Saturday 22 February 2003 - arrival at
Chiang Mai
After driving with the rental car from the airport to the hotel, and a
short rest, we decided to go for a late afternoon visit to the Huai Hong
Krai Royal Project garden for the Green Peafowl stake-out. And it worked!
We waited around the cages with peafowl long enough (till about 18.00 h)
to see the wary, wild Green Peafowl** arrive for their night roost near
the cages. We first saw one walking up from the border of the lake, and
later a group of 3, and then 6 or so just before we had to leave because
the gates of the fenced area would be closed. They were all males. This
was a very good start of the trip, and we celebrated it at the lively
night market of Chiang Mai, by having a delicious Indian meal with beer at
the food square near the central parking lot.
Sunday 23 Febr. 2003 - Mae Hia & on to
Doi Chiang Dao
A Coppersmith Barbet** was singing from the bare top of the highest tree
at the parking place of our hotel. We left early, for a visit to the Mae
Hia agricultural school grounds. Arriving there after 15 minutes we had
the first of many Red-whiskered Bulbuls**, and hundreds of Lesser
Whistling Duck**. We heard several Chinese Francolin**, also nearby, but
never saw it. Close views of Green Bee-eater warming up in the early
morning sun were a real treat. It took us some time to identify Pied
Bushchat**! The best bird here did we get rather soon, and this is Burmese
Shrike**, a pair nearby. We studied both myna's again like in Malaysia
(White-vented* and Common*), and did not let us be distracted by the
Common Koel's* call, but soon saw a female. On a wire we had a beautiful
bird and had to admit that it was "just a sparrow" (Plain-backed
Sparrow**). The first of many Common Stonechats* brought back memories to
the places where we see them back home. And look, there is a new pipit!
Paddyfield Pipit** in the scope while it walked on the bare arable field,
but it also flew up to some low bushes. Nearby we had, for comparison, the
first of our daily Olive-backed Pipits*, in full summer plumage, in a
tree. The usual brief glimpse of a malkoha in some small trees brought us
another lifer, Green-billed Malkoha**. On a wire along the road we had two
Ashy Woodswallows** and an Oriental Magpie-Robin*, and on the ground below
it were some Sooty-headed Bulbuls** and Black-collared Starlings**. Now we
took the road leading to the hills at the back of the area. In the fields
we first had another good species, Indochinese Bush-Lark** singing from a
wire above us, plus a near-adult Brown Shrike* and a Greater Coucal*. At
the transition to the more wooded hills we had another wish-list species,
Rufous-winged Buzzard**, splendidly showing its red upper wing while
circling around. Here in this small-scale habitat of woods, ponds and
pastures we also had Red-throated Flycatcher** (winter plumage, not an
easy bird then), Common Iora* and Rufescent Prinia**. Other trip ticks
this first morning were Tree Sparrow*, Spotted Dove*, Black Drongo*,
White-throated Kingfisher*, Barn Swallow*, Chinese Pond-Heron*,
Scaly-breasted Munia*, Zitting Cisticola*, Common Kestrel*, Greater Coucal*.
With our first 35 trip ticks including 17 lifers we returned to the hotel
at about 9.30 a.m. just in time for a late breakfast. We took our time on
this first day, and only left the very pleasant hotel at 14.00 h., for an
easy drive to Malee's bungalows at the base of Doi Chiang Dao.
Just before arriving there we tried the steep unpaved road up Doi Chiang
Dao for a few km to see how bad it was. Well it was bad, so we thought we
should not do it one of these days in our normal car, but have Malee
arrange a 4WD. After installing ourselves at Malee's bungalows for the
next three nights, we did an exploratory walk to the Wat (temple) in the
forest in late p.m. but only got White-rumped Shama* and Grey Wagtail*.
Enjoyed the first of Malee's shared meals, during which we were introduced
to the Thai kitchen by a Canadian couple living in Laos now.
Monday 24 Febr. 2003 - Doi Chiang Dao
I had not slept well, partly because of the jet lag and partly because of
the hard beds (for which Malee would have a solution later on the day). So
we only left our cabin an hour after first light! We walked towards the
Wat again, and in the low weeds at the start of the "nature
trail" we had a small group of Rufous-fronted Babbler** and a Dusky
Warbler**. The identification of the latter (one of the many Phylloscopus
warblers wintering in Northern Thailand) was made possible by the close
looks we had in combination with its 'tek' call, for which we consulted
our minidisc reference collection.
At the stalls down the Wat we found two Streak-eared Bulbuls**, and
meanwhile we knew that the sound we heard all the time was of Great
Barbet. At the start of the stairs up to the Wat we had a persistent
Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher* and a few Striped Tit-Babbler**. In the
denser woods were Brown-cheeked Fulvetta** in the tangles hanging
alongside the tree stems, and two Velvet-fronted Nuthatch* feeding each
other. We found them less blue than in Malaysia. Halfway the stairs you
have a view on the Wat across a wide open space inside the forest, and
here we had a splendid view on Striated Swallow** and a distant but clear
view on Asian Fairy-Bluebirds* flying around the Wat. Down at the parking
place a Mountain Imperial-Pigeon* flew overhead.
During a late breakfast at Malee's we ticked a fine male Olive-backed
Sunbird*. Then we drove to the park Headquarters to buy a three-day permit
for 200 Baht per person, plus 30 B for the car. On we went, with the car
now, up the 'road to the right' past the checkpoint. Here we soon had a
nice group of Blue-winged Leafbird* in a bare but flowering tree. Up and
up we went, to be in a different habitat from this morning at the Wat, and
at a well wooded spot (GPS27) we ticked several good species. This started
with Sultan Tit*, not a lifer for us but an absolute wish-list species for
many birders. Then we had a group of several pairs of both Grey-chinned
Minivet* and Scarlet Minivet*, a group of the intriguing Black Bulbul**
(one of the better bulbuls), a group of Asian House-Martin** in the open
space above the road, a male Indochinese Cuckooshrike**, a Blue-throated
Barbet** a long time in the scope at eye-level, and finally a Chestnut
Bunting**, our first true forest bunting ever. (We made a long video
recording of the barbet, and back home we found out that its head has
characteristics of both the Thai subspecies davisoni as the Burmese
subspecies asiatica.)
Then we went up to the pine-oak zone where we arrived at 13.30 h. Here we
finally got Great Tit* (missed that in Malaysia last year) - and what a
strange black-and-white appearance compared to the colorful ones in
Europe! We had a good view on a group of Himalayan Swiftlet* (also from
above), and ticked the first of many Grey Bushchat**, a singing male in an
open pine tree. There was also the somehow sinister Ashy Drongo* again,
and playing hide-and-seek in an oak tree a male Asian
Paradise-Flycatcher*. We also thought that we heard Giant Nuthatch calls
here...
We drove down to the Wat area of this morning again, but now we chose the
so-called Jungle trail. Pittas are possible here, but these birds are not
for us - again we saw none on the whole trip. The trail goes into deep
jungle forest indeed, but the trail is full of dead leaves so we made a
noise as a heard of elephants and we had to stop regularly to hear birds
anyway. But this provided us with the only Blue-bearded Bee-eater** of the
whole trip. It was calling from high in the trees, from a bare branch.
Back at the parking place below, we ticked a pair of Orange-bellied
Leafbird* in the trees above the stalls (as promised on Jurgen Becker's
website), and a male Blue Whistling-Thrush (subspecies caeruleus) was
sitting on the roof of the smallest shrine. We had to go back to Malee's,
as she is serving her evening meals at 18.30 h already, half an hour
before darkness.
