Bird watching trip report


Introduction

I should have been in USA and Canada for bird watching. But due to the Corona/ Wuhan virus have closed down all flight traffic and I am stuck in Bangkok. My ticket to Sweden in May was also cancelled so no bird watching in Sweden either. And I had really been looking forward to this holiday and the bird watching, but it turned in to a big nothing. Well, self-quarantine in my condo.

Curfew from 26th of March as it looks now, information to be updated. So I might just have 2 days to look for birds here in Bangkok. And walking in the park looking at birds is really social distancing as recommended, otherwise I spend all days in my condo in my self-quarantine.


Suan Rot Fai + Queen Sirikit Park is what I call Suan Rot Fai even if it is two parks. But you hardly notice when you pass the “border” between the two parks. Just cross a small walking bridge over the “Kingfisher Creek” A small moat or what to call it where I have spotted the only Stork-billed Kingfisher I have seen in Thailand.

So I call the two parks with one name, Suan Rot Fai.

Never heard of the park before I got interested in bird watching and it is the second place I did bird watching at in Bangkok. And I have been back many times. But try to avoid weekends and holidays as it will be crowded. My first visit was planned for 1st of January 2016 and I was convinced that I would be alone the day after New Year´s Eve. But I was disappointed, the park was full at 6 o´clock in the morning.

My first ever bird watching was on New Year´s Eve 2015 in the Sri Nakorn Kuen Khan Park. So my second ever bird watching adventure was here in Suan Rot Fai and I have been back many times since then.


Guide

I usually don't use any bird watching Guide in / around Bangkok. But could be a good idea to have a Guide to help me identify all the birds I see. As it is now my eBird checklists are not very impressive as I can only ID half of the birds I see


Land transportation

Taxi is a very convenient way of getting to Suan Rot Fai. Suan Rot Fai can be a bit hard for some of the drivers to understand. So show this Thai Script:
• Suan Rot Fai สวนรถไฟ
• Wachirabenchathat Park สวนวชิรเบญจทัศ


If you don´t like the comfort in the back of a taxi you can go by sky train or subway. Nearest Sky train station: Mo Chit – take exit 1, turn into Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road and walk through the Queen Sirikit Park. Or take a motorbike taxi.

Nearest subway station: Chatuchak Park – take exit 1 and exit 2, turn into Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road and walk through the Queen Sirikit Park. Or take a motorbike taxi.


Equipment

Canon 5D Mk. III + Canon 5D Mk. IV
Canon EF 28-300/3,5-5,6 L IS USM
Canon EF 70-200/2,8L IS II USM
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens
Canon Speedlite 600EXII-RT flash
Canon PowerShot G7X Mark II
Panasonic HC-W585 video camera

Sound recorder
ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder

Binocular
Steiner Skyhawk 8x32 (Since May 2020)


Weather / climate

Weather, I don´t know if Bangkok is the hottest capital in the world. But this is what they say and I have no reason to doubt this information because it is darn hot.

Bangkok, Thailand - Climate & Temperature
Pictures from www.climatemps.com

Bangkok, Thailand - Climate & Temperature - Click picture for full size
Pictures from www.climatemps.com



References/Resources

Thai National Parks - About the National Parks in Thailand A very good web page - Do you know that there are still wild tigers, elephants, leopards, tapirs, gaurs, bears and many monkey species in many tropical rainforests across Thailand? Do you also know that around 10% of all marine species in the world can be found in Thailand? And the fact that Thailand is the best bird-watching destination in mainland Asia?

National parks are protected areas of land because they have unspoilt landscapes and a diverse number of native plants and animals. There are 127 national parks in Thailand, of them 22 marine national parks. These parks offers a diverse range of flora and fauna, home to important population of endangered species.
So now it will be easy to find out if there are any National Park close to you.

Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST) - The Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST) is one of the oldest Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST)organisations conserving birds and nature in Thailand and is the country partner of BirdLife International. BCST's role to the local community is to spread awareness about urban birds and reconnect people back to nature.

The Logo
Dated back to 1986 when BCST was then a loosely-formed “Bangkok Birdwatching Club”, the Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis), or “Nok Gang Ken Baan” in Thai, has been chosen to represent the organisation.

