Thailand – North to South (1 Viewer)

[dwatsonbirder]

Here is a brief trip report for my first visit to Thailand.

The trip was focussed predominantly on travelling through the country, sampling the places, culture and cuisine as much as possible in our limited time. One week of the trip had been set aside to volunteer at the excellent Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai province, with the remainder of the time divided to allow us to visit a number of locations.

We visited the following areas; Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep, Bangkok, Khao Yai National Park, Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Ko Tao and Ko Samui.

Part 1

Chiang Mai & Elephant Nature Park

Chiang Mai was our first port of call and my first chance to get out and do a bit of birding. We were staying very close to Wat Phra Singh, and I adopted this as my patch whilst we were in Chiang Mai. Considering that this is a busy temple with no water bodies I was quite surprised at the number of species I recorded in just a few morning visits. Many of the birds were common in the country, but new to me; Asian Koel, Oriental Turtle and Spotted dove, Brown and Taiga flycatchers, Coppersmith barbet, Scarlet backed flowerpecker, Oriental white-eye, Olive backed sunbird… In the end I recorded some 25 species in the temple grounds.

The Elephant Nature Park was set up by an amazing woman called Lek, who wanted to provide a home for elephants which have suffered years of abuse at the hands of their mahoots. I hadn’t realised the mechanisms of how elephants are “trained” and I was pretty shocked by the stories we were told. Needless to say I didn’t ride any elephants in Thailand and I never plan to. The park not only provides the elephants with the chance to live in a more natural state, but it also allows visitors to observe the animals at fairly close range without interaction.

I did manage to sneak off from time to time once volunteer duties had been completed, and as the park lies roughly 15km south of Chiang Dao National Park it put me in a good area for birding!

Around the park were many Pied bushchat, Siberian Stonechat and Taiga flycatchers, and the more forested areas held Yellow browed, Greenish, Two barred, Arctic and Pale legged/Sakhalin leaf warblers. A river runs through the area and attracted a flock of Common rosefinch one morning, whilst White rumped and Scaly breasted munia were more frequent visitors. A White breasted kingfisher was seen daily, whilst Wire tailed, Asian Red rumped, Striated and Barn Swallow hawked over the water’s surface.

I explored along one of the roads along the valley one afternoon and caught up with a variety of interesting species including Yellow streaked, Radde’s and Thick billed warblers, Brown and Long tailed shrike, Greater Coucal, Green Billed Malkoha and Little spiderhunter.

In the fields were Eastern Cattle egret and some small pools attracted Chinese pond heron and leucopsis White wagtail. Raptors were represented by Oriental Honey buzzard and Shikra and one afternoon I saw a large eagle spp, much too distant to put an ID to though. One afternoon we visited a temple at Tambon Kuet Chang where a pair of Crested treeswift and at least 3 Brown backed needletail flew above the canopy.

We enjoyed a full week at the sanctuary, but soon enough our time came to an end and we were ready to hit the road. We planned to stay in Chiang Mai a few days afterwards, hoping to spend a day in Doi Inthanon National Park (my Christmas present) and a day at a cookery school (my partners Christmas present!).

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Brilliant! Another Thailand trip report. I'll be enjoying this!

Cheers

James

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Hi James,

Cheers, not as much quality (or quantity for that matter!) as your trip but still very enjoyable.

Part 2

Doi Suthep

We had originally planned to spend a day in Doi Inthanon National Park after our time at ENP, but on the day of the trip our guide (penguin tours) didn’t turn up and left us waiting for an hour and a half at our hotel. We abandoned this plan and instead opted for a much cheaper option – visit Doi Suthep temple and split up for a couple of hours.

The temple itself is situated on a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai and is really a wonder to behold. We entered the main grounds and paid our respects to the Pagoda before separating for a couple of hours.

I walked around the grounds and spent time looking down into the forest, which paid off as a few “waves” moved through. There were several bulbuls moving through, with Black crested, Red cheeked and Stripe throated present. A pair of Scarlet minivet caught flies, whilst Grey cheeked fulvetta, Dusky, Yellow browed, Arctic and a Pale legged/Sakhalin leaf warbler flicked about. I caught a glimpse of the head of a Luscinia very briefly, which was possibly a Siberian blue robin, though I didn’t get any further views and left it unidentified.
Around the main temple were Grey tit, Black throated sunbird and Blue throated barbet, whilst Dusky woodswallow, Palm swift Blue tailed bee-eater and a single Oriental Honey buzzard flew overhead. A very confiding Blue rock thrush posed very nicely for photos.

