Bird watching in Mahachai, Thailand - 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.

6 June 2020

Introduction

I was up at 4 and I the taxi will be here at 6 o'clock and we will drive to Mahachai to check out the eBird hotspots in the area. The Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center is a famous birding place and I was there 4 years ago. So I will go back today and I will check out the eBird hotspots in the area. There are 6 of them:

1) Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center II vicinity

2) Samut Maneerat salt pans (restricted access)

3) Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Krasa Khao

4) Wat Sutthiwat Wararam (Wat Chong Lom)

5) Ban Laem Railway Station

6) Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area (general area)

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

Guide

I usually don't use any bird watching Guide in / around Bangkok. But could be a good idea to have a Guide to help me identify all the birds I see. As it is now my eBird checklists are not very impressive as I can only ID half of the birds I see.

Land transportation

You will need a car and if you don't have your own a taxi is a very convenient way of travelling. Depending on the early morning traffic it will take about one hour to reach Mahachai. You rent the taxi for a full day and it will set you back with about 2000-3000 Baht (May 2020) depending on distances etc. And of course, depending on your negotiation skills.

The highway between Bangkok and Mahachai is good and it is easy to reach the hotspots. Some of the roads along the salt pans can turn in to mud during rain.

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

Weather, I don´t know if Bangkok is the hottest capital in the world. But this is what they say and I have no reason to doubt this information because it is darn hot.

Bangkok, Thailand - Climate & Temperature

Pictures from www.climatemps.com

Bangkok, Thailand - Climate & Temperature - Click picture for full size

Pictures from www.climatemps.com

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

Mahachai

eBird hotspots in Mahachai

Samut Sakhon

Samut Sakhon (Thai: สมุทรสาคร, is a City in Thailand, capital of Samut Sakhon Province. It is a stop on the Maeklong Railway. Samut Sakhon is 48 km from Bangkok. It is part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region.

Name
Samut Sakhon was formerly called Tha Chin (Chinese Pier) probably because, in the old days, it had been a trading port for a vast number of Chinese junks. In 1548, a City named Sakhon Buri was established at the mouth of the Tha Chin River. It was a center for recruiting troops from various seaside towns.

The name of the City was changed to Mahachai when Klong (canal) Mahachai was dug in 1704 to connect the Tha Chin River to the City. Later, the City was renamed Samut Sakhon by King Rama IV but it is still popularly called Mahachai by its residents.

From Wikipedia

Covering an area of over 6 square kilometers, the Mahachai Mangrove Forest Natural Resource Study Center is an educational and research hub highlighting the delicate but essential mangrove eco-system. There is a nature trail along the mangrove forest around the Tha Chin Estuary for nature-lovers, as well as a camping ground for those more adventurous.

You can find many eBird hotspots at ebird.org

I will the eBird hotspots in the Mahachai area today, have a look at the hotspots by CLICKING the names below:

• Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center II vicinity

• Samut Maneerat salt pans (restricted access)

• Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Krasa Khao

• Wat Sutthiwat Wararam (Wat Chong Lom)

• Ban Laem Railway Station

• Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area (general area)

Today's eBird hotspots in Chonburi

Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area - Mahachai Mangrove
Forest Learning & Development Center II vicinity

About 52 km from the Sukhumvit / Asoke intersection in DOWN TOWN Bangkok

Scan for map to Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center

Or show the driver a map. Click HERE for a map to Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center

To get here, just follow RAMA II, highway #35 and keep to the left side crossing the bridge over the Tha Chin River. As soon as you are over the bridge you should turn left on the first road. From there it is about 10 to 15 minutes to reach Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center. Cross the bridge and you continue until you reach the Samut Sakhon Provincial Police Station. Here you turn right and it is straight south until you reach the mangroves.

