[Hanno]

End of last week, I went in search for forest birds around Sapa. Turned out to be a bit of a joke, the (few) patches of forest I did see, where totally inaccessible; probably the reason there were still some trees left.

Anyway, set off at six in the morning. It did not look like a good start; the fog was heavy enough to cut with a knife. Optimist that I am, I set off on my motorbike in shorts and T-shirt. Thankfully, the fog lifted once I had gained some altitude (Sapa is at 1,600 meters, with about 180 days of fog a year). I headed towards Thac Bac, a popular ¡§scenic spot¡¨ with the locals. This means you want to get there really early, before hordes of kids descend on the place, having their photos taken in front of the Silver Waterfall (as it is known). Getting there at 06:30, I had my first good bird, a White-capped Water Redstart. Absolutely stunning, but it would only let me admire it for a few seconds before taking off. I heard it a few more times afterwards, but the one brief view would be all I¡¦d get. A bit further up the stream was a couple of Plumbeous Water Redstarts. Not near as nice as the previous species, but a lifer! Before heading back, there was a beautiful male Mrs. Gould¡¦s Sunbird, feeding off a few flowers right next to the waterfall.

On it was in search of accessible forest. I decided to follow the road on foot towards the Cloud Pass which, I believe, is the highest pass in Vietnam, looking for trails that would lead to the patches of forest I could see in the valleys below. No luck! However, the bushes and shrubs along the road did hold a few good birds. Chestnut-tailed Minla, Grey Bush Chats, plenty of Little Buntings (my favorite Buntingsļ), White Wagtails (looked like ssp. Personata), the usual Brown-breasted Bulbuls, a solitary Blue Whistling Thrush, Whiskered Yuhinas, and a Yellow-bellied Fantail. Not really a lot of birds, but a few good ones. The one thing I did enjoy less was the sound of the occasional gun going off in the forest (they obviously found the trail leading inļ), and this in a gazetted national park.

I assure you that I haven¡¦t given up on exploring the forest, more on that in a later post.

Hanno