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 Introduction
Bang Pu or Bang Pu Recreation Center is located east of the mouth of Chao Phraya River about 30 km away from Asok / Sukhumvit. I was there a few years ago and I didn´t like the place as it looked like a garbage dump. But one birder on birdforum.net liked the place. So I decided to go back to have a look at the place again. 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
1) TAXI, my choice of transportation. Early morning and it took me about 45 minutes to get there and it will cost between 250 and 300 Bath, about 10 US Dollars. Say Bang Pu and the P in Pu is a soft P, almost like a B BBBpu, means crab. If you say Pu you will end up in the other side of town. Thai script for the taxi driver: • Bang Pu บางปู • Bang Pu Recreation Center สถานตากอากาศบางปู Or show the driver a map. Click HERE for a map  Scan for map
2) SKY TRAIN Sukhumvit line (Green line) will take you to Kheha #E23 station, end station and from there you can take a taxi, about 10 to 15 minutes. I took the sky train back to Asoke and it took me 1 hour and it set me back by 128 Baht: Taxi from Bang Pu to train station = 80 Bath Train ticket = 48 Bath I stepped in to the taxi at Bang Pu at 10:00 and I was at the Kheha #E23 station between 10 and 15 minutes later. The first entrance to the Kheha sky train station have an escalator, very nice after 3 hours of walking around looking for birds in the pounding sun. Coming up from the escalator and you arrive to the ticket counter. Then you have two options to walk the stairs or take the elevator to the tracks. The train is soon arriving.  Arriving to Kheha BTS station
 Escalator
 The sign I look for
 You come right up the the ticket counter
 Step in to the train
 First station and the train is empty
 By the time we reach Asok the train is full to the brim
I will take TAXI next time
The train was full to the brim and I had expected this, but I took the train just to make this trip report. After 3 hours walking in the sun you don´t want to be in a crowded train and I will take the taxi next time. Accommodations
I stay at my home sleeping in my own bed so no need for any hotel. 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 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  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   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. 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 Places to visit
Bang Pu also known as Bang Pu Recreation Center
 About 33 km from the Sukhumvit / Asoke intersection in DOWN TOWN Bangkok
Bang Pu (Thai: บางปู), also known as Bang Pu Recreation Center (สถานตากอากาศบางปู) is a seaside resort on the Gulf of Thailand belonging to Mueang Samut Prakan District, Samut Prakan Province, central Thailand. Bang Pu, literally 'place of crabs', was established in accordance with the ideas of Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkram while serving as Prime Minister in 1937 to be a place of recreation for people in that era. It occupies an area of 369 rai (about 252 acres). It gained great popularity among people especially young people in the 1950s–1960s, as it is the closest seaside to Bangkok. It is mentioned in the dialogue of the 1997 film Dang Bireley's and Young Gangsters as a place where Dang's girlfriend wants to go on a trip. A Bang Pu landmark is Saphan Suk Ta (สะพานสุขตา), a pier extending into the sea. At its end is a restaurant called Sala Sukjai (ศาลาสุขใจ) where dances are held every Saturday evening. Bang Pu provides habitat for large flocks of migratory seagulls that migrate from Siberia annually in the early winter (around beginning of November) - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  Map of "Bang Pu (the Recreation and Convalescence Centre at Bang Pu)" including the Bang Pu Nature Education Centre, the Bang Pu Nature Reserve and the surrounding environment.
