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26 July 2020
 Introduction
Phutthamonthon is a park is another birding area I found thanks to thaibirding.com by Nick Upton. It is a park about 33km west of downtown Bangkok. I was in the park for the first time 29 February 2016. So this is more than 4 years ago. Back then I was not using eBird, but before going there this time I checked eBird and I discovered an eBird hotspot: next to Phutthamonthon. Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park is located just across the highway north of Phutthamonthon and I will go there to have a look when I am ready at Phutthamonthon. To skip the information and to go straight to the TRIP REPORT click HERE 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
 About 33 km from Sukhumvit / Asoke Intersection
You will need a car or rent a taxi for a couple of hours. It is a huge area to cover and you are alowed to enter with a car to drive around. Park the car and explore interesting areas by foot. Taxi is a very convenient way of getting to Phutthamonthon. Phutthamonthon Park can be a bit hard for some of the drivers to understand. So show this Thai Script: • Phutthamonthon Park สวนพุทธมณฑล Address: 25/25 Moo 6, Phutthamonthon Sai 4 Road Phutthamonthon, Nakhon Pathom Openning Hours : Mon 06:00 - 18:00 Tue 06:00 - 18:00 Wed 06:00 - 18:00 Thu 06:00 - 18:00 Fri 06:00 - 18:00 Sat 06:00 - 18:00 Sun 06:00 - 18:00  Scan for map to Phutthamonthon
When you are at the Phutthamonthon you should take the time to visit the Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park. It is just across the highway north of the Phutthamonthon. • Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park อุทยานธรรมชาติวิทยาสิรีรุกขชาติ  Scan for map to Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park
Situated in the compound of Mahidol University, Phuttamonthon 4 Road, Salaya, Phuttamonthon, Nakhon Pathom 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  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 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.  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
Phutthamonthon
Phutthamonthon (Thai: พุทธมณฑล, pronounced [pʰút.tʰā.mōn.tʰōn]; also spelled Buddha Monthon; from Sanskrit Buddha Máṇḍala, 'Buddha's sphere') is a Buddhist park in the Phutthamonthon District, Nakhon Pathom Province of Thailand, west of Bangkok. It is highlighted by a 15.87 m high Buddha statue by Corrado Feroci, which may be the tallest free-standing Buddha statue in the world. The park was created in 1957 (the year 2500 in the Thai Buddhist Era) on the basis of an idea of Thailand's prime minister, Phibunsongkhram. The park covers an area of about 400 hectares, which in traditional Thai units is 2500 rai. Construction started 29 July 1955, and the park was inaugurated on the Vaisakh Bucha day, 13 May 1957. After a long pause, construction on the park resumed in 1976. The main Buddha statue was built after that time. Already designed in 1955 by art professor Silpa Bhirasri, the statue was cast in 1981. The Leela Attitude statue, 15.875 m high and at the centre of the park, was given the name Phra Si Sakkaya Thotsaphonlayan Prathan Phutthamonthon Suthat (Thai: พระศรีศากยะทศพลญาณ ประธานพุทธมณฑลสุทรรศน์, literally 'the Graceful Statue of the Shakyamuni who was of the Tenfold Power, the Presiding Buddha of the Beautiful Phutthamonthon') by King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Around the statue are sites memorialising the four main stations in the life of Buddha: his birth symbolized by seven lotus flowers, his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, his first sermon, and his death. Another important building is the marble viharn, which contains the entire Buddhist canon engraved in 1418 marble stelas. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Download thaibirding.com´s Phuttamonton Park Bird Checklist as a PDF HERE This checklist for Suan Phuttamonton 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 Phuttamonton Park can be found at thaibirding.com  North entrance to Phutthamonthon Park
You enter Phutthamonthon Park from Phutthamonthon Sai 4 Road. There is 2 entrances, about 300 meters apart. You enter the north entrance and you drive through a beautiful park, manmade and the south entrance is taking you to the “wild” part of the park. It is a beautiful park and the northern part have canals between the park that looks more like a garden at many places so I enjoyed driving around looking for birds.  Warning for turtles
 15.87 m high Buddha statue by Corrado Feroci
During the visit the south entrance was closed and all the roads in the park was blocked so we could not reach the south part of the park. We could only reach the temple and the statue. I suspect this was because of the holiday and I hope they open up again. I hope I will be able to (re)explore the park next Sunday Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park
