Unlike last year, this was primarily a shopping trip to Bangkok for all the things I cannot get in Vietnam (shoes in particular). However, I had agreed with my girlfriend that I could sneak away for a short time to get some bird watching in.  Below a brief outline, "*" indicates lifers.

Lumpini Park on the 6th of May 2004

This is the largest park in Bangkok, right in the center and close to a Sky train station. Even at 05:30 in the morning, and with the occasional downpour, the place was humming. Literally hundreds of people jogging, practicing Tai Chi and sword fight, or just chilling out. My first thought was "no way are you going to see any birds here!" However, within a few steps, I was proven wrong. Magpie Robins where everywhere, and tame as you please, even if they had a hard time making themselves heard against the constant Bangkok noise. The handful of Large-billed Crows where quieter, but still very evident.

Common and White-vented Mynas were all over the grass, joined by the odd Black-collared and AsianPiedStarlings. A CommonKoel gave excellent views in a bare tree, even better were the numerous CoppersmithBarbets. Whilst the latter are fairly common here in Vietnam, I do not believe that I ever had such magnificent views as I did in this park. A couple of AlexandrineParakeets* were very conspicuous. I first dismissed them as escapes, but heard later from Peter Ericsson that they might truly be wild birds, seeking a last refuge in an area where there are still some tall(ish) trees left. A Little Egret looked somewhat out of place in the middle of an artificial pond, whereas the Zebra Dove appeared to be more at home. Streak-eared Bulbuls were plentiful, but still outdone by the Eurasian Tree Sparrows. Regrettably, it started pouring in earnest, so I beat a retreat to the hotel for a much-deserved cup of coffee.

Greater Bangkok on the 7th of May 2004

I had arranged to meet Peter Ericsson near his house. Peter is a missionary, and an excellent birder. He is not a bird guide per se, but for a contribution to his charitable work, and time permitting, he will take birders out (Contact him at garden@ksc.th.com). We had agreed to meet at 05:30, yet another early start. Encountered a few problems getting there: I had trouble waking up, even more trouble to wake up my girlfriend, and then get transport to the meeting point. A taxi was in theory organized, but when the driver got to the hotel, he decided that he didn't know where to go. We hailed a second taxi, this particular driver decided in the middle of nowhere that he was lost, and chucked us out!! Finally managed to get a third taxi, and that actually took us where we wanted to go. And all that without coffee. Ah, the joys of birding!!!

Well, we did manage to meet Peter in the end, and set off for our morning's birding. One of the species I did want to see was Asian Openbill. There are still a few around in Vietnam, but I had never seen one. (Stop press: Finally added Openbill to my Vietnam list when I saw one at my local patch a week after my Thailand trip). Peter was confident of seeing quite a few of those and sure enough, we had hardly left Bangkok when we saw the first Asian Openbills* flying over the Highway. Other birds that were busy early in the morning were Little Egrets, Great Egrets and Black-crowned Night Herons.

Our first stop was at Bangpra No Hunting Area. Target species here was Chinese Francolin. Sure enough, as soon as we got out of the car, we heard two calling right in front of us. Regrettably, we never managed more than a frustratingly short glimpse of one Chinese Francolin*. However, there were some other good birds all around us, many of them sitting very exposed, trying to dry out after a recent downpour. A Long-tailed Shrike gave us excellent views, as did the Greater Coucals, it seemed like there was one sitting on every bush. Red-wattled Lapwings were their usual noisy selves. We also saw a number of Hoopoes, a couple of Green Bee-eaters, Streak-eared and Yellow-vented Bulbuls, Indian Roller and Red Collared Dove.

Peter suggested that we should go on to our next destination, a patch of forest near Bangpra (sorry Peter, forgot the name). Our arrival coincided with the arrival of a number of kids, who were obviously on some seriously mind-altering substances. So much for a peaceful morning. We took off straight away, trying to stay ahead of that noisy bunch. We had come to look for Blue-winged Pitta, which Peter had seen the previous week. No such luck this time; we only heard them calling. Other birds heard (by Peter, really) were Blue-eared Barbet*, Linneated Barbet, Emerald Dove, Puff-throated Babbler and White-crested Laughingthrush. As usual in this sort of habitat, birds were frustratingly difficult to see, but we did get views, in order of sightings, of Black-crested Bulbul, Green-billed Malkoha, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Grey-eyed Bulbul*, Dollarbird, Hill Myna, Black-headed Bulbul, and White-throated Kingfisher.

We headed back to Bangpra to take another shot at Chinese Francolin. Whilst they were still calling, we completely failed to see them. We walked a bit further into the brush, and this is where some really good birds showed up. First was Bright-capped Cisticola*, followed by Chestnut-capped Babbler*. A little pond hosted Little Cormorant, White-breasted Waterhen, Yellow Bittern, and Yellow Wagtail. Another target bird, Baya Weaver, was seen just before we moved on a little further to where we could actually access the lake. Most waders had already disappeared, but there were a few Pacific Plovers, Black-winged Stilts, and a solitary Common Greenshank. We did look for Crakes, but the single glimpse we got was too short to clinch identification.

