Whilst
staying at Ao Nang, Krabi,
my girlfriend, Srasri, and I decided to go for an evening paddle
at Hat
Nopparat Thara to wade out to one of the small islands
there and to watch the sunset. When we arrived the tide was coming
in, but it was still possible to get all the way out to the nearest
island. I took my binoculars as I'd heard reports of small numbers
of Pale-capped Pigeon roosting on the
islands.
We arrived by
car and as I was waiting for Srasri to change into her swimsuit
I watched the ubiquitous Eurasian Tree Sparrows
jumping around in the company of a few Common
Mynas. To my amazement, as the sparrows were fighting over
some scraps of food left by nearby picnicers, a small male Japanese
Sparrowhawk swooped in low through the trees but aborted
its effort when it realised it was surrounded by noisy people!
Finally we were
ready to get out onto the beach where we quickly spotted a Common
Sandpiper and a single dark form Pacific
Reef Egret by the water's edge. As we waded towards the nearest
offshore island Srasri spotted a Brahminy
Kite overhead. Tthe water started to get a bit deep, and
with the tide coming in we decided to stop where we were and swim.
However, my attention was quickly drawn by a small party of pigeons
flying in from the North. Unfortunately I couldn't identify them
but waited in hope of more coming in. I wasn't dissappointed as
a few more arrived from the same direction and this time a caught
sight of the pinkish cap of a Pale-capped
Pigeon as it landed. As I was celebrating this sighting Srasri
called to me to say that there were some birds coming from behind
us. As they flew past we could quite easily see, without the use
of binoculars, that these too were Pale-capped
Pigeons; eight more birds in fact.
Over the next
half an hour we counted a minimum of 27 individuals of this species
flying to this island to roost. Most of these birds came so close
that we were easily able to observe and count them as we swam in
the warm water; the setting sun added to the atmosphere as did the
harsh call of a Collared Kingfisher.
At
around 6.30pm we walked back to the car where a Large-billed
Crow seemed to be waiting to see us safely off to Ao Nang
for a shower and dinner. |