At this meal we had a pleasant conversation with a Danish couple
(non-birders), the only other guests tonight. The man had lived on
Greenland for 20 years, and regularly saw Gyr Falcons there.
Today we had 33 trip ticks, including (only?) 10 lifers. Slept much
better,
because of the added layer of two covers on the mattress, which made it
softer.
Tuesday 25 Febr. 2003 - Doi Chiang Dao
This morning we went up the same road as yesterday, partly because it had
given already good birds and partly because we hoped that we would
discover a new stake-out for Giant Nuthatch, as we thought we had heard it
yesterday. We also knew that we would have one other morning for the real
stake-out for Giant Nuthatch...
We went up straight to the pine-oak zone where we added Hill-Blue
Flycatcher*, Common Rosefinch* (4 in a bare flowering tree, nicely sitting
in the sun), Black-naped Monarch* (a pair), Streaked Spiderhunter*, and
the first of numerous Yellow-browed Warbler** (yes a lifer...;checked the
call). Meanwhile no sign at all of Giant Nuthatch... But searching for a
special bird always produces new birds: the first of several White-browed
Shrike-Babbler* (a male nearby at eye-level), Spangled Drongo** in a
group, Grey-capped Pygmy-Woodpecker** nearby in the sunny top of a low
tree, and a complete identification of a Blyth's Leaf-Warbler**. No
nuthatch so we went lower down again, and added the first of many
Flavescent Bulbuls**, Grey-throated Babbler* (two taped out with
playback), a group of the funny Puff-throated Bulbul**, and Pale-blue
Flycatcher**. By now we were at the same good spot as yesterday afternoon,
and we were glad to see one of those hiding pigeons, the Wedge-tailed
Green-Pigeon** in the scope, eating in a fruiting tree.
We shortly went back to Malee's, where Gruff and his wife Sara had arrived
with their bird guide Rachen. We agreed that we would accompany Gruff and
Rachen in their spacious 4WD the next day to the summit of Doi Chiang Dao,
for the Giant Nuthatch.
At 15.30 h we shortly did the creek trail at the start of this right-hand
road, where we only flushed an unidentified quail or so. The rest of the late
afternoon we spent along the road amidst the small arable fields
surrounded by forest. Here we had splendid views of Great Barbet**,
Black-hooded Oriole**, Grey-backed Shrike** (on a hedge between two
fields; what a beautiful shrike), and we finished at 18.00 h with a large
group of Himalayan Swiftlets circling overhead, apparently a sort of
pre-roost gathering. But we soon discovered another species between them,
with a different call, and these were about 40 Crested Treeswifts**!
We tended to regard this day a bit as an off-day, with only 17 trip ticks.
But 11 of these were lifers, and four of these did we never see again on
this trip: the woodpecker, the pigeon, the shrike, and the treeswift. So
it was not so bad after all.
We had a good meal with Gruff, Sara, Rachen and a Canadian birding family,
and went to bed early, much in anticipation of the next day.
Wednesday 26 February 2003 - Doi Chiang Dao
and on to Doi Angkhang
In the darkness below the stars we left the bungalows at 05.30 h for the
bumpy drive up the mountain. Somewhere halfway we crossed a small stream
at the start of the day, and here we had three Black-backed Forktails**
walking on the dirt road, a good omen and even for Rachen a rare view.
Then, after checking in at the checkpoint, we drove the good dirt road to
the substation. Along this road often Giant Nuthatch are seen. We briefly
saw and heard one in the distance, but hoped for better views later on. At
the same spot we had an Asian Barred Owlet**, calling and briefly seen
flying, and a Slender-billed Oriole**. We parked the car at the
substation, a nice small open space amidst the pines. We now went walking
the trail along the ridge left behind the substation. This is along some
sort of orchard first, where we had Crested Bunting** in a small tree
above our head, another Indochinese Cuckoo-shrike, Chestnut Bunting,
Maroon Oriole** (female), Little Pied Flycatcher*, and Stripe-breasted
Woodpecker** while searching for the Giant Nuthatch that we heard now
again. We were a bit annoyed by the noisy Eurasian Jays*, but then we got
them, a group of three Giant Nuthatch**! They were nearby, only 20 meters
or so, thanks to Rachen's strong speaker. This is one of the absolute
wish-list species of a trip to Northern Thailand.
Walking back to the substation, we heard Collared Owlet*, briefly saw Grey
Treepie** in a lone tree in the valley behind the substation, where we
also scoped a male Maroon Oriole and enjoyed the busy work of a pair of
White-browed Shrike-Babbler.
Back at the substation we had our packed lunch from Malee, and on a short
stroll around we picked up Hume's Leaf-Warbler** (all plumage
characteristics plus the checked sound), and in the pines at the campsite
we had a male Long-tailed Minivet** (the clear U-shaped wing pattern), but
also a female Grey-chinned Minivet on a nest, which was a small cup
plastered on the outside with lichen pieces. We had ample opportunity to
study both birds. The male Long-tailed really seemed agitated by us, and
this was so close to the nest of the Grey-chinned that it was tempting to
think that they were interbreeding.
On the drive back down the mountain we ticked Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo*,
and for some reason we stopped somewhere but then got an unexpected other
bonus, the Sapphire Flycatcher**, a pair at eye-level in the forest along
the road. Two Slaty-backed Forktails* didn't escape us at a stream below
the road.
Back at Malee's at 17.30 we soon drove off towards the Angkhang mountains;
we had packed our car already in the early morning. We arrived in the
dark, but the roads were very good, also the last 20 or so km from the
main road through the Angkhang mountain area. The Nature Resort was luxury
like the hotel in Chiang Mai, but we thought we had deserved it.
Today we had exactly the same numerical result as yesterday: 17 trip ticks
including 11 lifers. And again very good ones, with the nuthatch at the
top of the list of course.
Thursday 27 February 2003 - Doi Angkhang
Although we skipped breakfast, we were not at the "orchard" (Km
19.9) before 07.20 h, but halfway the 7 minutes drive from the hotel to
this famous spot we had a Scaly Thrush** (or White's Thrush, Dutch
Goudlijster)
on the shoulder of the road! We were so excited that we forgot to stay in
the car after stopping and we jumped out
of the car. The bird flew quietly away across the road, showing well the
scaly back (I had already seen the scaled underside while passing it).
When we stopped at the entrance track to the orchard we immediately saw a
group of four Mountain Bamboo-Partridge**, one of the specialties for this
site. They were busily feeding on the grassy track and didn't seem to be
bothered by us. But in order not to disturb them we did not enter the
track but we took a path to the right, and were rewarded with a
Chestnut-vented Nuthatch**, a smaller version of the Giant Nuthatch. It
was gathering bark pieces above our head and flew away with it. After more
Brown-cheeked Fulvetta (fulvettas always keep you busy) we had another
specialty of the Angkhang area, Red-faced Liocichla**. At least three were
busy (and calling) in the low bushes below us, in the first sun rays.
