Here are some photographs from my archives. In August 2003 I was invited, by Phil Round, to join him on a bird ringing trip to the Environmental Research and Development Project initiated by H.M King Bhumibol at the internationally important wetlands at Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale.

I was very happy to accept this invitation and helped Phil to put up the nets after dark, in preparation for the morning. We set up nets to catch a variety of types of birds, but we both hoped to net a number of the more common wading species as they returned from their breeding grounds. Although the area is known for its wintering Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Nordmann's Greenshank, we did not expect to find these species this early in the year - and we were proved right on this account

A small number of common shorebirds were captured and ringed, most of which were Lesser Sand Plovers, Long-toed Stints and Wood Sandpipers. Phil took and recorded a variety of measurements which were particularly useful in determining the identity of at least one of the Lesser Sand Plovers which had a bill length that perhaps in the field would have suggested it was a Greater Sand Plover.

This occasion was a great opportunity to see these birds close up and to appreciate the beauty of their plumage. In addition to the great experience of having these birds in the hand, a very memorable sight was the huge number of Fruit Bats that flew from the nearby mangroves towards their feeding grounds inland at dusk.

Below are some galleries of some of the birds in the hand. Click on them to see larger versions.

Phil Round has continued with this ringing program and requests that birders seeing leg-flagged waders report them: leg-flagged shorebirds.

Related Pages :

Leg-flagged Shorebirds
Rediscovery of Large-billed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orinus
Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale
Laem Pak Bia roadbridge cancelled

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