WADERFEST.

For all the time I have been birding Spoon-billed Sandpiper has been endangered, and this, in addition to its amazing bill, has made it a much-desired species in many birder's eyes. My recent trip to Thailand bought back memories of trips to Mai Po in Hong Kong, where I first saw the species, along with Ann. I can't remember quite how it happened, but I found myself with Mel, Heather and Jack on a self-organised trip to Hong Kong in 1991. In those days it was a popular venue as it had been discovered that huge numbers of waders, including several rare species, passed through Mai Po in spring. Although the hide, where most were seen on an incoming tide, was large, tour groups had to split to visit it, and there were instances of half the group seeing Spoonie (s) whilst the other half dipped! Great atmosphere for the remainder of the tour. There were permits involved in visiting Mai Po, but we had no problems as I remember. Asian Dowitcher was easily seen, Great Knot was plentiful, and Nordmann's Greenshank showed well in a small flock. There was also the added bonus of Black-faced Spoonbill, and Long-toed Stint in breeding plumage, but not a sniff of a Spoonie. They were recorded there that year, just not whilst we were there.

Mel went back and saw them the following year, but I had other priorities. However, in 1994 Ann was able to travel with me, which was her first trip abroad since our honeymoon. We went with a Wildwings tour, which was more loosely organised than some and enabled us to visit the hide with Dick Filby when others were elsewhere, giving great close up views of many waders, as it was a very high tide. But by then the pressure was off. We had been in the hide a couple of days previously when two Spoonies were seen, that in itself being an experience. "I've got one!" was followed by "no, it's a Red-necked Stint with mud on its bill". Some people at the front of the hide went back to sleep, (they should have been thrown out) but the rest of us continued looking. There were probably fifty in the hide, in two rows, seated at the front or stood behind. Again a shout went up, from the far right, and this time it was the real thing. There was an eruption of calls for directions. "It's to the left of the Turnstone", "there are about a dozen Turnstones!" "****!". The mudflats were seemingly vast, but by looking in the right direction people at our end of the hide began to get on it, including Ann and I, and eventually the panic subsided and we all had good views in a scope, quiet once again reigned. All the time we were aware of the story of the group of which only half had seen the bird, as raptors frequently appear and flush all the waders. Thankfully that didn't happen, there were in fact two birds out there. The rest of the trip was fantastic, whereas in 1991 there had been virtually no gulls, this time we were treated to many, including Saunder's Gull in both breeding and non-breeding plumage. We also saw Painted Snipe, (first breeding record for Hong Kong), Grey-headed Lapwing, Black-faced Spoonbill and Siberian Rubythroat. 

But Spoonies were the one everyone wanted, and I even managed a photo. I was probably the only one with a 500mm lens in the hide, but it was a film camera and only a distant record shot. Needless to say, much celebratory alcohol was drunk that evening, Greg fell asleep in the main part of the observatory where there were no mosquito nets, and woke (or rather we woke him), to find his white t-shirt absolutely covered in red spots of blood.

Subsequently Mai Po became less visited, partly because the Spoonies were less frequent, but largely due to the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese. However birds began to be found elsewhere, Thailand being the main spot. Wildwings ran a "Spoon-billed Pitta" tour which included Gurney's Pitta. Sadly that no longer occurs in Thailand, but the tour evolved to become Limosa's Thailand tour, which is what I took part in. I wanted a better photo, but other waders including the recently described White-faced Plover and Malaysian Plover were my main targets. However, as I haven't travelled much in South-east Asia, I enjoyed a wide spread of species, more of which later, but when we arrived at the Spoonie site my thoughts went back to the hide at Mai Po. Our guide said "see those people out there, they're watching a Spoonie", and we walked along the bunds to spend an hour watching it and other waders at reasonably close range, photographing them with a hand-held camera. The locals are "geared up" and signs and murals appear in various spots (a previous location is still a great birding area). 8-10 birds currently winter in Thailand each year, but most importantly, there are large numbers of Thai birders. This isn't due solely to the waders, but it is so important from a conservation viewpoint, especially in that part of the world. If only it were the same in China and Russia, but one day, maybe...

 We recorded a total of forty species of wader in Thailand, mainly in the central area. There are ongoing efforts to save the species, (Wildsounds are species champions). If you have a bucket list, why not put it on top, there will never be a better chance.

#Spoon-billed #Thailand #waders#Shorebirds #Limosa #Wildsounds.