Another Rufous-fronted Babbler, such a skulker, kept us busy for some time
when we were back at the car after about 2 hours. Now the partridges had
left the broad track so we entered that. A male Grey Bushchat was hunting
like a shrike. A Dark-backed Shrike** was singing in a small tree. In the
sun it showed its narrow yellow throat band. Far behind that, I thought to
hear a third specialty for this site, Spot-breasted Parrotbill. We left
the area to buy some bananas etc. in the village near the hotel and soon
were back, but now at the wooded valley at Km 21.3. We walked very slowly
down this track for a few hundred meters, and we got Black-throated
Sunbird (female), Grey-crowned Warbler** (resembles a White-eye but has a
more yellow eye-ring an a grey cheek), House Swift*, Yellow-bellied
Warbler* (a brief view after we had checked its song), Chinese
Leaf-Warbler** (light median crown stripe, light upper vent), another
Blyth's Leaf-Warbler, Arctic Warbler*, and a group of Silver-eared Mesia*
performing beautifully in a solitary pine in low deciduous forest. Then
suddenly we saw an easy but special bunting on the track between the
brushes on both sides: Tristram's Bunting, a subadult with a heavily
striped head. At the same spot we scoped a Pale-blue Flycatcher that
persistently hunted on the track. We had heard Golden-throated Barbet* all
day already and now we had one in the scope. We had a close view of two
Striated Bulbuls** in a small tree. On the way back we had White-browed
Scimitar-Babbler** on a dark shady spot, and we ended this track at about
14.00 h.
After some rest in our nice room we went out again, and now took the road
to the North, to the lookout where you have a view into Myanmar (Birma).
There is a wide parking place and here we had splendid scope views of an
adult Long-tailed Shrike** and of Brown-breasted Bulbuls**. Both species
sat in the tops of the scrubs bordering the parking place. On this
mountain pass a group of 20 Barn Swallows was foraging. A bit uphill we
saw an adult male Stonechat with more red on the breast and less white in
the neck than we are used to in Europe. This is the przewalski subspecies
breeding here. Even before I had read it in the book I also thought that
it was a bit bigger. Later on we also saw the female.
In an email on Orientalbirding I had seen that nearby a new stake-out for
both water-redstarts had been found, so we went there now in this slow
hour. And indeed we got them immediately at this site, a new lodge just
before Ban Luang: White-capped Water-Redstart** and Plumbeous
Water-Redstart**, even together in one scope view. Eventually we saw male
and female of both species. By accident we also drove into the hill-tribe
village itself, a poor but interesting Tibetan-like hamlet with everything
and everybody on the street.
At 17.30 h we spent some time at Km 19.9 again but got nothing noteworthy.
We finished the day at the dark spruce plot at the beginning of the 23.4
track. Here we had a rather confiding White-tailed Robin*.
Today we had 19 trip ticks including 13 lifers. We had briefly met
Kingsley and Sharon upon their arrival here, and at the dessert of our
delicious meal in the hotel's restaurant we gave them info about several
of our observations in this area.
Friday 28 February 2003 - Doi Angkhang and
on to Thaton
Before sunrise we were again at the Km 23.4 track, but went to the right
at the fork now. We had a pair of Short-billed Minivet** in a pine in the
first sun rays. Further on, where the trail goes uphill amidst low bushes,
we briefly saw our first Spectacled Barwing** which we had missed
yesterday all day. Here we also had Striated Bulbul again. We went back to
the open spot near the start of this side trail and we had even better
views of the Red-faced Liocichla than yesterday. A pair and later on also
two immature males of Mrs. Gould's Sunbird** were playing in the sun most
of the time. Now we also had a female Pale-blue Flycatcher, and there were
a lot of Phylloscopus warblers here. We cautiously identified a new one,
Eastern Crowned-Warbler**. At close range we had a preening Hill Prinia**
and a Blue-winged Minla*, the latter bringing back good memories of
Fraser's Hill in Malaysia. Back at the start of the 23.4 track we added
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo* and a pair of Large Niltava*.
At 09.00 h we were back at the car and had a banana-and-cookie breakfast,
so at 09.30 h we were at the 19.9 track again, the orchard area. It took
some time to recognize an immature Long-tailed Shrike, and then we heard
the calls of Spot-breasted Parrotbill again. We decided that we really had
to go along the hill side to the left in order to see them. We did find a
very narrow trail going there, and with the help of the minidisc we got
fine views indeed of two Spot-breasted Parrotbills** nearby in a small
tree uphill. Back at the start of the 19.9 track we ticked Lesser Coucal*
and had two Spectacled Barwings again, but much better now. We went for a
last glance at the viewpoint of yesterday and even had three Spectacled
Barwings there, one of them eating from flower buds.
We found it hard to leave the Angkhang mountain area, but we also longed
for the Thaton lowlands. An hour and a half later, at about 15.00 h, we
arrived at our next hotel, the Thaton River View Resort. We had got
directions about where others had seen Jerdon's Bushchat, and we wanted to
explore that area at the water tower a few km S of Thaton now already. It
took some time to find it, so we only were there at 17.00 h, where we met
Gruff and Kingsley (who had met each other here; all because of the same
info about this stake-out). They had seen a clear female of the bushchat,
so we hoped to get more, either now or tomorrow morning (the others left
Thaton now). We strolled around in this funny place near the river, with a
maze of small asphalted roads for easier harvesting of the garlic etc.,
but got no more than several Pied Bushchat, an Indian Roller** (darker
than ours), and close views of the leucopsis** subspecies of White
Wagtail*, which is really different from ours.
Saturday 1 March 2003 - Thaton, Mekong and
on to Chiang Mai
We were early back at the water tower site, not only for the bushchat but
for the open field and riverside birds in general. We did not get the
bushchat, a dip in the trip maybe, but we got many other good birds. We
started with a Black-winged Kite* and Black-faced Bunting**, a pair in the
reeds near the river, the male in full adult summer plumage. The other
birds came so fast that I did not note them down immediately but made a
list afterwards (in reverse systematical order): Common Rosefinch* (a
group in the same reeds as the bunting), White-rumped Munia** (some groups
of about 4; well showing their white rump in flight), Scaly-breasted Munia
(larger groups, darting around on many places), Baya Weaver* (1 group),
numerous Tree Sparrows, Oriental Skylark** (only heard alas, underway to
this site in a hurry for the bushchat...), Paddyfield Pipit in an arable
field, Chestnut-capped Babbler** (2 in the reeds near the river bank;
active and yet wary), Olive-backed Pipit (several in solitary trees),
Richard's Pipit (scope view in arable field: stance plus call),
Yellow-bellied Prinia** (in the reeds on the river bank, a few), Red-rumped
Swallow (several), Black-collared Starling, several Pied Bushchats again,
Common Stonechat (not the przewalski form), Grey Bushchat, Bluethroat*
(red-throated; three in total), Siberian Rubythroat**!! (a splendid male
in the early sun, at the base of the reeds on the river bank, wary),
Red-throated Flycatcher, Long-tailed Shrike adult, Little Ringed Plover*
(a few on the sand spit in the river).
We left the water tower area at about 10.00 h and tried another Jerdon's
Bushchat site near a small Wat along the road to Chiang Rai, where we were
going anyway. Again no bushchat, but we got a nice other bird, a juvenile
Plaintive Cuckoo** that first seemed to be a Wryneck, and in the orchard
also an Asian Paradise-Flycatcher and a Lesser Coucal.
