10/05/2023 -Huai Chum Chang, _ Kalasin Province.

Midday saw Paul out to the NW from home engaged in a bit of list boosting up here where he logged 18 species in an hour and also spent time enjoying a passage of 40 Whiskered Terns.
Earlier he had travelled west into Roi Et where on 08/05/23 Shaun Green (the most active birder in that province) had watched 4 White-winged Terns at Laem Phayom. Last year at the same site (a day earlier on 07/05/22) Shaun had recorded 21 birds in 2 groups.
I am pretty sure that Paul has never seen White-winged Tern in Roi Et hence the reason for his visit and though he logged 16 Whiskered Terns at Laem Phayom not a single White-winged remained, so he moved on NW into Kalasin.

Just as Paul was about to leave for home he writes that 20 White-winged Terns flew in from the south so he was rewarded after all for his efforts - albeit in a different province to the one intended! 
A brief stop back at Laem Phayom en route home yielded 15 Whiskered Terns but still no more White-winged Terns for his Roi Et list. 
Cheers,

Mike P.

18/04/2023 Phu Chong Na Yoi Nat. Pk. Ubon Ratchathani.

A belated photo from Paul and Pens camping trip down into Phu Chong Na Yoi, depicting a rather fine shot of the quite common Green-eared Barbet, which we hear very often in well forested areas (as the voice travels across hundreds of metres) though we seldom get photo opportunities or clear views as good as this.

Cheers,

Mike P.

30/04/2023 - Phu Mu Forest Pk. - campsite area - Yasothon/Mukdahan province border.

A 07.30 start saw Paul here again hoping for passage migrants. 
In his first session he logged 23 species, highlights being:-

1Chinese Sparrowhawk

1 Blue-winged Pitta

5 Black-naped Orioles

8 Hair-crested Drongos

3 Greater-racket-tailed Drongos

4 Asian Brown Flycatchers (including one of the sub-species williamsoni (photographed) showing heavy diffuse flank streaking but clean unmarked undertail coverts which separate it from Dark-sided Flycatcher).

1 Forest Wagtail

2 Olive-backed Pipits

Regards,

Mike P.

26/04/2023 Phu Chong Na Yoi Nat.Pk. Ubon Ratchathani Province.

Paul and Pen arrived here mid afternoon for an overnight stay intent on exploring the general area on 27th (Thursday). As you do, they unwound from the drive from Yasothon with a shortish walk and were rewarded by finding and seeing briefly two birds approximately a kilometre apart - two Coral-billed Ground-Cuckoos (no less!) which both walked off the trail ahead of them. This species is high on the wish list of many birders (including me; - it is up there with Blue Pitta as one of my two most wanted species in Thailand - both world lifers which I have heard but never yet managed to see).

Other species seen were one each of Asian Koel, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Dollarbird, and the first Blue-winged Pitta of the year.

Later last evening at about 19.00 they were entertained by a calling Large-tailed Nightjar close to their campsite.

Cheers, Mike P.

12/04/2023 - Tham Pha Nam Thip - None Hunting area Roi Et Province.

Paul made a foray into Roi Et Province hoping for more cuckoo records recording 21 species in a 3 hour session but with no cuckoos involved. He did however strike lucky with another male Mugimaki Flycatcher and also managed a new species for the province list in the shape of a Forest Wagtail which he also photographed.
Those of you who know the species will recall the oddly eccentric way this bird moves around on the forest floor or forages among the leaf litter, swaying its tail rather stiffly from side to side as it proceeds.

Other notable birds were 2 Taiga Flycatchers (one sporting its red throat now) a Siberian Blue Robin and a fine adult White-throated Rock-Thrush.

Cheers,

Mike P.

April 9th and 10th - Boong Khla Community Forest, Yasothon Province.

