Another trip out on Sunday was on the cards to Pak Thale for the Spoon billed Sandpiper. I again met up with Gary Booth and he told me of the area where they had been seen in recent weeks. We scanned the salt pans, but unfortunately no Spoonies were to be found. There certainly was a good number of other Sea and Shorebirds present. I would love to be able to run off a list of those sighted, but I’m not very good at identifying these…. Gary was giving me some pointers, but to be honest I find it a little difficult to tell the difference between some of them. I shall have to brush up on my ID skills.
Unmistakable birds were the Eurasian Curlews with their ridiculously long bills, Caspian Terns with their bright red bills and a Grey Heron.
We headed off to Nong Pla Lai to see if we could get a sighting of a Booted Eagle or any other raptors. The only raptor spotted there was a Brahminy Kite.
So, off to Wat Koromon and the surrounding fields. Again, I expected more Kingfishers, but just one Collared K/F was seen. A really good spot was my second Osprey this month and a flock (or should that be a muster or a phalanx) of 20+ Painted Storks. Unfortunately the Osprey was too far for a decent picture, but a really great sighting. A pair of Little Grebes and more Grey herons added to the tally.
We decided to head back to Pak Thale for another hunt for Spoonie, but again no luck. Again, it was another good day out, but not too many birds this week. Maybe another try next week ...........