thailand birding trip report dec 13-jan 14

8/13/2019 Thailand Birding Trip Report Dec 13-Jan 14

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Thailand Trip ReportDecember 2013 January 2014 Andy Walker 1

http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk

Thailand Birding Trip Report

December 12th2013 - January 3rd2014

Andy Walkerhttp://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk

Blue Pitta at Kaeng Krachan National Park


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Outline Itinerary

Bangkok (December 12th)Pak Thale & Laem Pak Bia (December 13th-14th)Petchaburi Rice Fields (December 14th)Kaeng Krachan NP (December 14th-20th)Doi Inthanon (December 20th-25th)Doi Chiang Dao Area (December 25th-29th)Doi Lang Area (December 29th-31st)Mekong River/Chiang Saen Area (January 1st)Huay Tueng Tao (January 2nd)Bangkok (Suan Luang Park) (January 3rd)

I flew Manchester (UK) to Bangkok via Dubai with Emirates Airways. Flights ran smoothly and prettymuch on time. My layovers in Dubai were 1.5hrs, these were just about long enough to make mytransfers and grab a drink. Hired two cars and had an internal flight.

Birding Highlights

This was my first trip to Thailand, organised after Id had a great time birding in Malaysia in March2013 (Trip report here:http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/malaysia-trip-report.html). Elsewherewithin the Oriental region Ive also visited Borneo (2007) and India (2009), though neither of thesewere specific birding trips.

On this trip I recorded 460 species, just under half of these were new birds; the following are someof my highlights:

Spoon-billed Sandpiper 1 seen at Pak Thale on two dates. Nordmanns Greenshank 8+ seen at Laem Pak Bia Salt Pans. Chinese Egret 1 seen at Laem Pak Bia Sand Spit. Eared Pitta 1 seen at Lung Sin Waterhole, Kaeng Krachan. Blue Pitta 1 seen at Kaeng Krachan National Park. Giant Nuthatch 2 seen and c.4 heard at Doi Chiang Dao. Kalij Pheasant Several seen at Kaeng Krachan. Great Hornbill Several seen at Kaeng Krachan. Tickells Brown Hornbill Several seen at Kaeng Krachan. Silver-breasted Broadbill 1 seen at Kaeng Krachan, 4-6 seen at Doi Chiang Dao. Black-and-Yellow Broadbill 1 seen at Kaeng Krachan. Long-tailed Broadbill Heard only at Doi Chiang Dao. Black-and-Red Broadbill 1 seen at Kaeng Krachan. Red-headed Trogon 1 female seen at Kaeng Krachan. Red-bearded Bee-eater At least 1 seen at Kaeng Krachan. Blue-bearded Bee-eater Several seen at Kaeng Krachan. Blyths Frogmouth 1 heard at Doi Chiang Dao. Pied Harrier 1 adult male at Petchaburi Rice Fields, several hundred coming in to roost at

Chiang Saen with several hundred Eastern Marsh Harriers. Ratchet-tailed Treepie A pair at Kaeng Krachan seen on two dates. Black-tailed Crake 2 seen at the Doi Inthanon km 30 Camp Site. Bamboo Woodpecker 1 seen at Kaeng Krachan with others heard at Kaeng Krachan and

Doi Chiang Dao. Banded Kingfisher 1 female at Doi Chiang Dao. Golden Bush Robin 1 male and 1 female at Doi Lang. Ultramarine Flycatcher 1 male at Doi Lang. Sapphire Flycatcher 1 non-breeding male at Doi Lang.

Dark-sided Thrush 3 seen at Doi Inthanon. Chestnut Thrush 1 at Doi Lang.
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Himalayan Bluetail Common at Doi Lang and one on the Doi Inthanon Summitbroadwalk.

Red-flanked Bluetail A few at Doi Lang. Asian Stubtail 1 seen at Doi Inthanon. Siberian Rubythroat Common in the North where many seen well. Siberian Blue Robin Several at Kaeng Krachan and one at Doi Inthanon. Blue-fronted Redstart 1 female at Doi Lang. Daurian Redstart 1 male at Doi Inthanon. Fire-tailed Sunbird 2 at Doi Lang. Greater Painted Snipe 1 female at Thaton Rice Paddies. Long-tailed Duck 2 birds on Chiang Saen Lake, believed to be the second national

record!

Himalayan Bluetail at Doi Lang

A good, and wide range of other species including: 16 species of Woodpecker, 39 species of OldWorld Chats, 18 species of Bulbul, 26 species of Babbler, 37 species of Warbler, 39 species of Waderand a whole host of other highly sought species.

Ive included a range of photos in the report; most are taken at high ISO due to dark forestconditions so are a bit grainy in places but hopefully they give a good idea! Most photos in this reportwere taken with my Panasonic Lumix FZ-200, with a couple off my IPhone 5s.

Site and Travel Information

I went on this trip with a birder from Miami, Florida, Carlos Sanchez. I put together the itinerary after

chatting to a range of local birders/guides, reading a few trip reports and speaking to people I know


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who have birded over there. This was my first visit to Thailand and Carlos first trip to the Old Worldso there was a lot of new birds for each of us.

The main target of the trip was Spoon-billed Sandpiper with anything else a bonus. I hoped forseeing some Pittas but was told in no uncertain terms that Id stand practically no chance given thetime of year and that Id be better heading north to try for a wide range of species available up there.

So I decided on a week south of Bangkok in the central area (Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale Area andKaeng Krachan) and then two weeks around the north of the country (Doi Inthanon, Doi Chiang Dao,Doi Lang, Chiang Saen).

As the trip was in two fairly distinct areas we met up at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, hired a carfor a week while we did the central areas, before returning it, flying north to Chiang Mai where wepicked up another hire car for the two weeks we were in the north.

Getting Around - Cars

Car hire was a reasonable cost for the three weeks. I booked it from the UK with Hertz Internationalseveral months before going. I could have probably got it a bit cheaper by looking around more but

was happy to go with a company I recognised. As it turned out everything ran very smoothly andpicking up/dropping off etc.was very easy with staff polite, friendly and English-speaking both inBangkok and Chiang Mai. I had a Toyota Vios for a week and a Honda City for two weeks, both were

Automatics and fine to drive and managed on the hills in the north.

I got an app for my IPhone TOMTOM S.E.Asia. This was a godsend and without it, getting around,generally, and to the various birding locations would have been very difficult/stressful and not muchfun! Road signage in Thailand is generally ok but is fairly bad at times.

Driving was generally easy, however the Thais driving often leaves a lot to be desired. The one ruleto remember is that there are no rules! Fuel was fairly cheap, about 30/40 to fill up but the fueltanks didnt appear huge. There was plenty of fuel stations though not all stations sold all types of

fuel. We did find it a bit difficult finding fuel stations near the airports which was a bit of a pain,especially as the traffic near the airports was generally worse than elsewhere.

We hired a road car (not 4x4) and we managed to get by without needing the 4x4 capability, though4x4 is essential in some areas. See Birding Sites for specifics for each site. Note that the type ofvehicle you have may mean that you have to take certain roads to get to certain birding points e.g.for Doi Lang in a normal road car you need to drive up from the Fang side rather than the Thatonside, therefore it would be best to find accommodation in Fang rather than Thaton, doing so will savean hours driving each day.

