Thankfully today we were first up the mountain and once light enough we slowly drove upwards keeping everything crossed a Pheasant would be on the road. It wasn’t to be and at the top we turned around and made it halfway down when the German/Finnish guys from yesterday drove past. They stopped at a feeding point but we stupidly decided to carry on up leaving them. About twenty minutes later they joined us further up the road stating they saw the Pheasants just after we had passed them. Absolutely gutted, we got in the car and rushed back to the site (where there was no sign of anything) and parked up and waited. Very soon a few Bamboo Partridges started feeding but after half hour with low cloud constantly rolling in it felt our luck was over. However, when giving up became a viable option, a male Mrs Hume’s Pheasant just suddenly appeared feeding at the side of the road. I was elated and even better a trio of females joined the party, then a superb full adult male strolled past. It was a perfect moment and we were both very thankful for the German/Finnish guys for telling us.
Back at the ‘do not feed the birds sign’ there was plenty of activity with mixed bird flocks constantly moving through. This was when our second bit of good fortune came through. Whilst scanning through a lovely flock of Grey-headed Parrotbills, I spotted one of the most striking birds in this region, a Himalayan Cutia. Ian thankfully got onto it quickly and despite only being on view for a short time, the Cutias were watched feeding like a Nuthatch, whilst sneakily putting on a Pitta impression. This was when our continental helpers turned up and they were as gutted of missing the Cutias as we were the Pheasants. Me and Ian thought we’d leave them to it (helpful as we are) and went back to the car and had a celebratory donut. We had seen everything we had wanted to, and for once, we decided to chill out and watch whatever came through.
We decided to leave the mountain behind having enjoyed all of yesterday and half of today, and head to some rice paddies just north of Fang. These were mainly dry but we surprised ourselves by flushing a Painted Snipe. A walk around the fields failed to produce any Bushlarks. Fang hot springs was next but this was rubbish, and I ended up having a kip on the floor. We called it time to try and have an early night as the next few days will see a lot of miles tick by. Yet another excellent day!!
Highlights for today are as follows:
Mountain Bamboo Partridge - 10
Mrs Hume’s Pheasant (L) - 5 (2M & 3F)
Striated Heron - 1
Greater Painted Snipe - 1
Asian Koel - 1
Racket-tailed Treepie - 1
Slender-billed Oriole - 2
Large Cuckooshrike - 2
Red-flanked Bluetail - 1
White-gorgeted Flycatcher - 1
Rufous-bellied Niltava - 1
Black-collared Starling - 3
Yellow-browed Tit (L) - 1
Black-throated Tit - 2
Aberrant Bush Warbler - 1
Rufescent Prinia - 3
Yellow-bellied Prinia - 1
Black Bulbul - 2
Rufous-fronted Babbler - 4
Himalayan Cutia (L) - 4
Rufous-backed Sibia - 2
Grey-headed Parrotbill (L) - 20
Oriental Skylark - 1
Streaked Spiderhunter - 2
Plain-backed Sparrow - 2
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| Mountain Bamboo Partridge on Doi Lang |
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A Mr Mrs Hume's Pheasant on Doi Lang -
the biggest relief of the trip by afar.
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| A Mrs Mrs Hume's Pheasant |
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Himalayan Cutia on Doi Lang -
the only photo I managed of this stunning bird.
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| White-gorgeted Flycatcher on Doi Lang |
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| Crested Serpant Eagle on Doi Lang |
