The migrant season is coming up soon, and what better way to prepare than to read up on what’s been coming through in the past years.

Two documents were sent to me from Dr. Robert DiCandido, a professor in New York who has been involved with the Chumporn Raptor Festival for a number of years, along with Mr. Chukiat Nulsiri and Mr. Chaiyan Kasorndokbua, the two Thai coordinators of the annual event. The first is a document taken from this years edition of Forktail describing the Spring 2008 migration, and the second documents the migration from December last year.

The Chumporn Birding Club has been making waves in the local birding front for quite some time now, from migrating raptors to wintering starlings in the municipal football stadium. Not only that, but their ongoing efforts to educate the locals and youth regarding this topic is worth commenting on.

Dr. Robert has requested if any birders happen to see any movements of raptors or bee eaters during this period, to please report their findings to the Chumporn Birding Club or to him so that they can study the movement pattern of these birds. Phuket does experience at least one afternoon of mass raptor migration at least once a year and so far the event has been poorly documented.

Those interested should contact Dr. Robert about joining in on the raptor festival on Radar Hill (Promsri Hill) as it looks to be an exciting and enjoyable event for birders.

Dr. Robert can be reached at this address: rdcny@earthlink.net