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April 2022
 Introduction
I have not been to Suan Rot Fai Park for a very long time so I am quite excited to get back, almost 2 years since I was in the park last time. And it is easy to get to the park with a taxi. And I need to come out walking and move my arse after having been sitting down at work for the last 8 months.  Now I use the eBird app I go more and more for the eBird hotspots. What I call Suan Rot Fai is actually 3 different eBird hotspots and the park next to Suan Rot Fai, I get out of the taxi between the parks is a third hotspot. So from now on I will use the below eBird hotspots for the Suan Rot Fai: • Rot Fai Park (Wachira Benchatat Park) • H.M. Queen Sirikit Park (Suan Somdet Phra Nang Chao Sirikit) • Chatuchak Park 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
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 Entrance at Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road ถนน กำแพงเพชร 3  Scan for map
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  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
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.  There are three eBird hotspots in the Laem Pak Bia / Pak Thale Area, have a look at these if you CLICK the names below: • Rot Fai Park (Wachira Benchatat Park) • H.M. Queen Sirikit Park (Suan Somdet Phra Nang Chao Sirikit) • Chatuchak Park Rot Fai Park (Wachira Benchatat Park)
There are 2 big lakes/ bonds at the north side of the Rot Fai Park where you can see birds that like to be around water. There are a lake in the NE corner but there are paddle boats for rent so they scare the birds. But you will be able to see the big Asian Openbill and Egrets and Herons. There are fruit tree on the SE side of the lake/ pond and you can see birds eating fruit in the tree. There are several ponds/ pools at the centre of the parks and I have seen Kingfishers here. And the Indian Roller like to sit in top of the high tress here. The park is surrounded by a moat / canal going from the NE corner of the park to the SW corner. If you walk along the bike track you walk along the canal and you can see a lot of birds, BUT BE CAREFUL WITH THE BIKERS!  Access between owl area and the flower plantage have been improved during the Wuhan closedown (May 2019)
At the south end of the park you have two bridges crossing the moat / canal to the Queen Sirikit Park. One of the bridges is called the Bird Wave Bridge and there is a hide at the middle of the bridge. 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.   No more bushes to hide behind (April 2019)
 No more bushes to hide behind (April 2019)
 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 not far from the Kingfisher Pond, they were working with it when I was here back in 1919. But now it is ready and there is a bamboo walk bridge along the rice paddies. A very nice area just 200 meters west of the entrance. There had been a lot of action in the park during the closure during the Wuhan Virus. The field in front of the Kingfisher Pond is now full of trees and in a few years it might be like a forest here. The trees are freshly planted and it will take for them to grow big. They have built a full loop of Bamboo board walk in the farm land area  The field is full of new trees (May 2019)
 Now the Bamboo boardwalk is a full loop (May 2019)
 Now the Bamboo boardwalk is a full loop (May 2019)
 Now the Bamboo boardwalk is a full loop (May 2019)
 Now the Bamboo boardwalk is a full loop (May 2019)
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 (At the butterfly house) 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. This is also the area where I have seen the most Common Kingfishers in the park.  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.  Walking along the new bike bridge. At the end, turn left for Queen Sirikit Park and right to go look for owls
 Bridge over the moat to Queen Sirikit Park
 Turn right to go to the owl area
 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
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.  Walking north from the Bird Wave Bridge 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 middle 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. And there are many birds in the bushes and trees, try to find vegetation with small fruits and there will be birds enjoying the fruit.  Walking north towards the Main Entrance from the Bird Wave
H.M. Queen Sirikit Park (Suan Somdet Phra Nang Chao Sirikit)
H.M. Queen Sirikit Park is more “MAN MADE” park. Arranged vegetation and flowers along the walk paths. The park have several bridges crossing water and here are many small birds, and if I´m 5 times in Suan Rot Fai I see something new and interesting 1 time. This is what´s exciting, you never know what´s going to show up here. There is also a plant nursery on the east side of the park. ON the west side there is also many “gardens” with flowers. A nice area to walk around in even if you're not looking for birds. 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.  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.  Entrance to the board walk
 Queen Sirikit Park
Chatuchak Park
Chatuchak Park (Thai: สวนจตุจักร) is the name of a public park in Chatuchak district, Bangkok, Thailand. It is also the name of the Chatuchak Park MRT Station that lies under the park. Chatuchak park is one of the oldest public parks in Bangkok. Construction began in 1975 on land donated by the State Railway of Thailand. The park opened on 4 December 1980. It has an area of 0.304 square kilometres. It was later augmented with Queen Sirikit Park and Wachirabenchathat Park, though they are separated from Chatuchak Park by Kampaengphet 3 Road. An artificial lake runs along this thin and long park with numerous bridges crossing the lake. A train museum is situated inside the park. Chatuchak park include Wachirabenchathat park in the summer (March to April) every year is a time when pink poui are blooming, especially along the Phaholyothin Road adjacent to the Chatuchak Park MRT Station, makes the highly scenic. - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A beautiful park with two big lakes, one in the north part and one in the south part of the park. And a good land mark is the clock tower at the south end at the entrance from the “weekend market.” It is about 3 km to walk around the park rounding both the lakes. Of course, you will have to add if you're walking around looking for birds.  Looking south from the north lake
