Waders at Khok Kham II

This post will still be about my half-day visit to Khok Kham on April 7. Even though it was mainly overcast throughout the afternoon, there was also a short period of sunlight around 4pm. It was around the time when I moved to another area where I was told that a Spoon-billed Sandpiper was spotted few days earlier. There were lots of waders scattering around the area. I scanned the salt pans and spotted a flock of waders with high concentration of Red-necked Stints. I assumed that the Spoon-billed Sandpiper should be among that flock so I slowly made my way towards that flock of stints. Along the way, it's impossible for me not to stop for taking photos of other waders that were around me. Here's a selection of some of them.

 Pacific Golden Plover in breeding plumage

This one has just started to moult.

Female (?) Lesser Sand Plover in breeding plumage

Female Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage

Lesser Sand Plover was obviously the most numerous species in the area. Most of them were already in their colourful breeding plumage making it a very beautiful sight. Pacific Golden Plover was also numerous but tended to scatter throughout the area rather than staying together in flocks. They sure looked really smart in breeding plumage. Several Ruddy Turnstones were also found sitting along the dikes but they proved to be much shyer than the ones I photographed in Japan few years ago.

Male (front) and female (back) Black-winged Stilt in breeding plumage

Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage

Red-necked Stints in breeding plumage

Male Lesser Sand Plover in breeding plumage

The race schaeferi shows completely black forehead. 

This Broad-billed Sandpiper looked stunning in its full breeding plumage.

Curlew Sandpiper assuming breeding plumage

Another individual with more brightly coloured plumage.

I realised as I was lying on the muddy ground trying to creep towards all these birds that I actually enjoyed it a lot. It was really difficult to get close to them but at the end, I found it really rewarding. I could get photos of so many species of waders in such a short period of time. I actually thought that if I had my telescope with me, I could probably have picked out several more species from the distant groups. I spent my time taking photos of waders until the very last minute before it got almost completely dark. As I came walking back to my car with satisfaction, I met Gerry from Birds of Thailand and Beyond. I told him where the Spoon-billed Sandpiper was and I was glad to know that he also saw it. Hope I can come back to this wonderful place again in the next wader season.

Common Redshank in breeding plumage

Another stretching shot

A very confiding Broad-billed Sandpiper

The abundant Red-necked Stint also looked stunning in its full breeding plumage

Eastern Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa melanuroides) assuming breeding plumage

The very first sight of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper!

More photos of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper here

Back With Spoonie

I'm now back at home in Chiang Mai after a short but fruitful trip to the central part of Thailand. It was such a great fun watching and taking photos of shorebirds in salt pans and mudflats. Even though it was unbelievably hot and sunny, birds were showing really well and I enjoyed taking photos of them a lot. I visited Khok Kham in Samut Sakhon province on April 7. It's a great birding place near Bangkok where I saw my first Spoon-billed Sandpiper back in 2001. I thought that it'd be great if I can see the bird again, but not a problem if I can't. As I was taking photos of some tame common waders, a local birder came talking to my dad and told him that a Spoon-billed Sandpiper was found just a few days ago. We then moved to the area where that birder told us he saw the spoonie. I scanned the flock of small waders and quite unbelievably, I finally spotted a Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus) wading along with a flock of Red-necked Stints!

Spoon-billed Sandpiper beginning to assume breeding plumage

Feeding bahaviour

I thought it's going to be impossible for us to find the Spoon-billed Sandpiper, since we didn't bring our telescope. I also forgot my photography hide and tripod. Waders in Thailand are not so tame like the ones in Japan, so it's always better to use telescope to scan through the flocks first before moving in. However, I luckily spotted this Spoon-billed Sandpiper because of its feeding behaviour which was slightly different from those of the Red-necked Stints. While Red-necked Stints only dip their bill briefly into the water, the Spoon-billed Sandpipers often keep their head down slightly longer. Because of this different foraging style, I was able to pick it out from other stints.

I tried to approach the bird but it proved to be much more wary than the Red-necked Stints and other waders. It flew out twice as I was trying to get closer but always came back to the same area where it was first found. I waited for it to come back and finally got photos of it in a quite satisfying range before it flew out to feed in a different area. I was pleased to see that the bird has already begun to moult into the breeding plumage showing black spots on lower breast and breast sides with faint rufous feathers on its throat. It'd be great if the bird chooses to stay a few more weeks and show us its beautiful summer plumage.

Perfect angle to show its spoon-shaped bill

Before leaving the place for Bangkok, I met Gerry of the Birds of Thailand and Beyond blog. I told him the place where I saw the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and I'm pleased to see from his blog that he also found the bird. Hopefully, it will stay longer for other birders to come and watch. I heard that the individuals at Pak Thale have already gone, so this bird might be the last chance for this season. For more info about Spoon-billed Sandpiper's foraging style with video clip, visit David Sibley's blog here.

Off To The Mudflat

I have loads of pictures waiting to be posted but still haven't got the time to finish a post. I've been busy working on raptor illustration, finishing a graduate school application and learning how to drive. Oh, and not to forget, birding! I've been going out to my local patch every morning for almost a week now. It's been really productive. In fact, too productive that I still can't get myself around working on the photos I took. After coming back to Thailand, I finally finished my 2010 sketchbook. Last week, I took the time sewing, gluing and painting a cover for my new hand made sketchbook. Spoon-billed Sandpiper was the species that came into my mind while I was thinking of a cover bird. I painted the bird in its full breeding plumage, a plumage which I still haven't seen before. I'll be visiting a couple of places in the Gulf of Thailand in few days. Hopefully, I'll be able to find one of these spoonies in breeding plumage like I've already painted on my sketchbook cover.

A scanned version of my new sketchbook cover

Here's how it looks like

Spoon-billed Sandpiper

Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus) has always been such a tempting subject for me to draw. I have only seen this critically endangered species once in Thailand back in 2001, roughly a year after I first started birding. I visited Khok Kham in Samut Sakhon province with my dad. We were lucky to meet a very well known birder and a professional guide who pointed the bird out for us. The bird that I saw back then was an adult in non-breeding plumage feeding along with hundreds or thousands of Red-necked Stints. Here in this painting, I chose to paint 2 juvenile birds and only 1 adult to show that I'm still hoping that the birds are recovering its population. The plants in the picture are Herbaceous Seepweed (Suaeda maritima), an abundant plant in salt pans and coastal areas where the Spoon-billed Sandpipers inhabit. This plant changes its colour from green to yellow, red and violet during dry season. It has small roundish flowers located at the base of the leaves.