Arbu
Well-known member
Perhaps unsurprisingly I didn't get any response to my request here for companions on my trip last weekend to Mt. Aural, Cambodia's highest mountain, so I went by myself. It was a little bit of a gamble as I was aware that almost no English would be spoken in the area I was heading to, but I got a taxi to the town of Trapeang Chour where I was very fortunate to find Untac Nem who was visiting for a wedding and spoke excellent English. The road from Trapeang Chour is not suitable for cars so I got a lift on a motorbike and Untac kindly came with me on his motorbike to the village of Srae Kan 3 where Chim, who speaks a little English and organises trips up Mt. Aural, lives. Untac kindly helped me make arrangements with Chim for a guide to take me up the mountain the next day.
I took a late afternoon walk around the village with Chim where the birding wasn't bad, with White-crested and Lesser Necklaced Laughing Thrushes, Red-breasted Parakeets, Rufous Woodpecker and Green Imperial Pigeon.
The next morning I set off with my guide, Chan, by motorbike to the trailhead for the main campsite on the mountain which is at about 1100m. The first mile or so of the trail is fairly flat, and passes through bamboo. A party of Red Junglefowl showed well near the start. A small, green and brown woodpecker perched for an instant on some bamboo in front of me and looked very much like Pale-headed, although I was some way out of the range for this species. I suppose it might have been Bamboo Woodpecker (also out of range). It didn’t have the bill, size or facial markings for a Picus woodpecker.
I carried on towards the campsite, getting good views of a party of Pileated Gibbons. Moustached Barbets seemed to be in every tree. I disturbed a Great-eared Nightjar which flew around a bit before briefly settling for a moment on a tree near me. There were a few Asian Fairy Bluebirds. Great and Wreathed Hornbills flew overhead.
After arriving at the campsite, I birded in the area just above it. It wasn’t long before I had found a party of Cambodian Laughing Thrushes. They are fairly easy to see, but not easy to photograph as they seem to inhabit the thickest darkest parts of the forest, and not to stay still for long. A single, quite confiding, Chestnut-headed Partridge was more accommodating. I also found Blue Pitta, Long-tailed Broadbill and Blue-winged Leafbird. A woodpecker by the camp appeared from its call to be Black-and-Buff although I only got very fleeting views.
The next morning I left by myself at six for the summit. Mountain Scops Owl was calling. A bird that sounded something like Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo kept frustratingly out of sight as I tried to approach it. The very brief views I got suggested something smaller and more compact – maybe it was another partridge. I saw a couple of Streaked Wren-Babbler.
At around 1700m I came across another party of Cambodian Laughing Thrush, along with some White-browed Scimitar and Shrike Babblers. Shortly before the summit, by which time Chan had caught up with me, we disturbed a Brown Wood Owl. The summit is at 1813m and has a small shrine in a fairly big clearing. Not many birds there, just a Little Pied Flycatcher, a distant Green Cochoa calling and two hawks soaring, Crested Goshawk I think (but see photo and let me know if you disagree). The 25C air temperature was bliss after nearly three weeks of temperatures in the mid to high 30s in the plains of Cambodia.
We headed down and I got sightings of White-tailed Robin, Blue-winged Minla, Orange-headed Thrush, Snowy-browed Flycatcher and Chestnut-crowned Warbler. Near the camp was a Silver-breasted Broadbill. An Emerald Dove flew across the trail further down and back down in the bamboo zone I saw a Buttonquail, Small I think.
We got back to the trailhead at around 4pm and had a wash in the stream. Our motorbikes didn’t look like turning up so we walked the four miles back to Srae Kan 3 through open, probably quite heavily logged, forest. A pair of Dusky Broadbill was near the start. A pair of cuckoos, Indian I think, flew past. And lots of owls as it got dark – two sightings of Asian Barred, one of Brown Fish and a pair of Brown Hawk Owl.