With migration underway Paul has been lured back into this superb forest patch which has yielded up a number of Yellow-rumped Flycatchers of late and among 47 species there on 9th were a Dollarbird, and on wires in the adjacent village 12 Barn Swallows and 20 Red-rumped Swallows,  2 more Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, a single Taiga Flycatcher and 5 Siberian Blue Robins. However, best of all as a find was a vocalising Common (ie Eurasian) Cuckoo. No other visually similar palearctic cuckoo species calls as does our familiar bird. Paul failed to actually see the culprit so recorded it on the Ebird system as cuckoo sp to prevent it distorting his Thai life list;- therefore sadly it remains as a near miss.

He returned this morning hoping to catch sight of it but it either remained silent or has already moved on. He was however rewarded with a fine male Narcissus Flycatcher sporting its blazing yellow supercilium:- a bird new for him and which I have never seen anywhere myself. As the early evening light was inadequate he was unable to manage any photos.

Cheers,

Mike P.

With migration now underway through Yasothon Pauls focus has been on Boong Khla Community Forest over the last few days.

On April 1st he recorded a new species for Yasothon - a stunning male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and on a repeat visit this morning he found four more - three males and a female. Other species photographed were a female Blyths Paradise Flycatcher and an Abbotts Babbler, this latter with a possibly deformed upper mandible. 
Cheers,

Mike P.

21/03/2023 - 15- 15 - Na Weng, Ubon Ratchathani.

Paul and Pen enjoyed a couple of days in the east close to the Mekong river and also exploring a couple of forest sites with a close encounter with a new species not just for themselves but also what appears to be a first record for the eastern part of Isaan - a tentative presumed Himalayan Cuckoo. Im pretty sure that I have never seen this species anywhere myself though I am aware that four or five similar cuckoo species present identification challenges especially when silent. A photo is attached.
An hour here produced 17 species as follows:-

2 Greater Coucals

1 Asian Koel

1 Himalayan Cuckoo

1 Kentish Plover

1 Little Ringed Plover

8 Small Pratincoles

1 Grey Heron

1 Little Egret

3 Asian Green Bee-Eaters

1 Coppersmith Barbet

1 Black-winged Cuckooshrike

3 Large-billed Crows

6 Wire-tailed Swallows

2 Common Mynas

5 Great Mynas

1 Amur Stonechat

3 Pied Bushchats

Cheers,

Mike P.

06/03/2023 - Huai Chorakhe Mak reservoir none hunting area, - Buri Ram Province.

After several weeks of birding the immediately adjacent provinces of Yasothon Paul yielded to the temptation of a twitch into Buri Ram, the south westernmost province of Isaan where our winter trip in December had turned up a Dunlin and a White Wagtail of the ocularis form (only treated as a sub species, but entirely new for all four of us at that time).

He arrived on site at 10.30 am and was delighted to find the two Red-necked Phalaropes still present and obtained photos as well. -Always a delight to see these delicate waders and all the more so for Paul as they were new for his Thai and possibly world lists. In two and a half hours he logged 62 species here - highlights being 60 Oriental Pratincoles, 30 Painted Storks, 14 Indochinese Rollers, and most impressively 60 Glossy Ibises.

At 14.00 he spent an hour at Sanam Bin none hunting reserve searching in vain for a reported Curlew Sandpiper but did log in passing 19 species here which included an impressive 55 Painted Storks.

Prior to heading back to home he returned to the Phalarope site and while failing to find a reported Common Shelduck  he did find a couple of Wigeon now on site - the first province records since 1988.

08/02/2023 to 10/02 2023 Sakhon Nakhon Province trip.
PP and PF teamed up again for a three day blitz on this seldom visited province in NE Isaan.
Incidentally I forgot earlier to highlight Khon Kaen province on the map as I said, so apologies for that. Khon Kaen is 3 provinces directly west from Yasothon on the map under the initial A of Isaan as written.

The guys had many of the regular species on their trip as stocking fillers and boosted their personal lists to 150 for PF and 141 for PP to top the table for this province with a few new records for the province itself. Notable species were a Rufous Woodpecker which had been an entirely new species for me in January and a Cinereous Tit (both photographed  and shown below courtesy of PP and PF).

