Bangkok Low-tide

Having chased a low-tide once before, I came better prepared this time. Upon arrival, fortunately or unfortunately, the road was closed due to the restaurant taking a holiday. I had forgotten my bike, so I made the 20 minute walk to the shoreline. I spent most of my time sitting on the end of the pier until the tide rose enough to reach it.

Most of the day it was rather quiet and wasn’t too exciting, it was more just a nice time enjoying the breeze with nothing but shorebirds around. As I said, not exciting because it was mainly the same old or perhaps the good old birds. No Bar-tailed Godwits or Dowitchers. The bulk of the waders were, of course, Common Redshank which were probably close to 1,000 on the exposed mudflats.

Alongside the Common Redshanks, Black-tailed Godwits, Marsh Sandpipers, a few Common Greenshank and the usual Plovers made up the rest of the waders. Halfway through my visit some Grey Plovers flew past and at one point, went next to a Pacific Golden Plover, which made a nice comparison image.

Grey Plover alongside the smaller Pacific Golden.

Due to the restaurant being empty, some birds, like this Black-capped Kingfisher, were perching closer to the structures than they would be otherwise.

It was a quiet low-tide but my personal highlight was found just before leaving. Continuing to look through the birds, I noticed something slightly different from the others. Luckily, it was foraging close to where I was sitting when I picked up on it. A lone Terek Sandpiper, beak covered in mud but undoubtable as it even exhibited it’s typical Common Sandpiper-esque tail-shaking.

Not long after this sighting it was time to make the long walk back to the car. Many birds were flying over to their roosting sites, my last picture was a Black-winged Kite perching by the path.