On we went to be at about noon at the Mekong river. Gruff had given us
details about a restaurant with a view on a sand bar in the river, the
Rimkhong restaurant North of Chiang Saen. Upon arrival we scanned the sand
bar with our scope while standing in front of the restaurant, and while
waiting for a free table with full view on the river. We were struck by
the dozens of Small Pratincole** on the sand, and also showing well in
flight now and then. But there was more in this pre-lunch watch of the
sand bar: Spot-billed Duck** (a group of about 40), Ruddy Shellduck** (4 or 5,
finally wild ones after so many years), and a Temmincks Stint* amidst the
dozens of the little plovers (Little Ringed Plover and Kentish Plover*).
When Nollie was away to the toilet for a few minutes, I really thought
that I saw another specialty of this region, the Long-billed Plover. Its
size was between that of the Small Pratincole and the small plovers, and
it was also more elongated in shape than the small plovers. I really think
it was one, but when Nollie came back I had lost the bird and could not
find it again, so I let it go (too far away to see more details anyway).
This sort of half observations only strengthens my wish to see them again
another time, another place. Other trip ticks on the sand bar were Great
Egret*, Grey Heron*, and Common Greenshank*.
The open restaurant was very nice, and we liked the local fish especially
(all from a buffet). The Golden Triangle site is only 4 km or so further
North so we could not resist to go there as well, although we had a long
drive ahead back to Chiang Mai. The Golden Triangle village is very
touristy but we liked the vast view across the river there, towards both
Laos and Myanmar (Birma). Moreover, there were dozens of Small Pratincole
again, and now a bit nearer, on the big sand bar below us.
Halfway the 3 to 4 hour drive back to Chiang Mai (where we would arrive at
dusk) we passed a large area with wet paddies and used it to pause a bit:
Grey-headed Lapwing** (sitting on a small dike), a group of 20 Chinese
Pond-Herons and a group of 20 Black-winged Stilts*.
In Chiang Mai we were welcomed in the same hotel as we had been a week
before, and decided to have a cocktail in the lobby and eat a bit in their
Italian restaurant in stead of going out again. This day of lowlands had
produced 44 species, of which 25 were trip ticks, including 11 lifers.
Sunday 2 March 2003 - Mae Hia and on to Doi
Inthanon
We did a pre-breakfast excursion to the Mae Hia site again, like a week
before. We mostly saw the same species but added as lifers Scarlet-backed
Flowerpecker**, a male calling in the treetops in the open woods in the
center of the area, and Grey-breasted Prinia** in a tree fence between two
small pastures. We were also very pleased to see a male Siberian
Rubythroat again, and a total of three Burmese Shrikes. Trip ticks were
Common Moorhen*, Common Tailorbird* and Stripe-throated Bulbul*, the
latter in the sunny open woods at the back of the site, together with
Rufous-fronted Babbler.
The luxury buffet breakfast was a typical rest-day extravagance, and we
also did some e-mailing from the hotel lobby. We left the hotel at about
13.00 h and proceeded to the villages of Sankamphaeng and Bo Sang to buy
some silk and a few paper umbrellas, respectively. From there it was a
two-hour drive to the Inthanon Highland Resort, near the entrance of Doi
Inthanon national park. The resort is a lovely place and the they gave us
the Green Cochoa chalet which best overlooks the central pond with Common
Kingfisher. We did not expect that we would also see the Green Cochoa bird
itself up the mountain.
We realized a bit late that we might just not have enough cash to pay this
place (no credit cards) so we drove back, in less than 10 minutes, to the
town of Chom Thong where we found a cash machine upon entering the town
center. We then proceeded to the Mae Klang waterfall close to the entrance
of the national park but just outside it. It was still busy with local
visitors on this Sunday afternoon. It was half an hour before the closure
of the ticket booth (200 Baht per person, so in fact the normal day-ticket
for the whole national park) but I stared questioning at the staff while
pointing at my watch, and they let us pass for free. In 10 minutes we were
back anyway, it was just the waterfall only, and no birds amidst the
remaining few dozen of visitors of course. We better had some birding at
our lovely resort! We walked around the rather large compound and its
equally park-like direct surroundings, and we noted Hoopoe*, Striated
Swallow, Streak-eared Bulbul with its thrush-like behavior on the lawns,
Coppersmith Barbet, Purple Sunbird** (female), white-eyes (probably
Japanese), Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker and Verditer Flycatcher*, amongst
others.
This "rest day" gave 8 trip ticks including 3 lifers. We were
the only guests at the resort and had a good meal in the open restaurant,
overlooking the pond.
Monday 3 March 2003 - Doi Inthanon
Stocked with plenty of breakfast and lunch food (brought from Chiang Mai),
we went up the Doi
Inthanon mountain, and were at the end-of-the-road parking place at 07.00 h.
Now we had to find the so-called summit marsh, the famous birding site. We
soon found out that this is a wrong name: it is not at the summit and it
is not a marsh. It is the AngKa boardwalk in a moist forest before and
below the parking place. Stone steps lead down to it and in the early
morning at the top of these steps several Chestnut-crowned
Laughingthrushes* were boldly walking around. This was nice of course, but
then below the stone steps we entered the moist and epiphyte-laden forest
and we were very impressed by its beauty. The first birds at the start of
the boardwalk were two busy Yellow-bellied Fantails**, contrasting a lot
with the still rather dark surroundings where the sun had not come yet.
Then, after only 10 meters on the boardwalk, we had a flock in a very
mossy tree. Both Green-tailed Sunbird** (male and female) as Mrs. Gould's
Sunbird (male) were actively feeding alongside the always splendid
Chestnut-tailed Minla* and a group of the piculet-like Rufous-winged
Fulvetta**. And this was all only a few meters away from us! We were
already so thrilled by the setting and the birds here that we decided that
this was the best site we had seen so far on this Northern Thailand trip.
We proceeded on the circular boardwalk anti-clockwise and only 40 m
further on we heard a very clear and loud song on the forest floor at a
few meters away and below us: White-browed Shortwing. At close range the
black is shining bluish. Halfway the c. 200 m long boardwalk we heard the
unmistakable song of Pygmy Wren-Babbler**, and we spent some 20 minutes
trying to find it, partly by taping out, but without success. The bird
moved a bit now and then but remained hidden near the forest floor, in a
sort of gully. After that we had a group of three Ashy-throated Warbler**
nearby but there will have been more around in this site. Back at the
start of the boardwalk, we did the first 30 m again and added two
Dark-sided Thrushes** foraging in the black mud to the right of the
boardwalk, and at the more open spot we studied at length a group of about
20 white-eyes. This was a mixture of Japanese White-eye** and
Chestnut-flanked White-eye**. There we also saw a Dark-backed Sibia again.
At 09.40 h we were back at the parking place, and had breakfast
from the boot of the car.
From 10.30 h we did the so-called Jeep track at Km 37.0. We had a flock
straight-away, with Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird,
Golden Babbler* (with nesting material), Black-eared Shrike-Babbler*,
Spectacled Barwing (him again!) and Dark-backed Sibia. Of course you can't
say which species really belonged to the flock. A Golden-throated Barbet
flew into a hole in a dead tree right along the track. Despite the flock
from the start of the track it was rather quiet (doesn't this happen
often?). On the way back (after 1 km or so) we had a Slaty-bellied Tesia**
in the undergrowth, singing but also seen (finally a ground bird for us).
We heard a Mountain Tailorbird, we remembered the funny song from Malaysia
but also checked it on the minidisc. Again, at the start of the track
there were more birds. We had a wonderful close encounter with
Grey-throated Babbler feeding three young on a small twig in a bush at
eye-level. A bit higher up in the tree was a pair of Yellow-cheeked Tit**.