Getting Around - Flights

I flew between Bangkok and Chiang Mai with Air Asia (from Don Muang). The flight was quick, aboutan hour or so and the planes were good and staff friendly etc. One thing to bear in mind if doingsomething similar or anything out of Don Muang the system here was total chaos at the time of ourvisit. Everyone was using the quick check-in option, then queuing for an hour or so to drop off bags,all flights going through the same desk! Wed made sure we had enough time at the airport butthere were others who werent as prepared.

Accommodation

I stayed at the Best Western near Suvarnabhumi Airport at the start and end of my trip as it wasconveniently located. I stayed at the I-Tara Resort in the Laem Pak Bia area (one night), then at BaanMaka for birding at Kaeng Krachan (six nights), Highland Resort (one night) and Mr Deangs (four

nights) for birding at Doi Inthanon, Malees (four nights) for birding at Doi Chiang Dao, and a B&B inThaton (four nights) for birding at Doi Lang and Chiang Saen. Due to going over New Year (a big


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public holiday) I booked all accommodation well in advance (except for hotels near the airport due tothe large number of these).

Some notes on the above accommodation:

Best Western Suvarnbhumi Good hotel near the airport, secure parking, free Wi-Fi and free shuttle

bus to/from airport. Clean, big rooms, good bathroom, food ok etc. Booked last minute throughAgoda with much reduced rates.

I-Tara Resort A nice hotel, good food/drink etc. Booked through Agoda. Not the cheapest but agood location being only minutes away from all of the decent birding locations. Free Wi-Fithroughout.

Baan Maka This was one of my favourite places on the trip. Tom, the owner of Baan Maka wasincredibly friendly and went out of his way to ensure we had everything we needed during our stay.He organised our trips to Lung Sin Waterhole and organised for us to go into the National Park(Kaeng Krachan) with a local guide for a day and with a driver and 4x4 on another. The food at BaanMaka was very nice and plentiful for all meals. Free Wi-Fi in the dining area. I booked directly with

Tom throughhttp://www.baanmaka.com

Highland Resort Didnt spend much time here, arrived late at night, and left first thing in themorning. Even with the GPS information and the Sat Nav this place was difficult to find in the darkwhen we arrived, no signs in English etc. (it has possibly had a name change too). Didnt particularlyfind the staff very helpful and the food wasnt great. Free Wi-Fi throughout. Booked directly throughhttp://www.inthanonhighlandresort.com

Mr Deangs Very basic. Food here was ok, breakfast was nice when we had it, though we weredisappointed not to be able to get an early breakfast/packed breakfast when we enquired about it(especially when it appeared other groups were given this service). The location was very good forgetting to the upper birding trails. There is no heating here and it gets very cold at night. Idrecommend bringing thermals and possibly a fleece sleeping bag! Free Wi-Fi throughout. Bookeddirectly throughhttp://www.mrdeang.com

Malees A nice lodge. We had the basic rooms, bed only with shared bathrooms, these were morethan adequate for what we needed. The food here was very nice, breakfasts especially and the stafffriendly. We benefited here by the presence of the very helpful Neil Lawton, a British bird guide(http://norfolkbirderinthailand.blogspot.co.uk)who provided us with a load of information on birdingaround Doi Chiang Dao and also at Doi Lang. Free Wi-Fi throughout. Booked directly throughhttp://www.marleenature.com

B&B in Thaton We stayed in what started off as a very nice B&B in Thaton (great rooms and verycomfy beds), however the guy who owned it was a crazy racist so Im not giving him any publicity.There was a very nice restaurant in Thaton by the large bridge. The service was incredibly slow but

the food was the best we ate in the country, by a long shot so it was well worth the wait.

Miscellaneous (Weather/Food/Itinerary)

We got lucky with rain we only had one shower on one afternoon whilst at Kaeng Krachan NationalPark. Reading information on various websites it was clear that before we reached the north of thecountry theyd had some really nasty cold, wet weather up there, luckily this had gone by the time wegot there. Where we got lucky with rain we had some bad luck in the Doi Chiang Dao and ChiangSaen areas with mist/fog resulting in losing several hours in the mornings at each of these locations.It was quite difficult to know what to take clothes wise, the Laem Pak Bia Area was mid-30soC, dryheat, dropping to mid-20soC at night, while in the north the day-time temperature hit high teens,dropping to 2/3oCs at night (e.g. Doi Inthanon). Temperatures can range widely even if you spend

one day at one location, Doi Inthanon being the perfect example, cool in the morning at the Highland
http://www.baanmaka.com/http://www.baanmaka.com/http://www.baanmaka.com/http://www.inthanonhighlandresort.com/http://www.inthanonhighlandresort.com/http://www.mrdeang.com/http://www.mrdeang.com/http://www.mrdeang.com/http://norfolkbirderinthailand.blogspot.co.uk/http://norfolkbirderinthailand.blogspot.co.uk/http://norfolkbirderinthailand.blogspot.co.uk/http://www.marleenature.com/http://www.marleenature.com/http://www.marleenature.com/http://norfolkbirderinthailand.blogspot.co.uk/http://www.mrdeang.com/http://www.inthanonhighlandresort.com/http://www.baanmaka.com/


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Resort, baking hot by 09:00 on the km 13 trail, then as you get higher you need to start applying thelayers and then by late-afternoon at Mr Deangs the thermals and down jackets need to go on.

As expected in Thailand, the food was generally very good. There was plenty of little shops to buyfood/drink as we were driving around with even small villages/towns appearing to have 7/11s andsimilar shops. Its worth noting that in most of the parks, with the exception of Doi Inthanon, the

availability of food was pretty hit and miss.

Id originally planned on having less time at Kaeng Krachan National Park and having some time atDoi Ang Khang, however because I didnt hear back from the owners of Ban Luang Resort at Doi AngKhang (and with my visit likely to coincide with the busy new year period) I opted to change myoriginally planned itinerary to the one I finally carried out, reported herein. I think we could havedone with one extra day on Doi Lang, but was glad we had a day at Chiang Saen. I could haveprobably arranged the last couple of days slightly differently to have fitted the above in, however thetime at the parks near Chiang Mai and Bangkok were rewarding in their own rights and a nicerelaxing way to finish the trip.

Birding Sites

There is a great deal of really useful information on the following three websites; this is essentialreading and preparation material for anyone planning a birding trip to Thailand:

Dave Sargeant:http://www.norththailandbirding.com Nick Upton:http://www.thaibirding.com Stijn De Win (Birding2Asia):http://www.birding2asia.com

Below are some of my notes on the locations we visited with some details of the better birds werecorded at each.

Pak Thale/Laem Pak Bia Area

We had one full day and a half day (morning) birding here. We drove to Pak Thale first fromBangkok, arriving just after first light, the journey taking about two hours at that time of the day. Wevisited the following sites during our time here: Pak Thale Shorebird Conservation Centre, Laem PakBia Salt Pans, Kings Project, Laem Pak Bia Sand Spit, Abandoned Building, Wat Komnaram. All of thebirding locations here are very close together, meaning that it is easy to get round a number of themduring the course of the day.

The number of waders along this section of coast was simply staggering, thousands and thousands ofthem, with birds on salt pans and rice paddies. The directions on Dave & Nicks sites are prettyaccurate for here. Despite the daunting number of birds it was fairly easy to locate the lone Spoon-billed Sandpiper that was present at Pak Thale, though I know that that is not always the case as

people we met had missed them in the time after our visit.

