Bilan 2012 du suivi de la migration des rapaces à Khao Dinsor (Thaïlande)

Khao Dinsor, also known as « Pencil Hill », is north of the city of Chumphon on Thailand’s east coast (Route 3201) along the South China Sea. It is certainly one of the best raptor watch sites in tropical Asia because at some occasion raptors could just fly beside you or just right to you and the variety and numbers of birds are impressive. Six species of Accipiter can be seen at Khao Dinsor, and in mid-October it is possible to see them all in one day. No other watch site in the world records this many Sparrowhawk species.
An international team of birders follow this migration since 2010, and they sent us the report that summarizes their findings on raptor and other bird migration for autumn 2012 for the period 15 August through 9 November, i.e. a total of 87 continuous days of observation, averaging more than 10 hours per day.
They identified 26 migrant raptor species, six resident (non-migratory) raptors and counted more than 250,000 individuals heading south towards Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sulawesi and even the Philippines.
They also counted 28 non-raptor birds, including almost 29,000 bee-eaters (three species); 20,600 Pacific Swifts; 800+ Needletail Swifts (three species); as well as more than 65,000 Barn Swallows, the first such southbound migration studies of these birds in South-east Asia.
Autumn 2012 also saw the official opening of South-east Asia’s first center for raptor research and education: the Chumphon Raptor Migration and Education Center.
In October 2012 died a great man who supported the arts and sciences in Thailand, Khun Nurak Israsena (1929-2012).