ปัจจุบันประชาคมโลกยอมรับแล้วว่า ภาวะโลกร้อนไม่ใช่นิทานหลอกเด็ก ของนักวิทยาศาสตร์กระต่ายตื่นตูมอีกต่อไปพวกเราทุกคนล้วนรับรู้ได้ถึงผลกระทบทั้งทางตรงทางอ้อมของภาวะโลกร้อน
สภาวะภูมิอากาศที่เปลี่ยนแปลงนี้ไม่ใช่ปรากฏการณ์ธรรมชาติปกติที่เคยเกิดขึ้นกับโลกที่ผ่านเข้า – ออกยุคน้ำแข็ง อันเป็นผลจากการเบี่ยงเบนวิถีวงโคจรของโลกที่บางครั้งเข้าใกล้หรือบางครั้งห่างไกลจากดวงอาทิตย์เป็นวัฐจักรครั้งแล้วครั้งเล่า มาแล้วชั่วกัปชั่วกัลป์
การเปลี่ยนแปลงครั้งนี้รวดเร็วเกินกว่าครั้งใดๆ จนเชื่อได้ว่าเป็นปรากฏการณ์ที่ “ผิดธรรมชาติ” อันเป็นผลมาจากน้ำมือมนุษย์นั่นเอง
อุณหภูมิที่สูงขึ้นนี้ไม่ได้ส่งผลเพียงให้เรารู้สึกอึดอัด หงุดหงิด เหนียวตัวจนต้องวิ่งไปตากแอร์ตามห้างฯ ผลกระทบของมันยิ่งใหญ่กว้างไกลและลึกซึ้งกว่านั้นมาก
ปัญหาความแห้งแล้ง การเหือดแห้งของสายธารที่หล่อเลี้ยงชีวิต ไฟป่าที่รุนแรงและถี่ขึ้น สังคมป่าที่เปลี่ยนแปลง ส่งผลให้เกิดการสูญพันธุ์ครั้งใหญ่ของสิ่งมีชีวิตทั่วโลก
สิ่งมีชีวิตน้อย – ใหญ่เหล่านี้เป็นฟันเฟืองขับเคลื่อนการสร้างความอุดมสมบูรณ์และความปกติสุขของระบบนิเวศและระบบพยุงชีวิตของโลก (life – support system) ที่ดำเนินมาช้านาน การเปลี่ยนแปลงครั้งนี้จึงส่งผลกระทบต่อเนื่องเป็นลูกโซ่ไปยังทุกชีวิตบนโลก
นักดูนกอาจสังเกตเห็นปรากฏการณ์ที่แสดงให้เห็นการเปลี่ยนแปลงของภูมิอากาศโลกได้โดยตรง นกหลายชนิดที่ปกติจะต้องอพยพย้ายถิ่นจากเขตหนาวลงมายังเขตร้อนในช่วงฤดูหนาวกลับไม่อพยพลงมา เนื่องจากฤดูหนาวในตอนบนของทวีป ไม่หนาวจัดจนเป็นปัญหาต่อการดำรงชีพอย่างในอดีต หรือบางตัวที่อพยพลงมาก็บินกลับไปถิ่นหนาวเร็วขึ้นกว่าที่เคยมีบันทึกไว้แต่ก่อน หลายสัปดาห์ (เช่น บินอพยพกลับไปตั้งแต่มีนาคม แทนที่จะเป็นเมษายนเป็นต้น)
การเปลี่ยนแปลงของภูมิอากาศและความแห้งแล้งส่งผลต่อปริมาณและจังหวะเวลาของการออกดอก ออกผลของไม้ป่าหลายชนิด นกที่กินผลไม้เป็นหลักอย่างนกเงือก นกโพระดก จึงได้รับผลกระทบโดยตรง
ผลการศึกษาระยะยาวของโครงการศึกษานิเวศวิทยาของนกเงือกที่อุทยานแห่งชาติเขาใหญ่ พบว่าในช่วง 20 ปีที่ผ่านมานี้ ระยะเวลาตั้งแต่นกเข้าโพรงรัง ออกไข่ เลี้ยงลูกจนลูกนกออกจากโพรงรัง ของนกกก หรือ นกกาฮัง ยืดเวลาออกจากเดิมเฉลี่ย 120 วันเป็นราว 140 วันในปัจจุบัน สาเหตุหนึ่งอาจเนื่องจากผลไม้ที่เป็นพืช อาหารนกไม่เพียงพอนั่นเอง
ตัวอย่างที่ชัดเจนอีกอย่างคือสิ่งที่กำลังเกิดขึ้นกับดอยอินทนนท์ และดอยสูงทางภาคเหนือ
ป่าดิบเขาเป็นระบบนิเวศที่กำลังได้รับผลกระทบอย่างหนัก ทุกวันนี้เมื่อเราไปเที่ยวยอดดอยอินนนท์ เราจะเห็นการเปลี่ยนแปลงของป่าได้อย่างชัดเจน จากสภาพป่ายอดดอยที่เคยชุ่มชื้น มีเมฆหมอกปกคลุม ลำต้นและกิ่งไม้ถูกปกคลุมห่อหุ้มไปด้วยเฟิร์นและกล้วยไม้นานาชนิด ดูเขียวชอุ่มชุ่มฉ่ำ เปล่งปลั่งไปทั้งป่า
มาวันนี้ เรากลับพบ ต้นก่อ ต้นกุหลาบพันปี หลายต่อหลายต้นยืนแห้งตาย หักล้มระเนระนาด ผืนมอสที่ปกคลุมกิ่งก้านหลุดออก ถลอกปลอกเปิดเป็นแผ่นๆ เฟิร์น กล้วยไม้ และไลเค็น แห้งกรอบตายคาต้น ดูแล้วเป็นสภาพที่น่าหดหู่ใจอย่างยิ่ง
ข้อมูลจากการสำรวจนกประจำปีดอยอินทนนท์ (Inthanon Bird Census) แสดงให้เราเห็นว่า นกหลายชนิดที่เป็นนกประจำถิ่นที่พบแต่เพียงในป่าดิบเขาสูงเริ่มลดจำนวนลง ในขณะที่เรากลับพบนกที่ปกติอาศัยในป่าต่ำลงมาที่ทนต่อความแห้งแล้งได้มากกว่า มาอาศัยทดแทน
เหล่านี้ล้วนเป็นสัญญาณเตือนภัยให้พวกเราตระหนักถึงอันตรายอันใหญ่หลวงที่กำลังจะตามมา
หากแต่มีใครบ้างที่ใส่ใจ ฟังสัญญาณเตือนเหล่านี้และลงมือแก้ไขก่อนทุกอย่างจะสายเกินไป
ถึงคราวต้องลั่นเสียงไซเรน ประกาศภาวะฉุกเฉินทางนิเวศแล้วกระมัง
ดูนก ช่วยลดโลกร้อน...ได้อย่างไร
การดูนกเป็นกิจกรรมที่สนุก น่าตื่นเต้น ผู้เข้ามาเรียนรู้การดูนกจะรู้สึกเพลิดเพลินกับพฤติกรรม สีสันรูปทรงแปลกตาและเสียงร้องที่ไพเราะหลากหลายของนกนานาพันธุ์
เมื่อเริ่มรู้จักนก ก็เริ่มมีความช่างสังเกต มองเห็น นกรอบๆตัวมากขึ้นและยิ่งมีความต้องการค้นหานกพันธุ์แปลกๆที่ตนไม่เคยเห็นมาก่อน กิจกรรมดูนกจึงนำพานักดูนก เข้าไปสัมผัสธรรมชาติในโลกกว้างในระบบนิเวศต่างๆ ตั้งแต่ชายทะเล และป่าชายเลนริมฝั่งอ่าวไทยตอนใน จนถึงป่าเมฆแห่งยอดดอยอินทนนท์ และจากพื้นที่ชุ่มน้ำริมโขงเหนือสุดแดนสยาม จนถึงป่าดิบชื้น แห่งฮาลาบาลา ชายแดนมาเลเซีย
เมื่อยิ่งได้รู้จักนกและเรื่องราวชีวิตพวกของมันมากเท่าใด นักดูนกก็เริ่มเห็นความเกี่ยวโยงของนกและสิ่งแวดล้อมที่มันอาศัย ในที่สุด นักดูนกจะสามารถปะติดปะต่อจิ๊กซอร์ข้อมูลจนมองเห็นภาพใหญ่ เกิดความเข้าใจการทำงานของระบบนิเวศที่ซับซ้อนได้
จากความรู้และความเข้าใจ นักดูนกจึงเกิดความรู้สึกที่ละเอียดอ่อน มีความรัก ความเมตตา ต่อสรรพชีวิตรอบตัวมีความเคารพและศรัธทาต่อวิถีแห่งธรรมชาติ ลดอัตตาและความอหังการของการเป็นเผ่าพันธุ์มนุษย์ มองเห็นผลกระทบของการกระทำของตนต่อส่วนรวม
และเมื่อถึงวันที่นักดูนกตระหนักมากพอ เขาก็จะเปลี่ยนพฤติกรรมของตนเองให้บริโภคแต่พอเพียง ไม่ติดความสะดวกสบาย ลดความสิ้นเปลืองฟุ้งเฟ้อสูญเปล่า ดำเนินชีวิตให้ส่งผลกระทบเบียดเบียนและเป็นภาระต่อโลกให้น้อยที่สุด และยังชักชวนเพื่อนฝูงให้มาเป็นแนวร่วมอุดมการณ์ หรือลุกขึ้นแก้ไขฟื้นฟูความเสื่อมโทรมของสิ่งแวดล้อมด้วยตนเองอย่างเป็นรูปธรรม
ดังนี้แล้ว จึงอาจกล่าวได้ว่ากิจกรรมดูนกช่วยหล่อหลอมคน ให้เป็นคนดี มีสำนึกและความรับผิดชอบต่อส่วนรวมและต่อโลก
หากเราสามารถปลูกฝังเผยแพร่ความรักธรรมชาติ รักนกให้กว้างขวางยิ่งขึ้นในหมู่ประชาชนแล้ว โลกนี้ก็อาจสามารถพ้นวิกฤตและความหายนะจากภาวะโลกร้อนและการล่มสลายของระบบนิเวศที่ค้ำจุนชีวิตทั้งมวลบนโลก ไปได้
10 วิธี ที่นักดูนกจะช่วยลดโลกร้อน
1. ปลูกต้นไม้ เยอะๆ จัดทำบริเวณบ้านให้ร่มรื่นให้เป็นที่อยู่ และแหล่งอาหารของนก ทำให้ได้มีนกเข้ามาอาศัยในบ้านมากมาย และช่วยลดก๊าซเรือนกระจก
2. ลดการใช้น้ำมัน เดินทางไปดูนกด้วยระบบขนส่งมวลชน หรือแชร์รถกัน หารเฉลี่ย ทางเดียวกันไปด้วยกัน ลดการใช้เครื่องบิน เดินทางไปดูนกในประเทศลองเลือกใช้ระบบขนส่งอื่นๆ เช่นรถไฟ รถประจำทาง เพราะระยะทางเท่ากัน เครื่องบินใช้เชื้อเพลิงมากที่สุด
3. ลดการใช้ไฟฟ้า เปิดเท่าที่จำเป็น ถอดปลั๊กเครื่องใช้ไฟฟ้าที่ไม่ได้ใช้ อย่าชาร์ตไฟข้ามวัน เปิดแอร์ที่อุณหภูมิพอเหมาะ ทำความสะอาดสม่ำเสมอ หรือออกมาเดินดูนกรับลมนอกบ้านก็ประหยัดไฟเหมือนกัน
4. ช็อบปิ้งอย่างมีสติ ไม่ซื้อของฟุ่มเฟือย ลดการใช้บรรจุภัณฑ์
5. พกถุงผ้าใส่ของ ลดการใช้ถุงพลาสติก ลดการสร้างขยะ
6. ลดความสะดวกสบายลงเสียบ้าง วางแผนการใช้ชีวิต ทุกอย่างเริ่มที่ตัวเรา
7.ใช้จักรยานหรือเดินมากขึ้นถ้าเดินทางไม่ไกล อย่าลืมว่ามีขา
8. ลดขยะ โดยการใช้ให้น้อยลง หรือแยกขยะก่อนทิ้ง ใช้ของรีไซเคิล คัดแยกของที่ยังมีประโยชน์ส่งต่อให้คนที่ต้องการ และซ่อมแซมของใช้เพื่อลดการทิ้งขยะ ไปดูนกต่างจังหวัด เราก็พกไปบริจาคให้เด็กที่ขาดแคลน
9.ใช้พลังงานสะอาด เช่นพลังงานลม พลังงานแสงอาทิตย์
10.บริโภคอาหารออร์แกนิก ปลอดภัยกับตัวเองเพราะปลอดสารเคมี และบริโภคของที่ผลิตในประเทศ เพราะเป็นการลดการใช้เชื้อเพลิงในการขนส่ง และลดการเสียดุลการค้า
วันจันทร์ที่ 24 พฤศจิกายน พ.ศ. 2551
อากาศที่อบอุ่นขึ้นทำให้นกอพยพเร็วอย่างน่าอันตราย
อากาศที่อบอุ่นตามแนวชายฝั่งตะวันออกของประเทศสหรัฐอเมริกาทำให้นกจำนวนมากอพยพมาถึงในฤดูใบไม้ผลิเร็วขึ้นทุกปี อย่างไรก็ตาม ยิ่งนกเหล่านี้เดินทางไกลเท่าใด พวกมันก็ยิ่งมีโอกาสน้อยยิ่งขี้นด้วยที่จะปรับตัวทันกับดินฟ้าอากาศที่เปลี่ยนแปลงไปอย่างรวดเร็ว
นักวิทยาศาสตร์ที่มหาวิทยาลัยบอสตันและศูนย์มาโนเม็ทเพื่อวิทยาศาสตร์การอนุรักษ์
(Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences) วิเคราะห์การเปลี่ยนแปลงช่วงเวลาการอพยพในฤดูใบไม้ผลิของนก 32 ชนิดตามชายฝั่งทางตะวันออกของรัฐแมสสาชูเส็ทส์มาตั้งแต่ปี พ.ศ.2513 นักวิจัยที่ศูนย์มาโนเม็ทรวบรวมข้อมูลนี้โดยการดักนกด้วยตาข่าย ติดแถบสี และปล่อยไป รายงานการค้นพบของพวกเขาที่ตีพิมพ์ใน Global Change Biology แสดงให้เห็นว่านก 8 ใน 32 ชนิดที่ศึกษานั้นเดินทางผ่านแหลมค็อดก่อนหน้าช่วงเวลาที่พวกมันเคยใช้ในการอพยพขึ้นเหนือเมื่อ 38 ปีก่อนอย่างสำคัญ เหตุผลน่ะหรือ? อากาศที่อบอุ่นขึ้นนั่นเอง นับตั้งแต่ปี 2513 เป็นต้นมา อุณหภูมิทางฝั่งตะวันออกของรัฐแมสสาชูเส็ทส์ได้เพิ่มขึ้น 1.5 องศาเซลเซียส
นกชนิดต่างๆ เช่น Swamp Sparrow ที่มาอาศัยทางตอนใต้ของสหรัฐอเมริกาในฤดูหนาว โดยทั่วไปแล้วปรับตามไปได้กับอากาศที่อบอุ่นขึ้นและการแตกใบใหม่ของต้นไม้ต่างๆ พวกมันอพยพเร็วขึ้นเมื่ออากาศอบอุ่นและช้าออกไปเมื่ออากาศในฤดูใบไม้ผลิเย็น
แต่นกที่มาอาศัยในฤดูหนาวอยู่ใต้ลงไป เช่น Great Crested Flycatcher ซึ่งใช้เวลาในฤดูหนาวอยู่ในอเมริกาใต้นั้น เวลาการอพยพของพวกมันไม่ได้เปลี่ยนแปลงไปถึงแม้อากาศจะอบอุ่นขึ้นในแถบนิวอิงแลนด์ก็ตาม
ดูเหมือนว่านี่จะเป็นเหตุผลที่ดีของความแตกต่างระหว่างนกอพยพระยะใกล้และนกอพยพระยะไกล เนื่องจากอุณหภูมิตามแนวชายฝั่งตะวันออกของสหรัฐอเมริกาส่วนมากเชื่อมโยงกัน เช่น ฤดูใบไม้ผลิที่มาเร็วในรัฐแคโรไลน่าเหนือจะหมายถึงฤดูใบไม้ผลิที่มาเร็วในรัฐแมสสาชูเส็ทส์ด้วย นกที่อพยพในระยะใกล้จะเห็นได้ว่าเมื่อใดจะอพยพไปสู่บริเวณตอนเหนือขึ้นไป พวกมันสามารถอพยพตามการแตกใบและการออกมาของแมลงตามเส้นทางอพยพไปได้ตลอดจนถึงแหล่งขยายพันธุ์ของมันได้ในแต่ละปี แต่นกที่อพยพระยะทางไกลจะไม่มีอะไรมาบอกมันว่าปีนี้ฤดูใบไม้ผลิจะมาเร็วหรือมาช้าตามเส้นทางอพยพของพวกมันที่อยู่ตอนเหนือขึ้นไป ลมฟ้าอากาศในอเมริกาใต้มีความสัมพันธ์น้อยมากกับลมฟ้าอากาศในนิวอิงแลนด์