There are two sites covering Thailand and I have used them many times. These two web pages are actually everything you need for your birding adventures in Thailand. All the information you need about all the birding spots. Click on the map and then select your spot and you will have maps and everything you need to know about the areas. They have put a lot of jobs in to their web pages, North Thailand Birding and thaibirding.com A must to visit before you go bird watching in Thailand.

www.norththailandbirding.com - A one stop only for all your birding in Thailand

thaibirding.com - Nick Upton's one stop only for all your birding in Thailand.

Use both www.thaibirding.com and www.norththailandbirding.com and you have a winner. Some of the maps on www.norththailandbirding.com are way better than Nick Upton´s, while some of Nick's maps are much more detailed. So I have found that if I use both the web pages for information, well, nothing else needed.

PBase/Peter Ericson - Peter Ericson, a guy I thought was from USA because of his family name. I met him at Lat Krabang Paddies in May 2020 and turned out that he was Swedish. Anyway, I have used his excellent page PBase since 2016 as help to ID birds by the help from his beautiful bird pictures.

Here you can also find information about birding tours.

He is also having a Blog - Thaibirds and more with interesting information.

Bangkok City Birding - A lot of interesting birding stories and information on this bird watching blog by David Gandy. Bangkok-based patch-worker in Suan Rot Fai, a large park close to the city's famous weekend market. He have recorded 150 species on his patch since 2008. As one of the only big green spaces in the city, “SRF” acts as a real magnet for migrants during spring and autumn, and holds a healthy selection of "sibes" during the winter months.


ebird - Find birding hotspots with bird checklists from all over the world

Avibase - is an extensive database information system about all birds of the world, containing over 25 million records about 10,000 species and 22,000 subspecies of birds, including distribution information for 12,000 regions, taxonomy, synonyms in several languages


www.oiseaux.net This web page is also excellent for identifying birds. There is information and range maps for many many birds from all over the world. This page is almost guaranteed to give you any answer you have about any bird in the world.

Cloudbirders - Read birding trip reports from all over the world

Fatbirder - Linking birders worldwide... Wildlife Travellers see their sister site: WAND


Fatbirder is a fantastic web page with information from, I think every country in the world. My first stop when I plan for my bird watching trips. There is information about locations and guides, well, pretty much everything you need to know. Sometimes this is the only place I need to visit to plan my trip.

BirdingPal - find a birding Guide around the world

BirdingPal


And the web page you cannot live without. I have been around the world looking for birds. I usually have a Guide, but sometimes it is not possible to find a Guide. So, well, I have lost count on how many times I have had help to ID birds at BirdForum. Joining this forum have been very very good for my bird watching experience.

www.birdforum.net

ClimaTemps.com is the place to learn about the worlds climates with more than 4000 locations documented. Each aspect of the climate is represented using colour enhanced tables and professional graphs so that data can easily be compared by switching between locations in different tabs in your browser.

“A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson”


A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson

A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson. New edition updated with 76 species since previous edition “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig” Nick Upton at www.thaibirding.com wrote “This quite excellent book is packed full of quality illustrations and written information on 1251 species recorded in Southeast Asia”

I bought this book for bird watching in Thailand, but it goes for all over SE Asia

I have been very happy with the “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson” But I had a fire in my condo 2019 and I needed to buy a new book. I was looking for the “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia by Craig Robson” as I liked the book. But this book is not available anymore so I had to buy the “A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand” by Craig Robson.

What a disappointment this was, using the pictures in the book didn't helped to ID any birds.

“Birds of Thailand” by Uthai Treesuconand Wich'yanan Limparungpatthanakij


I met Peter Ericson, a famous bird watcher and he recommended the “Birds of Thailand” by Uthai Treesuconand Wich'yanan Limparungpatthanakij. I bought the book as soon as the book stores opened after the Wuhan virus. And I am very happy with the book and I have managed to ID some birds using the book.

Birds of Thailand by Uthai Treesuconand Wich'yanan Limparungpatthanakij

This new field guide will help you identify all 1049 species to have been recorded in the country to date, including the 20 species endemic or near-endemic to Thailand.

-Taxonomy follows the HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World.

-Detailed texts covering status, habitat and behaviour, age, sex and geographical variation, voice, and confusion species.

