Since Sunday morning central and northern Thailand has been hit by an unusually cold front, with unseasonal rain and (by our standards) very low temperatures - when I woke up early on Monday morning it was just 15 Celsius, which is about half what it was 24 hours earlier , and just three Celsius warmer than London!
Normally I'd expect this kind of weather to produce some notable irruptive species and so I took a quick look at the patch this morning where the highlight seemed to be hirundines feeding at very low altitudes. These included the first Sand Martin I have seen there and a Red-rumped Swallow (a scarce passage migrant in the city under normal circumstances).
Unfortunately a lot of the hirundines seen appeared to be rather lethargic in the flight patterns, flying just above the ground and coming very close to me. Indeed I have seem several reports today on social media indicting that quite a few hirundines have succumbed to the weather. I would guess that at this time of the year, when they are still a long way from starting their northbound migration, they have low fat scores, so a sudden drop in temperature and reduced foraging opportunities must be making it hard to maintain energy supplies.
As I write this I can hear a cold wind blowing around our house, so it seems that we will have a few more days of cool conditions.
Normally I'd expect this kind of weather to produce some notable irruptive species and so I took a quick look at the patch this morning where the highlight seemed to be hirundines feeding at very low altitudes. These included the first Sand Martin I have seen there and a Red-rumped Swallow (a scarce passage migrant in the city under normal circumstances).
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| Sand Martin - a new patch bird! |
Unfortunately a lot of the hirundines seen appeared to be rather lethargic in the flight patterns, flying just above the ground and coming very close to me. Indeed I have seem several reports today on social media indicting that quite a few hirundines have succumbed to the weather. I would guess that at this time of the year, when they are still a long way from starting their northbound migration, they have low fat scores, so a sudden drop in temperature and reduced foraging opportunities must be making it hard to maintain energy supplies.
As I write this I can hear a cold wind blowing around our house, so it seems that we will have a few more days of cool conditions.
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