Monday 1 ^st of May 2017 and my alarm went off at 5 o'clock. I was in the kitchen 20 minutes later sipping on a bottle of Pepsi MAX while waiting for my whistling kettle to make the “tea isready” signal.

I arrived to Suan Rot Fai at 7 o'clock and I started by going to check the pond for Kingfishers. No Kingfishers, only a Pond heron sitting in the trees. But there was amonitor lizard swimming in the dark. Some 20 meters away and I tried my camera and flash

The flash really helped even at the distance. Without the flash there would have been nothing. I left the pond to go towards the “traffic school” I was soon discovering that I could only use maximum shutter speed 200 with the flash.

1/200 is for sure not quick enough for birding. I want 1/500 second doing bird watching with a 400mm lens. So I sat down on one of the benches trying to figure out how this was working. And it looks like I have to go back home to consult my manual. Anyway, I had an Oriental Magpie Robin in the tree in front of me while sitting on the bench and I did a few practice shots.

And now I used the 70-200mm f2,8 lens. And I really appreciated the flash. Now I don't need to worry about the shadow any more. Here we were in the shadow and the bird turned out quite good. OK, I need much more practice. And I really need to figure out how the shutter speed is working. Now it is way too slow.

Male Oriental Magpie Robin / นกกางเขนบ้าน

My first ever bird picture using a flash

Male Oriental Magpie Robin / นกกางเขนบ้าน

A squirrel and we can see that they eye don't look so good using the flash

Little Egret some 20 meters away in the shadow.
We can see that the eye don't look very good using the flash

Little Egret - Coming out in the sun and no flash required and the eye look better
But now we can see the shadows on the bird

Cattle Egret in the shadow and the flash lights up the whole bird even from quite far away

I passed a Little Egret and as the bird was on the other side of the pond he didn't bother with me taking pictures from the other side. 20 to 30 meters away and the flash is still able to takeaway the shadows on the bird.

But here we have the problem using flash with eyes. The eyes really don't look very good when I'm using flash. Well, there is always something that bothers... I stayed with the Little Egret for a while trying different “techniques” to avoid the bad eyes. I pointed the flash up wards, just a notch and it was a wee bit better.

I continued to walk towards the children’s traffic school and there was a Cattle Egret and I stopped to take a few pictures testing my new Canon Flash Speedlite 600EX mk2.

I continued towards the traffic school and I observed a beautiful Indian Roller in the tree. The bird was too far away and when I approached the Indian Roller took off.

There were no sign of the Owl at the traffic school and I continued down one of the trenches (New path for me) it was like walking along a creek and I was soon spotting an Coppersmith Barbet and a Olive-backed Sunbird. I got a few picture of the “never” sitting still Coppersmith Barbet. The olive-backed Sunbird was also jumping around and my shutter speed 1/200 was not enough.

Coppersmith Barbet

Looking for something

Olive-backed Sunbird, Cinnyris jugularis, นกกินปลีอกเหลือง - Easy to see that 1/200 sec is not enough

Male eclipse plumage Olive-backed Sunbird - นกกินปลีอกเหลือง

Male eclipse plumage Olive-backed Sunbird - นกกินปลีอกเหลือง

Eclipse plumage: I have seen the expression before but I never knew what it meant so I looked at internet. And I found out that Eclipse plumage replaces the breeding plumage after the breeding season.

moult (US molt)

verb [no OBJ.] (of an animal) shed old feathers, hair, or skin, or an old shell, to make way for a new growth: the adult birds were already moulting into their winter shades of grey | [with OBJ.] the snake moults its skin.

• (of hair or feathers) fall out to make way for new growth: the last of his juvenile plumage had moulted.

The NEW OXFORD Dictionary OF ENGLISH

I only saw two or three pond herons in their breeding plumage but I never got any pictures. I crossed the new wooden bridge/ hide between Suan Rot Fai and the Queen Sirikit Park. Well I call the whole area for Suan Rot Fai. Here you can easily spend hours. Places to buy water around the area so it is not necessary to bring water.

Anyway, this is the time I want to see the Pond Herons as they are very beautiful in their breeding plumage. And this is the time of the year you can see the difference between the different Pond Herons. I came to the canal between the parks and I went to explore the area before crossing the bridge.

