AjarnNorth

I'm looking to talk with anyone who has experience organizing a half-marathon race anywhere in Thailand. I'm a runner. I live in a place that does not have an annual half-marathon race. I manage a branch of a business that might be able to fund such a race as a way to raise our profile in the community. Etc.

Would love to hear from anyone who has experience with organizing such a race. Thanks.

There is a protected wetlands area just off the 7 (and not far from the 3) that is home to hundreds of Openbill right now, as well as a handful of painted Stork, at least four Darters, and a number of other waders and etc.

As for "Black Ducks," Isanbirder has alreeady pointed out the probabilities. Moorhen a good bet. Fairly common around these parts, as are Little Grebe. Surprisingly, I have thus far only seeen a few Whistling Duck, and those some months ago. I expect more soon, though.

In and around the park entrance/Pak Chong and etc. no problem.

My friend lived 5 k outside the park entrance and was able to connect with an AIS Air Card Dongle, though speed was not great.

His neighbors had proper internet connections.

From the roads in the park itself we were able to get connections on our phones. From trails fairly deep into the jungle, no connection, so not a good idea to go hiking with your phone and assume that if you get lost you can call for help.

This was approximately 9 months ago.

Boogiewoogie,

Somewhat depends on what you consider a city (vs. a village). Also where you place youself in the city.

I am a runner and began running here in Thailand. At the time - about ten years ago now - I lived in Bangkok, but on the outskirts. I was a ten minute motorcycle ride from the sky train, but my runs were all in an area that was very quiet, no traffic, lots of trees, canals, etc. I trained for and ran a marathon while living there and could do two-three hour runs without more than a few cars passing me, depending on time of day. So even in a city like Bangkok, depending on where you put yourself, you can find some good running. You would need to stay in one of the areas outside of downtown, obviously.... but parts of areas like Nonthaburi and Samutprakarn and Thoburi and etc. will all have quiet areas in which one could get a lof of good long runs in.

I then spent five years in Isaan, ten kilometers outside a small city in a village area. I did a few half marathons up there. My best running area in Thailand thus far, all rice roads and trails, but you state your preference for a city.

I just relocated Bang Saen, Chonburi. It's right bewteen Bangkok and Pattaya, about an hour from each. It's on the beach... not a pristine beach, but a beach. Imagine Pattaya with no sex industry to speak of (I know that's hard to imagine)... Bang Saen is something like that. It has all the necessities... a shopping mall in town with a supermarket, movie theater, etc... and within 10 K, larger shopping malls, IT centers, yada, yada... It's very busy on weekends and public holdidays, but otherwise fairly quiet. You can run five to seven K on the beach (and very few dogs as they are not allowed). There is also a small hill called Khao Sammuk which provides excellent opportunities for running hills. Some gradual, some VERY steep. A lot of street dogs, however, though all relatively harmless. But also a lof of monkeys, also relatively harmless but the young ones will come at you now and again. I trust the dogs more than the monkeys, to be honest. A lot of people run and cycle the area though so they scare off easy enough that they don't disuade the locals and/or the local expats who like to take advantage of the hills.

On dogs in general, I think people make a bit too much of it. I've been distance running in Thailand for over ten years. In that time I have lived in a few different locations. I run from 10 to 15 K and someteimes longer when I am getting ready for a race and i like to explore new areas so often try new routes. Add all that up, and i have run past thousands of dogs. I have never been bitten. If they come at you, bend down and pick up a rock (or just pretend to) and generally off they go. In general, owned and cared for dogs are more dangerous than soi dogs. Soi dogs that are a danger are usually dealt with by locals, and so those left alone are usually those who leave people alone.

Anyway, good luck and good running.

OP...

Your "raptors that look like bald eagles" are most probably adult Brahminy Kites. In flight, white head, light brown body.

As for parakeets, I lived in lower Isaan for many years and didn't see any. I've recently relocated to Chonburi and there is a flock of 40-50 Red-breasted Parakeets in my small beachside town that can be seen daily.

I've also had two Alexandrine Parakeets here... both males... pretty rare and endangered at this point in Thailand. Possible they were both escapes. A sighting of a female or two and/or some juveniles would certainly help me settle that question... no luck thus far.

Thanks, Wayned. Just googled that and looked at some pics and the distinctive head pattern (and back pattern) seems to match.

Cheers.

Anyone have any idea what kind of snake this is? A baby, I presume, just a little longer than a can of Leo. Scooped it up in a plastic water bottle and relocated it out of garden.

