Jump to content

Birds in your garden


Recommended Posts

Great idea, i'm going to start my list.

We have loads of birds in the garden but i did not think there were many different species, after seeing the other lists it will be interesting to find out.

Can anyone recommend a camera/lens for photographing them.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Directly outside my bedroom window is a big lime tree. Every morning from about 5 30 am onwards as it starts to get light I am treated to a most spectacular wildlife show of exotic birds. Yes, I do have an eye for the birds. They are not aware of my presence because of the mosquito wire, but I can see them clearly. They are all colours, all sizes and overhead I see flocks of storks flying gracefully way up in the air.

I’ve looked on the Internet to try and determine the species of birds they are but the problem is many appear very similar and it’s hard to tell. I would love to catch them on video but the birds move fast, now you see them then they’re gone and I am no wildlife photographer. I thought about placing a bird feeder on the tree to attract them but I have no idea what they eat. Some could be seed eaters and others live on insects, I really don’t know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Directly outside my bedroom window is a big lime tree. Every morning from about 5 30 am onwards as it starts to get light I am treated to a most spectacular wildlife show of exotic birds. Yes, I do have an eye for the birds. They are not aware of my presence because of the mosquito wire, but I can see them clearly. They are all colours, all sizes and overhead I see flocks of storks flying gracefully way up in the air.

I’ve looked on the Internet to try and determine the species of birds they are but the problem is many appear very similar and it’s hard to tell. I would love to catch them on video but the birds move fast, now you see them then they’re gone and I am no wildlife photographer. I thought about placing a bird feeder on the tree to attract them but I have no idea what they eat. Some could be seed eaters and others live on insects, I really don’t know.

I would suggest you buy a Bird Guide or Field Guide of the birds of Thailand. Here's two...

My go to is...A Guide To The Birds Of Thailand. Would also recommend A Field Guide To The Birds Of Thailand

post-216783-14576622895219_thumb.jpg

post-216783-14576623022732_thumb.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The wife took this photo (with iphone) of an owl in our garden wall (khlong, trees, fishfields behind the wall). What type of owl is it, and is it adult or juvenile?

attachicon.gifIMG_2238.JPG

Collared scops Owl.

Is it a native or visitor to Thailand? I ask as i couldn't find much about it and Thailand on the web, but i know the local collectors around me keep them (my barber 200 m for example keeps them and eagles) so was wondering was an escapee (wouldn't be the first escapee in my garden).

They are resident. Their call is a soft "pooh" which they will repeat at 12 second intervals. They nest in holes in trees. I had two just next to my house which I assumed were nesting and possibly raising young but suddenly disappeared, though I still hear them. Probably their nest was raided by a monitor lizard.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great idea, i'm going to start my list.

We have loads of birds in the garden but i did not think there were many different species, after seeing the other lists it will be interesting to find out.

Can anyone recommend a camera/lens for photographing them.

If you're just looking to photo birds but don't want to take on the monumental task of learning about photography and lenses and etc. then look to the fixed lens superzoom cameras. I use a fuji HS35. Make sure you get the manual zoom. Affordable, nothing to learn. I keep mine on auto almost constantly. And if i drop it in a stream or flip in a kayak, they're only about 12000 baht. If you want Nat. Geo quality, then prepare to spend a lot of money. If you just want good clear shots of birds and a good camera you can use for multiple purposes, i highly recommend the Fuji or other fixed lens superzooms. All the photo buffs will say I am wrong.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The wife took this photo (with iphone) of an owl in our garden wall (khlong, trees, fishfields behind the wall). What type of owl is it, and is it adult or juvenile?

attachicon.gifIMG_2238.JPG

Collared scops Owl.

Is it a native or visitor to Thailand? I ask as i couldn't find much about it and Thailand on the web, but i know the local collectors around me keep them (my barber 200 m for example keeps them and eagles) so was wondering was an escapee (wouldn't be the first escapee in my garden).

They are resident. Their call is a soft "pooh" which they will repeat at 12 second intervals. They nest in holes in trees. I had two just next to my house which I assumed were nesting and possibly raising young but suddenly disappeared, though I still hear them. Probably their nest was raided by a monitor lizard.

Yes...they are native. The have a wide range in South Asia. Here is a range map...

post-216783-0-93165500-1457698779_thumb.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to specialise in photos of 'Hardbills' in the UK.

From what I can see a lot of these birds are probably 'Softbills'.

My favourite species for photos in the UK were Bullfinches, Goldfinches, Siskins etc. These are all Hard bills (seed eaters) whereas the likes of Robins, Thrushes etc., are Soft Bills (Berry eaters)

Are there any birds here that are similar to our UK Hard bills ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to specialise in photos of 'Hardbills' in the UK.

From what I can see a lot of these birds are probably 'Softbills'.

