Birding The Rice Patties

While I was in Chiang Mai, my dad spotted a sign along the same road that our house was on. The sign said, Namthong Bird Park. One day my dad and I wanted to check it out, so we hopped on the motorbike - yes, a motorbike, and my dad drove me to the spot where he saw the sign. We took a right down the road where we saw the sign and were let to rice patties. It figures out that Namthong Bird Park was just a group of some birds in a massive cage, but it was good that we found rice patties. They make for great birding. Here is a picture of the rice patties.

On my first trip there I got my life bird GREATER COUCAL plus many unidentified lifers. Dad and I got back on the bike and drove down one of the dirt roads. Along the road there was a small canal, and I thought I had seen a WHITE BREASTED WATERHEN for a second, but the look was not good enough for me to count. So dad and I drove the bike back and I crept along the dirt road and tried not to scare it, its a very shy bird. I saw it clearly and managed to snap this pic. Lifer!

This mystery bird was also present near the waterhen. Please contact me if you know what this is.

Later during my stay I came back to the rice patties again and I don't think I took any pics, nor do I remember it. But on my 3rd and final trip there, I snapped some pics and saw some cool birds. This LITTLE EGRET, stood out in the middle of one of the fields.

PIED WAGTAILS are common here, here is a photo of one.

Just by the wagtail, my dad spotted the tiniest frog ever, and I believe this would be something a heron would eat since they do eat amphibians.

And here is one of my favorite pictures of the day: a ZEBRA DOVE.

CHINESE POND HERONS are very common in the ricefields, when they fly their wings are white, but when they land they are brown.

I'm so glad that my dad had spotted that sign, because if he didn't then we wouldn't have discovered this cool area. The rice patties are another reason to like Chiang Mai.
 


Bird List For Rice Patties                                                            Life List 333 (2 life birds in rice patties)                                                
White Breasted Waterhen 1 life bird!
Pied Wagtail X
Greater Coucal 1 life bird!
Common Myna 1
White Vented Myna 30
Little Egret 3
Chinese Pond Heron 5
Common Kingfisher 1
Zebra Dove 2