Simon and Karen Spavin: February 2018

Monday, February 26, 2018

Our recent trip to Thailand

Just back from a month in Thailand and feeling the cold ! We had booked our guide 'Games' of South Thailand Birding to take us on their North and Central Thailand birding trip. She was a fabulous guide, always trying her hardest to find all the birds for us and was a genuinely nice person. We visited many places, most of which have blurred into one. I can't tell you any of the hotels we stayed at as we always arrived in darkness and left before light the following day - just as it should be a on decent birding trip. The places we visited included Chiang Rai, Chiang Saen, Fang Hot Springs, Thaton Paddy Fields, Doi Lang, Doi Ang Khang, Doi Chang Dao, Doi Inthanon, Mae Ping, Mae Wong, Khao Yai, Bueng Boraphet, Laem Pak Bia and Kaeng Krachan. Many places from high mountain woodlands, to mangroves and salt pans. Maximum places with maximum birds. A brilliant trip which gave us a staggering 436 birds, of which 220 were lifers and 13 new mammals.

Me and Simon had 4 days in Bangkok before the birding trip where we stayed in a lovely riverside hotel and did all the touristy things. Shopping, eating, temples, the day at Bungsamran fishing was brilliant and of course, no trip to Bangkok is complete without the Lady Boy show ! A brilliant holiday xx

Laem Pak Bia Sand Spit with Mr Daeng

Asian Dowitcher in centre

Asian Dowitcher feeding (with back to us)

Great Knot

Malaysian Plover

Nordmann's Greenshank that spent 99% of the time asleep. It lifted it's head out for a single minute before tucking it back in again. This was on the flood inbetween the salt pans and the sand spit.

Nordmann's Greenshank

White-faced Plover

PLASTIC ! If every bird guide brought a bag with them everytime they visited this sand spit, they could soon have this plastic and polystyrene picked up and removed. There is a sign to say 'Critically endangered birds breed here'.....where ? Inbetween the plastic dump? Do the locals not see this rubbish that arrives with every tide ? It was disgraceful and the beach and mangrove were littered with it.

Paradise....and covered in birds ! Now, what will happen if the tide comes in. I did panic slightly !

One of the many cats that were in Mr Daeng's boat-house. It was beautiful, just look at those eyes, mesmerising.

What a brilliant, birding day. Boy did we see some good stuff. We started the day off with Spoonbill Sandpiper and all the other goodies at the salt pans, we then moved onto the flooded area for Nordmann's Greenshank and then onto Mr Daeng's for a boat ride out to the sand spit for Malaysian Plover, White-faced Plover, Great Knot, Chinese Egret, Long-toed Stint, Red-necked Stint, the list is endless and it was fantastic. What an amazing day !

Asiatic Wild Dog (Dhole), Kaeng Krachan, Thailand

We were on our way out of the park when Simon shouted 'STOP' and we couldn't believe our luck when we saw this wild dog just stood there staring at us. Engine was immediately turned off and windows opened before he turned and was soon heading away. But we have never seen a wild dog before, he was fantastic. He must have been the head dog of the pack to warrant all that satellite tracking round his neck but he didn't seem bothered by it at all.

Further down the road we saw another dog, very distant, but that immediately walked into the scrub.

A perfect end to a days birding !

White-Handed Gibbon, Khao Yai, Thailand

We had been hearing gibbons all morning but could only get glimpses of them moving through the trees. We were so lucky to see a family quite close to us but always in the thick tree canopy. Our very first gibbons.