Feels Like Early Winter

I've been back to Japan again since yesterday and trying to catch up with all the photos I took during the last few days before leaving Thailand. I went out birding daily every morning starting from 7 to 10am. I often rode my bicycle to a place in Muang Chum village where I often find some good migrants. The shots in this post were all taken on the sunny 21st September.

Chestnut-capped Babbler (Timalia pileata)
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

I often start off by visiting Mad Taeng River first then riding straight to Muang Chum. Along the reedbeds near the river, I was so happy to find a strong population of Chestnut-capped Babbler, a species of which I don't see very often. A pair came feeding near the main road and I luckily got them good under the sun. It is not very easy to see this bird in the open.

When I arrived at the place in Muang Chum, I unexpectedly spot a Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla) perching low in a dense Sensitive Plant bush. It was my first wryneck of the season and I was happy to get it in good light with nice blue background of the mountain, although the foreground was too messy. The last shot in the lower row shows the bird's tongue!

The weather was extremely good, almost like winter. Thailand's winter is not grey and cold like in temperate countries. It has the best weather of the year actually, with bright blue sky, cooler than average temperature and no rain! Too bad all the rice fields were all looking really green and thick, making it not easy to find birds. Several Cinnamon, Black and Yellow Bittern did flew up from the fields though but they never came close to me enough for a photo. Many Wood Sandpipers and snipes were hiding in the fields as well.

White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus)
White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)
Juvenile Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis)
Female Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)
Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)

White-vented Myna (Acridotheres grandis)

So it was another good day for birding but not that much for photography. The above White-breasted Waterhen came walking out into the open when I was standing against the sun. If I could only change my position just a few metres away from that point, the pictures could have been so much better. It's definitely another common bird which I have to work on in the future!