In The River

Few weeks ago as I was walking along the Spa Beach, I spotted an eclipse male Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) feeding along the shoreline. Its eyes seemed to be infected and the eyelids were swollen. I took a few snapshots before it flew out towards the sea. The next day, I found the same bird feeding in the small river near my dorm along with an Eastern Great and Little Egret. It seemed to be very healthy and active despite its swollen eyelids. This time it wasn't as wary as when I saw it at the beach and I could take photos of it easily from the bridge.

Eclipse male Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)

It was feeding in the shallow area, chasing schools of fish around in circles attracting the Little and Great Egret to come and take the opportunities. I was quite amazed how it could still manage to catch the fish even with those infected eyes. It was quite entertaining watching it feeding in the river. Even though it didn't care much about my existence because I was sitting very still, whenever someone came walking by, it swam out towards the sea but always came back within a few minutes. I could identify it as an eclipse male because it already showed a few breeding feathers on its flanks.

Diving Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)

Non-breeding Eastern Great Egret (Casmerodius modesta) and Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Apart from the 3 species, there was a small number of Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridibundus) swimming in the river. While flock of approximately 700 birds was also seen flying around and resting in the sea near Spa Beach as well. Normally I don't feel like taking photos of these gulls anymore, but the reflection on the water surface was just so pretty that I couldn't help but taking photos of them swimming around and also while some of them were landing. I just love the shutter speeds that I got. Even with ISO200, I could get the shutter speed as fast as 1/2000sec! I love the light in Japan!

Non-breeding Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Part of the c. 700 flock of Black-headed Gulls

Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo)

Male Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Recently there has been a flock of about 70 Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) residing near my dorm. Few weeks ago when I took these photos, most of them still had black head. Yesterday, I saw the flock again and was surprised to find how many birds have moulted into breeding plumage with smart whitish head. I've never taken any decent shot of the cormorants in breeding plumage before. Maybe I would have to try taking their photos soon. Hopefully they will come closer to the shore some day.

Ono River

Late December excited me with the discovery of a male Scaly-sided Merganser (Mergus squamatus) at Ono River. On January 29, I went there to look for the bird but failed to see it. The bird proved to be nomadic. It disappeared from the first location where it was found and was later spotted many kilometres upstream several days later. I followed the news with the help from other birdwatchers in Oita but still couldn't manage to see it. I failed twice and felt so discouraged that I stopped following it. Last month, the bird was spotted again with a female! The pair was found staying in a lake up on the mountain in Yufu city. The place seems to be accessible only by private cars, so I had no chance to see them. Anyway, this post is all about the other birds that I found and photographed during my visits to Ono River.

Probably non-breeding male Long-billed Plover (Charadrius placidus)

Probably a female bird

Ono River (大野川) seemed to be a very good place to see Long-billed Plovers (Charadrius placidus). They were numerous along the rocky riverbanks in the area where I was looking for the merganser. Almost all of them were staying in pairs. I noticed that one of the birds in each pair would have more black on its face and breast band, and another one would have plainer face. I assumed that the darker one might be a male bird and another is a female. Even though they were numerous, it was really difficult to photograph them. They were shy and would normally fly away before I reached a certain range that is good enough for my lens. I finally found the trick that made me more successful in photographing these shy birds. I noticed that they would try to camouflage by lying low among the rocks when I walked with my back straight, but tended to fly away when I tried to approach by crawling towards them. This is quite opposite to most birds that feed on the ground, which tend to be less comfortable with any vertical matter than moves horizontally, i.e. human. So I tried walking indirectly towards them with my back straight and when I got to the acceptable distance, I would sit down and wait for the birds to rise up and move freely.

More individuals with blackish face and breast band

Another bird that I tried to photograph while I was waiting for the merganser was the Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis poggei). There were about 3-5 pairs staying in the same area. Like the Long-billed Plovers, they were numerous but clearly moved in pairs. With a photography hide, I could take some photos of them in a close range since they tended to favour shallow water near the banks. I also noticed that one of the individuals in each pair would be slightly darker than another one as well. The darker individual would have darker brown cap and upperparts. These darker individuals might as well be the male birds.

A non-breeding Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis poggei)

A darker individual

A non-breeding Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Black-eared Kite (Milvus lineatus)

Apart from the Long-billed Plovers and Little Grebes, there were not so many other birds in the river. I feel like even Oita River seems to be a much better place for general birding. Birds in Ono River seemed to be much more wary and less numerous. Other birds found on my 2 visits included a Eurasian Sparrowhawk, an Osprey, Black-eared Kites, Little and Great Egrets, distant Mandarin and Falcated Ducks, a female Common Merganser, Great Cormorants and lots of Common Teals. The transportation fee is quite expensive, so I don't think that I'll make another visit to look for the Scaly-sided Merganser again. Hopefully, I'll be able to see it someday in the future before it becomes even more endangered than it is now.

Lanius schach schach

Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) is a common resident bird throughout Thailand but the two nominate races are the black-headed L.s.longicaudatus of central plain and L.s.tricolor of northern hills. The grey-headed L.s.schach seems to be first recorded just a few years ago during winter in Mae Hia, Chiang Mai. The individual showed up for 2-3 consecutive winters. I unexpectedly found this individual in the evening of September 19th. The bird was perching on a dead branch by Mae Taeng River. I had to observe it from the bridge which was quite far away from the bird. After I reported about it, another bird photographer from Chiang Rai also submitted a photograph showing a very beautiful male L.s.schach he photographed from Chiang Rai Airport earlier this year (23 February). The bird has much neater plumage with more black on forehead than the one I found here.

Long-tailed Shrike race Lanius schach schach

Apart from the L.s.schach above, there was also a juvenile L.s.tricolor calling on the other side of the river. L.s.tricolor is the nominate race of northern Thailand. It has distinct black head contrasting with white throat and rufous body. Its upper mantle is grey, unlike the nominate race of central Thailand, L.s.longicaudatus, which also has a much longer tail.

Juvenile L.s.tricolor; note black head, grey upper mantle

Lots of egrets fly back to their roost in the upper stream of the Mae Taeng River (above) every evening. The two main species being Little Egret (left) and Cattle Egret (right) with a lesser number of Intermediate Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron and Great Egret. I also photographed a young Brown Shrike eating a big cricket at Muang Chum on the same evening. There were far more many Brown Shrikes than Long-tailed Shrikes at the moment, but they were really difficult to get a decent photo. Lots of Chinese Pond-Herons have arrived as well, not to mention about the Wood Sandpiper.

Juvenile Brown Shrike eating a big cricket
Non-breeding Chinese Pond-Heron

A pure flock of Wood Sandpiper