Mrs Treeswift

I, again, did some shots of the Crested Treeswift in front of my dad's work place. This time there were just a few male birds, only 2-3 maybe, and all of them perched quite far away from the flyover, so if you want to see the males just visit here. Several females were contrastingly perching very close to the flyover. I could even use fill flash with them, since the direction of light was not perfect. These females have plain slaty cheek unlike the males.

These photos are of the same individual from different angle.

Here's another individual stretching

Apart from the treeswifts, there were quite many birds visiting the fruiting tree nearby, including Sooty-headed, Streak-eared and Red-whiskered Bulbuls, Common and White-vented Myna, Black-collared Starlings, Eurasian Tree-Sparrows and Zebra Doves. Below are some photos of the few species mentioned.

Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster klossi)

White-vented Mynas (Acridotheres grandis) with their cool hair styles.

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.

Landscape & BIF Photography

These photos were taken along the way back from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai. We decided to use an alternative, the Wieng Pa Pao - Phrao road, instead of driving in the normal route. The scenery along the way was spectacular. It's the first time for me to use this route and I was so impressed with the view of sunset and Doi Chiang Dao, the 3rd highest mountain in Thailand which can be seen distantly in the picture above. Along the way we found a large flock of Crested Treeswift (Hemiprocne coronata) swifting together against the deep blue winter sky. I think we've spent like one hour just trying to get thier flight shots without success. Anyway, here's what I got. Enjoy!

The forest along the way was surprisingly beautiful. We even found a flock of Small and Rosy Minivets!

And the Crested Treeswift flight shots; I swear I tried so hard.
Male birds with rufous cheeks.

Fork-tailed Swifts also joined the group.

Dr. Mong

The sacred, 3rd highest mountain of the country, Doi (Luang) Chiang Dao

A very playful horizon of limestone mountains

Crested Wireswift!

These cute birds are called Crested Treeswift (Hemiprocne coronata) but these days, ironically, they no longer perch on trees! Chiang Mai city might be the easiest place to look for these strange looking swifts. Recently a large number of population started to move into the city. They perch and even nest on elctronic wires! Seems that they have completely adapted to the city life. What a civilized bird!

These photos were taken from the 700 Years Stadium, Chiang Mai yesterday. There were about 10 Crested Treeswifts perching on the elctronic wires in front of the hotel. I failed to see any nest, but found an immature bird which was nearly an adult still begging for food from its parents.The weather was really cloudy with low light, so the pics are not really sharp nor beautiful, but their behaviors are quite amusing though.

A worn father

And beautiful moms