ID help appreciated. I'm not terrible at Thai birds, but snakes I do not know...

10 Sarus Cranes releases in Buriram

BURIRAM, 2 August 2011 (NNT) - The Department of Natural Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation (DNP) has successfully bred sarus cranes through artificial insemination, after the animal has been extinct for 50 years.

The DNP said the artificial insemination was conducted by using specimens from sarus cranes found in the Thai border in 1989. Currently 10 chicks have been raised and released to a wildlife sanctuary in Burirum province.

The Department is keeping an eye on them to see if they will be able to survive. If the survival rate is satisfactory, the DNP will discuss with related authorities to withdraw sarus crane out of the extinction list.

I taught at a Rajamangala in Isaan for three years. Most of the students were females. The majority of them were not Chinese Thais. (99 percent, afarang? Hyperbole, no?) The majority of them were Isaan girls from poor to lower middle class families, which is why they were not studying in Bangkok. Many of them have gone on to become teachers themselves. There is a Rajaphat right next door, and I doubt very much that the majority of the young women who study there are Chinese Thais either.

I've been teaching in Thailand for 15 years. I also taught in NYC. Getting a good education for your kid in any place where the general quality of education is substandard is almost always possible, but usually requires the parent / parents being proactive.

I don't know Udon. Is there an elementary school that has a bilingual program? Is there a high school with an EP? Are there private language schools where your daughter can be instructed in English after school hours?

Talk to be people who live in Udon and find out. Make a visit to Udon and visit some schools and talk to the teachers there. Talk to other parents, especially those like yourself who are looking for somehing a little better than the usual 50 kids in a room with a teacher lecturing in monotone through a microphone.

Your daughter is 4. Take it slow. At that age, education is mostly about learning how to share toys in the sandbox. Get her a bunch of Dr. Seus books and such like for the time being, do some research to wee what is available in the area, and be prepared to spend a little money. Stay involved and talk to her teachers and follow up and make changes as the need presents itself. You might find that there is a perfectly good program there with an EP where she can attend high school.

Good luck.

Isanbirder, Eye of the beholder and all that, I suppose. You say tomato, I say beautiful, as Billie Holiday may have put it. I stay with beautiful. But I think pterodactyls are beautiful... or is it Pterosaurs? ... I don't have a guide book on flying reptiles of the Triassic period to hand. (And I've not seen either.)

Angiud, I think Isanbirder is right. Start thread on moths and butterflies... or insects in general. I will chime in with pics (but be of no help with IDs as yet)

Great site/blog on insects in Thailand: www.thaibugs.com

Highly recommend.

Nice butterfly! Attached not one of the best pics I have ever taken, but certainly one of the most beautiful birds I have had in my patch. Oriental Darter, 19 June 2011, Huai Saneng, Surin

Yes. Male OMR... and nice pic, Angiud.

Eaze,

You've been getting around. Saw also your list from Buriram park, which I will stop in on next time I am passing that way.

I think you meant Green-billed Malkoha (as opposed to green bellied). I'm in Surin and i see them a lot. The others, I think, are mostly found south and west.

cheers.

^ absolutely right AjarnNorth.. although its important to note that your bird is a Juvenile - much darker, above & below, than the adult.

i like the head on shot, can really see their characteristic 'owl like' face.

Thanks, Goshawk. I was fairly certain, based on some correspondence I'd previously had with Isanbirder (who has been a huge help to me from the get go) regarding female Pied H's... and in fact after posting had tried to post again to say "Juvenile" Female, but my internet connection is sketchy at best and I couldn't get back on. Great to have a second opinion.

48 painted storks three days ago. Hundreds of Openbill. Would love to hear more from you, where you are, what you are seeing and not seeing. Feel free to PM and i will send you my monthly "round ups."

Looking to learn.

^ absolutely right AjarnNorth.. although its important to note that your bird is a Juvenile - much darker, above & below, than the adult.

i like the head on shot, can really see their characteristic 'owl like' face.

Thanks, Goshawk. I was fairly certain, based on some correspondence I'd previously had with Isanbirder (who has been a huge help to me from the get go) regarding female Pied H's... and in fact after posting had tried to post again to say "Juvenile" Female, but my internet connection is sketchy at best and I couldn't get back on. Great to have a second opinion.

48 painted storks three days ago. Hundreds of Openbill. Would love to hear more from you, where you are, what you are seeing and not seeing. Feel free to PM and i will send you my monthly "round ups."