การปรับตัวเข้ากับอากาศที่อบอุ่นขึ้นได้ช้าอาจมีผลร้ายแรงต่อนกที่อพยพระยะไกล นักวิจัยกลุ่มเดียวกันนี้แสดงให้เห้นด้วยว่า ต้นไม้ในรัฐแมสสาชูเส็ทส์แตกดอกออกใบเร็วขึ้นกว่าในอดีต ดูเหมือนว่านกที่อพยพระยะสั้นปรับตัวได้ทันตามสภาพแวดล้อมที่เปลี่ยนแปลงไปนี้ แต่นกที่อพยพระยะไกลจะถูกทอดทิ้งไว้เบื้องหลัง ในขณะที่อุณหภูมิสูงขึ้นไปเรื่อย พวกมันอาจประสบกับสภาพแวดล้อมที่แตกต่างไปมากขึ้นทุกทีจากสภาพแวดล้อมที่มันปรับตัวเข้าหา นักวิจัยอื่นๆได้สังเกตเห็นมาแล้วว่านกอพยพระยะไกลบางชนิดที่กลับมาจากพื้นที่อยู่อาศัยในฤดูหนาวมาขยายพันธุ์ในยุโรปตอนนี้มาผิดเวลากับอาหารที่เป็นแมลงของพวกมันแล้ว การที่นกบางชนิดไม่สามารถปรับตัวกับการเปลี่ยนแปลงดินฟ้าอากาศอาจเป็นปัจจัยสำคัญต่อการลดลงของประชากรนกร้องเพลง (songbird) ที่เกิดขึ้นในช่วงสองสามปีมานี้
กวิน ชุติมา แปลจาก Warming temperature dangerously pushing migrations ever forward เขียนโดย Wiley Blackwell ใน Environment News Network, 20 มิถุนายน 2008
นักวิทยาศาสตร์ที่มหาวิทยาลัยบอสตันและศูนย์มาโนเม็ทเพื่อวิทยาศาสตร์การอนุรักษ์
(Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences) วิเคราะห์การเปลี่ยนแปลงช่วงเวลาการอพยพในฤดูใบไม้ผลิของนก 32 ชนิดตามชายฝั่งทางตะวันออกของรัฐแมสสาชูเส็ทส์มาตั้งแต่ปี พ.ศ.2513 นักวิจัยที่ศูนย์มาโนเม็ทรวบรวมข้อมูลนี้โดยการดักนกด้วยตาข่าย ติดแถบสี และปล่อยไป รายงานการค้นพบของพวกเขาที่ตีพิมพ์ใน Global Change Biology แสดงให้เห็นว่านก 8 ใน 32 ชนิดที่ศึกษานั้นเดินทางผ่านแหลมค็อดก่อนหน้าช่วงเวลาที่พวกมันเคยใช้ในการอพยพขึ้นเหนือเมื่อ 38 ปีก่อนอย่างสำคัญ เหตุผลน่ะหรือ? อากาศที่อบอุ่นขึ้นนั่นเอง นับตั้งแต่ปี 2513 เป็นต้นมา อุณหภูมิทางฝั่งตะวันออกของรัฐแมสสาชูเส็ทส์ได้เพิ่มขึ้น 1.5 องศาเซลเซียส
นกชนิดต่างๆ เช่น Swamp Sparrow ที่มาอาศัยทางตอนใต้ของสหรัฐอเมริกาในฤดูหนาว โดยทั่วไปแล้วปรับตามไปได้กับอากาศที่อบอุ่นขึ้นและการแตกใบใหม่ของต้นไม้ต่างๆ พวกมันอพยพเร็วขึ้นเมื่ออากาศอบอุ่นและช้าออกไปเมื่ออากาศในฤดูใบไม้ผลิเย็น
แต่นกที่มาอาศัยในฤดูหนาวอยู่ใต้ลงไป เช่น Great Crested Flycatcher ซึ่งใช้เวลาในฤดูหนาวอยู่ในอเมริกาใต้นั้น เวลาการอพยพของพวกมันไม่ได้เปลี่ยนแปลงไปถึงแม้อากาศจะอบอุ่นขึ้นในแถบนิวอิงแลนด์ก็ตาม
ดูเหมือนว่านี่จะเป็นเหตุผลที่ดีของความแตกต่างระหว่างนกอพยพระยะใกล้และนกอพยพระยะไกล เนื่องจากอุณหภูมิตามแนวชายฝั่งตะวันออกของสหรัฐอเมริกาส่วนมากเชื่อมโยงกัน เช่น ฤดูใบไม้ผลิที่มาเร็วในรัฐแคโรไลน่าเหนือจะหมายถึงฤดูใบไม้ผลิที่มาเร็วในรัฐแมสสาชูเส็ทส์ด้วย นกที่อพยพในระยะใกล้จะเห็นได้ว่าเมื่อใดจะอพยพไปสู่บริเวณตอนเหนือขึ้นไป พวกมันสามารถอพยพตามการแตกใบและการออกมาของแมลงตามเส้นทางอพยพไปได้ตลอดจนถึงแหล่งขยายพันธุ์ของมันได้ในแต่ละปี แต่นกที่อพยพระยะทางไกลจะไม่มีอะไรมาบอกมันว่าปีนี้ฤดูใบไม้ผลิจะมาเร็วหรือมาช้าตามเส้นทางอพยพของพวกมันที่อยู่ตอนเหนือขึ้นไป ลมฟ้าอากาศในอเมริกาใต้มีความสัมพันธ์น้อยมากกับลมฟ้าอากาศในนิวอิงแลนด์
การปรับตัวเข้ากับอากาศที่อบอุ่นขึ้นได้ช้าอาจมีผลร้ายแรงต่อนกที่อพยพระยะไกล นักวิจัยกลุ่มเดียวกันนี้แสดงให้เห้นด้วยว่า ต้นไม้ในรัฐแมสสาชูเส็ทส์แตกดอกออกใบเร็วขึ้นกว่าในอดีต ดูเหมือนว่านกที่อพยพระยะสั้นปรับตัวได้ทันตามสภาพแวดล้อมที่เปลี่ยนแปลงไปนี้ แต่นกที่อพยพระยะไกลจะถูกทอดทิ้งไว้เบื้องหลัง ในขณะที่อุณหภูมิสูงขึ้นไปเรื่อย พวกมันอาจประสบกับสภาพแวดล้อมที่แตกต่างไปมากขึ้นทุกทีจากสภาพแวดล้อมที่มันปรับตัวเข้าหา นักวิจัยอื่นๆได้สังเกตเห็นมาแล้วว่านกอพยพระยะไกลบางชนิดที่กลับมาจากพื้นที่อยู่อาศัยในฤดูหนาวมาขยายพันธุ์ในยุโรปตอนนี้มาผิดเวลากับอาหารที่เป็นแมลงของพวกมันแล้ว การที่นกบางชนิดไม่สามารถปรับตัวกับการเปลี่ยนแปลงดินฟ้าอากาศอาจเป็นปัจจัยสำคัญต่อการลดลงของประชากรนกร้องเพลง (songbird) ที่เกิดขึ้นในช่วงสองสามปีมานี้
กวิน ชุติมา แปลจาก Warming temperature dangerously pushing migrations ever forward เขียนโดย Wiley Blackwell ใน Environment News Network, 20 มิถุนายน 2008
chiang mai birdwalk 8
มีข่าวฝากมาบอกครับ จากชมรมดนกลานนา วันที่7 ธันวานี้ทางสมาคมดูนกลานนาจะจัดกิจกรรม birdwalk พาไปเดินดูนกดอยสุเทพ-ปุย
ตั้งแต่เวลา 7.30 น.ที่ทำการอุทยานแห่งชาติดอยสุเทพ-ปุย ใครสนใจอย่าลืมไปร่วมกิจจกรรมกันนะครับ
วันจันทร์ที่ 22 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2551
The training programme for volunteer to protect the Inner Gulf of Thailand
Sponsored by the Department of Environment Quality Promotion, the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand has launched a three-year project to conserve shore birds and their habitats in the Inner Gulf of Thailand since June 2008. This area is known to be home of several endangered migratory birds such as the Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmaeus ) and Nordmann’s Greenshank (Tringa guttifer), both of which number less than 1,000 birds worldwide.We are now recruiting volunteers to help us strengthen knowledge among local communities and also involve local youth groups in an attempt to save these birds and their threatened habitats. These volunteers will be BCST’s ambassadors to organize networks among residents of coastal areas in the Chonburi, Chachoengsao, Samut Prakarn, Bangkok, Samut Sakorn, Samut Songkhram and Petchaburi.Our volunteers will arrange educational programmes for local schools in some coastal provinces around the Inner Gulf and raise awareness about an importance of wetlands and shorer birds conservation before it is too late.From the start of the Inner Gulf Conservation Project, we had organized many activities;
1. Junior Bird Watching Project. BSCT arranged bird watching for students and teachers in ten schools from Samut Sakorn province.2. BSCT participated in the 7th Shorebird Festival, organized by Khok Kham Nature Consevation Club in February, 2008.3. Senior researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; Paul Donald, visited area under the Inner Gulf Conservation Project in February and met and discussed the situation with Petchaburi’s Tambon Pak Thale officials and also with Somchai Nimnuan a BCST researcher researching the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper.4. BCST together with Tambon Pak Talae officials met with the Petchaburi province governor to the Inner Gulf Conservation Project to responsible provincial agencies.
5. In March, BCST assisted and advised Charoen Pokphan Foods (CPF) owner to be implemented bird friendly working practice at Khao Takhrao Petchaburi.
6. In April, the Department of the Environment Quality Promotion approved to sponsor BCST‘s three-year plan of the Inner Gulf Conservation Project.
7. In May, BCST stared working with Tawithapisek 2 School to set up a Nature Conservation Centre in the school compound.
http://www.bcst.or.th
1. Junior Bird Watching Project. BSCT arranged bird watching for students and teachers in ten schools from Samut Sakorn province.2. BSCT participated in the 7th Shorebird Festival, organized by Khok Kham Nature Consevation Club in February, 2008.3. Senior researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; Paul Donald, visited area under the Inner Gulf Conservation Project in February and met and discussed the situation with Petchaburi’s Tambon Pak Thale officials and also with Somchai Nimnuan a BCST researcher researching the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper.4. BCST together with Tambon Pak Talae officials met with the Petchaburi province governor to the Inner Gulf Conservation Project to responsible provincial agencies.
5. In March, BCST assisted and advised Charoen Pokphan Foods (CPF) owner to be implemented bird friendly working practice at Khao Takhrao Petchaburi.
6. In April, the Department of the Environment Quality Promotion approved to sponsor BCST‘s three-year plan of the Inner Gulf Conservation Project.
7. In May, BCST stared working with Tawithapisek 2 School to set up a Nature Conservation Centre in the school compound.
http://www.bcst.or.th
Bird census for Important Bird Areas
BCST has conducted bird census in several Important Bird Areas (IBA) including Khao Yai National Park and the Kaeng Krajan National Park as well as participating in bird census activities initiated by several local bird conservation groups such as the Inthanon birds census and the Krung Ching bird census.Information obtained this activity is very important for improving national bird population database. BCST will conduct the next bird census in Khao Yai National Park during September and the Asian Waterbird Census through the country in January.