Two former sub-species of Great Tit are currently recognised on the Ebird system in Thailand as Japanese Tit (Parus minor) and Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus). Japanese Tit found only in the NW is simply a washed out form of Great Tit with hints of yellow only about the breast and yellow/green about the nape and upper mantle. Cinereous Tit seems even more washed out with the grey mantle/nape seemingly eliminating any yellow or green tones in this area of plumage.  To my eye both forms seem to show a thicker expanse of black about the throat and centre breast. The vocalisations are surely different otherwise these seem desperately weak splits from Great Tit and are likely still treated as sub-species by some taxonomic authorities.

Regards,

Mike P

02/02/2023 - Chulalongkorn University (general area) Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok).

From time to time normally furtive crake species can show a surprising and endearing innocence. Examples are the famous Sunderland Baillons Crake watched by observers at point blank range (which I didnt see) and the Kent Little Crake of March 1985 which foraged in a ditch and quite unconcerned regularly trotted over our feet.

Such a bird (in this case a first winter Slaty-legged Crake) turned up in the above University grounds at a small shrine near the veterinary facility, so mid afternoon saw Paul enjoying what for him was likely a new world species and which he describes as remarkably approachable. Photos attached: -

Cheers,

Mike P.

 Samut Sakhon -31/01/2023.

Paul has sent a few photographs of some of the 59 species we logged. One affords a comparative study of two Whiskered Terns keeping company with a Gull-billed Tern and a Brown-headed Gull which to my eye at least simply dwarfs the Whiskered Terns.

Other pics show Golden-bellied Gerygone (aka Flyeater), Mangrove Whistler, and Collared Kingfisher.

Cheers, Mike P.

30/01/2023 - Journey south to Bangkok (7.00 am start from Kut Chum).

After several refreshment stops en route prior to a longer lunch break, with Art and Paul sharing the driving, we finally by mid afternoon reached our main birding destination for the day - the Pathum Thani Rice Research Centre.

In yet another new province for all of us we logged 44 species (main details to follow).The site is quite extensive with a mix of newly planted rice paddies, other fields seemingly left fallow - some quite dry with others quite overgrown and marshy - in other words - a good mix.
Well into our birding we noticed in the distance some Thai birders/photographers erecting small hides in the corner of what turned out to be a very dry field with either long grass or what looked like tall uncut rice about six feet high. We drove over and not only were warmly welcomed but provided with a hide for two which Paul and Pen occupied while Barb Art and I chose to view the proceedings from the car.

Apparently one of the locals (possibly the owner of this particular field) has provided a metal drinking bowl sunk slightly into the earth and baits the small area with fish bait type worms. Once everyone was settled the first birds soon arrived - an Amur Stonechat, a couple of Plain Prinias, a Black Drongo, a Brown Shrike, and a nuisance in the form of a Chinese Pond Heron, which proceeded to hoover up as many worms as possible at each visit before exiting stage left like a pantomime villain into the very tall dense cover. The Drongo too was becoming rather a nuisance for the same reason. Things then picked up a little with a female Bluethroat making repeat visits then a class act in the shape of a Slaty-breasted Rail which gave Paul some good photo opportunities.

Two main targets however failed to appear - Eastern Water Rail (aka Brown-cheeked Rail) and Painted Snipe which still eludes me in Thailand. The rail is a split from our familiar bird and looks very close in plumage terms though its call is quite different.

Other notable species among the usual common herons, egrets, munias and sparrows were: - 

400 Black-winged Stilts

15 Red-wattled Lapwings

30 Spotted Redshanks

40 Wood Sandpipers

12 Marsh Sandpipers

5 Greenshanks

5 Whiskered Terns

80 Asian Openbills

1 Black-headed Ibis

1 Black-winged Kite

1 White-throated Kingfisher

2 Blue-tailed Bee-eater

6 Indochinese Rollers

1 Black-naped Oriole

18 Eastern Yellow Wagtails (a good count and all in the same field - mainly macronyx sub sp.)

 This has been an excellent site which certainly warrants a future stop and one could spend a good day here during the migration period. Photos attached.

