Bird List

At the beginning of December, I have now moved on to 174 bird species for Thailand.  So many still to see.  Its all rather exciting really because I can take my time and really get to know each new bird.  No sense of pressure either.  I sit on the balcony watching Olive-backed Sunbird feeding in the foliage of the potted plants, as confident in their calls and jizz as I would of robin or blue tit back home. Just don't let me become complacent and start compaining that there are no birds here.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated my blog but we seem to be so busy and time just slips away.  You have probably read Eunice's email so I will try to add something slighhtly different.
I gather from reading the weather forecast that the UK is rather cold at the moment.  No such problem here.  The temperature dropped to a chilly 27C and the locals rushed out to buy their winter wear of fleeces and quilted jackets but they were far too hasty.  The wind shifted to the south again and it has remained in the thirties ever since. 
With great excitement and after months of waiting, our boxes finally arrived from the UK and we hastily ripped them open having both forgotten what we had packed.  After the bird books there followed fleeces, thick socks, walking boots and woolly hats.  What were we thinking!  Anyway it has all been stuffed in a wardrobe and will no doubt, stay there until we return.
So what have we been up to.  Eunice has told you of all the social events such as the pirate parties and her flirtation with pole dancing once again in Nana, the famous area of ill repute. (Exhibit One as evidence.)  Needless to say, I was not with her.

I will focus on the more mundane.  At the beginning of November we hired a car and went an hour and a half west of Bangkok to Khok Kham which is an extensive area of mangrove forest and salt pans.  We were fortunate in the fact that the day was fairly cool so were able to be outside most of the day.  As we scanned the thousands of waders searching for possible spoon-billed sandpiper, a local man with a fishing rod attached to his bike rode up and asked us what we were looking for.  I rather evasively told him we were just searching for anything of interest.  He immediately enquired if I had found any Spoon-billed sandpiper yet because he had seen two that morning and pointed to a picture of one stuck on his motorbike fairing.  He offered to take us to where he had seen them and beckoned us to follow him.  We jumped in the car and shot off down the dirt track after him, mindful of whether we were going to be lead into the middle of nowhere and then get turned over.  After a few kilometeres we stopped and he asked me if he could borrow my bins so he could scan the pools.  Reluctantly I handed them over but stuck to him like limpet.  He then handed my bins back and told me he would be back soon with a telescope.  Now this was getting really improbable.  Even Thais birders don't own binoculars let alone telescopes.  He disapperared and I thought that would be the last I would hear about it.  To my surprise, half and hour later he reappeared with a telescope and after scanning the area for over an hour, proceeded to locate a single spoon-billed sandpiper (photo attached).  It turned out that he was the famous Mr Tii, the man in  Thailand for locating Spoon-billed sandpiper.  We swopped cards and he invited us to visit his cafe if we were ever in the area again. A great contact made. 

The following week I was on a residential trip with the Y8 pupils.  This was to Kanchanaburi which is where you find the Bridge over the River Kwai.  The bridge is a bit of a disappointment as there is a brightly coloured train that goes backwards and forwards carrying tourists over the river but the museum is very moving and well presented. Our hotel was about and hour further north near Hellfire Pass in an area of steep wooded hills and river valleys.  I have attached a view from my hotel room for your interest. 

It was a great week with trips on a long-tailed boat up the river to a stunning set of limestone caves then walking along a section of the Burma railway known as Hellfire Pass, an area of stunning beauty where over 12000 allied troops and 90000 locals died building the railway by hand.  By contrast, we swam in the crystal clear waters of Erawan Pools where the fish nibbled at your feet once you stood still.  It was like a scene from South Pacific except it was stuffed full with overweight of russian tourists who did nothing for my balihigh.  There is no such thing as paradise. 

Once I had returned, Eunice and I went down to the WWF local reserve of Bang Pu to visit a Bird Fair there.  It was surprisingly good and we made a load of new contacts as well as buying some rather nice bird pictures.  We also discovered a large part of the reserve we knew nothing about so we will visit again early in the day this weekend when it is a little cooler.

Last weekend, we had the final part of our Thai culture training.  This involved going to Ayutthaya which is one of the old capitals of Thailand.  Here we were given a cultural show of dancing, Thai boxing, music, local crafts and games before being taken around the area to visit historical places of interest dotted around this world hertage site. To finish the day we were given a superb meal aboard a boat which sailed up the river on a evening cruise.  I can't see barnsley doing that for their new teachers any time soon!