To view the map in a separate window, click HERE

Queen Sirikit Park

Queen Sirikit Park is a botanical garden in Chatuchak district, Bangkok, Thailand. Covering an area of 0.22 km², it is part of the larger Chatuchak Park complex. It was built in 1992 and named after Queen Sirikit to celebrate her 60th birthday. It contains many fountains and pools where lotus flowers bloom.

Adjoining the Chatuchak Weekend Market to the north is the Chatuchak Park complex, covering 1.13 km² of a former State Railway of Thailand golf course consisting of Chatuchak Park (สวนจตุจักร), Queen Sirikit Park (สวนสมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสิริกิติ์ฯ), and Wachirabenchathat Park (สวนวชิรเบญจทัศ).

Chatuchak Park (0.304 km²) is the first park in the complex opened in December 1980. On Phahonyothin Road next to the Mo Chit BTS Station. It is the most accessible park of the three. Also included in this park is the Train Museum. Wachira Benchathat Park

Queen Sirikit Park (0.224 km²) is a botanical garden built to honour the queen's 60th birthday in 1992. It was formally opened in December 1996. Plants collected in the garden include hibiscus, plumeria, and palms. Within the park compound is the Children's Museum. The park is behind Chatuchak Weekend Market parking lot.

The Wachirabenchathat Park (0.600 km²) is the biggest and newest park of the complex. It was called State Railway Public Park (สวนรถไฟ, Suan Rot Fai) but was renamed in July 2002 in honor of Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn's 50th birthday. It contains a butterfly park and the tallest fountain in Thailand.

JUST SAY “ SUAN ROT FAI ” TO THE TAXI DRIVER!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black-collared Starling - นกกิ้งโครงคอดำ
No problem to take pictures in the shadow with the new flash

Well, as I had problem with the shutter speed I went back home after 2 and a half hours in Suan Rot Fai. I also had to go to pick up my new passport. And I was going for lunch with my friend. Ataxi back home and I had sorted the shutter speed problem after a search on the internet.

I was going to Blue Spice on Terminal 21 to meet my friends at lunch. But first I have to go to the SwedishEmbassy to pick up my new passport that I made before leaving for the ship.

I went to look for a taxi and I was surprised as there was not much traffic to talk about. But I managed to find a taxi and the driver informed me that it was holiday today. Later on I learned that it was 1st of May, Labour Day.

Then it hit me, the embassy will be closed and I asked the driver to stop to let me off at Time Square. Suddenly I found myself with muchmore time to kill before lunch than I had expected.

So I went to Tops to buy some fruit, I was really looking forward to my fruit salad. I have not have fruit salad since I left Thailand last time. So now it was time for my Mango, Pineapple, Papaya, Bananas and nuts special. I had four bags when I was ready at Tops so I asked them to keep the bags for me and I would come back after the lunch to pick up my groceries.

At Blue Spice on Terminal 21

At Blue Spice on Terminal 21

At Blue Spice on Terminal 21

Now I have fruit to last me for a few days. I also took the opportunity to buy vitamins to last me for two years. I had been eating too much at Blue Spice. But my friend wanted to go eat dinnerso I need to eat more. I stop at the HomePro and then we took off to The Stable on Sukhumvit Soi 8

I will go to Benjakiti Park for my bird watching tomorrow morning to continue my flash training.

So my alarm was set to go off at 5o'clock tomorrow morning.

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Tuesday 2 ^nd of May 2017 and the alarm went of at 5 o'clock and I was soon in the kitchen drinking Pepsi MAX eating Tuna Paella that I had bought in Manila. It didn't take too long to find a taxi and I was soon entering the gate at Benjakiti Park. I decided to walk along the West side today though the area with the trees. No problem with the shadow as I had my new Speedlite 600EX mk2 RT with me.

And now I know how to use the flash with fast shutter speed. I walked in to the park and I was soon to discover that the camera only used maximum 400 ISO speed. This will of course not do in the shadow and with a 1/500 sec shutter speed. So I will have to look for solutions on internet again, or use manual ISO setting.

