Woke up very tired in our very nice hotel. This wasn’t ideal as today was mainly a driving day, however first we wanted to do a boat trip on the lake to hopefully see a Baer’s Pochard. Arriving at the White-eyed River Martin monument it was frustrating to not see anyone to take us out, but thankfully the local birder saw us and offered to take us out. Although time was not on our side today we couldn’t refuse and were soon heading east along the southern shore.
There were stacks of birds on and around the lake and after an hour of plodding along, we stepped onto dry land where in the next pool were half a dozen diving ducks and.a couple of dabblers. After a tense wait a Drake Baer’s Pochard was picked out and we enjoyed satisfactory views of this very rare bird. Two critically endangered species In two days can’t be bad. We sadly had to go to make it to Mae Ping with enough light left. On our return to the boat yard the driver took a detour through some pads and flushed out a White-browed Crake, and nice added bonus.
From here it was a solid four hour drive to Mae Ping NP via a coffee break, and we made good time and arrived with plenty of light still. It was very strange speeding up to a police car, undertaking him with my seatbelt unfastened before going back into the outside lane, another reason I love Thailand so much.
Although Mae Ping started badly with hardly a bird to be seen and me wishing we had gone elsewhere, it all came alive. Firstly I taped in a White-bellied Woodpecker, and from there on every target gave itself up incredibly quickly, including the often elusive Yellow-footed Green Pigeon. Other goodies like Collared Falconet, Grey-headed Parakeet and the quite stunning Black-headed Woodpeckers were soon added, and by the time dusk settled in, we had pretty much had a clean sweep. It doesn’t get much better!!
As I was tired I couldn’t face another two hours of driving so we’re staying the night in Li, before hitting Doi Inthanon tomorrow. A very meal was had nearby, I can never tire of Thai food.
A solid 7 days has produced 274 species, of which 57 are lifers.
Highlights for today are as follows:
Garganey - 8
Ferruginous Duck - 7
Baer’s Pochard (L) - 1 drk
Lesser Whistling Duck - 30
Green Peafowl (L) - 1
Indian Cormorant - 80
Yellow Bittern - 2
Cinnamon Bittern - 1
Pied Harrier - 1
Collared Falconet (L) - 1
Ruddy-breasted Crake - 1
White-browed Crake (L) - 1
Watercock - 4
Bronze-winged Jacana - 4
Yellow-footed Green Pigeon (L) - 2
Grey-headed Parakeet (L) - 4
Lineated Barbet - 5
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker - 2
White-bellied Woodpecker (L) - 3
Lesser Yellownape - 1
Black-headed Woodpecker (L) - 2
Red-billed Blue Magpie (L) - 1
Black-naped Oriole - 2
Rufous Treepie (L) - 10
Long-tailed Shrike - 1
Grey Bushchat (L) - 1
Golden-Crested Myna (L) - 1
Brown-throated Martin - 2
Asian House Martin - 2
Blunt-winged Warbler (L) - 1
Oriental Reed Warbler - 25
Yellow-streaked Warbler (L) - 2
Striated Grassbird (L) - 4
White-Crested Laughingthrush - 8
Eastern Yellow Wagtail - 20
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| Black-browed Reed Warbler at Bueng Boraphet Lake |
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| Grey-headed Swamphen at Bueng Boraphet Lake |
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| Asian Openbill at Bueng Boraphet Lake |
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| Oriental Darter at Bueng Boraphet Lake |
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| Black-winged Stilts at Bueng Boraphet Lake |
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The distance sadly not helping aid the identification
of this critically endangered species.
Baer's Pochard at Bueng Boraphet Lake
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| White-bellied Woodpecker at Mae Ping NP |
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| Grey-headed Parakeets at Mae Ping NP |
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| Yellow-footed Green Pigeon at Mae Ping NP |
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| Collared Falconet at Mae Ping NP |
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| sunrise at Bueng Boraphet Lake |
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| Not the speed boat we wanted for the Baer's. |
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White-eyed River Martin monument,
a species sadly extinct.
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Many pads where a White-browed Crake was hiding,
until we crashed into them that was.
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| Mae Ping NP |