“Sireeruckhachati” Nature Park started off as “Sireeruckhachati ” medicinal plant garden which has been initiated since 1982 by Professor Dr. Natth Bhamarapravati, the President of Mahidol University and Professor Payao Muengwongyard, Head of pharmaceutical botany, Faculty of Pharmacy. The objectives are conservation of Thai medicinal plants for the study, self-learning and research and development as well as the green and recreated area for students and staffs in Salaya campus. Her Majesty Queen Sirikit graciously named this medicinal plant garden “Sireeruckhachati” and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the official opening ceremony on 8 August 1988. In 1993, “Sireeruckhachati Medicinal Plant Garden” was honored with Mahidol University Award in the Service Category and “Outstanding National Project in the Natural Resources and Environment Conservation Category” from the National Identity Board, Office of the Prime Minister in 1996. In 2007 Clinical Professor Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn M.D., the President of Mahidol University, upgraded Sireeruckhachati medicinal plant garden to nature park for the study of Thai medicinal plants and also serve as ecotourism park. The former garden was expanded to 55 acres to accommodate various activities for both local and international levels. Her Majesty the Queen graciously renamed to “Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park” on 22 April 2510. The next Presidents of Mahidol University, Professor Rachata Rachatanawin M.D. and Clinical Professor Udom Kachintorn M.D., carried on and provided further support to this project and made it a nature park in honor of Her Majesty the Queen.  Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park
 Entrance to the Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park
You have to park your car on the parking lot just west of the entrance to the Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park and you walk back to the entrance, maybe 100 meters to walk and you can look out for birds while walking back to the gate. Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park in Bangkok was closed because of public holiday, closed for 4 days. So I had to do bird watching outside the park I hope I will be able to explore the park next Sunday Walking west from the entrance and you will see birds along the way. Walk past the parking area and you reach a lake and it is a nice area to walk around to look for birds.  Lake outside the Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park
 Outside the Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park
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.   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. Trip Report
Sunday 26th of July 2020 and the taxi pick me up at 6 o'clock and we reach Phutthamonthon Park 40 minutes later. On internet it is stated that the park is open at 06:00 but we were told by the Guard that they would not open until 08:30. Well, there is another eBird hotspot: some 15 minutes away and we took off towards the eBird hotspot: Suan Chaloem Phrakiat Somdet Ya (Princess Mother Memorial Park) Sunday and the parking was full as the park was full of people jogging in the park. I got out of the taxi and I will call the driver when I am ready. The first birds I see are a Scally-breasted Munia and a Zebra Dove in the tree at the gate to the park.  Scally-breasted Munia
 Zebra Dove
I walk on the jogging track between the lily pond and the canal. The track is full of people jogging and I guess it scares some of the birds. I could see 8 Asian Openbills in the lily pond but no other birds in the pond. I was a little disappointed as I had expected some water birds. I could hear the Scally-backed Flowerpecker all over the park but it was impossible to spot the birds. I only got one picture of one Scally-backed Flowerpecker and it was too far away. Walking back to the gate and I stop for a coconut and a bottle of water. I sit down to kill a few minutes so I don't arrive too early to the Phutthamonthon Park. Last picture from the Princess Mother Memorial Park is a Common Myna sitting in the tree at the gate.  Lily pond in the park
 Asian Openbill
 Asian Openbill
 Scally-backed Flowerpecker
 Common Myna
 Today´s track at Suan Chaloem Phrakiat Somdet Ya (Princess Mother Memorial Park)
Takes about 10 minutes to drive to Phutthamonthon Park and the park is open when we arrive. We stop to try to get pictures of a male Olive-backed Sunbird in a bush next to the road after the gate. And of course, the park was full of Red-wattled Lapwings. But they are not so noisy as it seems the breeding season is over. Many mynas and I also spotted two Black Drongos. We arrive to the temple and we found out that all the roads was blocked and I wanted to go down to the wilderness in the south part of the park. At least it was wilderness when I was here last time 5 years ago. The part around the temple is more like a garden, of course, there are birds but I remember the wilderness to have many birds in the scrubs and bushes.  Olive-backed Sunbird
   Large-billed Crow / อีกา
 Large-billed Crow / อีกา
 Large-billed Crow / อีกา
 Today´s track at Phutthamonthon Park
