Daily
log
26th
December : I met David at Suvarnabhumi (pronounced Soo
war na poom) airport where we checked in and boarded our flight.
After collecting our vehicle we headed to
Sukantara Resort on the mae Rim road a little north of Chiang Mai.
The resort is in the foothills of Doi Pui and we found a little
time before dusk to go uphill and locate a Slaty-backed Forktail
at a small waterfall and a Verditer Flycatcher. Further uphill we
spotted a few Common Rosefinches and Olive-backed Pipits on a dead
tree, gathering to roost with hundreds of Asian House Martins wheeling
around us. This area had some interesting habitat and might have
some good birds for those who investigated it.
At
the rather luxurious Sukantara
Resort and Spa we had a good dinner overlooking a floodlit waterfall
where a Blue Whistling Thrush (eugenei) was taking advantage
of the extra light to feed in the water at 9.30pm!
27th
December : Leaving at 5.30am we headed towards Doi Ang
Kang using the road through Ban Arunothai which starts with a left
from the northern end of the Chiang Dao bypass. As we approached
Ban Arunothai I spotted a raptor in a tall tree that turned out
to be a Rufous-winged Buzzard; as we were watching another flew
by. This area of open country with scattered large trees, before
and after Ban Arunothai is a good place to look for Rufous-winged
Buzzard; I have seen it here on a number of occasions in the mornings
but not so often later in the day.
The
drive is a pleasant one and we made a couple of brief stops to take
in the view before arriving at a good spot for Hume's Pheasant.
Until very recently this had a kilometre marker numbered Km 34;
however, it has now been renumbered as Km 41. Unfortunately, this
is a very busy time of year in Thailand and large numbers of people
were gathering at Doi Ang Kang for the New Year period which is
a big holiday in Thailand and the volume of traffic was such that
any Hume's Pheasants wandering around close to the road would have
been scared away. We decided to return the next day much earlier.
Nearby
at the Chinese Cemetery large numbers of Brown-breasted Bulbuls
were feeding in flowering trees and a short walk along the road
along a sunny ridge allowed me to hear a Slaty-blue Flycatcher in
the undergrowth which we managed to get a few brief but clear views
of; a nice male cocking its tail.
Our
next stop was along at Km 21. Time spent here always seems to turn
up some good birds and we very quickly called in a Chestnut-headed
Tesia. Unfortunately, it didn't show itself very well and we had
to be happy with a few glimpses. Whilst it responded to call playback
we didn't want to disturb the bird too much and left. Further along
the trail a lot of activity in the form of Rufous-backed and Dark-backed
Sibias feeding in a fruiting tree made us stop and we also got fine
views of a Spectacled Barwing. The trail has a sort of cross roads
and we elected to go up a steep firebreak which had a lot of bird
activity along it. Firstly we saw some Common Rosefinches and then
a female Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher moving rather slowly low in
a tree; this is a species I don't see too often. The views from
the ridge top are excellent and with such great weather it was a
very pleasant place to stop. It was also a place to see 2 Chestnut
Buntings, several Chestnut-vented Nuthatches, a distant view of
2 Striated Bulbuls and some Fork-tailed (Pacific) Swifts.
As
lunchtime was approaching we moved down and ran into our first mixed
feeding flock of the trip. In the north these are often detectable
by the twittering of the very common Grey-cheeked Fulvetta and this
is how we found this flock. The flock contained some nice northern
birds including Yellow-cheeked Tit, Blue-winged Minla and Mrs Gould's
Sunbird.
Before
lunch we found time to check out the back of the kitchen at the
Mae Per forest trail for a pair of Black-breasted Thrushes that
usually winter there but due to the noise of campers there was no
sign of them. However, the pines here always contain Grey Tit (Parus
cinereus according to the new Thai
checklist, not Parus Major as in Robson)
and Streaked Spiderhunter, both of which we saw easily. As we were
heading to the car David mentioned that Maroon Oriole was a bird
that he would very much like to see and seconds later one called
nearby, as if to let us know it was there. After a brief search
it was spotted and a very nice male jumped into a pink flowering
tree; a beautiful sight indeed.
