Bird watching in Chumphon - Thailand bird watching trip report

OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.

Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.

So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.

Introduction

My friend have some family business to attend to in Chumphon and I took the opportunity to check out some of the eBird hotspots around Chumphon. When I booked the room I discovered that the hotel was one of the eBird hotspots in the area. There are several eBird hotspots around Chumphon and I will try to see some of them:

• Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club

• Laem Tian

• Chumphon Sports Stadium & Krommaluang Chumphon Monument Park

• Pak Hat Beach

• Phanang Tak Canal

• Laem Hua Mong – Kho Kwang

• Phanang Tak Bay

• Nong Yai Area Development Project Under Royal Initiative

• Thung Wua Laen Beach--Albatross Guesthouse vicinity

• Thung Wua Laen Beach

• Saphli Beach--market vicinity

• Khao Phang Forest Park

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP (general location)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--headquarters

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ao Thung Kha – Sawi mangroves

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Mangrove Resource Development Station 12 & Pak Khlong Sawi

• Dan Sawi seaside road

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Lok Phae

Many of the hotspots in the Mu Ko Chumphon National Park are located on islands. I will try to find out if it is possible to get out on the islands.

And in July 2020 there is no islands with any eBird checklists.

So if I can make the islands I will be the first eBirder on the island.

Below is a list of the islands, listed from North to South

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Chorakhae (Chorakhae Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Ngam Yai (Ngam Yai Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Ngam Noi (Ngam Noi Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Samet (Samet Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Mattra (Mattra Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Maphrao (Maphrao Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko I Raet (I Raet Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Lawa (Lawa Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Ka (Ka Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Thong Lang (Thong Lang Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Rang Ka Chiu (Rang Ka Chiu Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Klaep (Klaep Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Yung (Yung Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Kula (Kula Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Nu (Nu Island)

• Mu Ko Chumphon NP--Ko Maeo (Maeo Island)

To skip the information and to go straight to the TRIP REPORT click HERE

Guide

I will not use any Guide as I will only go for the eBird hotspots in the area. I will report the birds I can ID. And if I cannot ID and I get a picture I will relay on my bird books and the excellent www.birdforum.org

Land transportation

It is about 478 km from down town Bangkok to Chumphon. Take RAMA II (Route #35) until you reach route #4 north of Phetchaburi. Turn south and follow highway #4 and drive past Phetchaburi and Hua Hin until you reach Chumphon city, the capital of the province Chumphon

Flights from Bangkok is 1 hour + a few minutes and cost around 2000 Baht (June 2020)

Train from Bangkok to Chumphon is about 7 - 9 hours and will set you back by about 1000 Baht (June 2020)

Buss from Bangkok to Chumphon is about 7 - 9 hours and will set you back by about 400 Baht (June 2020)

Click HERE for 12GO, a booking site for bus, train, airplane and taxi etc.

Accommodation

I stayed at Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club. When I searched for information I found out that it is one of the eBird hotspots in the Chumphon. And the hotel is about 11 km from Mu Ko Chumphon National Park.

Gate to Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club

Entrance to Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club

Time to check-in Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club

Reception

My room

“OFFICE” area in my room

Bath room

There are two swimming pools

Tea from a proper tea pot in the restaurant

The food was OK

Equipment

Canon 5D Mk. III + Canon 5D Mk. IV
Canon EF 28-300/3,5-5,6 L IS USM
Canon EF 70-200/2,8L IS II USM
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens
Canon Speedlite 600EXII-RT flash
Canon PowerShot G7X Mark II
Panasonic HC-W585 video camera

Sound recorder
ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder

Binocular
Steiner Skyhawk 8x32 (Since May 2020)

Weather / climate

Chumphon has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am) just falling short of a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af). Temperatures are hot throughout the year. The period from December to April has relatively less rainfall than from May to November, when rainfall can be very heavy, particularly in October and November.

