Skip to main content

Borderline

The morning is mild but grey, the route along the Arun to the Millstream quiet apart from six Magpies squabbling territorially on the path.

Rain has swollen what is already one of the fastest-flowing rivers in England and detritus picked up at high tide is now careering towards the sea. Among it is a matted mass of reeds, a Moorhen perching incongruously on the vegetation probing for food. Watching it, I recall standing by a different river a decade ago.

It’s 28 December 2007, a bright, crisp day in northern Thailand, and hosts of waders are feeding on a small chain of sandbars along the Mekong River. There are Long-billed Plovers and Temminck’s Stints, Spotted Redshanks and Small Pratincoles, but the River Lapwings are the real prize. This is a new species for me.

What’s more the side of the river I’m standing on is the border between Thailand and Laos, meaning the birds are in Laos. The 14 species noted on the sandbars form my list for a country I’ve still not set foot in. A lifer and a new country list, what could be better?

The birding is interrupted as a dead animal floats past, too decomposed to identify. Peter, the Swedish guy I’m birding with, tells me he once saw an elephant carcass heaving down the river. Others have seen human bodies, he adds. We are close to the Golden Triangle where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet, a place where gambling camps and drug traffickers take advantage of porous borders.

I return to the present, watching the Moorhen and its raft of reeds swirl down the river. I’ve only seen one animal carcass floating down the Arun, what appeared to be a pig that presumably lost its footing when water levels were high. And I’ve never seen a human body floating down the river, yet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Arun week: 1 to 7 March

4 March: A damp and chilly morning dog walk by the Arun to the east and north of Arundel yielded two  Reed Buntings, a Bullfinch, a singing Cetti's Warbler and a Yellowhammer. 3 March: Early to mid afternoon in Arundel Park yielded three Hawfinches, one Bullfinch, two Kestrels and a calling Tawny Owl. This was followed by brief visits to Swanbourne Lake, where there were two vociferous Little Grebes, and WWT, where there were 47 Lapwings, 10 Snipe, two Oystercatchers, two Shelduck and six Shovelers. Concluded with an hour and a half scan from the river end of the Millstream, which produced a female Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier, three Red Kites, four Buzzards, a Peregrine, at least one Barn Owl, calling Water Rail, three Little Egrets and at least seven Reed Buntings flying into WWT to roost. 3 March: The morning dog walk by the Arun to the east and north of Arundel yielded four Stonechats, five Reed Buntings, a Firecrest, a singing Cetti's Warbler and a singing Yellowhammer. 2
2 comments
Read more

The Arun week: 17 to 23 Feb

23 Feb: WWT and a scan of the river from the east end of the  Millstream in the afternoon was very productive, with a male Merlin, ringtail Hen Harrier, at least 9 Marsh Harriers, 6 Little Egrets, 2 Kingfishers, 1 Firecrest, 1 Grey Wagtail, 9 Shelduck, 6 Shoveler, 11 Snipe, 64 Lapwings, 2 Oystercatchers, 1 Barn Owl and 3 calling Tawny Owls. 20 Feb: The Klondike, river and Millstream route on a windy, grey morning: 1 Cattle Egret, 4 Little Egrets, 1 Water Rail, 1 Treecreeper. 19 Feb: A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker calling at a site in the area around Arundel in the morning. 18 Feb: Bright, dry morning in the Waterwoods: 1 Firecrest, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Marsh Tits, 3 Coal Tits, 4 Meadow Pipits, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Mandarin, 2 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel. 17 Feb: To Klondike, Offham and WWT on an afternoon of showers and colder weather: 6 Bewick's Swans, 1 Red Kite, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Stonechat, 2 Kingfishers, 12 Shelduck, 10 Pochard, 5 Shoveler, 1 Wigeon.
Post a Comment
Read more