Northern Thailand 25-31st October 2016
James Huntington and Keith Camburn are two high ranking
birders from the ABA list.
They were on their way to Bhutan and wanted to do some
birding in Thailand as well.
Someone else had arranged a tour of Central Thailand for
them but they wanted to see the North also so contacted me. I had done Central Thailand
with James and some of his friends a couple of years ago so doing the North was
perfect for me.
End of November is still the wet season here with potential
bad weather and not all migrants have arrived yet. Still, the 8 days gave Keith
over 150 lifers and James around 50. James had birded Central Thailand before
as well as Bhutan but Asia was a new destination for Keith.
Day 1. Early pick up as usual. Keith was getting lifers from
the car window but it all got so much more intense once we arrived at Beung
Borapet, Nakorn Sawan. We only did an hour stop here but saw plenty of good
birds: Freckle-breasted Woodpecker, Eurasian Wryneck, Black-browed Reed Warbler, Oriental Reed
Warbler, Dusky Warbler, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Eurasian Hoopoe, Burmese and Brown Shrike, White-throated
Kingfisher, Indian Roller, Oriental Darter, Asian Openbill, Green and
Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, White Wagtail, Taiga Flycatcher and Pied Fantail are
some of those that come to mind.
We arrived at Klong Lan in time for lunch at the regular and
only restaurant of good standard.
After that we slowly drove up to Chong Yen (1300m asl), Mae
Wong National Park for the remainder of the day.
It was gloomy and bleak and bird activity was low but the
Grey Peacock Pheasant thankfully showed well at its regular stake out and other
birds of higher level followed suit: Great Hornbill, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo,
White-throated Fantail, Marten’s Warbler, Speckled Piculet, White-browed
Piculet, Blue-throated Barbet, Davison’s, Claudia’s and Sulphur-breasted
Warblers, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Golden and Grey-throated Babbler, Grey
Wagtail and more.
Mae Wong is plagued with sand flies but this time we were
not badly affected.
Day 2. Back up the mountain in search of the special birds
of this place but we managed to find none: Burmese Yuhina, Coral-billed
Scimitar Babbler, Rufous-necked Hornbill, White-necked Laughingthrush, Olive
Bulbul i.e. Instead we did see stuff
like: Wreathed Hornbill, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Great and Gold-throated
Barbet, White-throated Bulbul, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Verditer Flycatcher, Maroon
Oriole, Rosy Minivet, Swinhoe’s Minivet, Grey-chinned Minivet, Grey-headed
Canary Flycatcher, Mountain Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul, Buff-breasted Babbler and
Verditer Flycatcher.
After lunch we started our long drive to Mae Ping just 2
hours South of Doi Inthanon. It didn’t take long before we found a perched
Rufous-winged Buzzard in a field. We also saw several Black-shouldered Kites
along the way and an unidentifiable Harrier.
Mae Ping for an hour before dusk gave us two much wanted
birds: Great Slaty Woodpecker and Black-headed Woodpecker. Also Common
Flameback showed well as did Rufescent Prinias in the low vegetation.
Very nice lodging at Lee, the small town by Mae Ping
National Park. A new restaurant had opened up as well so we were definitely not
hurting.
Day 3. Back to MP for more of the same. The dry forest here
has its own set of birds and we got on to a few new ones: Grey-headed Parakeets
(many), Hainan Blue FC, Lineated Barbet, White-crested Laughingthrushes, Grey-capped
Woodpeckers, Large Cuckoo Shrike, Gold-fronted Leafbirds, Hooded Oriole, Black-naped Oriole, Velvet-fronted
Nuthatch, Great Racket-tailed Drongo and to our surprise a female Indian
Cuckoo.
Next destination was Doi Inthanon and we headed straight up
to the top where most of the goodies are. Low visibility, fog and rather cold
for Thailand but still oh so lovely in spite of the many tourists around. The
bog with its boardwalk was closed for repair so we missed some things but still
managed to see many good birds: Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Silver-eared
Laughingthrush, Bar-throated Minla, Dark-backed Sibia, Mrs Gould’s Sunbird,
Green-tailed and Black-throated Sunbird.
