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North and Central Thailand Nov-Dec 2024 (2 Viewers)

dandsblair

David and Sarah
I thought that starting to post my trip report here would motivate me to finish it and process the photos

Thai Birding trip Nov 19th – Dec 10th 2024

Background


We have been to Thailand before but had only birded areas around Bangkok and while we have been to Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Burma we hadn’t done full on birding, just days at various sites so there were plenty of life birds to target.

The timing wasn’t ideal, Jan/Feb would be better but with trips booked for next year, this was the best we could do, so we asked Nick Upton from Thaibirding.com to arrange the best possible trip for North and Central Thailand for late November to mid-December.

After some toing and froing with plans to avoid going to national parks at week-end or bank holidays, we arrived at an itinerary that saw us arrive in Chiang Mai on 20th November. Nick would guide us in the North of the country, picking us up and dropping us off in Chiang Mai. He would then take a large Spanish group out in the North a few days later, so that worked well for us all.

We would then fly to Bangkok staying, in Bangkok overnight and then take a cab to Khok Kham early the next morning; where we would meet up Games who is the co-owner of Baan Maka Nature Lodge. She would guide us in Kaeng Krachan, around Petchabari and the coast.

The final itinerary was

Fly Heathrow to Bangkok 19th November – onward flight to Chiang Mai early 20/11
Meet Nick at Hotel 6am on 21st Nov – birding Mae Taeng Irrigation Area and then on to our hotel in Fang (4 nights) afternoon birding at Doi Lang West
22nd Nov – Doi Ang Kang
23rd Nov – Doi Lang West
24th Nov – Doi Ang Kang and Rice fields Mai Ai
25th Nov – Fang Hot Springs then drive to accommodation at Doi Inthanon (Touch Star Resort),
birding late afternoon near accommodation
26th Nov – Doi Inthanon
27th Nov – Doi Inthanon
28th Nov – Doi Inthanon am – Lamphun rice fields pm
29th Nov – Mae Ping
30th Nov – Mae Ping – fly to Bangkok PM (leave Nick at Chiang Mai airport)

1st Dec taxi from Don Muang airport hotel to Khok Kham (Meet Games 6.30am) – PM Kaeng Krachan
2nd Dec – Kaeng Krachan
3rd Dec – Kaeng Krachan
4th Dec – Kaeng Krachan - Petchaburi
5th Dec – Pak Thale/Laem Pak Bia
6th Dec – Petchaburi Rice Fields – Hua Hin
7th – 10th no real birding but we did pick up an Indian Nightjar in the trees near the rooftop bar in the hotel.

Day 1 - birding Mae Taeng Irrigation Area and then onto Fang / Doi Lang

After a slight confusion, there was another bird guide waiting at reception when we checked out at 5.50, we met up with Nick a few minutes later. Loaded the van quickly (loads of space as Nick had the large Toyota van for his next tour as well). Agreed that we would get to the first birding spot and have a bit of breakfast on the go. The spot was Mae Taeng Irrigation area, Nick hadn’t been here this season so we didn’t have a set target list but we soon added some great birds. With Wryneck, Siberian Rubythroat, Lineated Barbet and Wire-tailed Swallow all seen before our first lifer a Chestnut-capped Babbler but I managed to get a record shot off but probably my best ever Rubythroat views. Black-collared Starling, Dusky warbler, Oriental Magpie Robin and Paddyfield Pipit were easily seen but only I saw a Small Pratincole before it flew off from the waters edge as the others were watching a Lesser Coucal and Long-tailed Shrike. We tried to get down to the gravel near the water edge but some building work was ongoing and we couldn’t get close, so we didn’t see the expected Pratincol here, adding only Green, Common and Wood Sandpiper and Swinhoe’s Snipe.

After breakfast we had a couple of hours drive to Fang our base for the next few days. We stayed in the Tangerine Hotel, (I was unaware how big a Tangerine producer Thailand is, a huge area is farmed in the NW), we had an early lunch and checked in to the hotel before heading up to Doi Lang West for some much looked forward to birding at 2pm.

We stopped at a spot Nick described as the Mrs Hume Pheasant feeding area, the bird had not yet started to come to worms as the soil in the area was still very damp with lots of natural food still available and photographers had only just started laying out worms every day to try to attract them. We had low expectation for the Pheasant unless we were lucky and saw one cross the various roads. As we were about to get out the van I shouted Giant Nuthatch, the bird played hide and seek for a few minutes before Sarah got good views and I managed to photograph it, our attention was being drawn to Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch and Pied Bushchat which flitted around in the same trees. A good start – further up the road Nick heard a mixed flock and we had Orange-bellied Leafbird, Dark-backed Sibia, Asian Great Tit and the common but difficult to see well Blue-winged Minla. This was proving to be a good spot and we also saw Spectacled Barwing, Rufous-bellied Niltava and Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher in the area. There were quite a few photographers here waiting for Cutia but despite some people waiting 5 hours at a fruiting tree, they hadn’t showed. Nick reckoned he could hear the birds a little distantly and so we went after a calling Collared Owlet which he managed to whistle into a tree and which we and some other birders got to see being mobbed by Humes and Chinese Leaf Warbler, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Streaked Spiderhunter and Mrs Gould’s Sunbird. That was nearly it for the afternoon as we heard and didn’t see the Cutia (4 seen by another group of UK birders) but we did add Sapphire Flycatcher and another Giant Nuthtach and then in bamboo lower down an Aberrant Bush warbler.

