This was from March 2008, before I came to Japan. Me and my family, we went on a trip before I said goodbye to my motherland. Chumphon is a province located on the east side of Thai peninsula. It is famous for its beautiful beaches and islands, and is also one of the best places to watch migrating raptors! We stayed at our favorite resort, the 'Chumphon Cabana', which located in the area of Thung Wua Lan beach, one of the most famous beaches in Chumphon. Though this doesn't sound like there's gonna be any good birds, but actually it does. I have seen
Malaysian Plover (
Charadrius peronii), an uncommon resident plover of southern Thailand, almost everytime I come here. And of course, this time with the DSLR, I could finally get some nice shots of them! :))
This time I luckily came across with some interesting species within the small area of the resort's garden. I found that lots of small birds came to bath at a small stream beneath the dark shades along the path to the buildings. The most interesting one was the Olive-winged Bulbul (Pycnonotus plumosus) which is quite an uncommon species of southern Thailand. I didn't expect to see this species here, since I didn't know that they also come up to the northern part of the peninsula, so I was happily surprised. Other species included a Lineated Barbet (Megalaima lineata) that came to eat palm fruits, Olive-backed and Brown-throated Sunbirds, Stripe-throated Bulbul, surprisingly common, Streak-eared and Sooty-headed Bulbul, Vinous-breasted Starling (Acridotheres burmannicus leucocephalus), Common Myna, an Oriental Magpie-Robin family, Zabra and Spotted Doves and a Greater Coucal.
A male Olive-backed Sunbird taking bath on waterdrops left on the leaves
A Common Myna
An Olive-winged Bulbul's twin, the Streak-eared Bulbul
A juvenile male Oriental Magpie-Robin
A usually shy Lineated Barbet
The other day we went out in the sea to go snorkeling. Though it was not my first time, but the underwater world still seemed to surprise me all the time. I spent like 5 minutes just floating still in the water watching the Anemonefish, I'm soo in love with them! Not to mention other extremely colorful and sometimes, strange, species which are all looked alien to me, since I do not know any specific name for them, I was so enjoyed with the trip. When we got on the boat, I caught some birds along the way back. Pacific Reef-Egret (Egretta sacra) was so common, all in dark phase. An adult Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) subspecies japonensis also seen flying by. The next day we left Chumphon, then headed back to Bangkok. And that was my last time seeing my family before going to Japan in that Spring of 2008.
A dark morph Pacific Reef-Egret
It's fun to look through and process old photos and put them into this blog. I recently came across a thread about ringing Malaysian Plovers (Charadrius peronii) in the Gulf of Thailand, and it reminded me that I also have many photos of this species as well. The Malaysian Plover is listed as Near Threatened in IUCN Red Data List. It is one of the very few resident waders in Thailand, which inhabits along the coastal areas ranging from the inner part of the Gulf of Thailand to the tip of the Malaysian Peninsula. I've got a chance to photograph this scarce bird during a trip to Chumphon Province with my family. A pair was showing up regularly at the sandy beach in front of the resort that we were staying in. Male bird is cute with the same head pattern as the hair cut of the famous Japanese manga character in the 70s, Daigoro. It looks very similar to the much more widespread Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) in breeding plumage, but the body structure and upperwing coverts are pretty much different. The Malaysian Plover seems to be thinner looking with a striking big head. Its upperwing coverts also show buffish scales unlike the plain brownish upperwings of the Kentish Plover. The bird is mainly threatened by heavy habitat loss caused by development as well as human activities on sandy beaches, which is the main habitat for this bird. For more photos of the ringing session of the plover's chicks, please visit here (in Thai only).