Probably not quite as good as a day in Doi Inthanon but still very enjoyable.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

A couple more images from Chiang Mai area...

 

[sneil]

Is everyone in Thailand at the mo'? Thanks for the reports all:going to have to check out the logistics of getting there (with non-birding wife....)

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Glad you're enjoying the report sneil, what a fantastic country it is.

Part 3

Khao Yai National Park

After spending time in the north, we had planned to head down to Bangkok and from there to head to Khao Yai National Park for Christmas. We flew down to Bangkok and then boarded a train for Pak Chong where we would be picked up ready for our tour.

The train to Pak Chong passed through some pleasant countryside and chugged along at a slow enough speed to see a few birds. Indian Roller, Chestnut capped, Blue throated and Blue tailed bee-eaters were evident along the wires, whilst I noted a few Black winged kite hovering over open areas. At one point the train rather conveniently came to a stop opposite some paddies, and scanning the area with my bins I noted Great, Intermediate and Little egrets, Asian open bill, White breasted waterhen and many Black winged stilt.

We had opted to do a day and a half tour with Greenleaf tours, and to stay at their accommodation. The tour was excellent value and I can recommend it as a good way of seeing the park if strapped for time and funds! Our accommodation was basic, but the immediate area was productive. I quickly added Pied fantail, Olive backed pipit and Plain backed sparrow to my growing list, and some nearby farmland attracted several Indian roller as well as Red wattled lapwing. Not bad for a quick stroll before bed. We had an early night ready for a full day in the park.

The next day we awoke to the most unusual Christmas day either of us had experienced; 26° and clear blue skies.
We entered the park at about 7am and practically the first bird we encountered was Great hornbill. This was a great start to the day as this had been a target species for me (lowered expectations!) The birds came thick and fast as we drove along the road to the HQ – Crested serpent eagle, chestnut-tailed starling, Golden fronted leafbird, Wreathed hornbill, Spangled drongo… We reached the HQ so that the group could have a toilet break and for our guide to get some gen. I located Arctic warbler as well as Brown and Slaty backed flycatcher around the lodge, whilst our guide called us over to view some White handed gibbon.

We spent a while watching the primates, then we were whisked away to see a bull Asian elephant, which was showing well apparently. Soon enough we spotted a crowd of people staring into some bushes and we could see the violent shakes of the animal as it striped branches. Whilst we watched the elephant, several Vernal hanging parrot flew over, whilst an Oriental turtle dove fed along a dirt track. I was quite surprised by how close some tourists got to the elephant – less than 3m away – especially as the elephants here have a reputation for being somewhat dangerous.

After the elephant episode we headed into the forest in order to see some more specialist species. Sadly we didn’t enter the track until 11:30am – a bit too late for many species, and a bit too hot for some in the group! Nevertheless our guide was very good with his calls and soon had us watching White crested laughingthrush, Grey headed canary-flycatcher, White rumped shama and White-browed Scimitar Babbler. A few bird waves came through and I managed to pick out a Sulphur breasted warbler which I was rather pleased to see. A very confiding Red headed trogon flew in and perched about 4m away from the group, allowing some great photographs to be taken. Trogons are a personal favourite of mine, so this was the icing on the cake.
We continued along the trail and encountered a cracking male Red junglefowl, the moment only marginally spoiled by one of the group saying “why are we stopping for a bloody chicken?!”… Other good species encountered included Greater flameback, Black billed cuckoo-shrike, Pale legged and Two barred Greenish warblers, Verditer flycatcher and Moustached barbet.
We spent much of the afternoon driving about the park, stopping at the ubiquitous Sambar deer and Pig tailed macaque, but other than a few Brown shrike and another more distant view of Great hornbill we didn’t really see many more species. One final bonus was a cracking Water monitor that I saw clambering down a bank and into a stream.