Key Species Notes:

Spoon-billed Sandpiper:One bird seen on two occasions at Pak Thale Shorebird ConservationCentre. The bird favoured the same salt pan on both dates. This salt pan was a couple of hundredyards past the Pak Thale Shorebird Centre. The first time we saw the bird it was busy preening, thesecond time was feeding. Was found about here both days: 13 8.858', 100 3.742' (both sightings inthe morning).

Chinese Egret:One present on Laem Pak Bia Sand Spit. We got the boat with Mr Deang who knowsexactly where the birds are. The trip to the sand spit was very enjoyable and we also had c.40

Malaysian Ploverbut no White-faced Plovers unfortunately.
http://www.norththailandbirding.com/http://www.norththailandbirding.com/http://www.norththailandbirding.com/http://www.thaibirding.com/http://www.thaibirding.com/http://www.thaibirding.com/http://www.birding2asia.com/http://www.birding2asia.com/http://www.birding2asia.com/http://www.birding2asia.com/http://www.thaibirding.com/http://www.norththailandbirding.com/


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Nordmanns Greenshank, Great Knot and Long-toed Stint:Part of a large number of waderspresent at Pak Thale Shorebird Centre and Laem Pak Bia Salt Pans. Present throughout and easy tofind during our visit.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper record shot off my IPhone at Pak Thale Shorebird Conservation Centre

Chinese Egret at Laem Pak Bia Sand Spit

Long-toed Stint at Laem Pak Bia Salt Pans


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Other species we recorded in this area included: Wigeon, Shoveler, Pintail, Ruddy-breasted Crake,Eastern Black-tailed Godwit, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Turnstone, Avocet, Black-wingedStilt, Red-necked Stint, Temmincks Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, LesserSandplover, Greater Sandplover, Grey-headed Lapwing, Red-wattled Lapwing, Heuglins Gull, CaspianTern, Black-headed Ibis, Painted Stork, Hoopoe, Little Green Bee-eater, Wryneck, Freckle-breastedWoodpecker, Golden-bellied Gerygone, Racket-tailed Treepie, Malaysian Pied Fantail, Oriental Reed

Warbler, Black-browed Reed Warbler, Oriental Skylark, White-shouldered Starling and Plain-backedSparrow.

Little Green Bee-eater (left) and Malaysian Pied Fantail (right)

Petchaburi Rice Fields

We spent an enjoyable afternoon birding at the Petchaburi Rice Fields (c.3.5hrs). Nick Uptonsdirections are good for finding the location. We spent some time at the Nong Pla Lai Raptor WatchPoint (identified by the sign shown below) where we connected with Great Spotted Eagle almostimmediately, however the real highlight here was the adult male Pied Harrier that gave a nice view asit flew overhead. We also birded around the Radio Mast and Fish Pond Road.

Some of the birds we saw included: Eastern Marsh Harrier, Black-shouldered Kite, Black-eared Kite,Osprey, Cotton Pygmy-Goose, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Bronze-winged Jacana, Yellow Bittern,Cinnamon Bittern, Asian Openbill, Plaintive Cuckoo, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Little Green Bee-eater,Freckle-breasted Woodpecker, Bluethroat and Asian Golden Weaver.

Greater Spotted Eagle sign (left) with Greater Spotted Eagle flying over it, and a close-up (right) at Nong Pla LaiRaptor Watch Point


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Kaeng Krachan National Park Area

Very enjoyable birding here, we did far better than perhaps we expected. We spent our time here asfollows:

Day 1:Lung Sin Waterhole (07:00-12:00) and (14:30-18:00) and Baan Maka (12:15-14:15).Also night-drive around Baan Maka (20:30-21:30);

Day 2:Kaeng Krachan NP higher elevation areas above km 27.5 and between PanoenTung campsite and Tortip Waterfall (06:00-19:00);

Day 3:Kaeng Krachan NP higher elevation areas above km 27.5 and between PanoenTung campsite and Tortip Waterfall (06:00-19:00);

Day 4:Kaeng Krachan NP lower elevation areas: access road (06:15-08:00 and 16:00-18:00), Ban Krang campsite (08:00-09:00 and 12:00-12:30), Youth Camp trail (09:00-12:00),area between Streams 1 and 3 (12:30-16:30); and

Day 5:Kaeng Krachan NP lower elevation areas, similar to above.It is inevitable that your time in Thailand will hit a weekend. National Parks in Thailand arehorrendous for birding/peace and quiet on a weekend. Stuffed full of people not really interested in

the place/its wildlife. While it may not totally ruin the birding (they generally dont go far from theircars) it can be a pain just due to the noise generated etc. As our first day was a Sunday I decided tobook up the Lung Sin Waterhole for our first day (arranged through the ever-helpful Tom at BaanMaka). Wed then avoid the crowds and hopefully when we would get into the park on Mondaymorning it would be a lot quieter. This worked well but see Doi Inthanon account as this isntalways the case! The Lung Sin Waterhole was a brilliant way to learn some of the new birds in thearea with great views obtained of a number of skulking species.

Within the park itself we organised to spend two days at the higher elevations (one day with localguide Mr Piak and another with a driver both days with their 4x4s pretty important to get to thetop). The main reason for this was to ensure we had enough time to connect with the higherelevation species up there, e.g. Ratchet-tailed Treepie. We also had two days (with no guides/drivers)

in the lower elevations to try for things like pittas, broadbills and other lowland specialities. Duringour time here it was much birdier whilst we were at higher elevations. Although slower lower downwe saw some really good birds here.

One of the stream crossing points at Kaeng Krachan


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Key Species Notes:

Eared Pitta:At about 5pm after a full day in the Lung Sin Waterhole I noticed some movement atthe back of the viewing area. Gradually the bird came closer to the hide, eventually coming to thepool to bathe! It then showed well for about 30 minutes, surrounded by 5 Siberian Blue Robins! Ahuge surprise seeing this, usually shy, species so well.

Eared Pitta at Lung Sin Waterhole showed incredibly well near dusk

Blue Pitta:Seen in the lower elevations of Kaeng Krachan NP between Stream 2 and Stream 3. Wewere walking along a side trail off the road when we heard a male calling. We followed the sound andafter about 30 minutes of tracking it and positioning ourselves in an area overlooking a small clearing

we got very good views of it as it came close to us to investigate what we were doing.

Blue Pitta near Stream 2 at Kaeng Krachan National Park

Ratchet-tailed Treepie:A pair seen at high elevation (above 27.5 km). Look out for the CollaredBabblers and Black-throated Laughingthrushes as the Ratchet-tailed Treepies appear to follow quietly

behind them foraging on prey flushed by the mixed flock.


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Kalij Pheasant and Grey Peacock-Pheasant:Several male/female Kalij Pheasants seen along theroad beyond the streams below 27.5 km. Grey Peacock-Pheasant heard at several locations from theroad.

Kalij Pheasant (male) on the road at Kaeng Krachan National Park

Silver-breasted Broadbill:A single, vocal bird seen along the road beyond the Panoen TungCampsite.

Black-and-Yellow Broadbill:A single, vocal male seen near Stream 2 on two dates.

Black-and-Red Broadbill:A single, silent bird seen near the river below the Youth Camp.

Great Hornbill, Tickells Brown Hornbill, Wreathed Hornbill and Oriental Pied Hornbill:Hornbills were very vocal and very evident in and around the park. We got good views of all of themduring our stay. The best spot for the Tickells was near Stream 2, the others appeared morewidespread (Oriental Pied Hornbill coming to food at Baan Maka). Great Hornbill is one of the mostimpressive birds Ive ever seen!

