Orange-headed Thrush
The ‘Spoonful of Thailand’ Birdwatching Trips team have all arrived safely in Thailand. Alan and Marc met up with Phil, Glenn, Howard, Rosie, Debbie and Terry at our hotel in Bangkok. Today was a rest day after the travelling with some deciding to go sightseeing, others resting and a few went of birding (of course!).
Birding around our hotel has been great with over 50 species seen from the hotel grounds. Highlights have included finding a very showy Orange-headed Thrush and a fine Pin-tailed Snipe just outside our hotel room. Seeing migration overhead with two Black Baza, 6 Oriental Darters, 5 Painted Storks and over a hundred Asian Open-billed Storks flying over has been fantastic.
The grounds have held Black-naped Orioles, Indochinese Rollers, Red Collared Doves and many Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, all of which were enjoyed by the group.
A few of the group decided to explore further afield and took a taxi to some nearby paddy fields. Grey-headed and Red-wattled Lapwings showed well, while White-rumped Munias, Asian Golden Weavers and Amur Stonechats added to the list. Hundreds of Eastern Yellow Wagtails were impressive, while a flyover Spot-billed Pelican was a new bird for some of the group.
After an enjoyable evening’s dinner to formally open the tour, everyone set off to bed early, ready for the early start tomorrow. Who knows what that will bring!
Blue-tailed Bee-eater