A pretty good first day – finished off with good food and inexpensive Chang beers.

Day 2

Nick had warned us that up the mountain birding was pretty dependent on weather as birds only seemed to show well when there was some sunshine/warmth and then in shade later as the day heated up. The weather wasn’t promising as we headed up Doi Ang Krang, with lots of mist and low cloud, we were aiming to find some areas where the sun was breaking through the cloud and making the forest edges productive for birds and insects. Hover today even after 9am it was still misty and even when we found a clearish spot not a lot of activity. So we had a slight change of plan, heading to a roadside village that used to contain a B and B that Nick used, followed by the Kings Project (open gardens and forest edge and then the area around the army camp on the Burmese border.

At the village we had a group of White-browed Laughing Thrush, then Mountain Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul a nice Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Green-billed Malkoha, Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon and three Crested Finchbill, so even if birding wasn’t superfast we were seeing some quality birds.

Next up we stopped the Kings Project a huge area with lots of workers on the project, a visitors centre, gardens and a few areas where some tricky birds have been found in the past. Today there were loads of Mrs Gould’s Sunbirds, a Black-throated Sunbird, Short-billed and Scarlet Minivets, Common Rosefinch a Slaty-backed Flycatcher and a Grey Treepie but no sign of Thrushes or Babblers which had been seen by others; still we did enjoy a coffee here and added a Blue-throated Barbet.

Last stops before lunch were the army camp at the border, almost a tourist attraction with a small market outside and the forest just below. In the camp we saw Daurian Redstart, Burmese Shrike, Slender-billed Oriole, Black-crested Bulbul, Black Bulbul and Grey Bushchat before finally nailing a Davison’s Leaf Warbler. Nick knew a spot for Rock Thrush just before our chosen restaurant and sure enough we soon had a pair of beautiful Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush as well as Yellow-cheeked Tit, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch and Hill Prinia.

Over lunch we said we were pleased with our morning even if Nick thought we had left a few birds out there because of the weather.

First stop after lunch was down a very narrow steep trail where we manged to call in but didn’t get a decent photo of the Chestnut-headed Tesia, in the same area we also added Yellow-streaked warbler and Dark-backed Sibia. We then revisited most of the spots from this morning and quickly added Yunnan Fulvetta and Blue-winged Minla in a mixed flock with a few unidentifiable Leaf warblers.

Next we headed to the area known as the Chinese cemetery. Here we had a huge flock of bulbuls with Black Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul, Flavescent Bulbul, Sooty-headed Bulbul and White-headed Bulbul all showing pretty well. Just up from here we could hear a Great Barbet and eventually got great flight views from a couple of fly overs but managed only a distant record shot of a perched bird.

We finished with a nice mixed flock with lots of birds we had seen earlier but with 3 Fire-capped Tits, not particularly spectacular but a pretty rare bird in the area we were told.

Day 3

We headed up Doi Lang West as weather looked pretty good from Fang. However, it was not particularly great up-top with lots of pockets of cloud, but in the sunny patches in between we did pretty well. First up we checked with the people putting out worms for the Pheasant stake-out (still no sign although Nick did hear a male bird later) but we did soon see Giant Nuthtach, Grey-crowned Warbler was new and better views of Dark-backed Sibia was nice, some photographers were trying to attract Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babblers to a log in the forest but the birds were calling from behind them, sods law for them as soon as they left to get some breakfast 3 Red-eyed Scimitar Babblers put in an appearance. Nick hurried us along as he heard a target bird up the hill, we arrived along with a local birder to see a Spot-breasted Parrotbill fly across the road, with a little playback the bird came back to the roadside and I managed a record shot before it moved into the thicket. Interestingly a Canadian group with a local guide then appeared but they wouldn’t let their guide use playback (they didn’t get that bird and missed quite a few other target birds the guide reported to us when we saw her a week or so later).