You drive through the town until you reach the mangrove, about 1km to go to Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center. Start the eBird app when you reach the mangroves on your left hand side and slow down and look for birds. And as the hotspot is named “vicinity” I keep the app running from the mangroves all the way south to the area where the road goes just next to the Gulf of Thailand, or the mudflats during low water.

Turn left and enter the Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center. There is a parking and you can walk out to the mangroves and mudflats on board walks

Bird watching/ birding at Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center, Thailand

Bamboo bridge over the mangrove (Picture from February 2016)

Concrete bridge over the mangrove (Picture from February 2016)

Wuhan Virus - JUNE 2020

I don't know if it was due to the Wuhan Virus, but the Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center was closed so I had to use pictures from when I was here back in February 2016.

There are a lot of fish ponds along the dirt track going south from the Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center. You drive along the mangroves on your left hand side for a KM or two the road goes along the sea front, or at low water the mudflats. There are dirt tracks that you can drive on between the fish ponds on the right hand side.

Bird watching/ birding at Mahachai, Thailand

Board walk over the mudflats

Dirt track along the water front

Driving along the fishponds

Samut Maneerat salt pans (restricted access)

Samut Maneerat salt pans is located west of the Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center and it takes around 10 minutes to get there. And it is pretty much as all the other salt pans areas I have been to. Maybe because of the low water, but here was not many birds to be seen as the salt pans were empty.

But during the winter when the birds are coming back from Europe it might be worth a visit.

Driving along the salt pans

A beautiful area

Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Krasa Khao

This hotspot starts pretty much where the hotspot “Samut Maneerat salt pans”ends. Pretty much the same habitat. But there is a dirt track along the mangroves behind the barrier. When I was here (June 2020) they did some construction and we could only get half way along the track.

The area I covered and there was not really any access to the sea front from the paved road.

Driving along the dirt track

Drive along pans and ponds

Wat Sutthiwat Wararam (Wat Chong Lom)

Never visited this hot spot. I went but I could just see a temple so I never bothered looking for any birds here.

Ban Laem Railway Station

You come to the railway station through a small road and it is not obvious that the road lead to a train station as it may look like a dead end. Cross the rail and walk to the left and at the end of the track you see a small wooden pier reaching maybe 20 meters out in the river.

Walk along the concrete wall following the river and you are soon at a scrap yard. Outside the concrete wall you have mudflats during low water. The only birds I saw on the mud flats were Feral Pigeons. Walk through a scrap yard and the concrete was continues and a track to walk along.

If you like trains it might be worth a visit to come here, otherwise not much exciting is happening here.

The train station

You reach the river behind the train station

Walk along the river

Scrap yard

Mud flat and river on the other side of the concrete wall

Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area (general area

Last eBird checklist before I came today was back in February 2013 and before that it was in 2011 and then nothing between 1988 and 2011. We left road # 3423 going south towards the sea front. We had to drive through a gate, a huge pink gate making me think about a castle in Las Vegas.

Anyway, passing this gate and I had expected a well maintained area, but everything was run down and the sea front restaurant was, well, I will not eat there.

The whole area looked to have been left to fall in to decay and I was for sure not going to walk on the concrete bridge, about 100 m long going out over the mud flats.

Turn right just before the parking area and you can follow a dirt track along the mangroves. And darn! It is more garbage than mangroves, I will not waste my time coming here again.

Driving towards the water front

Parking area

Bridge over the mud flats

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.

Samut Sakhon bird 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

6 June 2020 and my first stop will be at the eBird hotspot: Ban Laem Railway Stationand I was surprised to suddenly discover the station behind some buildings. It had looked to be a dead end, but the station was the dead end. No parking so I went out and the taxi driver took care of the car.

Coming out from the taxi and the area was for sure not looking like a birding site. I walked towards the end of the track, about 50 meter from where I got out of the taxi. I discovered that there was a small wooden pier. I don't want to call it a road, more like a dirt / mud path along the concrete wall between the river and the dirt / mud path.