-Almost 2200 illustrations covering all species and distinctive subspecies, birds in flight, males and females, juveniles and non-breeding plumages, where appropriate.

-QR code for each species, linking to the Internet Bird Collection gallery of photos, videos and sounds.

-More than 1025 full-colour range maps for all species other than vagrants.

-Well-marked subspecies groups receive full accounts, and the distributions of subspecies breeding in the region are clearly mapped.

-Local species name and local conservation status included.


I like the book, but I miss the picture index.


Places to visit


Suan Rot Fai

Wachirabenchathat Park (Thai: สวนวชิรเบญจทัศ) or State Railway Public Park (สวนรถไฟ, read suan rot fai) is a name of public park in Chatuchak district, Bangkok, Thailand. It was opened on 28 July 2002 and named by the Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. The park borders on the Queen Sirikit Park and Chatuchak Park, and it is also the largest park of the complex, covering an area of 0.6 square kilometres. It is one of the most popular parks in Bangkok.

Before the park was transformed into a public park, it was a golf course that belonged to the State Railway of Thailand. The park is commonly used for biking. It has a winding three-kilometre track for walking and biking around the park. At the start of bike track, there is a rental shop where visitors can rent bicycles for riding.

Near the bike track, there is a lake where people can rent paddleboats to go around the lake. In the park, there is a beautiful butterfly garden and insectarium for visitor's relaxation and education.

The other interesting point is a miniature town. The town consists of Bangkok's famous buildings and tourist attractions in scaled-down version. It was created for children to learn about traffic rules by riding a bicycle in this area.

Moreover, the park also has a sports center that provides various types of courts where people play sports or exercise in many ways. For example, people can do fitness, do yoga, go swimming, play tennis, play futsal, and more.
- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Opening Hours: 04:30-21:00 every day

Location: Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road, near Chatuchak Weekend Market


Download thaibirding.com´s Checklist in Word Format HERE This checklist for Suan Rot Fai is by no means complete and is not to be mistaken for the official checklist maintained by the national recorders - it is only meant as a guide for visiting birdwatchers. More information about Suan Rot Fai can be found at thaibirding.com

Bangkok City Birding - Dave Gandy's Bangkok City Birding blog is the best source of up-to-date information on bird sightings at Suan Rot Fai.

Suan Rot Fai

Going to Suan Rot Fai and I usually enters from the Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road ถนน กำแพงเพชร 3 Cross the bridge and walk by the place where they sell water and I turn right going up on the field going north sneaking behind the bushes to see of there is any Kingfishers in the pond.

Suan Rot Fai

Suan Rot Fai
No more bushes to hide behind (April 2019)

Suan Rot Fai
No more bushes to hide behind (April 2019)

Suan Rot Fai
No more bushes to hide behind (April 2019)

At my last birding the bushes had been cut down and removed so it is not possible to sneak up on the Kingfishers anymore

March 2020 and I discovered a farmland area, they were working with it whan I was here back in 1919. But now it is ready and there is a bamboo walk bridge along the rice paddies. A vvery nice area just 200 meters west of the entrance.

Walking back and I usually enter the bike track following the moat/ canal/ pond between Suan Rot Fai and the Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road. But be careful, there are many bikers, especially on weekends and all of them are not very happy to have bird watchers on the track.

When the bike tracks bends to the left there is an overgrown area where you can sneak in to look for Herons and Kingfishers etc. There is a small tongue or whatever they call it between the pond and the moat where you can walk. Keep an eye out for Water hens on the other side of the moat.

Suan Rot Fai

Walk pass the Butterfly House and you have soon reached the new bike bridge across my old Kingfisher Land. I have not seen any Kingfishers here since they built the bridge. Reaching the end of the bridge and you turn left for Queen Sirikit. I usually tune right to go look for owls. Then I come back and cross the bridge to Queen Sirikit Park.

Suan Rot Fai
Walking along the new bike bridge. At the end, turn left for Queen Sirikit Park and right to go look for owls

Suan Rot Fai
Bridge over the moat to Queen Sirikit Park

Suan Rot Fai
Turn right to go to the owl area

Suan Rot Fai

The Audubon Bird Caller I was kind of impressed with my Guide's Audubon Bird Caller in New Zealand. And I saw a Bell bird coming after him when he was using the bird caller.