Great Hornbill (left) and Oriental Pied Hornbill (right) at Kaeng Krachan National Park

Bamboo Woodpecker:One seen in Bamboo near Panoen Tung Campsite, others heard in this area.


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Ferruginous Partridge, Green-legged Partridge and Bar-backed Partridge:All seen well.Ferruginous was seen on the road between Panoen Tung Campsite and Tortip Waterfall and washeard near Stream 2. Green-legged and Bar-backed Partridge were both seen well at Lung SinWaterhole.

Slaty-legged Crake:One around Lung Sin Waterhole for most of the day, spent the majority of themorning behind the hide but came out and bathed in the late afternoon.

Siberian Blue Robin:At least five birds present at the Lung Sin Waterhole, including at least twoadult males. Very smart birds, always wavering their tails up and down.

Red-headed Trogon and Orange-breasted Trogon:Red-headed Trogon seen in a fruiting treenear 27.5 km with Orange-breasted Trogon heard just below; Orange-breasted Trogons also seennear Stream 1, Stream 2 and the Youth Camp.

Some of the other birds seen in the Kaeng Krachan area included: Rufous-bellied Eagle, ChangeableHawk-Eagle, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Black Baza, Crested Goshawk, Besra,

Shikra, Red Junglefowl, Vernal Hanging-Parrot, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Red-bearded Bee-eater,Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Indian Roller, Dollarbird, Green-billed Malkoha, Raffless Malkoha, Thick-billed Green Pigeon, Ashy-headed Green Pigeon, Emerald Dove, Large Hawk Cuckoo, Violet Cuckoo,

Asian Barred Owlet, Brown Hawk Owl, Spotted Owlet, Collared Owlet, Large-tailed Nightjar, Grey-rumped Treeswift, White-browed Piculet, Speckled Piculet, Black-and-Buff Woodpecker, Heart-spottedWoodpecker, Bay Woodpecker, Greater Flameback, Common Flameback, Greater Yellownape, GreatBarbet, Moustached Barbet, Green-eared Barbet, Common Green Magpie, Grey Treepie, Racket-tailedTreepie, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Hair-crested Drongo, Ashy Drongo, Bronzed Drongo, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Ashy Minivet, Rosy Minivet, Swinhoes Minivet, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Blue-winged Leafbird, Lesser Green Leafbird, Black-naped Monarch, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, AsianBrown Flycatcher, Taiga Flycatcher, Dark-sided Flycatcher, Hill Blue Flycatcher, Tickells BlueFlycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher, Blue Rock Thrush, White-rumped Shama, Black-crested Bulbul, Sooty-

headed Bulbul, Flavescent Bulbul, Ochraceous Bulbul, Raddes Warbler, Two-barred Greenish Warbler,Greenish Warbler, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Arctic Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Pale-leggedLeaf Warbler, Sulphur-breasted Warbler, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Alstroms Warbler, Sultan Tit, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Common Hill Myna, Golden-crested Myna, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Abbots Babbler,Puff-throated Babbler, Collared Babbler, Golden Babbler, White-crested Laughingthrush, Black-throated Laughingthrush, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush,White-browed Scimitar Babbler, Blyths Shrike-Babbler, White-bellied Erpornis, Fire-breastedFlowerpecker, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker and Crimson Sunbird.

Common Green Magpie (left) at Lung Sin Waterhole and Crested Serpent Eagle (right) Kaeng Krachan National

Park


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Red Junglefowl (left) and Green-legged Partridge (right) at Lung Sin Waterhole

Siberian Blue Robin (left) at Lung Sin Waterhole and Sultan Tit (right) at Kaeng Krachan National Park

Doi Inthanon National Park Area

We spent several days birding around Doi Inthanon. We visited the following areas at theapproximate times:

Day 1:Parakeet Conservation Area (06:30-08:30), km 13 trail (09:00-12:00), Mr Deangs(12:30-14:00), Siritan, Wachirathan and Mae Klang Waterfalls (14:00-16:30), km 30 campsite

(16:30-17:30); Day 2:Summit area (aborted), km 37.5 trail (08:30-11:30), Mr Deangs (12:00-13:30), km

34.5 trail (14:00-16:30), km 30 campsite (17:00-18:00); Day 3:Summit area (06:30-14:30), Orchid Garden (15:00-17:00), Mr Deangs (17:00-

18:00); Day 4:km 13 trail (07:00-09:00), km 34.5 trail (10:00-13:00 and 14:30-17:30), Mr Deangs

(13:00-14:30 and 1730-18:00); and

Day 5:Summit Area (06:30-08:30), km 37.5 trail (09:00-11:00), Mr Deangs (11:00-12:00).The good thing about Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in the country at 2,565 m/8,415 feet, is therange in habitats available for birding. The lower levels of the mountain consist of dry scrub andDipterocarp forest, there is a fair amount of agricultural areas and some gardens, this leads up tomoist rainforest then mossy, montane forest and even a small sphagnum bog. There are also severalrivers, some swamps and ponds etc. Birding in the different habitats is easy due to the c40 km road


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system that goes all the way to the summit and the several trails that are possible to walk. Thescenery is beautiful.

The downside to the road is the easy access for tourists, it was incredibly busy here. Despite birdingat Doi Inthanon being like birding in the centre of a large city for the first three days of our stay wedid see some really good birds. The number of people in the park was overwhelming and although

we were warned it would be busy we were really surprised by just how many people were here; evenan hour before it was light! It appears as though the Thais have a fascination with frost, andsunrises!

Wachirathan Waterfall (left) and mountain views on Christmas morning (right)

We attempted to get to the Summit on Day 2 because the weather was good, however we abortedthis when we hit a traffic jam about 3 km from the summit, even though it was still nowhere nearfirst light! Despite the throng of people at the waterfalls we still managed to connect with the maintargets here, which was a miracle! The trails at km 13, 34.5 and 37.5 were generally free from peopleso much quieter (apart from the annoying constant noise of scooters). The summit broadwalk, evenduring the quieter periods of our time was stacked out with people. Pretty much none of the peopleon the trail were interested in the wildlife/scenery/habitats etc. and most walked around making aload of noise on their IPhones/IPads this was incredibly frustrating when trying to see secretivebirds, however the birds must be used to this kind of din and so we still managed to see most ofwhat we wanted too, but it didnt make for a particularly enjoyable experience. We came across somereally impressive bird waves along the km 34.5 trail.

The information on Nick and Daves sites is pretty accurate, though note the entrance to the km 37.5trail is hard to find and overgrown. The best way to find it is: go through the second park gate(checkpoint at km 37.5). There is a left turn (road) almost immediately; park on the left straight afterthe junction (look out for birds coming for mealworms here). The trail head is directly opposite the T

junction. Mr Deang has maps of the mountain and various key birding locations which is very useful,

and possibly more accurate than the info online.

Key Species Notes:

Blossom-headed Parakeet:The birding from the tower hide was very good (from dawn) and wewere met by the guy who lives in the house next to it who provided us with a very welcome cup oftea and some fruit. Hed also got a log-book and it was a good spot for buying some nice locallyproduced art work. We had very nice views of 25 Blossom-headed Parakeets as they gathered in theearly morning before heading off for the day to feed.

Black-tailed Crake:We got very nice views of two birds at the km 30 campsite marsh, between17:00-18:00. Both birds walked out and crossed an open area of grass then came back out and

walked around for a short while showing very well.