Cheers,

Mike P.

29/01/2023 - 14.50 - Pha Nam Yoi Forest Park - Roi Et Province.

In spite of the persisting strong winds we finally decided to get out birding for a spell. This time Paul fancied this hilltop site with its huge temple complex up in the hills of nearby Roi Et Province which we have rather neglected of late. Our success with the thrushes on the Mukdahan/Yasothon border gave us hope for at least the possibility of a similar situation in a near identical hill forest here on the Roi Et/Mukdahan border. 
We stopped of initially on the Roi Et side and readily saw an overhead House Swift then found an Asian Brown Flycatcher, a Taiga Flycatcher and both Olive-backed and a Crimson Sunbird but a Siberian Blue Robin heard down a side trail, refused to show.
We drove further, crossed soon into Mukdahan down a wide dirt road and birding from the car started seeing birds foraging both on the road and in the roadside leaf litter, White-rumped Shamas and no less than 4 different Siberian Robins of both sexes. Other birds here were a showy and confiding Hainan Blue Flycatcher, both Asian Brown and Taiga Flycatchers, 4 White-rumped Shamas, 3 female/imm. White-throated Rock-Thrushes, an Asian Emerald Dove (which I missed) and an Asian Barred Owlet which crossed the road and kindly landed on a branch nicely in my line of sight.

Back into Roi Et at the rather overgrown Botanical Garden area we found an Ashy Drongo, another 2 Hainan Blue Flycatchers, a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers, with a support cast of the vocal and very common Black-crested Bulbuls and an overflying Large-billed Crow.

On our way down we pulled off road to check out a quiet dirt road with lots of leaf litter. - nothing doing, so we walked on forty yards to look around a bend whereupon we saw another straight section of some 80 yards with a Whites Thrush (no less) foraging in the leaf litter! It also saw us almost immediately and took flight and away.
It was high fives and Pauls exploratory hunch had again paid off with a first ever record for Roi Et Province to round off an afternoon which had well exceeded expectations.

Hopefully later- some record shot/s at least of Siberian Blue Robin.

Cheers,

Mike P.

26/01/2023 -Kutchum - Yasothon Province.

Back at base Paul and I made an early start turning over the compost bins and watering then working in and layering in 14 sacks of cow muck to fire things up. Two days later as I write this the temperature in the row of compost bins has reached over 60 degrees.

Its too windy at present to be birding seriously so a break is almost welcome and also its Arts 28th birthday- he now has his own binoculars so will he start birding seriously? - His choice whatever.

In the afternoon, despite the winds Paul had a ride over to Phu Mu to check out the thrushes. He once again noted a Whites/Scaly Thrush on the approach road and found the regular Whites Thrush and the Orange-headed Thrush in the usual spot by the top car park but no sign of the Black-breasted Thrush. 
In total he logged 19 species in an hour and forty minutes including an Ashy Drongo and a Hair-crested Drongo (photos attached).

Cheers,

Mike P.

24/01/2023 - 15.30 Kaeng Lawa (general area) Khon Kaen Province.

We arrived in good time and stayed until 17.50 and while focused mainly on particular target species still recorded 27 species in all knowing that we still had as much as we needed of the following day available should we need it.

We hit lucky with acceptable views of the drake Falcated Teal which was a catch up species for PP Barb and me and of which Paul obtained some record shots. As the afternoon sun swung slowly and increasingly against us we searched continually for the Baikal Teal among an obviously diminished gathering of ducks - overwhelmingly composed of Garganey. Where were the previous weeks Common Teal and Pintail and was our main quarry away with them somewhere else? A Ruddy-breasted Crake some 200 metres away kept teasing me offering binocular views but whenever PP gave me the scope it once again vanished into cover as I was focussing up.