Again we were engaged in identifying a winter-plumage Red-throated
Flycatcher. We often heard the song of White-tailed Leaf-Warbler but
didn't see it properly yet.
We now walked a few hundred m up the Km 34.5 track, also because others
had seen the small parrotbill here, a specialty species. We finally saw a
Red Junglefowl male after having heard so many in Malaysia and on this
trip. It flew off from a branch above the track. We saw some stuff like
Olive-backed Pipit and Grey-chinned Minivet, and finally a convincing
White-tailed Leaf-Warbler**. It really sings everywhere here on Doi
Inthanon thus far. We met Gruff and Rachen again just while they were
taping out a small group of White-necked Laughingthrush**. We heard the
real birds several times but saw only a bit of it.
About halfway the afternoon we tried another stake-out of this moment, a
special tree along the asphalted road above the campsite. Here Fire-capped
Tit is seen regularly, but we didn't see it now nor on another occasion
later. However, we saw our only Yellow-eyed Babbler** here, in the
undergrowth at first but then in full view after taping it out from the
reference minidisc. Here in the orchard we also had Pied and Grey Bushchat,
Common Rosefinch (a pair), Chestnut Bunting, and Chestnut-flanked
White-eye.
At 17.15 h we were at the small marsh next to the "second pond"
of the campsite, and sat down on the dry hillside next to the marsh, under
the pines. We had to wait only 15 minutes and there it was, the
Black-tailed Crake**. This specialty of Doi Inthanon was just walking on
the trail that traverses the little marsh. In fact we would have had the
best and closest view if we had stayed in the parked car! It was a male
and the scope view revealed its magnificent color gradations. Here we also
saw our first Large-billed Crow* of the trip.
On the way back to the resort we made a short stop at the parking place
for the Km 13 track, and there was a Green Magpie* (the only one of the trip)
and a splendid performance of a group of White-crested Laughingthrush**,
revealing their presence by calling loudly, and then going from one tree
to the other along the rim of the parking place.
In the dusk we had a relaxing beer on the porch of our cabin, overlooking
the pond with its Common Kingfisher, before having dinner again as the
only guests. Today we had 26 trip ticks including 17 lifers.
Tuesday 4 March - Doi Inthanon
From 06.30 h we were on the Km 13 hill track, which soon appeared to be a
foot-and-motorcycle corridor for people from a village above. An
impressive group of the large (and large-tailed) Red-billed Blue-Magpie**
flew across. We were glad to add Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch** to our
nuthatch collection, with fine scope views in a dead tree. Collared
Falconet is one of the target birds here and we probably saw one flying
away from us, right across the valley, and seen only from above, although
for a good 15 seconds: flying in a straight line, but slightly undulating,
with short, pointed and rather triangular wings, and a dark upper side.
Later in Khao Yai we had a same unconvincing bird, when we saw one from
below. So we didn't see much on this track, and finished with scope views
of a male Purple Sunbird.
From 08.30 h we did the Km 37.0 track again, hoping to see a cochoa. It's
much cooler here than at Km 13 so 08.30 is still a good time. We started
with a Streaked Spiderhunter in the bananas along the road. We heard the
Slaty-bellied Tesia again, as well as the family of Grey-throated Babbler.
We had a sort of marten we thought, but later, from a mammal booklet we
bought in Khao Yai, this appeared to be Giant Squirrel. We walked on
slowly, and then, only a few hundred meters from the start of the track,
we clearly heard the Green Cochoa**, although it took some time before we managed to see it. We succeeded in this only because we
used the song playback in order to have it fly from one hiding place to
another, and the last hiding place between the leaves gave us enough to
identify the bird visually too for a few minutes: bill and head, wing, and
tail tip. The contrast in the wing pattern was remarkable. We walked on,
and had a Rufous-winged Fulvetta again (the piculet-like bird from the
"summit marsh"), and Grey-cheeked Fulvetta in a more open spot,
in the undergrowth. We waited a long time near a dead tree because we
heard the call of Bay Woodpecker (at least it was quite like the call on
the reference minidisc), but it didn't show. One of those opportunities
about which you think on hindsight that you should have tried longer,
especially because we saw in fact very few woodpeckers at all here up
North. Suddenly,
after about 2000 m from the start of the track, there is a wide open vista
across a valley, and in fact the forest ends here. We rested a bit, and
saw a large raptor in the distance, probably a hawk-eagle. Nearby an
unmistakable Large Hawk-Cuckoo** was calling often, and despite taping out
it hardly showed itself. On the way back we had a large flock of
fulvetta's with a Golden Babbler, and a hawk-eagle flew overhead.
At about 14.00 h we went into the "summit marsh" again, just
because we liked the site so much so we liked to see it one last time. No
new birds now, and also less birds than at the morning visit of course.
Se we soon tried the Km 37 track again, and this time for the Purple
Cochoa, that was seen here today by Gruff and Rachen. And now we met
Kingsley and Sharon too, who had just arrived on Doi Inthanon. So we tried
at the spot where it should be, with our minidisc sound of this bird, and
we heard its reaction several times. Typically for a cochoa, it showed
only briefly after about 20 minutes. It was a female, which in this
species is as special as the male. So we were all happy.
Down we went for a last try at the Km 34.5 track for the Black-throated
Parrotbill. We met two Swedish birders on the track and they were rather
gloomy about the scarcity of birds, had " only" seen our target
bird! We think we heard its call at the bamboos after about 200 m from the
start of the track, but we did not see them.
We ended our last day at Doi Inthanon with an "obligatory" visit
to the Vachirathan waterfall which we did not really need because we had
seen both water redstarts at Doi Angkhang already. But the scenery is
interesting, and look, there was a thrush on a rock amidst the cascading
water in the upper part of the waterfall. It was deep black on the head
and upper back, had
a brightly yellow-orange bill, and very briefly Nollie saw also a reddish
belly. The only species that fits is a male of the rare Black-breasted
Thrush**!
This night we had a lively dinner with Kingsley and Sharon in the resort.
Today we only had 6 trip ticks though they were all lifers. We had planned
to stay another morning at Doi Inthanon (before heading on to the South)
but meanwhile had decided to leave the resort well before dawn in order to
do some birding at the Mae Ping national park about 2 hours to the South,
on our way further down.
Wednesday 5 March 2003 - Mae Ping and on to
Bung Borapet
The pre-dawn drive through many villages revealed a social aspect we had
totally missed thus far: every village had a lively market where people
from all sides and with all means of transport gathered in the total
darkness! It may be related to a wish to have food as fresh as possible,
to get it home in a cool state. But the markets also had goods like shoes
and clothing.
At 07.30 h we were inside Mae Ping NP, at the dirt road to Tung Gik. We
had been advised that this would be a good birding road for woodpeckers,
and the scenery would be different from any of the other sites we had been
thus far. The forest is much more open indeed, and the trees not very high
and not having a dense foliage, so our chances on woodpeckers were
greater. We heard several but in the end saw only one, a Common Flameback*.