The next morning was free, as our half day tour began in the afternoon and culminated in a very special crepuscular spectacle. I went for a walk for a few hours and added a few more species; Greater racket tailed drongo, Black naped oriole and Lineated barbet, with further individuals of Radde’s, Greenish, Thick billed and Dusky warblers, Shikra, Plain backed sparrow and more Olive backed pipits. Later on we left for the bat roost and spent about 45 minutes witnessing the most incredible emergence of bats imaginable. Approximately 3 million bats leave this particular cave each evening and it was quite the fitting end to our time in Khao Yai National Park.

 

[MKinHK]

a nice report and some cracking birds - Wire-tailed Swallows always stick in my mind from a visit to Chiang Mai as one of the most elegant birds I've ever seen.

Nice gibbon pic too!

Cheers
Mike

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Cheers Mike, working on the next parts as we speak...

 

[dandsblair]

Another great report

Yet another great report on Thailand. Definitely need to do a return visit. Looking forward to the next part.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

It's been a bit of time, so here is a little more for those interested:

Part 4

Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park

The journey south on public transport to SRY was particularly long and arduous, though one particular highlight was when we accidentally “hired” a public bus – we had asked a bus driver to take us to the end of the line where we would get a taxi to our accommodation on the edge of the national park, but he misunderstood this and drove us (in an empty single decker bus) right to our accommodation, some 20km off of his route from Hua Hin!

We had two full days in the area, which would allow me to spend time on the pans, whilst giving Dr K chance to relax on the beach. I hired a moped and headed south into the park - the best way to work the pans and a lot of fun. The pans were truly alive with birds, and it offered some excellent opportunities to study waders, often at close range. Black winged stilt, Greenshank, Marsh sandpiper, Kentish and Pacific Golden plovers were very numerous, whilst closer scrutiny reveiled Long toed & Red necked stint, Broad billed sandpiper, Greater & Lesser sandplover, as well as more familiar species such as Wood, Common & Green sandpipers, Common & Spotted redshank, Greenshank and Curlew. I spent a bit of time on the well-known spot immediately south of the HQ, where after some careful scanning I managed to locate 3 Malaysian plover on the beach.

There we other good waterbirds on offer too; Grey, Purple, Striated, Reef, Chinese & Javan pond herons were joined by Great, Intermediate, Cattle & Little egrets, as well as Yellow & Cinnamon bittern. Little cormorant were very numerous, whilst with a degree of patience & luck I added Ruddy breasted crake, Slaty Breasted rail, White breasted moorhen, Bronze winged Jacana & the slightly less exotic Moorhen… A few Lesser whistling duck were seen in the marshes along the excellent 1021 road heading west, sadly I only spent about an hour birding this area. Next time, maybe.

It wasn’t all about the waterbirds, as I had my first encounter with White bellied sea-eagle of the trip, as well as a Peregrine. Most frustrating was a falcon that I couldn’t stop to look at on a post which looked good for Oriental hobby, but sometimes you have to let birds go. I also managed a good (if rather distant) view of a male Eastern Marsh harrier hunting over the large reed bed inland.

Around the general area I logged Burmese & Brown shrikes, Asian pied & Collared starling, Eastern & Western Yellow wagtail along with a single Citrine wagtail. Spotted dove were also fairly numerous & I also saw a few Thick billed, Dusky & Radde’s warblers. To round up the birding highlights were Whiskered & Gull billed tern, Pied, Stork billed, Black capped, White breasted & Common kingfisher!

One of the highlights of the trip came with another cracking mammal sighting in the form of a troop of Dusky langur which hung around the HQ. These were particularly confiding and allowed for some excellent photographic opportunities. After three nights in the area we had to continue south & onto the islands.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Part 5

The islands

We continued our journey south, and after travelling a fair distance in the space of just five days we were both looking forward to some R&R on the Islands. We had organised to head to the islands from Chumpon via ferry, before hopping across the islands to reach Surat Thani & catching a flight back to Bangkok for our final few days. The biggest challenge came in getting to the islands, as I don’t really enjoy spending time on boats, even less so on choppy seas… The journey out to Kho Tao was particularly eventful, with about 30% of the top deck losing their last meal over the side. I managed to compose myself, but Dr K was fairing badly. I’d hoped to spend some time scanning the waves, but I was being the dutiful boyfriend. I did happen to see 2 Pomarine skua flapping past at close range, but most annoyingly a large shearwater spp. flew by at an inopportune moment.