We went to the road end point where the Army guy checked papers and took a note of the registration of the van before we were allowed to leave the van (very unusual said Nick). We had a nice flock of Silver-eared Mesia but the only close birds were right by the soldiers and I thought it best not to point the camera at the young very keen guard. So only a distant record shot but there then came a good mixed flock with Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Black-crested Bulbul, Asian Great Tit, around a dozen Black-throated Tits, Plain Flowerpecker and Yellow-browed Warbler, we then drove back to the main area where the Cutia had been seen, no sign at the moment just lots of people at the top of a hill watching a fruiting tree and waiting, some more patiently than others. We decided to go look for some other target birds and quickly added Hume’s Treecreeper, we also saw Rufous-bellied Niltava and Maroon Oriole. Nick decided to go move the van further down the hill while we scanned the area, Sarah then spotted 2 Golden-throated Barbet on a fruiting tree and these were joined by another flock of Bushtits and a group of Fulvetta and Warblers. We were joined at this point by three other UK birders and managed to sort out and photograph Marten’s Warbler and on Nick’s arrival the rare White-spectacled Warbler (only 1 or 2 each year in Thailand). We were having a pretty successful morning despite conditions and it got better as a Thai guy came running down to let his group and us know that some Cutia had shown up. There weren’t on the tree everyone was watching but roosting in a small fruiting tree nearer the road. The birds were huddled together and not wholly visible but we were able to get scope views and then work our way around to get closer near unobscured views, no one wanted to scare off the birds and in the end I think all but one of the 20 birders (an older guy not prepared to climb the track and then move off the path to see the birds) saw one of the key targets for Doi Lang West Himalayan Cutia very well.

One of the guides did manage to get a scope view from the track but the birds moved before he got on it. It was at this point Nick mentioned that he and the Thai guide had heard the Mrs Hume Pheasant deep in the forest, but he thought we had zero chance getting through the very wet area and finding the bird – we would go back to the van for lunch and decide what do to with the afternoon having nailed all the main targets.

In the end we decided to go to Mae Ai Ricefields. This area on the way back to Fang gave us some new trip birds and the chance of some rarities. On arrival Nick noted there had been severe flooding, so some areas were not easily accessible and other were just raked mud. Still thing started promisingly with a few Yellow-breasted Buntings, Citrine Wagtail, Amur Stonechat, Swinhoe’s Snipe, Pacific golden Plover and Hoopoe. Then we had a few Pied Harriers and a Peregrine Falcon. We did try for Jerdon’s Bushchat but saw only Grey Bushchat and Oriental Skylark in this area.
 

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A few more photos from first section
 

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Day 4 Doi Lang West and Doi Ang Khang

Strategy for this morning was to cover likely spots for the Pheasant and try for a few other possibles. We were seeing more of the same, Golden-throated and Blue-throated Barbet, Stripe-breasted Woodpecker, Giant Nuthatch, Orange-bellied Leafbird and Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher before we added Rufescent Prinia and Grey-backed Shrike but Spot-winged Grosbeak was heard only but quickly forgotten when we added Grey-headed Parrotbill.

On the way in this morning we noticed that a new sign showed a road up to the army camp at Doi Ang, as we probably still had more to look for here plus another look at the temple for Thrushes we decided to have our packed lunch and then drive up (after Nick had confirmed with a friend that the road was open). Unfortunately what we didn’t know was that the road was only open until 9.00am and then again from 15.30-18.00 to come back. Having made the decision to go up it meant a much longer drive than planned, so we headed straight to the temple. Luck still wasn’t with us with a large birding group making lots of noise and barking dogs also keeping everything away, so I headed to the far end of the complex, and on the ground was a Black-breasted Thrush which I unfortunately flushed, I ran back to tell Nick and Sarah and we eventually found a couple of birds in the trees but they wouldn’t land for more than a few seconds because of the noise, I’ve no idea how this group saw anything well, we also added Hill Blue Flycatcher and Common Iora before heading to a less disturbed area.

The birding was OK here with Banded Bay Cuckoo, Black-winged CuckooShrike, Oriental Turtle Dove, Pallas’s warbler, Scarlet Minivet and a nice White-browed Shrike Babbler all seen. On the way back we stopped again at the Kings Project (entrance from a couple of days ago was still valid), birds were the same as then plus Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Crested Finchbill, Black Bulbul, Rufous-backed Sibia and then Nick heard Silver-breasted Broadbill* in the area behind the Bamboo Garden, the birds seemed to respond to playback, with one appearing briefly out in the open, but they then disappeared back into the thick stuff leaving Sarah without a sighting and me with no photograph.

That was pretty much it for the afternoon apart from Grey Wagtail and Oriental Magpie Robin and for other wildlife a Pallas’s Squirrel and a Western Striped Squirrel.

Day 5 Fang Hot Spring NP and area near Touch Star Resort (lower Doi Inthanon)

It was very misty as we set off, but our first goal was to try for a Forktail near the visitor centre a bird that Nick hadn’t gotten on the last two visits, however we no sooner set foot on the bridge than a Black-backed Forktail took off and flew onto the rocks, the bird didn’t hang around for long but we had acceptable views.

It was proving very difficult to see anything with the mist and the spa spray with lots of geyser erruptions, we could hear quite a bit including Barred owlet but tool ages before I finally spotted and got us on a Asian Barred Owlet, sods law having seen one we then saw a few more. Nick then got a nice mixed flock of Green Pigeons, Wedge-tailed and Pin-tailed Green Pigeon, there were plenty of Himalayan Swiftlets, Common Kingfisher, White-breasted Waterhen and a Shikra but no sign of the large groups of Grosbeaks that usual take salt from the spray. Instead all we added were Eurasian Jay, Chinese Pond Heron, and Ashy Bulbul. It was soon time to leave with conditions still far from ideal as we had a long drive and wanted to get there with a little time before dark.