We definitely also heard Greater Flameback (which we would see in KY later
on). We walked the road for about 2 km up and down. We had a lot of
Eurasian Jays, always funny to see this bird here to be so different in
color from ours. Even the behavior seems to be different - operating in
social groups much more than in Europe. We were also surprised by a dog
well inside the forest, the finest and fittest dog we have seen on this
trip, with remarkable heavy eyelids. From the mammal booklet that we
bought later at KY we learned that it can hardly have been a wild dog. We
had a fine view of a new leafbird, Golden-fronted Leafbird**, it's always
nice to see a leafbird really well. That is an advantage of the open
nature of this forest here. In the same way we had a prolonged view on a
bare stake of a Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, and we made a nice recording of
its song. We had missed one lifer minivet thus far and here we got it:
Small Minivet**. It was a small group of males and females in a tree right
along the road. When they flew off it just seemed a group of tits. A lifer
barbet also is a nice happening, and the forest here is full with the song
of Lineated Barbet**, which we also saw briefly. In Malaysia we had
briefly seen a Black Baza inside a forest, and here we had it in full
swing above the tree tops. This adult Black Baza* was involved in a
display flight for several minutes, a strongly undulating flight. So it
showed its white wing patches very well, even better than in the plate of
the book. We recorded its calls during this display flight. Then another
raptor flew in and landed on a tree top nearby. We had scope views of it
but still were puzzled, and this appeared to be because we did not see the
upper wing well enough. It was a Rufous-winged Buzzard.
We left the park at 10.30 h (when it had become hot) and in these three hours we had seen 5 trip
ticks including 3 lifers. This is not overwhelming for a totally new sort
of forest, but we were glad we had seen this national park, if only for
the change of habitat.
We had a long drive South towards Bung Borapet, and we had two breaks
along the road in order to pick up some of the classic culture of
Thailand. First, when we entered the town of Thoen we were so glad about
having finished the endless number of curves ever since Mae Ping, that we
took some time for a Wat, a temple complex. This one consists of a new and
an old Wat, and we liked the older one best, with its more simple lay-out.
Then we drove on again in the sweltering heat (but no problem thanks to
our airco), and we had a second and longer stop in the town of Kamphaeng
Phet. This was for the Historical Park with its very old temples and
Buddha's etc., a World Heritage cultural site that we had picked up from
our Lonely Planet guide (for Northern Thailand). In fact this was one of
the very few occasions that we used this booklet (the main other ones
being Chiang Mai night market and street plan, and the Golden Triangle
area). It was blazingly hot between the dark stone statues and buildings
at this site, but it was impressive, and it is only a few minutes from the
main road that we were going South, the 1. In Nakhon Sawan city, where we
would stay for the Bung Borapet reserve, out hotel (Piman) was only 50
meters from the 1.
After check-in we decided to do a reconnaissance of the Bung Borapet
reserve, and after a long search we came first at the quay for the boats
at the North side of the lake. Hundreds (maybe a few thousand) of Lesser
Whistling-Ducks were visible from the shore. It was late already, but we
really wanted to see the other side of the lake as well, because the marsh
reserve there would be the first site to go in the early morning tomorrow.
Eventually, and almost at dusk, we found this, much further East than we
had understood from a description in a trip report. So we noted down every
km-marking that would make it easier for others to come here. The marshy
site looked very promising, and we regretted a bit that we had not come
here straight-away after arrival in the city. But anyway we also knew now
where the boat-landing is at the North side.
We had dinner at the hotel itself, and this was easy and OK but not so
good as we had had in the North.
Thursday 6 March 2003 - Bung Borapet and on
to Khao Yai
We were on the road at the start of dawn, and were at the Southern Bung
Borapet site at 06.45 h. There is an asphalted dike trail going around the
marsh and lake border, and it took us a full hour to do the first 200
meter of it, a straight sort of avenue (for pedestrians only) leading to
the statue of the two river-martins, the lost bird species. Chinese
Pond-Heron was the first bird seen flying around, as can be expected. Then
we had Purple Heron* (not seen again later in the morning), and we enjoyed
the activities of an otter* nearby. Two Asian Pied-Starlings** were active
at a nest in one of the small trees at the start of the avenue. We also
had the first Purple Swamphen* here walking around at 20 m only, and
other easy species were Grey Heron, Common Moorhen and Black-winged Kite.
Then we had our first reed warbler, busy on the ground in decayed reed:
Black-browed Reed-Warbler**. This was immediately followed by another,
less easy one (if only seen and not heard): Oriental Reed-Warbler**. We
would see and hear many of both reed-warblers further on, mostly in the
reeds. Several Yellow Bitterns** were hanging in the reeds and flying
short distances. This is the one that mostly resembles our own little
bittern. A beautiful other lifer was the next one, the Black-headed Munia**.
We saw several flying around, and one with nesting material, a very long
grassy string. A huge but distant lifer was next, a Painted Stork**:
banded wing pattern and (in the scope) the decurved bill (both quite
different from the also present Asian Openbill that we saw a bit later).
We were not even halfway those 200 meters and on it went with trip ticks
and lifers: White-breasted Waterhen* in the floating vegetation to the
left, and a few Little Cormorants** flying around, with a remarkable brown
neck indeed, and with the same duck-like profile as Pygmy Cormorant,
especially when landing in the water. A Long-tailed Shrike was quite tame
(again: what a beautiful bird). Here at the pond we also had both Common
Kingfisher and White-throated Kingfisher. There were several Common Mynas
in the small trees along the avenue, and a few Large-billed Crows and a
Zebra Dove*. Now we had a totally new water bird, the Cotton
Pygmy-Goose**, a female swimming between the water lilies in the open
water to the right. A bit further on we would also see some males. Two
Asian Openbills** flew in the distance, and two Lesser Whistling-Ducks a
bit closer. Little Grebe* finally was the last bird of this 200 meters.
We now walked onto the smaller curving trail (also surfaced) that leads to
an observation tower, for another 200 meters or so. An Eastern
Marsh-Harrier** came along quite near to us. In the denser row of small
trees along this trail several Oriental Reed-Warblers were present, even
in groups of 2 or 3. They often flew in from the reed beds. If we had not
seen the latter occurring then we would not have believed they were
reed-warblers. Their behavior is also much busier than our Great
Reed-Warbler. In this habitat with some more small trees and shrubs, we
also noted a pair of Common Stonechat. From the reed-fringe below the
small dike that we walked on, two bitterns flew up together: a Cinnamon
Bittern* and a Yellow Bittern. Several times we had a prinia-like bird in
the grass, with striped back and wings and a tapering tail, and eventually
this turned out to be Rusty-rumped Warbler**. In the more small-scale
marsh habitat along this trail we had a beautiful male Bronze-winged
Jacana** quite nearby, and we were impressed by the enormous toes. Rather
close together in the grassy areas a bit further away were both Great
Egret*, Intermediate Egret* and Little Egret*. On a drier place in those
fields we saw Red-wattled Lapwing. In the small trees along the trail a
Pied Fantail* reminded us of the coastal marsh we had seen in Malaysia.
We ascended the observation tower and this really gives a splendid view
over the marshes, the lake and the fields and meadows. But even nearby we
had new birds: a small group of White-shouldered Starling** at eye-level
in a tree, and a small group of Oriental Pratincole** hunting at eye-level
as well. We had the sun right onto them so we even saw the throat well. In
the large, shallow and marshy open water in front of us we saw Grey-headed
Lapwing and the wish-list Pheasant-tailed Jacana** (non-breeding plumage)
walking around. We walked back and saw four Cattle Egret* in a tree, and a
Wood Sandpiper flew up. Now we also had a clear Plain Prinia** for the
first time. At only 8 meter we had a Ruddy-breasted Crake** in the mud
along the trail, even in the scope. We lingered a bit at this confiding
bird, and even met a Thai birder here. The heat was coming so we walked
back to the start of the trail and avenue, and saw Bluethroat and two
Yellow-vented Bulbuls*. It was 10.00 h now. We had a coca-cola at one of
the shops at the entrance, and we spoke with the owner mr. Panom. If we
would have had another 2-3 hours he could have taken us out on the lake
with a boat, but we had to drive on, and we (and he) also thought it would
be a bit too hot now.
