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The sites visited on this trip have been selected to provide a wide range of habitats in which a large number and variety of excellent species can be seen.

• Doi Inthanon is Thailand's highest mountain and has more vegetative zones than any other single location in the country, making for an impressive park checklist.
• Huay Tueng Tao is a mixture of open-country, woodland and wetland where a wide variety of lowland species can be found.
• 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 can be found here and a few species are at the southernmost tip of their breeding range.
• Chiang Saen contains some of the most valuable wetlands in Thailand and is home to a number of wetland and raptor species that are scarce elsewhere.
• Doi Lang is a mountain ridge which forms the Thai-Myanmar border and a number of ely wintering species are more common here than in other locations in Thailand.
• Doi Pha Hom Pok is Thailand's second highest mountain and is home to some resident birds that are extremely difficult to find at other locations.
• Chiang Dao paddies is a useful site for finding a few wetland and open-country species such as Wire-tailed Swallow and Grey-headed Lapwing.

Day 1: A 5 am pickup from your hotel in Chiang Mai will see us arriving at Doi Inthanon when the bird activity is just beginning. Our first stops will check the waterfalls for birds such as Black-backed Forktail, Slaty-backed Forktail, Plumbeous Redstart and Blue Whistling Thrush. Later, at the summit we can expect to see Green-tailed Sunbird, Chestnut-tailed Minla, Dark-backed Sibia, Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush and hopefully some scarce winter migrants. This really is a great spot with some beautiful forest 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 and take our first attempt at Green Cochoa. We will descend the mountain in time to look for Black-headed Woodpecker and Colllared Falconet before a much-needed shower and dinner.

Day 2: All day at Doi Inthanon, starting on to the famous jeep track to look for Cochoas and some of the other hard-to-find species. Some of these birds require some work and we will devote the morning to these species and no doubt will pick up other birds such as Large Niltava, Chestnut-crowned Warbler 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 heading to headquarters to make an attempt on Black-tailed Crake. Finally we will descend to take a look at some of the birds around our accommodation which include Spotted Owlet, Asian Barred Owlet and Collared Scops Owl.

Day 3: Our last day at Doi Inthanon will be one that we use for revisiting locations that we have already attended in search of key species that we have not yet seen and perhaps to take a look at some that were popular.

We will head back to Chiang Mai in the late afternoon and check in to our hotels for about 6pm before heading out to a riverside restaurant for dinner.

Day 4: We will make the short journey to Huay Tueng Tao in the morning for some lowland woodland edge and open-country species. Target birds here will be Rufous-winged Buzzard, Purple Sunbird, Green Bee-eater, Rufous Treepie, Bright-headed Cisticola and Lineated Barbet. With an abundance of birds here we are likely to add many species to our trip list.

After lunch we will drive towards Doi Ang Kang and our birding will resume at about 2.30 when we reach the wooded ridges of the mountain. Making a number of stops for species such as White-browed Scimitar Babbler, Brown-breasted Bulbul, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush and, with luck, Red-faced Liocichla we should have an excellent afternoon's birding before heading to our accommodation and good views of River Chat before dinner.

Day 5: Breakfast will be at 5 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. Flavescent Bulbul and Chestnut Bunting 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 Silver-eared Mesia, Gould's Sunbird and Slaty-backed Flycatcher as well as some superb views. This afternoon will involve some steep walking. We will be back at our accommodation for dark, dinner and to reflect on the day's birds.

Day 6: Breakfast at 6 am before heading straight for a 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 Spectacled Barwing, Speckled Piculet and Small Niltava. 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 7: 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.

As the morning bird activity slows we will begin our journey to Chiang Saen arriving in time to spend a few hours in the wetlands looking for Pheasant-tailed and Bronze-winged Jacanas, White-browed Crake, Purple Swamphen, Straited Grassbird and others before attending an impressive roost of Pied Harriers and Eastern Marsh Harriers.

Day 8: We will spend a leisurely morning observing wildfowl on the lake and looking for species such as Dusky Warbler and Racket-tailed Treepie around the lake taking time to watch the huge flocks of Lesser Whistling Ducks.

After lunch we will head to the River Mekong to check out the sand bars where waders such as Spotted Redshank, River Lapwing and even Long-billed Plover occur as well as Spot-billed Duck and Small Pratincole. Although it is very comercialised, we will also make a brief stop at the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos meet. We will then head to our accommodation for the evening at Thaton.

Day 9: Another early breakfast will see us driving up Doi Lang for dawn. This mountain consistently turns up some of Thailand's least common birds and species such as Chestnut Thrush, Crested Finchbill, Jerdon's Bushchat, Stripe-breasted Woodpecker, Crested Bunting and many other winter migrants are regularly seen.

We will take a packed lunch on the mountain to allow sufficient time to search for those uncommon resident and migratory species that can be found on Doi Lang. Back in Thaton we will spotlight for owls and nightjars.

Day 10: A slightly earlier start in order to head up Doi Pha Hom Pok to search for some of Thailand's scarcest species including Cutia, Black-throated Tit and Crimson-breasted Woodpecker. Lots of other high altitude species can be found up here and this final day will give us a chance to find any of those species that we did not find on other mountains.

In the late afternoon we will make a stop at Chiang Dao rice paddies where Wire-tailed Swallow and Grey-headed Lapwing are specialities.

We will get back to Chiang Mai at around 7.15pm for a shower and a final dinner together.

Crested Finchbill

Pied Harrier (male)

Purple Swamphen

Ashy-throated Warbler

Spot-billed Duck

Jerdon's Bushchat

Black-headed Woodpecker

Scarlet Minivet

Pygmy Wren Babbler

Blue Whistling Thrush

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