Black-faced Spoonbill at ATT

A SVC birding group found a Black-faced Spoonbill on Tuesday 11 March at the Ang Trapeang Thmor large waterbird roost. I was working at the site and visited on Friday afternoon. The spoonbill was still present, roosting in a tree slightly separate from the crowd of storks, pelicans, cormorants & egrets. Below are some photos taken through a telescope. Sophoan from SVC has made some better photos, which will be uploaded to their facebook page.

Black-faced Spoonbill has only recently been confirmed in the floodplain of the Bassac River (Mekong Delta) with sightings in 2011 and 2012 reported in BirdingASIA 19. There have been spoonbill records from the Tonle Sap floodplain, but there was confusion about the species. It now seems clear that this species will on occasion move up to this huge inland lake and wider floodplain, to which ATT is adjacent.

Other significant sightings from ATT:
- Black-necked Stork, a single bird seen first in dry/harvested ricefields and then northern edge of the wetland on the 14th
- Short-toed Snake Eagle, a single bird hovering over ricefields
- Hainan Blue Flycatcher, a male seen along the path to the roost
- White-browed Crake, near the roost this time
- Red-throated Pipit (large flocks of 10-20 birds seen here, at Stoung and in Boeung Prek Lapouv within the same week)

Also found a beautifully patterned feather at a Sarus Crane roost which could be of a Tyto Owl

At Anlung Pring a week earlier I was finally able to make some photographs of one of the twenty plus stints among the redshanks and sandpipers. I believe these to be Long-toed Stints.

Rob van Zalinge