I try my new Audubon Bird Caller in Singapore November 2017

Audubon Bird Call

Product Description
When twisted, this simple birch wood/pewter instrument will produce sounds which attract a variety of wild songbirds. It is now the standard songbird call throughout the world. The Audubon Bird Call comes packaged with a capsule of rosin powder. Carefully apply to the metal surface to renew the call’s “voice.”

The bird call’s sound is produced by twisting the cast zinc plug against the wooden cylinder. Originally used by hunters in Europe, the bird call’s sound attracts birds by convincing them that there are other birds in the area. They are curious about the sound.

**PLEASE NOTE: When using your bird call, please do so ethically. Avoid stressing birds by calling near nesting areas.

The Audubon Bird Call measures approximately 2 1/4 x 5/8 inches.

Audubon Bird Call


I always have the Audubon Bird Call hanging around my neck and I, well, I always twist the darn thing, most likely some therapeutic reason, as using Worry beads. Walking over the open field towards the “owl area” BOOM! A Spotted Owlet landed next to me. I had to shot from the hip and the owlet took off again.

My Guide in New Zealand had have the same experience. He told me that the Audubon Bird Call sounds like a bird baby or a injured bird and the owlet come to eat the bird.

Spotted Owlet, Athene brama, นกเค้าจุด


As soon as I have crossed the bride to Queen Sirikit I turn right to walk down towards the Bird Wave Bridge across to Suan Rot Fai. There are many small birds, and if I´m 10 times in Suan Rot Fai I see something interesting 2 times. This is what´s exciting, you never know what´s going to show up here. I have seen Stork-billed Kingfisher.

One guy I met had seen an Oriental dwarf Kingfisher, a gorgeous bird and I only seen it once, and that was on Bali. So you never know what´s going to show up.

Suan Rot Fai

From the Bird Wave, by the time I´m here it is starting to get very hot and the birds are seeking refuge in the shadows. So wither I follow the moat and go back to the entrance in the north or I go back across the Bird Wave to Queen Sirikit walking along the islands keeping my eyes out for birds. Plenty Coppersmith Barbets and in the nesting season you see their holes in the trees. Herons along the water. I have seen many colourful Minivets etc.

I met one bird watcher that showed me a board walk through the bushes that I had never seen before. He told me that they had seen a Blue-winged Pita there and he had seen a Slaty-legged crake there a few times. So this board walk will be included in my bird watching from now on.

Suan Rot Fai
Entrance to the board walk

Suan Rot Fai
Walking back to the Queen Sirikit Park

If I don´t walk back to Queen Sirikit Park from the Bird Wave I walk north towards the main entrance to the park. Looking out for Sunbirds and there are Indian Rollers sitting in the trees in the ponds in the north part of the park almost every time I walk by. But they are very scared, and they are not as beautiful as they are in India as this is a different subspecies.

I walk “off road” going north along the trees and ponds, Kingfishers and Indian Rollers are seen here almost every time.

Suan Rot Fai
Walking north towards the Main Entrance from the Bird Wave



Suan Rot Fai bird watching map


Bird checklist

I never use any bird lists, but since I try to make it in to Cloudbirders. A very helpful site when planning your birding trips. But they ask for a bird checklist, and if I use their service, of course I want to contribute as well. My two first bird watching trip reports was rejected by Cloudbirders.

So I started to take ideas from the reports I found on Cloudbirders. So I have started to use bird lists, eBird generate one for me and I can post it on Cloudbirders. I will post my birds on eBird and on my different “BIRDS THAT I HAVE OBSERVED” pages.

Full Thai list updated to the taxonomy, nomenclature and sequence of the IOU/IOC World Bird List. The complete checklist, including Thai names and synonyms, can be downloaded in Excel format - Thailand Bird Checklist. - Version 8.2 (2018) - found at www.norththailandbirding.com

Check lists can come in handy to find out the local name of the bird etc. And Avibase have a list with pictures and sounds, excellent!

So I will post bird checklists here and if my Guides provide me with checklists I will also post them here.

Cloudbirders


Avibase - Bird Checklists of the World

Bangkok Metropolis bird checklist from Avibase, click HERE - eBird version 2018 taxonomy

Avibase is providing you with bird checklists from all over the world. And I´m impressed by their web page. Select country and area and you get the bird checklist. Like the PDF files I got from Avibase on the links above. You also get the checklist with pictures and sounds.

