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7 Day trip to Doi Ang Kang & Doi Inthanon* (4-10th May 2008)

* Including stops at Chiang Dao paddies and Mae Hia

Chiang Dao paddies is a useful stop for a morning's birding where a good range and number of wetland and open-country species can be found, including a few site specialities.

Doi Ang Kang is possibly one of Thailand's most scenic regions and an excellent crop of birds into the bargain makes it an excellent place to visit. Many wintering species linger here well into late "spring" and a few species are at the southernmost tip of their breeding range.

Mae Hia agricultural college is a grassland and woodland site where many common species can be seen as well as a few not so common ones.

Doi Inthanon is Thailand's highest mountian and has more vegetative zones than any other single location in the country, making for an impressive park checklist.

By visiting these 4 sites we should see a wide range and large number of excellent species.

Day 1: A 5 am pickup from your hotel in Chiang Mai will see us arriving at 6.30 am when the bird activity is just beginning. Species such as Long-tailed Shrike, Intermediate Egret and Black-collared Starling are common here but the real speciality is Wire-tailed Swallow.

Moving into a drier area we should be able to find a number of pipits and wagtails as well as observing Oriental Skylark and Pintail Snipe is fairly common too. A walk around the agricultural areas could turn up almost anything if our luck is in!

We will have lunch at Chiang Dao cave and may even find time to add a bird or two here.

After lunch we will drive on to Doi Ang Kang, birding along the road keeping a keen eye open for raptors in the heat of the day. After numerous stops for birding our final stop will be at an army camp where Red-faced Liocichla is frequently seen.

Finally we will head to our accommodation in time to view the resident River Chat and have dinner.

Day 2: A Thai breakfast will be at 6 am will get us on the road for a stop at a regular spot for Spot-breasted Parrotbill and White-browed Laughingthrush amongst a host of other birds. Brown-breasted Bulbul, Flavescent Bulbul and White-browed Scimitar Babbler are common and there is a good chance of something much rarer here.

Moving on to other birding stops we will hope for Giant Nuthatch, Crested Finchbill, Grey Treepie and Striated Bulbul before heading to the King's Project for a much deserved and excellent lunch.

Afternoons can be slow at Doi Ang Kang but we will persist in shady habitat and visit some hill ridges for cooler air and more birds. We should hope to see Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Gould's Sunbird and Slaty-backed Flycatcher as well as some superb views. This afternoon will involve some steep walking.

Stopping at a good, evening lookout we will be back at our accommodation for dark, dinner and to reflect on the day's birds.

Day 3: Thai breakfast at 6 am before heading straight for the forest trail early and in time for the morning's bird activity. The forest trail is the home to Scaly Thrush and many other exciting northern species including Silver-eared Mesia, Spectacled Barwing, Speckled Piculet and Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo.

As well as some excellent target species, this trail will turn up a lot of the more common birds of Doi Ang Kang and whilst it is always impossible to guarantee any particular species, we should be able to see a good number of birds on this morning.

Lunch will be taken at the King's Project restaurant once again.

After lunch we will head to the Burmese border and to a Thai army post that overlooks no-man's-land for a memorable view and maybe even get a few species to start a Burmese list with! It is possible to get great views of Fork-tailed Swift here as it rushes past at head height.

We will use the remainder of the afternoon to revisit some of the best spots from the last few days and hopefully add some of those hard-to-find birds to our list that we have not already found.

Day 4: Another breakfast at 6am and on the road shortly after for our last morning at Doi Ang Kang. We will try for Red-tailed Laughingthrush, but if we don't see it other species should keep us busy; birds such as Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Great Tit, Chesnut-vented Nuthatch and Silver-eared Mesia.

We will move along to other roadside stops no doubt getting new sightings of many of the birds from the last couple of days as well as adding a few more. Grey-headed Parrotbill is regualr at one of this morning's stops as are Grey Treepie, Striated Bulbul, Gould's Sunbird and White-browed Mae Hia agricultural college where Burmese Shrike, Indochinese Bushlark, Purple Sunbird, Green Bee-eater and Racket-tailed Treepie will be target species.

As we run out of light we will move on to Inthanon Highland Resort where we can count on good food and a comfortable bed.

Day 5: We will spend all day at Doi Inthanon, stopping for Forktails on the way up but heading straight for the summit. Here we can expect to see Green-tailed Sunbird, Chestnut-tailed Minla, Dark-backed Sibia, Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush and much more. This really is a great spot and will take us up to lunchtime.

At lunch we will check out a birding stakeout for Dark-sided Thrush and Lesser Shortwing before moving on to a jeep track for the afternoon in search of some of the tricky forest birds which include White-necked Laughingthrush, White-tailed Robin and Brown-throated Treecreeper.

We will descend the mountain in time to pick up Rufous Treepie and Blossom-headed Parakeet before a shower and dinner.

Day 6: All day at Doi Inthanon, stopping at waterfalls for Plumbeous Redstart before getting on to the famous jeep track to look for Cochoas. These can be frustratingly difficult to see but we will devote the morning to these birds and no doubt will pick up other species such as Large Niltava and Golden Babbler.

After lunch we can spend more time at the higher, cooler altitudes searching for those rarer species that lurk in the forest. With luck we can find Pygmy Wren Babbler and White-browed Shortwing before returning to our accommodation to look for owls.

Day 7: The last day will see us walk at a lower altitude in drier forest looking for Black-headed Woodpecker, Collared Falconet and Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch.

By lunchtime we will be hot so we will take a shower and eat at our accommodation before heading back uphill for our last afternoon and a search for any of those birds that we still want.

We will head back to Chiang Mai and be in our hotels for about 7pm.