A flock of Garganey zoomed in and landed (though they all appeared to be Garganey we kept on optimistically scanning anew in turn). I had noticed a lump close to the grassy shore which didnt move and was possibly an inanimate object, so I ignored it without further ado or mention. Nearby Garganey continued swimming and dabbling but the lump remained a lump - if it was indeed a duck it had not moved one iota in half an hour.

Paul Farrell had moved some 50 metres away scoping from a different angle and mentioned that the lump was indeed a duck and seemed to be the right size. With the rest of us now assessing the lump in turn it briefly lifted its head before apparently going back to sleep but it had shown very dull green on the crown and nape and yellowon the face and was there also a hint of plumes over its flanks. The rear end looked good as well -White rear vent and black undertail coverts but the light was getting worse by the minute. Just to torture us further it briefly lifted its head every few minutes enabling the two Pauls to catch a glimpse of its vertical black tear drop which to my old eye was right on the edge of that place between sight and imagination. It had to be our bird. Paul Farrell who had first found this bird on 16th was happy with the I/d as was PP. For me the overall evidence was convincing but it was not by any means an exhilarating experience. Still we knew the bird was still present and the following day held much promise.

The full afternoons list was therefore:-

1 Baikal Teal (drake)

20 Garganey

1 Falcated Duck (drake - record shot attached)

20 Common Teal

1 Asian Koel (heard)

4 Moorhens

1 Coot

2 Ruddy-breasted Crakes

40 Black-winged Stilts

1 Grey-headed Lapwing

7 Little Ringed Plovers

4 Pheasant-tailed Jacanas

1 Common Snipe

10 Wood Sandpipers

7 Painted Storks

3 Grey Herons

1 Purple Heron

4 Great Egrets 

1 Intermediate Egret

8 Little Egrets

9 Cattle Egrets

1 Common Kingfisher

1 White-throated Kingfisher

1 Coppersmith Barbet  (heard).

2 Pallass Grasshopper Warblers

1 Oriental Magpie-Robin

5 Bluethroats

- In all a great days birding but hopes were high for the next day as well.

Cheers,

Mike P.

24/01/2023 - 11.55 am. Khon Kaen University - Romklao Kallapaphruek Park - Khon Kaen City.

Having met up with PF, he led us down to the viewing blind some 150 metres down the forest track where we settled down with me seated (surprisingly comfortably) on a breeze block balanced on a log. A mid day stakeout was far from ideal so I was mindful that we might have to wait several hours for the main target species - a Rufous-tailed Robin - to show, so patience was needed. On the other hand it was both hot and dry so birds nevertheless may drop in to take a drink regardless of the time?

After 25 minutes the first species put in an appearance -a Taiga Flycatcher on a thin horizontal branch and a Common Tailorbird by the small circular concrete pool. As if birds were feeling more confident suddenly there were two Raddes Warblers showing well on the ground just in front of us then at about 12.30 PF seated next to me spotted the Robin which had materialised on a low horizontal just above the water. It then alighted onto the ground and paced around for a good minute before vanishing to be replaced by a Streak-eared Bulbul. This had been only my second ever meeting with this species and of course never seen so well as this.
Other birds (heard only) were Coppersmith Barbet, Greater Coucal and the ubiquitous Yellow-browed Warblers, while PP also logged a Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher. 

It was a case of relief all round and we had been very fortunate that we had managed an unlikely mid day sighting with the main attraction seen sufficiently early for us to move on to Kaeng Lawa where as I have said previously we still had unfinished business.

Photos (courtesy of Paul Farrell) of Rufous-tailed Robin attached.

Regards,

Mike P.

22/01/2023 14.30  Sunday - Chaeng Sanit Alley -Tambon Bang Sai Yai Mukdahan.