The best part is that you get the local names of the birds and the online checklist gives the names in English plus the language you have selected. But it seems like the PDF cannot handle some alphabet.

For example the Japanese language so it is blank in the PDF checklist. But it worked excellent with Swedish. But you get them in the local language on the online version.


Bird list

I only list birds I have got on picture on my list of OBSERVED BIRDS. But since I started using eBird I have changed a bit. I list all the birds on the eBird checklist. See the DAY TO DAY report in the itinerary below.

And you can visit my list of “Birds I have seen in Thailand” ONLY BIRDS I HAVE ON PICTURE.

My eBird check list from Suan Rot Fai 24th of March, click HERE


Trip Report

Bangkok have closed down, well, almost. My friend wanted to go eat lunch and I told him everything was closed. He did not believe me so we went to Via Vai for some Italian food. And as I thought, it was closed, home delivery only. We ordered pizza for home delivery and we went back home.

I should already have been at Suan Rot Fai early morning, but I was a little tired when my alarm went off. So I will go in the afternoon and my friend will join me. But first lunch.

Pizza from Via Vai
Pizza from Via Vai

Pizza from Via Vai
Pizza from Via Vai

Important Information from the Government
Important Information from the Government

We finish lunch and we hear that the Thai Government will make an announcement on TV at 14:00. There will be an emergency decree put in to effect on the 26th of March. Curfew, but we will be updated with more information at a later date, so we actually don't know anything, but it seems like the curfew will start at 19:00 on the 26th of March.

My friend have 2 room at Park Plaza Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 18 and we decide to check in there before we go for bird watching. The plan is to get a proper TM30 report to the immigration. I do it by myself every time but I never get a proper confirmation. So we check in and I tried to open the door to my room, the key didn't work so I returned the key in the reception when we left.

I will stay in my condo, but now I have a TM 30 report and I will check-out tomorrow.

Park Plaza Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 18
Checking in to Park Plaza Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 18

Park Plaza Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 18
Checking in to Park Plaza Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 18

We leave Park Plaza Hotel and we get a taxi to Suan Rot Fai. Wuhan virus and the traffic is very light. It is almost a joy to travel the roads of Bangkok and we reached Suan Rot Fai in a jiff. Got out of the taxi and we started by looking for Kingfishers. I heard about the new farmland area so I want to check this out and I want to go there straight from the Kingfisher pond.

We turned left after having entered Suan Rot Fai to see if there was any Common Kingfishers in the canal / moat. No birds and we walked to the Kingfisher pond. We only spotted an Asian Openbill and a Pond Heron at the Kingfisher pond.

Bird watching in Suan Rot Fai
He is not so interested in the birds

Asian Open Bill Stork, Anastomus oscitans, นกปากห่าง
Asian Open Bill Stork / นกปากห่าง

Asian Open Bill Stork, Anastomus oscitans, นกปากห่าง

Indian Roller, ठेउवा, Coracias benghalensis, นกตะขาบทุ่ง

We walked to the new farmland area and the first bird we spotted was an Indian Roller and I tried to come close to get the bird to fly away so my friend could see how blue and beautiful the brown Indian Roller would be when the bird took off. And the bird took off but my friend was not very impressed / interested.

He stayed behind when I plunged in to the farm land spotting a Little Egret and 2 Chinese Pond herons while walking towards the rice paddies. There is a board walk made out of bamboo going along the rice paddies. I stepped up on the boardwalk, looking very flimsy but it was strong enough for me to walk on.

Little Egret, Egretta garzetta, นกยางเปีย, コサギ

Chinese Pond Heron, Ardeola bacchus, นกยางกรอกพันธุ์จีน

Little Egret, Egretta garzetta, นกยางเปีย, コサギ

Chinese Pond Heron, Ardeola bacchus, นกยางกรอกพันธุ์จีน

Little Egret, Egretta garzetta, นกยางเปีย, コサギ
Little Egret / นกยางเปีย

Bird watching in Suan Rot Fai
Pond Herons looking for food

There was a group of Scaly-breasted Munia / นกกระติ๊ดขี้หมู, maybe a group of 100 birds eating from the rice plants. Not possible to get any pictures as the munia is very scared. I never got any sound of the bird's wing flaps. When they took off all at the same time the wing flaps was very loud.

