The delight of my suburban life in Bangkok is Suan Luang Rama IX Park. This is an 80-hectare green area which is actually a large botanical garden since they grow not only local plants there but many exotic ones.
The central pavilion hosts a museum of the deceased King Rama IX, a Thai monarch who gained vast popularity among Thais and numerous visitors of Thailand
The park has semi-open pavilions with cacti, orchids, and ferns, and there is even an artificial stream and waterfall there. Some locations represent European, Japanese, and Chinese park designs. Other areas resemble the jungle.
And, of course, the park is home to many species of birds.
Scaly-breasted munia
One of my recent discoveries was flocks of the scaly-breasted munia (Lonchura punctulata) in Rama 9 Park.
Surprisingly, they seemingly outnumber sparrows there.
They love eating seeds so they can be found near fruiting shrubs or grass. I had a separate story about that perky bird.
Intermediate egret
Egrets, although widespread in Thailand, don't like people being too near. However, when they are busy with hunting, they get tired of being afraid of you. Eventually, you can slowly approach them, sit on the lawn, and openly enjoy taking images of this graceful bird.
The intermediate egret shows its temper to the giant reptile
Monitor lizards are very, very slow, but they consume anything, living or dead, that fits the size of the mouth. So better to show them that you aren't going to become their lunch.
Another usual inhabitant of canals and ponds of Suan Luang is the heron.
Indochinese roller
The Indochinese roller is that flash of blue you sometimes see out of the corner of your eyes in Rama 9 Park.
I only once was lucky to see the resting bird.
The heavy rain was coming. The bird was stressed by that fact and didn't care about me and the large camera in my hands.
But all the beauty of this bird got revealed in flight:
Small minivet
Small minivet (Pericrocotus cinnamomeus), a stroke of orange in the lush foliage. From time to time, you can spot this bird in Suan Luang.
Blue-tailed bee-eater
Bee-eaters are regular there:
Blue-tailed bee-eater (Merops philippinus)
But they prefer the highest branches of trees so people who aren't into biding don't notice them.
Eurasian hoopoe
Below is my last discovery (in December 2024), a bird I used to see in Eastern Europe:
A hoopoe!
Looks like a Eurasian hoopoe (Upupa epops), usual for the North. Never knew they live in Thailand either.
Asian koel
A secretive bird:
The Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is a demonic-looking cousin of the cuckoo with the same mean trait who cheats the smartest, mynas and crows.
I have a nice closeup of the koel in the post about birding in Benchakitti Park but, you know the rule: no content recycling on Hive blockchain. Follow the link to see that red-eyed trickster.
Although the bird is widespread, she tries to hide as soon as you take a look at her. But as compensation, her song is heard everywhere. Moreover, the koel's mourning is one of the main ingredients of the Thai night.
Asian openbill
The Asian openbill can sometimes be spotted in the park.
These are large storks with crooked beaks. With adorable silhouettes at sunrise and sunset time. In Rama 9 Park, they are always too far and in the shade. Let's say Birdwatching in Benjakitti Park is a much better place to observe this magnificent bird. (But as always in birding, you need Lady Luck on your side).
Copperpitch barbet
The copperpitch barbet (Psilopogon haemacephalus) is my tiny bird patron!
The one who has opened the door to birding to me! 😍
There are many copperpitch barbets in Bangkok but they avoid lower branches and never land on the street. You can spot them by hearing their signal resembling one of the traffic lights for blind people.
Zebra dove
This is the zebra dove (Geopelia striata):
These tiny cousins of the pigeon are as indifferent to people as their boring relative 😁, if not more. I guess, you can collect them from the ground as fallen leaves... 😄 I've never tried but they awaken this feeling.
Malaysian pied-fantail
Another typical bird of Rama 9 Park:
I call it the angry bird because of those grumpy brows. The Malaysian pied-fantail (Rhipidura javanica) is a tiny ridiculous bird that is sometimes aggressive towards people, and uses its tail, resembling a hand fan, to confuse and shock us. 😀
Common myna
There are a row of super usual species you can find in Rama 9 Park. These are pigeons, sparrows, and mynas. The last one isn't known for visitors from Europe that's why I am mentioning it here.
Common mynas aren't afraid of people but, unlike pigeons and doves, don't allow them to approach. However, they don't hide in thickets and freely walk on alleys and pathways in parks and visit busy streets either.
A couple of common mynas resting after their working day ended in Rama 9 Park:
As all starlings, mynas are skillful singers (and can learn talking words as well by the way):
Large-billed crow
When I saw a Thai large-billed crow (Corvus macrorhynchos) for the first time, I was sure this was a raven.
Strangely, they are shier in Rama 9 than in some other Bangkok parks. Check portraits of this species I took in Benjakitti Park, Bangkok.
Oriental magpie-robin
The most attractive photographs are not of rare birds, but atmospheric photographs of any bird. I like a picture of a very usual oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis) below.
A plain-looking bird, but it sings beautifully and isn't that afraid of people. For a mysterious reason, they sometimes follow me - probably, trying to push me away from the nest.
More Species
I encounter more species in Rama 9 Park, of course. Those were the bulbul, waterhen, sunbirds, bitterns, swifts, and swallows. There is a list of 174 bird species in Rama 9 Park on ebird.org. Potentially, you can find even more there since the park is large and diverse, and has much to suggest to every type of bird.
For Show Me A Photo Contest Round 149
I am joining Feathered Friends Community's contest here. The prompt is "the twigs that happened to be so often between the bird and the lens" (from the description of the contest's round). My entry:
This is a twig between me and a one-eyed female oriental Magpie-Robin (Copsychus saularis) in Suan Luang Rama IX Park on December 26, 2023.
- Check my post about Birdwatching in Benjakitti Park, Bangkok
- And about Birdwatching in Rommaninat Park, Bangkok
- Plus, My favorite birds in Bangkok
These are images I took at different times in 2023 with Nikkor 70-300mm on Nikon D750 in Suan Luang Rama 9 Park, Bangkok, Thailand