 Looking south from the north lake
 Looking south
 There are gyms and play grounds around the park
Walking between the north and south lake on the east side of the park is a bit (very) noisy as you walk along the huge (traffic non stop) Phahonyotin Road. On this side there is a canal just inside the fence to the Phahonyotin Road. Canal starts when you reach the tree area coming from north and when you reach the bridge the canal turns in to the southern lake. East side is beautiful area but the noise from the road is really bothering me and most likely the reason I didn't spotted any birds in this area. Otherwise there was nice seating arrangements at the canal but impossible to enjoy because of the noise from the traffic.  Walking south on the east side of the park
 Walking south on the east side of the park
 Reaching the bridge
 Bridge over the south lake
 Looking south over the south lake
 Reaching the clock tower at the south entrance
 Looking north
 Walking north on the west side
 Tree area
 Tree area
A good thing with the park is that there are plenty benches and seating arrangements along to track so no problem to find a place to sit down to relax. West side is quiet with only a few cars passing on the Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road between eBird hotspot: Chatuchak Park and Rot Fai Park (Wachira Benchatat Park) and this area is also a little bit ”treeier“. NO PLACE TO BUY WATER IN THIS PARK! Something to think about when you walk around in the blazing sun. 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.   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
Friday 1st of April 2022 and I had my tea coming back home from the gym. A shower and I ordered a taxi via the LINEMAN app and I started my eBird app at 15:16. I spotted two male Asian Koels just after having passed the gate. Very hard to get pictures as the two birds were sitting between me and the sun. I also gave it a try to record one of the bird’s calls. The second bird was quiet all the time.  Ready to start birding
  Male Asian Koel / นกกาเหว่า
 Male Asian Koel / นกกาเหว่า
 Male Asian Koel / นกกาเหว่า
Listen to the Asian Koel
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
  Large-billed Crow
 Lawn now covered by trees
 Cattle Egret
There was a crow sitting in a tree but again, the bird was between me and the sun so it was at least to say difficult to get any good pictures. I leave the walk path getting out on the tree covered lawn to get down to the Kingfisher Pond. Kingfisher Pond, I really don't know why I still call it the Kingfisher Pond, I have not seen any kingfishers there for years now. There was one Cattle Egret sitting in top of one of the trees. And I spotted two Magpie Robins and that was what I got out of the Kingfisher Pond. I turned around to start walking towards the Owlett area. I was planning on walking on the CAT WALK through the “FARM LAND” they made when the Covid started. I have walked through there before. But my diet have not turned out to be the success I have been hoping for and the cat walk is made of bamboo. Quite thin bamboo so the cat walk is kind of flimsy. And I will save myself the embarrassment to step through the bamboo so I walked around the area using the paved walk path.  I will walk around the area avoiding the flimsy bamboo cat walk
 I will walk around the area avoiding the flimsy bamboo cat walk
  Great Myna / นกเอี้ยงหงอน
  White-breasted Waterhen
 I reach the garden that I have to walk across to reach the trench to cross to come to the Children Traffic School where the Spotted Owlets lives. I spotted 3 Cattle Egret on the lawn, now covered with tress. I took a seat on a bench. The Egrets was scared but after having sat down for a while they forgot about me and came closer. I enjoyed watching the Cattle Egrets potting about looking for food. I had a few pictures before I crossed the walk patch and walked through the garden towards the traffic school. I also looked for the Stork Billed Kingfisher but no sign of any kingfisher. I have not seen the Stork Billed since the nest was destroyed. But I hope the bird is still in the park.   Eastern Cattle Egret / นกยางควาย
 Eastern Cattle Egret / นกยางควาย
 Eastern Cattle Egret / นกยางควาย
 Indian Roller
 Indochinese Roller
 Eastern Cattle Egret / นกยางควาย
 No kingfishers and no sign of the Spotted Owlets at the traffic school. But I spotted 3 bird watches sitting on the ground next to the trench at the bridge to the traffic school roundabout. I did not want to disturb them so I left and I will try to find out what rare bird that is visiting the park. I walk across the roundabout across the walk path and crossing the former lawn, now covered with trees. The trees was planted all over the park back in 2019. I am aiming for the bridge to the Queen Sirikit Park and it was not easy to aim as everything was behind the tress. But I reached the walk path and I walked to the bridge. They sell water at the Queen Sirikit Park, but I could not see anyone attending the stall so this was a bit of a disappointment. Original plan was to continue birding in the Queen Sirikit Park but no water so I turned around and crossed the bridge again to continue in the Suan Rot Fai. I walk back toward the same gate I entered the park using the bike lane crossing the bike bridge. Coming across the bike bridge and I am surrounded by tress and it was quite dark. I was very lucky as I spotted one bird through a small hole in the foliage. And I was also lucky with the sun shining on the bird.  I'm lucky to spot the bird through the foliage