When passing through the farmland you are back out on the paved walk / jogging path. There is a bench to sit on to look out over the farmland. So I can't wait to come back here again. I left the bench and I walked towards the owl area and I passed the area where the Stork-billed Kingfisher had the nest. No sign of the Stork-billed.

I walk across the trench using a log and when I am at the traffic school area I discover a lot of photographers under the owl tree. So the owl is out as it is almost every time I am here.

Bird watching in Suan Rot Fai
Looking out over the farmland

Bird watching in Suan Rot Fai
Plenty photograpers at the owl tree

Spotted Owlet, Athene brama, นกเค้าจุด
Spotted Owlet / นกเค้าจุด

Spotted Owlet, Athene brama, นกเค้าจุด
Spotted Owlet / นกเค้าจุด

Spotted Owlet, Athene brama, นกเค้าจุด
Spotted Owlet / นกเค้าจุด

Spotted Owlet, Athene brama, นกเค้าจุด
Spotted Owlet / นกเค้าจุด

Where ever I am in the world, I meet bird watchers and we stop and talk and socialising for a few enjoyable minutes. How many nice bird watchers have I met in Thailand? Zero? No, two on the whale watching boat. And of course the teacher in Suan Rot Fai and her students asking if I had seen any birds. I showed them around the park and they were very happy when I showed them 2 different owls.

I left the owl tree and I cut my bird watching short. My friend was gone and I had pain in my feet because of new shoes. So I turned around walking back to the entrance to see if I could find my friend there. I stopped to sit down on a bench to study a Cattle Egret and to rest my feet from my new shoes.

Continuing towards the exit and I ran in to a couple of Black-collared Starling and I got a few pictures before I continued towards the exit. I spotted an Asian Koel, only one even though I could hear many of them around the park. Several crows was spotted on the way and of course, plenty Great Mynas and Common Mynas.

Eastern Cattle Egret, Bubulcus coromandus, นกยางควาย, Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis
Cattle Egret / นกยางควาย

Eastern Cattle Egret, Bubulcus coromandus, นกยางควาย, Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis
Cattle Egret / นกยางควาย

Black-collared Starling, Gracupica nigricollis, นกกิ้งโครงคอดำ

Black-collared Starling, Gracupica nigricollis, นกกิ้งโครงคอดำ
Black-collared Starling - นกกิ้งโครงคอดำ

Boules

(French pronunciation: [bul]) is a collective name for a wide range of games similar to bowls and bocce (In French: jeu or jeux, in Italian: gioco or giochi) in which the objective is to throw or roll heavy balls (called boules in France, and bocce in Italy) as close as possible to a small target ball, called the jack in English.

Boules-type games are traditional and popular in many European countries and are also popular in some former French colonies in Africa and Asia. Boules games are often played in open spaces (town squares and parks) in villages and towns. Dedicated playing areas for boules-type games are typically large, level, rectangular courts made of flattened earth, gravel, or crushed stone, enclosed in wooden rails or back boards.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I meet my friend at the boule court next to the kiosk were I use to buy water inside the entrance to the park. We booked a taxi with GRAB and we enjoyed some water while waiting for the taxi. I had enjoyed the afternoon in the park even though my feet was suffering in my new shoes.

I asked the driver to let me off at 7 Eleven next to my condo and my friend continued back home.

Bird watching in Suan Rot Fai
Waiting for me at the boule court

Bird watching in Suan Rot Fai
An ice cream back at Sukhumvit Soi 23

Birding/ Bird watching in Suan Rot Fai/ Queen Sirikit Park in Bangkok, Thailand
Today´s track in Suan Rot Fai
We can see that the GPS has not been working very good - Missed is done in red


eBird

eBird Report

Rot Fai Park (Wachira Benchatat Park), Krung Thep Maha Nakhon [Bangkok], TH Mar 24, 2020 15:50 - 17:55
Protocol: Traveling
x kilometer(s) GPS not working
17 species

Feral Pigeon X
Asian Koel 1
Asian Openbill 4
Little Egret 1
Cattle Egret 1
Chinese Pond Heron 6
Striated Heron 1
Spotted Owlet 1
Indian Roller 3
Malaysian Pied-Fantail 1
Large-billed Crow 5
Black-collared Starling 1
Common Myna X
Great Myna X
Oriental Magpie-Robin 2
Scaly-breasted Munia 100
Eurasian Tree Sparrow X Looking for food at the entrance to the park

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S66156206


OK, my plan was to go bird watching tomorrow again, but there is much rumours going around curfew and I don't know what. Emergency decree was invoked at midnight between 25 and 26 of March. Thailand has banned the entry of foreigners and the government may impose a 24-hour curfew as its next step to tackle the spread of Covid-19 under the Emergency Decree.

