Sunday, November 2, 2014

Luscinia on the path

This morning was the first, after ten days of being laid up with flu that I actually felt like getting out of bed, so I went to Suan Rot Fai for a couple of hours.

There has been a big drop off in the number of Phylloscs passing through the park, with just a single PLLW/Sakhalin and three Yellow-browed Warblers heard, but a few late autumn migrants have turned up including 2-3 Grey-headed Canary Flycatchers, single Hair-crested Drongo and Black-naped Monarch.

The highlight of the morning however was the vision of a "robin" on the path that leads to a private area of woodland. As soon as I saw it my brain said (european) Robin as as I raised my bins my brain actually engaged and thought "wrong continent...whatever this is it's going to be good!" and then the binos finally met my eyes they were filled with a Bluethroat -  a new bird for the patch.

Bluethroats are reasonably common in arable land elsewhere in Thailand, but I've never seen one in the city, though it has been on my list of candidate species that could turn up in the Park.  This one sat in the open for about 20 seconds, but as I attempted to switch from bins to camera it flicked out of view and didn't reappear despite me putting in considerable effort to re-find it. Those Luscinia are sneaky little buggers!

2 comments:

KB7 said...

Dear David

I am visiting Bangkok this weekend and would be keen to pay Suan Rot Fai a visit on Sunday morning to do some birding..

I have never been to Thailand before and am unaware of the distances involved. I am staying at the Grand Sukhumvit in Soi 6. How would you advise I should travel to the park and how long should I spend there.

Any advise you can provide would be most appreciated.

Many Thanks

Kev Burgess

David Gandy said...

Sorry Kev, I only just spotted this message (have been away from Thailand since the middle of last week). I hope you found the Park easily, and managed to get some birding in.

For future reference I think the easiets way for visitors to get to the park is by Skytrain (get off at Mo Chit station, and walk through Chatuchak Park to Reach Suan Rot Fai).