14th Jan
So, what was the plan for today? Well this was the day when we hoped to 'get' the mega target species - we were visiting the famous Pak Thale salt pans, a major hot spot for waders, and as it turned out HOT was the operative word!! Good 'ole Nick had had a long journey south the previous day but he turned up at the Amari Hotel to pick us up for 5 a.m. departure, as we had to escape Bangkok before the rush hour and head south to Petchaburi on the NW side of the Gulf of Thailand. So we left in the dark and about halfway to our destination we stopped for a comfort break and immediately spotted some Black Kites which we assumed had come out of a roost somewhere. These were the lineatus sub-species which is commonly known as Black-eared Kite.
Eventually we arrived at Pak Thale at around 7:30 parking the bus by the start of an extensive area of salt pans with raised bunds around their peripheries. It was immediately obvious that there were thousands of waders present, and what a stark contrast the location was, to the mountains and lush forests we had been birding in for the last 9 or 10 days. Scopes had hardly been used in the northern forests but they were the first things to be set up here. Even the first lagoon was mind blowing - here was a huge flock of around 20 species of wader. The highest numbers were of Great Knot, Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Lesser Sand Plover, and Marsh Sandpiper. Next up came Broad-billed Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Kentish Plover, Black-winged Stilt, Redshank, Black- and Bar-tailed Godwits, and Spotted Redshank. The feast of waders here was completed by smaller numbers of Pacific Golden Plover, Greater Sand Plover, and familiar species such as Sanderling, Knot, Turnstone, Greenshank, plus not so familiar Long-toed Stint. What a start! It was already pretty hot and the need to concentrate on scoping up the birds and ID-ing them meant photography took a back seat, plus the distance of most of the birds and the start of heat haze was not ideal. We continued walking slowly along the bunds noting distant massive flocks of waders on other lagoons. Soon another large flock of smaller waders looked promising so we set down our scopes for some more searching and eventually Nick spotted what we had come for - a Spoon-billed Sandpiper. It was pretty tricky getting on to the bird as it fidgeted around amongst other small waders, but with patience one could every now and then get a head on view and see the characteristic spoon-shaped bill. It was a case of trying different 'scoping positions as it fidgetted around with its congeners. Even in side view it was possible to discern the odd shape. We felt very privileged to have seen this critically endangered species, the latest estimate of it's population, published in 2014, being around 250 breeding pairs. They breed in the far north-eastern corner of Russia, and migrate down the eastern Asian coast to winter in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and in southern China. There were estimated to have been around 2000-2800 pairs in the 70's so their decline has been very dramatic and alarming. Currently there is an ongoing project to try and boost the population, including a captive breeding programme at WWT Slimbridge. Trapping still occurs in Bangladesh and western Myanmar and efforts are being directed to persuading villagers to stop the practice. There's an excellent website called "Saving the Spoon-billed Sandpiper".
Eventually we arrived at Pak Thale at around 7:30 parking the bus by the start of an extensive area of salt pans with raised bunds around their peripheries. It was immediately obvious that there were thousands of waders present, and what a stark contrast the location was, to the mountains and lush forests we had been birding in for the last 9 or 10 days. Scopes had hardly been used in the northern forests but they were the first things to be set up here. Even the first lagoon was mind blowing - here was a huge flock of around 20 species of wader. The highest numbers were of Great Knot, Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Lesser Sand Plover, and Marsh Sandpiper. Next up came Broad-billed Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Kentish Plover, Black-winged Stilt, Redshank, Black- and Bar-tailed Godwits, and Spotted Redshank. The feast of waders here was completed by smaller numbers of Pacific Golden Plover, Greater Sand Plover, and familiar species such as Sanderling, Knot, Turnstone, Greenshank, plus not so familiar Long-toed Stint. What a start! It was already pretty hot and the need to concentrate on scoping up the birds and ID-ing them meant photography took a back seat, plus the distance of most of the birds and the start of heat haze was not ideal. We continued walking slowly along the bunds noting distant massive flocks of waders on other lagoons. Soon another large flock of smaller waders looked promising so we set down our scopes for some more searching and eventually Nick spotted what we had come for - a Spoon-billed Sandpiper. It was pretty tricky getting on to the bird as it fidgeted around amongst other small waders, but with patience one could every now and then get a head on view and see the characteristic spoon-shaped bill. It was a case of trying different 'scoping positions as it fidgetted around with its congeners. Even in side view it was possible to discern the odd shape. We felt very privileged to have seen this critically endangered species, the latest estimate of it's population, published in 2014, being around 250 breeding pairs. They breed in the far north-eastern corner of Russia, and migrate down the eastern Asian coast to winter in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and in southern China. There were estimated to have been around 2000-2800 pairs in the 70's so their decline has been very dramatic and alarming. Currently there is an ongoing project to try and boost the population, including a captive breeding programme at WWT Slimbridge. Trapping still occurs in Bangladesh and western Myanmar and efforts are being directed to persuading villagers to stop the practice. There's an excellent website called "Saving the Spoon-billed Sandpiper".
