Istanbul, Turkey 13-16 Sept

Combination of sightseeing and very gentle-paced birding produced Levantine Shearwater as the highlight, with a flock of 10 seen from a ferry crossing the Bosphorus. Other notables included a migrating flock of 30+ European Bee-eaters and a good passage of Red-breasted Flycatchers (the first one I got onto being a nice red bird),  Spotted Flycatchers and Chiffchaff.

Levantine (Yelkouan) Shearwaters - not the dark vent and dark bar on  underwing

Alpine Swift

The other "joy" of birding the Bosphorus has been practicing my non-existent large gull ID skills, and all I've seen so far have been Yellow-leggeds, though Caspian and Armenian Gulls are possible.

The big gap so far has been raptor passage - I've not managed to get to any of the various watch points, but will have a couple of other visits to the city in the coming weeks so hope to get a chance to try then.

Over and above the birding I must say that Istanbul is a fab place! This is my first trip to Turkey but I get the feeling it won't be by last.

juv Yellow-legged

juv Yellow-legged

juv Yellow-legged

juv Yellow-legged Gull

2nd winter Yellow-legged Gull

Suan Rot Fai this morning produced similar common migrants to yesterday, with four Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, one Eastern Crowned Warbler, one Arctic Warbler, two Brown Shrikes, several Blue-tailed Bee-eaters and one Common Kingfisher. Interesting resident species included Ashy Woodswallow and a Little Cormorant (both uncommon in the park).

More Yellow-rumps

A quick session in Suan Rot Fai before work this morning, in the company of Graham produced one Brown Shrike, a couple of snatches of what sounded like the autumn's first Asian Brown Flycatcher (though can't be sure), at least four Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, one Arctic Warbler, one unidentified Phyllosc (seen badly), several Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, one or two Common Kingfishers and a juvenile Night Heron.

Whale-less whale-watching

Myself, Scilly birder Graham Gordon and a bunch of my colleagues spent yesterday bobbing about in the Gulf of Thailand in a failed attempt to catch up with a group of Bryde's Whales that have recently been seen in the northwest corner of the Gulf.  Frustratingly we were told that a group of eight whales had been seen two days before our trip, but we had to make do with views of three different groups of Irrawaddy Dolphins and a nice selection of coastal bird life including Crested, Little, White-winged Black, Whiskered and Common Terns, Little, Indian and Great Cormorants, Whimbrel and Osprey.

Common Tern

Common Tern

White-winged Black Tern

WWBT

WWBT

adult Crested Tern

adult Crested Tern

adult Whiskered Tern

Waders

adult Red-necked stint

Morning visit to Khok Kham with Graham Gordon provided a good selection of waders including three Great Knot, c200 Red-necked Stint, a juvenile Little Stint side-by side with a juv RNS, c30 Long-toed Stint including one juvenile, c400 Lesser Sandplovers, 30+ Broad-billed Sandpipers (including several juveniles), a single Bar-tailed Godwit in the company of ten or so Blackwits, two Terek Sandpipers, c.20 Whimbrel, at least seven Ruddy Turnstones, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Greenshank, Common and Wood Sandpipers, Pacific Golden Plover and LRP.

Adult Broad-billed Sandpiper

a poor shot of a very fine juv Long-toed Stint

House caller

It's a very rainy morning here in Bangkok. Not one of our typical wet season days when it gets to late afternoon, the wind picks up and we have a tropical downpour for an hour. No, today is one of those few days each year when I feel like I live back in England - continuous, soaking rain and low cloud. These days usually happen in September and October (the end of the wet season) and so this weather can be good at forcing down diurnal migrants. As such I was pleased but not too surprised to hear this Blue-tailed Bee-eater calling outside our bedroom window whilst I was eating my breakfast. The bird moved between the rooftops making hunting sallies and then during a brief hiatus in the rain headed on its way south.

2nd September 2012

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher

 I had my first two Arctic Warblers of the autumn today at Suan Rot Fai, nice to see them back but given that Arctic has been split into three species and at least two have probably occured in Thailand - nominate borealis and examinandus (Kamchatka Leaf Warbler), I need to start looking at these things more carefully.  P. examinandus is apparently "quite a bit yellower on the throat and supercilium and greener above, but almost identical on measurements and wing formula" (PDR pers comm.).

Also seen this morning were one male and 1-2 female-type Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, one Blue-tailed Bee-eater and two Common Kingfishers.

Brown-throated Sunbird