Day 2 - Part A

 

Today, the 20th of February, was my son's birthday - Matthew Cross. 

Here in Thailand it was too and to celebrate I went birding... 

The official plan was not torn up but it was folded up and ignored. 

The original plan had us visiting some sites to see common species but the Golf course and surrounding areas had been a very good start for common species so we decided to go immediately for one of the most sort after Thai birds. 

This bird is unique, amazing, sadly critically endangered. It is sort after by borders the world over, so it was our key target, and, to make a long story short, our eventual bird of the day.

It is the spoon billed sandpiper.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus

 

Spoon-billed Sandpiper

 With its unique appearance and increasingly endangered status, it is easy to see why this species is such a popular target bird. With the isolated location of its breeding grounds in northeast Russia, Thailand, along with Saemangeum in South Korea, offers birdwatchers the best chance of finding Spoon-billed Sandpiper with not one, but two reliable wintering locations: Khok Kham regularly holds one or two birds and Pak Thale regularly holds higher numbers. This species has also been observed at Khao Sam Roi Yot and other salt pans in Samut Songkram province, indicating that it could be found in a number of other locations in the Gulf of Thailand, or perhaps other parts of the country.

With now perhaps less than 400 breeding pairs remaining, the sighting of up to 16 birds at Pak Thale in 2004 was significant, although below the 31 seen at Simpo, South Korea on 26th May 2007.

Birders are usually surprised to find that this species' defining feature, its bill shape, is not always obvious in the field until viewed head on. However, it is reasonably easy to pick out of a flock of wintering Rufous-necked Stints due to its surprisingly white appearance (in winter) making it possible to locate even with just binoculars at fairly long range; although, of course, such a bird needs to be viewed through a telescope to fully appreciate it.

It is believed that drainage and reclaimation of wetlands for agriculture, industry and urban expansion along the species' migratory flyways is a significant factor in the decline of Spoon-billed Sandpiper. With the ongoing destruction of Saemangeum, the Inner Gulf of Thailand may become even more important than it already is for Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

from Nick Upton's excellent Thai Birding web site.

Check out a short video about the species here.

As perhaps can be gleaned from the portfolio above the Spoonie site is an artificial site - ponds created for salt harvesting. It is frequented by a range of migratory wader species.