Bang Poo seaside resort in Samut Prakan was built in 1937 when Field Marshal Pibul Songgram was premier. It was intended to be a resort for the public to relax at as well as for recuperating soldiers. Today it is under the auspices of the Quartermaster Department of the Royal Thai Army. The most outstanding feature of Bang Poo is Sukta Pier, which juts 500m into the sea. At the end of the pier is Sukjai Pavilion which has served food and drink for over 50 years.
A black-headed gull, foreground, and a brown-headed gull.
Bang Poo is also well known for the gulls that congregate there during the cool period from October to May. Huge flocks gather there, and in the evenings crowds of people come to enjoy the spectacle, particularly during the weekends when people seem to outnumber the birds. But where do the gulls come from?
Most of the gulls at Bang Poo come from northern Asia. Some have their breeding grounds in Europe, while many others breed in northeastern Russia. They are true cold climate birds. During the winter months, their usual water sources are frozen over, so they migrate south to the warmth of the tropical zone where food is abundant.
Most gulls are white, grey and black. Several species are so similar that you can hardly differentiate them when they are together in large flocks. A gull is a gull, you may think, but for the bird-watcher, the challenge is to spot the odd one out among the thousands of animals.
Therein lies the charm of bird-watching. And every year, there is always the odd rare bird flying among the flock to get "twitchers" excited. Bang Poo is therefore the top gull-watching location in Thailand.
Population surveys at Bang Poo indicate a flock of 5,000-7,000 gulls, most of which are the common brown-headed variety whose habitat is in northern India and China. They are the most common and the highest in number, accounting for 99% of all gulls.
A mew gull.
The remainder are other species of gull. Among these, the most common is the black-headed variety. Some years only a few will appear, while other years will see them arrive by the dozens.
The black-headed gull and the brown-headed gull are almost like twins, but the former are smaller in size, with a narrower beak. In flight, their wingtips are noticeably white, while the brown-headed gulls tend to have black ones.
The breeding plumage of both species feature dark brown to black heads. This can be seen when they first arrive in October, and once again when they change their plumage in the following April before returning to their habitats to nest.
Another similar gull that doesn't appear every year, and even then only one or two at a time, is the slender-billed gull. They are about the same size as their brown-headed and black-headed cousins, but with an even narrower beak. Its head is slightly smaller, without the black breeding plumage of the others.
Spotting these tiny differences in a flock of thousands of gulls is not easy. You have to rely on great observation skills and an understanding of seasonal plumage, because gulls are large birds that reach maturity in two to four years, depending on the species, and their plumage changes with each step of their growth and each season of the year.
Other than the three gull species already mentioned, there are several other rare gulls at Bang Poo such as the black-tailed, Heuglin's, Mongolian, slaty-backed, Pallas's, mew, black-legged kittiwake and the little gull.
The Heuglin’s gull is larger than the brown-headed gull.
Many of these were first spotted in Thailand at Bang Poo.
The most recent find was the sooty gull, which was spotted in May 2011, not only in Thailand but also in parts of east Asia. This gull is usually found in Europe and the Middle East, unlike most of the migratory gulls in Thailand which come from Siberia, China, Korea and Japan.
Along the Bang Poo coast you will find not only gulls but also terns, the gull's close relative. They are smaller than gulls, with a different frame. Most commonly found at Bang Poo is the whiskered tern which likes to feed among the gulls, so people often mistake them for baby gulls.
Why do the gulls gather at Sukta Pier? The reason gulls come and feed around Sukta Pier by the thousand is probably because the pier is also a restaurant with endless supplies of food scraps.
Gulls usually feed on fish as well as scraps of food floating on the water. Nowadays, during the gull migration season, Bang Poo will provide bird feed (pork crackling, or chicken skin for Muslim visitors) so tourists can get up close and personal with the birds. By late afternoon, as the cool breeze sets in, the pier is crowded with people.
Where there's food, there is bound to be more and more gulls gathering. The visitors are happy, and the birds get their fill.
The birds also learn that this is an abundant and safe feeding area, and it becomes a memory that is transferred to younger generations of birds. Year after year, Bang Poo becomes a destination for migrating birds during the cold winter months. Young birds on their first migratory flight will learn from the veterans, and gradually become experienced travellers as the years go by.
With such a large flock of brown-headed gulls gathering there, it is a draw for other gulls to come and join the fun. That is why there's a good chance of spotting the odd new bird in Thailand among them.
Even though gulls are migratory birds that only make a home at Bang Poo during the winter months, the span of seven months _ from October to April _ means they spend more time here than they do during the breeding season back in their normal habitat.
Now's the time that the gulls are arriving at Bang Poo _ so let's go bird-watching!
