Thailand 2018 - 5th February

Doi Lang & Fang Paddies

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

Mountain Bamboo Partridge on Doi Lang

A Mr Mrs Hume's Pheasant on Doi Lang - 

the biggest relief of the trip by afar. 

A Mrs Mrs Hume's Pheasant

Himalayan Cutia on Doi Lang - 

the only photo I managed of this stunning bird.

White-gorgeted Flycatcher on Doi Lang

Crested Serpant Eagle on Doi Lang

Thailand 2018 - 4th February

Doi Lang (western slope)

We awoke early to ensure we were at the park entrance first in line. However, this checkpoint is now not in use, which meant we didn’t have to pay an entrance fee, but therefore meant we were unsure how many cars were in front of us. It turned out only one was and they had set up a pop-up tent and thrown some seed down for the Mrs Hume’s Pheasants. This didn’t work and after an hour nothing had emerged other then a Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler.

We drove further up to the army checkpoint but this was hardly visible due to the low cloud. Despite walking past the upper checkpoint a little further on it felt we were wasting our time as the cloud was too thick. We did luckily come across a female Crested Bunting and a male Black-breasted Thrush, a good return for the conditions. Back at the car it looked as if the weather was clearing and straight away a large flock of Bulbuls appeared, and mixed in were no less then 15 Crested Finchbills, a fantastic result. Still wanting to see the Nuthatch we waited for a short time before setting back off once the cloud had lifted, and with sunny weather and a bit of playback, two Giant Nuthatch soon appeared and showed brilliantly. Such an iconic species and a long wanted bird for me to see.

There was still lots to see and some Germans (one with a hilarious terminator accent, mixed with a German accent had us in stitches)  told us of a feeding station a little way down the road. This was one of the highlights of the trip, as one of the birds present was a gorgeous male Siberian Rubythroat that showed down to two metres. A juv/fem Slaty-Blue Flycatcher also showed well as did a Golden-throated Barbet, a long overdue trip tick having heard lots further south. Next up was a small area that an adult Ultramarine Flycatcher has taken up residence in for the winter, and this very nearly topped the Rubythroat, an awesome half hour of photography.

After watching some more birds at another feeding station (ironically next to a ‘do not feed the birds sign’) that included a male Slaty-Blue Flycatcher and two Spot-breasted Parrotbill we thought we had seen everything that is vaguely possible up here. That was until I heard an Aberrant Bush Warbler calling, and after a bit of patience, we both got good views.

Another feeding area held more goodies and before we knew it the sun was setting behind the picturesque Burmese mountains. It had been a day full of good birds and lots of laughs, but a slow drive back down the mountain close to dusk again failed to produce a Pheasant.

Highlights for the day are as follows:

Mountain Bamboo Partridge (L) - 2
Eastern Buzzard - 1
Blue-bearded Bee Eater - 2
Golden-throated Barbet (L) - 1
Stripe-breasted Woodpecker - 1
Maroon Oriole - 1
Short-billed Minivet (L) - 2
Rufous Treepie - 4
Grey-backed Shrike - 1
Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrike - 5
Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush - 1
Black-breasted Thrush - 1
Siberian Rubythroat - 1
Slaty-Blue Flycatcher (L) - 2
Ultramarine Flycatcher (L) - 1
Rufous-bellied Niltava - 2
Giant Nuthatch (L) - 2
Crested Finchbill (L) - 15
Brown-breasted Bulbul (L) - 3
Aberrant Bush Warbler (L) - 1
Hill Prinia - 2
Buff-throated Warbler - 1
Silver-Eared Laughingthrush - 5
Scarlet-faced Liocichla - 2
Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler (L)  - 2
Spectacled Barwing - 5
Blue-winged Minla - 2
Spot-breasted Parrotbill (L) - 2
Common Rosefinch - 2
Crested Bunting (L) - 1

female Crested Bunting on Doi Lang

Black-breasted Thrush in dense fog.

male Siberian Rubythroat showing quite well

Crested Finchbill on Doi Lang

Giant Nuthatch supposedly in Burma according

to my GPS coordinates. Which ever country,

a mega bird!!

male Rufous-bellied Niltava on Doi Lang

Slaty-blue Flycatcher on Doi Lang

Ultramarine Flycatcher on Doi Lang - 

potential for bird of the trip!!