My favourite species for photos in the UK were Bullfinches, Goldfinches, Siskins etc. These are all Hard bills (seed eaters) whereas the likes of Robins, Thrushes etc., are Soft Bills (Berry eaters)

Are there any birds here that are similar to our UK Hard bills ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Thailand

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I saw the Barn Owl in 2008 near my house people set out immediately netting to trap it! I destroyed the netting but at the end the owl disappeared.

http://www.antoniuniphotography.com/p152661571/h461e6280#h461e6280

I'm afraid they cached it at the end and the owl ended in the infamous Chatuchak Market in Bangkok! bah.gif

A few nights ago I saw by coincident two big grey birds flying low along the trees near my house. I hope they are back again and shall not be cached anymore! But money is money in Thailand and lots of people don't give a damn about animals! sad.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never kept a garden list. I live in Buriram on the edge of extensive rice paddies on two sides of my garden, with a wooded temple compound on the third side, and village houses on the fourth. Every morning I take the dog(s) for a walk lasting about two hours, and in 8 years, I have recorded 170 species in this area.

I tried whittling that down to birds I had actually seen in or from the garden, and got a total of about 75 species.

Why not post the list, IB? May give those in Isaan some inspiration to document their own gardens, give them an idea of what they might look out for and put an end to the myth that there are no birds in Isaan because "they've all been eaten." My Surin Yard list is longer than my Chonburi one and was done in half the time. I will post it soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we built our house in the countryside near Chiang Rai there wasn’t much birdlife but things have changed over the years and I often marvel at the variety of birds now. I am not really into counting or naming but a quick look at the lists and I did not notice my favorite bird, the Pied Harrier. Their black and white coloring is so dramatic and their low-level aerobatics over the rice fields are mesmerizing. The Open-billed Storks are new this year and our largest bird by far. They all seem to have plenty to eat so we don’t feed any of the birds.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to specialise in photos of 'Hardbills' in the UK.

From what I can see a lot of these birds are probably 'Softbills'.

My favourite species for photos in the UK were Bullfinches, Goldfinches, Siskins etc. These are all Hard bills (seed eaters) whereas the likes of Robins, Thrushes etc., are Soft Bills (Berry eaters)

Are there any birds here that are similar to our UK Hard bills ?

Check out the Munias, Sparrows, Finches, Weavers, Buntings, Grosbeaks and Parrotbills. Some are common...others not so much, but would love to see some pix!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A great late addition to the list this evening about 6 pm...White-breasted Waterhen. 3 new the past couple days ups the total to 42 for the yard.

Where are you? Water area? For me, I see them on a very regular basis for many years now making their way slowly along the banks of the khlong outside my window or when the khlong is fully blocked with vegetation they go back and forth across the leaves of the plants. Towards the end of last year I watched daily an adult and its 3 chicks doing their daily rounds on the khlong. Occasionally they fly in to my garden but they're very alert and sense me straight away if I go out. We used to have a little fish pond but we stopped stocking it as something kept eating the fish; think I know who was guilty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A great late addition to the list this evening about 6 pm...White-breasted Waterhen. 3 new the past couple days ups the total to 42 for the yard.

Where are you? Water area? For me, I see them on a very regular basis for many years now making their way slowly along the banks of the khlong outside my window or when the khlong is fully blocked with vegetation they go back and forth across the leaves of the plants. Towards the end of last year I watched daily an adult and its 3 chicks doing their daily rounds on the khlong. Occasionally they fly in to my garden but they're very alert and sense me straight away if I go out. We used to have a little fish pond but we stopped stocking it as something kept eating the fish; think I know who was guilty.

Not water area, though there is a filthy inactive klong nearby. Actually I'm in the city...BKK. Only 5 minute walk to Sukhumvit Road and 7 mins to Skytrain. A more detailed description of the habitat behind my building can be found in my initial yard list post.

You are spot on about their alertness. This bird lit in some trees about 20 meters away (I'm well concealed on my 5th floor lanai) and the hen was totally aware of me...nervously craning it's neck and eyeballing me. It didn't stay long, quickly disappearing into lower thickets by the klong.

Funny story about who the fish thief!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tough to compete with the previous post by AJ, but 2 new species in the yard brings my total now to 44. Flyover Intermediate Egrets and a Drongo sp. (Most likely Black, but distance made it impossible to rule out Ashy for positive ID)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had an entertaining past 2 days.

Across the khlong from my house, on the banks of the Plaa Salid fields, there some trees often occupied by storks. I noticed yesterday a pair of large dark birds with the forked tail like drongos (don't usually see them around here) in those trees. I later got higher in the house and with my binoculars noticed there's about 8 of them, and they're swooping over the waters of the fish fields (fishing?).

Today I've got a family of squirrels running along my fence and up and down the trees chasing each other for fun for hours and hours nonstop. And in the trees opposite storks are on top of the trees and drongos lower down in the trees.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not far from my garden, so I'll put them here.

I'm used to crows mobbing raptors, and hoopoes and Black Drongoes joining in..... but the other day I watched a Black Drongo mobbing a Cattle Egret. I wonder why!

Sorry I don't have a suitable camera to photo this, and it's too far for my phone. You know those brushes with a long handle which you use to brush away cobwebs? Well, imagine one of those sticking out of a sizeable tree. That 'brush' is a nest..... and not just the nest of a background bird like the common doves and mynahs..... but the nest of a Rufous-winged Buzzard! From the right angle, I can see the yellow cere of the sitting adult.

Another interesting observation. The place is full of young Koels flying about the place and shrieking their heads off. Koels are parasitic, and the commonest host is the Collared Mynah. The other day I saw a young Koel begging for food from a crow. The crow in this case wasn't having any, but presumably the young bird had been brought up by crows.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.





×
×
  • Create New...