Male Oriental Magpie Robin / นกกางเขนบ้าน

Coppersmith Barbet - นกตีทอง

Coppersmith Barbet - นกตีทอง

Coppersmith Barbet - นกตีทอง

Coppersmith Barbet - นกตีทอง

Pied Myna or Asian Pied Starling / นกอีแจว

Olive-backed Sunbird - นกกินปลีอกเหลือง

Olive-backed Sunbird - นกกินปลีอกเหลือง

Olive-backed Sunbird - นกกินปลีอกเหลือง

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - นกสีชมพูสวน

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - นกสีชมพูสวน

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - นกสีชมพูสวน

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - นกสีชมพูสวน

Brown shrike - นกอีเสือสีน้ำตาล

Brown shrike - นกอีเสือสีน้ำตาล

Coppersmith Barbet - นกตีทอง

Coppersmith Barbet - นกตีทอง

Coppersmith Barbet - นกตีทอง

Coppersmith Barbet - นกตีทอง

To view the map in a separate window, click HERE

I was happy with the birding, especially the Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker. But I never saw any female Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker. So I was happy when I left Benjakiti Park for the SwedishEmbassy. I picked up my passport and I was back home to study the Canon Flash Speedlite 600EX mk2 RT manual.

New passport so I need to transfer my entry stamp to the new passport so I need to be at the immigration tomorrow morning and that means no bird watching tomorrow morning. But I might have time for an afternoon walk in one of the parks in Bangkok.

But first I will make a fruit salad or the fruit I bought yesterday will go to waste. So I will eat fruit salad every day from now on, no more restaurants and unhealthy living. Soon time to go swim with the humpback whales on Tonga, so I need to be fit by then.

This video is from HumpBackSwims.com and is run through Scuba Diver Life Expeditions.
And this is the company I'm going to Tonga with
And look at the little baby go!

I never get tired of watching this video

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Wednesday 3 ^rd of May 2017 and my alarm went off at 5 o'clock. Tea and tuna before I took off to the immigration. I had been pondering the idea to bring my camera if there is any birds. But I gave up the idea. If I have time I will go toLumpini Park in the afternoon. But the immigration in Bangkok and this can as well take the full day.

And it is nothing I'm looking forward to.

Millions of people but I was first to counter K1 and I left immigration at 9 o'clock.

We were hauling arse when going back to Sukhumvit but as soon as we came up on the toll way it came to a full stop.

It was almost 10 thirty when I was back home. I will meet my friend for lunch at Huntman Pub at landmark Hotel at 12 thirty. I made it to Huntsman just in time, well, a very few minutes late. Impossible to find a taxi, tookalmost 30 minutes.

We were soon having Earl Grey Tea on the table and theywere making Bangers & mash for us in the Kitchen. Huntsman Pub is one of my TOP 3 places for Bangers & Mash in Bangkok.

My TOP place have slide, I was there to eat, yes, Bangers & Mash and I had a pot of tea. There was rice in the milk jar and, well, talk about disgusting and I have never been back.

Seriously, I thought they cleaned the milk jar between the customers. Only God knows what they do to the milk jar.

Well, anyway, we're at Huntman Pub and they have some excellent Bangers & Mash.

They also have a starter, the sausage plater. BUT BE CAREFUL!!!

It is astarter, but they bring in a ducking super tanker loaded with different sausages and fried cabbage. And it is darn good! I was full when we left, my friend took a taxi back home and I took a taxito Lumpini to see if I can see any Pond Herons in breeding plumage. Well, I saw a lot of crows. And I put them down as Slender-billed Crows.

But I'm not sure as all the crows looks almost the same.

According to information on internet the Slender-billed crow should not be in Thailand. But it is mentioned in the book “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia” by Craig Robson The description in the book as per below:

Very similar to the Large-billed Crow but slimmer with shorter, squarer-ended tail. The Large-billed have a steep forehead. I don't know, but I put it down as the Slender-billed crow



Updated August 2018
So I had put down the different crows in Bangkok as Large-billed and Slender-billed

But I learned from BirdForum that all the crows I have seen is the Eastern Jungle Crow. And I got an explanation on the forehead:
They are all Eastern Jungle Crows, posture varies according to whether they raise or lower the crown feathers!

