Train Park (Thailand)

We recently returned from a 2 1/2 week trip to Thailand, during the "rainy season" in July.
There was a wedding thrown into the mix early on and some family-time was required but i would get the chance to do some shooting as well.
Here are the trip reports as i remember them.

July 04, 2013
Suan Rot Fai (Train Park)

I always like to start any trip to Thailand off with a walk through Train Park in the Chatuchak district of Bangkok.
It's close to home and easy to get to, getting there early is important as it gets quite crowded as the day progresses.
The pond near the entrance has always held Chinese Pond-heron in the winter (December) so it was cool to see and confirm ID for Javan Pond-heron in breeding dress in July.

 

 

Later on i ran into another photog by the name of Alan Lo shooting flowerpeckers and sunbirds and we chatted a bit, he was from Hong Kong and living in BKK, i met his friend (name slips me) later as well, staking out a White-throated Kingfisher that never showed, it was quite noisy in that overgrown section that morning for some reason.

 

Other birds from that morning included this Plain Flowerpecker.
I had gotten out and was happy enough, some big birding was coming up and i felt ready.

Laziuli & Yellowthroat

Finally got my act together and went out Saturday morning and visited Colony Farm, didn't get all my target birds for the day but got a couple of them anyways.
Lazuli Buntings were quite vocal along the trail next to the highway (just off the first parking lot) but getting them in the open was more of a challenge.
Common Yellowthroat's were in their usual spots as well.
Thinking of heading back next weekend to wrap up a few more, like Black-headed Grosbeak and Willow Flycatcher, which i got shots of this time, but nothing worth posting.
It was good to get out

Musings on Birding Burn-Out

I go through this every now and then, it becomes easier and easier to think of reasons not to go out shooting/birding.

There has been some stress in my life this past year (2 more like) but that's something that i can deal with, often going out has been the reward for putting in the hours at work and i have been loathe to miss any mornings i could be out shooting.
Being put back on a 4 day work week has helped immensely as friday's have become my favourite day for shooting, something about everybody else being at work makes me want to work it all that more, shooting-wise.

Last little while though, i've let myself down and come up with excuses for not going out, sleeping in on a weekend etc.

I've been going out because of birds for 7 years now and when i look at the flickr page and let the slideshow play backwards i'm proud of what i've accomplished, for sure, thousands of pictures of birds, and good memories of each picture in my mind.
Birds are good, the pursuit has even tamed me somewhat, for the better.
It's almost meditative and one of the reasons i don't mind going solo, although i do think that sharing the experience with others is a good thing, and helps keep the hunger alive, when you give each other a little push every now and then - "hey, lets go out shooting", i'm open to it, more so than before.

Something that has driven my shooting on in the past is the competitive aspect of the pursuit, come on, admit it, everyone has a little bit of that in them, right? you see someone else's great shots and you want to do the same, it's what makes some of us strive to truly become "pro", at least in our minds, and our peers eyes anyways.
It becomes all about quality of shot, pose, composition, nice BG, lighting, habitat and on and on and it's all good, but not everyone values that and that's cool too, i can appreciate a shot by a rank amatuer as much as a pro's shot because in the end, i know the feeling one gets when they "nail a shot" - the common equalizer (we are all capable of it, sometimes it's just luck) and it's all about the birds anyways, and we love birds.

I let myself get too competitive sometimes and maybe this current "burn-out" is really just a way of reminding me to rememeber that it's supposed to be fun, and if it's not fun, then don't do it.
I can't compete with the pros, i'll never be able to quit my job to really put the time and effort into acheiving those shots that you really have to work for (but i do the best i can).
Those shots don't come easy all too often and i give much respect to the guys i've tried to emulate on the way up, they don't need shout-outs, everyone knows who they are already.
I give mad respect as well to the working guys and gals who work the craft when they can and never fail to amaze with the quality of shots,.
I'm just a working stiff like them too, dreaming of an eary retirement that (for me) will never happen.

All the regular posters to the Photography section of Birding in BC i find inspiring as well, watching people's work progress throught the years (i know, 7 years is nothing to some of you) and building relationships via constantly meeting up in the same spots to shoot has been very rewarding

I guess the cure to Birding Burn-Out is really to just take a break and a breather, discover the fun again, shoot for yourself and expect nothing in return.