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White-capped Water Redstart (River Chat) and Plumbeous Water Redstart:Both seen wellat the very busy Wachirathan Waterfall. I was very surprised to get these so easily given the numberof people in/around the river. Very smart birds, the White-capped Water Redstart was half way upthe main waterfall and the Plumbeous Water Redstart (a male) was below the falls by some smallerrapids.

Slaty-backed Forktail and Black-backed Forktail:The Slaty-backed Forktail was sat preeningbelow the Wachirathan Waterfall where it seemed oblivious to the noise of the people. The Black-backed Forktail was to the left of the bridge at the start of the km 13 trail, although originally verynervous and flighty some careful repositioning along the river bank enabled me to get good views.

Plumbeous Water Redstart (left) and Black-backed Forktail (right)

Daurian Redstart:A stunning male in the Orchid Garden was a nice surprise. Other birds hereincluded numerous Olive-backed Pipits and a huge flock of White-eyes.

Daurian Redstart (left)

White-browed Shortwing:Very good views of a male at relatively close-range to the right of thestart of the summit broadwalk. A couple of others were heard calling here but not seen. Has atendency to stick to the very dark forest floor where you can just see its white-brow hoppingaround!

Dark-sided Thrush:Very good views of three birds, one seen below Mr Deangs restaurant seen ona couple of dates and two seen on the summit broadwalk trail.

Pygmy Wren-Babbler (Pygmy Cupwing) and Eye-browed Wren-Babbler:Pygmy Wren-Babbler seen very well coming to food opposite the entrance to the km 37.5 trail, others heard whilst


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on the km 34.5 and 37.5 trails. Eye-browed Wren-Babbler seen very well along the km 37.5 trail,approximately 400 m in.

Dark-sided Thrush (left) and Pygmy Wren-Babbler (Pygmy Cupwing) (right)

Collared Falconet:One bird foraging about 1 km along the trail at km 13 with another one in thecar parking area at the start of km 13. Both on the same date at a similar time and considered to betwo different birds.

Black-headed Woodpecker:Having dipped this everywhere else we tried for it I eventually gotsome brief but very good views of this incredibly impressive-looking Picuswoodpecker. We had flightviews and heard birds calling along the km 13 trail on Day 1. We went back on Day 4 from about firstlight and again had tantalising flight views and heard them calling. A short but uphill bushwackingsession got us to where their calls were coming from and I finally got very nice views of at least threebirds before they cleared off rather sharpish.

Slaty-bellied Tesia:Fairly common, heard calling at several locations and seen well along the km34.5 and 37.5 trails on several dates.

Asian Stubtail:One seen very well at very close range along the km 37.5 km trail (approximately200 m in).

Spectacled Barwing:Two seen along the road near km 38 but views a bit brief. Also two seen atthe start of the km 34.5 trail.

Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker:One male seen well feeding in the mistletoe in Mr Deangs garden inwith a mixed flock of Chestnut-flanked and Oriental White-eyes and Fire-breasted Flowerpecker.

Mrs Goulds Sunbird and Green-tailed Sunbird:Both seen well and fairly common along km34.5 trail and around the summit car park and summit broadwalk. Both species are spectacular whenadult males seen. Birds appeared to be attracted to the pink flowering cherry blossom.

Mountain Bamboo Partridge and Rufous-throated Partridge:Five Mountain Bamboo Partridgeseen crossing the road near the Orchid Garden and one Rufous-throated Partridge seen well from thesummit broadwalk trail. We managed to dip the ones near the summit visitor centre which everyoneelse we spoke to had seen!

Eurasian Woodcock:One bird foraging in the swamp/bog within the summit broadwalk trail wasproving very popular with the Thai photographers/birders.

Other highlights of our time here were many and included: Banded Bay Cuckoo, Cooks Swift, House

Swift, Asian Barred Owlet, Short-billed Minivet, Long-tailed Minivet, Grey-chinned Minivet, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Blue Whistling Thrush (eugeneiand caeruleus), Eyebrowed Thrush, Scaly


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Thrush, Siberian Rubythroat, Striated Swallow, Stripe-breasted Woodpecker, Hill Prinia, Yellow-belliedFairy-Fantail, White-throated Fantail, Large Niltava, Small Niltava, Rufous-bellied Niltava, VividNiltava, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, Slaty-backed Flycatcher, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Himalayan Bluetail, Pied Bushchat, Grey Bushchat, Grey-backed Shrike, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Siberian Blue Robin, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch,Humes Treecreeper, Japanese Tit, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Silver-eared Laughingthrush, Grey-throated

Babbler, Golden Babbler, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Yunnan Fulvetta, Chestnut-tailed Minla, Dark-backed Sibia, Rufous-backed Sibia, Blue-winged Minla, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Blyths Shrike-Babbler, Clicking Shrike-Babbler, Mountain Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul, White-headed Bulbul, MountainTailorbird, Raddes Warbler, Pallass Warbler, Humes Warbler, Buff-barred Warbler, Ashy-throatedWarbler, Buff-throated Warbler, Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, Chinese Leaf Warbler and Blyths LeafWarbler.

Blue Whistling Thrush - eugenei(left) and Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush (right)

Grey-throated Babbler (left) and Yunnan Fulvetta (right)

Large Niltava - male (left) and Rufous-bellied Niltava - female (right)


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Doi Chiang Dao Area

We spent several days birding in the Doi Chiang Dao area. We visited the following areas at theapproximate times:

Day 1:Wat Tamphaplong (16:00-18:00); Day 2:Chiang Dao Rice Paddies and village area (all day); Day 3: Chiang Dao village area (07:00-08:30), Wat Tamphaplong (09:30-10:30), Nature Trail

(10:30-14:00), Checkpoint road to Muang Khong (14:30-17:30);

Day 4:Doi Chiang Dao Mountain DYK substation area (06:30-17:30); and Day 5: Chiang Dao ponds and dry forest (07:00-08:30), Nature Trail and Lower Fence Trail

(09:30-12:00).

Birding in the Doi Chiang Dao area was hard at times, particularly because our visit coincided with aperiod of very foggy/misty mornings, often not clearing until gone 10:00 which essentially meant welost three hours birding each day, at the best time of the day. This wasnt a problem when we wereon the mountain as we were above it all then.

However, where we had bad luck with the visibility in the mornings we got some great luck in havingNeil Lawton on hand at Malees who was able to help direct us to the numerous good birding spots inthe area, borne about by the range in habitats present in the local vicinity. We saw some really greatbirds in this area, a lot of that is down to the information we got from Neil and again, a lot of theinformation we got from Nick and Daves sites was incredibly helpful and accurate. The mountain isan incredibly impressive and dominating feature on the landscape. Wat Tamphaplong is also veryimpressive hidden away at the foot of the mountain.

Doi Chiang Dao (left) and Wat Tamphaplong (right) equals birding in impressive natural and man-made scenery

A word of warning about the trails, the Nature Trail is quite hard going for the first couple of hundredmetres, fairly steep, involves climbing through a range of tree roots and over some very sharpboulders. While the Fence Trail (at least the section of it we walked) was less rocky/root-covered itwas pretty hard going (very steep and slippy/muddy underfoot).