Situation in Wieng Nong Lom Wetland
Wieng Nong Lom Wetland is a complex of nine freshwater lakes adjacent to the Ramsar site of Nong Bong Kai Non-Hunting Area in northern Chieng Rai province. The overall area is a part of Chieng Saen Basin along Mekhong River.Although Nong Bong Kai Non-Hunting Area is recognized as a wetland of international importance, as a Ramsar Site, but Wieng Nong Lom Wetland was excluded inexplicably and faces threats that need urgent attention.On February 28th,2008, a workshop was organized under the theme of “Nong-Bong Kai and Wieng Nong Lom Wetland Conservation through People’s Participation,” which was attended by 81 participants from concern government agencies, local administrators, local groups, school teachers and NGOs.The organizers were Birds Conservation Society of Thailand, Rajabhat Chieng Rai’s Biodiversity Centre, Lanna Bird and Conservation Club and Nong Bong Kai Non-Hunting Area. Some problems, due to lacking of proper management at Wieng Nong Lom Wetland, were found as following;
1. The variety of fish has decreased and some species have disappeared from lakes. Local people reported that illegal fishing methods such as fish poisoning and electrocuting were being used.
2. The environment of the wetland has been changed. Some orange orchards have encroached on part of the wetland and water is diverted from these natural lakes. Chemical contamination from the use of pesticides is also a Golden Apple Snail (known locally as the “Cherry Snail”.) 3. Bird numbers have reportedly decreased. There are fewer of egrets around the lakes of Nong Kiew, Nong Nam Ron and Nong Yao.
4. The destruction of wild fauna some of which were captured for sale.
5. Local lifestyles are changing since some business people have taken up land for big farms. This affects local people who are mostly rearing water buffaloes or fishing.
6. Land near Nong Yao lake has been used as an illegal garbage dump.
7. Some conservation activities. (bird watching and water monitoring projects, initiated by Jan Jwa School between 2005-2006) has ceased due to lack of staff and equipment.However, recently about 70 local women have formed Yonok Women’s Conservation Group. They have initiated many activities including monitoring of illegal bird sales, dismantling bird traps, training in bird watching for local children, and also teaching English for local communities.Jan Jwa School will organize youth camp on 9-10 August, 2008 and Rajaphat Chieng Rai University will organize focus group meetings with the support of BCST
1. The variety of fish has decreased and some species have disappeared from lakes. Local people reported that illegal fishing methods such as fish poisoning and electrocuting were being used.
2. The environment of the wetland has been changed. Some orange orchards have encroached on part of the wetland and water is diverted from these natural lakes. Chemical contamination from the use of pesticides is also a Golden Apple Snail (known locally as the “Cherry Snail”.) 3. Bird numbers have reportedly decreased. There are fewer of egrets around the lakes of Nong Kiew, Nong Nam Ron and Nong Yao.
4. The destruction of wild fauna some of which were captured for sale.
5. Local lifestyles are changing since some business people have taken up land for big farms. This affects local people who are mostly rearing water buffaloes or fishing.
6. Land near Nong Yao lake has been used as an illegal garbage dump.
7. Some conservation activities. (bird watching and water monitoring projects, initiated by Jan Jwa School between 2005-2006) has ceased due to lack of staff and equipment.However, recently about 70 local women have formed Yonok Women’s Conservation Group. They have initiated many activities including monitoring of illegal bird sales, dismantling bird traps, training in bird watching for local children, and also teaching English for local communities.Jan Jwa School will organize youth camp on 9-10 August, 2008 and Rajaphat Chieng Rai University will organize focus group meetings with the support of BCST
วันศุกร์ที่ 12 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2551
Warming temperatures dangerously pushing bird migrations ever forward. Many birds are arriving earlier each spring as temperatures warm along the East
Many birds are arriving earlier each spring as temperatures warm along the East Coast of the United States. However, the farther those birds journey, the less likely they are to keep pace with the rapidly changing climate.Scientists at Boston University and the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences analyzed changes in the timing of spring migrations of 32 species of birds along the coast of eastern Massachusetts since 1970. Researchers at Manomet gathered this data by capturing birds in mist nets, attaching bands to their legs, and then releasing them. Their findings, published in Global Change Biology, show that eight out of 32 bird species are passing by Cape Cod significantly earlier on their annual trek north than they were 38 years ago. The reason? Warming temperatures. Temperatures in eastern Massachusetts have risen by 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1970.Species, such as the swamp sparrow, that winter in the southern United States are generally keeping pace with warming temperatures and earlier leafing of trees. They migrate earlier when temperatures are warm and later when spring is cool.Birds that winter further south, like the great crested flycatcher, which spends its winters in South America, are slow to change, though. Their migration times are not changing, despite the warming temperatures in New England.There appears to be good reason for the difference between the short- and long-distance migrants. Because temperatures are linked along much of the East Coast of the United States—an early spring in North Carolina is generally an early spring in Massachusetts—the short-distance migrants can gain insight into when it will be warm further north. They can follow the flush of leaves and insects all the way to their breeding grounds each year. Long-distance migrants, though, do not have any good cue for whether it will be an early or late spring on the northern stretches of their migrations. Weather in South America has little to do with weather in New England.Being slow to change in response to warming temperatures could have serious repercussions for long-distance migrant birds. This same research group has shown that plants are blooming earlier in Massachusetts than they did in the past. It appears that the short-distance migrants are keeping pace with this changing environment. However, long-distance migrants are being left behind; as temperatures continue to warm, they will probably experience environments increasingly different from the ones for which they are adapted. Other researchers have already noted that some long-distance migrant birds returning from African wintering areas to breed in Europe are now mistimed with their insect food supply. The inability of some birds to adapt to rapid climate change may be an important factor in some of the declines among songbird populations that have been documented in recent years.Wiley-Blackwell Published June 20, 2008 in the Environment News Network
http://www.bcst.or.th/eng/news/n26.html
http://www.bcst.or.th/eng/news/n26.html
BIRDING IN BANGKOK
Which part of Thailand has the most species of birds? And where can the greatest number of rare and threatened birds be found? The answer is not Huai Kha Khaeng, Kaeng Krachan, Khao Yai or any other extensive wilderness as you might suppose. In both cases, the answer is "Right here, on Bangkok's doorstep!"
