A walk in Chalermprakiat Park on the 12th uncovered a trove of migrants such as Purple backed Starling, Red throated and Asian Brown Flycatcher and Blue tailed Bee Eater. A flock of Chestnut tailed Starling were spotted near Talang on the 14th and one later showed up in a cage for sale at Chatuchak market on the 22nd.

Six Ashy Woodswallow were spotted in Chalermprakiat Park in the afternoon of the 23rd, roosting on electric lines during a very windy day. This marks the second time they have been spotted in Phuket, the first being in Laem Promthep last year by Ian Dugdale. On the same day 3 House Crow was seen in the park mixed in with a flock of some 200 Large billed Crows. Barn Owl was spotted in flight over Muang Chao Fah road late on the night of the 27th. A Peregrine Falcon was seen hunting swifts over Phuket town on the 29th.

Blue tailed Bee Eaters on migration were constant throughout the month with the largest flock numbering almost 40 individuals and seen near Chalong on the 19th. Six Blue throated Bee Eaters were seen roosting on the ground in the afternoon on the 28th on a trail to a waterfall in Muang Chao Fah.

Two Changeable Hawk Eagles were spotted over Muang Chao Fah on the 7th in the company of a Crested Honey Buzzard. (Thanks to Mr. Chaiyan and Dr. Phil for their help on identifying the birds).

The thing about photography is its all about being at the right place at the right time. This is a great shot. No comment this time, I’ll let the picture do the talking.

Photo by Mr. Peter Ericsson.

With the raptor migration heading towards Phuket, I’ve decided to open a page dedicated to reporting the latest news on what’s coming through. –If you have anything to contribute, please feel free to send them in and we’ll post it, along with your name and the location where the sighting took place.

Note: Unless the report is followed by a name, all sightings were recorded by Ike Suriwong.

- 2/11: A large group of raptors moved through in a southwesterly direction, with over 80+ individuals counted. Of the birds seen, those identified included Black Baza (28), Japanese Sparrowhawk (22), Grey faced Buzzard (12), Oriental Honey Buzzard (7) and Booted Eagle (3). A possible juvenile Imperial Eagle was also spotted trailing the group. Many birds were too high to be identified with a normal 8×40 pair of bins, so have patience with me.
Thrown in for good measure was a single White bellied Sea Eagle and six Brahminy Kite. All sightings were recorded from Muang Chao Fah.
- 3/11: Black Baza (4) and Grey Faced Buzzard (2) were seen catching an updraft around 10 AM near Bang Waad Dam.
- 4/11: A single Black Baza flew over Muang Chao Fah around 8 AM. Another one was seen in the evening over Central Festival around 5 PM.
- 7/11: An Oriental Honey Buzzard was seen over Muang Chao Fah around 6 PM. Three Japanese Sparrowhawk were seen heading northeast a few minutes later.
- 8/11: Eight Grey Faced Buzzards were seen over Laem Gaa, Rawai, around 5 PM, and later a mixed flock of 14 Black Baza, 12 Japanese Sparrowhawk and a few larger unidentified raptors (Oriental Honey Buzzard perhaps?) were seen gathering over Rawai beach. Thrown in for good measure were two White bellied Sea Eagle, three Brahminy Kite and a single Eurasian Kestrel.
- 10/11: Five Black Baza and two Chinese Sparrowhawk were spotted near Chalong in the evening.
- 11/11: Seven Oriental Honey Buzzards were seen around 3 PM over the Muang Chao Fah area, not in a group but scattered throughout the area.
- 13/11: The first positive ID of a Common Buzzard for the winter was recorded near Sapam at 4 PM.
- 15/11: Four Black Baza were seen in flight over Laem Panwa near the deep sea port in the late afternoon.
- 16/11: A Crested Goshawk stirred up a flock of 400+ Rock Dove which took to the skies and eventually chased off the would-be predator, along with three Brahminy Kite and a single Japanese Sparrowhawk.