Click HERE for bigger pictures

From Wikipedia

References/Resources

Thai National Parks - About the National Parks in Thailand A very good web page - Do you know that there are still wild tigers, elephants, leopards, tapirs, gaurs, bears and many monkey species in many tropical rainforests across Thailand? Do you also know that around 10% of all marine species in the world can be found in Thailand? And the fact that Thailand is the best bird-watching destination in mainland Asia?

National parks are protected areas of land because they have unspoilt landscapes and a diverse number of native plants and animals. There are 127 national parks in Thailand, of them 22 marine national parks. These parks offers a diverse range of flora and fauna, home to important population of endangered species. So now it will be easy to find out if there are any National Park close to you.

Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST) - The Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST) is one of the oldest

Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST)

organisations conserving birds and nature in Thailand and is the country partner of BirdLife International. BCST's role to the local community is to spread awareness about urban birds and reconnect people back to nature.

The Logo
Dated back to 1986 when BCST was then a loosely-formed “Bangkok Birdwatching Club”, the Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis), or “Nok Gang Ken Baan” in Thai, has been chosen to represent the organisation.

There are two sites covering Thailand and I have used them many times. These two web pages are actually everything you need for your birding adventures in Thailand. All the information you need about all the birding spots. Click on the map and then select your spot and you will have maps and everything you need to know about the areas. They have put a lot of jobs in to their web pages, North Thailand Birding and thaibirding.com A must to visit before you go bird watching in Thailand.

www.norththailandbirding.com - A one stop only for all your birding in Thailand

thaibirding.com - Nick Upton's one stop only for all your birding in Thailand.

Use both www.thaibirding.com and www.norththailandbirding.com and you have a winner. Some of the maps on www.norththailandbirding.com are way better than Nick Upton´s, while some of Nick's maps are much more detailed. So I have found that if I use both the web pages for information, well, nothing else needed.

PBase/Peter Ericson - Peter Ericson, a guy I thought was from USA because of his family name. I met him at Lat Krabang Paddies in May 2020 and turned out that he was Swedish. Anyway, I have used his excellent page PBase since 2016 as help to ID birds by the help from his beautiful bird pictures.

Here you can also find information about birding tours.

He is also having a Blog - Thaibirds and more with interesting information.

Bangkok City Birding - A lot of interesting birding stories and information on this bird watching blog by David Gandy. Bangkok-based patch-worker in Suan Rot Fai, a large park close to the city's famous weekend market. He have recorded 150 species on his patch since 2008. As one of the only big green spaces in the city, “SRF” acts as a real magnet for migrants during spring and autumn, and holds a healthy selection of "sibes" during the winter months.

The East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership - The East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership is a network of partners within the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). The East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) aims to protect migratory waterbirds, their habitat and the livelihoods of people dependent upon them.

The Flyway is one of 9 major migratory routes recognised globally. Partners include National Governments, Inter-Governmental Organisations, International Non-governmental Organisations, and International Private Enterprise, which agree to endorse the text and support the objectives and actions under this Partnership.

Thailand have three Flyway Network Sites - www.eaaflyway.net/thailand to find more information.
• Pak Thale – Laem Phak Bia Flyway Site
• Khok Kham Flyway Site
• Krabi Estuary and Bay

www.tideschart.com GET THE LATEST TIDES IN THAILAND AND AROUND THE WORLD - A must to check out times for HIGH and LOW water when going to look for waders / shorebirds.

ebird - Find birding hotspots with bird checklists from all over the world

Avibase - is an extensive database information system about all birds of the world, containing over 25 million records about 10,000 species and 22,000 subspecies of birds, including distribution information for 12,000 regions, taxonomy, synonyms in several languages

www.oiseaux.net This web page is also excellent for identifying birds. There is information and range maps for many many birds from all over the world. This page is almost guaranteed to give you any answer you have about any bird in the world.

Cloudbirders - Read birding trip reports from all over the world

Fatbirder - Linking birders worldwide... Wildlife Travellers see their sister site: WAND

Fatbirder is a fantastic web page with information from, I think every country in the world. My first stop when I plan for my bird watching trips. There is information about locations and guides, well, pretty much everything you need to know. Sometimes this is the only place I need to visit to plan my trip.

