17FEB17: Thailand Day 2 -Wat Komnaram (Part 3 of 5)

Wat Komnaram is in the village of Ban Bang Kaew off of road 6022.  A Wat is a Buddhist Temple.  They are beautiful buildings on pleasant grounds.  Buddhist temples are designed to symbolize 5 elements: Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and Wisdom.  Unfortunately we did not go into a Wat on our trip but next time for sure.  This Wat, as with many other temple designs in Thailand, have chofah that adorn the ends of roofs.  Chofah are shaped like a slender bird representing Garuda - the bird-like creature that was Lord Vishnu's mount.  The Brahminy Kite is considered as the contemporary representation of Garuda. I was fortunate enough to take this photograph:

 

Brahminy Kite on chofah

Thailand can best be described as tropical and humid for the majority of the country during most of the year. The southern region of Thailand really has only two seasons - the wet and the dry. The wet season is roughly April through to October.  We were there towards the end of the dry season.  The Wat and the adjoining fields are depicted in the picture below:

Wat Komnaram

Specialties at Wat Komnaram include Oriental Pratincole and Oriental Skylark among a host of wading and shorebirds.  But first....  it was here we picked up our first rallidae - Common Moorhen.  Rick picked it out with his bionic eyes and super scope in the reeds on the far side of the pool.  Looks were heavily distorted by the midday temperatures and photos were out of the question.  Here are a few photos of the specialties: 

Oriental Pratincole Flycatching

Oriental Pratincole

Oriental Skylark

One thing about Thailand - there are birds everywhere.  Up, down, left, right - you name it. Keeping one eye to the sky is always beneficial.  

Marsh Sandpiper

Black-tailed Godwit

We finished up here and headed over to Pak Thale - THE place to see Spoon-billed Sandpiper.