Such a counterintuitive statement deserves qualification. One should not seek to directly compare say, Huai Kha Khaeng, which supports mainly forest birds, including hornbills and green peafowl, with the Bangkok area, which supports more waterbirds and migratory species. This is comparing chalk and cheese: Both sites, in their own way, are equally important in the national biodiversity conservation picture. But whereas the wildlife importance of, say, Huai Kha Khaeng is already recognised, that of the Bangkok area is not.
The Lower Chao Phraya Delta, a 20,000km2 expanse of mainly rice paddies, with the mega-city of Bangkok slap bang in the middle, and extending to the coastline of the inner gulf, is one of the greatest wetlands in Southeast Asia. Recognised as an IBA (Important Bird Area) by BirdLife International, it is the single area most deserving of urgent conservation attention, yet it is largely ignored by those government officials whose jobs supposedly concern them with biodiversity conservation.
The Bangkok area holds some of the rarest birds in the world - for instance, the enigmatic spoon-billed sandpiper, which breeds at the far tip of Arctic Northeast Asia, and flies to winter on salt pans and coastal mudflats on Southeast Asia. Its global population has declined by 80 to 90 per cent in the past 20 years and only 600 to 1,000 individuals remain, at most. Ask any globe-trotting bird-lister the best place in the world to see spoon-billed sandpipers, and he will unhesitatingly give you the name of a salt-farming cooperative a few kilometres from the booming fishing port and industrial centre of Samut Sakhon. Khok Kham, and its local conservation club - the guardians of their traditional salt-farming lifestyle - are world-renowned, thanks to the spoon-billed sandpiper, which finds a safe haven there. Altogether, the Lower Chao Phraya Delta holds at least 21 threatened and near-threatened birds, and another 40 species for which the numerical concentrations are internationally important. The connection between the freshwater hinterland, and the brackish water coastal strip in Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and neighbouring Samut Songkhram provinces has been irrevocably severed by an ugly and chaotic sprawl of industry and barracks-like housing along the arterial roads leading in and out of Bangkok.
But further west, in more rural Phetchaburi, the gradual transition from inland freshwater marshland and rice paddy and the brackish flats, ponds, salt pans and mudflats of the coastal zone remains uninterrupted, rendering this area of unique interest. With its lower human population density, rice paddies, scattered farms and hamlets, groves of sugar palms interrupted by the occasional glittering temple roof, it is an area of bucolic splendour and serenity. This a mega-destination for birds and birdwatchers alike, supporting tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of waterbirds for much of the year. Besides painted storks and Asian openbills, Indian cormorants, egrets and spot-billed pelicans, there are large flocks of smaller, insectivorous birds including pipits and wagtails. Hundreds of pairs of Oriental Pratincoles - actually a waterbird, but one with short legs and bill, which makes its living by hawking flying insects - lay their eggs on dry-baked, post-harvest mud-soil of the ricefields during the hottest months of March and April.
Incredibly, at least four species of eagles - the globally threatened greater spotted and imperial eagles, the steppe eagle and booted eagle also frequent rice paddies around Phetchaburi, along with other predatory birds including several hundred black kites and a few tens of eastern marsh harriers and pied harriers.
These hawks and eagles are highly migratory, and the habitat they seek out when fleeing the snowy winters of their Central and North Asian breeding areas is single crop rice-paddy in Thailand's Lower Central Plain. Where the ricefields remain fallow for a few months after the single crop is harvested in the early dry season, the food web is uninterrupted. A diverse array of herbaceous plants among the harvested rice stubble sustains many insects, which provide food for frogs, small reptiles and small insectivorous birds. These, together with rats and other small mammals, are in turn consumed by the many predatory birds, while ricefield crabs and small fish in ditches provide abundant food for waterbirds. The productivity of the system is also enhanced by the dung of grazing animals - cows and buffaloes - that are turned out to roam on the fields after harvest.
This used to be true of ricefields throughout Thailand's Central Plain, but in recent years, the pattern of growing rice has been stood on its head. Most areas are now within reach of irrigation schemes, while better flood control means that rice can be readied for harvest more rapidly. Instead of a single crop, planted during the wet season and harvested in December or January, now two or three crops of high yield rice - chemicals replacing the fertiliser that nature used to provide for free through the medium of nutrient-rich silts deposited by floodwaters - are grown. No sooner is one crop harvested than another is planted, and there is no longer any fallow period.
Multi-cropped, irrigated rice now occupies over half of the rice-growing area of the Central Plains. The uninterrupted emerald expanse may look easy on the eye, but in reality it is a sterile, pesticide and herbicide-laced "poison green" biological wasteland. It produces food for humans, but very little else.
The evidence for the effects of changing agricultural land use on birds is clear. Roughly 20 years ago, before rice-multi-cropping had completely supplanted traditional mono-cropping around Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani, roosts of hundreds of black kites, and a few greater spotted eagles could even be found in sugar palms near the Pathum Thani Bridge, on the northern outskirts of Bangkok. These concentrations have long since vanished. Even the numbers of small insect-eating birds such as long-tailed shrikes and black drongos have plummeted in the past 25 years, and their decline has been tracked as the food web that used to sustain them has collapsed. High diversity ricefields and their bird fauna are now confined to a few shrinking areas of mono-cropping around the margins of the Central Plains, in Prachinburi to the east and Phetchaburi to the west.
The key point about the Bangkok area is that the survival of the most endangered and sensitive birds depends upon traditional forms of land use that have been in place for hundreds of years. Salt pans and traditional, shallow prawn-capture ponds provide high-tide loafing and feeding areas for spoon-billed sandpipers and a host of other shorebirds; the largest, least disturbed ponds support spot-billed pelicans, painted storks and other larger waterbirds; while single-crop rice paddies support a diverse array of predatory and insectivorous birds. None of these bird species is represented in significant numbers in any of Thailand's national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. They are betrayed by our lack of any comprehensive nature conservation policy.
Wetlands and some farmlands have retained their conservation value because traditional patterns of use have evolved gradually, shaping the land over centuries. This is well recognised in Europe where, once the role of traditional land-use systems in maintaining wildlife populations and unique landscapes was recognised, it has often proved possible to regulate present-day land use through management agreements, legislation or financial incentives.
A strong case can be argued for likewise preserving the human-modified wetland habitats of Thailand's Central Plains. Rice mono-cropping in the freshwater zone, salt-farming in the coastal zone and other traditional forms of land use that sustain biodiversity, could be maintained through agricultural subsidies, to safeguard not only wildlife but also the quality of life of the human inhabitants.
Before you snort with derision over the impossibility of instituting such a system in Thailand, consider first how much taxpayers' money is wasted by the central government, by province and tambol administrative organisations, local and national politicians, on frivolous and unnecessary construction projects such as grandiose buildings, tourist facilities that are never used, roads that are much wider than needed and which crumble into potholes during the first monsoon season. Why? Because leakage of money from ceaseless construction projects provides patronage - the grease that oils the wheels of Thailand's political machine. More construction means more money entering the system: It is as simple as that. Construction projects are the means by which the politicians extract money from taxpayers in order to boost their own election prospects.
Wouldn't it make more sense to use some of this money to sustain traditional land use rather than spending it ceaselessly building, building, building?
As a signatory of the International Convention on Wetlands (the Ramsar Convention), the Thai government is already legally obliged to integrate wetland conservation into its national and land-use planning, and to promote and implement so-called "wise use" or sustainable use of wetlands: This means all wetlands, not just protected areas. Up to now this provision of the wetland convention has been ignored. Rice paddies are wetlands too, albeit wetlands that are modified from their original state. They support globally threatened species, and it is therefore grossly negligent of the government to fail to implement measures that would offer these habitats a measure of protection.
At the present time, anybody (more or less) can build anything, no matter how inappropriate, anywhere they choose, provided they have sufficient money. This cannot be allowed to go on. Thailand urgently needs to implement zoning legislation that takes account of biodiversity and landscape values of rural areas, and imposes some restrictions on land use. This is not just a matter of safeguarding aesthetic and conservation values; it also makes good economic sense. There will not be enough money in the whole of the national budget to defend Thailand's Central Plain against the effects of flooding caused by rising sea levels due to global warming in the future. Why spend money protecting buildings in inappropriate, flood-prone locations when they should never have been built in the first place?
Additionally, although farmers may prefer to grow dry season irrigated rice as the sale price is higher, this practice is not sustainable. It places unreasonable demands on scant water resources: There is just not enough water to go around. Increased costs for labour, agrochemicals and diesel undo any short term benefits reaped by farmers from increased global demand for rice. Ultimately small rice farmers may be forced into selling their land to developers in order to pay off their debts.
Subsidising rice farmers to return to a single, rain-fed cropping pattern in all but those areas most accessible to irrigation would both relieve demand for water and benefit biodiversity, while at the same time sustain rural communities. It would help maintain the diverse rural culture of the Siamese heartland while at the same time enable the Thai government to live up to its international obligations under the Ramsar Convention.
------
How can you help? Join the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand, which is the national partner of the million-strong worldwide alliance BirdLife International. For details, see the society's web site at http://www.bcst.or.th
Story by PHILIP ROUND and Photos by SMITH SUTIBUT
http://www.bangkokpost.com/040808_Outlook/04Aug2008_out001.php
Such a counterintuitive statement deserves qualification. One should not seek to directly compare say, Huai Kha Khaeng, which supports mainly forest birds, including hornbills and green peafowl, with the Bangkok area, which supports more waterbirds and migratory species. This is comparing chalk and cheese: Both sites, in their own way, are equally important in the national biodiversity conservation picture. But whereas the wildlife importance of, say, Huai Kha Khaeng is already recognised, that of the Bangkok area is not.
The Lower Chao Phraya Delta, a 20,000km2 expanse of mainly rice paddies, with the mega-city of Bangkok slap bang in the middle, and extending to the coastline of the inner gulf, is one of the greatest wetlands in Southeast Asia. Recognised as an IBA (Important Bird Area) by BirdLife International, it is the single area most deserving of urgent conservation attention, yet it is largely ignored by those government officials whose jobs supposedly concern them with biodiversity conservation.
The Bangkok area holds some of the rarest birds in the world - for instance, the enigmatic spoon-billed sandpiper, which breeds at the far tip of Arctic Northeast Asia, and flies to winter on salt pans and coastal mudflats on Southeast Asia. Its global population has declined by 80 to 90 per cent in the past 20 years and only 600 to 1,000 individuals remain, at most. Ask any globe-trotting bird-lister the best place in the world to see spoon-billed sandpipers, and he will unhesitatingly give you the name of a salt-farming cooperative a few kilometres from the booming fishing port and industrial centre of Samut Sakhon. Khok Kham, and its local conservation club - the guardians of their traditional salt-farming lifestyle - are world-renowned, thanks to the spoon-billed sandpiper, which finds a safe haven there. Altogether, the Lower Chao Phraya Delta holds at least 21 threatened and near-threatened birds, and another 40 species for which the numerical concentrations are internationally important. The connection between the freshwater hinterland, and the brackish water coastal strip in Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and neighbouring Samut Songkhram provinces has been irrevocably severed by an ugly and chaotic sprawl of industry and barracks-like housing along the arterial roads leading in and out of Bangkok.
But further west, in more rural Phetchaburi, the gradual transition from inland freshwater marshland and rice paddy and the brackish flats, ponds, salt pans and mudflats of the coastal zone remains uninterrupted, rendering this area of unique interest. With its lower human population density, rice paddies, scattered farms and hamlets, groves of sugar palms interrupted by the occasional glittering temple roof, it is an area of bucolic splendour and serenity. This a mega-destination for birds and birdwatchers alike, supporting tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of waterbirds for much of the year. Besides painted storks and Asian openbills, Indian cormorants, egrets and spot-billed pelicans, there are large flocks of smaller, insectivorous birds including pipits and wagtails. Hundreds of pairs of Oriental Pratincoles - actually a waterbird, but one with short legs and bill, which makes its living by hawking flying insects - lay their eggs on dry-baked, post-harvest mud-soil of the ricefields during the hottest months of March and April.