BirdingPal - find a birding Guide around the world

And the web page you cannot live without. I have been around the world looking for birds. I usually have a Guide, but sometimes it is not possible to find a Guide. So, well, I have lost count on how many times I have had help to ID birds at BirdForum. Joining this forum have been very very good for my bird watching experience.

www.birdforum.net

ClimaTemps.com is the place to learn about the worlds climates with more than 4000 locations documented. Each aspect of the climate is represented using colour enhanced tables and professional graphs so that data can easily be compared by switching between locations in different tabs in your browser.

“A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson”

A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson. New edition updated with 76 species since previous edition “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig” Nick Upton at www.thaibirding.com wrote “This quite excellent book is packed full of quality illustrations and written information on 1251 species recorded in Southeast Asia”

I bought this book for bird watching in Thailand, but it goes for all over SE Asia

I have been very happy with the “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson” But I had a fire in my condo 2019 and I needed to buy a new book. I was looking for the “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson” as I liked the book. But this book is not available anymore so I had to buy the “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand” by Craig Robson.

What a disappointment this was, using the pictures in the book didn't helped to ID any birds.

“Birds of Thailand” by Uthai Treesuconand Wich'yanan Limparungpatthanakij

I met Peter Ericson, a famous bird watcher and he recommended the “Birds of Thailand” by Uthai Treesuconand Wich'yanan Limparungpatthanakij. I bought the book as soon as the book stores opened after the Wuhan virus. And I am very happy with the book and I have managed to ID some birds using the book.

This new field guide will help you identify all 1049 species to have been recorded in the country to date, including the 20 species endemic or near-endemic to Thailand.

-Taxonomy follows the HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World.

-Detailed texts covering status, habitat and behaviour, age, sex and geographical variation, voice, and confusion species.

-Almost 2200 illustrations covering all species and distinctive subspecies, birds in flight, males and females, juveniles and non-breeding plumages, where appropriate.

-QR code for each species, linking to the Internet Bird Collection gallery of photos, videos and sounds.

-More than 1025 full-colour range maps for all species other than vagrants.

-Well-marked subspecies groups receive full accounts, and the distributions of subspecies breeding in the region are clearly mapped.

-Local species name and local conservation status included.

I like the book, but I miss the picture index.

Places to visit

Chumphon

Chumphon

Chumphon (Thai: ชุมพร) is a town (thesaban mueang) in southern Thailand, capital of the Chumphon Province and Mueang Chumphon District. The city is about 463 kilometers (288 miles) from Bangkok. As of 2005 it had a population of 33,522. The town covers the commune (tambon) Tha Taphao completely and parts of tambons Bang Mak, Wang Phai, Na Thung, Tak Daet, and Khun Krathing. Its main economic activity is agriculture.

Geography
Chumphon lies just inland from the west coast of the Gulf of Thailand. To the west are the northern hills of the Phuket Range, a subrange of the Tenasserim Hills. These hills reach 400 metres in the area near Chumphon. There are also many smaller peaks in the area in the range of 100 metres to 200 metres high.

From Wikipedia

eBird hotspots around Chumphon City

There are quite a few eBird hotspots in the Chumphon City area and I will try to visit a few of them:

• Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club

• Mu Ko Chumphon National Park

Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club

First of all, it was possible to rent a golf cart and it cost 300 Baht for 4 hours. (June 2020) The cart is very usefull and you can get “off road” and drive along the water ponds and other places off the tracks aong the golf course.

And to walk around the golf course would not be so pleasant in the blazing sun. And with the cart you can cover the whole area in a couple of hours.

Golf cart

Plenty water around the golfcourts

No problem to drive along bushes and ponds with the crt

No problem to drive along bushes and ponds with the golf chart

There was all kinds of habitate around the gold course, lawn, scrub, ponds and at the hotel there is a huge lilly pond. There is a lot of Indochinese Rollers in the trees and many White-throated Kingfishers in the area. Of course, there were many many mynas and starlings all over the place.