Malee organised for us to have a driver (Uncle Buck!) and a 4x4 for the trip up to the DYK station (a4x4 is essential for this trip and the road is very rough in some places). This trip up to the top wentvery well, although unfortunately we dipped Mrs Humes Pheasant (but did see some great birds!).We shared the trip up the mountain with two British birders (Simon Woolley and Julia Cassonhttp://jjcskw.notlong.comsee also their Thailand trip report here:http://geography.wincoll.ac.uk/jjcskw/trip%20reports/thailand13/thailand.html)who wed bumpedinto at Baan Maka and Doi Inthanon and had enjoyed our time birding with them, sharing the

mountain trip with them was great fun and certainly helped increase our day list here thanks for theOreos and Nuts!
http://jjcskw.notlong.com/http://jjcskw.notlong.com/http://geography.wincoll.ac.uk/jjcskw/trip%20reports/thailand13/thailand.htmlhttp://geography.wincoll.ac.uk/jjcskw/trip%20reports/thailand13/thailand.htmlhttp://geography.wincoll.ac.uk/jjcskw/trip%20reports/thailand13/thailand.htmlhttp://jjcskw.notlong.com/


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Key Species Notes:

Great Nuthatch:Two seen in Pine trees along the approach road to the DYK Substation on DoiChiang Dao, two/three others were heard calling along the Summit Trail. A very impressive bird,huge, and one of the main targets for us on the mountain, even better that it was practically the first

bird seen in the day and was my 400thtrip bird.

Blyths Frogmouth:One heard from the car park below Wat Tamphaplong, unfortunately itwouldnt come in!

Long-tailed Broadbill:One heard along the Nature Trail, unfortunately not seen as was distant offtrail.

Silver-breasted Broadbill:A small presumably family group of four/six birds quietly feeding nearthe entrance to the Nature Trail showed well on our final morning here.

Banded Kingfisher:A female in bamboo on the trail connecting the Nature Trail and the Fence

Trail. Showed very well at close range, potentially attracted by the commotion of a bird wave.

Banded Kingfisher female (left) and Giant Nuthatch, with Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (right)

Red-billed Blue Magpie:A small group of five/six birds seen near Chiang Dao in a patch of dryforest. Unfortunately they were very flighty and backlit so the views were not the best. A shame asthis is a stunning bird.

Rufous-winged Buzzard:One seen hunting to the north of the outskirts of Chiang Dao.

Siberian Rubythroat:Fairly common in scrub, although highly secretive most of the time. Easy tolocate by call. One positive aspect of the fog/mist was the dew that formed on leaves in thescrub/grass. During the early morning the Rubythroats would occasionally show themselves a bitbetter as they bathed on the leaves!

Asian Wire-tailed Swallow:Easy to connect with on the Rice Paddies. Vastly outnumbered byBarn Swallow but still easy to pick out, with good views obtained.

Eurasian Jay:A very distinctive sub-species (leucotis) seen along the Checkpoint road to MuangKhong, on the road before the DYK substation and in some dry forest near Chiang Dao village where eight were seen together. Definitely one to see!

Grey-headed Parrotbill:A small flock near the DYK substation moving through the canopy of theforest with a bird-wave.


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Other highlights of our time here included: Pintail Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Crested Treeswift, BambooWoodpecker, Grey-capped Pygmy-Woodpecker, Greater Yellownape, Lesser Yellownape, CollaredOwlet, Black-collared Starling, Chestnut-tailed Starling, Streaked Wren-Babbler, Long-tailed Shrike,Martens Warbler, Thick-billed Warbler, Pallass Grasshopper Warbler, Lanceolated Warbler, Buff-barred Warbler, Dusky Warbler, Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, Claudias Leaf Warbler, Davisons Leaf

Warbler, Pallass Warbler, Sulphur-breasted Warbler, Two-barred Greenish Warbler, Slender-billedOriole, Maroon Oriole, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, Common Green Magpie, Hill Blue Flycatcher,Slaty-backed Flycatcher, Black-crested Bulbul, Sultan Tit, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Blue Rock Thrushand Common Rosefinch.

Collared Owlet near the DYK Substation

Black-crested Bulbul (left) and Maroon Oriole (right)

Thaton Rice Paddies

We had a half day (afternoon) birding the Thaton Rice Fields (far more birdy than the Chiang DaoRice Paddies but much larger too). To be honest I found the directions online for this site a bit

difficult to follow and we ended up getting lost, and dinting the hire car bumper on a hidden concretepost in the grass when trying to turn round. In the end we parked on the main road and just walked


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in. We only had a couple of hours here but got several nice species by walking the tracks/rice paddyedges and kicking through the stubble, though watch where you put your feet here...

Key Species Notes:

Greater Painted Snipe:A very good looking female was seen at fairly close range.

Siberian Stonechat, Stejnegers Stonechat, Pied Bushchat:A large number of chats werepresent all across the areas we looked at.

Other birds here included: Green Sandpiper, Common Snipe, Common Kingfisher, White-throatedKingfisher, Himalayan Swiftlet, Asian Palm Swift, House Swift, Rufous Turtle Dove, Rufous-wingedBuzzard, Black-shouldered Kite, Brown Shrike, Long-tailed Shrike, Blue Rock Thrush, Taiga Flycatcher,Siberian Rubythroat, Wryneck, Ashy Woodswallow, Black-collared Starling, Chestnut-tailed Starling,Richards Pipit, Paddyfield Pipit and Red-throated Pipit.

White-throated Kingfisher (left) and what you dont want to find when wading knee deep through grass

Doi Lang

We had two full days birding on Doi Lang and could have done with one more day. The birding herewas very enjoyable and we got great weather too. On our first full day on Doi Lang we hit thestakeout birds where the Thai photographers were providing mealworms for the birds and on thesecond day we mopped up a few stakeout birds we still needed and spent more time walking along

the roads/trails/fields trying to pick up the birds not at stakeouts.

As mentioned above we benefited hugely by the up-to-date information received from Neil Lawtonwhilst at Malees, we also had met two other British birders (Rob and Pat) who very kindly drew us adetailed map of the stakeout locations. This information was also incredibly useful, so thank you.

Because we didnt have a 4x4 we had to drive in and out from the Fang side which was a bit of a painas it meant a longer drive as we were staying in Thaton (poor planning on my part). There is nowalso an entrance fee of 200 Baht to get onto Doi Lang from the west side but your ticket is valid for afew (5?) days. A few road improvements going on too.

Along the road there are now a lot of signs about not feeding the birds etc., ironically these were the

best places for the majority of the birds as this is where a lot of the feeding stations were. Birdinghere is great, however some of the behaviour of the Thai photographers is totally disgraceful and areal shame as it gives them all a bad name, they are incredibly loud and quite rude too in some cases


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though not all as we did meet some very helpful people. Whilst here we had a group ofphotographers with the Spectacled Barwing song on a loop, the birds looked pretty stressed out. Ieven saw one photographer throwing sticks and stones at a White-browed Laughingthrush to keep itfrom eating his mealworms as it was obviously not the desired species. They all put little pop-uphides out about a foot away from the feeding area then chat amongst themselves really loudly. It canbe very frustrating.

Notwithstanding the above it was far more enjoyable birding here than at Doi Inthanon (with goodviews of Burma too) as there was hardly any general tourists, or frost/sunrise tourists. Theres verylittle in the way of food/drink establishments on the mountain so make sure youve got plenty ofsupplies to last the day.

The view from Doi Lang looking into Burma note Burmese army bases on ridges in photo on right

Key Species Notes:

Ultramarine Flycatcher:A stunning male bird coming to food placed in the first bamboo do notfeed the birds sign on the west side. A very popular bird with the photographers but unfortunately Idknocked a button on my camera and ended up with a blue hue on my images

Golden Bush Robin:A male and female seen well at the feeding areas near the San Ju View Point again both birds showed well, stunning birds.