By now, the early start, and birding for the first time, took its toll on my girlfriend, so we decided to slowly head back to Bangkok, looking for more Openbills on the way. Those we duly saw, and a stop by a small, and very smelly pond, rewarded us with great views of Bronze-winged Jacana, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, and ca. 25 Lesser Whistling Ducks. A bit further we found Oriental Pratincole behaving like waders; standing knee-deep in water.

River Cruise on the 8th of May

Time to do the tourist bit today, with an organized trip up-river. The weather was pretty bad, but I still managed to add a few birds to the trip list: Collared Kingfisher, Small Minivet, and Olive-backed Sunbird.

All in all, not a bad trip, seeing how the main focus was actually shopping! We saw a total of 85 species, 10 of which were lifers for me.

P.S.: I found shoes on the last day. If you have large feet (like me) try the MBK mall.

List of birds seen, Thailand 04/05/04 - 10/05/04

Little Grebe	Tachybaptus ruficollis
Little Cormorant	Phalacrocorax niger [pygmeus]
Little Egret	Egretta garzetta
Purple Heron	Ardea purpurea
Great White Egret	Egretta alba
Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis
Javan Pond-heron	Ardeola speciosa
Black-crowned Night-heron	Nycticorax nycticorax
Yellow Bittern	Ixobrychus sinensis
Black Bittern	Dupetor flavicollis
Asian Openbill*	Anastomus oscitans
Lesser Whistling-duck	Dendrocygna javanica
Black-shouldered Kite	Elanus caeruleus
Osprey	Pandion haliaetus
Chinese Francolin*	Francolinus pintadeanus
White-breasted Waterhen	Amaurornis phoenicurus
Pheasant-tailed Jacana	Hydrophasianus chirurgus
Bronze-winged Jacana	Metopidius indicus
Black-winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus
Oriental Pratincole	Glareola maldivarum [pratincola]
Pacific Golden Plover	Pluvialis fulva
Red-wattled Lapwing	Vanellus indicus
Common Greenshank	Tringa nebularia
Whiskered Tern	Chlidonias hybridus
Oriental Turtle-dove	Streptopelia orientalis
Spotted Dove	Streptopelia chinensis
Red Collared-dove	Streptopelia tranquebarica
Emerald Dove	Chalcophaps indica
Zebra Dove	Geopelia striata
Alexandrine Parakeet*	Psittacula eupatria
Asian Koel	Eudynamys scolopacea
Green-billed Malkoha	Phaenicophaeus tristis
Greater Coucal	Centropus sinensis
Crested Treeswift	Hemiprocne coronata [longipennis]
Asian Palm-swift	Cypsiurus balasiensis [parvus]
House Swift	Apus nipalensis [affinis]
White-breasted Kingfisher	Halcyon smyrnensis
Collared Kingfisher	Todirhamphus chloris
Little Green Bee-eater	Merops orientalis
Indian Roller	Coracias benghalensis
Dollarbird	Eurystomus orientalis
Eurasian Hoopoe	Upupa epops
Lineated Barbet	Megalaima lineata
Blue-eared Barbet*	Megalaima australis
Coppersmith Barbet	Megalaima haemacephala
Blue-winged Pitta	Pitta moluccensis
Rufous-winged Bushlark	Mirafra assamica
Barn Swallow	Hirundo rustica
Oriental Pipit	Anthus rufulus [richardi]
Yellow Wagtail	Motacilla flava
Small Minivet	Pericrocotus cinnamomeus
Black-headed Bulbul	Pycnonotus atriceps
Black-crested Bulbul	Pycnonotus melanicterus
Sooty-headed Bulbul*	Pycnonotus aurigaster [cafer]
Stripe-throated Bulbul	Pycnonotus finlaysoni
Yellow-vented Bulbul	Pycnonotus goiavier
Streak-eared Bulbul	Pycnonotus blanfordi
Grey-eyed Bulbul*	Iole propinqua
Common Iora	Aegithina tiphia
Oriental Magpie-robin	Copsychus saularis
Zitting Cisticola	Cisticola juncidis
Bright-capped Cisticola*	Cisticola exilis
Grey-breasted Prinia	Prinia hodgsonii
Plain Prinia	Prinia inornata [subflava]
Great Reed-warbler	Acrocephalus arundinaceus
Dark-necked Tailorbird	Orthotomus atrogularis
Pied Fantail	Rhipidura javanica
White-crested Laughingthrush	Garrulax leucolophus
Puff-throated Babbler	Pellorneum ruficeps
Chestnut-capped Babbler*	Timalia pileata
Yellow-eyed Babbler*	Chrysomma sinense
Olive-backed Sunbird	Nectarinia jugularis
Long-tailed Shrike	Lanius schach
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo	Dicrurus paradiseus
Large-billed Crow	Corvus macrorhynchos
Ashy Woodswallow	Artamus fuscus
Asian Pied Starling	Sturnus contra
Black-collared Starling	Sturnus nigricollis
Common Myna	Acridotheres tristis
White-vented Myna	Acridotheres grandis [cinereus]
Hill Myna	Gracula religiosa
Plain-backed Sparrow	Passer flaveolus
Eurasian Tree Sparrow	Passer montanus
Baya Weaver*	Ploceus philippinus
Scaly-breasted Munia	Lonchura punctulata