In this remarkable 3 hours of intense but easy birding we had added 29
trip ticks, including 15 lifers! We were very glad that we had decided to
do this Bung Borapet reserve, although it was merely meant as a break on
the drive from Chiang Mai to Khao Yai.
So we drove on to Khao Yai, doing some shopping along the road, and
getting some more baht from a cash machine in Pak Chong (outside a very
modern bank when entering the town, on the left-hand side of the road).
This was also because we had just phoned to the resort (called Chalet
Hill) and they told us that they didn't accept foreign credit cards. When
we arrived at the pretty and quietly located resort we understood why they
preferred cash: this is not a normal hotel resort, but a Thai vacation
homes club, and they willingly let in foreign tourists as well. We think
this is a real discovery, we had just found it by surfing the internet and
hitting their website. It is a 10 minutes drive along the quiet side road
that goes left just before the entrance of KhaoYai national park. A bonus
is even that there are some well stocked shops along this side road too,
and when we asked the kind girl of the reception (here name is Dome and
she speaks English) where to eat at night, she advised without hesitation
the restaurant Toscana back along this same side road.
First however we wanted to see the famous exodus of bats which takes place
every night somewhere near the entrance of Khao Yai. So after installing
ourselves in the spacious bungalow of the resort we drove back to the Khao
Yai entrance and asked the guard where we could see the bats. That
appeared to be at the back of the Garden Lodge, a few km back along the
main road to Pak Chong. This "lodge" is an area with widely
scattered bungalows and we saw nobody at the reception so we just drove on
to find the rock face where the bats might come out. After at least 1.5 km
we found such a cliff and asked a gardener of a wealthy weekend home if we
were at the right spot. Yes it's here he said, and we still had ample
time, it was only 17.30 h now. So we walked along the empty road a bit and
ticked the only Little Heron* of the trip (adult male, in an irrigation
canal). We also had Paddyfield Pipit quite nearby again, and Spangled
Drongo. Then, from 18.05 to 18.10 h enormous groups of bats flew from a
small valley to the left of our rock face, although not as nearby as we
had hoped for. But after that, at 18.25 h, a long string of bats came out
of the largest cave opening in our rock face. It was as if smoke spiraled
out of the hill, and this went on for at least 5 minutes. A raptor landed
on a bare tree just in front of the cave opening, and it must have had an
easy meal.
We too had a good meal that night, at Toscana. It was so delicious and
fresh and the people were so friendly, that we would go here more often
these days. Only on the last night did we ask why it is called Toscana (it
is not an Italian but a Thai restaurant), and they explained in their poor
but enthusiastic English that it was because of the hills all around.
Friday 7 March 2003 - Khao Yai NP
At 06.30 h we entered Khao Yai and drove on until the start of trail
"6" signposted about 100 m after the headquarter. We were full
of anticipation, expecting several lifers, but this didn't materialize
today. OK we started with a trip tick, a noisy group of Abbott' s
Babbler*. We heard several Red Junglefowl, and saw fresh elephant
droppings when we came to a small stream with a small clearing (tree
fall?) some 150 m from the start of the narrow trail. Here we saw Asian
Palm Swift*, Barn Swallow, Asian Fairy-Bluebird, Thick-billed
Green-Pigeon*, and again we saw a probable Collared Falconet fast flying
away, now from below (at Doi Inthanon from above), but still not tickable.
We heard several gibbons calling and the rainforest habitat was lovely. We
left the small clearing and proceeded along the little stream. We had a
busy group of Puff-throated Bulbuls, heard a Collared Owlet, and a raptor
flew up from only 7 m high in the tree. It was light colored below but the
tail was too short for an accipiter, maybe it was a Jerdon's Baza. Then we
had our first lifer (although we had heard them at Mae Ping already), a
group of four Greater Flameback**. We detected them by their sound (they
are quite noisy), and after playback of the reference sound we saw one
very well in the sun against a tree, showing its large bill. We heard
Scaly-breasted Partridge and a lot of Green-eared Barbet. A stealthy but
noisy White-rumped Shama didn't escape us. A next lifer was White-bellied
Yuhina**, a small group with nasal tit-like calls. By now we had come onto
the ridge. We only heard some junglefowl there. On the way back we saw a
group of White-handed Gibbons. One was a white phase, with a black young
attached to its belly. A black teenager gibbon didn't move away from us
and sat right above our head at only 6 meter high. We walked on and had a
lifer subspecies of Black-crested Bulbul, the johnsoni**, with red throat
in stead of black (Eastern Thailand). A very agitated female Hill-Blue
Flycatcher kept us busy for a while before we could name her. Back at the
start of the trail we had a group of White-crested Laughingthrush. It was
13.00 h now, so we had spent 6 morning hours on this famous trail and had
seen only14 species, of which 5 were a trip tick, and 2 a lifer.
At the stalls behind the headquarters we carefully picked up some food and
sat down in the breezy and shadowy place with the tables and chairs. From
here you have a nice view on the surrounding trees and we saw a
Green-eared Barbet** entering a hole in one of the trees.
After some rest we went to a spot along the road a bit back, where we had
seen a lot of fruits on the road and a group of monkeys (Pig-tailed
Macaque**) eating from it. We parked the car at bout 50 m from it but saw
no birds now, so decided that an other time of the day would be better.
Moreover there were nasty bees, possibly attracted to the fruits as well.
So we went on to the campsite at about 16.00 h, because sometimes the
Coral-billed Ground-Cuckoo is seen there. But the campsite has changed
drastically we think, so we could not find last year's stake-out despite
precise directions in the reports. One of the staff did point out another
likely spot however, but to no avail for us. It is busy here. We only saw
a Stripe-throated Bulbul.
From 17.15 h we were on the so-called Radar road where we had an Oriental
Honey-Buzzard* directly overhead. We also heard heavy wing-flapping inside
the forest and thought that it was a hornbill but we saw nothing.
However, on the way back down to the entrance of the park, we made a stop
at 18.10 h at the parking place at Km 35. From there you have a wide view
on the forest edges all around. Now we did have a hornbill, a pair of
Great Hornbill*, gradually moving from one large tree to the other. A
great sighting.
Much further down, in the dusk, we had to stop for a nightjar on the road,
just a few meters in front of us. In the headlights it kept sitting on the
road and we identified it as Grey Nightjar*.
Again we had a nice meal at Toscana, with a good bottle of beer. We are
really impressed by the beauty of the scenery of the Khao Yai NP but not
so much by the number of bird species we have encountered thus far...
