Pak Pli
Finally, after all the hassle with my truck, it was finally
great on Saturday to get it back again all fixed with the aircon now blowing
nice and cold. So, where to on Sunday?? I had been chatting with Gary booth mid-week
about Pak Pi as I had posted a picture of a Bluethroat for Ray Pearce’s
challenge, 7 birds in 7 days. I thought “Off for the Bluethroats then”. We
agreed to meet up on Sunday, promising ourselves not to get too rat-arsed on
Saturday night. (Although I think I did!) I arrived at Pak Pli just after 7am
and the sun was already scorching. I met up with Gary and we said our “Hello’s”
then off to the birding. There must have been over 500 Black Kites at the roost
site waiting for the thermals to give them their rides to the top of the sky.
Up to 10 Kites in one small tree really is a sight to behold.
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| Black Kite |
I left the kite roost for the area I had seen the Bluethroats
before. Plenty of Stonechats were present, but no sign or sounds of the Blues. Along
the road, 2 Common Kingfishers, a stunning Long-tailed Shrike and a solitary
Wood Sandpiper were seen.
Gary rejoined me, and as he put it “The circus had just
arrived!” Truckloads of happy snappers arrived for the spectacle of seeing the
mass of Kites. I had noticed a lot more signs along the road that morning, it
looks as if Pak Pli has become a popular tourist attraction now. (Wait for the
entrance fees!!!)
We waited and wandered
around the road area for an hour or two, but still no luck. Gary went off in
search of getting some better views of the Kites and I opted to go off to the
right down past the ponds. Along the road were plenty of Paddyfield Pipits and Indo-Chinese
Bushlarks, but I didn’t see any Rosy’s. About 20 Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, 1
White-Throated and 1 Black-capped Kingfishers graced the pond, hunting for
their prey.
For some reason, today the sun and the heat just seemed so intense
that a lot of my birding had to be done in the aircon from the truck.
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| Long-tailed shrike |
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| Indochinese Bushlark |
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| Plain-backed Sparrow |
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| Striated Grassbird |
Just
after midday, I drove around the perimeter road to meet up with Gary. He
pointed out some Spot-billed Pelicans far in the distance and we noted an
Oriental Darter, a Black-capped and a Common Kingfisher.
I moved on again, taking the loop back to our original
starting point. More Bee-eaters and Stonechats were ever present, with a pair
of Bronze-winged Jacanas with a juvenile and Purple Herons gracing the fields. A
single Striated Grassbird was pumping his lungs out atop a eucalyptus tree. A
little further along I stopped at a small fish rearing lake which held 40+
Spot-billed Pelicans and a single Grey Heron. Due to the terrible stench from
the lake I opted to not venture any further there!!
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| Juvenile Bronze-winged Jacana |
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| Spot-billed Pelican |
As I was heading back, I stopped to chat with a Thai birder
who was waiting it out for the Booted Eagle that had been seen the previous
day, he informed me of a usual perching spot for an Osprey. I decided to wait
with him for a while. Sure enough the Osprey returned with a freshly caught fish
in its talons, it perched and began its feast, ripping the fish apart. Unfortunately,
it was so far off, my 300mm lens had no chance of getting me a decent picture.
Gary had turned up and thankfully with the aid of his scope we manage a few pictures
with our mobile phones.
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| Osprey |
With the time getting on now, I really wanted to spend
a little more time to see if the Bluethroat would make an appearance, so I
drove back to the site. As I arrived I met a young Thai lady taking pictures of
a distant tree in the field. She pointed out the bird and I guessed it could be
another Osprey, It was only when Gary came to the rescue again with his scope
we could confirm it was a Marsh Harrier.
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Purple Heron |
One more quick drive to the end of the road nicely turned up
another Purple Heron (5) and Yellow Bittern (3)
Overall a good days birding with a few lifers for me and great
to meet up with yet another Facebook friend. Many thanks and a pleasure to meet
you Gary Booth. Hopefully the Bluethroats will be making an appearance soon so
I can get back there and get a few more shots of this cracking little bird.
If anyone is interested in making this trip, please let me
know at bootly661@ gmail.com or through Thaibirdsot
