I went to Rokushou-en this morning and around Haruki-kawa there's a hugeee flock of White-cheeked Starling perching on electric wires. I scanned through the flock hoping for something special and out of the blue came a pair of Chestnut-cheeked Starling (Sturnus philippensis), my latest lifer...No. 989. Though a common summer visitor to northern Japan, it is quite scarce down south. It is also a rare migrant to southern Thailand also. I went to Chumphon, the best place for migrating starlings in Thailand, several times looking for this guy but never got a chance to find one. It is much smaller than the numerous White-cheeked and really stood out among them. Looking forward for more lifers this autumn passage...
Male bird looks so cute with his whitish face.
The female looks exactly the same as the female Purple-backed Starling (Sturnus sturninus),
which is a fairly common winter visitor to Thailand.
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