So I really don't know when I can watch birds next time. Well, I can go whenever I want but it is better to stay in for a few days to see what’s happening and if there is any news.

Saturday 28th of March and the whole day was spent in my room

Sunday 29th of March and the whole day was spent in my room

Monday 30th of March and I left my room for the first time in a very long time. I walked the 50 meters to 7 Eleven to buy 4 MAX and an ice cream. It was 10 minutes or so, but it was so nice to get out from the room.

Tuesday 31st of March and I spent the whole day in my room

Srinakharinwirot University on Sukhumvit Soi 23
Prepared to go outside and face Corona virus

Wednesday 1st of April and I walked to the Srinakharinwirot University a few hundred meter down the soi. I was out looking Yet another Smiley on www.aladdin.stfor birds and if I see anything I will bring my camera tomorrow. And they have a field with a track around it. I had prepared my player and the plan was to walk around the field while listening to music.
Yet another Smiley on www.aladdin.st
I have 3 mobile phones and now I have made one in to an alarm clock, one I use as a MP3 player used during my hopefully Yet another Smiley on www.aladdin.st daily constitutionals Yet another Smiley on www.aladdin.st

Walking down the soi and I discovered a note when I reached the gate. The area is closed due to Corona and I was disappointed. I had really hoped for my daily constitutional here.

Srinakharinwirot University on Sukhumvit Soi 23
Gate closed due to the Covid-19

Srinakharinwirot University on Sukhumvit Soi 23
I turn around leaving the closed gate behind

No exercise today so I turn around and I walk back to the 7 Eleven area to check out the area behind The Wind. I have seen birds there before. Nothing so it won't be any birding in this area. I stopped to buy some orange juice and an ice cream at 7 before going back home.

Thursday 2nd of April and I spent the whole day in my room

Friday 3rd of April and I left my room to go to the drug store and supermarket. I found a taxi and I went to the supermarket between Sukhumvit soi 49 and 51. The taxi driver had been working for several hours and I was his second passenger today. So he was very happy when I asked if he wanted to bring me to Bei Otto on Soi 20 when I was ready here.

Drug store Sukhumvit
In the drug store

I went in to the Supermarket, the shelfs was staring to look empty, at least if the fridges and I didn't spend much energy to look for smoked salmon. I bought baby aspirin at the drug store and I asked if they had the malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine as I have read that it might be effective fighting the Wuhan virus. But they were out and they will get it next month.

Stopping at Bei Otto on the way home and I bought bread, jam and German sausages. I took the taxi back home just for the taxi driver to know where to pick me up tomorrow at 6 o'clock. I will go to Moo Ban Pramong / Khok Kham to look for birds. I came up with a plan, I will get in to the car and I will not leave the car until back home.

And as I am riding with the taxi driver today it will be very close to social distancing even when I go to Moo Ban Pramong / Khok Kham for bird watching.

I left my grocery at home and I walked down to Sukhumvit to look if they had any Hydroxychloroquine but I had no luck. Walking back home to the boredom in my self quarantine. Stay home, well, one and two days and it was OK. Now I am climbing the walls even though I was lucky, I asked Maersk Tankers for online training and courses. The replied lightning quick and now I have some training to do.

Security Guard on Sukhumvit Soi 23
Wearing plenty magic to protect from Corona virus

I passed a security guard on my way home and he was wearing a lot of “MAGIC” and I stopped for a chat, and I took a picture to send to our Time Keeper on board Ribe Maersk. To bed early with the alarm set to go off at 04:00 and I will leave at 06:00, just click HERE to find out if I see any birds.


Bird watching trip report



       
                  


                                       

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