Just writing all this down has got me thinking about shooting again and i think that's a good thing.

I've got 3 weeks to go until a 2 week shooting (and family wedding) excursion to Bangkok, i'm going to take it easy though, after 3 serious birding trips to the region already, getting mass species for the World List is of little concern, i'm going to focus on quality over quantity this time, going to try and have some fun doing it too.

Local Hill Birding

Been spending quite a bit of time on mountains the last little while, between Queen Elizabeth park, Burnaby Mountain, Cypress and Grouse i've been making the rounds, as i should, all too often it's easy to get into the trap of going further and further out to look for specific birds when often they can be found in your backyard, with a little perserverance and luck, of course knowing the area and what birds to expect at the time helps, and that is only acheived after a few years of birding.



Ive been to Burnaby Mountain a few times the last few weeks looking for grouse and Townsend's warblers, and while i got lucky with the grouse i only got a brief look at a Townsend's warbler the last time.
I'll take this shot of a White-crowned Sparrow at least, always good to leave with at least one shot



I've gotten Sooty grouse on Cypress Mountain in past years and happened to spot a hen last weekend near the ski hill, unfortunately a motorcyclist roared by and scared the bird into the bush right when i was setting up, did take one shot however to document the bird.



As i have reported on the local Yahoo birding group, Eurasian Collared-doves have invaded lower Lonsdale in North Vancouver, this morning i saw 6 birds, up from the 2 or 3 i see daily. I hesitate to bring my big lens into the alley to properly document these birds (for obvious reasons) but did bring out the 80-400 lens on a cruddy day, good enough



Yesterday morning, even though i technically should have (and could have) gone into work since we had a company lunch at 12pm i am still technically on a 4 day work week and until i hear differently will use those fridays to work the bird photography aspect of my life.
I decided to take the advice i gave another photog last weekend about the picnic area at Cypress perhaps being a good location for Townsend's warbler and arrived just after 6am, a bit chilly where the morning sun had yet to reach i must admit.
Bird of the location was Chipping Sparrow, other birds in the area were Warbling Vireo, Pine Siskin, a Steller's Jay but no warblers i could detect.

Next, i decided to head down to the lookout as i was still looking for Townsend's warbler this year, i've gotten shots in the past but nothing really decent, after looking and hoping i started to detect bird-activity and finally got my Townie, although the looks were a bit farther than i would prefer.



While i was walking around i couldn't help noticing a van that looked like it had been parked overnight, eventually a couple of groggy guys piled out of the van, having i guess spent the night, no doubt they were wondering why some guy was walking around their car all the time with a big camera.
hey, it's a public parking spot not a camp site, deal with it

There were two little red-leaved trees (i need to work on my tree ID one of these days) planted on the side of the parking lot (next to the van) and i noticed it getting hit up by birds regularily.
Took some close shots of a Warbling Vireo in those trees as well as a couple of Black-throated Grey warblers.





Before i decided to pack it up i noticed a MacGillivray's warbler in a distant tree and took some shots, this species used to be a 'nemesis' bird but i've gotten it in 3 different locations now on the north shore in the past few years.



Since i still had some time before the company lunch thingy i stopped off at Grouse mountain and walked a bit of the powerline trail, next to Maplewood Flats it's a location i hit up more often than others during the year, hey, it's close and some interesting birds can be found with some looking.



Wilson's warbler.

while i often aggresively crop images to isolate the subject (it's just my preferance) i do appreciate a nice shot that showcases environment sometimes too.



first Brown-headed Cowbird of the year for me.





Got my first Western tanagers of the year at Grouse as well

Later i went to the company lunch, and having not eaten anything the whole morning found myself nursing a headache later on after drinking a Stella.
The whole time i was thinking about getting back home to process the shots from the morning ahh, priorities

Yellow-headed Blackbird

While visiting Iona i decided to see if i could get any decent shots of the Yellow-headed blackbirds that are back at iona for their yearly visit and while i get shots every year, it's still fun, (but i only dedicate one session to them per year nowadays).
I saw a couple of males, but no females yet that i could see.