Looking to learn.

Female Pied Harrier?

I don't have books with me as I'm at work now, but I think that was my best guess at the time. These pics go back to March. I have Pied Harriers here at Huai Saneng, and have seen and photo's adule males, which are of course pretty easy to ID.

Any input appreciated.

Yes, the wings look absolutely all wrong to be an O. Prat, but I still feel that's what it is. I take a lot of photos and I'm not very good at it. As a result, I sometimes get lucky and get great shots, but sometimes get really grainy blurry silhouettes, so I am pretty familiar with how photos can be useful for IDs but sometimes can distort the bird in such a way as to make it appear to be something it's not, or remove a feature (or a color!) that would if present make the ID easy.

The morning after looking at the pic in question, I was standing directly below a group of Oriental Pratincoles and that's when I thought of Joe's pic and thought that's what it was. Lots of O. Prats in my area right now, breeding plumage.

I have a mystery bird or two I will try to post today.

^ Barn Swallow

Sorry, it's not a Barn Swallow, I would recognise them easily..

This bird is larger (BS 15 cm, this one 20 cm+), the body is stronger and the wings are large, straight and strong, not like a swallow

Barn Swallow has a much deeper fork tail too.

Joe

I originally thought Barn Swallow as well. Definitely not Kite.

I have it as an Oriental Pratincole. Robust body, wing size, size and head of shape and bill, and if you zoom in you can see that the underparts are light in contrast to the dark wings (as they would be in the BS).

Oriental Pratincole. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

this is the second edition published 1974. Odd copies show up on eBay, i have 1 copy. Thai & english text

now have 2 copies..!

...honestly, i must have been searching 5yrs+ scouring the entire web on a weekly basis for a genuine Lekagul signed copy of this quite rare'ish volume to appear, & it did just a couple of days ago - in Texas USA... bought it immediately!. ... (its just a birding/collecting thing folks.. )

@easethesqueeze... a recent check at B2S bookshop in Airport Plaza, Chiangmai revealed NO copies of Lekaguls 1991 3rd edition.. (they did have a few re-printed copies in there more than a while back though. Suriwong Books also had a stack of them, although i haven't been in there lately to check..)

in Bangkok, check out Kinokuniya Books in Siam Paragon. I've previously seen it for sale there..

Goshawk,

As my friends and I used to say when we were young, "Good score."

If anyone does find the new editions of same (Lakagul / Round), please post. As I mentioned already, found my copy at Kinokuniya (Emporium Branch) about nine months ago. However, had an unfortunate kyack incident that resulted in a thorough salt water soaking of me and the book. It's held up very well, I should add. Still, I would like to have another copy just to shelf and continue using my somewhat water damaged copy in the field. While I know some of you bird without a book in hand because you don't need it, I still need one in the field!

I use this thread as indicated by Isanbirder for determination of birds.

The bird I pictured today has a nest in the kitchen window, between the movable glass, inside have mosquito net, so the nest is steady there.

Joe

Common Tailorbird

Interesting. I had the one on the motorbike down as female based on "uniformly dark brown" and "no white wing streak." What did I miss? Just too dark overall to be a female?

the 'white wing streak' is highly variable on males. Can be very prominent, to barely noticable, to absent.. Something the guide books don't mention.

as for colour, easiest id is look at the ear coverts - black (or near as). Never on a female..

OK. Didn't know that. Thanks for the input/information. Cheers.

Both Pied Bushchats.

info on male/female?

both are male

Thanks Goshawk :jap:

Interesting. I had the one on the motorbike down as female based on "uniformly dark brown" and "no white wing streak." What did I miss? Just too dark overall to be a female? Input appreciated

Joe,

You might start by posting those first two birds you sent me that I have as female Pied Bushchat and Male Pied Bushchat. Possibility I have that wrong and they are White-tailed Robin, a species I am not familiar with. If so, Isaanbirder and/or Goshawk will be able to set me straight. Certain about the others, though.

Good idea Isanbirder.

Already looked at a few of Joe's pics and have them as Pied Bushchat, Brown Shrike, Richard's Pipit, and Scaly-breasted Munia. Told him, though, that you and Goshawk would be better able to help as long time birders, especially on more difficult IDs and/or birds i am unfamiliar with..

Seems like Joe's in a good position to add a lot based on his location and surroundings.

A great site with a lot of information about birds in Thailand, books on birds in Thailand, etc.

http://www.thaibirding.com/