More Shooting and Trapping at Muang Boran

Some shooting and two locals trapping White-breasted Waterhens were reported from Muang Boran Fishponds on the 15th January, to remind us that this area is just as good for bird eaters as it is for bird watchers.

Nick Upton, 3rd February 2007.

Mist Nets at Thai Muang Marsh, Phang-Nga

A mist net was reported to be in place at Thai Muang Marsh on the 13th November, with a Booted Eagle hunting precariously closely. It can only be a matter of time before this net becomes full of birds destined for the markets of nearby towns.

Nick Upton, 14th December 2006.
.

Persecution of Birds at Muang Boran

A recent report of four Black-capped Kingfishers seen caught in a mist net at Muang Boran Fishponds proves that bird persecution is still a problem there. I visited the site on many occasions from May 2000 to April 2004 and frequently saw birds caught on fish hooks suspended above fishponds. It seemed to me that these rows of hooks blowing around in the wind were placed for the specific purpose of catching birds as I only ever saw them on a few of the many ponds at the site and fish were usually collected by draining the ponds.

Over the four years the species I saw caught on these hooks included Common and White-vented Mynas, Asian Pied Starling, Yellow, Black and Cinnamon Bitterns, Black Drongo, Chinese and Javan Pond Herons, Pheasant-tailed Jacana and Common Moorhen. A certain amount of shooting takes place on site also and I have seen Lesser Whistling Duck and Little Cormorant being shot for food. A hunter who I regularly met whilst birding at Muang Boran told me how the flocks of Whistling Ducks used to be in the thousands, but now it is more common to see around 60-70 of this species.

Nick Upton 20th November 2006.
.

Persecution of Birds at Chiang Saen

Persecution of birds seems to be quite a problem in the Chiang Saen area with Mick Davies and Dowroong Damlamajak observing both mist-netting and shooting recently. With the Mekong bursting its banks for 6 days and flooding large areas to the east of Chiang Saen boats were used as shooting platforms. Fortunately, and rather surprisingly, the police responded and put a stop to this practice;

"We had to call the police to stop people shooting from a boat. I was impressed how quickly the police responded, just 20 minutes, and they were keen to observe some nearby Jerdon's Bushchats."

Mick Davies also commented on the almost total absence of Buntings in the area rating Crested Buntings as "rare" and excepting this species he'd only seen 2 other Buntings in over 1 year at Chiang Saen (although this does include the rainy season when Buntings would not be expected). The practice of mist-netting may contribute to this scarcity of Buntings and could easily affect other small migratory birds.

"Sadly as I expected the area is infested with mist nets and with the arrival of wintering birds this doesn't look good."

Small birds that are sometimes found deep fried in markets across Thailand are likely to include Buntings and it is also likely that many of these trapped birds end up on boats going back upriver towards China either to be eaten or for the cage bird trade.

Compiled by Nick Upton on 17/10/06 from information kindly supplied by Mick Davies and Dowroong Damlamajak of Nature Thailand.
.