'Our' bird was eventally flushed by a worker at the site, so we moved on along a different bund facing towards the sea. We were pretty quickly on to another 'target' species - Nordmann's Greenshank. There were several present and one was being conveniently neighbourly to a Common Greenshank, to allow comparison of the subtle differences - one of the feartures of Nordmann's is a straighter, shorter and slightly thicker bill. No photos I'm afraid. This is also a threatened species and is classed as Endangered, with a world population of only 600-1300 individuals. It is sometimes referred to as Spotted Greenshank. Another longish billed species here comprised a number of Terek Sandpipers with their subtly upturned bills, and looking further over towards the sea was a long line of Eurasian Curlews of the orientalis race, plus a few Far Eastern Curlews, this latter also an Endangered species. It's worth noting here that although most folk think of Far Eastern Curlew being characterised by its very long bill, it's not actually a reliable feature as the eastern race Eurasian Curlew can also have a pretty long bill. I discovered this on a trip to China in 2015. The reliable feature is the dark back and rump of the Far Eastern species.
Also along the top of a nearby bund, there were a number of resting terns and gulls. The terns included Gull-billed, Caspian, Common and Little, and there were a number of Brown-headed Gulls. These latter look superficially like our all-too-familiar Black-headed Gulls but in flight they have a very distinctive and completely different wing pattern. Amongst these there was also a Black-tailed Gull, a winter visitor. The picture was completed by Indian and Little Cormorants. By now we had been out in the open for at least 2 hours and I was certainly really feeling the heat, on top of which I hadn't taken enough water with me. The temperature was in the mid 30's. We made our way back to the bus for a very welcome freshen up and long drink of water. We then boarded and drove for a short while to another wet area where Nick had hoped to find Asian Dowitchers but the water levels were too high. As compensation we did manage to spot a Slaty-breasted Rail which flushed from a trackside ditch, although it was on the wrong side of the bus for me and although I saw a shape for a second I couldn't honestly tick that one. There were also a few Whiskered Terns to be seen.
It was pretty damn hot now and we drove south parallel to the coast and stopped at some other salt pans near Laem Pak Bia where we scoped up some more waders - none new but impressive numbers of Great Knot were present and gave a great show when they took flight. Also present were Little Ringed Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Wood Sandpiper and a flock of about 200 Avocet. Painted Storks were also on show and we managed to find a Collared Kingfisher. Birded out for the morning we retired for lunch at a roadside restaurant where we saw an Asian Koel, and some saw Olive-backed Sunbird - I didn't record it there but did see it elsewhere.
Also along the top of a nearby bund, there were a number of resting terns and gulls. The terns included Gull-billed, Caspian, Common and Little, and there were a number of Brown-headed Gulls. These latter look superficially like our all-too-familiar Black-headed Gulls but in flight they have a very distinctive and completely different wing pattern. Amongst these there was also a Black-tailed Gull, a winter visitor. The picture was completed by Indian and Little Cormorants. By now we had been out in the open for at least 2 hours and I was certainly really feeling the heat, on top of which I hadn't taken enough water with me. The temperature was in the mid 30's. We made our way back to the bus for a very welcome freshen up and long drink of water. We then boarded and drove for a short while to another wet area where Nick had hoped to find Asian Dowitchers but the water levels were too high. As compensation we did manage to spot a Slaty-breasted Rail which flushed from a trackside ditch, although it was on the wrong side of the bus for me and although I saw a shape for a second I couldn't honestly tick that one. There were also a few Whiskered Terns to be seen.
