(Following is a report from Ian Dugdale and Games (a Thai guide) who visited Koh Pratong for three days on a survey trip to test the potential of the site. Koh Pratong has gotten rave reviews from many birders in Bangkok who have spent countless hours exploring this still untamed wilderness island. The island is still mired in a legal battle between the RFD (Royal Forestry Department) and local villagers who insist they want to keep the land from becoming a National Park. Many depend on fishing for their livelihood and declaring it a national park will put stipulations on the future of their income.)

-By Ian Dugdale

We had heard that the following had been seen on the island:

White-bellied Woodpecker: Of the five or so residents we spoke to, only one had thought he had seen them at the southern end of the island. We did not see any.

Grey-headed Fish-Eagle: One adult seen in the central part of the island, an area of shallow ponds, flooded grassland and open forest.

Lesser Adjutant: Local knowledge is that there are 100 birds on the island but during the wet season they stay in the landward side of the mangroves in an inaccessible area. In the dry season (Jan-Apr) they frequent the central open areas and are easily seen. We did not see any.

Cinnamon-headed Green-Pigeon: A few locals thought they had seen them but no reliable information. We did not see any.

Pale-capped Pigeon: No local information. We did not see any.

Birding in the open areas was very enjoyable and provides a nice contrast to the usual forest birding in Southern Thailand. The island is beautiful and well looked after by the locals. Very little of the island has been cultivated and we saw no signs of hunting. Apparently some mainlanders do come over to hunt but the locals stop it when they can. We also learnt that the government wants to make it a National Park but the locals are against it because their livelihood depends on fishing.

Our conclusion was that it is an excellent place to visit for one or two days as part of a birding trip in Southern Thailand.

Following is the list of birds we saw between 17/10 and 20/10.

Lesser Whistling-duck, Barred Buttonquail, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Common Goldenback, Rufous Woodpecker, Coppersmith Barbet, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Eurasian Hoopoe, Burmese Roller, Oriental Dollarbird, Common Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Black-capped Kingfisher, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Indian Cuckoo, Himalayan Cuckoo, Greater Coucal, Lesser Coucal, Vernal Hanging Parrot, Red-breasted Parakeet, Germain’s Swiftlet, Grey-rumped Treeswift, Brown Hawk-owl (heard only), Great Eared Nightjar, Red Turtle Dove, Zebra Dove, Pink-necked Green-pigeon, Spotted Dove, Slaty-breasted Rail, Pin-tailed Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Pacific Golden-plover, Red-wattled Lapwing, Crested Honey Buzzard, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Brahminy Kite, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Crested Serpent-eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Common Kestrel, Little Grebe, Little Egret, Purple Heron, Chinese Pond-heron, Striated Heron, Cinnamon Bittern, Brown Shrike, Large-billed Crow, Black-naped Oriole, Lesser Cuckooshrike, Black Drongo, Ashy Drongo, Common Iora , Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Dark-sided Flycatcher, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Oriental Magpie Robin, Common Myna, Common Hill Myna, Barn Swallow, Pacific Swallow, Black-headed Bulbul, Yellow-vented Bulbul, Olive-winged Bulbul, Streak-eared Bulbul, Dark-necked Tailorbird, White-chested Babbler (heard only), Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Brown-throated Sunbird, Van Hasselt’s Sunbird, Olive-backed Sunbird, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Forest Wagtail, Paddyfield Pipit, White-rumped Munia.

Total species seen: 78 species

I am a happy soul!

A trip down to Fortune Town in Rachada to visit an old friend seemed pretty mundane with little or no camera hardware available at 2nd hand prices. Seems like Canon is having a heyday in Thailand as more and more people switch from point-and-shoot cameras to digital SLRs. The youth of Bangkok are not settling for the lazy road in photography and I am happy to see that. Even petite teenage girls can be seen whipping out their Canon 40Ds armed with 70-200 “white” lenses. –Wow.

All that to say, nothing stays put on the second hand market for long. It takes a few days (sometimes only a few hours) before the item is snatched up by a budget-conscience student or teenager. So my hopes of finding a long range telephoto at a friendly price were pretty dead in the water.

Or so I thought.

One shop had the very budget friendly Tokina 80-400 lens which, despite its record for being the smallest telephoto zoom available on the market, didn’t quite appeal to my tastes or the fact that it had no fast aperture, no IS and no fast focusing capabilities. –Looked like a big NO for many people too, as the retailer told me no one had even asked about it in the eight months he has had it on display.