Ran across a couple of photogs dressed in camo who looked to be setting up for the blackbirds as well, i felt a little inapropriately dressed, wearing my flannel plaid work shirt (which i wear for the hummingbirds, the red plaid bits have attacted more than one curious hummer in close and personal ).

They seemed to have picked the best corner as i saw a bird land in close a couple of times and i saw flash going off but the corner i was in was low yield.
Thought about packing it in but noticed a bird coming in about halfway between me and the other photogs, i moved over a bit (not wanting to get too close to them) and suddenly had the perfect look in front of me

Friday Morning Birds

Left the house at around 6:30am and decided to check out Camosun bog in Point Grey first as i'm always looking for Hutton's Vireo and Townsend's Warbler but as has been the story the last 3 or 4 times i've visited, i've left without a shot, maybe i'm in the wrong area, i don't know, sure is a nice spot though..

Next, i was off to Iona to waste some time before Nikon opened and i could retrieve my "evil" flash unit that was repaired and ready to go.

Walking in the inner ponds i decided to wait out some Blue-winged teal, laying down on some kinda-yucky ground wasn't fun, but at least it was soft
eventually got lucky aned a few started to drift my way, super skitish bird, i know if i was standing up there was no way they would come close like they did.







among the small group of teal was a curious fella, who my suspicions tell me might be a Blue-winged teal X Northern Shoveler mix, it was in with the teal acting just like them while another group of shoveler swam in the distance, all by themselves.
Looking through my guide-book i notice that early fall shoveler males have a similar cresent mark on their cheek but seeing one this early? does that make sense?
i don't know, interesting bird though.







later on i came across some birds on a wire, Purple martins to be exact.



and even a White-crowned sparrow taking a break, hey, even birds need to chill sometimes.

Sooty Grouse & Others

Well, i'm pretty much over feeling sorry for myself and my financial situation, it's all of my doing anyways so i only have myself to blame..building up a decent but modest inventory of camera equipment over the years hasn't come cheap either i suppose

Here are some of the shots i've been able to get the last month or so, i've been working it pretty hard on the weekends (mostly in my neck of the woods) but a lot of times have left empty-handed, dem's the breaks but there have been some keepers too.


another Rufous from Maplewood, again, kind of high up..


Anna's Hummingbird from Iona


Tree Swallow from Iona

My flash unit (SB900) went kaaput about a month ago and i took it back to Nikon for a bulb replacement ($150) last week, cheaper than a new unit and finally i can say something nice about Nikon Richmond, it only took a week to repair, good work guys.
Because of this i've been shooting sans flash the last while (all these shots are natural light), i don't mind it, the D300 quality is pretty good at ISO 800 in darker situations and Noise Ninja does a pretty good job of lessening grain.

When i go back to Thailand in July it will be rainy season and i will probably be shooting without flash the bulk of the time anyways, besides, over there most of the bird photogs avoid flash usage, it's almost a matter of pride (and skill) for them to get the excellent shots they do in jungle situations without resorting to artificial light.
When in Rome... er Bangkok.


Bushtit - Grouse powerline

i half-joke that this spot is my little secret but i know it's well-known by birders, and dog-walkers, hikers, bikers etc. It's my reliable location for MacGillivray's warbler (there, secret out, enjoy ) along with other species in season.





They are still not easy to see by any means and you kind of have to know which areas they hang out in but others i have mentioned this spot to have had success.


OC warbler is very reliable at Grouse.

Speaking of grouse, a fellow photogs excellent shots of the Sooty Grouse at Burnaby Mountain recently inspired me to head out early Friday morning to see if i could find it myself.
Sun was just up at 6am and i had the whole place to myself, am always looking to better my shots of Townsend's warbler (as i know others are as well) but the area was relatively warbler-free alas. Walking around i finally heard the hooting and eventually spotted the grouse, surprisingly close in a tree.
Eventually it made it's way to the ground briefly and pecked at something, seeds perhaps on the ground. It didn't think much of my big lens though and soon flew back higher up in surrounding trees.