  Chinese Sparrowhawk / เหยี่ยวนกเขาพันธุ์จีน
 Chinese Sparrowhawk / เหยี่ยวนกเขาพันธุ์จีน
I had no clue what bird it was and I spent a lot of time in my books when I was back home. First I thought it was a Falcon of some kind, but the bird did not have hairy legs so it was not a Falcon. I went on to investigate if it was a Besra but after 30 minutes or so I was convinced that if was a female Chinese Sparrowhawk. I posted the pictures on birdforum and my ID was confirmed.
 Today's track at Suan Rot Fai
Saturday 2nd of April 2022 and I was off to the gym planning to be back home in time for another birding tour to Suan Rot Fai.Don me really good to finally come back to the gym and the afternoon bird watching  constitutional in Suan Rot Fai
So it makes me feel like a million, especially with my diet I have going. I had a little set back. Went with my friend to check out the new Lotus on Khu Bon Road, ถนน คู้บอน.  On the way to have a cup of tea
 Salad Factory
There was a salad factory so I had salad and beef. I asked them not to bring any cabs. So, no potato or rice and I got two green salads as extra instead. The food was good but no tea, so this was a disappointment. I got back home, had a shower and I booked a taxi and I was off to Suan Rot Fai. I changed my mind on the way, I booked the car for the eastern entrance, but I wanted to start at the northern entrance today. I got out of the taxi and I entered the park. Walking with my camera and they understood that I was coming to look for birds. So the staff told me to go straight “There are plenty birds” Thank you! I continued straight and I turned off towards west. Plenty birds, yes, feral pigeons and crows, not what I was looking for. But I was grateful for the enthusiasm they showed to help the “first time tourist” coming to the park.  Ready to “Kick A**” in the park
 Suan Rot Fai
 I walked south on the west side of the park as I had planned to come down to the Stork Billed Kingfisher area from behind. I spotted one Black-collared Starling and of course many Crows, Common Mynas and Feral Pigeons. Otherwise, nothing, well, I could hear several Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers. But I could only see one of the Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers, a female. I came down to the toilets on my left-hand side and they had redecorated the area. I tried to look for the Scoops owl in the trees at the toilet. I continued straight for 50 meters and I spotted one Indochinese Roller and three Cattle Egrets. I tried to get a picture of the Roller but it took off. I went to sit down to see if the Egrets would come any closer. There was one Chinese Pond Heron as well, but this bird did not move at all. Sitting down enjoying the sights while the Cattle Egrets came closer to me.   Cattle Egret
 Cattle Egret
 Cattle Egret
  Large-billed Crow
I was soon growing bored watching the egrets. I left and I spotted a crow landing on top of a sign across the walk path. I went to have a picture but the crow took off and landed next to me. And the crow followed me like a dog, maybe expecting a snack. Overcast and it looked like it could start to rain any second so the light was not good for photography. I continued towards the traffic school to see if I could see what bird they had been waiting for yesterday. Walking towards the traffic school and I discovered two Spotted Owlets sitting in a tree. The light conditions were at least to say poor so I never managed to get any good pictures of the owlets.   Spotted Owlet / นกเค้าจุด
I could see that one of the owlets had a little snack to chew on, most likely a mouse or something. Approaching the traffic school and I could see two tents so something is going on there. I could see people moving around so obviously no one is concerned about scaring the bird. Good, I can find out what bird it is they are waiting for. But I could see that the people were moving towards the traffic school so obviously there is something else going on as well. There was a lot of bird watchers sitting on the pavement and I could see them getting up every now and then to throw rocks at the Common Mynas. So I understood that they have put food to attract something, but the Common Mynas came to eat the food, so rocks were thrown towards them.  Looking for something
 Looking for something
I walk up to them and I ask what they are waiting for. They told me that they were waiting for the Spotted Owlet, there was one owlet sitting in the tree and they tried to get it down to eat. I asked what the bird was under all the trees back at the trench. I was told that it was a Yellow-rumped Flycatcher. The Yellow-rumped Flycatcher is not reported in eBird but it had gone famous in the Thai bird watching circles as there were more and more people coming to see the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher. But it looked like they have given up on the fly catcher and now they are looking for the owlets. I went to have a look for the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and it did not take long for me to see the bird.  Yellow-rumped Flycatcher / นกจับแมลงตะโพกเหลือง
I got a couple of very poor pictures and as I had no clue how the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher looked like I went back to the bird watchers to ask if it was the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher. And yes, it was. So I went back to see if I could get some pictures again. But it was too dark for any good pictures. I will be back again to see if I have any luck, maybe to bring my flash. I walked back to the eastern gate together with some of the Thai bird watchers and it was nice people and we were talking about birds while walking back to the gate. 
