Having returned from our boat trip yesterday, the lovely northern couple we had bumped into at Doi Inthanon, Chiang Dao and Doi Lang, had seen us from their balcony overlooking the lake and left a note on our car. This led to them telling us about the long-staying Jerdon’s Bushchat at Nam Kham NR, our already intended destination for the morning, and with it only being a 5-minute drive from our luxury accommodation (our first soft bed in over two weeks) meant we could have a lay in until 5.45. Unfortunately the Firethroat has not wintered this year, but a Jerdon’s would have sufficed.
On arrival we bumped into two ringers who had just trapped a Black-naped Monarch. As nice as this was, we were hoping for something slightly better. This soon came as the young lad found us to say he had trapped an Asian Stubtail. A superb bird and made the visit worthwhile. As you can imagine this obviously meant that despite the five hours of searching, we couldn’t find the Bushchat. All was not lost though, three Rufous-winged Buzzards flew over together and a couple of new Warblers and Buntings kept the trip list ticking over. I also managed to lure in a couple of Chestnut-capped Babblers, very striking species that the books don’t give justice to.
We said our farewells to the northern couple and to the ringers and started our mammoth drive south, approximately 480km south staying overnight in Phitsanulok ready to hit Nam Nao NP in the morning.
The drive was fairly uneventful, a couple of interesting driving manoeuvres from other drivers kept us entertained. Just as the sun was setting we left some traffic lights and noticed a large gathering of Swallows, and what looked like a Treeswift mixed in. We stopped on the hard shoulder and reversed back down (proper Thai-style driving) to a small lay-by and enjoyed watching five Crested Treeswifts. Another treat having missed them earlier on in the trip. We arrived at our hotel just as it got dark
Highlights for today are as follows:
Pied Harrier - 1
Rufous-winged Buzzard (L) - 3
Crested Treeswift - 5
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpexker - 1
Racket-tailed Treepie - 10
Siberian Rubythroat - 1
Chestnut-tailed Starling - 20
Asian Stubtail (L) - 1
Black-browed Reed Warbler - 2
Arctic Warbler - 1
Greenish Warbler - 1
Chestnut-capped Babbler (L) - 2
Purple Sunbird - 2
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker - 3
White-rumped Munia - 10
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| Asian Openbills at Nam Kham NR |
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| Asian Stubtail at Nam Kham NR |
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| Black-naped Monarch at Nam Kham NR |
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Common Purple Sapphire at Nam Kham NR -
the 'Brown Hairstreak' like upperwing
rules out Restricted P.S.
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| Common Purple Sapphire at Nam Kham NR |
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| Sunrise at Nam Kham NR |
