Finally, a wader!

Often, one of the first things I do when visiting my local patch is to check out the main lake, in the hope of picking up a lost wader - Common Sandpiper is probably the most likely candidate that I might find (in fact there is at least one previous record), but until today I had had no such success. The main lake does hold some other interest in that it seems to have become the regular roost (perhaps future colony?) of the Black-crowned Night Herons that are now resident in the park (2 adults and 1 subadult seen this morning) and offers big vistas to look skywards.

So it was that I found myself at the main lake this morning when I heard an unfamiliar, shrill, lapwing-like piping. My initial reaction was to think it might to a red-wattled lapwing (common throughout provincial  Thailand) but despite looking I couldn't see the source of the sound and momentarily considered it was coming from a child wearing those shoes that squeak when they walk! However I eventually picked up a lapwing-sized bird which was obviously the source of the call, coming towards me - I got my bins on it as it came overhead and was surprised to see that in fact it was a Grey-headed Lapwing. It made a circuit of the main lake, came back overhead and then disappeared to the north. This bird seemed to be looking for somewhere to pitch down but given that the park is quite busy on a Sunday morning it seems to have decided to move on. The other notable sightings this morning were a pair of Red-breasted Parakeets (a long overdue addition to the patch list) and a male Cinnamon Bittern (only my third patch record).

Passerines were of less interest this morning, with a single Black-naped Monarch heard, the wintering Dusky Warbler still present and a few Taiga Flys and YBWs seen.