Another month has come and gone; boy does time fly!

A Black headed Ibis was seen at Thai Muang Golf Course on the 1st by Ian Dugdale, Dave Sergeant and Games, a local guide. The following day a second bird was found at the same site, along with two River Lapwing, a single White Faced Plover and four Malaysian Plover. The full report can be read here.

A Lesser Adjutant Stork and Pied Harrier were seen on Koh Pratong by Ian, Dave and Games on the 2nd.

Two Grey headed Buzzards were seen in flight over Muang Chao Fah on the afternoon of the 17th. An Osprey was seen in flight over Chalermprakiat (Suan Lor 9) Park on the 23rd. On the 24th three Black Baza were seen heading northwards over the Heroines’ Monument.

A Purple Heron and a single Indian Pond Heron in breeding dress was seen at Surat Thani Airport on the 23rd. On the way back, a stopover in Phang Nga Bay revealed four Mangrove Pitta and a Yellow eared Spiderhunter. The report can be seen here.

Nine Greater Crested Tern were seen in Koh Kaeo Bay near the Boat Lagoon. Two large gulls, too far away to be identified, were seen in Phang Nga Bay near Koh Lawa Yai. Five Whiskered Tern and a single Little Tern were seen feeding in the sea near Ao Por harbor. All these records from the 27th of February.

A Blue Rock Thrush was seen flying back and forth with food in its beak, assumed to be feeding a brood of nestlings on James Bond Island on the 28th.

Peregrine Falcon were seen at Rawai (8th), Muang Chao Fah (12th), Suan Chalermprakiat (25th) and Kathu (27th), an awful lot of times for a single month, making me wonder if perhaps they’ll become more common in the days to come.

Other winter visitors still around include Little Cormorant (26th), Brown Shrike (25th), Arctic Warbler (28th), Dark Sided Flycatcher (28th) and Forest Wagtail (28th).

Updates to the site include reviews of Kaeng Krachan National Park, the Krabi Mangrove Walkway and Wat Thum Seua in Krabi province.

I had to make a trip to Surat airport to drop off a friend as there were no available flights from Phuket, Krabi or Samui. Chinese New Year had been good to the tourist-dependent provinces of the south and the huge influx of Chinese from Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and China helped to boost the local economy. The airports were bursting at the seams and even a week after the festivities were over, people were still trying to find a way off of Paradise Island.

The drive took 2.5 hours and I did not stop to look at anything along the way. Getting to the airport was of utmost importance.

At the airport we stopped to have breakfast in the cafeteria, which offers perhaps the cheapest airport food in all the country. –To add to that, it was also tasty and attractively prepared. The restaurant is located on the top floor and gives commanding views of the airport runway, allowing us to observe the take off of a Nok Air flight and two F-5 fighters on their routine morning sorties.

The view from the restaurant also allowed us to see over the marsh and scrubland where I was able to find a variety of birds, the only highlights being a Purple Heron and a breeding-dress Indian Pond Heron.

The drive back was more leisurely and with all the time in the world, I decided to do some scouting of the area for future trips. First stop was Cheio Lan Dam, home of Khao Sok National Park. The pier was bustling with activity with plenty of tourists heading for the floating bungalows near the national park side. One of the fishermen came out of the water with a “baby” Giant catfish weighing over 87 kilos. Apparently he’d caught a 200 kilo catfish last week so this one was a little on the smallish side.

Bird life was not too abundant so I moved on to Ao Phang Nga National park.

Arriving at the mangrove walkway at 1 PM was not a wise choice, or so I thought. Arctic Warbler and Common Tailorbird were the first to greet me and soon after I found a pair of Forest Wagtail snooping around the garbage heap. I played the pitta call once but there was no reply. Brown throated Sunbird came through, a young bird chasing after a mother. Next there was a Common Iora and a Olive backed Sunbird in a quarrel over something, and that kept the mangrove buzzing with activity.

No Ashy Tailorbird was seen, but I did get Yellow Vented and Streak eared Bulbuls.

The call of the Black and Red Broadbill caught my attention but a pair of noisy teenagers scared it off before I could get a good look at it. The newcomers were not all useless; they helped flush out a Mangrove Pitta, which was heard but not seen.