Streak-eared Bulbul

Birding/ Bird watching at Ban Laem Railway Station, Mahachai, Thailand - Great Egret

Great Egret in the floating water hyacinth

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Birding/ Bird watching at Ban Laem Railway Station, Mahachai, Thailand - Javan Pond Heron

Javan Pond Heron in the floating water hyacinth

Water hyacinth

Eichhornia crassipes, commonly known as common water hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to the Amazon basin, and is often a highly problematic invasive species outside its native range.

Water hyacinth has been widely introduced in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and New Zealand. In many areas it has become an important and pernicious invasive species. In New Zealand it is listed on the National Pest Plant Accord which prevents it from being propagated, distributed or sold.

In large water areas such as Louisiana, the Kerala Backwaters in India, Tonlé Sap in Cambodia and Lake Victoria it has become a serious pest. The common water hyacinth has become an invasive plant species on Lake Victoria in Africa after it was introduced into the area in the 1980s.

When not controlled, water hyacinth will cover lakes and ponds entirely; this dramatically affects water flow and blocks sunlight from reaching native aquatic plants which often die. The decay processes depletes dissolved oxygen in the water, often killing fish.

The plants also create a prime habitat for mosquitos, the classic vectors of disease, and a species of snail known to host a parasitic flatworm which causes schistosomiasis (snail fever). Directly blamed for starving subsistence farmers in Papua New Guinea, water hyacinth remains a major problem where effective control programs are not in place.

Water hyacinth is often problematic in man-made ponds if uncontrolled, but can also provide a food source for goldfish, keep water clean and help to provide oxygen.

Water hyacinth often invades bodies of water that have already been affected by human activities. For example, the plants can unbalance natural lifecycles in artificial reservoirs or in eutrophied lakes that receive large amounts of nutrients.

From Wikipedia

Read more in Bangkok Post:

War on weed

Water hyacinths to be cleared from Chao Phraya (Updated)

I could only see Feral Pigeons on the mud flats but there was egrets and herons sitting in the floating Water hyacinth in the river. Otherwise there was not much of bird life in the area. Walking back and I spotted Malaysian Pied-Fantails and I spotted two Oriental Magpie-Robins at the train station when walking back to the taxi.

Very young Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Oriental Magpie Robin

Birding/ Bird watching at Ban Laem Railway Station, Mahachai, Thailand

Today's track at Ban Laem Railway Station

eBird Report

Ban Laem Railway Station, Samut Sakhon, TH Jun 6, 2020 06:52 - 07:26
Protocol: Traveling
0.77 kilometer(s)
Checklist Comments: I make the first ever check list from this hotspot. I really don't understand why this have become an eBird hotspot: . Mostly scrapyard
12 species

Feral Pigeon 25
Red Collared Dove 1
Zebra Dove 5
Whiskered Tern 1
Little Cormorant 2
Great White Egret 1
Little Egret 1
Javan Pond Heron 1
Malaysian Pied-Fantail 3
Streak-eared Bulbul 2
Oriental Magpie-Robin 2
Eurasian Tree Sparrow 18

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70098147

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

We left the train station and we passed the eBird hotspot: Wat Sutthiwat Wararam (Wat Chong Lom)I could only see a temple so I decided to skip this hotspot and I asked the taxi driver to go to Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center. The Center was closed, maybe because the Wuhan Virus.

I find it strange that all national parks are closed, but the markets etc. is open. Anyway, we drive past the Centre following the dirt track and we have the mangroves on the left hand side and fish farms/ ponds on our right hand side.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Oriental Magpie Robin

Chestnut Munia

Scaly-breasted Munia

Chestnut Munia, Lonchura atricapilla, นกกระติ๊ดสีอิฐ

Chestnut Munia / นกกระติ๊ดสีอิฐ

The mangrove came to an end and we were driving along the water front, now turned in to mud flats as it was low water. Not many birds on the mud flats, 3 Black-winged Stilts and a pond heron. We were soon approaching a bit of the road that looked to be trouble if we wanted to pass.