Incredibly, at least four species of eagles - the globally threatened greater spotted and imperial eagles, the steppe eagle and booted eagle also frequent rice paddies around Phetchaburi, along with other predatory birds including several hundred black kites and a few tens of eastern marsh harriers and pied harriers.
These hawks and eagles are highly migratory, and the habitat they seek out when fleeing the snowy winters of their Central and North Asian breeding areas is single crop rice-paddy in Thailand's Lower Central Plain. Where the ricefields remain fallow for a few months after the single crop is harvested in the early dry season, the food web is uninterrupted. A diverse array of herbaceous plants among the harvested rice stubble sustains many insects, which provide food for frogs, small reptiles and small insectivorous birds. These, together with rats and other small mammals, are in turn consumed by the many predatory birds, while ricefield crabs and small fish in ditches provide abundant food for waterbirds. The productivity of the system is also enhanced by the dung of grazing animals - cows and buffaloes - that are turned out to roam on the fields after harvest.
This used to be true of ricefields throughout Thailand's Central Plain, but in recent years, the pattern of growing rice has been stood on its head. Most areas are now within reach of irrigation schemes, while better flood control means that rice can be readied for harvest more rapidly. Instead of a single crop, planted during the wet season and harvested in December or January, now two or three crops of high yield rice - chemicals replacing the fertiliser that nature used to provide for free through the medium of nutrient-rich silts deposited by floodwaters - are grown. No sooner is one crop harvested than another is planted, and there is no longer any fallow period.
Multi-cropped, irrigated rice now occupies over half of the rice-growing area of the Central Plains. The uninterrupted emerald expanse may look easy on the eye, but in reality it is a sterile, pesticide and herbicide-laced "poison green" biological wasteland. It produces food for humans, but very little else.
The evidence for the effects of changing agricultural land use on birds is clear. Roughly 20 years ago, before rice-multi-cropping had completely supplanted traditional mono-cropping around Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani, roosts of hundreds of black kites, and a few greater spotted eagles could even be found in sugar palms near the Pathum Thani Bridge, on the northern outskirts of Bangkok. These concentrations have long since vanished. Even the numbers of small insect-eating birds such as long-tailed shrikes and black drongos have plummeted in the past 25 years, and their decline has been tracked as the food web that used to sustain them has collapsed. High diversity ricefields and their bird fauna are now confined to a few shrinking areas of mono-cropping around the margins of the Central Plains, in Prachinburi to the east and Phetchaburi to the west.
The key point about the Bangkok area is that the survival of the most endangered and sensitive birds depends upon traditional forms of land use that have been in place for hundreds of years. Salt pans and traditional, shallow prawn-capture ponds provide high-tide loafing and feeding areas for spoon-billed sandpipers and a host of other shorebirds; the largest, least disturbed ponds support spot-billed pelicans, painted storks and other larger waterbirds; while single-crop rice paddies support a diverse array of predatory and insectivorous birds. None of these bird species is represented in significant numbers in any of Thailand's national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. They are betrayed by our lack of any comprehensive nature conservation policy.
Wetlands and some farmlands have retained their conservation value because traditional patterns of use have evolved gradually, shaping the land over centuries. This is well recognised in Europe where, once the role of traditional land-use systems in maintaining wildlife populations and unique landscapes was recognised, it has often proved possible to regulate present-day land use through management agreements, legislation or financial incentives.
A strong case can be argued for likewise preserving the human-modified wetland habitats of Thailand's Central Plains. Rice mono-cropping in the freshwater zone, salt-farming in the coastal zone and other traditional forms of land use that sustain biodiversity, could be maintained through agricultural subsidies, to safeguard not only wildlife but also the quality of life of the human inhabitants.
Before you snort with derision over the impossibility of instituting such a system in Thailand, consider first how much taxpayers' money is wasted by the central government, by province and tambol administrative organisations, local and national politicians, on frivolous and unnecessary construction projects such as grandiose buildings, tourist facilities that are never used, roads that are much wider than needed and which crumble into potholes during the first monsoon season. Why? Because leakage of money from ceaseless construction projects provides patronage - the grease that oils the wheels of Thailand's political machine. More construction means more money entering the system: It is as simple as that. Construction projects are the means by which the politicians extract money from taxpayers in order to boost their own election prospects.
Wouldn't it make more sense to use some of this money to sustain traditional land use rather than spending it ceaselessly building, building, building?
As a signatory of the International Convention on Wetlands (the Ramsar Convention), the Thai government is already legally obliged to integrate wetland conservation into its national and land-use planning, and to promote and implement so-called "wise use" or sustainable use of wetlands: This means all wetlands, not just protected areas. Up to now this provision of the wetland convention has been ignored. Rice paddies are wetlands too, albeit wetlands that are modified from their original state. They support globally threatened species, and it is therefore grossly negligent of the government to fail to implement measures that would offer these habitats a measure of protection.
At the present time, anybody (more or less) can build anything, no matter how inappropriate, anywhere they choose, provided they have sufficient money. This cannot be allowed to go on. Thailand urgently needs to implement zoning legislation that takes account of biodiversity and landscape values of rural areas, and imposes some restrictions on land use. This is not just a matter of safeguarding aesthetic and conservation values; it also makes good economic sense. There will not be enough money in the whole of the national budget to defend Thailand's Central Plain against the effects of flooding caused by rising sea levels due to global warming in the future. Why spend money protecting buildings in inappropriate, flood-prone locations when they should never have been built in the first place?
Additionally, although farmers may prefer to grow dry season irrigated rice as the sale price is higher, this practice is not sustainable. It places unreasonable demands on scant water resources: There is just not enough water to go around. Increased costs for labour, agrochemicals and diesel undo any short term benefits reaped by farmers from increased global demand for rice. Ultimately small rice farmers may be forced into selling their land to developers in order to pay off their debts.
Subsidising rice farmers to return to a single, rain-fed cropping pattern in all but those areas most accessible to irrigation would both relieve demand for water and benefit biodiversity, while at the same time sustain rural communities. It would help maintain the diverse rural culture of the Siamese heartland while at the same time enable the Thai government to live up to its international obligations under the Ramsar Convention.
------
How can you help? Join the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand, which is the national partner of the million-strong worldwide alliance BirdLife International. For details, see the society's web site at http://www.bcst.or.th
Story by PHILIP ROUND and Photos by SMITH SUTIBUT
http://www.bangkokpost.com/040808_Outlook/04Aug2008_out001.php
วันศุกร์ที่ 1 สิงหาคม พ.ศ. 2551
Records round-up Mid-March to early June 2008
As before, all records submitted or gleaned from web pages are entered into the BCST Records Committee database. Only a selection of the more significant records are listed here, though we gratefully thank all those observers who submitted records..
There were 36 Oriental Darters including three nests at Wat Huai Jan (Lopburi) on 18 April, (SS) and 25 at Wang Nam Pet (Phitsanulok) on 8 June (MT). Nesting Darters were present at Ko Wat, Bung Boraphet (Nakhon Sawan) on 8 June (SS) and ones and twos reported from four other localities. There were 100 Spot-billed Pelicans at Bung Boraphet on 8 June (SS). Five Christmas Frigatebirds were reported off Ko Phi Phi (Krabi) on 25 March (CC). A Great-billed Heron was reported from a marsh near Phuket Airport on 23 April (IS) and when disturbed, flew ff towards some coastasl mangroves. A single Grey Heron was still present at Bung Boraphet on 8 June (SS). The spread of Javan Pond Herons continues with six breeding plumage birds at Kantang (Trang) on 8 April (SN, PDR) and two breeding adults and an apparent juvenile at Wang Nam Pet on 8 June MT).
Six breeding plumage Indian Pond Herons were reported from Minburi (Bangkok) and Bang Pu (Samut Prakan) to Laem Phak Bia (Phetchaburi) during 26 April to 10 May (PC, BK, KT, NU). Two Milky Storks at Khlong Tamru (Chonburi) on 23 April (SD, SN) appear to have been pure rather than hybrid individuals according to their underwing pattern.
Counts of over 20 White-browed Crakes and 80 Pheasant-tailed Jacanas (less than in the winter period) were made at Muang Boran Fishponds (Samut Prakan) on 24 May (NU). There were eleven Nordmann’s Greenshanks at Krabi River Mouth on 26 March (JB). 15 Grey-tailed Tattlers were reported during 26 March (Laem Pakarang, Phang-nga; CC) to 4 May (four at Laem Phak Bia; SK, SM et al.) An Eastern Curlew was seen at Ko Libong (Trang) on 6 April (PDR); 500 Asian Dowitchers on mudflats off Samut Sakhon on 21 April (SS) was the largest Inner Gulf count for a few years. Single Little Stints were reported at Laem Phak Bia on 23 March (NU), 30 April (BK) and on 4 May (SM et al.) 40-50 Ruffs were present in the Environmental Research and Development Project, Laem Phak Bia, on 19 March (NU).
A single River Tern at Chiang Saen (Chiang Rai) on 3 May (DD, MD) was the last recorded this season. Sooty Tern and “double figures of” Pomarine Jaegers were reported between Ko Lanta and Ko Lipe (Krabi) on 25 March (AA). A worn juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger was photographed on a pond at Khok Kham (Samut Sakhon) on 15 April (PK).There were still two White-winged Terns on Bung Boraphet on 8 June (SS).
Four sightings of 1–3 Pied Cuckoos were made at Bung Boraphet during 9 May to June (KI/BBWRS). Some were said to be calling which is remarkable. Is this former vagrant colonising, perhaps? A Ruddy Kingfisher (resident or migrant?) in mangroves at Pak Thale on 23 March (NU) is one of very few records for the Central Plains area.
There were migrant Blue-winged Pittas (one or more?) in parkland at Phutthamonthol on 14 to 20 April (RS, S?) and Hooded Pittas from14 to 24 April (RS, S? et al.). Presumed breeding Blue-winged and Hooded Pittas arrived on territory in the Chiang Saen Basin in mid-May (DD, MD) but a nest of Hooded Pittas in Khao Yai (Nakhon Ratchasima) had already fledged three young in the last week of May (XXX).
Among passerine passage migrants, there were Crow-billed Drongos at Ko Libong ( 6 and 7 April; PDR) and 26 April (Samut Sakhon; PK) a Tiger Shrike at Chiang Saen on 14 April (DD, MD); a Brown-chested Flycatcher netted and ringed in scrub at Bung Boraphet on 29 April (KI/BBWRS); eight Mugimaki Flycatchers (five males and three females or second calendar-year males) during 6–26 April from Loei, Udon, Nakhon Sawan, Samut Sakhon, Ko Samui and Trang (XXX, KI/BBWRSPB, SM, MT). A male nominate race Narcissus Flycatcher found dead on Wireless Road (Bangkok) on 9 April (XXX) was only the second or third record for the country. A male Green-backed Flycatcher was photographed at Ko Samui (Surat Thani) on 16 April (XXX). Nine Yellow-rumped Flycatchers during 6–24 April, from Loei, Udon Thani and Chaiyaphum in the N NE, south to Trang; (XXX, PB; SM; PDR, MT) included 5 males, 3 females and two that were unspecified.