Thanks to Grahame Walbridge at BirdForum for this interesting information!! And that is even though it was a lot of trouble for me to change all my records! See full forum thread HERE





Walking through the park and I saw 2 Little Egrets at a distance. Of course, Minas everywhere and there was a lot of Oriental Magpie Robins and millions of crows. I walked around the park and there are really a lot of the Monitor Lizards and I'm almost sure they removed all of them a few years back. But there is still plenty of them.

I don't know how many I spotted, but it was quite a few of them. I scared several of them and they scared me when they ran away. I don't see them and when I approach in the grass they suddenly run away startling me.






Walking around the park and it was really hot. And there wasn't really many interesting birds, for sure not any Herons. But I practised taking pictures using the flash. And I really grow to love the flash, Canon's strongest flash and I got a few pictures of crows that would have been impossible without the flash.

I was very happy with the result even though it wasn't any prize winners. Maybe I get the hang of it after a few thousand pictures. Put it is a great help even though I don't master the technique. I crossed a bridge in Lumpini Park and there was a Streak-eared Bulbul sitting in the tree. In the shadow and it would have been pointless trying to take any picture without the flash.

And this pictures made me very happy, 780 Singapore $ for the flash had not been any waste. Now I will carry the flash in my belt on all my bird watching adventures.



It was a beautiful day, and it might be my imagination, but it seems like there are alot less garbage laying around in the park. Otherwise it use to be a disaster. But I was disappointed with the Pond Herons, no one around and I guess they are busy with the breeding. Same last year, I only saw 2 of them.

Otherwise there is a lot of them, but then they all look alike and they are not very beautiful. Well, I came up with a plan while walking around Lumpini Park. Tomorrow morning and I will go to the Tha Chaloem Kanchanaphisek Park on the other side of the river.

And on Friday, I want to call my driver to see if we can go to Bang Pu In or whatever the name was, there should be plenty Pond Herons.





I stayed in Lumpini for about 2 hours before I returned home. Check my pictures and then to bed with the alarm set to go off at 5 o'clock tomorrow morning again. So you just need to stay tuned to find out where I end up tomorrow. I willhopefully not end up at any restaurant. DARN! I cannot even go for a pot of tea without eating starters and mountains of Bangers & Mash.

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Thursday 4 ^th of May 2017 and my alarm went off at 5 o'clock. But I stayed in bed until my second alarm went off at 05:18. Tea and tuna for breakfast and I never opened my last bottle of Pepsi MAX. I will save it for tonight, orhopefully even longer.

I went out on the street and I was very lucky, there was a taxi coming and we were soon on our way to Chaloem Kanchanaphisek Park and Wat Chalerm Prakiat. The driver didn't knew the place and I told him to go to Pin Klao Bridge. And I tried to get my map in the phone to work while we drove towards Pin Klao Bridge.

To view the map in a separate window, click HERE

It took us about one and a half hour to get to the Chaloem Kanchanaphisek Park. Well, I asked the driver to take me to the temple at the park. I wanted to check out the temple area as we spotted Red-breasted parakeets, Collared Kingfishers and different Barbets there last year.

I stepped out of the taxi and there was a terrible noise from all the Red-breasted parakeets flying around. And there was many of them. I could also hear an Asian Koel. And I was soon hearing Coppersmith Barbets in the trees around me. So the birds are busy around here, looking for food and making noise.


I walked in to the temple area and the noise was so loud I could not hear anything else. I sat down on a rock looking around for something exciting. I looked for the Owlets but no sign of them. There were so much noise from the Red-breasted parakeet (นกแขกเต้า) so I missed a Green peafowl (Pavo muticus) The peafowl landed in the tree and I just spotted the bird when she hide in the tree between two branches.

The green peafowl is a forest bird which nests on the ground laying 3 to 6 eggs according to Wikipedia. But I'm almost sure that the Peafowl had a nest in the tree. Maybe 2 to 3 meter above ground. I could only get a picture of the Green peafowl's head behind the leafs in the tree.








I started to walk towards the Chaloem Kanchanaphisek Park, just next to the temple. But now I discover that they have built a building so I cannot walk along the Chao Phraya River. So I went through the temple and the people there were helpful giving me directions.

