Bang Pu Mai, Bangkok, Feb 2013

The tide at Bang Poo (Bang Pu Mai) was predicted, by 2 different sources, to reach its height around 07.30 this morning. It was pretty high when I arrived and looked as if it was still flowing strongly. My plan had been to arrive around high tide, check out the heron and egret roosts, then take a moment at the hide overlooking the roosting ponds. Hopefully by this time the tide would be receding and I could repair to the sea path to watch the waders flying out to greet the mud.

In case you feel slightly uncomfortable about this picture, it is a montage of the only bird that I managed to get in focus as it flew over.

Where I went wrong was not realising that a 3.9 meter tide would come up very high and would then need to drop substantially before any mud was revealed. Thus it was that I had to wait nearly four hours after the predicted high before any birds began to emerge from the mangroves and onto the mud. Even then, they were slow to feed. To get the most from this site, may I suggest that you refer to this link which gives a very good account of what to look for and what to expect. My account here is a simple snapshot of my visit and a bit of an update.

Pond-heron

I started at the heron and egret roost that can be found close to the main road at the entrance to the site. Pond herons were plentiful, but the two local species are almost indistinguishable. I did manage to winkle out a couple of Javan Pond-herons that had assumed their breeding plumage early. The spot marked on the map at the above link is not viewable, but Great Egrets, Little Egrets and a Black-crowned Night Heron could be seen at Google Earth ref; 13°31'15.27"N 100°39'9.50"E.

In the little village area Asian Koels, Oriental Magpie Robins and Chestnut Munias were quickly seen.

Back by the pier, the tide was seeping up onto the promenade and Dr Seuss Fish that seemed to dislike the water, found relief from the wet by crawling up onto rocks and floating debris.

As you look at the pier, you will notice a pair of metal gates that lead from the Visitor Centre into the mangroves on the left. A path runs parallel to the shoreline from here and the roosting ponds are very close by. Turn left and you will quickly come to a two-storey hide that gives good views of thousands of birds which have been driven inland by the rising tide. I estimated about 2500 Black-tailed Godwits and 500 Brown-headed Gulls. Other species seen in smaller numbers included Common Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper and Pacific Golden Plover. I was surprised not to see any ‘peeps’ or Charadrius plovers.

Most of the birds were crowded onto the bare earth of the roosts, but a few Common Greenshank, Black-winged Stilt and Wood Sandpiper poked around in a bit of open water just in front of the hide.

I followed the path further into the mangroves and found that the other hides and screens had been allowed to fall into disrepair. A fleeting glimpse was had of a few Common Ioras and a Plaintive Cuckoo flew across the path and stopped to look back at me. A ditch had attracted some Great Egrets and three Painted Storks.

The best find in the mangroves was the canopy walk. The mangrove canopy is not actually very high, but the raised walkway put me level with the Golden-bellied Gerygone which had been wheezing at me all morning. The walkway is not mentioned at www.thaibirding.com, nor is it shown on the Google Earth picture which needs updating. Follow the path through the mangroves and you will find it easily enough.

The walkway leads out onto the sea path and back along the shoreline. A hide has been built out from the shore at Google Earth ref; 13°30'55.83"N 100°39'27.95"E. It had also seen better days and there was a bit of maintenance outstanding. It overlooks a protected zone which has been sheltered from the ravages of wave and tide by a barrier of bamboo stakes driven into the mud about 100meters from the shore. Many of the stakes have been lost to the tidal action and float in a matt against the artificial, rocky shoreline. Common Sandpipers find good pickings amongst them.

I assume that the barrier has been put in place to provide conducive growing conditions for the mangrove which has extended its reach along the shoreline in both directions. Since the Google Earth picture was taken, the areas behind the barriers on both sides of the pier have almost filled up with mangroves.