Golden Bush Robin - female-type (left) and Ultramarine Flycatcher (right)

Sapphire Flycatcher:A non-breeding male seen moderately high in trees along the first ridge afterthe second set of do not feed the birds signs.


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Blue-fronted Redstart:A female on a bare slope near the San Ju View Point showed well busilyfeeding.

White-tailed Robin:After spending ages in dark gullies dipping this in Malaysia and earlier on thetrip at Doi Chiang Dao we got very good views of a very inquisitive female that was hanging around anumber of the feeding areas. Id literally just stepped out of the car, put my hand in my pocket to

check the mealworms hadnt escaped, turned round and it was sat right behind me out in the openon the road, and I almost trod on it!

Chestnut Thrush:One on a bare slope near the San Ju View Point showed well.

Himalayan Bluetail and Red-flanked Bluetail:Certainly one of the highlights of birding at DoiLang. Both showed incredibly well in the higher areas, mainly between San Ju View Point and the DoiLang Camp. Himalayan was much commoner than Red-flanked (10:1). Birds were attracted tofeeding areas, although many were picked up whilst walking the roads where they were feeding.

Himalayan Bluetail (left) and Red-flanked Bluetail (right)

Siberian Rubythroat:A female and a juvenile male showed incredibly well at the feeding areas,coming within a few feet right out in the open!

Chestnut-headed Tesia:One very showy bird at a feeding station was very popular with the Thaiphotographers. It was incredibly quick-moving so hard to get a photo, but I managed a record shot ofthis usually elusive and very smart bird.

Chestnut-headed Tesia (left) and Siberian Rubythroat (right)


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Red-faced Liocichla:Very nice views of a couple of birds at a feeding station near the Upper ArmyCamp they seem to appear and disappear very quietly.

Spectacled Barwing:Several seen at various locations on the mountain at feeding stations (e.g.Upper Army Camp) and away from feeding stations. Unfortunately a target for the Thais who had

tape of it on loop.

Red-faced Liocichla (left) and Spectacled Barwing (right)

Fire-tailed Sunbird:A couple of juvenile/non-breeding birds seen in Buddleia-type bushes near theSan Ju View Point, unfortunately adult males in breeding plumage not seen.

Burmese Shrike:One seen in fields near the Lower Army Camp.

Crested Bunting:Several birds (males/females) in weedy/tall grass fields near the Lower ArmyCamp. Generally quite secretive though, best early morning or late afternoon.

Spot-breasted Parrotbill:Two inquisitive birds showed very well about 1 km beyond the LowerArmy Camp.

Crested Finchbill:Very common around the San Ju View Point area.

Spot-breasted Parrotbill (left) and Crested Finchbill (right)


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Other highlights of our time here included: Mountain Bamboo-Partridge, Mountain Imperial Pigeon,Hoopoe, Grey-capped Pygmy-Woodpecker, Bay Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Stripe-breasted Woodpecker, Great Barbet, Linneated Barbet, Blue-throated Barbet, Golden-throated Barbet,Pacific Swift, Cooks Swift, Grey Treepie, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Brown-breasted Bulbul, StriatedBulbul, Black Bulbul, Maroon Oriole, Blue Whistling Thrush, Blue Rock Thrush, Chestnut-bellied Rock-

Thrush, Eyebrowed Thrush, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Grey-headedCanary-Flycatcher, Rufous-bellied Niltava, Large Niltava, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, Velvet-frontedNuthatch, Humes Treecreeper, Asian House Martin, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Buff-throated Warbler,Greenish Warbler, Buff-barred Warbler, Chestnut-flanked White-eye, Japanese White-eye, Black-throated Bushtit, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Olive-backed Pipit, White-browedLaughingthrush, Silver-eared Laughingthrush, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler, White-browedScimitar-Babbler, Golden Babbler, Blue-winged Minla, Chestnut-tailed Minla, Blyths Shrike Babbler,Black-eared Shrike-Babbler, Whiskered Yuhina, Grey-headed Parrotbill, Little Bunting, Mrs GouldsSunbird, Black-throated Sunbird, Common Rosefinch and Spot-winged Grosbeak.

Again we dipped Mrs Humes Pheasant here. Seeing this bird here is probably more luck than skill.One flew across the road about 5 minutes after wed driven past apparently on one day!

White-gorgeted Flycatcher (left) and Black-throated Bushtit (right)

Chiang Saen Area (Mekong River and Chiang Saen Lake)

We had one full day in this area New Years Day. The area was a lot easier to get around than Idfeared after reading a few trip reports. The directions provided in Daves information are spot on.

We were in the area for pretty much first light and headed straight for the Mekong River (Rim KhongRestaurant area), however the area was covered in thick mist/fog until about 10:00 (when we could

finally see into Laos). The poor visibility resulted in a very slow few hours, which was a shame. Themain targets here were River Lapwing, Long-billed Plover and Small Pratincole on the sand bars. Theonly problem was that when the mist/fog eventually lifted it exposed a Peregrine Falcon sat in themiddle of the best sandbar! A drive to another sandbar resulted in another Peregrine Falcon beingdiscovered, rather frustrating!

We ditched the river around lunchtime with no joy on the main targets, but a few other nice bits seenand headed to the lake where a hastily arranged boat trip was taken onto the water to try and getclose to some wildfowl. After a very successful boat trip we made a quick smash and grab raid backat the river where we finally connected with River Lapwing. We then spent the remainder of the lateafternoon at the harrier roost spot (near Wat Bamakno a very impressive building). The harrierroost was simply outstanding, a real highlight of the whole trip. It was a very enjoyable day (despite

the c1.5 hr drive each way from Thaton) and just a shame we lost so much of the day due to poorvisibility. We even had a national rarity!


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Mekong River Sandbars from Rim Khong Restaurant (left) and Chiang Saen Lake from the boat (right)

Key Species Notes:

River Lapwing:Two birds seen on the sandbar opposite the Rim Khong Restaurant early afternoon,surprisingly difficult to pick out amongst the debris on the sandbar.

Yellow-legged Buttonquail:Four birds seen to the north of Rim Khong Restaurant.

Grey-throated Martin:About 25 birds flying around the River Mekong near the Rim KhongRestaurant. Note that there appears to be a huge engineering project underway along the riverbank(at least 1 km north of the Rim Khong Restaurant, with evidence it will go south all the way intoChiang Saen town too). The engineering project appears to be creating a stone/rock riverbank,presumably a flood prevention/riverbank erosion prevention scheme. This is resulting in a lot ofriverside vegetation being removed, as well as the banks that the martins were breeding in.

Long-tailed Duck:Two birds seen on Chiang Saen Lake represent only the second national record!So a pretty good bird for my Thailand list!

Long-tailed Duck at Chiang Saen Lake the second record for Thailand I understand


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Pied Harrier and Eastern Marsh Harrier:An incredible spectacle at the Wat Bamakno harrierroost as approximately 200 Pied Harrier and approximately 300 Eastern Marsh Harriers came in toroost in the late afternoon. Most of the Pied Harriers were males! The only disappointment was thatby the time most of them were coming in it was too dark to get any decent photographs. This is amust-see if coming to Northern Thailand in winter.

