the city, meanwhile Round (2008) states that Striated is a short-distance migrant that might occur in the Central Plains as a non-breeding visitor. Rather annoying not to nail it as either spp!

Christmas and New Year travels

The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur of airports and longhaul flights and varying climates.  I flew to the UK on 23rd Dec and spent five days in shock at just how dark Britain is in winter (it was the first time in five years that I have experienced a British winter).  Fortuitously my sister lives next door to Fen Drayton RSPB reserve so during the brief periods of day light I was able to do a bit of birding - best being a short-eared owl hunting along the reserve'saccess track.

I also made a morning dash to Norfolk to see my friend Sacha, and the Western Sandpiper at Cley (old habits die hard).

On the 29th I flew to Orlando, Florida to join my wife and her parents for New Year, and to end the year with a glut of year ticks.  Florida is just amazing for birds - my in-laws have a fairly unremarkable garden but it was covered in White Ibises then a flock of 100+ Brown-headed Cowbirds followed by a flock of about 30 foraging Palm Warblers on my first morning, and a few hours later three Sandhill Cranes strolled across lawn, totally unfussed by my presence. The last bird of the year was a Great Horned Owl in a neighbour's garden at sunset on 31st Dec...it was also a world tick!

Myrtle Warbler in the garden

Chipping Sparrow in the garden

Sandhill Crane...in the garden!

We also made a trip to the Everglades from 2nd-4th January, which unfortunately coincided with a cold front coming from the north which introduced chilly and windy weather and this made it hard to find the wide selection of wood-warblers that I had been hoping for, however I still came away with 5+ Black-and-white Warblers, Common Yellowthroat and two Northern Parulas, whilst I had earlier picked up a Yellow-throated Warbler on the Disney Preserve just down the road from my in-law's place.  It's also a good start to the year when your first mammal of the year is a Manatee!

On the way back to Thailand I had a stop over at Newark and so made a fleeting visit to Manhattan, walking from Madison Square gardens to Central Park, scored a few birds in the Ramble and on the lake (best being a female Bufflehead and a very showy Cooper's Hawk), and then headed home.  Now the jetlag has mostly gone, and I'm ready for some Asian birding!

Cooper's Hawk in Central Park

Spoon-billed Sandpiper expedition video

Amazing work!

Urban birding with the Urban Birder

I took David Lindo and his partner, Penny for an early morning birding trip to Suan Rot Fai this morning.  David has done lots of birding in urban environments around the world, but I think my patch managed to hold its own!  Goodies this morning included yesterday's Black-winged Cuckooshrike and the long-staying male Chinese Blue Flycatcher, with a nice selection of "sibes" to make David's first venture in Asian avifauna somewhat overwhelming - at least six Brown Shrikes, several Yellow-brows, point-blank views of Taiga Flycatcher, two Asian Brown Flycatchers, several Blue-tailed Bee-eaters overhead, two races of Ashy Drongo, a single Black Drongo, 10+ Black-naped Orioles, prolonged views of Black-capped Kingfisher and a couple of Indian Rollers.

Brown Shrike

Cuckooshrike & Scops Owl

6.45-9.00 am at Suan Rot Fai produced two patch ticks, and a good selection of winter visitors. The two new birds were a female Black-winged Cuckooshrike (an uncommon winter visitor to the Bangkok area) feeding in the mid- and upper level foliage of a rain tree in association with a mouhoti Ashy Drongo and a small party of Black-naped Orioles.

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

The other new bird was a Collared Scops Owl that I inadvertently flushed from its roost and perched up briefly to give me an evil stare. Despite this being "one of the most ecologically tolerant owls in Thailand" (Round 2008) this is the first time I have seen one at SRF.

Other notables this morning included one Thick-billed Warbler, one Asian Brown Flycatcher, 10+ Taiga Flycatchers, three Black-capped Kingfishers,  three Brown Shrikes and a Black-naped Monarch.