Today was a good day to visit the Department of Public Relations, I could sense it. Partly (fully) fed by the information from David Gandy’s morning visit which brought up a decently wide range of migrants. And the visit did not disappoint, with the highlight being a surprise raptor encounter.
Just as I arrived, I bumped into Krit, which was a nice surprise. Birding with two-pairs of eyes is often desirable, especially when they have expert knowledge. The main target for me was the Ferruginous Flycatcher and we very quickly found it. They are always very friendly and confiding, allowing plenty of photographs as they bounce between perches catching insects!
In terms of Cyornis Flycatchers, there was one showy and vocal male Chinese Blue Flycatcher. Alongside some very skittish females of the Chinese Blue and Hill Blue Flycatcher variety. The Leaf Warblers were only encountered at the end of the visit, with a pair of Eastern Crowned Warblers and an Arctic Warbler.
Walking across an opening and looking into the sky we saw a pair of Peregrine Falcons, never a dull moment when seeing them make acrobatic manoeuvres in the sky. Although shortly after we saw something even more exciting. Given the locale is a central area in Bangkok, it was hard to top the sudden flyby of an Eastern Marsh-Harrier. A bird you are likely to find in the paddy-fields of Pathum Thani and not in the central district of Phaya Thai.
With a pair of Peregrines, Ferruginous Flycatcher, a bunch of Blue Flycatchers, a few Leaf Warblers, a Blyth’s Paradise Flycatcher and the show-stopping Eastern Marsh-Harrier, I think it was the most eventful hour and a half spent at this spot I’ve experienced!
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