Male Baer’s Pochard, Bueng Borapet, Thailand

It’s our first full day in Thailand and we spent the morning at Bueng Borapet – Thailand’s largest fresh water lake and swamp, looking for one of the world’s rarest duck. In a four hour boat trip around the lake we managed to locate just one male of this critically endanger species, which breeds, in small numbers, in eastern Russia and northern China. Numbers of this Aythay have declined dramatically in the past two decades and during a recent survey of it’s traditional wintering grounds, less than a hundred birds were found. This truly amazing sighting gets our Thailand trip off to a flying start!

Flight shot of Baer’s Pochard (foreground) showing under-wing detail, in comparison with the similar Ferruginous Duck