Map from https://www.researchgate.net
 Entrance to Bang Pu Recreation Center
 Crab at the entrance
 Entrance to Bang Pu Recreation Center
 Entrance to Bang Pu Recreation Center
 Snacks area
 Beginning of the pier
  Pier with a restaurant at the end
 At low water there is mud flats next to the pier
 At low water there is mud flats next to the pier
Coming from Bangkok and you have to drive pass Bang Pu Recreation Center and make a U-turn. Turn left at the entrance and drive down to the beginning of the pier. If you have your own car there is a big parking area on the right hand side coming down to Bang Pu Recreation Center. Get out of the taxi and when you look down the pier you have the Bang Pu Nature trail on your left hand side (East side). On your right hand side you have mangroves and an area with houses and mangrove patches between the houses (West side). • East side • West side  East Side: Enter the gate, a small gate next to the car gate that are locked. Before I went out walking on a flimsy built wood bridge. But one of the militaries showed me the small gate. The big gate was locked to prevent children from getting in with their mopeds.  Use the small gate on the left hand side
 Inside the gate and the Bang Pu wetland Nature Trail starts
 Full size map - Click HERE
Coming inside the gate and you find a board walk taming you through the mangrove. There is a concrete road going along the coast and you can walk until you reach a closed gate. 100 meters before reaching the gate you have a canopy walk. I have used it before and ONCE ONLY as you had to walk on some flimsy planks through water. But (15 June 2019) I saw that they were building a proper walk path to the canopy walk and this will be nice.  Walk along the sea front
 Mangrove walk
 Sea front Bird hide
 Bamboo, I think they use it to stop the garbage coming in to the mangrove
Walking along the sea side mangrove and you will only see the sea at a few places as the view is blocked by the mangrove. You will see the sea from the mangrove walk and the bird hide at the sea front. When you can see the sea you will see a lot of bamboo sticks set up like a barrier in the mudflats in front of the mangroves. I think it is to stop garbage coming in to the mangroves during the high water. And there are egrets, herons and cormorants sitting on the bamboo sticks. Kingfishers also like to perch on the sticks.  Building a proper walk path to the canopy walk
 Nice walk trails between the ponds
 Reaching the bridge where I saw 2 raptor taking off
 The trail along the north border of the wetland
 The hides on the north side are in ned of some “attending to”
 The hides on the north side are in ned of some “attending to”
 The hides on the north side are in ned of some “attending to”
 We can see the SW bird hide from the north
 Entrance to the SW bird hide
I have not been here since February 2016 and I never bothered to come back. But the area had been through a serious face lift and I really enjoyed the area. Plenty birds and my eBird list would have been impressive if I could have identified half of the birds. But bring water and mosquito repellent. I was black of mosquitos and the merciless sun is pounding you and it was very hot to walk around in the wet land. West Side: Getting out of the taxi down at the pier and you walk to the right. 50 meters away and you have a mangrove walk. And this is a new mangrove walk as it was not here when I was here last time back in 2016. The mangrove walk ands like a T on the sea front with wooden ladders down to the mud flats if you care for walking on the mud flats.  Walk towards west from the pier
 New mangrove walk
 New mangrove walk
 Reaching the sea front
 Reaching the sea front
Coming back from the mangrove walk and you continue towards the west. After about 100 meters you reach another mangrove walk, but this one is wood straight on the mudflats. Continue further to the west and you reach the end of the mangrove and there is a road going out to the sea front along the western border of the mangrove. There is a lot of birds on both sides of the road. You can walk to the sea front and there is a gate.  Shh, don´t tell anyone! But someone have removed the fence next to the gate.
When I was here last time the fence was there, but I turned right and I walked in to the wooded area. Seems to have been removed now. But if you come to the gate, look for a small walk path on the right hand side, if you´re not scared of snakes.  Wood board walk on the mudflat
 Road along the western border of the mangrove
 We can see the gate
 We can see the gate
Walking back from the gate and you have to have a look at the “dead mangrove” area. A lot of barbets and other birds in the dead trees. The area west of the pier is a housing area with mangrove patches between the houses. Here is a lot of egrets and herons and it is amazing to see them take off when they get flushed when you walk on the small streets between the houses / mangroves.  Dead mangrove area
 Dead mangrove area
 Walking between the houses / mangroves
And coming back to the pier area and it is very nice with a couple of fresh coconuts in the “snacks area” after the long walk in the blazing sun. And there is no place to take refuge as the sun is almost in zenith. Bang Pu is a highly recommended area if you come to Bangkok to look for birds. Convenient and here is a lot of different birds. And if you never seen Collared Kingfishers you must come here, impossible to miss them. Download thaibirding.com´s Checklist in Word Format HERE This checklist for Bang Pu 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 Bang Pu can be found at thaibirding.com Bird checklist
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.   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 Bang Pu 22nd of June, click HERE Trip Report
 Sukhumvit Soi 23 at 5 thirty in the morning
Alarm went off just before 4 and I was out of bed 15 minutes later. Tea and tuna for breakfast and I left at 5 thirty. No problem to find a taxi and I started my eBird app at 6 thirty in Bang Pu. And today I had brought snacks, the very same snacks I use when I do birding in Singapore. I was eating dinner with my friend yesterday and while waiting for her I went to the supermarket. I was looking for energy bars to bring with me on my birding adventures.