We arrived at Touch Star Resort before 4, dropped our bags and headed to a lake and scrub area not too far from the resort but first we added Indochinese Roller and Ashy Woodswallow in the gardens.

We tried first for Blue-bearded Bee-eater which had been flight only days before but we still couldn’t get the bird to pose for us in a near tree, instead we had to make do with Asian Green Bee-eater, but the main target bird was Indochinese Bushlark which we eventually got to come out into the open for good views. Only other birds of note were Purple Sunbird and Blue Rock Thrush.

It was then time to get to the neighbouring resort to look for owls. Nick knew a site for Asian Spotted Owlet and thought we could also get the Boobok. This was in an old building in the nearby Highland resort which has partially been sold off. We tried all sides of the building just before dark but the Asian Spotted Owlet only emerged just as it was too dark to photograph, Nick then called in the Brown (Hawk Owl) Boobok but I had brought the wrong torch (right case – Doh!) and Nick hadn’t charged his, so spotlighting was a bit useless but success in seeing both owls none the less.

Back to the Resort for a nice dinner and well-earned beers.

Doi Inthanon NP

We had breakfast booked for 6am to allow us to get up near the summit by 7am. However, the restaurant and kitchen were empty when we got down and by 6.20 we had manged to just get some coffee and toast before the manageress turned up and said she had a motor bike problem, it was nearly 6.50 before we left and Nick suggested a change of plan. He had obtained some worms on the way up from Fang and suggested we go to a little known gully that he had successful manged to get some shy birds to, then lunch have way up the mountain before going to a hide and then finishing at the summit. Sounded good so we with some warning Sarah took her walking pools and I used my Monopod to get down what was steep and slippy trail.

When we got down Nick scattered some worms on some logs and we didn’t have long to wait until a White-gorgeted Flycatcher came in for a look and then stayed around for the best part of an hour, I had heard these birds were shy but this one wasn’t. There were a few other birds calling and Nick was identifying them and then calling them one by one, first a Large Niltava, then a Himalayan Shortwing both of which I managed to photograph but the next target proved much more tricky with loads of calling and moving in the slippy track to get a good look at the Slaty-bellied Tesia and I never did manage an unobscured photo of this little skulker and I did only slightly better with Pygmy Cupwing where I had it photo bomb a video clip of the Flycatcher but didn’t get a still. In this area we also saw Siberian Blue Robin, Buff-throated Warbler and Grey-throated Babbler.

Next we headed to a village with a small hydro electric plant, a few birds could be looked for by the river and there was a place for lunch. On the river we saw Plumbeous Water Redstart and White-capped Water Redstart but no sign of the forktail just a White-rumped Shama but we did on the trail nearby add the Small Niltava.

Next it was off to a mid elevation hide (the guy here has basic accommodation and two hides) we were joined by just one other person.

Interestingly we saw more before the owner came with the other birder and put down the worms and some fresh fruit. We walked up the trail on our own as Nick had made the arrangements and just sat down. Coming down to feed were Siberian Blue Robin, White-bellied Epornis, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Asian Emerald Dove, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Black-naped Monarch, Streaked Spiderhunter, Puff-throated Bulbul and Grey-throated Babbler. The only additional birds that came after the feeding were Rufous-winged Fulvetta and Little Spiderhunter.

Last stop up to the summit, where conditions were far from ideal, misty and cold. We didn’t get the Partridge and only saw the Ashy Woodpigeon in the gloom and just fleeting glimpses of Silver-eared LaughingThrush and Chestnut-tailed Minla by the cafe. On the Nature trail we had a couple of Green-tailed Sunbirds, Blue Whistling Thrush, White-throated Fantail and Blue-eared Barbet.

It was dark by the time we got half way down the mountain so straight to the room, and ready for dinner.
 

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Doi Lang

Breakfast was even worse than yesterday, despite us, 3 other Europeans and a large Thai party being there at 6am, there was no one to be seen and the coffee machine wasn’t even filled and there was not enough bread for toast. A member of the kitchen staff showed about 6.30 and made our pre-ordered breakfast and then started on the large group, the other Europeans just left. It was 6.55 by the time we finished and the breakfast manager still had not turned up. Nick was fuming and contacted the owner as he was coming back here with 12 people in 10 days time and didn’t want a repeat.

We didn’t get up to the summit until nearly 8 and missed Speckled Wood Pigeon, they flew off just before we arrived, our mood got darker when it suddenly got dark and started chucking it down and got very cold. Nick had forgotten his outer layer but managed to buy something in the shop but the Café wasn’t even open. All we saw when sheltering from the rain was Green-tailed Sunbird and Chestnut-tailed Minla.

A swift reappraisal of our plans – head downhill until the rain stops and then bird lower down before working our way back up finishing at the summit late afternoon. First stop where it was dry was near some farmland on a side track, birding wasn’t too bad and we saw Swinhoe’s White-eye, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Ashy-throated Bulbul, Chestnut vented Nuthatch, Crested Goshawk, Speckled Piculet and Ashy-throated Warbler, not too bad: starting to climb back to a place for lunch we stopped for a group of impressive White-cheeked LaughingThrush and a Black-throated Sunbird. Lunch was at a local bird photographer’s place where we were made envious by some of the birds seen and photographed but usually at breeding season.