Golden-throated Barbet on Doi Lang

Spot-breasted Parrotbill on Doi Lang

The upper checkpoint in the fog. 

The main road on Doi Lang

Sunset over the Burmese Mountains

Thailand 2018 - 3rd February

Doi Ang Khang

Situated in Fang meant the above site was only half an hour away. We arrived at the army camp at first light where a big crowd of local tourists were up to watch the sunrise over the spectacular mountain range that borders Burma. However the sunrise was destroyed by the fog and so everyone left, leaving Ian and I to do some birding. Initially the area appeared quiet but a walk around the area brought in some good species, with by far the highlight being a very showy flock of 11 Spot-winged Grosbeaks.

The Chinese cemetery was next and it was just worth a walk round the place. Quite surreal looking at the spot where bodies are cremated whilst a crowd watches on from the stands. Anyway birding here was relatively quiet, though a good number of Blyth’s Leaf Warblers were present singing away, and a Daurian Redstart was found.

To get to the farmland trail we had to drive through a small hillside village, with Saturdays obviously being a street cleaning day and everyone it seemed was sweeping the roads. I thought it looked like something out of The Walking Dead (the other half watches this rubbish, I just get forced to watch it) whilst Ian said it reminded him of a game of skittles. Either or, no one was hurt!! As we arrived at the start of the trail, so did a sewage disposal lorry and dumped the waste down through an orchard. Despite this being pretty grim, I knew a few birds would be associated with this, and on our return a Black-breasted Thrush and male White-tailed Robin were present. We decided to not try the fruit today. The trail itself was pretty good and again we notched up a few species.

We hoped to find some hides or feeding stations in the Kings Project but found nothing (just as well we found the B-b Thrush earlier) and therefore decided to walk a trail, this being the Mae Phur Valley Trail, that is advertised as being quiet, but today was completely opposite, with constant activity all the way down the trail. The flocks mainly held Leaf Warblers, with finally our first Pallas’s Warbler being found, as well as Blue-winged Minlas and a Stripe-breasted Woodpecker.

Afterwards we quickly nipped back to the army camp, and just as well as we found a superb Grey-winged Blackbird, the only one of the trip and a scarce species this winter in Northern Thailand.

Time was on our side and the next trail was superb, what is known as the firebreak trail at km 21, was more of a jungle that we had to plough through (with Ian falling arse over to prove this very fact) and this eventually led onto a forested ridge that opened up every now and then to show some brilliant views. Some really good birds were seen along here, with the undoubted highlight being an incredibly skulky Lesser Shortwing that showed twice for me, but Ian couldn’t get onto it as is hopped about in the dark and dense undergrowth. Two groups of White-browed Laughingthrush were also lovely, but as usual there is one that gets away, and yet again it was a Giant Nuthatch, with one calling, but just being out of our view.

Still a really good day was had until I ran over a dog on our drive back. It’s not a sad ending though, the dog was thankfully asleep in the middle of my lane, and to me it looked like a plastic bag or sheet, so I drove up to it only realising at the last second it was in fact a dog, but due to the good ground clearance I didn’t even scrape it, and I looked back and the dog casually got up and walked off.

Highlights from a productive day are as follows, this lifers showing (L) next to the species.

Oriental Honey Buzzard - 1
Green-billed Malkoha - 1
Hoopoe - 1
Stripe-breasted Woodpecker (L) - 3
Rufous Treepie - 1
Bronzed Drongo - 1
Orange-bellied Leafbird - 3
Long-tailed Shrike - 5
Grey-backed Shrike - 2
White’s Thrush - 1
Black-breasted Thrush (L) - 1
Grey-winged Blackbird (L) - 1
Lesser Shortwing (L) - 1
White-tailed Robin - 1
Daurian Redstart - 1
Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher - 1
Large Niltava - 2
Rufous-bellied Niltava - 2
Striated Bulbul (L) - 3
Mountain Tailorbird (L) - 1
Pallas’s Leaf Warbler - 2
Grey-crowned Warbler - 1
Marten’s Warbler - 2
Blyth’s Leaf Warbler (L) - 10
White-browed Laughingthrush - 6
Silver-Eared Laughingthrush - 10
Scarlet-faced Liocichla (L) - 7
Spectacled Barwing (L) - 10
Blue-winged Minla (L) - 2
Rufous-backed Sibia (L) - 1
Dark-backed Sibia (L) - 2
Spot-winged Grosbeak (L) - 11
Ashy Bulbul - 10