We turned around and we drove back turning left at the first dirt track leading out to the fish ponds / farms. A purple Heron was the most exciting to be seen around the ponds. A very scared bird and it took off before I had a chance to get a picture. Driving back and the taxi driver spotted the bird sticking up the neck.

There were 2 Prinia in one of the bushes and I managed to get one picture. One picture is enough as I already have many pictures of the Plain Prinia. Coming here and we had a Striated heron on the dirt track but I never got any picture.

Plain Prinia, Prinia inornata, นกกระจิบหญ้าสีเรียบ

Plain Prinia / นกกระจิบหญ้าสีเรียบ

Striated Heron looking for fish

Purple Heron

We drove back towards the Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center along the mangrove and we turn left out on another dirt track when we reach the Mangrove Centre. We see two Cormorants sitting in a tree between two ponds. One looked much bigger than the other and I thought it was a Little and a Great Cormorant.

I noted the record in eBird and the Greater Cormorant had never been reported before. Back home I decided that it was a Indian Cormorant after having consulting my book.

Little and Indian Cormorant

Indian Cormorant or Indian Shag, Phalacrocorax fuscicollis, นกกาน้ำปากยาว

Indian Cormorant or Indian Shag / นกกาน้ำปากยาว

Indian Cormorant or Indian Shag / นกกาน้ำปากยาวi

Indian Cormorant or Indian Shag / นกกาน้ำปากยาว

Yellow-bellied Prinia

Birding/ Bird watching at Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center, Thailand

Today's track at Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center

eBird Report

Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center II vicinity, Samut Sakhon, TH Jun 6, 2020 07:39 - 09:51
Protocol: Traveling
8.61 kilometer(s)
Checklist Comments: Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center was closed, maybe due to the Wuhan Virus
22 species (+1 other taxa)

Zebra Dove 6
Plaintive Cuckoo X Heard only
Black-winged Stilt 2
tern sp. 4
Little Cormorant 7
Indian Cormorant 4
Purple Heron 1
Great White Egret 4
Little Egret 3
Javan Pond Heron 5
Striated Heron 2
Collared Kingfisher 4
Malaysian Pied-Fantail 2
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo 1
Yellow-bellied Prinia 1
Plain Prinia 2
Asian Pied Starling 3
Common Myna 2
Great Myna 13
Oriental Magpie-Robin 2
Scaly-breasted Munia 11
Chestnut Munia 5
Eurasian Tree Sparrow 5

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70102188

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

We left Mahachai Mangrove Forest Learning & Development Center and it took about 10 minutes to reach the eBird hotspot: Samut Maneerat salt pans. I see a Black-winged Stilt family, 2 adults and 3 babies on the salt pan. They walked on the salt pan just next to the road and it was nice to watch them.

We follow the dust road and we have the salt pans on the left hand side and on the right hand side we have a small canal and houses. On the other side of the houses there is a paved road.

Birding/ Bird watching at Samut Maneerat salt pans, Thailand

Black-winged Stilts

Leaving the dust road, turning right and after 50 meters we are on the paved road. We get out between the ponds and in one of the ponds we spotted 100 ++ cormorants. I estimated that it was about 50/50 Little and Indian Cormorants. We managed to get close to the birds to get some pictures that I was happy with even though the birds was between me and the sun.

Otherwise there was not much to see here. Egrets and Black-winged Stilts of course, otherwise empty ponds and we didn't see anything until we reached the north side of the ponds driving along a paved road lined with houses.

Baby Asian Koel

Indian Cormorant or Indian Shag / นกกาน้ำปากยาว

Driving along the road lined with houses on both sides and ponds behind them on both sides of the road. I can see grey winged terns flying over the pond but I cannot ID them so I just reported them as terns in my eBird app. Collared Kingfisher was feeding in the small canal west of the pond.