Lunch
was taken on the veranda of the restaurant of the Ang Kang Nature
Resort where large numbers of Crested Finchbills were feeding on
fruiting and flowering trees. This species seems to be nomadic,
sometimes being mysteriously absent but extremely abundant when
food sources are available. On this occasion flowering, fruiting
and seeding trees seemed to be everywhere, and with them Crested
Finchbills.
After
lunch we decided to check out the thrush stakeout behind the restaurant
in the King's Project. Every year several scarce thrush species
winter here, feeding on scraps of food. Usually one has to be at
this spot early in the morning before human activity scres the thrushes
away. However, I have found that the birds usually just hide in
the twisty trees above the site and can often be found sat on branches
so we gave it a try. We were extremely lucky as we managed to see
a Dark-sided Thrush foraging on the ground, a male Black-breasted
Thrush moving around in the trees and a a male Grey-winged Blackbird
sitting on a branch. Also a male Hill Blue Flycatcher was showing
itself well. A pretty good result for 1pm with crowds of noisy people
milling around!
After
this we had a very unsuccessful hour or so searching in vain for
birds. It seemed like the heat of the day had quitened down any
bird activity. It can be difficult birding on northern mountains
at this time of year because there is so little time available.
It is too cold for birds (down to 4-5 degrees C on this visit) early
in the morning and by 11pm to midday it is too hot.
At
3.30pm it was back to the Chinese Cemetary to wait for some Black-headed
Greenfinches. A large, bare tree seems to be their favourite pre-roost
gathering and it was very satisfying that they started to arrive
at 3.45 and by about 4pm a flock of 30 birds departed. Also seen
here was a Yellow-streaked Warbler which I located from its bunting-like
call in the undergrowth.
We
tried to push our luck by going along the road to try and find a
Giant Nuthatch at what is now Km 38. Whilst we got a response from
the birds they were too far away to see but a nice flock with a
male Little Pied Flycatcher and a male Rufous-bellied Niltava made
the excursion worthwhile.
We
stopped once again at the Chinese Cemetery where this time a Common
Buzzard was perched on the bare tree and then we headed to Ban Luang
to see the River Chat but this was another case of crowds of people
scaring a bird away as large numbers of tourists were busy noisily
checking in. We did see a Eurasain Sparrowhawk though, a scarce
bird in Thailand. After this we went back to Ang Kang Nature Resort
where we had an excellent dinner.
28th
December : After breakfast we headed up to Km 40 at 7am
hoping to see Hume's Pheasant before traffic scared them away. Alas,
lots of early morning traffic was bringing more tourists to Doi
Ang Kang for the holiday period and our search was unsuccessful
- it was difficult to believe that any self-respecting Hume's Pheasant
would be seen foraging along a road so busy with tourist traffic.
Our next stop
was back at the new Km 38 to try and see a Giant Nuthatch. A short
walk along the road and some quiet listening revealed some weak
tapping amongst a feeding flock which contained Grey-chinned Minivets,
Chestnut-vented Nuthatch and several White-browed Shrike-babblers.
The tapping turned out to be what I thought, a Giant Nuthatch foraging.
After several backlit views and fleeting glimpses a Giant Nuthatch
finally obliged us by dropping into an area with nice light and
performing its foraging behaviour.
After this success
we decided to head back to the King's Project for another look at
the thrushes but on the way we were distracted by the amazing sight
of large numbers of Crested Finchbills, Brown-breasted, Flavescent,
Sooty-headed and Red-whiskered Bulbuls feeding on pink flowering
trees. These were also joined by some Common Rosefinches - common
birds but a lovely sight amongst the beautiful blossom.
At the thrush
site at the King's Project a number of photographers were setting
up their hides, so we waited a while. Unfortunately, they kept getting
in and out of their hides, trampling around on the thrush feeding
area and generally making a disturbance. I have no doubt that after
some lengthy wait they got their photos but for birders who don't
want to wait all morning for these birds this behaviour was a bit
annoying. Seeing these birds may take quite some patience unless
you are lucky like we were the previous day.
The trail at
Km 21 was where we had seen the most birds on the previous day so
we headed back there for another short walk. Shortly after taking
the right-hand spur I heard the alarm call of a Small Niltava and
very soon after we managed to get a clear view of the female; her
blue neck patch shining in the sunlight for a brief moment confirmed
her identification. We saw quite a few of the commoner birds here,
Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Mrs Gould's Sunbird,
but it wasn't until we got out on the ridge that we located 3 Scarlet-faced
Liocichlas, again by hearing their call; this time their contact
call. We observed these birds from about 60 metres away, looking
downhill, but even at that range their bright red faces stood out
easily. It is remarkable how one can spot their red faces even through
the densest undergrowth, but here we were lucky and saw them out
in the open.