By now the rain looked to have cleared and we agreed to make our way up to the summit via one stop at the new parking spot a couple of LM below. This was a good call as after a bit of walking up and down we came across a mixed flock, with Dark-backed Sibia, Blue-winged Minla and Davison’s Leaf Warbler, then came the good stuff Great Barbet, Yellow-browed Tit, Golden Babbler, Clicking Shrike-babbler and a posing Chestnut-tailed Minla – what a nice bird when seen in the open. On a bit of a roll we headed up to the summit. It was still cloudy and grey and a what around the Nature area yielded only a Blue Whistling Thrush, so we decided to have a coffee at the now open Café – we could see a group of Ashy Woodpigeon in the gloom and we did get reasonable views of Silver-eared LaughingThrush. Nick thought we had good chances for the other targets elsewhere but we needed to try again for the Partridge which wasn’t meant to be this difficult, although we did talk to another group who hadn’t seen it either, this time we went up to the highest point and just repeatedly scanned the undergrowth and listening for movement, eventually we found three birds, not brilliant views but I did manage a record shot of the Rufous-throated Partridge which is just about in focus through the vegetation. Result.

Further improvement as Nick heard from the resort manager who was giving us complementary dinner and had put the manageress on notice. She was so apologetic when we turned up that evening and gave us an excuse about her mother being taken ill (the Kitchen worker told Nick in Thai she had just stayed in bed). Promises were made about tomorrows breakfast.

We weren’t missing many birds so we agreed to go to the Waterfalls and Hydro village early tomorrow rather than go back to the summit.
 

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Doi Inthanon (Wachirathan waterfall and Hydo area)

Incident free breakfast, with everything ready on time. We wanted to try for the Forktail at the falls nice and early, no joy just a Grey Wagtail and an endemic Doi Inthanon Rock Frog but we did enjoy the views on our own with no tourists up here before 7.30am.

When we went to the Hydro area it was unexpectedly busy with loads of people parking up for work, fortunately they all stayed well away from the river and we got close up views of White-capped and Plumbeous Water Redstart before finding a Slaty-backed Forktail which showed OK but just wouldn’t let us get close for a decent photo, poor record shot only, flying up and down the various tributaries as we got anywhere close. Not wanting to scare the bird off his territory we decided to just leave it be and have a coffee at the café and watch from a distance.

We decided that the couple of new birds still possible here were likely to take some time with no guarantee of success so we agreed to go to our next destination Lee (near Mae Ping NP) for lunch, check in at Funwan Hotel and the spend late afternoon at the National Park.

Mae Ping is pretty famous for it’s woodpeckers, and we heard distantly but didn’t see Great Slaty before we got the very nice Black-headed Woodpecker, added Grey-headed Pygmy Woodpecker and then Rufous Treepie and Yellow-footed Green Pigeon it was quite quiet so we headed to the main camp site.

Here we were lucky to see a group of endangered Hog Deer and Red-tailed Squirrel; plenty of Chinese Pond Heron and Red-wattled Lapwing were on the ground but what we were after was a little bird of prey and we eventually got the cracking Collared Falconet, after seeing loads of Drongo perching on the likely branches that distracted us repeatedly. Only other birds of note were Hill Blue Flycatcher, Common Kestrel, Brown Shrike and Black-hooded Oriole.

This was the lowest number of birds seen / new birds on the trip and left me agonisingly close to my 6000th bird seen.

Mae Ping

No place for Breakfast in Lee, so 7-11 for Coffee and Toasted Sandwiches before heading up to the NP entrance. Nick spotted some tree that would hopefully get early sun and attract the birds. There was quite a bit around Black-headed Woodpecker, seen better than yesterday then Indochinese CuckooShrike, Rosy Minivet, Swinhoes’s Minivet, Black Naped Monarch and then three Great Slaty Woodpeckers put in an appearance (we had flight views of these birds in Borneo in the past but we deemed then not tickable for such an iconic bird; the largest living picid), so really good to see then on some not too distant trees.

We then headed to a spot that another guide mentioned for a falcon, sure enough just a couple of calls and we had a White-rumped Falcon fly into a nearby tree, I was quite excited as this was my 6000 bird seen and ticked.
We saw the guide who was leading the Canadian group, she was on her own but she was able to go get them and get them onto the bird which was staying around. Walking back to where we had parked the van we had White-crested LaughingThrush, Sooty-headed Bulbul and Oriental CuckooShrike before a quiet spell as it started to get quite hot. We headed to a shady spot where we had flyover, White-bellied Woodpecker, Nick moved the van towards the centre for lunch while we walked slowly along and I managed to get us on a Grey-headed Parakeet sitting out in the open, we had heard them earlier.