We called in at this promising wader site which Paul has visited previously. It seems to be part of a water treatment plant with a weir and running water with controllable sluices perhaps. On its day I suspect that this could really produce something outstanding. Present were Barn Swallows a few White Wagtails a first winter Eastern Yellow Wagtail (tchuchensis) a Paddyfield Pipit and a few waders :-

3 Little Ringed Plovers

1 Common Greenshank

4 Common Sandpipers

2 Green Sandpipers (only my 3rd and 4th for Thailand).

All these were quite confiding and seemed relatively relaxed and used to the presence of workmen who probably in turn ignore the birds.

Further on in our trip still in Mukdahan Paul called in at a regular site and found the expected Burmese Shrike almost in its same regular bushes where we speculated that it preys on a regular diet of assorted munias.

Cheers,

Mike P.

06.30 am - Mekong shoreline dunes and sandbars - Nakhon Phanom.

Paul and I were up and out before the sun came up over the limestone hills (still of course blanketed in mist) with music and chanting bouncing over the river from Laos. 
Rather ignoring the Germains Swiftlets and a few Asian Palm Swifts zipping around overhead we focused on the waders on the sand flats and shoreline: -

12 Kentish Plovers

8 Little Ringed Plovers

2 Temmincks Stints

2 Common Sandpipers

9 Common Greenshanks

30 Small Pratincoles

6 Grey Herons

1 Great Egret

2 Chinese Pond-Herons

Further back towards the promenade we logged quite a few passerines in the tall grasses with singles of Brown Shrike Oriental Skylark a Thick-billed Warbler and a Malaysian Pied Fantail. The main species to be found here though were Zitting Cisticolas (8) and Yellow-bellied Prinias (5). 60 or so Barn Swallows easily outnumbered just a handful of Red-rumped Swallows. The usual Bushchats Stonechats Munias and Sparrows filled out the pre breakfast list to 33 species and we turned up for breakfast with the others on time and pleased with our count.

The girls had decided that they were all going to each have their hair done so Art joined us and we birded the rest of the morning largely in the university grounds and around a lake with target species being flycatchers warblers and anything else which moved. Here we logged the usual culprits - Taiga Flycatchers Black-naped Monarch and Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers and found a roost of about 25 assorted Herons and both Common and White-throated Kingfishers.

Art with the benefit of his young eyes found us a Stripe-throated Bulbul and a Little Spiderhunter (which I managed to miss) then we noticed a fine Olive-backed Pipit commuting between the ground and a tree limb next to the car where it carried on wagging its tail, eventually offering up a photo opportunity to Paul.

After showers/shaves we later met up with the ladies for coffee and a selection of naughty and delicious cakes at an excellent and locally famous cafe on Arts recommendation. A note here is appropriate - Art is fully qualified in hotel management and is an excellent cook - his recommendations therefore have to be taken seriously.

We rounded off another non birding day in style at a really pleasant restaurant overlooking the river and (still hazy) hills beyond. 
Regards,

Mike P.

19/01/2023 - Dong Hua Kong & Dong Bang Ee community forests - Phu Sing - Amnat Charoen Province.

Pauls exploratory trip into this forested basin was not particularly successful as he was still confronted by cliffs preventing him getting very far down so he cut his losses as best he could. The best find was a White-browed Piculet among 15 regular species.

At 13.40 (still in Amnat) he spent a half hour checking out the margins of the Huai Si Tho reservoir logging another 15 species - the best being a Zitting Cisticola and 3 Pin-tailed Snipe flushed from the edge of a rice field before heading back for home.

Cheers,

Mike P.

16/01/2023 - 06.45 am Kaeng Lawa - Khon Kaen Province.

Up at 05.15 am we vacated our lodgings with Paul and Pen to meet up with Paul Farrell at the well known Stakeout Bridge with buntings rails and crakes high on our wish lists. 

The scale of this site is not immediately apparent but as we drove out in convoy as a first time visitor here I literally didnt know where to look as there were birds on every side. I was eager to start building my list for another new province but I had specific targets and was somewhat in two minds. Paul Farrell was anxious to explain the situation regarding the Yellow-breasted Buntings. The roost here is estimated at 1500 birds and is being monitored by the university birders. The numbers of this threatened species on this totally unprotected site make it of international significance and I was pleased to see small feeding parties in the stubble fields having dispersed from their roosts, including a couple of fine male birds perched in a bare sapling. PP was following a flock of ducks coming in to land and picked out a couple of larger ones which we found to be our first Pintails of the day. 

