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"White-faced Plover" photographs |
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On the 19th February 2008, at around 4.30pm, in the company of Michael and Mandy Buckland, I found the White-faced Plover" which seems to have made the sand spit at Laem Pak Bia its home. After observing this quite recognisable bird for some time Michael managed to take some very nice photographs of the bird which he has kindly allowed me to reproduce here for all to see. |
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 "White-faced Plover" (Photo by Michael Buckland) |
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 "White-faced Plover" (Photo by Michael Buckland) |
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 "White-faced Plover" (Photo by Michael Buckland) |
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 "White-faced Plover" (Photo by Michael Buckland) |
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Further information on sightings are welcome as it would be very interesting to know the date at which this bird departs, if indeed it does migrate. Nick Upton, 7th March 2008 |
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| "White-faced Plover" at Thai Muang | |||
On the 22nd February 2008 Craig Thomas reported 4 "White-faced Plovers" at Thai Muang beach, Phang Nga province. Whilst numerous reports of this new form/subspecies/species have been made from Laem Pak Bia, this is the first record of the bird from the south of Thailand that I am aware of. Of course, with a number of sightings from Malaysia and Singapore, this sighting is hardly unprecedented, but interesting and further observations from southern Thailand are awaited. Nick Upton, 7th March 2008 from information supplied by Craig Thomas. |
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| "White-faced Plover" at Laem Pak Bia | |||
The sand spit at Laem Pak Bia has long been recognised as an excellent birdwatching location but now there is the added attraction of "White-faced Plover" which may or may not be a new species or subspecies of either Kentish or Malaysian Plover. Whatever its taxonomic status, it is easily recogniseable due to its snowy white face and I have seen it on the sand spit, amongst other shorebirds, at Laem Pak Bia on 19th and 25th February 2008. Many other observers have seen this bird at the same location and Peter Ericsson obtained some very nice photographs of it in January 2008. |
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 "White-faced Plover" (Photo by Peter Ericsson) |
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Peter's photographs of the plover in flight can be seen here: "White-faced Plover" in flight 1, and here: "White-faced Plover" in flight 2. The plover seems to behave in an unusual fashion, running almost diagonally, with its head lowered and the individual at Laem Pak Bia appears quite aggressive to other shorebirds. The unusual poise of the bird can be seen here in this photograph taken by Johan Svensson on 4th November 2007, also at Laem Pak Bia sand spit. |
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 "White-faced Plover" (Photo by Johan Svensson) |
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More of Johan's photographs of the "White-faced Plover" in comparison to Malaysian Plover can be seen here: "White-faced" & Malaysian Plovers. Another "White-faced Plover" has been seen by many and photographed on the salt pans at Laem Pak Bia. Tony Broome sent me this photo of the bird, taken on 15th February in the company of Mr Tii. |
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 "White-faced Plover" (Photo by Tony Broome) |
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| Nick Upton, 7th March 2008. | |||
| "White-faced Plover" photographed in March 2007 at Laem Pak Bia | |||
Whilst a number of sightings of "White-faced Plover" have been made from the sand spit at Laem Pak Bia over the last few months, I have been alerted to some photographs taken on 3rd March 2007 by Garry Bakker and Rinse van der Vliet, from The Netherlands, which show a "White-faced Plover", once again at Laem Pak Bia. Garry mentioned to me that he and Rinse realised at the time that it was an unusual bird and that is why they photographed it - and now the identification has been verified by other parties. This shows that Laem Pak Bia is a reliable site for this bird, and it would appear that it has been so for some time. |
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| Nick Upton, 18th February 2008 from information supplied by Garry Bakker. | |||
| Look out for "White-faced Plover" in Thailand | |||
| Many of you will have read about the Charadrius plovers that have been labelled "White-faced Plover" in the absence of any difinitive classification of these birds. Most of the sightings of this form, which resembles Kentish Plover closely but has a number of plumage and structural differences which make it identifiable in the field, have come from Malaysia and Singapore but with the supposition that they are migratory comes the possibility that they occur, at least as passage migrants, in Thailand. |
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| The conclusion of the authors, on these birds, is that proper analysis and classification can only come after DNA analysis; a conclusion which I think most birdwatchers will agree with. Whatever the eventual classification of these birds is, it remains that birders can relatively easily identify them in the field and sightings from Thailand are surely just a matter of time. Anyone who thinks they have sighted these birds in Thailand is encouraged to contact the authors of and of course I would be interested to hear about it too. Latest News As I was preparing to upload this file to the website I was alerted to the fact that the "White-faced Plover" was indeed seen and photographed at Laem Pak Bia on the weekend, 5-6th January 2008. Further sightings are awaited. Nick Upton, 9th January 2008 |
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