Thaibirds and more

Kaengkrachan 14-15/1 It finally worked out for me to bring my wife, kids and fellow co-worker to Panernthung, Kaenkrachan National Park for an overnight stay. The cooler weather and promised sea of cloud formed in the early morning enveloping the forest and surrounding peaks was what determined this trip. First stop after a rather lengthy drive was the 2nd stream at km 16. It isn't really butterfly season yet but there were enough dancing flowers around to excite little eyes! The transparent fish in the stream were very happy for a handout of bread crumps. Kids asked: 'How did the fish get up here?' 'They stayed on the mountain after Noah's ark was stranded in the Flood and the waters receded, is what the Bible teaches us' was my reply. Seeing it was Sunday the campground at Panernthung was not crowded. We chose our spot with some great views overlooking the rolling mountains leading into Myanmar. Up here one can sense the vastness of Creation and how it was mea

What an unusual way to end the old year and to begin the new! Birding at Lampakbia and Kaengkrachan. Kim Chua, an oldtime friend from Singapore whom I initially met at the mangroves of Pasiris park, came up with his family. Both of our families agreed to let us go, God bless them! Target bird for Kim was Nordmann’s Greenshank, Giant Pitta, Bar-backed Partridge and a few odds and ends. Lampakbia was a delight as usual. Full of waders of all sorts as well as open country birds. In a flock of 300 Great Knots with some Red mixed in we found a few Nordmann’s. These are such neat looking birds and once learned not really to be confused with Common. After a couple of hours in the area getting our heart’s content we had a sumptuous meal by the beach. Kaengkrachan was totally packed out with New Year’s revelers and we were denied entry to the park. Instead of giving up we went to the first checkpoint from where one can pay the entry fee as well. Same story, entry denied. Waited awhile

9th of January Got a call from Philip Round in the afternoon on the 8th. 7 Grey-legged Geese had been seen at Beung Borapet, Nakorn Sawan since the 6th. Obtained permission from home to go along. Got to the place in the evening and stayed at the research station for waterfowl. Simple lodging. Up early with a couple of people from the station who took us to where the birds had been seen. Unfortunately there were quite a number of farmers in the area and no matter how hard or long we tried we failed to find the geese. Instead we saw huge flocks of ducks in the air. About 3000. Pintailed Duck, 3000 Gargeneys, small number of Eurasian Wigeon (2), Northern Shoveler (3), Common Teal (2) and presumably 1 Ferruginous Duck. There were literally hundreds of Grey Herons around the lake. Maybe 4-500. Purple Herons were common, Purple Swamphen (100), 20000 Lesser Whistling Ducks flew up from floating vegetation as we drove by in a boat. Quite some site. Cotton Pygmy Geese were inbetween the Whistli

5th of January Bengt Legnell, another oldtime friend from Sweden had arrived a few days earlier. He was waiting for a team of Swedes he’d guide around mid January so I thought I’d like to take him out to brush up on some of the local birds. We decided for a day at Lampakbia. This truly is a great area where one can be watching birds uninterrupted and continually. Higlight was the Greenshanks again but we failed to find any Spoon-billed SP normally seen in the area. In the late afternoon we searched hard for this bird at Khok Kham but dipped again. Pix. Black-capped KF, Nordmann's Greenshank in flight, Common Snipe, Long-toed Stint.