It turns out the café near the centre isn’t doing food but a local village is recommended and we go early to a place that just does a nice line in noodle soup, very good too. It is too early to go back into the park so we head up the road to a bridge and river crossing seeing Common Kingfisher, Little Ringed Plover, Crested Treeswift, Burmese Shrike, Long-tailed Shrike, Green Bee-eater and a distant Rufous-winged Buzzard.

Back in the park in the afternoon it was a little anti climatic with just Golden-fronted Leafbird, Collared Falconet, Brown Shrike, Green-billed Malkoha, Rufous Treepie and Greater Flameback seen. Although we did get another endangered deer species Eld’s Deer which is being reintroduced back into the National Park.
 

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Congratulations on your 6000th (!) species David, quite a staggering achievement. I notice that Sarah is close too - hopefully not too long before she reaches this milestone total. Really enjoying the vicarious birding from your report, a return to Thailand is overdue for me!
Sarah - doesn't really care about number but she would love her 6000th to be a Philippine Trogon (hopefully next month) a bird she missed on our previous trip to the Philippines.
 
Lamphon Rice Field and Travel day


We had seen the main targets at Mae Ping so we decided to have a full morning at Lamphon and then head to Chiang Mai airport early afternoon for our flight to Bangkok. We didn’t really have any specific expectations but high hopes as Nick said you often get rarities turning up here.

Area is largely scrub around the rice field in various states, flooded, new planting, drying out etc. Plenty of waders at first stop including: Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Little Stint and Black-winged Stilt, there was also three Ruddy Shelduck and some other Ducks that aren’t too abundant in Thailand, Northern Shoveler, Pintail, Coot, Common Teal and Mallard. As we scanned the banks Nick spotted a Small Pratincole that he didn’t expect here and we all got scope views so Sarah got a lifer she thought she had missed at Mae Taeng.

We had hoped for a load of raptors here but all we got in our various stops were Pied Harrier, Steppe Eagle, Black Kite and Common Kestrel a lot less than other had seen here recently but there were some goodies we had Siamese Pied Starling and a nice unexpected White-shouldered Starling, Amur Stonechat, Oriental Turtle Dove, Plain Prinia, Pied Fantail, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Oriental Reed warbler, Citrine Wagtail, Yellow wagtail, Oriental Skylark, Ashy Woodswallow, Barn Swallow, Tree Sparrow and a last surprise a Plain-backed Sparrow. Amongst the bigger birds were Asian Openbill, Painted Stork, Glossy Ibis, Great White Egret, Intermediate Egret and Purple Heron.

Our last morning with Nick had gone pretty quickly and it was soon time to head back to Chiang Mai airport for some lunch before flying back to Bangkok. We were flying into Don Muang Airport the smaller airport in Bangkok.

Our Air Asia flight was slightly delayed but we were soon reunited with our luggage and discovered that you could get to our hotel the Amari Don Muang without even leaving the airport. Take a lift from International Terminal to second top floor and there is a walkway right into the hotel reception. If flying into this airport or transiting to other Asian destinations this hotel would be a very convenient option.

However the hotel was very busy with Christmas light switch on and various football parties so we couldn’t eat here at any reasonable time. Food and drink also looked very expensive – however the food court in the International Airport top floor was very good (just buy a card and use the value at the various eateries and drinking stations). Back to the room early as we have an early start to get to Khok Kham before sunrise for some wader watching.

Khok Kham and Kaeng Krachan

We have a car booked at 5 am car to get us out of Bangkok before traffic picks up and get us to Khok Kham Bird Centre before first light. We are down before 5 to check out and find a young lady waiting for us, she doesn’t speak any English but has a board with our something approaching our name on it and we think she recognises Games’ name when we mention it. So we hope we are heading the right way (after a trip a few years ago in India when we got in the wrong car and travelled 50 miles the wrong way before we noticed) we still get wary; but MapsMe shows me we are heading in the right direction. Shortly after 6am and before first light we are parked at the Bird Centre with an obvious sign and sculpture, so we just have to wait for Games.

Games arrived with her previous client – he headed to the far end of the salt pans while we scanned the close area. I almost immediately saw a target bird pretty nearby but as a few photographer were making their way along the banks and setting up hides the flock of birds containing it took to the air and flew. Some of the birds returned but but not the Spoonie. Games saw her previous guy waving at the back and we made our way steadily around the pools in between until we got the furthest pool from the centre.

Here Games got the Spoon-billed Sandpiper in the scope for us to see well, the bird was pretty mobile and did come closer but it was always moving in an out of other waders in the flock, so my record shots were pretty poor but at least we both got better views than when we saw our first Spoonie 25 years ago in Hong Kong. There were plenty of other birds to enjoy, Curlew Sandpiper, Terek’s Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Great Knott, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Lesser and Greater Sandplover , Black Tern, White-throated Kingfisher and Chestnut-headed Bee-eater being the most notable with the odd Brahminy Kite causing things to fly every 10 or 15 minutes and then us rescanning the flocks.
 

