lørdag den 23. februar 2013

Wat Khao Luk Chiang, Gulf and Eagle Watchpoint. 13/12-2011

Sidste dag blev brugt på forskellige lokaliteter mellem Kaeng Krachan og Bangkok. Først stoppede vi ved Wat Khao Luk Chiang for at se Lesser- og Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, som det tidligere kun var lykkes RDN at se. Lokaliteten er god for arterne, men vi måtte desværre forlade stedet uden den store succes. Stoppet var dog ikke helt spildt, da to Forest Wagtails fint lod sig beskue i underskoven. Herefter fortsatte vi til saltpanderne ved kysten og brugte lidt tid på de store mængder af vadefugle. I det sidste lys stoppede vi ved et kendt udsigtspunkt for ørne. De eneste ørne på lokaliteten var dog Greater spotted Eagles, men vi var alligevel også mere interesseret i Eastern Marsh Harrier. Det sluttede lykkeligt, og vi kunne tage til Danmark med 420-425 arter i bagagen.

Forest Wagtail fra Wat Khao Luk Chiang. En uventet art, som ikke tidligere var kendt fra lokaliteten?
Foto: SSL
Asian Barred Owlet. Rimelig alm. fugl i Thailand.
Foto: SSL
Collared-Kingfisher-ssp. armstrongi fra saltpanderne.
Foto: SSL
Broad-billed Sandpiper fra saltpanderne. Ikke helt alm. vadefugl i Thailand.
Foto: SSL
Black-winged Kite. Alm. i lavlandet.
Foto: RDN
Greater Spotted Eagle. Eneste ørneart ved "ørne hotspotet".
Foto: RDN
Eastern Marsh Harrier.
Foto: RDN
Bye bye Thailand.

onsdag den 20. februar 2013

Kaeng Krachan (3) 12/12-2011

Sidste dag i Kaeng Krachan blev hovedsageligt brugt på eftersøgning af Blue Pitta. Hverken Rasmus eller jeg havde tidligere set en pitta, og med bogen "The Jewel Hunter" frisk i erindringen var vi klar som aldrig før. Dagen før havde en englænder set en fugl tæt ved stream two, så vi opsøgte stedet sammen med vores guider. Efter længere tids søgen hører vi et tydeligt kald fra Blue Pitta. Vi spiller fuglen tættere på, og da fuglen er under 30 meter fra os, bliver den igen helt stille. Vores guider overdriver herefter brugen af playback og er tilsyneladende ude af stand til at stå stille. En dårlig kombination! Pittaen kalder derfor ikke mere, og vi finder det nødvendigt at skabe afstand mellem os og guiderne. Vi hører kort tid efter et kald længere væk, og vi begiver os nu alene mod fuglen. Vi lokaliserer hurtigt en fugl i skovbunden, og vi lister efter den et stykke tid. Med hjerte helt oppe i halsen kommer vi endelig helt tæt på, og forløsningen synes uundgåelig. Ud af skyggen træder herefter to fine Bar-backed Partridge, og stemningen falder med det samme til nulpunktet. Det hjalp ikke meget på humøret, da vi kort tid efter så den sjældne og sky Grey Peacock Pheasant på tilbagevejen. Billederne under teksten viser nogle af de arter vi trods alt så denne dag.
Kaeng Krachan.
Solopgang ved Ban Maka. Et gæstehus tæt ved parken. Large-tailed Nightjar, Brown Hawk Owl og Blue Bearded Bee-eater kan ses i haven. 
White-handed Gibbon. Kunne høres i parken det meste af tiden. God stemning!
Foto: SSL
Yellow-bellied Warbler. Alm. i parken.
Foto: RDN
Common Green Magpie. Sås få gange.
Foto: RDN
White-hooded Babbler. Eneste fugl på turen, som efter en heroisk indsats kunne dokumenteres.
Foto:RDN
Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush. En af de eneste arter kun set af den ene part af selskabet (RDN).
Foto: RDN
Ashy Drongo ssp. leucogenis. Denne race sås kun sjældent i parken.
Foto: RDN
Meget attraktiv lille sanger. Sulphur-breasted Warbler. Sås kun i Kaeng Krachan.
Foto:RDN 
Dusky Langur. Alm. I parken.
Foto:RDN
Dusky Langur
Foto: RDN
Long-tailed Macaque. Alm. i oplandet til Kaeng Krachan.
Foto: RDN
Asian Paradise Flycatcher. Sås kun få gange i parken. Bestemt ikke nem.
Foto: SSL
Blue-bearded Bee-eater. Den nemmeste af skovbiæderne. Dette billede er fra gæstehuset Ban Maka ca. 20 km. fra parken.
Foto: SSL
Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher. Ikke en almindelig fugl i parken. Den kan også være svær at finde pga. de mange blå fluesnappere der ligner hinanden. Det er ret forvirrende!
Foto: SSL
Blue-winged Leafbird
Foto: SSL
Buff-rumped Woodpecker. En 3-4 stykker af disse små  fine spætter sås kort tid i en blandet flok.
Foto: SSL
Chinese Francolin ved Ban Maka. En lille familie gik over vejen lige foran bilen, og vores guide prøvede febrilsk at overbevise os om, at der var tale om to arter af Partridge. Han tav dog hurtigt, da vi forsigtigt forslog Chinese Francolin :)
Foto: SSL   
Eastern Crowned Warbler.
Foto: SSL
Fin opvisning af denne fine drossel. En af de nemmeste i parken. Eyebrowed Thrush
Foto: SSL
Orange-breasted Trogon. Der skal arbejdes, men det er en art man for det meste se efter et par dage i parken.
Foto: SSL
Puff-throated Babbler. Set fra skjul ved Ban Maka. Vi havde generelt ikke meget held med de sky babblers.
Foto: SSL
Siberian Blue Robin. Selvfølgelig en drømme art, som ikke er helt alm. i parken. Vi så et par stykker i løbet af tre dage.
Foto: SSL