And around the ponds you could find many White-breasted Waterhens.

A beautiful area

Lilly pond

There are walk paths around the golf course

Mu Ko Chumphon National Park

Mu Koh Chumphon National Park: You can walk on the mangrove forest nature trail and islands.

Owing to the richness of various natural resources, abundant coral reefs, and spectacular nature at the beach and the island, in 1989, the Royal Forest Department managed the survey as a preparation for announcing "Sai Ri national park" a national park. On February 24, 1999, it was announced as a national park and was renamed "Mu Ko Chumphon National Park."

It covers 317 square kilometres, 165,969 Rai of which are water. Mu Ko Chumphon National Park has various types of natural resources which are still abundant. It is important as the place where the heredity of living things are kept and as the source of knowledge for study and research.

Mangrove forest, which is still abundant, covers around 17,375 Rai. They are found in Khlong Chumphon, Khlong Sawee, and Khlong Sawee Thao.Tropical Rain Forest is found only on the mountain and on large island, such as Ko Samet, Ko Mattra, Ko Kula, etc.

The specie of plant that is found here is Dipterocarpaceae like Kiam (Cotylelobium Lanceolatum), Iron Wood (Hopea Odorata), Mesawa (Anisoptera Costata), and Khai Kheo(Parashorea Stellata).Beach Forest has many species of the plant which mostly are small, bushy, bent trunk, short spreading branches, and thick hard leaves with thorns. These species include Fish Poison Tree (Barringtonia Asiatica), Samet (Melaleuca Cajuputi), Krathing (Calophyllum Inophyllum), Jambolan plum (Syzygium Cumini), and Manao Phee (Atalantia Monophylla).

Source of seagrasses is a form of marine plant community found along the peaceful coast side. At present, the only plant found is Halophila Beccarii. Since the areas in Mu Ko Chumphon National Park have different landscapes, including mangrove forest, mountain, island, cave, beach, and sea, there are many types of animals in each of the important areas.

For example, seabirds, like egrets, gulls, ibises, and swifts; reptiles, like monitor lizards, water monitors, snakes, pythons, hawksbill sea turtles, green sea turtles, and sea snakes; mammals, like crab-eating macaques, Lyle's flying foxes, dolphins, whales, and dugongs. The coral reef is mostly made of hard corals, such as staghorn corals, mountain corals, soft corals, crusty corals, black corals, sea whips, and Gorgonians.

This place is also where the black corals, Gorgonian animal, are found the most in Thailand. Besides, whale sharks, the world's biggest fish, are found at Ko Ngam Noi and Ko Ngam Yai. Admission fee is 200 baht for adults and 100 baht for children.

From https://www.tourismthailand.org

Well, I could not visit this national park or any other hotspot thanks to Novotel. I had booked full day car service but no car. And when the car finally came they did not know where to go even if I had a local map.

Bird checklist

I never use any bird lists, but since I try to make it in to Cloudbirders . A very helpful site when planning your birding trips. But they ask for a bird checklist, and if I use their service, of course I want to contribute as well. My two first bird watching trip reports was rejected by Cloudbirders.

So I started to take ideas from the reports I found on Cloudbirders. So I have started to use bird lists, eBird generate one for me and I can post it on Cloudbirders. I will post my birds on eBird and on my different “BIRDS THAT I HAVE OBSERVED” pages.

Full Thai list updated to the taxonomy, nomenclature and sequence of the IOU/IOC World Bird List. The complete checklist, including Thai names and synonyms, can be downloaded in Excel format - Thailand Bird Checklist. - Version 8.2 (2018) - found at www.norththailandbirding.com

Check lists can come in handy to find out the local name of the bird etc. And Avibase have a list with pictures and sounds, excellent!

So I will post bird checklists here and if my Guides provide me with checklists I will also post them here.

Chumphon checklist from Avibase, click HERE - eBird version 2019 taxonomy

Mu Ko Chumphon National Park checklist from Avibase, click HERE - eBird version 2019 taxonomy

Avibase is providing you with bird checklists from all over the world. And I´m impressed by their web page. Select country and area and you get the bird checklist. Like the PDF files I got from Avibase on the links above. You also get the checklist with pictures and sounds.