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It was nearly 8.30 and getting pretty hot and we were ready to get out of the sun and have a late breakfast before heading south to Games’s Nature Lodge.
Baan Maka Nature Lodge is about 20 minutes outside the National Park. I think it is the second closest place to stay but it has great habitat in the grounds and also has a farm attached and a little bar for sundowners so an ideal place to stay. I thought we were staying here 4 nights but the place was full and they were housing people in their private quarters so we were 3 nights here and then heading to the coast for 2 nights there. I should have paid more attention to this bit of itinerary as I would have preferred another day around Kaeng Krachan rather than at the coast.

Anyway, we arrived around 11.00 got checked in and then did a bit of local wildlife watching before lunch.

Birding was OK with Hainan Blue Flycatcher, Black-crested Bulbul, Ochreaceous Bulbul and Greater Racket-tailed Drongo all seen well and a nice Grey-bellied Squirrel and Monitor Lizard all seen in our short walk around the nature trail and back to the lodge.

We decided over lunch that it wasn’t worth going into the national park this afternoon as mornings are best but that we should go to Uncle Sins Hide one of two sets of hides just outside the Park. This worked well for us with quite a few new trip and life birds seen well. The highlights were Green-legged (scaly-breasted) Partridge, Racket-tailed Treepie, Siberian Blue Robin, Streaked Bulbul, Lesser-necklaced LaughingThrush, Blue-throated Flycatcher, Large Scimitar Babbler, White-browed Scimitar Babbler, Striped Tit Babbler, Asian Paradise Flycatcher and Orange-headed Thrush. Other wildlife in addition was Side-striped Squirrel and Northern Tree Shrew.

Food and drink in the lodge was very good and we enjoyed a good night’s sleep after our longish day

Kaeng Krachan (and Mr Bird Hide)

Off after early breakfast to the summit, but stopping whenever we see something and at some seeding bamboo hopefully for a local rarity and therefore waiting for traffic to come down before reaching the top (it is one way so you can only go up or down at certain times the last few miles to the summit camp).

The first stop at the entrance / camp ground only give Chinese Pond Heron, White-throated kingfisher, Red-wattled Lapwing and Indochinese Roller. Once the road opens up a little we stop and find a really close Great Hornbill, there are a few birds around this area but Games says they are by no means guaranteed, there also a couple of Asian Pied Hornbills and a Greater-necklaced Laughing Thrush around.

Next we have a nice Black and Red Broadbill before in the thicker forest Games hears a Trogon and we luckily get a response to whistles and get the Orange-breasted Trogon flying into a good position, a new Trogon and a new Hornbill two of Sarah’s favourite families she is very happy.

It then got very quiet while we waited for Pin-tailed Parrotfinch to come to the Bamboo seed; we must have waited three and a half hours here over the next few days at various times, twice as the sun hit the bamboo the favoured time we were told and didn’t get a sniff, pretty annoying as other birders / local photographers were seeing them and when they came to feed they tended to stay around for at least 45 minutes but because of the one way system if you were up the top you could come down until it was your turn), just a well I’m not obsessive anymore or I would have insisted in waiting the whole day here with a few of the photographers.

Still it did get better as a young colleague of Games tells us about an owl roost and we see and photograph a White-fronted Scops Owl and also add a Brown Boobok. It then became really good for mammals the rest of the way up with Dusky Langur, White-handed Gibbon and Banded Langur all seen well.

At the top of the hill while trying to get photos of the Gibbon we have Blue-throated and Moustached Barbet and a flyover Red-bearded Bee-eater alongside Mountain Bulbul, Ashy-headed Bulbul and Black-crested Bulbul.
We were pretty much stuck up here for a few hours due to the one way system so we tried a few times for the Sun Bear which frequents the area behind the kitchen but on a few attempts we only added Yellow-breasted Marten and better views of the Banded Langur. We did though get a Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Grey Chinned Minivet and Great Iora, while trying to get decent views of Ratchet-tailed Treepie the emblematic bird of the area but despite seeing it a few times we never did get great views or a photo. With the road back open we decided to head down to the open area and then to Mr Birds Hides, a pretty good call as although we still didn’t see Parrotfinch we did add Golden-crested Myna, Olive (Amur) Bulbul, Sultan Tit, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Large Hawk Cuckoo, Crested Tree Swift and Abbot’s Babbler as well as a huge Black and Tan Squirrel.

We arrived at the slightly higher hide around 2pm, unfortunately we had missed a Peacock Pheasant - 30 minutes before our arrival, seen by a couple we had bumped into a few times and who headed out to the lower hide to hope for a Pitta. It seemed that Mr Bird had not put our worms or new fruit today but we heard him doing so and calling the Pitta only a couple of minutes away.

In our hide things started promisingly with Ferruginous Partridge, Emerald Dove, Hainan Flycatcher, Puff-throated Babbler, Brown Cheeked Fulvetta and White-crested LaughingThrush all showing in the first 40 minutes, we also had Lesser Mouse Deer and Western-striped Squirrel put in an appearance.
There was then a relatively quiet spell before we had a flock of Red Junglefowl, a couple of Asian Fairy Bluebirds, an then the star birds 4 male and 6 female Kalij Pheasants putting on a show over for the next hour or so, after that things were pretty calm with just Pied Fantail, Black-naped Monarch, Siberian Blue Robin, Streak-eared Bulbul keeping the interest going; just as a Slaty-legged Crake appeared so did the guy from the other hide – “the Pitta is showing if you are interested” he whispered. “I’ve left my girlfriend photographing the bird.