Our final species count for the day was not quite 100, comprising 7 species of duck as follows:-

50 Lesser Whistling Ducks

100 Cotton Pygmy Geese

50 Garganey

3 Northern Shovelers

12 Northern Pintails

30 Eurasian Teal (estimate)

1 Baikal Teal (a drake - and first ever found in Isaan - seen by PP and found by PF but flushed by a gunshot or car back-firing before I got to Pauls scope!). This was a world lifer for the two Pauls and triggered a major twitch of Thai birders - 4/5 turned up. In view of the high number of teal it is quite likely that the Baikal got caught up in the same movement. Interestingly the following day produced another rarity - keeping company with the Baikal is a Falcated Duck (also a drake).

We enjoyed lunch positioning ourselves under the welcome shade of the Stakeout Bridge where I was casually checking out some Common Snipe preening and bathing some 70 yards away. Their wing stretching showed the white trailing edges to the wings. Suddenly from the bushy cover behind them a Slaty-breasted Rail stepped into view and I quickly got everyone to the scope before it crept back into cover. A new species for most of us though PF has likely seen quite a few in the past. Earlier I had seen a short fly past by two potentially new (for me) Ruddy-breasted Crakes below the bridge which disappeared into cover before I fully realised what they were, and although there were other sightings during this hectic day I still have yet to see one on the ground.

We logged 16 wader species (including a Common Redshank seen by me which is not supposed to winter here). Also 9 species of Heron (including 12 Black-crowned Night Herons).

Others included 8 Whiskered Terns, 50 Asian Openbills, 3 Kingfishers one of which was a stunning flyby Pied Kingfisher which I followed and saw it do its characteristic hover before plunging down behind some distant trees.

20 Glossy Ibis, several superb Long-tailed Shrikes of the eastern black-headed form, (Lanius schach tricolor/longicaudatus) a couple of Bluethroats and 8 Red Avadavats were other highlights amid a support cast of scores of regular species too numerous to mention capped off a memorable day. I spent most of the afternoon trying to relocate the Baikal Teal against the increasingly harsh light to the extent that my eyes were hurting and mindful that I was missing other species which would have boosted my list for this province - nevertheless one cannot do everything at once. We shall return as there is unfinished business here and also in the university grounds a Rufous-tailed Robin has appeared again.

Regards,

Mike P.

-- Edited by Mike Passant on Wednesday 18th of January 2023 11:43:32 AM

14/01/2023 Some Pied Harrier studies from the late afternoon harrier roost in Yasothon.

Cheers,

Mike P.

09/01/2023 - Phu Mu Forest Park/Rabian Tawan Terrace - Mukdahan Province.

Some 4/5 years ago after two visits I vowed on this thread never again to go birding here because for such a promising looking forested hill it was amazingly devoid of birds (other than Black-crested Bulbuls and Asian Brown and Taiga Flycatchers).

Paul however had a hunch that following the previous weeks continued NE winds surely something different might be around - possibly thrushes on the top car park/camping area? Accordingly Paul and Pen Barb and I set off on the short 35 minute drive from our Kut Chum base. 
At 08.00 am we pulled in initially to scan the lake and adjacent fields where I was pleasantly surprised to see some of the regular species present. (Four years ago the lake had been birdless except for a few Barn Swallows and a Greenshank candidate so distant that even scoping it was no help in identification).

At the top of the hill we parked up and split up scanning particularly for thrushes but it looked typically quiet. Sharp-eyed Pen found an Asian Brown Flycatcher (as usual). Minutes later Barb and I heard another shout from Pen. Apparently Paul was telling her to run as well so it suddenly dawned on me and Barb that they had something good so we scurried the 200 yards to join them only to find that the bird had departed.