Saturday 8 March 2003 - Khao Yai
We now started at the other end of trail "6", at the parking
place of last night's hornbill. It was 06.30 h and of course in this more
open habitat (sort of savanna strip with trees) the birding was a bit
easier than yesterday's rainforest. At the parking place we had
Stork-billed Kingfisher*, Mountain Imperial-Pigeon, Black-naped Oriole*,
Spotted Dove. A bit down the track we had a new and vocal woodpecker,
Rufous Woodpecker**, in a small tree along the track. In the top of a tree
on the left we had Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon** (rather long bill,
yellow along whole wing side, rather long tail). Again we had a group of
White-crested Laughingthrush, and we had two Green-eared Barbets in the
scope, and saw them better now than yesterday. We had another Plain Prinia,
and a group of 6 Brown-backed Needletails* passed us at eye-level nearby,
so we even could see the white dot near the eye. For the first time we had
a scope view of the beautiful Chestnut-headed Bee-eater**. (On hindsight,
it does occur on a photo taken somewhere at Doi Angkhang.) We were closer
to the pond with the watchtower now, and had Red-watlled Lapwing and Red-rumped
Swallow, Little Cormorant and White-throated Kingfisher. We got a male
non-breeding Blue Rock-Thrush* in the scope, of the subspecies
philippensis**.
Then, at 08.00 h we entered the true forest to the left of the watchtower.
In the nice transition zone we had mating Variable Squirrel**, a female
Black-naped Monarch in a group of (as usually) unidentified warblers, and
two nearby Vernal Hanging-Parrots** eating fruits in a rather bare and low
tree. Their red bill competed with the fierce eyes. In the bamboo-brush
below this tree we heard Scaly-breasted Partridge** calling very nearby
and yet we didn't see them, not even after 10 minutes. In such a special
case of invisible but close and long lasting encounter I tick a species as
lifer. Soon after that we crossed a stream and here we had a splendid view
of a Slaty-backed Forktail in the shade on a trunk in the water. Going
uphill now we saw and heard a noisy group of Spangled Drongo, and with
some patience we taped out (with its own call) a Moustached Barbet**. We
had heard several of them in Khao Yai but now we finally saw one nearby
perched in a low tree above us. Further on we had a flock with
White-bellied Yuhina, Puff-throated Bulbul and a very plain female sunbird
eating spiders (not a spiderhunter). In a larger tree above us we heard a
soft singular croaking sound of hornbills but only saw them in silhouette
when they flew off, about ten in total. In view of their size and shape
they must have been Brown or Oriental Pied. Nearby I had already made a
recording of hornbill sounds, and I will compare these later with the
reference sounds. At 11.25 h we were back at the stream, where small fast
"trains" of white butterflies migrated through all the time, all
Southward.
Back at the watchtower area a subadult Crested Serpent-Eagle circled
around a long time. From the watchtower we ticked Dollarbird* in the trees
between the tower and the pond. We also had a Great Hornbill in the
distance again.
Walking back to the road, we had a Hill Myna** in the scope, highly
visible in a distant but bare tree to the left, the same tree where we had
seen the Great Hornbills yesterday night. This is the very vocal and
mimicking myna species that we often talked to in the Artis Zoo in
Amsterdam in the seventies. A bit further on we had a convincing view of a
dark phase Changeable Hawk-Eagle**. It held the wings absolutely level
while soaring, unlike Black Eagle, which moreover has longer wings.
It was now about 13.00 h and we went back to our bungalow for some rest.
We stopped at the large fruiting tree again, and there were no monkeys
now, but it did have some birds now: Asian Fairy-Bluebird, Yellow-vented
Flowerpecker* (scope view) and a very mobile group of white-eyes
(Chestnut-flanked and/or Oriental). At our bungalow we saw the only other
Common Tailorbird of the whole trip.
From 16.30 h we did about 2 km of the trail which starts exactly at Km 33.
It is a beautiful trail with very impressive trees and tree falls, but we
saw practically no birds. We made some sound recordings of an
imperial-pigeon, a Collared Owlet nearby, and a drumming woodpecker which
might easily have been the much-wanted Heart-spotted...
In the meantime a cloud cover had come over the hills and this was the
first one of the whole trip. A drizzle started at about 18.00 h when we in
vain tried to spot some last birds along the river behind the visitor's
center in the HQ area.
This last night of our trip we tried another restaurant, one along the
main road, but we didn't like the food at all. As the food is so cheap
here, we only ate a bit of it and decided to go back to Toscana for the
third time. They welcomed us heartily again and we had another delicious
meal.
Sunday 9 March 2003 - Khao Yai and back to
the airport
This morning would be our last chance of picking up some more specialties
in Khao Yai. Despite the rather slow birding two days ago at trail
"6" we opted to go there again, because this forest trail really
looked very promising. And even if we would not get any new birds, this
trail would be a fine farewell in terms of the tropical forest scenery.
Along the road up we had an Asian Pied Hornbill* sitting in a tree next to
the road. At 06.45 we started at the trail "6" and it was a bit
misty after the rain showers of yesterday night. At the stream crossing we
surprised a deer (Sambar; bigger than our roe deer). We made several sound
recordings in this forest, also of a distant CBGC. We didn't see any
specialty but then at 08.45 h it was bingo! There we had the Coral-billed
Ground-Cuckoo** very nearby, and this an absolute wish-list species for
Khao Yai. This was at a lovely spot, where the trail is at the transition
from the stream valley to the hill ridge, at the educational sign for the
Erythrina subumbrans tree. We made a recording of its call and took our
time for playback now and then. Finally we saw it, first uphill in full
view when I just scanned the forest with my bins; then a bit later we
flushed it from near the trail. The way it jumped away from there reminded
us of that other great ground-cuckoo we had seen in Southern Venezuela (Rufous-winged).
We still proceeded a bit along the trail, and saw (and recorded) a fully
singing female Hill Blue-Flycatcher! Then from 10.00 h we walked back, and
had more sunshine now. Not far from the CBGC spot we had a another very
much wanted bird as well, two White-crowned Forktails** along a narrow
part of the stream. We saw all details very well, while we followed them
for a while along the stream. It's a big bird, with a black breast and a
steep white forehead. The white of the forehead is shorter than depicted
in the book (less extended towards the nape). A last good bird we saw
flying up and then sitting along the trail was a Red-headed Trogon*, a
species that we had heard nearby at Fraser's Hill but not seen then.
Satisfied we drove back to our bungalow, and saw Ashy Woodswallow on the
wire along the road not far before the resort. We leisurely packed and
said goodbye to the ever friendly Dome, and a bit later to the lady of the
Toscana restaurant (Nollie gave her some presents from Holland). Along the
road down to Pak Chong we ticked a last lifer, the Red-breasted Parakeet**
at its nest hole in a large lone tree along the road (at Km 15.8).
We arrived in the Bangkok area well in time for delivering the car and
having the airplane. However, finding the exit from the highway to the
airport was difficult already, but delivering the Budget car was far more
difficult. Our papers said that we should deliver it "at the
airport" but we found no office at all. Finally, after several
fruitless phone calls, we got somebody and she said she would send
somebody to the airport. All in all this took us a very nerve-racking
hour, with the car parked at a forbidden spot. The girl that finally
turned up was very kind, and said that we should have been told long ago
to call them an hour before arrival, so they could make an appointment
with us somewhere on the airport... (And this is a major car rental
company in a major world city...!) However, our flight back home with
Cathay Pacific was fine again. We arrived at Amsterdam airport exactly in
time, early the next morning (Monday 10 March), and the taxi brought us
home in 15 minutes. There we were very glad to see all the new bulb
flowers in the garden, and while we were admiring this, one of the best
birds of the whole trip landed in our garden - a stray Woodcock!
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