Male Pied Harrier coming in to roost at Wat Bamakno, Chiang Saen

Red-throated Pipit:An impressive sight was a flock of c.1500 birds that came into the WatBamakno harrier roost site!

Other birds we saw in the area included: Lesser Whistling Duck, Mallard, Pintail, Indian Spot-billedDuck, Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, Little Grebe, Great Cormorant, Purple Heron, Yellow Bittern,Common Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Greater Coucal, Lesser Coucal, Plaintive Cuckoo,Grey-headed Swamphen, Moorhen, Common Coot, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Common Snipe, PintailSnipe, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Kentish Plover, Peregrine Falcon, Common Kestrel, Burmese Shrike,Long-tailed Shrike, Blue Rock Thrush, Siberian Rubythroat, Lanceolated Warbler, Dusky Warbler andRaddes Warbler.

Huay Tueng Tao, Chiang Mai

We had a couple of hours here on our way to catch our flight back from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Id

certainly recommend this place for some gentle birding as it was very birdy and quite easy birdingtoo. Great if youre spending some time in Chiang Mai as very close to the city. Wed driven downfrom Thaton (stopping briefly for breakfast at Malees) meaning we didnt get birding till near 10am.We did a circuit round the lake and just stopped randomly and walked into the scrub/dry forest areas

just before an area of rice paddies, we also did a very brief (15 minute) bash through the rice paddiesbut it was the hottest part of the day by this point so not much fun!

Key Species Notes:

We had a good range of species here including: Coppersmith Barbet, Linneated Barbet, Fork-tailedDrongo Cuckoo, Asian Emerald Cuckoo, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Rufous Treepie, Rosy Minivet,Black-naped Monarch, Tickells Blue Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher,

Asian Red-rumped Swallow, Zitting Cisticola, Lanceolated Warbler, Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, Olive-

backed Pipit, Indochinese Bushlark and White-crested Laughingthrush.


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Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher

Suan Luang Park, Bangkok

I had most of a day in Bangkok before my late-afternoon flight back to the UK so on Carlosrecommendation I went to Suan Luang Park on the edge of the city (hed visited the park before myarrival into the country). Im glad he recommended it as it was a great location and I recorded over60 species here in a half-day. There was less people here than on Doi Inthanon which was a nicebonus!

This would be an ideal location if youve got time to kill in Bangkok, especially if this is your first tripto the Oriental region. It also gives great photographic opportunities (not that you can tell this from

my pictures). Id forgotten to charge my camera battery so ran out of power pretty quickly!

Birding highlights here included: Coppersmith Barbet, White-throated Kingfisher, Black-cappedKingfisher, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Large Hawk Cuckoo, Plaintive Cuckoo, Asian Emerald Cuckoo, AsianKoel, Indian Roller, Pink-necked Green Pigeon, White-breasted Waterhen, Purple Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow Bittern, Black-naped Oriole, Small Minivet, Malaysian Pied Fantail,Common Iora, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Taiga Flycatcher, Oriental Magpie Robin, Black-browed ReedWarbler, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Richards Pipit, Paddyfield Pipit andScaly-breasted Munia.

Asian Emerald Cuckoo (left) and Plaintive Cuckoo (right)


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Taiga Flycatcher (left) and Oriental Magpie Robin (right)

If you want any more detailed information about specific species mentioned above (Ivenot mentioned all species Ive seen!) just drop me an email, likewise if you want anyfurther specific information about logistics/birding locations t .

Other Wildlife

We saw an interesting range of non-avian wildlife on the trip, my highlight being White-handedGibbon. Id seen this species in Taman Negara very briefly running through the trees. The views herewere much more prolonged, allowing me to really study them. We also saw Long-tailed Macaque,Banded Langur, Dusky Langur, Crab-eating Mongoose, Yellow-throated Marten, Northern Treeshrew,Black Giant Squirrel, Burmese Striped Squirrel, Grey-bellied Squirrel, Pallas Squirrel, Variable Squirrel,Indochinese Ground Squirrel, House Rat and Malayan Porcupine (dead). We missed Elephant inKaeng Krachan saw lots of fresh muck. We also dipped both a regular and a black Leopard here.Both were seen by other visitors to Baan Maka during our stay. There was a large number ofbeautiful butterflies of all shapes, sizes and colour. We saw a couple of gecko, snakes and lizards etc.too.

White-handed Gibbon at Kaeng Krachan National Park


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Background Information/References/Resources

As set out at the beginning of this report the majority of my planning was based on the excellentwebsites put together by Dave Sargeant, Nick Upton and Stijn De Win. These sites really do havepretty much everything you need to plan a trip. Daves site is very helpful as it also contains a

regularly updated recent sightings page and Stijns site contains a number of GPS coordinates for arange of sites, and even locations within those sites where certain targets species can be found.

Of great help was hearing from people who had birded in Thailand before/recently, all who providedsomething useful, thanks go to Mike Edgecombe, Tony Stones, Graham Gordon, Paul Cook, DaveGandy and several people via Birdforum. Whilst in Thailand I had the great benefit of bumping intoNeil Lawton and Neil and Eunice Parker (http://neilandeunicebirdingblog.wordpress.com), Rob & Patand Simon Woolley and Julia Casson as well as several other local/expat birders, all who kindlyprovided information that helped a great deal. Thanks to anyone else Ive unintentionally forgotten.Thanks to Carlos too for all the background work done on targeting certain species at each location,and for making this such an enjoyable and successful trip.

I usedA Field Guide to the Birds of Thailandby Craig Robson. I thought the book was fairly

good/useful and the maps are largely helpful. Most of the illustrations are the same as those in hisSouth East Asia book the old version, and as a result the taxonomy is now well out of date. Theplates are difficult to follow due to the way they are set out, therefore I edited them to make it easierto use (see below) and brought the taxonomy up to date where possible, though it was nice to havea book specifically on Thailand. I also took a copy of Helm Field Guides: Birds of East Asia by MarkBrazil just to get another angle on some of the species I thought it would be beneficial for.

I had Birds of Tropical Asia 3 on my IPhone and Carlos had downloaded a load of songs/calls fromXeno Canto onto his IPod. This combination worked well and we had most of what we needed.

Editing of the Birds of Thailand field guide to make matching plates to text easier
http://neilandeunicebirdingblog.wordpress.com/http://neilandeunicebirdingblog.wordpress.com/http://neilandeunicebirdingblog.wordpress.com/http://neilandeunicebirdingblog.wordpress.com/


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Summary

I had a fantastic time and saw a great range of birds on this introduction to Thailand.

Who can grumble with a list of 460 species in three weeks, especially when the list includes some of

the best birds in the world: Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Nordmanns Greenshank, Chinese Egret, BluePitta, Eared Pitta, Great Hornbill, Tickells Brown Hornbill, Giant Nuthatch, Ratchet-tailed Treepie,Himalayan Bluetail, Silver-breasted, Black-and-Yellow, Black-and-Red and Long-tailed Broadbills,Bamboo Woodpecker, Pied Harrier etc. Add in the amazing wildlife, scenery, habitats, great food andpeople and its easy to see why this trip was so good.

Its Taiwan for me next but will definitely be heading back to Thailand sometime soon; in factprobably in early 2015 where I plan on heading south for some Pittas!

If you would like any further information please drop me an email to andywalker1000 AT hotmail.comsubject Thailand Birding

Thanks, Andy

1stFebruary 2014.

Birding above the DYK Station on the Summit Trail at Doi Chiang Dao

thailand birding trip report dec 13-jan 14

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