Maybe Phutthamonthon Park was closed due to the public holiday, I really don't know but I was disappointed. Up at 4 o'clock and I had paid for the full day taxi. The last bird we spotted was the Large-billed Crow eating on a fish or lizard. So not so many birds today but I will come back again when they have opened the park again. Anyway, next eBird hotspot,Mahidol University [Salaya Campus] & Sireeruckhachart Botanical Garden, is just a few minutes away. The area looked closed and I was informed that the Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park is closed due to the public holiday. Four days of holiday and they will open on Wednesday again. So I walked back to the parking and there were quite a few birds on the way. Asian Openbill like I never seen this bird before, sitting on top of a light post. Sitting with the wings out like the bird wanted to dry the wings, or to kill pest with UV-rays. I was also very lucky with a male Plaintive Cuckoo hunting among some lilies.   Asian Openbill Stork / นกปากห่าง
 Asian Openbill Stork / นกปากห่าง
 Asian Openbill Stork / นกปากห่าง
 Asian Openbill Stork / นกปากห่าง
 Asian Openbill Stork / นกปากห่าง
 Asian Openbill Stork / นกปากห่าง
Listen to the Asian Koel
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
  Male Oriental Magpie Robin / นกกางเขนบ้าน
  Male Plaintive Cuckoo / นกอีวาบตั๊กแตน
 Male Plaintive Cuckoo / นกอีวาบตั๊กแตน
 Male Plaintive Cuckoo / นกอีวาบตั๊กแตน
 Male Plaintive Cuckoo / นกอีวาบตั๊กแตน
I decided to continue past the parking and when I passed I told the driver to drive after me in 10 to 15 minutes. Past the parking and I was soon discovering a big lake. It was a beautiful area to walk around at so it was not a total waste of time to come here even though the Mahidol University [Salaya Campus] & Sireeruckhachart Botanical Garden was closed.  Listen to the Red-wattled Lapwing
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
![Birding/ Bird watching at Mahidol University [Salaya Campus] & Sireeruckhachart Botanical Garden, Bangkok, Thailand](1269.jpg) Today´s track at Mahidol University [Salaya Campus] & Sireeruckhachart Botanical Garden
I will have to come back to the eBird hotspot: Mahidol University [Salaya Campus] & Sireeruckhachart Botanical Garden when they open the Sireeruckhachati Nature Learning Park after the holiday. Time to go back home again and I want to stop at another eBird hotspot: on the way back home. The hotspot Mahasawat WTP (MAHASAWAT WATER TREATMENT PLANT) have never been visited by any eBirder so I will be the first. I don't know if it was due to the holiday or if the gates are closed all the time, but we could not get inside the water treatment park. So I had to look for birds outside the wall on the north of the plant. There is a canal at the outlet from the water plant and a gravel road along the canal.  Great Myna / นกเอี้ยงหงอน at the gate to the plant
 Plain Prinia
 Asian Openbill Stork / นกปากห่าง
Driving slowly along the dust road and there is the canal on one side and on the other side you have a ditch / drainage canal. Bushes and scrubs along the ditch and bird nests in the reeds. We spotted a couple of Plain Prinias and Asian Golden Weavers was busy building a nest. We only spotted on Egret, one Intermediate Egret and one Pond Heron. Not possible to ID the Pond Heron as it was in winter plumage. So I guess this is the time of the year when all Herons and Egrets are in a tree having babies.   Intermediate Egret / นกยางโทนน้อย
 Pond Heron
 Used nest
We stop at a nest built in the reeds. I see one bird getting in to the nest and I could hear the babies starting to make noise. I had my camera ready for when the bird would leave to get more food. DARN! The bird was off in a flash and no pictures. I waited for the bird to come back. I could see the bird coming back with food for the babies and the camera was ready, aimed and focused on the nest. DARN! This bird was quick and no pictures. The babies started to make noise and then, the bird off again. I waited for the bird to come back the third time, but I gave up before it came back.   Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง
 Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง
 Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง
 Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง
 Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง
 Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง
  Male Asian Golden Weaver / นกกระจาบทอง
I was a little surprised to see the Asian Golden Weaver building nest, maybe normal but end of July and I would think it is very late in the season to have babies. Anyway, I had covered the canal and I told the taxi driver to take me back home. I was very happy with today's birding, especially the Roller that I manage to get very close to. The bird sat on the gravel road and we stopped two meters from the bird. So I managed to get a few pictures of the bird and I was happy.  Today´s track at Mahasawat WTP
I told the driver that I might go again next Sunday to check out the places that had been closed today. But tomorrow it will be Suan Rot Fai Park and I look forward to it as I have not been there for a long time. Click HERE to find out if I see any birds at Suan Rot Fai
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