The best part is that you get the local names of the birds and the online checklist gives the names in English plus the language you have selected. But it seems like the PDF cannot handle some alphabet.

For example the Japanese language so it is blank in the PDF checklist. But it worked excellent with Swedish. But you get them in the local language on the online version.

Bird list

I only list birds I have got on picture on my list of OBSERVED BIRDS. But since I started using eBird I have changed a bit. I list all the birds on the eBird checklist. See the DAY TO DAY report in the itinerary below.

And you can visit my list of “ Birds I have seen in Thailand ” ONLY BIRDS I HAVE ON PICTURE.

Trip Report

30th of June 2020 and we left my condo at 4 o'clock in the morning, the streets were empty and we got up on route #4 north of Phetchaburi one hour after we had left my condo. And that is including a stop to fill up gasoline. 30 Minutes later and we were driving through Phetchaburi.

Early morning on the highway to Chumphon

Filling up the car

We drive past Hua Hin and Kui Buri and we will hopefully have time to go on Elephant Safari tomorrow. Anyway, 2 hours from Chumphon and my friend want to go visit a temple to have his breakfast and I can look for some birds. And when we arrived I started my eBird app it turned out that the Temple was an eBird hotspot: .

We parked the car and we could see Gulf of Thailand below us. I walked around looking for birds and when I was watching a Racket-tailed Treepie

Red-wattled Lapwing

At Wat Thang Sai (Thang Sai Temple)

The restaurant was closed so my friend and his son came back and we walked up towards the temple. The went all the way up and I stayed behind to try to get pictures of a Common Iora. The bird was too far up in the tree for any good pictures, but I gave it a try.

There was 2 Streak-eared Bulbuls at the car when we came down to the parking lot again.

Common Iora

Streak-eared Bulbul

Birding/ Bird watching at Wat Thang Sai (Thang Sai Temple) vicinity, Thailand

Today's track at Wat Thang Sai (Thang Sai Temple) vicinity

eBird Report

Wat Thang Sai (Thang Sai Temple) vicinity, Prachuap Khiri Khan, TH Jun 30, 2020 07:44 - 08:28M
Protocol: Traveling *2.98 kilometer(s)
10 species

Greater Coucal 1
Red-wattled Lapwing 2
Striated Heron 1
Common Iora 1
Racket-tailed Treepie 1
Streak-eared Bulbul 7
Common Myna 1
Vinous-breasted Starling 3
Great Myna 2
Oriental Magpie-Robin 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70972096

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

We continued south on highway #4 and we stopped to visit my friend’s father and I got to see how he lived when he was a child. We left his son at grandad and my friend to me to the hotel. I check-in and I book a golf cart for 13:00 and I go to my room and they are soon bringing two coconuts to my room.

The first bird we spotted was an Indochinese Roller sitting in a tree outside the reception.

Birding/ Bird watching at Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club, Chumphon, Thailand

Ready for bird watching

Indochinese Roller

Intermediate Egret

Vinous-breasted Starling

Purple Heron, Ardea purpurea, นกกระสาแดง

Purple Heron / นกกระสาแดง

Little Cormorant, Microcarbo niger, นกกาน้ำเล็ก

Little Cormorant / นกกาน้ำเล็ก

Pond Heron

Not in breeding plumage so not possible to ID (At least for me)

Pond Heron

Not in breeding plumage so not possible to ID (At least for me)

It was very nice to have the golf cart and when we had covered all the walking path I asked if it was possible to go “off road” and we got close to all the ponds and the scrubs on the edges of the golf course.

Red-wattled Lapwings all over so we had to keep an eye out for their nests and babies. The babies are big now so the run for cover when the parents started with their warning calls.