A male White-tailed Rubythroat in roadside grasses at Doi Ang Khang on 2 April (PS) was the first record of this scarce and local winter visitor away from lowland reedbeds. A Manchurian Reed Warbler was seen at Muang Bran Fishponds on 19 April (NU). Remarkably, the Large-billed Reed Warbler which made history when first caught and banded at Laem Phak Bia on 27 March 2006 was retrapped at exactly the same site on 21 March 2008 (SN). Remarkably, a second bird was caught and banded at the Nam Kham Nature Reserve (Chiang Rai) on 27 March 2008 (WB, AK, PDR: see elsewhere this issue).
A male Cutia was seen on Doi Ang Khang on 2 April (PS) and Rufous-throated Fulvetta reported from Ph Suan Xai National Park (Loei) on 6 April (MT).
A Blyth’s Pipit (only the second Thai record) was reported from Khao Yai on 27 March(NU), and was supported by a written description. No fewer than 700 Citrine Wagtails were counted going to roost near Rimkhong (Chiang Saen) on 6 April (DD,MD).
Small colonies of up to 20 Asian Golden Weavers were reported from a number of sites during 8 March to 25 May, from Kong Krailas (Sukhothai); around Bangkok (Lat Krabang, Minburi, and Thung Khru-Bang Khunthien); Muang Boran Fishponds (Samut Prakan), Kamphaengsaen and Phutthamonthol (Nakhon Pathom), Mae Klong (Samut Songkhram) and Bang Jak (Phetchaburi) (XXX, NU, MT).
Streaked Weaver colonies were reported from near Muang Boran Fishponds, Bang Jaak and Had Chao Samran during 12 April–19 May (NU, SW)
Latest dates for winter visitors or passage migrants:
Chinese Egret 15 April, Laem Phak Bia (NU); Black-faced Spoonbill 13 May, Laem Phak Bia (SW), Chinese Sparrowhawk, Bang Phra, 5 June (NU); the last few roosting harriers at Chiang Saen departed in the first week of May (DD, MD).Grey-headed Lapwing, 26 April, Muang Boran Fishponds (NU); White-faced Plover, 6 April, Ko Libong, (SN, PDR); Nordmann’s Greenshank 21 April (two, Samut Sakhon, SS); Spoon-billed Sandpiper 1 April, one, Khok Kham (SD); Red-necked Phalarope 1 May, one, Laem Phak Bia (PC). White-tailed Rubythroat 3 April, Nam Kham (WB); Orange-flanked Bush Robin 26 March (Doi Inthanon; FG, MT); Chestnut Thrush 26 March, three, Doi Inthanon, (FG, MT); Oriental Reed Warbler 24 May, Samut Prakan, (NU), Baikal Bush Warbler 5 May, Nam Kham, (AJP), Black-faced Bunting 5 May; Chiang Saen (DD, MD), Yellow-breasted Bunting 3 May, six, Chiang Saen (DD, MD)
Breeding records: Chiang Saen Basin (DD, MD) Five pairs of Oriental Honey-buzzards thought to be breeding May (DD, MD). White-browed Crake nest-building on 14 April Barn Swallows were also said to now be breeding commonly in Chiang Saen town.
Contributors: Andy Adcock (AA), Philip Bawden (PB), Worapoj Boonkhwamdee (WB), Johan Buckens (JB), Chaiwat Chinuparawat (CC), Panuwat Chuenmano (PC), Suchart Daengphhayon (SD), Dowroong Damlamajak (DD), Mick Davies (MD), Frederic Le Gouis (FG), Kultida Itthiporn/ Bung Boraphet Wildlife Research Station (KI/BBS), Pornthep Katsura (PK), Boonrod Khieoyuu (BK), Suporn Kusolnamsanong (SK), Akaak Kunsorn (AK), Dr. Suwanna Mookachonpan (SM), Somchai Nimnuan (SN), Andrew J. Pierce (AJP), Philip Round (PDR), Pinit Saengkaew (PS), FRonayuth Sribanyaranond (RS), Ike Suriwong (IS), Smith Sutibut (SS), Marc Thibault (MT), Khemthong Tonsakulrungreung (KT), Nick Upton (NU), Stijn de Win (SW), Somchai, surname unknown (S?); Anonymous or pseudonymous web-board postings (XXX).
Records were also received from: Vorawan Aksornsart, Jarnpol Chaiwut, John Furse, Hathairat Jantowat, Phoori Kaensarn, Ekabutr Kanwanich, Wut Kiatwong, Petch Manopawitr, Yotin Meekaeo, Jaray Mekkaew, Sorasak Naak-Eim, Sirada Naipongsri , Dr. Mantanee Pairachavet, Somkiat Pakapinyo, Srasri Phiromyothee, Korakoch Pobprasert, Wuttipong Prapatsorn, Siriwit Sae-khow, Dr. Tommaso Savini, Jatuporn Sawasdee,. Pensri Srikeaw, Thunyalux Sunthoramat, Dr. Kaset Sutasha, Larry Wheatland.
Compiled on behalf of BCST Records Committee by Philip Round with assistance from Nick Upton (Thaibirding.com), Dr. Chaiyan Kasorndorkbua (Thai Raptor Group), Parinya Padungtin (www.tourtamoan.com)
BANDING RECOVERIES AND RESIGHTINGSRoughly one thousand shorebirds have been leg-flagged with distinctive Thailand colours, back over green, since September 2005. The most recent catch was over 400 shorebirds (mainly Bar-tailed Godwits, Whimbrels, and Terek Sandpipers) at Ko Libong by the Wildlife Research Group of the Department of National Parks) in early April 2008. Amazingly, only two weeks after they were flagged, two of Bar-tailed Godwits were resighted in NE Asia: one in Yalu Jiang Nature Reserve, Liaoning, NE China and another near Incheon, Korea. A Grey Plover—one of only two flagged at Khok Kham, Samut Sakhon in September 2005 and February 2006—was also resighted at Yalu Jiang at the same time. A Common Redshank ringed at Laem Phak Bia on 27 August 2006 was retrapped by Iwan Londo, an Indonesian bander, in Jambi, Sumatra on 28 April 2008; and one of only four Sanderlings flagged at Laem Phak Bia on 8 September 2007 was retrapped by banders in the Gulf of Bohai, NE China on 17 May 2008.
Note that all shorebirds flagged in the Inner Gulf, near Bangkok are marked with oblong flags, while those caught in the peninsula are fitted with angled (triangular flags).
(Data from Australasian Wader Studies Group and Department of National Parks, Thailand)
There were 36 Oriental Darters including three nests at Wat Huai Jan (Lopburi) on 18 April, (SS) and 25 at Wang Nam Pet (Phitsanulok) on 8 June (MT). Nesting Darters were present at Ko Wat, Bung Boraphet (Nakhon Sawan) on 8 June (SS) and ones and twos reported from four other localities. There were 100 Spot-billed Pelicans at Bung Boraphet on 8 June (SS). Five Christmas Frigatebirds were reported off Ko Phi Phi (Krabi) on 25 March (CC). A Great-billed Heron was reported from a marsh near Phuket Airport on 23 April (IS) and when disturbed, flew ff towards some coastasl mangroves. A single Grey Heron was still present at Bung Boraphet on 8 June (SS). The spread of Javan Pond Herons continues with six breeding plumage birds at Kantang (Trang) on 8 April (SN, PDR) and two breeding adults and an apparent juvenile at Wang Nam Pet on 8 June MT).
Six breeding plumage Indian Pond Herons were reported from Minburi (Bangkok) and Bang Pu (Samut Prakan) to Laem Phak Bia (Phetchaburi) during 26 April to 10 May (PC, BK, KT, NU). Two Milky Storks at Khlong Tamru (Chonburi) on 23 April (SD, SN) appear to have been pure rather than hybrid individuals according to their underwing pattern.
Counts of over 20 White-browed Crakes and 80 Pheasant-tailed Jacanas (less than in the winter period) were made at Muang Boran Fishponds (Samut Prakan) on 24 May (NU). There were eleven Nordmann’s Greenshanks at Krabi River Mouth on 26 March (JB). 15 Grey-tailed Tattlers were reported during 26 March (Laem Pakarang, Phang-nga; CC) to 4 May (four at Laem Phak Bia; SK, SM et al.) An Eastern Curlew was seen at Ko Libong (Trang) on 6 April (PDR); 500 Asian Dowitchers on mudflats off Samut Sakhon on 21 April (SS) was the largest Inner Gulf count for a few years. Single Little Stints were reported at Laem Phak Bia on 23 March (NU), 30 April (BK) and on 4 May (SM et al.) 40-50 Ruffs were present in the Environmental Research and Development Project, Laem Phak Bia, on 19 March (NU).
A single River Tern at Chiang Saen (Chiang Rai) on 3 May (DD, MD) was the last recorded this season. Sooty Tern and “double figures of” Pomarine Jaegers were reported between Ko Lanta and Ko Lipe (Krabi) on 25 March (AA). A worn juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger was photographed on a pond at Khok Kham (Samut Sakhon) on 15 April (PK).There were still two White-winged Terns on Bung Boraphet on 8 June (SS).
Four sightings of 1–3 Pied Cuckoos were made at Bung Boraphet during 9 May to June (KI/BBWRS). Some were said to be calling which is remarkable. Is this former vagrant colonising, perhaps? A Ruddy Kingfisher (resident or migrant?) in mangroves at Pak Thale on 23 March (NU) is one of very few records for the Central Plains area.
There were migrant Blue-winged Pittas (one or more?) in parkland at Phutthamonthol on 14 to 20 April (RS, S?) and Hooded Pittas from14 to 24 April (RS, S? et al.). Presumed breeding Blue-winged and Hooded Pittas arrived on territory in the Chiang Saen Basin in mid-May (DD, MD) but a nest of Hooded Pittas in Khao Yai (Nakhon Ratchasima) had already fledged three young in the last week of May (XXX).
Among passerine passage migrants, there were Crow-billed Drongos at Ko Libong ( 6 and 7 April; PDR) and 26 April (Samut Sakhon; PK) a Tiger Shrike at Chiang Saen on 14 April (DD, MD); a Brown-chested Flycatcher netted and ringed in scrub at Bung Boraphet on 29 April (KI/BBWRS); eight Mugimaki Flycatchers (five males and three females or second calendar-year males) during 6–26 April from Loei, Udon, Nakhon Sawan, Samut Sakhon, Ko Samui and Trang (XXX, KI/BBWRSPB, SM, MT). A male nominate race Narcissus Flycatcher found dead on Wireless Road (Bangkok) on 9 April (XXX) was only the second or third record for the country. A male Green-backed Flycatcher was photographed at Ko Samui (Surat Thani) on 16 April (XXX). Nine Yellow-rumped Flycatchers during 6–24 April, from Loei, Udon Thani and Chaiyaphum in the N NE, south to Trang; (XXX, PB; SM; PDR, MT) included 5 males, 3 females and two that were unspecified.
A male White-tailed Rubythroat in roadside grasses at Doi Ang Khang on 2 April (PS) was the first record of this scarce and local winter visitor away from lowland reedbeds. A Manchurian Reed Warbler was seen at Muang Bran Fishponds on 19 April (NU). Remarkably, the Large-billed Reed Warbler which made history when first caught and banded at Laem Phak Bia on 27 March 2006 was retrapped at exactly the same site on 21 March 2008 (SN). Remarkably, a second bird was caught and banded at the Nam Kham Nature Reserve (Chiang Rai) on 27 March 2008 (WB, AK, PDR: see elsewhere this issue).
A male Cutia was seen on Doi Ang Khang on 2 April (PS) and Rufous-throated Fulvetta reported from Ph Suan Xai National Park (Loei) on 6 April (MT).