A night at Mr Daeng’s place with no need for AC followed
suit. Asian Barred Owlet, Collared Scops Owl and Mountain Scops Owl heard from
the abode.
Day 4. The next morning we started out around the 2nd
checkpoint, visited the top, and did the jeep track, 34.5 and a little here and
there. Slowly we got on to more birds. The biggest surprise was a Red-throated
Pipit at the car park on the top (2565m).
We managed to pull out a White-browed Shortwing from the
thicket, got stellar views of Slaty-bellied Tesia, Mountain Tailorbird,
Black-eared Shrike Babbler, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Large Niltava, Golden Babbler,
Grey-cheeked Fulvettas, Blue Whistling Thrush, Eye-browed Tit, Ashy-throated
Warblers, Bianchi’s Warbler, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, Short-billed Minivet,
Streaked Spiderhunter and Rufous-backed Sibias.
No Green Couchua inspite lengthy search.
The local fresh market had strawberries and avocadoes on
offer, much to my delight.
Day 5. Up early for a drive to Doi Saket in search of Green
Peafowl. We ended up with poor views of one bird in flight. Never had so few
birds showing. So we promptly set off for Doi Angkhang along the scenic route.
The afternoons are normally slow in the mountains but we did get on to some new
stuff: Eurasian Jay, Grey Treepie, Brown-breasted Bulbul, Long-tailed Broadbill
and Yellow-bellied Fairy Fantail.
Day 6. Early rise and off to Doi Lang. This time no
Partridges or Pheasents along the road but a lot of fog! First bird was a
cracking Ultramarine Flycatcher. So happy to see it! Soon we had stellar views
of Giant Nuthatch. Where else can you go
and see this species so readily? Spot-breasted Parrotbills as well as
Grey-headed Parrotbills were another set of gorgeous birds. In addition to that
we had other new birds: Long-tailed and Short-billed Minivets, Stripe-breasted
Woodpecker, Spectacled Barwing, Slaty-blue Flycatcher, Crested Finchbill,
White-browed Scimitar Babbler, White-browed Laughingthrushes, Little Pied
Flycatcher and a very vocal but refusing to show Spot-throated Babbler. The road at Doi Lang has Grey Bushchats all
along and good numbers of Olive-backed Pipits and other more skulking birds can
be heard: Buff-chested Babbler being one of them.
A lovely day came to an end and we drove down to our hotel
in Fang.
Day 7. A full day at Doi Angkhang. Just great to be up in
the cooler mountains hearing the sounds of birds, feeling the wind, smelling
the vegetation and seeing a different way of life with the many local tribes
still wearing their traditional clothing.
We got on to another Emerald Cuckoo, we had one DL the
previous day.
The regular stake out for Rusty-naped Pitta was void of
birds. Too early in the season.
The White-capped Redstart, a classic bird, also gave good
views in a small stream. White Wagtails were not far away and there were places
with big number of Bulbuls. We had good views of White-headed, Striated,
Red-whiskered and Sooty-headed!
Big flocks of Chestnut-sided and Japanese White-eyes all
over the mountain. Blue-winged Minlas also putting on a show.
We also got on to Yellow-vented and Plain Flowerpeckers….tiny
birds hard to see well at times.
The last hour was spent trying to sort out Pacific Swifts
from Cook’s Swift which revealed good numbers of both taxa.
Day 8. Up Doi Lang for the morning. We finally got great
views of a pair of Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babblers. These birds are seriously
inquisitive and can come quite close.
Radde’s Warbler, Bay Woodpecker and Japanese Tit were the
only other new birds.
Three Swallows were seen on the tour: Barn, Striated and
Red-rumped. Also plenty of Ashy Woodswallows.
Of course there were more birds seen enroute, especially in the
paddies but the mountains always were our priority.
In the afternoon James and Keith left for Bangkok and an
upcoming tour of Central Thailand. I decided to go back to Doi Inthanon to chill
a bit.
It had been a good trip with skilled and enthusiastic
birders. If the same trip had taken place in a month from now we probably would
have gotten on to a few more things but it was well worth it! Thank you guys!
Peter
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