Off we went down the track and into the other hide just in time to see the Blue Pitta in poor light for less than a minute and grab a quick photo. We had pointed out a couple of birds to the young couple over the previous week and we were very grateful they returned the favour with interest.

We then learned over drinks we were leaving Baan Maka tomorrow after our breakfast session, this was a bit of a disappointment as we thought we had a full day in the national park / time to revisit a hide but we would need to make do with just a morning .
 

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And some other wildlife and smaller photos that display
 

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Kaeng Krachan / Pak Thale

We decided to go up into the National Park, to try again for the Parrotfinches but also to look for a Silver Oriole (a huge rarity) which had been seen for the second time yesterday, rather than the alternative of sitting and waiting for the Peacock Pheasant in a hide – we were told it had been showing only intermittently in any case.

Long story short: we saw neither species; but I did upgrade my photos of Great Hornbill, and Great Slaty Woodpecker (unbelievably we saw 7 of this special birds which I know other birders we spoke to were struggling to get), only other notable birds were Ashy Drongo, Kalij Pheasants a group running across the road, Taiga Flycatcher, Junglefowl, Verditer Flycatcher, Pale Blue Flycatcher, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher and a nice Banded Broadbill.

Other wildlife included Blue Forest Crab, Dusky Langur, Stub-tailed Macaque and Cross-web Spider.
We stopped back at the Lodge to pick up our bags and head to the coast.

Over lunch we discussed whether to take a boat out to look for Malaysian and Long-billed Plovers, it was pretty rough at sea and Sarah isn’t a great sailor and as we have seen both birds before we decided not to. Games thought we might get one of the birds at the beach beyond the mud flats over the next couple of days anyway.

Pak Thale

Rather than a session by session report I’ll summarise the 4 sessions we had here over the 3 days, 2 early morning 2 in the afternoon.

Scan / scope the nearest ponds / salt pans, walk along ridge to next pans, scan again, work your way out to the beach scan beach and work back. Repeat the scans every time a raptor brings up all the birds. Find rarer birds amongst the 6,000-10,000 birds present. In one session we found a Spoonbill Sandpiper, in another a Nordman’s Redshank and we did get a Long-billed Plover but we didn’t get close enough for good photos of these. There were quite a few other birds including Pacific Golden Plover, Collared Kingfisher, Common Greenshank, Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, Asian Dowitcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Lesser Sand Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Long-toed Stint, Red-necked Stint, Great Knot, Grey Plover, Brown-headed Gull, White-winged Black Tern, Black-naped Tern, Caspian Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Little Ringed Plover, Pacific Reef Egret and Ruddy Turnstone.

After our first afternoons birding Games suggested we visit and have dinner at her new Bar “Petch” in Petchaburi – very nice food and excellent selection of beer and the only Pool table in the area plus live music. Much better than a soul-less hotel restaurant bar at the fairly new and plush Itara Hotel, albeit the hotel is very nice and the staff friendly, and the location pretty good, however at lunch there was no one else there and they didn’t start breakfast until after 7.00 so we got coffee and snacks on the go each day and used it simply to sleep


Petchaburi Rice Field and Temple pools and river area

This made a pleasant change from scanning waders, a variety of habitats and birds. On the pools Common Kingfisher, Black-headed Ibis, Painted Stork, Glossy Ibis, Grey Heron, Purple Heron and all three Egrets. On the mud, Citrine Wagtail, White Wagtail, Oriental Skylark, Paddyfield Pipit, Amur Stonechat, Zebra and Spotted Dove. While the scrubby vegetation held Baya Weaver, Black-capped Kingfisher, Oriental Reed Warbler, Scaly-breasted Munia, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Plaintive Cuckoo, House Swift and Barn Swallow.
Finally near the main road and just before the river we added Pheasant-tailed Jacana, White-breasted Waterhen, Cinnamon Bittern and a nice group of 21 Grey-headed Lapwings.

Khao Nang NP
On our last day with Games after a short visit at Pak Thale we went to Khao Nang NP for a few hours before she dropped at Hua Hin in the afternoon. The birding habitat looked very promising but we were too late in the day, I think, and all we added were Coppersmith Barbet, Brown Shrike, Siamese Pied Starling, Pacific Swallow, Green Bee-eater, Asian Brown Flycather, Black Drongo, Common Iora and Green-billed Malkoha plus Long-tailed Macaque and Dusky Langur.

Hua Hin

I’m sure we could have done a bit of birding in the a parks and along the beaches at Hua Hin but all we added was an Indian Nightjar that we saw fly into the trees right next to us on Cape Nidhri Rooftop Bar, we had heard this bird at Pak Thale too.

Instead al we did was relax and enjoy the lovely sunshine before we headed back to a cold and wintery UK.

In total we saw 325 birds including 112 lifers.

 

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