We spotted the kingfisher driving west of the pond between the salt pans and the ponds.

Today's track at Samut Maneerat salt pans

eBird Report

Samut Maneerat salt pans (restricted access), Samut Sakhon, TH Jun 6, 2020 09:59 - 11:31
Protocol: Traveling
11.9 kilometer(s)
12 species (+1 other taxa)

Red Collared Dove 25 15 on wire. 10 under in the field doing courtship
Zebra Dove 6
Greater Coucal 3
Asian Koel 1 Juvenile that could only fly a few meters at the time
Black-winged Stilt 18 One family 2 parent 3 baby
tern sp. 5 Grey wings, could not ID
Little Cormorant 50
Indian Cormorant 50 Together with Little Cormorants
Great White Egret 7
Little Egret 100
Collared Kingfisher X
Oriental Magpie-Robin 3
Eurasian Tree Sparrow 3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70103955

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

Driving west on the paved road and I stopped my eBird track and I restarted the app but now tracking the hotspot Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Krasa Khao. We continued on the paved road looking for dirt tracks we could get out on to explore the area. We found one going between the salt pans and the mangrove. Driving along the barrier looking for birds and we soon had to turn around as the road turned in to nothing at a construction site.

Not many birds, a Javan Pond Heron and one Collared Kingfisher. We didn't found any more roads to get out in the wilderness. Time turned quickly and it is time to get back to Bangkok, and we have one more eBird hotspot: to check out.

Birding/ Bird watching at Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Krasa Khao, Thailand

Today's track at Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Krasa Khao

eBird Report

Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area--Krasa Khao, Samut Sakhon, TH Jun 6, 2020 11:31 - 12:03
Protocol: Traveling
5.78 kilometer(s)
6 species

Zebra Dove 3
Little Cormorant 4
Javan Pond Heron 1
Collared Kingfisher 1
Great Myna 2
House Sparrow 2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70104506

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

We turned around and we started to drive back towards east, crossing the bridge over Tha Chin River. We turned south towards Gulf of Thailand when we had crossed the Tha Chin River. We drove through a big gate, pink coloured and Las Vegas castle style so I expected this area to be some kind of upscale resort area.

But the road turned to, well, still paved but looking like the maintenance stopped 10 years ++ ago. Driving towards the sea front and here was nothing fancy, or anything looking like an “upscale” anything. Reaching the parking area and we discovered an area that had been left to fall in to decay.

There is an 100 meter long concrete bridge going out over the mud flats. But after having seen the collapsed concrete water front walk path I never went out on the bridge.

Birding/ Bird watching at Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area (general area), Thailand

Female Asian Golden Weaver

Just before reaching the parking there are a dirt track on the right hand side. Driving along the mangrove was not the experience I had been hoping for. More garbage than mangrove and this area was a disappointment and I hardly doubt that I will ever come back.

Clean up the area and it would easily become a gorgeous area to spend time looking for birds.

Today's track at Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area (general area)

eBird Report

Phanthai Norasing Non-hunting Area (general area), Samut Sakhon, TH Jun 6, 2020 12:52 - 13:19
Protocol: Traveling
2.81 kilometer(s)
10 species

Feral Pigeon 2
Zebra Dove 2
Plaintive Cuckoo 1 Heard only
Black-winged Stilt 5
Little Cormorant 1
Collared Kingfisher 2
Oriental Magpie-Robin 1
Asian Golden Weaver 2
House Sparrow 3
Plain-backed Sparrow 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70105412

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

Drive back to Bangkok and we made a stop for ice cream. It was very hot, maybe the reason for me not seeing many birds as the bird to seek refuge in the shadows. So it was very nice to get back home to have a shower.

Stop for ice cream

Next birding will be Phetchaburi Rice Fields, a famous area and I have not been there for 4 years so I will go to explore some of the eBird hotspots. Click HERE to find out if I see any birds.

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