Birding was limited during the time on the Islands, as I had promised to be social and party the night away… still, I managed a few interesting sightings. Dollarbird was a new species for me, and it roosted each evening on a tree opposite our balcony, during the day a Shikra took up residence on the same branch. Both allowed for decent phone ‘scoping attempts.

Also in the general area were Japanese Sparrowhawk, Pied imperial Pigeon & Thick billed green pigeon, whilst every morning a White bellied sea eagle would hunt over the bay in front of our hotel. We enjoyed the more lively side of Kho Tao & brought the New Year in on the beach. The birding wasn’t great, but the island was a slice of pure paradise.

Our next port of call was Ko Samui, where we would be based for a few more days of beach-bumming before returning to Bangkok. I did manage a window seat on the ferry, but the only bird I saw during the entire crossing was a single distant immature gull spp. but the flat calm sea and lack of “incidents” made up for the lack of birds!

Ko Samui was very developed by contrast to Ko Tao, and it appears that the progress is eating into the core of the island, which at this time is still rather heavily forested. We did look at options for a day trip, but the prices we were quoted seemed very high to everywhere else, and the roads are notoriously dangerous for scooters. As a result my birding was limited to the immediate area around the hotel, but I still managed to add a few new species; Orange breasted pigeon, Jungle crow, House swallow, Yellow vented bulbul and Brown throated sunbird, though there were also a few Greenish & Yellow browed warblers, Black naped oriole and Blue tailed bee-eater to keep me entertained. The avian highlight came as we were leaving the island as I watched a White bellied fish eagle successfully fishing in the harbour.

We left the islands for Surat Thani airport where we would fly to Bangkok, and one final sighting of interest came from a few Black eared kite, which hawked over the settling pools behind the airport.

 

[MKinHK]

Some nice incidental birds from the party islands - Pied Imperial Pigeon is one of my favourites - and love the shot of the Dusky Langurs!

Cheers
Mike

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Cheers Mike, the Langurs were a real highlight. Just fantastic to watch.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Part 6

Bangkok

So this was it, the final stage of our trip and a last chance to add any new species. Our hotel was the Pinnacle Lumphini, the very first hotel we had booked. The hotel boasted a rooftop swimming pool, panoramic city vistas and a king-sized bed, but best of all it was a 5 minute walk from Lumphini park – ideal for a couple of hours birding before breakfast.

The park itself is basically a green square, with a couple of lakes and a stream running through it, there are also a few open areas as well as some scrub and mature trees. It is for this reason that the park is attractive to birds, and would make for an excellent local patch, though nothing to make Dave Gandy lose any sleep over!

The usual suspects were pretty evident without much effort, but species such as Yellow browed, Arctic & Two barred greenish warblers, Brown shrike, Taiga & Brown flycatchers, Chinese & Javan pond heron are always great to see for any European birder. Black naped oriole, Coppersmith barbet, Zebra dove, Plain prinia Collared & Pied starling were conspicuous, whilst there were a few surprises in store. I added Plaintive cuckoo, leucogenis Ashy drongo, Common iora & Black naped monarch were new species, whilst I had excellent views of Large billed crow, Magpie robin, Pied fantail and Asian koel.

There were other attractions to the park; even before first light there were hundreds of people in the park. The diversity of activities was astonishing – over 60’s bodybuilding, karaoke, yoga, roller blading, dance lessons, joggers and even somebody else looking at birds! The park is also home to a large population of monitor lizards and turtles – no doubt refugees of the exotic pet trade.

We spent the two days taking in the usual tourist hotspots, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. The trip had been an excellent introduction to Asia, and I hope to return soon. Maybe next time I’ll make an effort and see some Pitta’s and endangered waders!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Frogfish]

Fun read Daniel - simply love those Dusky Langurs and White Handed Gibbons !

I've really got to make the effort to 'do' Thailand instead of just going down to holiday with the family in Phuket !