 Today's track at Suan Rot Fai
Sunday 3rd of April 2022 and my friend and his son knocked on my door a few minutes after 7 o'clock. We will go to the Ganesha Temple, Wat Saman Rattanaram, วัดสมานรัตนาราม. I like Ganesha so this is a place I really look forward to having a look at. I will not bring my bird camera but I will use the eBird app to see if I can record any birds at the temple. We will have breakfast before we leave and my friend will make the food as he know how to make the omelette now.  Making breakfast
 Making breakfast
 Making breakfast
  Time to eat
We finished the food and we took off leaving Bangkok behind hauling arse on the highway to Chonburi and we left the highway at Lat Krabang. We stopped at a 7 Eleven when we reached the country side, I needed some MAX for the road trip. I also needed cash as I had planned to buy some Buddha amulets (พระเครื่อง) at the temple. Something we had planned for a long time during our evenings on board m/t Roy Maersk. Visit some temples and have a look for Buddha amulets (พระเครื่อง) So I will take the opportunity today.  Stop at 7 Eleven
 We continue towards the temple
I start my eBird app at 09:45 so that means that it took us about 90 minutes to drive to the Wat Saman Rattanaram, วัดสมานรัตนาราม. Here was a lot more people that I had expected, the roads coming here had been almost empty. But this is obviously a popular place and it was full of people. The temple is located next to the river and the huge Ganesha was placed just next to the river. We take the obligatory selfie and we go to check out the lotus they have built on the river. Walking out to the lotus and I spotted a few Javan Pond Herons fishing and they were not scared at all.  Ganesha, or in Thai พระพิฆเนศ
 Ganesha, or in Thai พระพิฆเนศ
 There is a big lotus in the river
 On the lotus
 On the lotus
 Top of the lotus
A popular temple so there are many people and they make a lot of money. So much money so they have built a hospital next to the temple. It was a nice area to walk around at, and we were also lucky with the weather today. It was kind of cool so it was a joy walking around. We were looking for the official Buddha amulet shop as I wanted to have a Buddha amulet from this temple. There was much to have a look at and it was more than a Thai temple. Chinese temple or holy things and Hindu Gods as well.  I don't know what this is, but it is big
 Chinese temple or something holy as well
 Chinese temple or something holy as well
 Chinese temple or something holy as well
For good luck or something
We found the Buddha amulet shop but I was disappointed with the Ganesha amulets they had for sale. I bought a holy cloth that I will put on the wall back home. So I was kind of happy when we left the shop. We walked back to have a look for a smaller Ganesha that I had seen coming here with the car. We came on to a pond full of turtles and my friend bought bananas to feed the turtles. And this was something he enjoyed.  At the turtle pond
 At the turtle pond
 At the turtle pond
 At the turtle pond
 At the turtle pond
 Prayer area
Today's track at Wat Saman Rattanaram
We left the Wat Saman Rattanaram, วัดสมานรัตนาราม to drive to the Khlong Khuean Shri Ganesh International Park, อุทยานพระพิฆเนศ องค์ยืน, 5 to 10 minutes away by car. I didn't know what to expect, the laying Ganesha here at Wat Saman Rattanaram but the Ganesha at long Khuean Shri Ganesh International Park was standing up and it was huge and I could see the Ganesha from far away driving towards the Khlong Khuean Shri Ganesh International Park. We find a parking and it seems like there is not so many people. And the weather was excellent and it was cool and comfortable to walk around. We start by walking up to the Ganesha statue and we walked around Ganesha three times as this would give us a very good luck. There was of course a souvenir shop and they had Ganesha amulets. But as I understand it this is a park and no temple. So this is not real Thai amulets as this require monks putting magic in to the amulets. So I never bought anything even though there were some nice-looking things.  Khlong Khuean Shri Ganesh International Park
 Prayer area
    The stairs up to the statue have statues of the Rat that is always on the Ganesha statues. You can whisper your wishes in to the ear of the mouse. So my friend took the opportunity when we were walking from the statue down to the river. Not many birds to be seen but it was very nice to sit down at the river, cool and a beautiful view over the river.
