Chestnut-capped Babbler

These photos were taken on the same day as the Racket-tailed Treepie below. The Chestnut-capped Babbler (Timalia pileata) seems to be a local "star" for my local patch. Though widespread and not uncommon, there's actually a few places where these birds are 100% guaranteed. Here at Mae Taeng River, it is now one of the most numerous little brown jobs. Its population seems to have increased from the past, when its close relative Yellow-eyed Babbler (Chrysomma sinense) used to be much commoner. These two species prefer similar habitats, open grasslands and riverbeds, so it is likely that they've always been competing to each other. I still remember how difficult to see a Chestnut-capped Babbler back then when I started birding, and now they're almost everywhere.

Chestnut-capped Babbler (Timalia pileata)

I came across a flock of about 7-8 birds shortly after I photographed the treepie. It was a family flock consisting of 2 parents and at least 5 fledglings. It was the first time for me to see and photograph the juvenile birds. They have much paler look; paler chestnut cap, paler greyish neck and pale yellowish gape. They always moved together in the same order; parents first, then the kids. After I photographed the family, I moved on the next location, a small muddy track near the Thai Yai temple on the opposite side of the river, I came across another pair of Chestnut-capped Babblers, marking the new range of its distribution. The habitat here is quite different from the former location, being mainly cultivated areas and very close to human.

One of the two Chestnut-capped Babblers from the new spot

Grey Pansy (Junonia atlites)

Apart from the babbler, there were also several interesting species including the Cinnamon and Yellow Bittern, which were seen flying around everywhere. These birds are numerous, but almost impossible to see when they're on the ground. The Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) is the less common one. I was quite lucky when a juvenile bird came landing on a grassy dike in front of me. Normally these birds would immediately run into thicker grass, but this young bird was kind enough to hang around for a few minutes. Maybe it was stunned and didn't know what to do. There were also many Wood Sandpipers (Tringa glareola) in the rice fields but they were all skittish as usual. A young female Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) was also seen for the first time for this fall migration.

Juvenile Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis)

A New Place

Just a few days before I left Thailand, I discovered my new favourite birding spot only a few kilometres away from my house. It's a flooded area on the Mae Taeng River side filled with tall local reedbeds scattered with short grass. I found it interesting since when I first met the flock of Chestnut-capped Babbler and I followed it into the reeds. There were few tracks made by water buffaloes into the reeds. I followed through the tracks and discovered so many interesting species, especially the Little Brown Jobs.

A nice scenery in the morning after the rain

A flock of Red Collared-Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica)
White-breasted Waterhen with food for its chicks

Immature male Yellow-bellied Prinia (Prinia flaviventris)

Yellow-eyed Babbler (Chrysomma sinense)

The highlights of the place include a single Rusty-rumped Warbler (Locustella certhiola) I luckily came across while I was chasing the Chestnut-capped Babblers, Baikal Bush-Warblers (Bradypterus davidi), Thick-billed Warblers (Acrocephalus aedon), Red Avadavats (Amandava amandava) and surely Chestnut-capped Babblers (Timalia pileata). I'll be posting photos of the babbler later in another post cos there's just too many photos of them.