Category Archives: Thailand

Santiphap park revisited: city park in Bangkok

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When: March 2025 Weather : hot 28C

Nikon P900 Coolpix

Back in Bangkok and the Sukosol Hotel, I did my usual early morning walk to a nearby city park, Santiphap park just 15min walk from the hotel…only this time I took my time, lingered and enjoyed the park as a whole. Even before I got to park, as I passed the Pullman Hotel driveway….there was some activity in the trees..

A Malayan pied fantail displayed
A house sparrow also posed
Santiphap Park is a tiny city park..maybe two x one city blocks only….it is however carefully manicured and landscaped with many local plants and flowers with a pond in the middle…a path goes all around the park and many locals jog and walk around it…
Many orchid varieties at the pond’s edge greeted me….because I took my time to walk around, I was more aware of the numerous melodious bird songs….of oriental magpie robins and fantails…..
A handsome male oriental magpie robin watched over the park
A striated heron was looking out for breakfast
I hadn’t appreciated that the back of the striated heron was this blue when the light caught it at a certain angle
Asian brown flycatcher
and then the insistent call of the coppersmith barbet caught my attention
It’s interesting that even though it had been a year since my last visit to this park, the coppersmith barbet was seen in almost exactly the same location this time..always a pretty bird to shoot
the track around the park
a floral extravaganza
notices warned of the presence of monitor lizards…and sure enough there were several around
The turtles were also basking in the sunshine
This very pretty pied starling appeared …
and he strode into his nest on the structure
and then this appeared in the bushes..it looks so similar to the olive winged bulbul I saw in Singapore last weekend…
but then, this being Thailand , it’s a streak eared bulbul!
oriental magpie robin at his nest
even the feral pigeons are pretty
The Lagerstromia were blooming

At 8am, everyone in the park suddenly stood up to attention and the national anthem played…interesting! After an hour of just wandering around the park, I headed back to my hotel but the birding hadn’t ended yet….

a female olive backed sunbird seemed most at home amongst the wires!
and a stunning black naped oriole posed

So let’s raise a glass to the city park! A much needed lung of green in frenetuc cities!

Chaloem Phra Kiat Park: My little patch of green series

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When: April 2024 Weather: Insanely hot 35C

Nikon P900

In Bangkok again for a weekend and stayed at the grand old lady Shangri La Bangkok which sits on the bank of the Chao Phraya River…

Our hotel overlooked the Chao Phraya River, which was quite pretty by night

Now as is my wont, whenever I travel, I’ll check out the neighbourhood around my hotel on Google Maps to find the nearest patch of green where I can take an early sunrise walk and do some birding if at all possible. A few weeks ago, I was also in Bangkok and had a most wonderful morning amble at the Santiphap Park…my little patch of green near the Sukosol hotel. So it was that I also found my little patch of green here, across the river called Chaloem Phra Kiat Forest Park. 6am saw me crossing the river on the bridge next to the Shangri….

This is the bridge at the end of which can be seen a tiny patch of green…bisected by the main road
there were some rather nice sculptures

This is a much busier park than Santiphap, and there were people jogging, playing badminton, and there were futsal pitches, and lots of activity areas…..did not bode well for birds…indeed, there were very few birds around…

I even had to shoot a sparrow…
and a house crow!
and then in a flash of black and white, a magpie robin busied itself at this hole in the branch…
it was feeding a chick!
and then another one posed with the twigs he had collected
another oriental magpie robin sang lustily
and on the walk back, a typical thai temple brightened up the skyline

Whilst this was a quiet littel patch of green, nevertheless it was an interesting way to spend an hour looking at life in a Bangkok Park….not the most productive birdwise but hey, you can’t win them all…

Kaeng Krachan Birding (4) Peak and Sea of clouds

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When: November 2022, Weather: Warm 25-30C. Nikon P900, 950, Leica Q and M11

Our final morning, we set off early for the summit to view the sea of clouds and do a bit more birding….it was a long 2 hour drive up the peak….

When we approached the summit, there were way too many people (it was a sunday after all) but our guide brought us to the end of the road where the King has his holiday residence….here the view of the clouds was good without the crowds
the road at the top of the mountain
first bird was this rather large dollar bird
and from a gazillion miles away this charming red rumped parrot hopped
yellow browed warbler
A green eared barbet which I initially mistook for a lineated barbet
and just before we descended, this lovely female white throated rock thrush entertained me for a few minutes
black throated sunbird

As we descended, we stopped off a a trail to try and find some of the larger hornbills, we soon heard them calling…and found several great hornbills perched on a high tree….they however took off quickly with loud whooshes from their great wings…a fitting farewell to a few great days in Kaeng Krachan National Park, in Thailand. Recommended