 At last the mud began to show. Three Pacific Golden Plover and two Common Redshank came down and just stood, looking at each other. A few Little Egrets and pond herons chased fish and crabs while a Black-capped Kingfisher swooped down to pick something from the surface of the mud. Eventually more plovers and redshanks flew out from the mangroves and with the benefit of more pairs of eyes, began to feed. A few Eurasian Curlew showed up at the same time as a large flock of Brown-headed Gulls. They were followed by Common Greenshank, but still there was no sign of the Bar-tailed Godwit.

I reckoned that the small area un-colonised by mangroves would not be big enough to accommodate the godwits and that they would probably wait until the tide receded beyond the barriers and then come out to feed on the huge expanses of mud that would be available to them at low tide. I headed for the pier as the first of the godwits began to fly out from the sanctuary of the mangroves. By the time I reached the pier, they were streaming out in small flocks and the open areas of mud quickly filled with gulls and godwits.

Whiskered Gulls tried to compete with the brown-headed Gulls for the affections of the laridophiles that come to the pier to feed them. A small stand sells revolting things that the gulls and terns appear to find irresistible. This was nearly four hours after the predicted time of high tide and I could easily have taken a couple of golden early morning hours at Muang Boran on the way here without missing anything.

 

Birds seen; 41

Painted Stork 3, Indian Cormorant 30, Little Cormorant 1, Grey Heron 3, Great Egret 25, Little Egret 20, Javan Pond-heron2, Black-crowned Night-heron 1, Pacific Golden Plover 40 Black-winged Stilt 60, Common Sandpiper 6, Common Greenshank 15, Marsh Sandpiper 35, Wood Sandpiper 8, Common Redshank 35, Eurasian Curlew 7, Black-tailed Godwit 2500, Brown-headed Gull 2000, Whiskered Tern 120, Common Tern 1, Spotted Dove 2, Zebra Dove 4, Plaintive Cuckoo 1, Asian Koel 5, German’s Swiftlet 20, Black-capped Kingfisher 4, Collared Kingfisher 1, Golden-bellied Gerygone 4, Common Iora 3, Brown Shrike 1, Pied Fantail 20, Barn Swallow 20, Yellow-vented Bulbul 3, Streak-eared Bulbul 10, Common Tailorbird 5, Plain Prinia 4, Oriental Magpie Robin 12, Great Myna 10, Common Myna 2, Eurasian Tree Sparrow 15, Chestnut Munia 6

For a previous post from Bang Pu Mai, follow the link below;

Visit the dedicated Oriental page for more from Thailand, including; Lumphini Park and Pak Thale

Bang Pu Mai, Bangkok, Thailand

What would I do without G.L to keep me in fresh new ideas for places to see and things to do while nursing a hang-over? It was not his suggestion that Alexandria Mills, Plurimusdecorus inorbis, be entrusted to my care for the evening, but we managed to make up for that oversight and the normal beer per lifer applies for the rest of the post.

His latest recommendation was hardly a good second best to an evening with the reigning Miss World, but I have a blog to write so I took his suggestion for a morning at Bang Pu. 

Bang Pu Mai is a nature education centre south east of Bangkok which attracts roosting birds who might otherwise be feeding on the estuary of the river (Google Earth ref; 13 31' 02"N 100 39' 18"E). Facilities include a pier which attracts people who enjoy the spectacle of hundreds, nay thousands, of Brown-headed Gulls and gulls which enjoy the spectacle of people throwing free food.

Occasionally a Pallas’s (a much bigger dark-headed gull) or Heughlin’s Gull (large, classic gull) might put in an appearance, but I was not prepared to put in the effort or attention to detail required until the beery feeling from the late night had worn off.

A mangrove and shoreline restoration project is ongoing there. Bamboo pilings have been set into the mud to help the silt to settle and mangrove spears have been planted in anticipation. The gulls use the bamboo on both sides of the pier as roosts and Little Egrets stumble along the in-shore line of defence.

Back on land, through a gate to the left as you approach the pier, a sea defence protects a sanctuary of mangrove with ponds, paths and hides. The tide is allowed to sweep in and out and as I arrived this morning, it was approaching its high mark.

