Birds of a successful bird house returning

This is a very successful bird house in Ban Laem. It is quite a sight each evening when the birds return.













This clip is not the busiest time as the birds return. It's around 6.30pm and light conditions are not ideal for recording. Still quite a sight, nevertheless. It goes on for nearly an hour.



Next to it, the owner is building a new bird house the pre-fab way.

A large bird house in Samut Sakhon

There are always people with deep pockets who want a big bird house. Located not far from the well known bird temple Wat Chong Lom at Samut Sakhon, this soon to be completed bird house is 20m x 40m x 4 storey. Quite a size isn't it? It could well be the largest in town but isn't that big in comparison to many at Pak Phanang in southern Thailand!













Just 40km outside Bangkok, Samut Sakhon as a major fishing port has also an established fish processing industry. Fishing boats are very much an integral part of life here. No surprise to see flower beds dressed as such along the roads.













Atop lamp posts too!



















A unique feature of the town.

A building boom in swiftlet houses

There seem to be a swiftlet house building boom in my area. To my knowledge, there are currently 25 bird houses in the pipeline to build! This surge is perhaps fueled by an observable increase of bird population in the region.

Posing in front of banner - site of a swiftlet town promotion here.













Nearby more sites are at various stage of construction progress. Concrete being poured over foundation footing here.













At another site, pre-fab beams are put in place for the ground floor.













A close up view of joint where concrete will be poured to hold the beams in place.



















Yet another new site gets underway with piling work to begin.













There are five buildings under construction concurrently. It make sense to do it the pre-fab way. Guess it is getting boring to show construction in progress.

Building bird houses - the pre-fab way

After years of experience in bird house construction, my friends in Ban Laem are embarking on the pre-fab approach. I followed their progress through the construction of a new bird house for my friend.

The pre-fab yard was first prepared with a simple hoisting system, running on rail guides over steel molds laid on ground.





Truck delivered concrete mix to cast the first beams.


















Moving the huge bucket load with ease towards the molds.













Concrete being poured into molds with steel reinforcement in-laid.













Days later, formed beams are left on open ground for further curing.













Steel rolls geometry provides an interesting shot.













So were the flying sparks of cutting steel.













Short distance away, the piling machine got off with its task.













Footing being prepared to sit the columns.













Pre-fab beams delivered to site ready for assembly.


.










Watching the beams put in place was like building with Lego bricks!













Pre-fab floor slabs were laid next.













Steel form-work for another 5 cm concrete layer added on top.













The process was repeated for the next floor...

























and the next floor..













The building structure went up at rate of one floor per week, very fast and efficient!













In a matter of weeks, the building structure is almost completed - very impressive!



















An overview of the construction site - neater and better organized than construction of my bird house. Notice the row of "Bird condos" to the left in background.

A round trip to Hat Yai & Satun

Having got my new farm off the ground, it was time to visit our friends in southern Thailand. It is timely as P'Sukit is building a new stand alone bird farm in Hat Yai & few other friends are getting on the band wagon too!



















It is very well constructed in my opinion. We offered our 2 cents worth of opinions nevertheless!



















P'Moo shipped his "nesting plank" grooving machine down to Hat Yai and came to set it up.



















His DIY machine in operation!


A photo shot with some new found friends.















One of our friends has a shop unit bird house here at the border town of Sadao.















Then onwards to Satun (a southern most province bordering Malaysia) where another friend will build 4 stand alone farms here at this scenic site.



P'Moo posed with one of his goats.



















Passing Chumpon on the way back, caught a glimpse of these monkeys trained to pick coconuts!


















































I never thought I would came this far south in Thailand..

I've a T-shirt with a message:

"Life is a journey where destinations are unknown"

How true!

Some interesting farm designs

Have you seen hexagonal roving rooms?

It is rather uncommon but I've seen one in Batam, Indonesia. This is another I've seen in the swiftlet town Ban Laem. Err.. painted pink? That's unique! Hmm... a lady owner may be.





































This is a large farm - probably 20m x 24m x 6 storeys! Multiple entry holes at split levels.















These are 3 farms in a row built by P'Jiap. His earlier design with open section behind the roving room on top is populated by pigeons (swiftlet friendly he reckons). He do away with that in newer farms now.















I'll update with more interesting & unusual designs here in future.

Bird Farms of Samut Songkhram

Samut Songkhram, 70km south west from Bangkok, is the smallest province of Thailand. The provincial capital was built close to river mouth of Mae Klong, a fairly large river that flows all the way from Kanchanaburi.

Many temples are built on river banks and some populated with birds. This is Wat Ban Leam's monk quarters that gave way to birds!














A bird house sighted cross the Mae Klong on opposite bank.














View seen through pavilion on Wat Ban Laem's ground.



















Another bird temple hidden in a quiet location out of town.



















Two converted bird houses along the busy Rama II main road.















A failed hotel converted into bird farm!















The largest in town, 2 blocks each as big as factory size building! A stone throw from my favorite sea food restaurant.














Samut Songkhram is also reputed to produce the best lychees in Thailand. It has a short season in mid-April, around Songkhran period. This year, yield was low and prices almost doubled last year!