This took us
up to about 11am and with bird activity not at its highest, large
numbers of people on the roads and David itching to get to Doi Lang
we decided to move on to our second site. We arrived at Thatorn
for lunch and headed up Doi Lang; it takes about 45 minutes to 1
hour to get up onto the top ridge of Doi Lang from Thatorn if not
stopping. When we got there things were pretty quiet but taking
a look at the photographer's feeding station, behind the checkpoint
kitchen revealed some really nice birds; firstly a gang of Dark-backed
Sibias arrived to feed on some fruit and they were very quickly
joined by a pair of Spectacled Barwings. Being able to observe these
birds at such close range (about 3 metres) was a real treat but
I was really waiting for a Scarlet-faced Liocichla. It didn't take
long to turn up and seeing this bird at such close quarters is almost
blinding its face is so bright, not to mention beautiful markings
and colouration all over its body, plumage details which aren't
so obvious at longer range. Other lovely birds which revealed themselves
to us here were a male Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher, a party of colourful
Whiskered Yuhinas (common at Doi Lang) and a female Himalayan Bluetail.
Formerly this species was known as Orange-flanked Bush Robin or
Red-flanked Bluetail but many (most?) authorities have split it
into Himalayan Bluetail and Orange-flanked Bush Robin; the Himalayan
obviously migrates from the Himalayan region and the Orange-flanked
Bush Robin comes from Siberia (these will be the birds which turn
up in Europe) - I was given this information by Phil Round after
getting confused on the issue myself. Both species have been recorded
in Thailand but the majority of the birds are apparently Himalayan,
the males are readily identified by their either blue or white supercilium
but the females are difficult (impossible?) to seperate.
After our success
at the feeding station we walked along the road a little. At first
we ran into a flock of Black-throated Tits; these are beautiful
little birds and can always be found on the highest parts of Doi
Lang. They can be quite inconspicuous at times and fast moving,
but we were lucky and our flock came down quite low and fed in front
of us, giving us a good view. Things were quiet after that with
even common birds like bulbuls being hard to find but, as ever,
for those who don't mind walking and remaining patient something
always comes along. For us some nice birds came in the form of a
small flock of birds which included Yellow-cheeked Tit, Rufous-winged
Fulvetta and a nice male Black-eared Shrike Babbler, one of the
specialities of Doi Lang and a bird which can usually be found in
feeding flocks on the summit ridge - they even respond to a little
call playback at times.
As things were
getting late, we strolled back towards the checkpoint where we had
left the car. On the way we came across some Thai photographers
that I know who were waiting at a fruiting tree, about 1km from
the checkpoint, for the appearance of a flock of Cutias which had
been seen in the preceding days. Agonisingly, we learned that we
had missed a flyover Himalayan Griffon that morning, but worse was
the fact that we had missed Long-tailed Sibias (a very scarce bird
in Thailand and one that I hadn't seen in the country) by about
5 seconds! And there were photos to prove it. David and I accpeted
that you can't see all the birds and it is better to enjoy the ones
you do see than dwell on those you don't - a philosophy which makes
for much more enjoyable and rewarding birding.
At around 5pm
it was beginning to get pretty cold high up on Doi Lang but we were
treated to a fine sight of a male and female Chestnut Thrush, chasing
each other around the checkpoint and landing in beautiful mossy
trees in excellent afternoon light. It was a great spectacle to
finish the day.
It took us over
an hour to get back to Thatorn as we made a few brief stops along
the way, seeing a couple of Large-tailed Nightjars as we approached
Thatorn. Sitting on the balcony of David's room at Thatorn Chalet,
drinking beer, we saw a Barn Owl make a couple of passes for our
last bird of the day.
We finished
the day with some good food in the restaurant of Thatorn Chalet
and bought a great map of the far north of Thailand, a map far more
detailed than any other I have found in Thailand. It is available
from http://www.GT-Rider.com.