Vinous-breasted Starling

Red-wattled Lapwing

Intermediate Egret, Median Egret, Smaller Egret, or Yellow-billed Egret, Ardea intermedia, チュウサギ, นกยางโทนน้อย, นกยางโทนน้อย

Intermediate Egret / นกยางโทนน้อย

We spotted one Pied Myna fledgling while we were sneaking on two Very young White-breasted Waterhen babies. I got a very few poor pictures that I used for ID with the help of the birdforum.

Thanks to johnallcock at Birdforum for helping me with the White-breasted Waterhen baby.

Forum thread HERE

We spent a long time with the White-breasted Waterhen babies but I never had any luck with the pictures and we drove back to the hotel on the other side of the lily pond.

Pied Myna, Asian Pied Starling, Gracupica contra, นกอีแจว, Siamese Pied Myna, Gracupica floweri

Pied Myna fledgling

White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus, นกกวัก

Very young White-breasted Waterhen baby

Novotel, Chumphon, Thailand - June 2020

Very young White-breasted Waterhen baby

Novotel, Chumphon, Thailand - June 2020

Very young White-breasted Waterhen baby

Novotel, Chumphon, Thailand - June 2020

Today's track at Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club

eBird Report

Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club, Chumphon, TH Jun 30, 2020 13:15 - 16:30
Protocol: Traveling
8.01 kilometer(s)
14 species (+1 other taxa)

Feral Pigeon 2
Spotted Dove 3
White-breasted Waterhen 9 I Will post my picture on www.birdforum.org to see if it is a fledgling as I suspect
Red-wattled Lapwing 12 All pair and defending nest / young
Asian Openbill 1
Little Cormorant 4
Purple Heron 1
Intermediate Egret 2
pond heron sp. 2 Not in breeding plumage so not possible to ID (At least for me)
White-throated Kingfisher 4 At least 4, the golf course full of them and as I went around I could not get a correct figure as there was a chance for double count. So only counted first round trip
Indochinese Roller 5 At least 5, the golf course full of them and as I went around I could not get a correct figure as there was a chance for double count. So only counted first round trip
Asian Glossy Starling 15
Common Myna 25
Vinous-breasted Starling 11
Great Myna 25

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70977657

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

I was back at the hotel at 16:30 and I reminded them about the car for 6 thirty tomorrow and wakeup call at 4 and a reminder 15 minutes later. A shower and I was dead asleep at 7 o'clock

1 July 2020 and I woke up at five. What happened with the wakeup call? Did I fall asleep again? I went for breakfast at 6 and when I was in the reception there was no car. Where is the car? Of course, no one knew. I asked if they called me at 4 and she looked in a note book and she said that they had forgot to call me.

Never mind the wakeup call, but where is the car? And the early morning birding hours was fading away. And I was not happy sitting in the reception while the mosquitos had a feast on me while waiting for them to get news about my car.

I called Novotel before I booked to ask if they had car service.

- Yes, we have car service, 1500 Baht per day

- OK, I will book a room

On top of that I made a reminder in my online booking. And I reminded them before going to bed yesterday and no car! I was informed that the Mu Ko Chumphon National Park was closed until 10 o'clock. One car arrived and I asked the driver to go to one birding spot. The driver went out of the car and disappeared and he came back with 2 staff members from the reception.

They asked where the place was located, and I showed them on the map. They didn't knew even if I had the map, and it is close to the hotel. They asked when I wanted to be picked up. I told them that I rent the car for full day and I need the car all the time. Anyway, I gave up and I went to the golf club to see if they had any golf carts while doing bird watching.

Asian Openbill at the Lily pond

Asian Openbill

I see Openbills in the lily pond and when I walk along the pond, suddenly a Purple Heron takes off in front of me. Waterhens walking on the lilys on the pond and two Kingfishers in the trees. All carts were booked for the morning.

I walked down to the beach but no birds to see, but it was a beautiful view.