Paul later told us that it had taken him two minutes to get onto the bird following Pens directions and was trying to photograph it with Pen trying at the same time to get him onto another bird out on the grass. We arrived and Paul showed us a close up fuzzy image of part bird and part twigs which certainly wasnt an Eye-browed Thrush (our hoped for species). 
Our uncertainty was suddenly resolved by the bird itself alighting on the ground and foraging not 25 yards in front of us- a stunning Orange-headed thrush sporting two vertical black bars on the side of its head and a short white median covert bar - a first record for Mukdahan Province no less! Paul was initially puzzled by the plumage difference from the December bird we had seen in Bangkok as this form was new for him although I had seen this form somewhere before. During this excitement Barb had started scanning further towards the forest edge and called another thrush which I glimpsed just in time as it disappeared behind a fallen log - a Whites Thrush and another species new for the province.

It was quickly becoming obvious that Pauls hunch had been spot on!

Suddenly we notice another thrush mainly hidden behind a tussock of grass but sporting a head close to that of a Blacbird but with a little bit of chestnut visible on the fore flank and a mottled white throat - the other bird which Pen was saying had been in full view earlier when Paul had been trying to photograph the Orange-headed thrush. Paul did manage a few record shots to support an i/d. 
Meanwhile the Whites Thrush was out foraging in the leaf litter and we noted it shivering as it used its feet to detect prey (a feeding strategy used by both Whites and Scaly Thrushes). Incidentally our field observations do not eliminate the possibility that our Whites Thrush could be a Scaly Thrush as the separation in the field is problematic and in hand examination is apparently dependant on number of tail feathers. Annoying for me (as an old dinosaur) is the fact that the traditional scientific name of Whites Thrush (Zoothera dauma) is now awarded to Scaly Thrush whereas our bird found from time to time in UK is now Zoothera aurea.

In the meantime the shy and retiring Orange-headed Thrush was perching up on the nearby wall and several prominent rocks and concrete blocks in the bold manner of a bushchat often close to the Whites Thrush so good photos were easily obtained.

From what we had seen of the mystery blackbird type and a couple of record shots there was enough evidence to support our tentative identification as a Black-breasted Thrush, needless to say another new species for Mukdahan and the site had now thoroughly redeemed itself in my mind. To add to the thrushy theme we also saw an imm/female and a fine male White-throated Rock-Thrush sufficient to rename the place as Thrush City.

We put out photos and our conclusions on the internet and received confirming opinions and resolved to return the following day for better photos of the Black-breasted Thrush with an enthusiastic Paul Farrell joining us from Khon Kaen.

10/01/2023 Phu Mu Forest Park - Yasothon side.

The border between Yasothon and Mukdahan goes through the upper car park from where we were viewing on the previous day so we resolved to put in our list for the day under the Yasothon heading. Although we had to wait a little longer (mainly perhaps as we had arrived earlier) all the previous days species reappeared and were well photographed.
Paul Farrell obtained the best photo of an adult female Black-breasted Thrush (seen below) and the indications were that the limited views of the previous days bird were of a different and likely male.

The big news though broke later that evening. Some of the leading experts in Thai birding circles conclude that our Orange-headed Thrush is of the buff-throated sub species maculata and the first of this form to be recorded in Thailand- so very well done to Pen!!

Photos below: - 

Regards,

Mike P.

05/01/2023 - Culvert hide- photo selection (continued):-

Grey-throated Babbler (a catch-up species for me in Thailand which looks better from the front when it is not wet through from bathing).

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta (although the cheeks seem grey! - the other congener Grey-cheeked Fulvetta/ Yunnan Fulvetta thankfully has an eye-ring).

Martens Warbler - the one here with a complete eye ring.

Black-naped Monarch female /imm. (generally common species well known to many of you of course).

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher. - (even more common and seemingly ubiquitous).

Puff- throated Bulbul. 

Cheers,

Mike P.