29th
December : Having organised
sandwiches for breakfast (and lunch) we left Thatorn at 6am. I didn't
want to be up the mountain too early as the birds don't get active
at this time of year until there is some sunshine on them as it
is quite cold (approx 6 degrees C at 7.30am) and we wanted to have
some light on the road to see the Mountain Bamboo Partridges that
are ever present. As predicted we saw the partridges on the road,
much nicer birds than illustrations suggest, and further up also
some Oriental Turtle Doves, birds which are often to be seen along
the road in the areas of woodland just before and after the valley
with rice paddies in.
We
made a couple of stops on the way up. One at the large concrete
bridge where we saw a flock of about 20 Striated Yuhinas come through
quickly and on a flowering tree we saw a Slender-billed Oriole and
a Great Barbet. We also stopped at the rice paddies, a few kilometres
after the bridge but only saw common open-country birds such as
Pied Bushchat and Eastern Stonechat, although at least one pair
of Jerdon's Bushchats do persist there.
Arriving
at about 7.30am, we parked the car at the checkpoint which was quite
busy with photographers. Many of the birds we saw the previous day
were still around; Dark-backed Sibia, Whiskered Yuhina, Chestnut-crowned
Laughingthrush and Chestnut Thrush again. As we walked along the
road things were a bit quiet, so we took some time to examine the
Leaf Warblers, picking out Blyth's from its alternate wing shuffling,
Pallas's from its call and Davison's (White-tailed) from its plumage
and song. At the Cutia stakeout we ran into a large group of photographers
waiting for the birds. David and I decided to wait to see if they
came. We waited for over an hour but no Cutias appeared. The crowd
was quite noisy and might have had something to do with it, but
it didn't prevent a female Vivid Niltava from performing nor a Grey-winged
Blackbird from making a brief appearance but the flock of 10 Long-tailed
Sibias was the highlight for me.
David
made the decision that it was time to move on. He correctly said
that when waiting for something like this, one should set a time
limit. When there are other nice birds to see, I agree with that
sentiment and we moved on. Walking further along the ridge road
activity was not that intense but we found some nice birds including
Maroon Oriole, Golden-throated Barbet and a nice pair of Eyebrowed
Thrushes feeding on berries. Other birds which we saw included noisy
Grey Treepies and Large Cuckooshrikes. The birding was pleasant
rather than spectacular and as the temperature increased I walked
back to get the car and we moved on in search of Fire-tailed Sunbird.
A
few Fire-tailed Sunbirds winter on Doi Lang each year and can be
found in an area of buddlea along the road at a point where there
are no trees on the Myanmar side of the road and the view is really
good. This view into Myanmar last for a distance of around 1 km
and this area is easy recognisable as it is the only really open
space along the ridge road after the checkpoint. Most people look
for the sunbirds at around 8-9am when the sun brings them out but
I had seen them around midday a few weeks previously and we were
most fortunate that we walked straight up to 2 birds in exactly
the same buddlea bush as I had seen them before (in fact I continuously
saw them in exactly the same bush over the next 2 months). Not males
in breeding plaumage but easily identified by their red outer tail
feathers and the male's reddish rump. See Phil Round's artcile for
more on this bird: Fire-tailed
Sunbird.
We
ate our lunch taking in the view and hoping for some raptors. Whilst
this is often a decent raptor watching spot due to its open nature,
we only saw a Grey-faced Buzzard, and then only briefly. With a
fairly long drive back to Chiang Mai, we began to move downhill.
To our relief we discovered that we had not missed the Cutias; the
crowd were still waiting, three hours after we had left.
On
the way down we made some stops in various places a little downhill
of the large concrete bridge where we ran into some nice flocks
of birds containing Stripe-breasted and Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers,
Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Scarlet Minivet, Short-billed Minivet
and a number of White-browed Shrike Babblers; a nice group of birds
to end our day with. We reached Thatorn at about 3.30pm and it takes
about 3 hours to get to Chiang Mai from there. If you are driving
this road please leave plenty of time as it is quite poor for stretches
and if you get stuck behind a slow-moving truck (which happens frequently)
overtaking is dangerous.
I would personally not consider driving this road in the
dark when the chances of a bad accident would be quite high due
to road conditions, lack of visibility and idiotic driving.
Our journey was actually pretty easy and we got back to Chiang Mai
comfortably, where we parted having had a good trip.
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