   Walking down to the river
 River side
 River side
 View from the river
 Today's track at Khlong Khuean Shri Ganesh International Park
I had really enjoyed the tour and to see Ganesha is always fun. I buy a new Ganesha every time I visit India and Nepal. So this is my favourite God. And we remember when I brought my Ganesh for a swim in River Ganges. And if we have forgotten that drama we just need to click HERE! I will make Swedish sausage, Falukorv for dinner, but we will stop at one mor temple before going back home. Wat Bang Phli Yai Nai, วัดบางพลีใหญ่ใน is the name and my friend told me it was a very famous temple.
Arriving to Wat Bang Phli Yai Nai, วัดบางพลีใหญ่ใน and we discovered that all the parking were occupied. So my friend's son dropped us and we went inside to have a look. We got in to have a look at the famous Buddha statue. We also found the Buddha amulet shop.  Holy things
 We will soon win the lottery
 We will soon win the lottery
 Buddha statues
 Buddha statues
 Entrance to the room with the holiest Buddha statues
 Luang Pho To (หลวงพ่อโต)
 Putting gold on Luang Pho To (หลวงพ่อโต)
 Putting gold on Luang Pho To (หลวงพ่อโต)
 Now we go to buy Buddha amulet
Back out from the, I think it is called the Wihan, วิหาร, the place where they keep their holy things. We had been looking at the amulets and I bought two. They told us that the other amulets were sold outside so we went to have a look. I bought three more amulets and we had to pay the money in to a huge box with a slot for the cash. I handed them the cash and they told me to drop it in the box. Make a runner? No, then for sure I would be unlucky for the rest of my life. We are here to get some luck so my friend dropped the cash while I took pictures. We left the temple after having paid for the amulets and now I hope to win the lottery with all the luck we have gained.  Buying good luck
 Buying good luck
 Today's track at Wat Bang Phli Yai Nai
We had Falukorv and mashed cauliflower when we were back home and it tasted very good, no left overs. And mashed cauliflower is much healthier than mashed potatoes. No carbs and after a few days without carbs I feel very well. My friend drove back home and I will see him on Tuesday again when we go to Chonburi to look for birds. Monday 4th of April 2022 and I was off to the Chaiyasit Muay Thai Gym to do some exercise with ปีศาจแดง ก.กุมานนท์, Red Devil at 8 thirty. Need to be earlier today as I will do yoga, two years since the last time so it will be a slow start.  Early at Chaiyasit Muay Thai Gym
I was at the gym 9 o'clock, travel time is a wee bit unpredictable, sometimes I make it in 30 minutes and then the next day it takes an hour. I will start the yoga at 9 thirty so while waiting I came up with an idea. I will skip the birding today. I will be in pain after the yoga so walking around Suan Rot Fai for two hours might turn out less pleasant than it used to be. So I will go to the hospital in the afternoon to take blood sample and do me yearly cancer check.  Time for yoga
 Time for yoga
 Time for yoga
 Time for yoga
 Time for yoga
 Time for yoga
 Time for yoga
 Time for yoga
Some “highly” advances yoga positions
PLEASE! Don't try this without supervision
 Blood samples
 Blood samples
 Blood samples
Tuesday 5th of April 2022 and the birding trip to Chonburi is cancelled as my friend’s wife had to go to the hospital. So I will go to have a look for the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher in Suan Rot Fai after the gym. Starting today’s session at Chaiyasit Muay Thai Gym with yoga. I did 30 minutes yesterday and I will try to do 60 minutes today. Not so much pain as I had expected from yesterday and today it was a little easier to move so yesterday’s exercise had helped to loosen up my stiff joints. I did 10 rounds with ปีศาจแดง ก.กุมานนท์, The Red Devil after the yoga. Some “highly” advances yoga positions
PLEASE! Don't try this without supervision
Really happy that I can be back to attend the gym after 2 years of absence due to the Covid. And the pain is now slowly disappearing and it feels good even after the exercise. My friend wanted to show me yet another new shopping area at the Khu Bon Road so we went to have Japanese food. I ordered salmon sashimi and fried pork without the rice and extras, so no carbs. So this might actually work out, to go to restaurants without eating any carbs.  And yet again, no carbs
A shower when I came back home and I donned my bird watching equipment, plus the flash if it is dark at the flycatcher area. We were running in to heavy traffic, even on the toll way the traffic was at a full stop. So I could not start the eBird app until 15:48. I passed the water shop and I bought a bottle to bring with me. I walked towards the traffic school / Yellow-rumped Flycatcher area and I stopped to have a seat to see if there was any birds at one of the ponds. I discovered one roller perching in a small tree just behind me.   Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง
 Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง  Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง
 Listen to the Oriental Magpie Robin
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
 Male Oriental Magpie Robin / นกกางเขนบ้าน singing
 Male Oriental Magpie Robin / นกกางเขนบ้าน singing
Recordings of this species are currently restricted.
