Unexpected Success

Crested Treeswift (Hemiprocne coronata) is a fairly common resident bird of northern Thailand. The population seems to be increasing in recent years as more and more birds can be seen even within city area. Last year I photographed a family at 700 Years Stadium, this year I found a flock of a good number just in front of my dad's workplace. I just happened to be there last Friday because another birding pal would pick me up and go to Doi Inthanon together, so I had to wait there. Unexpectedly, I noticed these treeswifts perching nicely against the rare blue sky of rainy season. I suddenly grabbed my gear and looked for a nice individual to photograph. Lucky for me, one male bird was perching on a low electrical wire near a flyover bridge. I noticed that the bird didn't seem to care much about the people walking on the flyover, so I quickly ran up to the top and fired all these shots happily. I'm so happy with these shots since I could take them at the eye level, which is a rare opportunity, plus the light and the sky were just brilliant. It's just truly an unexpected success of the day.

Since I was able to be in the same level as the bird, I could even get some trees to be in the background as well. Most of the time I photographed this bird, I could only have the plain sky in BG. It's nice to have something different from the ordinary.

The bird seemed to be enjoying strong sunlight which was absent for almost a week. It preened and stretched all the time before flying out for breakfast. I could get lots of its stretching shots. From the photos, I noticed that the bird was moulting both of its median primary coverts. Shortly after the bird has gone, my friend arrived at the place and we both went for a 3-day trip at Doi Inthanon, which I'll be posting soon.

Some closer stretching shots showing median primary moult

To finish this entry, here's a selection of a single juvenile bird I found. The bird was begging for food from its parents which seemed to be swifting nearby. It's just a recent phenomenon that the bird begins to build its nests on electrical wires instead of tree branches. You can see that the juvenile bird is all mottled with brownish feathers originally designed to camouflage among lichen-covered branches. However, I have no offense about the intrusion of this former forest bird though, cos we can see it much more often now.