A Blyth’s Pipit (only the second Thai record) was reported from Khao Yai on 27 March(NU), and was supported by a written description. No fewer than 700 Citrine Wagtails were counted going to roost near Rimkhong (Chiang Saen) on 6 April (DD,MD).
Small colonies of up to 20 Asian Golden Weavers were reported from a number of sites during 8 March to 25 May, from Kong Krailas (Sukhothai); around Bangkok (Lat Krabang, Minburi, and Thung Khru-Bang Khunthien); Muang Boran Fishponds (Samut Prakan), Kamphaengsaen and Phutthamonthol (Nakhon Pathom), Mae Klong (Samut Songkhram) and Bang Jak (Phetchaburi) (XXX, NU, MT).
Streaked Weaver colonies were reported from near Muang Boran Fishponds, Bang Jaak and Had Chao Samran during 12 April–19 May (NU, SW)
Latest dates for winter visitors or passage migrants:
Chinese Egret 15 April, Laem Phak Bia (NU); Black-faced Spoonbill 13 May, Laem Phak Bia (SW), Chinese Sparrowhawk, Bang Phra, 5 June (NU); the last few roosting harriers at Chiang Saen departed in the first week of May (DD, MD).Grey-headed Lapwing, 26 April, Muang Boran Fishponds (NU); White-faced Plover, 6 April, Ko Libong, (SN, PDR); Nordmann’s Greenshank 21 April (two, Samut Sakhon, SS); Spoon-billed Sandpiper 1 April, one, Khok Kham (SD); Red-necked Phalarope 1 May, one, Laem Phak Bia (PC). White-tailed Rubythroat 3 April, Nam Kham (WB); Orange-flanked Bush Robin 26 March (Doi Inthanon; FG, MT); Chestnut Thrush 26 March, three, Doi Inthanon, (FG, MT); Oriental Reed Warbler 24 May, Samut Prakan, (NU), Baikal Bush Warbler 5 May, Nam Kham, (AJP), Black-faced Bunting 5 May; Chiang Saen (DD, MD), Yellow-breasted Bunting 3 May, six, Chiang Saen (DD, MD)
Breeding records: Chiang Saen Basin (DD, MD) Five pairs of Oriental Honey-buzzards thought to be breeding May (DD, MD). White-browed Crake nest-building on 14 April Barn Swallows were also said to now be breeding commonly in Chiang Saen town.
Contributors: Andy Adcock (AA), Philip Bawden (PB), Worapoj Boonkhwamdee (WB), Johan Buckens (JB), Chaiwat Chinuparawat (CC), Panuwat Chuenmano (PC), Suchart Daengphhayon (SD), Dowroong Damlamajak (DD), Mick Davies (MD), Frederic Le Gouis (FG), Kultida Itthiporn/ Bung Boraphet Wildlife Research Station (KI/BBS), Pornthep Katsura (PK), Boonrod Khieoyuu (BK), Suporn Kusolnamsanong (SK), Akaak Kunsorn (AK), Dr. Suwanna Mookachonpan (SM), Somchai Nimnuan (SN), Andrew J. Pierce (AJP), Philip Round (PDR), Pinit Saengkaew (PS), FRonayuth Sribanyaranond (RS), Ike Suriwong (IS), Smith Sutibut (SS), Marc Thibault (MT), Khemthong Tonsakulrungreung (KT), Nick Upton (NU), Stijn de Win (SW), Somchai, surname unknown (S?); Anonymous or pseudonymous web-board postings (XXX).
Records were also received from: Vorawan Aksornsart, Jarnpol Chaiwut, John Furse, Hathairat Jantowat, Phoori Kaensarn, Ekabutr Kanwanich, Wut Kiatwong, Petch Manopawitr, Yotin Meekaeo, Jaray Mekkaew, Sorasak Naak-Eim, Sirada Naipongsri , Dr. Mantanee Pairachavet, Somkiat Pakapinyo, Srasri Phiromyothee, Korakoch Pobprasert, Wuttipong Prapatsorn, Siriwit Sae-khow, Dr. Tommaso Savini, Jatuporn Sawasdee,. Pensri Srikeaw, Thunyalux Sunthoramat, Dr. Kaset Sutasha, Larry Wheatland.
Compiled on behalf of BCST Records Committee by Philip Round with assistance from Nick Upton (Thaibirding.com), Dr. Chaiyan Kasorndorkbua (Thai Raptor Group), Parinya Padungtin (www.tourtamoan.com)
BANDING RECOVERIES AND RESIGHTINGSRoughly one thousand shorebirds have been leg-flagged with distinctive Thailand colours, back over green, since September 2005. The most recent catch was over 400 shorebirds (mainly Bar-tailed Godwits, Whimbrels, and Terek Sandpipers) at Ko Libong by the Wildlife Research Group of the Department of National Parks) in early April 2008. Amazingly, only two weeks after they were flagged, two of Bar-tailed Godwits were resighted in NE Asia: one in Yalu Jiang Nature Reserve, Liaoning, NE China and another near Incheon, Korea. A Grey Plover—one of only two flagged at Khok Kham, Samut Sakhon in September 2005 and February 2006—was also resighted at Yalu Jiang at the same time. A Common Redshank ringed at Laem Phak Bia on 27 August 2006 was retrapped by Iwan Londo, an Indonesian bander, in Jambi, Sumatra on 28 April 2008; and one of only four Sanderlings flagged at Laem Phak Bia on 8 September 2007 was retrapped by banders in the Gulf of Bohai, NE China on 17 May 2008.
Note that all shorebirds flagged in the Inner Gulf, near Bangkok are marked with oblong flags, while those caught in the peninsula are fitted with angled (triangular flags).
(Data from Australasian Wader Studies Group and Department of National Parks, Thailand)
birdwalk
today I have goodnews.
sunday at 3/8/2008 website lannabird.org
just bird walk who want to go .
วันอังคารที่ 17 มิถุนายน พ.ศ. 2551
“Alarm-call” for China’s rarest bird
A study of Chinese Crested Tern highlights that the global population has fallen to less than fifty individuals, half what they were just three years ago.
The study believes that the main cause of this decline is an unregulated expansion in trade for seabird eggs, a local delicacy that has risen in demand alongside a thriving tourist economy.
Without urgent action conservationists have given the bird less than five years before disappearing completely from its two remaining breeding areas.
Chinese Crested Tern Sterna bernstein is China’s rarest bird, listed by BirdLife International as Critically Endangered – the most severe threat category.
First discovered in 1861 and rarely recorded since, Chinese Crested Tern was largely presumed extinct until 2000, when four adults and four chicks were found amongst a colony of other tern species on Matsu, an island off the coast of Fujian Province. In 2004, it was discovered breeding at another site: Jiushan Islands, on the coast of Zhejiang Province of eastern China. At present these are the only known breeding sites in the world.
The study believes that the main cause of this decline is an unregulated expansion in trade for seabird eggs, a local delicacy that has risen in demand alongside a thriving tourist economy.
Without urgent action conservationists have given the bird less than five years before disappearing completely from its two remaining breeding areas.
Chinese Crested Tern Sterna bernstein is China’s rarest bird, listed by BirdLife International as Critically Endangered – the most severe threat category.
First discovered in 1861 and rarely recorded since, Chinese Crested Tern was largely presumed extinct until 2000, when four adults and four chicks were found amongst a colony of other tern species on Matsu, an island off the coast of Fujian Province. In 2004, it was discovered breeding at another site: Jiushan Islands, on the coast of Zhejiang Province of eastern China. At present these are the only known breeding sites in the world.
วันเสาร์ที่ 17 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2551
Transmitter attached to ANAKIN is now retrieved from Myanmar
In May 2007, BCST together with Kasetsart University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (KUFVM) and Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) rehabilitated and released an endangered Cinereous Vulture whose worldwide number was down to only about 10,000. The bird, named 'Anakin' after a Jedi turned villian in an epic film 'Starwars' because of its being a juvenile bird with all black colour, was attached with a transmitter, of which its purchase and satellite fees were paid by Singha Corporation, to study its movement. BCST sadly learned later that 'Anakin' was shot dead in Myanmar and the transmitter was kept by a Shan State Army soldier.
With kind assistance from the Director of Wildlife Conservation Division, DNP, the transmitter is now returned in good condition to the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Fund (WBRF) of which BCST is its secretariat. Dr.Chaiyan Kasorndokbua of the KUFVM, a fund committee member, has already made contact to reactivate the telemetry on April 23, 2008, and a result whether the transmitter is still functioning or not would be known in about two weeks. If not, it would be sent for repair by its producer in the USA. The transmitter will then be handed to KUFVM's Raptor Rehabilitation Unit to be attached to another rehabilitated raptor for scientific study later.
With kind assistance from the Director of Wildlife Conservation Division, DNP, the transmitter is now returned in good condition to the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Fund (WBRF) of which BCST is its secretariat. Dr.Chaiyan Kasorndokbua of the KUFVM, a fund committee member, has already made contact to reactivate the telemetry on April 23, 2008, and a result whether the transmitter is still functioning or not would be known in about two weeks. If not, it would be sent for repair by its producer in the USA. The transmitter will then be handed to KUFVM's Raptor Rehabilitation Unit to be attached to another rehabilitated raptor for scientific study later.
วันพุธที่ 27 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2551
วันจันทร์ที่ 18 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2551
warmming wolrd
มีบทความดี ๆ มาให้ทุกคนที่ห่วงใยโลกของเรา ทุกวันนี้โลกของเราร้อนขึ้น เนื่องจากการนำทรัพยากรธรรมชาติมาใช้จนเกินความพอดี เกินกว่าสมดุลทางธรรมชาติจะช่วยเรา ได้ กว่าที่เราจะรู้ตัวว่าโลกของเราเปลี่ยนแปลงก็เกือบที่จะสายเกินไป ทบทวนดูสักนิดแล้ว หันมาสร้างโลกที่น่าอยู่ให้กับลูกหลานและเพื่อนร่วมโลกของเราที่เขาไม่ได้มีส่วนสร้างภาวะโลกร้อนกับเราเถอะครับ
Over the past 100 years, the มีบทความดี ๆ มาให้ทุกคนที่ห่วงใขโลกของเรา ทุกวันนี้โลกของเราร้อนขึ้น เนื่องจากการนำทรัพยากรธรรมชาติมาใช้จนเกินความพอดี เกินกว่าสมดุลทางธรรมชาติจะช่วยเรา ได้ กว่าที่เราจะรู้ตัวว่าโลกของเราเปลี่ยนแปลงก็เกือบที่จะสายเกินไป ทบทวนดูสักนิดแล้ว หันมาสร้างโลกที่น่าอยู่ให้กับลูกหลานและเพื่อนร่วมโลกของเราที่เขาไม่ได้มีส่วนสร้างภาวะโลกร้อนกับเราเถอะครับOver the past 100 years, the wolrd average temperature has increased by approximately 0.6 degrees C and is projected to continue to rise at a rapid rate. Although species have responded to climatic changes throughout their evolutionary history, a primary concern for wild species , bird and their ecosystems is this rapid rate of change. We gathered information on species and global warming from 143 studies for our meta-analyses. These analyses reveal a consistent temperature-related shift, or 'fingerprint', in species ranging from molluscs to mammals and from grasses to trees. Indeed, more than 80% of the species that show changes are shifting in the direction expected on the basis of known physiological constraints of species. Consequently, the balance of evidence from these studies strongly suggests that a significant impact of global warming is already discernible in animal and plant populations. The synergism of rapid temperature rise and other stresses, in particular habitat destruction, could easily disrupt the connectedness among species and lead to a reformulation of species communities, reflecting differential changes in species, and to numerous extirpations and possibly extinctions. has increased by approximately 0.6 degrees C and is projected to continue to rise at a rapid rate. Although species have responded to climatic changes throughout their evolutionary history, a primary concern for wild species , bird and their ecosystems is this rapid rate of change. We gathered information on species and global warming from 143 studies for our meta-analyses. These analyses reveal a consistent temperature-related shift, or 'fingerprint', in species ranging from molluscs to mammals and from grasses to trees. Indeed, more than 80% of the species that show changes are shifting in the direction expected on the basis of known physiological constraints of species. Consequently, the balance of evidence from these studies strongly suggests that a significant impact of global warming is already discernible in animal and plant populations. The synergism of rapid temperature rise and other stresses, in particular habitat destruction, could easily disrupt the connectedness among species and lead to a reformulation of species communities, reflecting differential changes in species, and to numerous extirpations and possibly extinctions.