An obscure camera shop wedged between a row of computer shops caught my attention with what seemed to be a 70-200 Sigma going for 24,900 baht. On inspection, it turned out to be a 100-300 F4 Sigma. Since I was not familiar with the lens, I took a few test shots and headed home to check out the quality.

After some research I found I may have stumbled upon a deal, so the next day, I went back, cashed in my last reserve of dollars and bought myself my first real telephoto lens. –Interestingly, I got there only a few minutes before another would-be customer walked in, looking for the same deal.

After a few days of working with the lens, I’ve learned that this lens is not easy to deal with (like almost any other tele lens) and requires a bit of a learning curve. Lack of IS means it demands a lot of light, or a stable tripod. The weight is somewhat of an issue, but has not proven to be problematic for me. –Photo quality? You decide for yourself:

All photos are taken handheld and none were fixed up; these are straight, fresh out of the camera.

First things first; a little cropping would be nice, and so would a little more range. 1.4 converter is needed, check.

I think it could use some sharpening and perhaps the lens could be checked for sharpness once (standard procedure for all lenses) but I think it’s got a lot of great potential. It’s a fraction of the price of a 100-400 Canon and takes the TC very well (giving it a maximum range of 470mm) so there are a lot of upsides. -Would I have been happier with the 100-400 Canon? -Sure! –But would I have been happy with the bank account afterwards? –Definitely NOT!

Nothing beats a Canon L lens in my book but if one is price conscience, I think this is a very good deal. I doubt there will be another available at this price (the owner was getting rid of all his lenses) and with a genuine warranty, so I am very thankful that God led me to this good deal. Perhaps in the future I’ll be posting more of my own photos.

- Ike’s take:

A Bay Owl was seen in flight near the Chevrolet dealership on Bypass Road on the evening of the 14th. It landed on the crash barrier, almost causing me to crash (as I was worried I would hit it while it was flying!) but I was going a tad bit too fast to enjoy the bird. No doubt it was headed into the rubber plantations across the road from the dealership.

The Reddish Scops Owl was heard calling in a forested area near Muang Chao Fah Road at 11 PM on the night of the 11th.

A pair of Red Whiskered Bulbuls (presumably a male and female) were seen investigating possible nesting trees around my yard on the afternoon of the 16th. No doubt they were feral, but nevertheless a very welcome sight.

14 Yellow Vented Bulbul nests were discovered in the Muang Chao Fah area, including two in my own yard. These birds are becoming more common than the Streak eared Bulbul!

Updates to the website included reviews of Thai Muang beach in Phang Nga and Khao Rang in Phuket.

- Ian’s take:

 All following records are from Laem Mum Nai: One male Yellow rumped Flycatcher on the 5th and one female on the following day. A pair of Mugimaki Flycatchers and a single Ferruginous Flycatcher (first known sighting by birders in Phuket) was seen on the 6th. A female Mugimaki was also seen on the 16th.

A Tiger Shrike was seen in Laguna Resort and four male Mugimaki Flycatchers were spotted outside Khao Prataow National Park in Talang on the 9th. A female Yellow rumped Flycatcher was also recorded on the same day in Ton Sai waterfall.

In KNCC, Krabi, a Red Crowned Barbet nest was discovered on the 22nd and a birding trip on the following day netted Gurney’s Pitta, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Spotted Wood-Owl, Large-tailed Nightjar, Blyth’s Frogmouth and Large Wren-Babbler.

-Ian’s take:

A Shikra and a Chinese Sparrowhawk were seen in flight over Nai Harn area on the 5th, possibly signaling the beginning of the spring migration. A Yellow rumped Flycatcher was seen at lame Mum Nai on the same day.

One Siberian Thrush was seen At Laem Mum Nai on the 15th. Blue and White Flycatchers passing though Laem Mum Nai showed a single bird on the 20th, seven on the 221st and two on the 22nd. A Malayan Night Heron was seen at the Waterfall in Ton Sai, perhaps the only place in Phuket to see this difficult species. Other birds from Laem mum Nai were Mugimaki Flyactcher (27th), Yellow rumped Flycatcher (one bird on the 20th and two on the 27th) and an Oriental Cuckoo (27/3).

The last sighting of the wintering Common Buzzard was on the 23rd at Laem Mum Nai.

Cotton Pigmy Goose, an uncommon bird on the west coast, seems to be expanding its range northward. Continue Reading