No birds on the beach

Today's track at Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club

eBird Report

Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club, Chumphon, TH Jul 1, 2020 07:30 - 08:20
Protocol: Traveling
0.86 kilometer(s)
10 species

Spotted Dove 1
Greater Coucal 1
Asian Koel 1 Heard only
White-breasted Waterhen 2
Red-wattled Lapwing 1
Asian Openbill 3
Purple Heron 1
White-throated Kingfisher 2
Common Myna 5
Great Myna 15

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S71003666

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

I cannot say that I was happy spending the morning in my room. I went to see the manager but he obviously didn't had any time for me. He should come and I gave him a 10 minutes courtesy wait and I left before the courtesy wait turned in to a 15 minutes humiliation. So there is a problem and the manager don't even bother to show up, that says it all.

The best thing with the hotel is the restaurant, the food is good if you disregard the breakfast. I went to have tea and smoked salmon before going to the golf club to see if they had any golf carts now. I see a few of them parked outside the club house so maybe I am lucky. They have carts available at 1 o'clock as they are charging the batteries now.

I checked out and I had tea and a pot of tea and a tiny chocolate mousse before going to pick up my golf cart.

Tea time

I met a new friend going to pick up the golf cart

I get the golf cart

Off to look for birds

The golf cart is fully charged and I could start the bird watching. I was told to park the golf cart at the hotel reception when I was ready. I said good bye and I took off towards the White-breasted Waterhen baby area.

I spotted the Purple Heron in the same tree as yesterday so I stopped to try to get a few pictures.

Purple Heron / นกกระสาแดง

White-breasted Waterhen

Today there were three White-breasted Waterhen babies but again, no picture. Looking for the Asian Pied Starling fledgling and I managed to get a picture of an adult White-breasted Waterhen. But no sign of the Asian Pied Starling fledgling.

Running along the course and there are Red-wattled Lapwings giving alarm calls while their young ones running for cover in the bushes. I drive towards the bridge over the small lake.

Listen to the Red-wattled Lapwing

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity

Driving around on the golf course with the golf cart when I record this bird. Many Red-wattled Lapwings around the golf course

Reaching every nook and corner of the golf course

Driving along the golf course

I drive around the golf course and I decide to cut over the golf course trying to sneak up on the White-breasted Waterhen babies. Again, they ran for cover and no pictures. I discovered the Purple Heron in the palm tree across the Lilly pond. I drive around the Lilly pond to try to get a picture.

The Purple Heron is sitting together with a Little Cormorant and I would like to have both birds on the same picture.

I got a picture and I drove around to the other side of the tree. There was some kind of training green that I could drive around. I discovered a Plain Prinia in the other tree on the green. I also got a few pictures of a Great Myna, a young one and the bird was not scared so I could get a picture.

Purple Heron / นกกระสาแดง

Purple Heron and Little Cormorant

Plain Prinia

Great Myna, Acridotheres grandis, นกเอี้ยงหงอน

Young Great Myna / นกเอี้ยงหงอน

Little Cormorant / นกกาน้ำเล็ก

Lesser Whistling Duck

I manage to get pictures of the Little Cormorant and I discover an Lesser Whistling Duck. I leave the area going back to have a look for the White-breasted Waterhen babies. No sign of the babies this time and I continued on my way.

I approached the bridge over the lake at the SE corner of the golf course. Approaching the bridge over the lake and I slow down and stop trying to get a picture of a Flameback flying across the track just in front of me. Landing in a tree but I never got a picture so I reported the bird as a Common / Greater Flameback.

Up on the bridge and there was a lot of swallows flying about. I had no clue what swallows it was until I got very, extremely lucky and one bird landed on the bridge rail just next to the golf cart.

Now I could see that it was a Pacific Swallow.

Pacific swallow, Hirundo tahitica, นกนางแอ่นแปซิฟิค

Pacific swallow / นกนางแอ่นแปซิฟิค - 1 July 2020

White-throated Kingfisher

Driving around the golf course

Vinous-breasted Starling

Listen to the Vinous-breasted Starling

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity

I approach the birds foraging on the lawn. The fly up in the tree and they make noises and we can hear when they fly away in the end

I see a Purple Heron neck sticking up the neck looking for food. The bird took off and landed 10 meters away. The bird sneak down to the pond again and I went to the other side of the pond and I got a picture of the heron in the grass.