søndag den 17. februar 2013

Ferruginous Duck

The 64th Ferrugnious Duck for Denmark is currently in Sminge Sø near Silkeborg. The duck is often seen in the company of a female Pochard. The bird has been present for about a week at the locality and with an already planned christmas lunch at Erik Dylmer in Gl. Rye it was an easy twitch or at least so we thought. A boat with two fishermen had probably scared the bird of on Saturday and we failed to connect. Sunday the bird was present again though at some distance. 
17/2 Sminge Sø. The least crap picture I got. Better video can probably be seen on birdsdk in the coming days
Other good birds seen during the weekend included a wintering Marsh Harrier at Porskær (my first ever seen DK in winter), Great Grey Shrike at Klosterkær, good numbers of Tufted Ducks, Smew, Goshawk and a White-tailed Eagle at nearby Mossø. Last bird seen Saturday was an impressive Eurasian Eagle Owl at Voervadsbro.
17/2 Marsh Harrier, Porskær. A rare bird in winter in Denmark
16/2 Great Grey Shrike, Klosterkær. A regular site for this species in winter
16/2 KO documenting the above shrike, Klosterkær.
RDN

torsdag den 14. februar 2013

Melanitta Mayhem

Blåvand is the westernmost point in Denmark. It is famous among danish birders as a rarity magnet. For Melanitta-ducks it is the place in the Western Palearctic. All species and or forms have now been seen here. The first record of American Scoter was in 2003 and a bird has been seen most years since then, an Asian White-winged Scoter (stejnegeri)  was present in the winters of 2009-2011 and this winter has seen the discovery of an American White-winged Scoter (deglandi).
We arrived in Blåvand just as the deglandi had been refound by Lennart Pedersen and Tim Andersen. They just put the news out so unfortunately the bird was not in view. We quickly refound the bird and had quite good views as the bird was foraging in the within the flock closest to shore. After a few minutes the bird flew further out with two Velvet Scoters and the distance made it almost impossible to id later on. We checked the scoters for the long-staying American but without luck. Our luck was to continue though as visiting birder Troels Eske Ortvad (finder of the deglandi) called us about with the news that Henrik Haaning Nielsen had refound the scoter at nearby Hvidbjerg Strand. The bird showed really well and we enjoyed good views. Suddenly Thomas W Johansen reported an americana about 100 meters further southeast with the other bird still present. TWO americana's within 100 meters of each other!!! Both birds were seen displaying and were present throughout the hour we spend there. If you want to try your luck with the ducks it is good to be at the site from sunrise as the sun will be in your way from around midday and on.   
12/2 American Scoter, Hvidbjerg Strand. 
12/2 American Scoter, Hvidbjerg Strand. 
12/2 American Scoter, Hvidbjerg Strand. 
12/2 American Scoter, Hvidbjerg Strand. 
12/2 American Scoter, Hvidbjerg Strand. 
12/2 American Scoter, Hvidbjerg Strand. 
12/2 American Scoter, Hvidbjerg Strand. 
12/2 American Scoter, Hvidbjerg Strand. 
12/2 American Scoter, Hvidbjerg Strand. 
With both melanittas out of the way we decided to have a look around. Blåvandshuk did not provide any good gulls with a distant Peregrine our best sighting there. The marsh in the northern part of Ho Bugt had good numbers of geese with 111 Tundra Bean Geese (new record for Jutland??), 56 Whitefronts and hundreds of both Pinkfeet and Greylags. 
Esbjeg Harbour did not provide anything really good though arrival of Lesser Black-backed Gull (intermedius), our third Peregrine of the day and various waders were nice sights. An interesting gull seemed not quite to fit into any category. The day ended in the marshes south of Esbjerg without anything of interest. A good day that saw Yann climb to an astonishing 129 species on his Danish list. Rumors have it that he has since reached 130... 
12/2 Barnacle Geese at Sneum Engsø
12/2 Tundra Bean Geese, Whitefronts and Pinkfeet at Tarphage Enge.
12/2 Barnacle Geese at Sneum Engsø
12/2 Barnacle Geese at Sneum Engsø
12/2 Oystercatchers north of Esbjerg Harbor
12/2 Intermedius at Esbjerg Harbor
12/2 Displaying with the locals.
12/2 Americana.
12/2 Yann wanted this picture in the post.... Jesus.... 
12/2 Normal fusca's at Hvidbjerg Strand
12/2 Herring Gull?. Not so interesting when flying or what?
12/2 Herring Gull? Looked interesting while resting on the water.

RDN