It was pretty damn hot now and we drove south parallel to the coast and stopped at some other salt pans near Laem Pak Bia where we scoped up some more waders - none new but impressive numbers of Great Knot were present and gave a great show when they took flight. Also present were Little Ringed Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Wood Sandpiper and a flock of about 200 Avocet. Painted Storks were also on show and we managed to find a Collared Kingfisher. Birded out for the morning we retired for lunch at a roadside restaurant where we saw an Asian Koel, and some saw Olive-backed Sunbird - I didn't record it there but did see it elsewhere.
The plan for the afternoon was to visit another hotpsot [literally too!], the Laem Pak Bia sand spit. To do this required us to avail ourselves of the services of another Mr. Deang, who had a boat. In fact we needed Mr. Deang's mate as well as we needed two boats. It was very pleasant cruising out in the two boats, with a nice breeze to cool us down. After about 10-15 mins we disembarked onto the sandy shore, and set off towards the main spit. We immediately got on to Collared Kingfisher and also a Black-capped Kingfisher but that one was too quick and I missed it, although I did get a couple of others later in the trip. We rounded a curve in the beach and there, was a thin sand spit jutting out into ther water with a large array of terns comprising seven species - Gull-billed, Caspian, Greater Crested, Little, Common, Whiskered and White-winged Black. Also on the thin spit were a dark phase Pacific Reef Heron, and a a rare Chinese Egret. A short walk farther on had us overlooking a wide sandy beach, where we were able to pick out firstly two Malaysian Plovers, and then a Kentish Plover of the subspecies dealbatus which is more often than not, called White-faced Plover. This is likely to be a future split from Kentish Plover as a separate species due to genetic studies. The Malaysian Plover looks pretty similar to Kentish itself but is characterised in that the black collar goes all the way round the back of the neck, whereas in Kentish it stops at the neck sides. I managed to get some good shots of the Malaysian but the White-faced was too distant and active.
We had now 'cleaned up' on what was to be seen, so we made our way back to the boats, and eventually dry land. A quick refreshing drink and we boarded the bus and headed farther south, eventually turning off the road by a rubbish dump [where on earth were we going?!], and found ourselves approaching a ruined concrete skeletal building. There were more salt pans here with plenty of waders, herons etc. After some diligent 'scoping of an assembly of waders we made up for the 'dip' at Pak Thale, and found some Asian Dowitchers, plus Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwits and 10 Painted Storks. On a raised earth bank there were a lot of Brown-headed Gulls, but in amongst them, a good find was a Slender-billed Gull - pretty scarce in Thailand. All of a sudden all hell let loose among the waders and we soon saw that the cause was a Peregrine, which eventually settled high up on the skeleton building.
Last port of call was an area of wet grassy fields not far away, where we found numerous Garganey, plus Pheasant-tailed Jacana, assorted herons and egrets, and Wood Sandpipers. After such an action packed day it was a relief to reach our hotel, the Sun Hotel in Petchaburi, which was overlooked by an impressive temple on the hill opposite. We had our dinner in a restaurant more or less next door to the hotel.
We had now 'cleaned up' on what was to be seen, so we made our way back to the boats, and eventually dry land. A quick refreshing drink and we boarded the bus and headed farther south, eventually turning off the road by a rubbish dump [where on earth were we going?!], and found ourselves approaching a ruined concrete skeletal building. There were more salt pans here with plenty of waders, herons etc. After some diligent 'scoping of an assembly of waders we made up for the 'dip' at Pak Thale, and found some Asian Dowitchers, plus Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwits and 10 Painted Storks. On a raised earth bank there were a lot of Brown-headed Gulls, but in amongst them, a good find was a Slender-billed Gull - pretty scarce in Thailand. All of a sudden all hell let loose among the waders and we soon saw that the cause was a Peregrine, which eventually settled high up on the skeleton building.
Last port of call was an area of wet grassy fields not far away, where we found numerous Garganey, plus Pheasant-tailed Jacana, assorted herons and egrets, and Wood Sandpipers. After such an action packed day it was a relief to reach our hotel, the Sun Hotel in Petchaburi, which was overlooked by an impressive temple on the hill opposite. We had our dinner in a restaurant more or less next door to the hotel.