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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dalat" data-source="post: 3323694" data-attributes="member: 65207">Xuan Thuy National Park is an area of extensive shrimps ponds, mangroves and sand banks at the mouth of Red River. It provides wintering ground for a number of birds, most prominently Black-faced Spoonbills, but also a range of Ducks (very rare in most of Vietnam because of the hunting), Waders and more. Spoon-billed Sandpaper has been a regular visitor in the past but these day seem over, its not seen any more in most years. But the special attraction here, at least for me, is migration: the youngest islands and outer sand banks with sparse Casuaina growth can be excellent in automn or spring. I've been there a couple of times in the past and always enjoyed a lot the very particular tye of birding with unpredictable and often good finds.I decided to save on the car rental and go by public tansport, which was a good choice as it was faster than I expected and pretty comfortable. I went to Giap Bat bus station, ignored the touts trying to convince me that buying tickets to Ninh Binh from them is the only thing a foreigner can possibly want to do here, went to the counter and bought a ticket (2,5 €) to Giao Thuy district. There was no bus to the village closest to the National Park HQ, Giao Thien, so I took the one to Ngo Dong, the district capital. Highway all the way to Nam Dinh meant we were there by one and a half hour, much faster than just a few years ago. I think also the small rural roads from Nam Dinh to the coast have improved somewhat, and the bus arrived in Ngo Dong after only 2.5 hours. I hopped into a small taxi and after another 15 km arrived at the National Park headquarter. They have added some more buildings to the park headquarter, but that did not change the usual feeling of having arrived at a deserted place at the end of the world. After a while standing by the large ever dilapating landscape model of the park, the staff returned red-headed from their lunch break. I had some tea and chat with them, then took my room, while they went to have a nap in their offices. One of the new bulding is for guest rooms, plenty of place now and rooms comfortable enough.In the afternoon, I went birding with Truong, one of the staff whom I knew from earlier visits. We went on his motorbike along the dike (now paved) through the shrimp ponds, mainly to search for the Spoonbills. We didn't find them, probably they had not arrived yet. The ponds had Little Grebes, Indian Spot-billed Ducks and Common Teal. The usualy range of egrets and herons, include some Purple Herons. Along the tidal channels there were a few waders, including Black-winged Stils, Black-tailed Godwits, Common, Marsh and Wood Sandpipers, Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers. Near the Kentish Plovers was another Plover, which was slightly larger and had more dark on the breast sides than the Kentish. I think it was a rare Long-billed Plover, but unfortunatly it was too far away to get <a href="http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=313809&highlight=Vietnam" target="_blank">photos good enough to proove this</a>. A few Whiskered Terns were hunting over the ponds, they remained my only terns seen here. Eastern Marsh Harriers were frequently patrolling the ponds and channels, and Black-shoulderd Kites hiding in the bushes on the dikes. I also saw a large falcon, probabaly a Peregrine.In the evening I also had a stroll through the dense Caruarina plantation right behind the park facilities. They were full of birds, but unfortunately the undergrowth was too dense and it was very difficult to actually see the birds. There were a lot of Dusky Warblers and several Phyllos that I did not manage to ID. Various Cuckoo sized birds managed to keep out of proper site, but at least I managed to see Asian Koels and both Great and Lesser Coucal. The vegetable field near the kitchen was home to a Taiga Flycatcher and nearby the Light-vented and Sooty-headed Bulbuls were hard to miss. Chinese Blackbirds were also noisy enough to have themselfs found the dense tree tops. Some ponds nearby had Pied, Common, and White-throated Kingfishers.For dinner (and next day lunch) I went to a small restaurant near the park gate. The park facilities include a kitchen, but they only cook for larger groups they told me. The small restaurant was fine, if a bit on the noisy side as it was quite popular for business lunch (drinking) parties it seems.Photos: - Views on the tidal channels, mangroves and towards the Red River mouth- Paddyfield Pittit- Sooty-headed Bulul- juv Lesser Coucal</blockquote>

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