Friday, June 22, 2012

20 June 2012: Penanti

Having left the folly of flycatcher-hunting, I dropped into Penanti en route home to check on the Oriental Pratincoles.

 One was standing sentinel on the access road and wasn't that interested in giving way to my vehicle!
  
Interesting to see that post-breeding moult has already begun - those slightly greeny-glossed scapulars, wing coverts and tertials are new, as are the darker feathers on the head. 
 
 
 
The adults were all just starting wing moult - the inner four or five primaries and their respective coverts had been replaced.
 
 
I could only see two juveniles - suggesting that the season hasn't been a good one. Both were just fledged. Sometimes pratincoles will raise a second brood after the first is fledged - wonder if this may happen here?
The inevitable Red-wattled Lapwings making their disapproval of my presence known! I was surprised to hear a Blue-winged Pitta calling not that far away in the scrub. However, it didn't want to play, and I was unsuccessful in luring it into view. While searching, I did spook a Red Junglefowl - another species I was surprised to find at this rather open location.

1 comment:

Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok said...

The moult of the first pratincole is interesting. I don't get to see them very often here in northern Thailand. Didn't know that the feathers are actually greenish glossed.