I was delighted with how much I saw and would thoroughly recommend the location to anyone birding in Cambodia. The path up the mountain was good yet we did not see one other person on it so it was very undisturbed. I had read reports of there being lots of ticks in the area, but I treated my trousers and socks with Permethrin, tucked my trousers into my socks, and didn’t have any problems. There is quite a lot of logging taking place and it’s clearly illegal (or the two loggers who turned off their chainsaw and ran away into the bush on seeing me wouldn’t have done so), but it doesn’t seem to be taking place on the mountain itself, only around the village.
I took a late afternoon walk around the village with Chim where the birding wasn't bad, with White-crested and Lesser Necklaced Laughing Thrushes, Red-breasted Parakeets, Rufous Woodpecker and Green Imperial Pigeon.
The next morning I set off with my guide, Chan, by motorbike to the trailhead for the main campsite on the mountain which is at about 1100m. The first mile or so of the trail is fairly flat, and passes through bamboo. A party of Red Junglefowl showed well near the start. A small, green and brown woodpecker perched for an instant on some bamboo in front of me and looked very much like Pale-headed, although I was some way out of the range for this species. I suppose it might have been Bamboo Woodpecker (also out of range). It didn’t have the bill, size or facial markings for a Picus woodpecker.
I carried on towards the campsite, getting good views of a party of Pileated Gibbons. Moustached Barbets seemed to be in every tree. I disturbed a Great-eared Nightjar which flew around a bit before briefly settling for a moment on a tree near me. There were a few Asian Fairy Bluebirds. Great and Wreathed Hornbills flew overhead.
After arriving at the campsite, I birded in the area just above it. It wasn’t long before I had found a party of Cambodian Laughing Thrushes. They are fairly easy to see, but not easy to photograph as they seem to inhabit the thickest darkest parts of the forest, and not to stay still for long. A single, quite confiding, Chestnut-headed Partridge was more accommodating. I also found Blue Pitta, Long-tailed Broadbill and Blue-winged Leafbird. A woodpecker by the camp appeared from its call to be Black-and-Buff although I only got very fleeting views.
The next morning I left by myself at six for the summit. Mountain Scops Owl was calling. A bird that sounded something like Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo kept frustratingly out of sight as I tried to approach it. The very brief views I got suggested something smaller and more compact – maybe it was another partridge. I saw a couple of Streaked Wren-Babbler.
At around 1700m I came across another party of Cambodian Laughing Thrush, along with some White-browed Scimitar and Shrike Babblers. Shortly before the summit, by which time Chan had caught up with me, we disturbed a Brown Wood Owl. The summit is at 1813m and has a small shrine in a fairly big clearing. Not many birds there, just a Little Pied Flycatcher, a distant Green Cochoa calling and two hawks soaring, Crested Goshawk I think (but see photo and let me know if you disagree). The 25C air temperature was bliss after nearly three weeks of temperatures in the mid to high 30s in the plains of Cambodia.
We headed down and I got sightings of White-tailed Robin, Blue-winged Minla, Orange-headed Thrush, Snowy-browed Flycatcher and Chestnut-crowned Warbler. Near the camp was a Silver-breasted Broadbill. An Emerald Dove flew across the trail further down and back down in the bamboo zone I saw a Buttonquail, Small I think.
We got back to the trailhead at around 4pm and had a wash in the stream. Our motorbikes didn’t look like turning up so we walked the four miles back to Srae Kan 3 through open, probably quite heavily logged, forest. A pair of Dusky Broadbill was near the start. A pair of cuckoos, Indian I think, flew past. And lots of owls as it got dark – two sightings of Asian Barred, one of Brown Fish and a pair of Brown Hawk Owl.
I was delighted with how much I saw and would thoroughly recommend the location to anyone birding in Cambodia. The path up the mountain was good yet we did not see one other person on it so it was very undisturbed. I had read reports of there being lots of ticks in the area, but I treated my trousers and socks with Permethrin, tucked my trousers into my socks, and didn’t have any problems. There is quite a lot of logging taking place and it’s clearly illegal (or the two loggers who turned off their chainsaw and ran away into the bush on seeing me wouldn’t have done so), but it doesn’t seem to be taking place on the mountain itself, only around the village.
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