Thailand's fishing village - Bang Ta Boon (3)

This must be one of the very "tough" birding trip I ever had! Not that the journey is tough but to id the birds that I saw really not an easy job. Most of the birds' id below are based on my best judgement, hope I got the id right.

The very first bird that we saw was a very familiar Little Cormorant (Phalacrocorax niger)

There are lots of pole and pillar from the kelong (fishing farm) along the way, that make birding so much easier. I have not been able to get so close to this Lesser Crested Tern (Thalasseus bengalensis) before.

So as this Greater Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii).

This is my first time seeing a Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea).

Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida) just landed on one of the pole.

A very smart Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) riding on a shoe sole!!

I seen this Brown-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus) yesterday at Bang Pu too.

Another close look at Brown-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus)

Since this is a birding trip, seeing these dolphin is a bonus!

Not just dolphin, I have dpouble bonus! Is a pair of Bryde's whale!

Heuglin's Gull (Larus heuglinii) - saw it at Bang Pu too.

This looks like a Heuglin's Hull but bigger in size. I can only guess this is a Mongolian Gull (Larus mongolicus) anyone can confirm?

Little egret are waiting for easy meal at the floating fish farm.

A Gret egret with grey heron & brown-headed gull at the background.

This is one of the place that you can take lots of hunting shot! This Brown Headed Gull caught a fish but dropped it at the end as the fish is just too big perhaps.

This is the trail of my trip after export my GPS log into Google Earth.

Thailand's fishing village - Bang Ta Boon (2)

Both view be it on top of the bridge & under the bridge equally fascinating! Perhaps, this bridge is the most significant landmark for Bang Ta Boon.

What a massive construction to build a bridge across such a big river.

Fisherman are busy at work.

Lots of birds have taken advantage on the pole from the kelong (Malay word describing a form of offshore platform built predominantly with wood for fishing purposes).

More birds are found around the kelong.

It was a fantastic day out at sea. The sun is about to set and is time we return to the jetty.

I can't remember how many times I have click on my camera's shuttle. It was so beautiful!

Is time for fisherman to return with their catches too.

Sun rise to sun set.... it was a fun day out at sea.

Last shot of terns before it get dark.

Back to where we started...  (to be continued)

Thailand's fishing village - Bang Ta Boon (1)

After a day out at Bangpu watching so many gulls & terns, we drove to another coastal area and ready for more sea birds. We plan to rent a boat & do some birding at the Gulf of Thailand.

We arrived at Bang Ta Boon just after sun-rise.

Our destination is Bang Ta Boon Bay, and it was situated at the mouth of  Petchburi River.

Is Friday and today is the week-end market day. Since we are going to be out in the sea until sun set, we stock up some snacks from the market. It will be great experience to relax with sea breeze, birding & biting snacks away until sun set!

Different from the actual market, this week end market or farm mart is for the residents/farmers to sell their produces directly to the consumers.

From vege, fish, meat to fruits. You name it, they have it.

There's a mangrove learning resource here at Bang Ta Boon.

Petchburi River flow through Kaeng Krachan National Park that I used to visit for birding and the length estimated about 210km.

The village on the left of the photo is where I will take a boat out to the sea for birding.

The fisherman are collecting the catches from the net on the jetty.

The fishes are segregated based on types & sizes.

Well, the boat is ready for boarding! Yeah!!... (to be continued)

Seafood, Sea Birds & See Birds at Bangpu (3)

After taking shelter from the scorching hot sun in the watch tower, I head to the jetty for the gulls & terns. I'm never good at identifying sea birds especially gulls & terns! They come in so many different plumage/morph even though they are from the same species! Well, I'm so excited finally get to see so many different species of gulls & terns and at the same time, having headache to id all the different species that I saw. Do notify me if you spotted any wrong id...



 Whiskered tern

 Little tern

 Is late afternoon and sun setting soon. This Little Cormorant is trying the dry feathers before dark.

Brown headed gull in all the different pose. Love the lighting now & it add colour to the almost all white subjects.

There are only 2 out of thousand of terns & gulls at Bangpu. Need to spend some time to spot this Heuglin's Gull (Larus heuglinii). Once you spot them, you will not miss them as they are so different from other gulls or terns.

Very similar to Brown headed gull, but with slightly narrower bill and more prominent dark ear-spot is this Black Headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) on the right chasing the Brown Headed Gull.

 Black Headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

 The gulls & terns will visit this place every year from late October otherwise a quiet jetty.

What an amazing experience to have gulls & terns all over your head right? This place give me an alternative else I'll have to travel further to remote off-shore island or Australia/New Zealand to have the same experience!

At Bangpu, everyone is a photographer! From DSLR, compact camera, smart phone to tablet! Everyone just can't resist to capture this special moment. Will you?