I spot a pipit on the lawn and it turned out to be a Paddyfield Pipit. And as it is next to impossible to see the difference between the pipits I played the bird song. Looked to be a Paddyfield Pipit so I played the Paddyfield Pipit song and the bird reacted. So now I know it is a Paddyfield Pipit.

I use the same technique with the warblers as they easy react to the bird song.

Purple Heron / นกกระสาแดง

Purple Heron move to a new spot

Purple Heron at the new spot

Paddyfield Pipit, Oriental Pipit, Anthus rufulus, นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก

Paddyfield Pipit / นกเด้าดินทุ่งเล็ก - 1 July 2020
eBird hotspot: Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club, Chumphon

Blue-throated Bee-eater, a bird I have never seen before in Thailand, only seen in Malaysia, so this was fun. First time I saw the bird it was in the shadow and the light was no good. But when I came back the second time the bird was in the sunshine. I was happy with the pictures and I left.

When I picked up the golf cart I asked for any battery indicator but the girl told me that the battery would last for 2 to 3 hours. After three and a half the cart started to have a hard time taking me around the golf course, especially when driving on the grass.

Blue-throated Bee-eater, Merops viridis, นกจาบคาคอสีฟ้า

Blue-throated Bee-eater / นกจาบคาคอสีฟ้า

I pushed the cart back up on the concrete track and I could drive 100 meters before it stopped. I waited a minute or two and I could drive until the next curve when the track went “uphill” 50 cm level difference and I had to push the cart again.

I had to stop 4 times more before I could finally park the golf cart at the reception.

Last stop before the reception

Today's track at Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club

eBird Report

Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club, Chumphon, TH Jul 1, 2020 12:48 - 16:53
Protocol: Traveling
10.01 kilometer(s)
25 species (+3 other taxa)

Lesser Whistling-Duck 1
Spotted Dove 6
Greater Coucal 2
Green-billed Malkoha 1
Asian Koel 2
White-breasted Waterhen 16 Three very young babies
Red-wattled Lapwing 14 Two baby
Asian Openbill 3
Little Cormorant 2
Purple Heron 1
Intermediate Egret 1
pond heron sp. 3
White-throated Kingfisher 2
Blue-throated Bee-eater 1
bee-eater sp. 1
Indochinese Roller 2
Greater/Common Flameback 1
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo 2 Look like courtship
Plain Prinia 1
Pacific Swallow 20
Yellow-vented Bulbul 1
Streak-eared Bulbul 2
Asian Pied Starling 17
Common Myna 28
Vinous-breasted Starling 14
Great Myna 30
Scaly-breasted Munia 4
Paddyfield Pipit 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S71010589

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Salmon and tea for dinner

I went to the restaurant to have my dinner waiting for my friend to pick me up. The salmon is excellent in the restaurant so I enjoyed my time waiting. We left Chumphon around 7 o'clock in the evening and we expect to be at Dhevan Dara Beach Villa, Kuiburi around 10 o'clock.

Checking in to Dhevan Dara Beach Villa in Kuiburi was not a nice experience.
“Do you have a booking?”
“Yes”
I had booked via internet and I had give my card details

“Your booking is in progress”
“What the duck does that me?”
The hotel was full on my last night and I asked why they had not informed me about this. They asked about my credit card when I booked and that means that they had accepted my booking. Otherwise, 100% of the time and I have booked many many hotel rooms, they confirm the booking or inform that the room is not available.

But not at Dhevan Dara Beach Villa, if they had informed me that the room was not available I would have booked another hotel and they would have lost 3 nights. But they had a room available for the first night for my friend. He will continue to Bangkok 5 o'clock tomorrow morning to reach work in time.

Thai schools opening tomorrow so he will also send his son to school. I asked for a wakeup call at 4 o'clock and the car will come to pick me up at 8. Could not come earlier and I was a wee bit disappointed. Anyway, click HERE to find out if I see any birds and elephants tomorrow.

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