On the 22-23rd of July 2008 I had the honor of taking out Mary Keith from the US on a trip to the wetlands of Petburi province for a morning as well as an afternoon and a morning to Kaengkrachan National Park.

Mary was on a tight work schedule but was keen on seeing as much as possible of Thai birds since this was her first visit to SEA.
I picked her up early in the morning and we headed to the wetlands.
Along the way we picked up the normal birds coming out of their night roosts: Openbills,
Black-crowned Night-Herons, Cattle Egret, Common and White-vented Mynas.
As we approached our first serious stop by the open fields of Petburi we started seeing more interesting things. There were no less then 3 colonies of weavers within 100 meters along the roadside. Baya, Asian Golden and Streaked Weavers were all very busy tending to their young ones. This stop revealed several other species such as Yellow Bitterns in abundance, several Cinnamon Bitterns, a Chestnut-headed Munia and Plain-backed Sparrows being amongst the ‘better ones’. At a short stop for a drink we had a calling Chestnut-capped Babbler in the tall grasses next to the shop. A short play back from the MP3 and the bird was in full view. Lovely bird indeed!

We kept seeing various wetland birds along the way as we drove towards Lampakbia.
The waders are not back here yet but we were hoping for a few resident birds or early arrivals. At the shore near the sandspit of Landpakbia we managed to find a pair of Malaysian Sand Plovers, resident birds of Thailand. A flock of Little Terns with some Whiskered Terns was a nice treat. A couple of Lesser Sand Plovers and a white morph of Pacific Reef Egret were other good ones.

The Kings research mangrove project didn’t let us down as we had good looks of Indian Cormorant, Golden-bellied Gerygone, Little-ringed Plover, Common Redshank, Collared Kingfisher, Paddyfield Pipits, Painted Stork, Red-wattled Lapwing and Javan Pond Herons.

A nice lunch at the beach and off we went to Kaengkrachan National Park for the afternoon. We were spared the expected rains and were treated to a huge fruiting fig tree full of birds. A flock of atleast 20 Pied Hornbills were very obvious. Many Thick-billed Pigeons (boy, are they colorful!), Green-eared and Blue-eared Barbets, Asian Fairy Bluebird, several Bulbul species, Brown-cheeked Fulvettas were amongst the birds feeding on the tree. Oh, yes, a pair of Great Hornbills as well.

The night was spent at Maka Resort. It was my first stay there and a pleasant one it was.
Thank you Nick for arranging it!

Following morning we re-entered the park. As usual tropical forests has the habit of revealing its secrets gradually. Thus we kept adding this and adding that as we drove along. Highlights were Great Slaty Woodpecker, Streak-breasted Woodpecker, Orange-breasted Trogon, Banded and Dusky Broadbills and then in the very end of the morning my own very lifer: Black-backed Kingfisher!

Here is a list of the birds we saw:

1. Little Grebe - a pair
2. Lesser Whistling Duck – a pair in flight
3. Indian Cormorant – half a dozen
4. Little Cormorant - numerous
5. Grey Heron - 1 only
6. Javan Pond Heron - plenty
7. Cattle Egret - numerous
8. Pacific Reef Egret – 1 white morph
9. Great Egret - several
10. Little Egret - numerous
11. Little Heron – 1 only
12. Black Bittern (perched and in flight) 2-3
13. Black-crowned Night Heron - several
14. Cinnamon Bittern - 4-5
15. Yellow Bittern - 8-10
16. Painted Stork - 2
17. Asian Openbill - numerous
18. Black-shouldered Kite – 1 only
19. Brahimy Kite - 2
20. Besra – 1 perched beautifully near Maka resort
21. Crested Serpent Eagle (heard only)
22. Junglefowl - 6
23. Grey Peacock Pheasent (Peter only) -1
24. White-breasted Waterhen -3
25. Red-wattled Lapwing – several
26. Wood Sandpiper – 6
27. Little Ringed Plover - 1
28. Lesser Sand Plover - 2
29. Malaysian Plover -2
30. Common Redshank -3
31. Black-winged Stilt -numerous
32. Little Tern – a dozen
33. Whiskered Tern - half a dozen
34. Thick-billed Pigeon – 50+
35. Emerald Dove – 1 only
36. Spotted Dove – numerous
37. Zebra Dove - numerous
38. Red Turtle Dove –numerous
39. Rock Pigeons - several
40. Green-billed Malkoha - 6
41. Greater Coucal – numerous
42. Asian Koel – 1 only (brief flight views)
43. Asian Barred Owlet – 1 only
44. Orange-breasted Trogon - 2
45. Collared Kingfisher -3
46. White-throated Kingfisher - 4
47. Black-backed Kingfisher - 2
48. Banded Kingfisher (heard only)
49. Green Bee-eater - 5
50. Blue-tailed Bee-eater -4
51. Blue-bearded Bee-eater - 2
52. Indian Roller - several
53. Pied Hornbills – 20+
54. Great Hornbill - 2
55. Green-eared Barbet - several
56. Blue-eared Barbet - 3
57. Common Flameback -2
58. Great Slaty Woodpecker-3
59. Buff-rumped Woodpecker -4
60. Streak-breasted Woodpecker-3
61. Banded Broadbill-1
62. Dusky Broadbill-4
63. Blue Pitta (heard only)
64. Rusty-naped Pitta (heard only)
65. Germain’s Swiftlet-several
66. Himalayan Swiftlet-several
67. Asian Palm Swift - common
68. Brown-backed Needletail-2
69. Barnswallow-6
70. Rufous-winged Bushlark-1 only
71. Paddyfield Pipit -4
72. Grey Wagtail -2
73. Common Iora (heard only)
74. Black-crested Bulbul -2
75. Stripe-throated Bulbul - 3
76. Buff-vented Bulbul -6
77. Streak-eared Bulbul -6
78. Sooty-headed Bulbul -10
79. Ocraceous Bulbul -8
80. Black Drongo -10
81. Bronzed Drongo -8
82. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo -4
83. Hair-crested Drongo – 6
84. Asian Fairy Bluebird - 4
85. Green Magpie -2
86. Large-billed Crow -4
87. Sultan Tit -1 only
88. Puff-throated Babbler – 1 seen many heard
89. Striped Tit Babbler -5
90. Rufous-fronted Babbler -2
91. Abbott’s Babbler -1
92. Chestnut-capped Babbler (seen very well) -1
93. White-browed Scimitar-Babbler -1
94. Large Scimitar Babbler (seen well with LT) -1
95. Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush -8
96. Brown-cheeked Fulvetta -5
97. Grey-breasted Prinia -1 only
98. Plain Prinia - several
99. Dark-necked Tailorbird – 3 seen many heard
100. Common Tailorbird (heard only)
101. Golden-bellied Gerygone – 1 seen, many heard
102. Magpie Robin -5
103. White-rumped Shama -3
104. Hainan Blue Flycatcher -1
105. Black-naped Monarch -1
106. Ashy Wood Swallow -several
107. Asian Pied Starling - several
108. Common Myna - numerous
109. White-vented Myna -numerous
110. Brown-throated Sunbird – 1 only
111. Ruby-cheeked Sunbird – a pair
112. Yellow-vented Flowerpecker -2
113. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker -4
114. Eurasian Tree Sparrow -numerous
115. Plain-backed Sparrow - 4
116. Baya Weaver – 50+
117. Streaked Weaver - 30+
118. Asian Golden Weaver - 20+
119. Scaly-breasted Munia - several
120. Chestnut Munia – 1 only

Not a bad account for such a short trip with hardly any migrants back yet.