It was hot, all the Thai people were complaining and I was really thirsty so I asked for a place to buy water. I was soon pointed in the right direction and I bought three bottles of water. The first bottle was empty when I left the shop. Birding in Thailand is a beautiful experience, but the heat. DARN! If it would have been 22°C it would have been the paradise.

I had two bottles of water remaining and I put them in my pockets. I walked towards the NW corner of the park. I saw one Pond Heron at a distance but he flew up in a tree. I saw a few Indian Rollers, but they are also scared.

I stopped at a rest place when I walked back towards the temple. I had my second bottle of water while studying the ants walking back and forth in front of me.




I enjoyed my water looking over the park and the Maha Chesadabodindranusorn Bridge sticking up over the trees. I didn't see many birds while drinking my water, well, except for Mynas. Common Mynas and White-vented Mynas. So far I have not taken many pictures and I left to walk back towards the temple Wat Chalerm.

Maybe I'm lucky and can see some interesting birds on my way back. I heard a bird in one of the trees and I stopped to have a look. It was almost impossible to find the bird. But when I did it was in the shadow so it was impossible to see anything but a dark shadow moving around in the tree. Lucky I have my flash with me.

I have no idea what bird it is. But when I came back home I discovered a wee bit of red on the rump, so I put down the bird as a female Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - นกสีชมพูสวน




Yes, almost sure it is a female Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - นกสีชมพูสวน I continued my walk towards the temple Wat Chalerm. I was plunging through the park whenI suddenly noticed some movements in the bushes. I went over to investigate.

It looked like a Plain Prinia - นกกระจิบหญ้าสีเรียบ. Of course, I'm not 100% sure, but I cannot find any other bird fitting the description better. And I ran in to in to one more Prinia in a tree a few minutes later. A small bird in a tree and it is not easy to take pictures.









When I was back at the temple I saw a duck in a pot and I thought about the video from Mekong River. Bathing in the dish water and these ducks are not scared. Quite the opposite, they are attacking and I had to run away. As the Cook on Roy Maersk told me: It is the best guard dogs you can have at home. They don't let anyone in.

I ran away with the ducks after me, yes, they teamed up and they chase me out from the park and I was back in the Red-breasted parakeet area. So let's see if I can get any pictures before going back home to Sukhumvit Road on the other side of the river.



There are a lot of domestic birds in the temple area, chicken and ducks etc. The ducks attacked me and the turkey looking bird was first scared when I plunged through the temple area. As soon as I had passed the birds they started to follow me.

A quick search on the internet and I found out that it was a Domesticated Guineafowl. The wild Helmeted Guineafowl is endemic to Africa. I sat down on the same rock I had used this morning under the huge tree to look for the Owlets and other exciting birds.

The Guineafowls were surrounded me when I was sitting down. And it was fun watching them sneaking up to me. They were really curious and they study me while I was sitting down. But every time I looked at them they ran behind the tree.



There are some dwellings between the road and the temple. We had seen a few Barbets there last time. And I spotted a Indian Roller there this morning so I walked through the area on my way to look for a taxi. I could hear that there was several Red-breasted parakeets in the area and I went to look for them. It was easy to hear them but not so see them in the trees.





I called my taxi driver on my way home, but he was busy tomorrow. My plan was to go to Moo Ban Pramong, well, I might go on Saturday morning instead. But I will have to leave for the airport on Saturday afternoon for my flight to Bombay.

I will be picked up at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Sunday and I willhopefully be able to do some birding at Bhandup Pumping Station. And I say hopefully! I have been trying to book this for2 or 3 weeks by now. And the tour operators in Bombay, well, they are not operating like any tour operators that want to make any money out of their business.

Reply after one week, and then one week again to get answer on my question. So I came up with a clever idea. I can rent a car and driver from the hotel. I will stay at Holiday Inn, Mumbai International Airport. I sent them an e-mail with information on when I would arrive and how long I would stay. And a simple question if they had car service and the day rate for the car.

They answered my question with another question. What is my booking number etc. Like this have anything to do with if they have car rentals or not. I went to Tops to buy some Pepsi MAX for my upcoming trips to India and Sri Lanka. Home delivery service and I took a taxi back home and they delivered my stuff later on in the evening.