Spot-winged Grosbeaks at Doi Ang Khang

Long-tailed Shrike at Doi Ang Khang

Daurian Redstart at The Chinese Cemetary,

Doi Ang Khang

Spectacled Barwing at Doi Ang Khang

Black-breasted Thrush at Doi Ang Khang

Scarlet-faced Liocichla at Doi Ang Khang

Stripe-breasted Woodpecker at Doi Ang Khang

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher at Doi Ang Khang -

I was banking on seeing this at Doi Lang, so

very pleased with this find.

A horrendous pic of a White-browed Laughingthrush

The army campsite emerging from the mist

One of many shrines at the Chinese cemetary

The cremation area with stands for on-lookers

Ian's idea of skittles

This was the main trail....

but with stunning views towards the end.

Thailand 2018 - 2nd February

Doi Chiang Dao

With the possibility of getting a Giant Nuthatch on the trip list, a visit to Doi Chiang Dao was in order, with also plenty of other bits on offer. We set off very early as the ascent to DYK substation was very steep and bumpy and took nearly 1.5 hours. What didn’t help was bumping past the turning so we had to back step by about 5km. This still had us at the intended campsite in the early morning light, with a stunning Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush very close to the finishing line. 

We spent the majority of the morning around the campsite area, often wandering off to good looking habitat, but try as we might, finding a Nuthatch was proving difficult. We did come across three Chestnut Buntings and a number of other species that made it sort of worthwhile. A quick tape luring session at the pond failed to produce a Black-tailed Crake as expected. 

Our mood was getting worse as we had now abandoned the campsite and tried a few firebreak trails to try our luck there, but still nothing.  A couple of surprises were on offer though, a large party of Silver-breasted Broadbills and a skulky White’s Thrush. We were also very hungry having eaten alll the food we had brought up with us, this being two packs of small biscuits and a bag of crisps.

We gave  up despite several more attempts, and started the descent, that turned into a very long descent. Who knew all the goodies were waiting for us. A number of fruiting trees were in evidence and these attracted plenty of Bulbuls, Barbets and Leafbirds, but by far the highlight was driving down the mountain and hearing a fast flowing stream to one side. I drew up and looked down onto the rocks only to find two stunning White-crowned Forktails. Not only were these completely unexpected, they completed our Forktail list for the trip, and also relieves pressure off me as Ian wanted all three Forktails! Just around the corner from here a superb Grey-backed Shrike performed nicely, rounding off a very good day in the end. 

We drove north for an hour to stay in Fang for four nights, ready to hit the mountains over the next few days. Dinner was hard to come by this evening, and we ended up in some joint where we enjoyed what were probably pig intestines or something around that area or function, only to be washed down by a frozen bottle of beer. The prawn crackers were good though!! Anyway a great day and a very good day list. 

The many highlights for today are as follows:

Crested Serpant Eagle - 1

Mountain Imperial Pigeon - 4

Greater Coucal - 1

Green-billed Malkoha - 1

Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker - 2

Silver-breasted Broadbill - 16

Slender-billed Oriole (L) - 1

Maroon Oriole - 2

Rosy Minivet - 3

Scarlet Minivet - 20

Long-tailed Minivet - 10

Orange-bellied Leafbird (L) - 2

Grey-backed Shrike (L) - 2

Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush (L) - 1 male

White’s Thrush - 1

White-crowned Forktail (L) - 2

Grey Bushchat - 4

Pied Bushchat - 2

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch - 4

Japanese Tit (L) - 4

Asian House Martin - 1

Red Whiskered Bulbul - 4

Chestnut-vented Nuthatch - 5

Japanese White-Eye - 2

Hume’s Leaf Warbler - 1

Grey-crowned Warbler (L) - 1

Striated Grassbird - 1

White-Crested Laughingthrush - 4

Golden Babbler - 1

Blyth’s Shrike-Babbler - 4

Striated Yuhina - 2

Plain Flowerpecker (L) - 2

Common Rosefinch - 2

Chestnut Bunting (L) - 3

Olive-backed Pipit - 8

Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush at Doi Chiang Dao -

of the two CbRTs seen in Northern Thailand, both

were on dead trees like this one.

female Scarlet Minivet at Doi Chiang Dao -

the large amount of yellow on the forehead

rules out the other closely related species here.

Grey Bushchat at Doi Chiang Dao

Grey-backed Shrike at Doi Chiang Dao

Looking through Giant Nuthatch habitat on

Doi Chiang Dao

Looking back at Doi Chiang Dao

Thailand 2018 - 1st February

Doi Inthanon & Chiang Dao

After a freezing cold night in our cosy bungalow roughly halfway up Inthanon, we arrived back at KM 13 where this time luck was on our side as two stunning Black-backed Forktails were seen upstream of the bridge, and proved to be a contender for bird of the trip.

With this in the bag nice and early we went and had breakfast at Mr Daeng’s (recommended by DC) and with time to spare visited KM 34 where a trail leads into the forest. A couple of bird waves passed through but yet again only 50% of the birds were seen. A small Eyebrowed Thrush flock held a Grey-sided Thrush, that conveniantly perches in the open for an extended period.. A Large Hawk Cuckoo also couldn’t be enticed info view despite it calling regularly. On the way out a Blyth’s Shrike-Babbler was probably the highlight, and just before returning to the car it all went a bit cuckoo crazy. A female Asian Emerald Cuckoo landed in a tree above us, and behind another bird landed, and this turned out to be a male Violet Cuckoo. Then another Asian Emerald popped its head up, this time a male. Two hard to see species out the way in quick succession.

We left Doi Inthanon with our heads held high on what was a good, but not completely successful visit. Next was a quick drive into Chiang Mai to drop Jake off at the airport, with me and Ian continuing north to Chiang Dao in relatively good traffic, plus some chaotic traffic for good measure. It was nice not to pay an entrance fee for a change, and we made our way up a series of steps to what is known as the gulley trail. Despite walking a fair way up, there wasn’t too much to shout about, with Streaked Wren-Babbler the only bird of note. The temple at the end of the steps was ok, but the reasoning behind people carrying bricks up the steps is beyond me. Back in the car park was more successful, and talking to a couple we had met at Doi Inthanon, we saw several Pin-tailed Green Pigeons, glimpsed a Bay Woodpecker and watched the more commoner species. Next up was trying to find some decent accommodation, and we finally found the Nature Home Guesthouse, ready to tackle Doi Chiang Dao tomorrow.

Highlights for today are as follows:

Crested Serpant Eagle - 1
Mountain Imperial Pigeon - 1
Bay Woodpecker (L) - 1
Greater Yellownape - 1
Asian Emerald Cuckoo (L) - 2
Violet Cuckoo (L) - 1 male
Large Hawk Cuckoo - 1 heard
Pin-tailed Green Pigeon (L) - 9
Siberian Blue Robin - 1
Blyth’s Shrike Babbler (L) - 2
Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo - 1
Black-backed Forktail (L) - 2
Black-throated Sunbird - 1
Maroon Orole - 1
Streaked Wren-Babbler - 2
Grey-sided Thrush - 1
Eyebrowed Thrush - 5

Not a complete list of highlights!

female Asian Emerald Cuckoo - 

showing the dark tip to the bill.

male Violet Cuckoo at Doi Inthanon -

the streaking starting at the 

lower breast and shows no dark tip to 

the bill.

Pin-tailed Green Pigeons at Chiang Dao -

looking more like Parakeets in flight.

Black-backed Forktail site

The outskirts of Chiang Mai

Chiang Dao