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Despite reports bemoaning the destruction of the rice paddies around TaTorn, in Chiang Mai province, that used to be so productive for birds, I decided to take a walk around this area to see what was around. Walking south over the bridge in the village of TaTorn I took the second left towards the farmland. At the end of this lane is a rather pricey looking resort, which actually serves a reasonably priced lunch-time buffet which anyone can partake in. Beyond this resort is a series of farm tracks, fields and ditches which one can wander around pretty freely in search of birds.

Common open-country birds proved numerous with Common Iora, White Wagtail, Paddyfield Pipit and Black-collared Starling all putting in regular appearances. A short way along the track was a small field with a number of infield trees which looked promising; the ubiquitous Taiga Flycatcher was there and a gentle tail flicker caught my attention: an Olive-backed Pipit. These distractions set the stage for the most interesting birds so far to show up; a pair of Asian Barred Owlets which were quite actively attempting to hunt whilst mobbed by a Black Drongo.

The trail along the river didn't appear too promising, veering away into some dry vegetable fields, so I walked southwards away from the river towards a series of reed-filled ditches. Siberian Stonechat, Pied Bushchat and Grey-breasted Prinia did thier best to entertain me and it was whilst watching these that I heard something in the undergrowth. After much short-focussing of my binoculars I managed to get rather pathetic views of a Siberian Rubythroat; not the best way to get a "tick".

Having reached the reedy ditches I began to feel more optimistic about finding some decent birds as the habitat appeared more promising. As expected I soon found both Dusky and Oriental Reed Warblers as well as a whole load of more mundane species. The more I explored the area, the more encouraged I was about the type of habitat available; a few stubble fields survive, a few small reedbeds and some open pools. In fact, the further south I went from the river, the better the habitat was and with it some more interesting birds revealed themselves. On the edge of a stubble field a pair of Barred Buttonquail showed themselves quite nicely and flying out of a dead tree a Eurasian Wryneck gave me a far more satisfying addition to my life-list than the earlier Rubythroat.

Whilst poking around the knotted vegetation that surrounded a few muddy pools I managed to find a Common Greenshank, a Common Snipe and a single Green Sandpiper; a little disappointing as I was hoping for Long-billed Plover. After quite a long walk south I came across a largish area of reeds and water where an Intermediate Egret was perched on a dead tree, however, by this time the sun was becoming a bit much so I decided to turn around. On the way back I continued to add species to the day's list with the most notable being an Oriental Skylark feeding on a farm track.

Quite a few nice birds made me feel like this walk hadn't been a waste, indeed, it was interesting to get out into a habitat that isn't often visited in Thailand: farmland. Despite the fact that this area has obviously suffered a lot of habitat degredation over the years I feel it is still worth a look, especially due to its geographical position; a good place to find a new species for Thailand. Certainly it is still a nice place to have a walk and TaTorn has some nice accomodation available and some decent places to eat; for me it is always a stopover on a visit to the north, due to its regular bus service from Chiang Mai, even if it is only for a steak and some beer at the large hotel on the north side of the river!