A hide overlooking a scrape looked like a fine place for a nap until I noticed the sloughed snakeskin hanging from the rafters above me. Once my eye was in, I began to notice more skins, five altogether and began to sober up a bit. The only sign of live reptiles were the large Geckos, but I couldn't help glancing up now and then.

Waders and herons were abundant with Black-tailed Godwit making up a large proportion. Dense flocks had come to roost and were joined on the mud scrapes by Common Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper and Black-winged Stilt. Pacific Golden Plovers were more widely dispersed among the salt grass.

The mournful, sibilant, descending phrase of the Flycatcher is easy to imitate and the bird responds well to it. Also known as the Golden-bellied Gerygone, it was simple to tempt the little bird out of the mangroves for a look, but photographing it proved more tricky.

Another call (one that put me in mind of the introduction to ‘Boogie Wonderland’ (Earth Wind and Fire, 1979, just in case you haven’t heard this pop milestone which peaked at no. 4 in the UK single chart)), came from the Mangrove Whistler. The call was easy enough to imitate, but the bird did not respond (so perhaps it was not as easy as I thought). One was calling from a small patch of mangroves behind the visitors centre. I saw movement from the apparent source of the song, but by the time I got the Bushnells trained on the spot, he was gone. There were some Pied Fantails in there with him and that was enough to sow doubt and so I have to decline this one.

The observation tower and part of the board walk are out of service at the moment. The remainder of the boardwalk has not been well maintained and I wonder if it will be reinstated. There is groundwork underway to improve drainage and facilities, so hopefully a new and improved mangrove experience is around the corner.

Close to the entrance is a dry area with a vegetable garden and a small meadow with wildflowers. Zebra Doves fed from the ground as Streak-eared Bulbuls called from the acacia-like trees.

There were dragonflies here too. A nice selection will be added to my life list just as soon as I figure out what they are.

This damselfly, I believe, is the orange form of the Common Bluetail, Ischnura senegalensis, but I have yet to find an ID for this fine fellow below. For want of anything better, I shall call him a Dancing Dropwing, Trithemis pallidinervis which I have seen before in Singapore and looks very similar. They were very common along the sea defence wall on the seaward side.

A few Crimson Darters, Crocothemis servilia were about, but did not allow me as close as the species above. They preferred the mangrove side of the sea defence.

The species below I have no idea about and cannot find anything as a suitable match. I will have to consult the experts and I hope that I will be able to come back to confirm the identities. It has a number of features in common with the darter, but niether its thorax, nor abdomen carried any markings and its appendages are quite different.

The salt extraction ponds of Pak Thale offer day-long feeding opportunities, so the birds are less tide dependent than most waders. The tide at Bang Pu Mai obviously has more of a bearing on the birds’ feeding habits. By mid-morning, the high tide had started to recede and small exploratory flocks of godwits were making sorties from the scrapes to see if any fresh mud had been revealed. They would return shortly afterwards and wait for a few minutes before taking another look. By the time I left at about 11.30, the traffic was all one way. Tide times may be critical as the mud banks of the estuary are off the reserve and not visible. There is plenty of mud beneath the pier, but the big numbers of birds spread out quickly and the sun will affect your view.

Bird species; 25

Little Cormorant 25, Grey Heron 20, Great Egret 60, Intermediate Egret 3, Little Egret 50, Chinese Pond Heron 20, Painted Stork 28, Black-winged Stilt 250, Pacific Golden Plover 25, Black-tailed Godwit 2500, Common Redshank 30, Marsh Sandpiper15, Common Greenshank 15, Common Sandpiper 3, Brown-headed Gull 2000, Spotted Dove 2, Zebra Dove 10, Black-capped Kingfisher 2, Collared Kingfisher 1, Pacific Swallow 25, Streak-eared Bulbul 4, Oriental Magpie Robin 4, Dark-necked Tailorbird 1, Pied Fantail 8, Golden-bellied Gerygone 10