+++++++++
Why are recordings of certain species restricted? Some species are under extreme pressure due to trapping or harassment. The open availability of high-quality recordings of these species can make the problems even worse. For this reason, streaming and downloading of these recordings is disabled. Recordists are still free to share them on xeno-canto, but they will have to approve access to these recordings. We do not take this action lightly, and we wish it were not necessary, but we have been convinced that the negative impacts of offering easy access to these recordings outweigh the benefits. If you would like access to these recordings, you may contact the recordist directly. +++++++++
I continue towards the traffic school area and I hear the typical scream from an angry White-breasted Waterhen. I go to investigate and I flush a Stork-billed Kingfisher when I leave the walk path getting out in the “wilderness” The Stork-billed landing in a tree across the pond. Of course, the bird is perching behind a branch so it was impossible to get pictures, and of course, the bird was too far away. Never mind the photos, I was happy to be able to confirm that we have a Stork-billed in the park.  I continue and I take a seat on the bench across the walk path from the garden leading to the traffic school / Yellow-rumped Flycatcher area. I see one Cattle Egret but it is covered by trees and bushes. And the bird is walking the other way. Anyway, I have grown to like the trees they planted all over the lawns back in 2019. At first I was not so enthusiastic about it. But birds are using the trees and back in the days the Indian Roller (Now changed name to Indochinese Roller) loves to perch in the trees. Always at the top and back then they were sitting in the big trees. These new trees bring down the Indochinese Roller to a more “eye level” level.   Female Taiga flycatcher or Red-throated flycatcher
 Female Taiga flycatcher or Red-throated flycatcher
  Streak-eared Bulbul / นกปรอดสวน
Sitting on the bench and I had a female Taiga Flycatcher landing in front of me. And I had a Streak-eared Bulbul playing in the bushes. I left the bench and I crossed the garden area in to the traffic school. I spotted a girl with a big camera on a tripod so I knew she was here to look for birds. She was looking for the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher. The Taiga Flycatcher, I had no clue what bird it was and I showed my picture for her and she told me that it was the Taiga Flycatcher. So thanks for that! I told he that I had seen the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher across the traffic school and that there have been a lot of people the last few days. She followed me to the area but we soon gave up as there was no sign of the flycatcher. She told me that her friends had seen the bird yesterday in the area where we had crossed the trench between the garden and the traffic school. We walked over to this area and we never spotted the flycatcher. But we spotted yet another Stork-billed Kingfisher and there was also one Coppersmith Barbet. I hear them all over the park, but this was the first one I could see.  But no luck with the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and I was soon giving up and I started to walk back towards the eastern gate. Walking through the garden and I kept my eyes out for the Taiga Flycatcher. But no luck there either. Leaving the garden behind and I spotted the Stork-billed again. Flying from the pond towards the north. So now I will be keeping my eyes out for the Kingfisher.   Chinese Pond Heron, Ardeola bacchus, นกยางกรอกพันธุ์จีน
 Today's track at Rot Fai Park (Wachira Benchatat Park)
I took a taxi back home and now it will be a couple of days before I will be back in Suan Rot Fai. I will go to Rayong tomorrow and we will stop at a few eBird hotspots, so click HERE to find out if we see any birds.
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