While waiting for the pitta to show, I found a pretty Yellow eared Spiderhunter which was feeding on a web full of spiderlings. The lighting was poor and I didn’t manage a single good shot of the lightning fast bird, even though I had over 40 attempts at it.

At last the Mangrove Pitta answered the call of the tape and it was then I discovered it was not a single bird, but four little jewels, each of them curious as to who else there could be in the area! One took up position in a tree while the other three sat in low branches near the floor, all the while calling to each other. I managed a good shot of the bird in the tree, which didn’t seem at all bothered that I was a mere 4 feet away. The other three soon took to the deeper forest and the last straggler bade a fond farewell (pooped on my shoes) before flying off to find it’s friends.

All in all, it was a magical time and the first time I managed to find the pitta on my very own, so that makes me happy. –It was also the first time I had that many pitta in a single sitting!

12 species in the mangroves and the pitta was the topping on the pie which made it all the sweeter!

If this bird was a chick, would you want to take a dip with it? -I would! -And the great thing about it, this bird lives by water almost all its life.

-Lets go for a swim!

The River Chat, or sometimes referred to as White capped Redstart, is a resident bird which inhabits the fast flowing streams and waterfalls of the high mountains of the north. The bird is almost always seen in the company of a Plumbleous Redstart, another vivid and gorgeous bird. The most well- known site to see this fabulous duo is at Vatcharathan Waterfall in Doi Intanon National Park. My first sighting of this bird was at a campsite above the 1000-meter elevation in the same national park and this bird indeed is a truly impressive specimen.

This is a bird which must be seen to be enjoyed; no artists’ illustration in a field guide can come close to portraying the splendor of this marvelous creature!

Peter Ericsson photographed this bird in Doi Angkang in February.

Ian Dugdale, on a birding trip with Dave Sergeant and Games, found Black Headed Ibis at Thai Muang Golf Course on the 1st of February. This is a bird which has eluded me for a few years and I was hoping to finally get myself an honest look at the bird so I decided to make a trip to the beach with my kids the next day.

I arrived at the marsh shortly after 5 PM and after dropping off the kids at the beach, made my way on foot through the marsh. Golden Plover were abundant as were Paddyfeild Pipit. I managed to flush a single White fronted Plover and got good looks at it as it posed only a few meters from me.

Other birds encountered included Purple Swamphen, Black shouldered Kite, Grey headed Lapwing, Stonechat, Grey Wagtail, Watercock, Pin tailed Snipe, Common Kingfisher, Black Drongo, Brahminy Kite, Chinese Pond Heron and Red wattled Lapwing.

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for as far as size, but after scanning the fields and finding nothing but Intermediate and Little Egrets, I headed back to the car to try an adjacent road. By then it was 6 and with no sign of the bird, I was beginning to wonder if the bird would again elude me.

On the next road I found Japanese Sparrowhawk, Yellow vented Bulbul, Eurasian Koel, Greater Coucal, Great Egret and Germaine’s Swiftlet. Still no ibis.

Walking into the field once more I saw in the distance what looked like a bird with a very dirty bill. As I got closer I realized it was a Black headed Ibis! It was still a good 500 yards or so off so I stomped off through the fields go get closer. I had to keep my eyes glued to the floor as I didn’t want to step on a snake or encounter another scorpion like I’d seen a few minutes earlier. When I stopped to catch my breath, I glanced up so see another Black headed Ibis had landed scarcely 20 feet from me! We both stared at each other for the next five minutes as I just stood there, thrilled with the fact that I was finally looking at the bird which had eluded me for the last five years!

After a while I turned and made my way back to the car and the ibis, sensing I meant it no harm, went back to feeding in the mud. After getting in the car I still kept looking at it for a while until it started getting dark and I went off to pick up the kids at the beach.

Calling Ian to thank him for the tip, I found out he also had scored a lifer with a single Lesser Adjutant in flight on Koh Pratong.

At the beach we encountered four Malaysian Plover on a sandbar in the middle of the river and two River Lapwings on the beach.

Before leaving I wanted to let Rosie see the Ibis one time but it was hard to find in the waning light. Instead we came across five Large tailed Nightjar and a Barn Owl.

A total of 40 species were seen in two hours, and the Black headed Ibis is finally in the bag!

Special Thanks to Ian Dugdale for his tips on finding the bird.