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A Taste of Thailand 2025

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During the first two weeks of February 2025, Siân and I went on holiday to Koh Samui in Thailand. This was our first trip to this part of the world, and though it was a beach holiday, I still managed to sneak off at times to enjoy some birdwatching in the local area around our hotel. Lacking transport meant my birdwatching was restricted to how far I could walk in the heat. However, we took a couple of full-day boat trips: one to the mainland and a few small islands and another to the stunning Ang Thong National Marine Park. Details of these trips follow. Our hotel was located in the south-eastern corner of Koh Samui, a largely dry area of mixed arable fields and gardens. The hotel site itself, comprised of small villas, was very verdant. A view from our room's balcony Having browsed through a Field Guide of Thailand for several years, the idea of birding in Thailand seemed overwhelming, with over 1,000 species recorded there! However, eBird had 191 species recorded on Koh Samui, w...
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Flamborough Trip

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Over the weekend of the 25th to 27th of October, I stayed at The North Star Hotel on Flamborough Head to do some migration birding with some of my oldest birding friends. A trip planned well in advance and something my friends have been doing on and off for 19 years! I've never been able to join them before as my work commitments have always prevented me from going. But now I have changed jobs, and I can take time off when I want, so I joined them on this year's trip. The birds on the trip are determined by the weather, and my friends have made the trip at various times in October. They have had some fantastic years and some quiet ones. This year, the forecast was for light wind from the south/south-west, lovely weather outside but terrible for migration and the chance of scarce or rare birds. The first winter Red-Flanked Bluetail , which had arrived the week before, was still at Bempton RSPB, so we popped in to see it on our way past on Friday. Below is a record shot of the bi...
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