Over the past 100 years, the มีบทความดี ๆ มาให้ทุกคนที่ห่วงใขโลกของเรา ทุกวันนี้โลกของเราร้อนขึ้น เนื่องจากการนำทรัพยากรธรรมชาติมาใช้จนเกินความพอดี เกินกว่าสมดุลทางธรรมชาติจะช่วยเรา ได้ กว่าที่เราจะรู้ตัวว่าโลกของเราเปลี่ยนแปลงก็เกือบที่จะสายเกินไป ทบทวนดูสักนิดแล้ว หันมาสร้างโลกที่น่าอยู่ให้กับลูกหลานและเพื่อนร่วมโลกของเราที่เขาไม่ได้มีส่วนสร้างภาวะโลกร้อนกับเราเถอะครับOver the past 100 years, the wolrd average temperature has increased by approximately 0.6 degrees C and is projected to continue to rise at a rapid rate. Although species have responded to climatic changes throughout their evolutionary history, a primary concern for wild species , bird and their ecosystems is this rapid rate of change. We gathered information on species and global warming from 143 studies for our meta-analyses. These analyses reveal a consistent temperature-related shift, or 'fingerprint', in species ranging from molluscs to mammals and from grasses to trees. Indeed, more than 80% of the species that show changes are shifting in the direction expected on the basis of known physiological constraints of species. Consequently, the balance of evidence from these studies strongly suggests that a significant impact of global warming is already discernible in animal and plant populations. The synergism of rapid temperature rise and other stresses, in particular habitat destruction, could easily disrupt the connectedness among species and lead to a reformulation of species communities, reflecting differential changes in species, and to numerous extirpations and possibly extinctions. has increased by approximately 0.6 degrees C and is projected to continue to rise at a rapid rate. Although species have responded to climatic changes throughout their evolutionary history, a primary concern for wild species , bird and their ecosystems is this rapid rate of change. We gathered information on species and global warming from 143 studies for our meta-analyses. These analyses reveal a consistent temperature-related shift, or 'fingerprint', in species ranging from molluscs to mammals and from grasses to trees. Indeed, more than 80% of the species that show changes are shifting in the direction expected on the basis of known physiological constraints of species. Consequently, the balance of evidence from these studies strongly suggests that a significant impact of global warming is already discernible in animal and plant populations. The synergism of rapid temperature rise and other stresses, in particular habitat destruction, could easily disrupt the connectedness among species and lead to a reformulation of species communities, reflecting differential changes in species, and to numerous extirpations and possibly extinctions.
วันอาทิตย์ที่ 17 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2551
2007 Raptour & Talk I
Thai Raptor Group has organized a birding trip to survey and estimate a population of globally near-threatened White-rumped Falcon. This residential small, forest falcon is found year-round in Thailand and is currently and locally classified as vulnerable to extinction due to habitat loss or degradation. The falcon is sexually dimorphic since the female is more colorful than the male, which is unique in the bird world. The falcon nests in tree holes, built by woodpeckers and barbets. The main prey types are insects, small birds and reptiles, which are hunted by the method of perch-and-hunt technique, that is when the falcon spots a prey it will fly to catch it on tree trunks or the ground. The site is a small patch (less than 10 km2) of deciduous forest that has been encroached with agricultural fields, broadleaved evergreen forest, and a water reservoir. The event is aimed to count individuals of the falcon species, and record other residential raptor and non-raptor species.
Forty birders attended the trip, comprised 2 birder-wannabe kids, 9 university students (from Chulalongkorn, Kasetsart, and Mahidol Universities) and 29 adults. Most birders enjoyed the forest birding walk with cool weather after a downpour in the evening of 16 June, and multiple prolonged and pleasant views of the falcons in the morning of 17 June. Seven species resident raptors were sighted. Eight White-rumped Falcons were observed with 1 adult female, 5 adult male and 2 juvenile. Thus, it is likely that, at least, one brood of fledglings from a single breeding pairs is successful this year. Other raptor species found during the trip were Black-shouldered Kites, Rufous-winged Buzzards, a Black Baza, a Shikra, Collared Falconets and a juvenile Rufous-bellied Eagle. Seventy-seven species of non-raptor species were recorded. Highlights included 5 Oriental Darters, Grey-capped Woodpeckers (the tiniest Dendrocopos woodpecker in Thailand), Fulvous-breasted Woodpeckers, a fast-flying flock of Red-breasted Parakeets, graceful flight of Crested Treeswift, foraging flocks of Chestnut-bellied Nuthatches (of which its plumage is aligned with subspecies Sitta castanea neclecta), and White-browed Fantails showing the routine “steps” of tail fanning and “ flycatching dance” on tree branches and the ground.
Thai Raptor Group feels thankful to all trip-attending birders and is grateful to Leica for financial support for the trip organization and for providing attending birders its high-quality birding optics.
Forty birders attended the trip, comprised 2 birder-wannabe kids, 9 university students (from Chulalongkorn, Kasetsart, and Mahidol Universities) and 29 adults. Most birders enjoyed the forest birding walk with cool weather after a downpour in the evening of 16 June, and multiple prolonged and pleasant views of the falcons in the morning of 17 June. Seven species resident raptors were sighted. Eight White-rumped Falcons were observed with 1 adult female, 5 adult male and 2 juvenile. Thus, it is likely that, at least, one brood of fledglings from a single breeding pairs is successful this year. Other raptor species found during the trip were Black-shouldered Kites, Rufous-winged Buzzards, a Black Baza, a Shikra, Collared Falconets and a juvenile Rufous-bellied Eagle. Seventy-seven species of non-raptor species were recorded. Highlights included 5 Oriental Darters, Grey-capped Woodpeckers (the tiniest Dendrocopos woodpecker in Thailand), Fulvous-breasted Woodpeckers, a fast-flying flock of Red-breasted Parakeets, graceful flight of Crested Treeswift, foraging flocks of Chestnut-bellied Nuthatches (of which its plumage is aligned with subspecies Sitta castanea neclecta), and White-browed Fantails showing the routine “steps” of tail fanning and “ flycatching dance” on tree branches and the ground.
Thai Raptor Group feels thankful to all trip-attending birders and is grateful to Leica for financial support for the trip organization and for providing attending birders its high-quality birding optics.
วันพุธที่ 13 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2551
Appearance of Himalayan Griffon
On 31 December, 2007 around 11.40h, bird watchers on the 2000 m elevation ridge of Doi Lang, Chiang Mai, saw 8 of Himalayan Griffons fly past in a south-easterly direction, apparently having entered from Myanmar.Remarkably, another group of 18 Himalayan Griffons was seen at Mae Ngao, Mae Hongson, 1500 m, at 12:15 h on the same day by some other observers. Taken with the earlier sightings at Doi Lang (two on 15 December and one on 22 December), this suggests that at least 29 have entered Thailand this winter
วันพุธที่ 6 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2551
Look out for the “White-faced” Plovers
A distinctive plover has been independently discovered by Peter Kennerley and David Bakewell, working over ten years apart at two widely separated sites, Singapore and Penang.
Click to see larg picture
Male White-faced Plover at Laem Phak Bia (P. Ericsson)
Especially excitingly for Thai birdwatchers, when, after collaboration and careful synthesis of the evidence, the two observers went public with their findings (www.surfbirds.com/Features/plovers1108/malayplovers.html), retrospective records (from photographs taken in Thailand during 2003–2007, at Phetchaburi—Laem Phak Bia—and from Krabi) came immediately to light. Active searches for the tentatively named “White-faced Plovers” in the Inner Gulf since early December 2007 have revealed two to three further birds. One was found and photographed by Suchart Daengphayon and Somchai Nimnuan near the Artemia ponds at Laem Phak Bia on 15 December 2007, while one or two further individuals were present on the beach nearby for three successive weekends in January 2008.
Peter Kennerley and David Bakewell are to be congratulated on their remarkable find, which they are expected to formally publish soon. They consider that the “White-faced Plover” (named for the distinctive white-lored breeding males) is most likely a species with a small, probably threatened, population that breeds S. China and winters in SE Asia.
The Surfbirds article, a well-illustrated and highly detailed account of what is known, is essential reading for anyone who enjoys shorebirds and wants to search for themselves. Observers are encouraged to look for White-faced Plovers and to send their photographs (with date and location) either to BCST Records Committee or directly to the observers (Peter Kennerley: peterkennerley@onetel.net ; and David Bakewell digdeep1962@yahoo.com ).
Click to see larg picture
Male White-faced Plover at Laem Phak Bia (P. Ericsson)
Especially excitingly for Thai birdwatchers, when, after collaboration and careful synthesis of the evidence, the two observers went public with their findings (www.surfbirds.com/Features/plovers1108/malayplovers.html), retrospective records (from photographs taken in Thailand during 2003–2007, at Phetchaburi—Laem Phak Bia—and from Krabi) came immediately to light. Active searches for the tentatively named “White-faced Plovers” in the Inner Gulf since early December 2007 have revealed two to three further birds. One was found and photographed by Suchart Daengphayon and Somchai Nimnuan near the Artemia ponds at Laem Phak Bia on 15 December 2007, while one or two further individuals were present on the beach nearby for three successive weekends in January 2008.
Peter Kennerley and David Bakewell are to be congratulated on their remarkable find, which they are expected to formally publish soon. They consider that the “White-faced Plover” (named for the distinctive white-lored breeding males) is most likely a species with a small, probably threatened, population that breeds S. China and winters in SE Asia.
The Surfbirds article, a well-illustrated and highly detailed account of what is known, is essential reading for anyone who enjoys shorebirds and wants to search for themselves. Observers are encouraged to look for White-faced Plovers and to send their photographs (with date and location) either to BCST Records Committee or directly to the observers (Peter Kennerley: peterkennerley@onetel.net ; and David Bakewell digdeep1962@yahoo.com ).
วันพุธที่ 16 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2551
Long-tailed Duck- the latest addition to the Thai avifauna
On 4 January, Boonphob Kansiwiang, a Non-Hunting Area official, and Sopitcha Tantitadpitak found Thailand’s first Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) at Nong Bong Khai Non-Hunting Area (Chiang Saen Lake), Chiang Rai Province. The bird was found independently by local watchers, Dowroong and Mick Davies, and visiting birder,. Dave Sargeant, two days later. It has since proved slightly elusive, but was showing well on 9 January, when the attached photo was obtained. .
The occurrence of this Holarctic breeder (and mainly north-temperate winterer, along seacoasts) in Thailand is remarkable, and is the first SE Asian record. There seem not to be any records even in well-watched Hong Kong.
If all goes well it could stay at Nong Bong Khai for a long period as it was feeding well and appeared well settled.
The occurrence of this Holarctic breeder (and mainly north-temperate winterer, along seacoasts) in Thailand is remarkable, and is the first SE Asian record. There seem not to be any records even in well-watched Hong Kong.
If all goes well it could stay at Nong Bong Khai for a long period as it was feeding well and appeared well settled.
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