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Friday 5 ^th of May 2017 and my alarm went off at 5 o'clock. I could hear thunder so I stayed in bed. I don't fancy any bird watching if it is raining. And anyway, I need to luxury, at least once in a while to sleep a little longer. I stayed in bed until 06:45.

I called my taxi driver and he will be here at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning and we will go to look for Pond Herons and Kingfishers down at the Moo Ban Pramong. So tomorrow there will for sure not be time for any restaurants. I don't know why, but every time I leave a restaurant I say never again. But then, I'm back at the table and today I ended up at Radisson Blu.

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Saturday 6 ^th of May 2017 and the taxi driver called me at 05:45. He had arrived and I was in the car a few minutes later. We were soon on our way to Mo Baan Pramong. It was a beautiful morning, of course sitting in the car with AC. It is hot outside and it will be hotter by the minute while the sun is working is way up in the sky.

To view the map in a separate window, click HERE

Light Saturday morning traffic and it took us about 45 minutes to reach Wild Encounter Thailand's jetty for the whale watching boat. I hope I have a chance to go on a few whale watching tours inthe autumn, but now it is not the season. 5 more months and I can go whale watching, if I'm home that it.

We stopped at the place as we spotted the Collared Kingfisher couple on the old concrete pillars, same place as we saw them before going whale watching.







The Kingfishers were a wee bit too far away and I had to crank up the ISO speed to reach them with the flash. So the pictures are noise, early morning and still dusky. Back in the car and we made a U-turn at the end of the road.

The people were busy bringing ashore oysters or clams, or whatever it was. And there were a group of Javan Pond-herons looking for food among the shells. I have been chasing pond herons for a few days now and suddenly I had 4 of them just next to the car. Beautiful Javan Pond-Herons in full breeding plumage

I had a few pictures and I realised that it would never work with a flash shooting from inside the car. So I removed the flash and we were soon running in to more Javan Pond-herons. They are really beautiful.

We ran in to more Javan Pond Herons and they were together with Little Egrets and when we were about to move I discovered a Little Heron as well, so I had seen almost all the Herons I had come to see. I wish I could see a Chinese Pond Heron as well. Impossible to see the difference between them when they are not breeding.








The Pond-Heron below:
Pond-heron is noon breeding. But from the colour I guess it is a Javan Pond-heron. The Chinese Pond-herons develop a maroon colour when they go in to breeding plumage. But I'm really not sure what kind of Pond-Heron it is. But as there is a lot of Javan Pond-Herons in the area I guess it is a Javan Pond-Heron











We drove along the road and when we came to the end of the road we turned around to go back to see if we could see more Pond-Herons and shore birds on the stretch of road I call the “Shire bird route” on my map. We passed so many egrets and herons I had never seen before.

They were in a huge group and I'm sorry to say that I was so excited the pictures turned out to be nothing but sh** The dirt track that I have marked as “Dirt track between the paddies” was not to be found so we turned back and we drove back towards Mo Baan Pramong

I wanted to drive along the dirt road on the other side of the Canal. There are plenty birds to be seen on this road. Not much traffic so you don't bother anyone when stopping to take pictures. We saw, well, many many Collared Kingfishers, but no Common or Black Capped Kingfishers this time. Otherwise this route is a shore thing for these Kingfishers.

























We covered the whole dirt road stretch and it is a beautiful area, if they could only have kept it clean from garbage etc. The high water was going out so we saw many waders looking for food in the mud. And of course, many Egrets and Herons walking around in the mud.

I don't know if it is due to the low water, but the usually busy stretch back to Mo Baan Pramong was empty, not one single bird was seen in the bushes or on the mud flats. We were soon back at Wild Encounter Thailand's house/ jetty and we drove up to the end of the road.

I got out of the car and I walked back to Wild Encounter Thailand's house/ jetty having a look for Pond-herons along the canal. Most of them got scared when I approached, but I managed to get a few pictures before we decided to go back to Bangkok.







So, it had been a lovely morning, but my taxi will come to pick me up at 3 o'clock and we droveback to Bangkok. I will have time for tea and to pack my bag before AOT is here. Well, my next birding adventure will be in Bombay tomorrow.

You just need to click HERE to find out all about that adventure.

Visitors from different countries since 26th of September 2011