I was in the Supermarket to look for the energy bars and I found the same brand that I use in Singapore. I took as many as I could carry and one of the staff saw me and she brought a shopping basket. I filled the basked and now I have picnic snacks for many bird watching adventures ahead. Walking around in the blazing sun and it comes in handy with some energy. Instead of having to go home I just find a place to sit and I can enjoy my picnic while watching the birds.  Picnic snacks to last for a while
 Today´s track
  Javan Pond Heron
Turning off Sukhumvit entering the road to Bang Pu and I ask the driver to drive in to the open area in front of the gate. There are water and we drove along with the taxi and I was in the back taking pictures of the pond herons. When I was happy we continued to the pier down at the sea front.  I started in the west side area and I walked directly to the dead mangrove area. Of course, looking out for egrets and herons in the mangroves. There were so many egrets flying around so it was impossible to count them. Little, Great Egrets and among them at least one Intermediate Egret. I could see white spots in the mangrove and I tried to look in and I discovered hundreds of egrets and herons but it was not possible to take any pictures of the birds because of all the trees. The Black-winged Stilt nest was empty so I kept an eye out for stilt babies in the dead mangrove area but I never saw any babies.  Hundreds of egrets and herons
 Hundreds of egrets and herons
    Collared Kingfisher / นกกินเปี้ยว>
There were of course many Collared Kingfishers and Malaysian Pied Fantails. One Common Iora singing from the top of one tree. I have seen several Ioras in the area so I thought it was an Iora landing behind a tree. I went to see if I could get a picture but the bird took off. I could see that it was a Yellow-bellied Prinia. What a coincidence, I read about the bird just before leaving home and I learned that the bird sounds like a cat. Sad enough, the bird was quiet so I could not hear the bird´s cat sound. I spotted three White-breasted Waterhens as well. I walked back towards the pier and I enjoyed two of the three bars I had brought with me for picnic breakfast. These bars are perfect and I was full of energy ready to explore the east side.  Picnic with my new energy bars
 Picnic with my new energy bars
 Picnic with my new energy bars
 I was about to move when I spotted a Sunbird in the top of a tree and I went to check out the bird. Turned out to be a Brown-throated sunbird. I finished my water and I went through the gate to enter the Bang Pu Wetland Nature Trail. And it didn´t take long before I walked in to something I really didn´t wanted to see. A snake, something I really could have lived without seeing. Of course, I understand that there are snakes in the area, but I don´t need to see them. From there on I stepped carefully walking along the Wetland Nature Trail. Abundance of Egrets taking off everywhere I walked. They are sitting in the trees or along the water looking for food.  Egrets taking off and it looks to be Intermediate Egrets
 Painted Stork fly over Bang Pu
Walking along the north part of the wetland and I spotted on Painted Stork flying over Bang Pu and I filled up my eBird log on the phone. I think I saw a Black-bittern about the bird ran for cover very quickly and I could not confirm the identity. Walking south towards the gate to the pier and the snack area and I could see a lot of Painted Storks, far away and I could count to 30 Painted Storks. So I had to update my eBird with the new count. Walking down to the gate and there is a lot of Scally-breasted Munias and Streak-eared Bulbuls. But the birds are hard to get on pictures.  Painted Storks
 Painted Storks
 Painted Storks
Back at the gates and there is two small plants in bricked containers. A sprinkler at one of them and there was a lot of birds coming to cool down in the water spray. I spotted several Plaintive Cuckoos and bulbuls. And a lot of other birds, but they are a little too far away for pictures. But there is a flimsy built walk bridge. Took me a while standing there studying the bridge before I dared to cross the bridge, only God know what is hiding in the water. Most likely snakes and other dangers. I crossed and I sat down on the edge of one of the bricked containers. All birds took off when I went out on the bridge.  Streak-eared Bulbul perch on the bridge handrail
 Birds cooling down at the sprinkler
 Streak-eared Bulbul cooling down
  I managed to cross the bridge
 Female Plaintive Cuckoo
  Plain Prinia
I had three coconuts when I came to the snack area. I stopped a motorcycle taxi and I was taken to Sukhumvit Road where I found a taxi. It had been a good day and I had planned to come here tomorrow as well. But as I woke up late yesterday when I had planned to go to Chaloem Golden Jubilee Park and Wat Chaloem Phrakiat Worawihan to look for birds. So I decided to go there tomorrow instead and I will see when I will come back to Bang Pu again. Back home and I had a quick “TUNA & ONION SURPRISE” ® and tea before going to Chaiyasit Muaythai GYM for 10 rounds of boxing exercise and one hour of yoga. And I must say that the yoga is one of the best things happening to me. 2 weeks and I can really feel the difference. Pain all over, well, a little pain but I really feel good and I´m slowly getting more flexible. I can now sit down with the legs crossed in front of me without having to pull the legs with my hands. So I can really recommend yoga for you old folks. Well, back home and I had tea before going to bed with the alarm set to go off at 4 o´clock in the morning. Click HERE for Chaloem Bird Watching Trip Report
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To www.aladdin.st since December 2005
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