HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT TRIPS
AND
THE TOP 10 SPECIES SEEN
Top 10 lists are voted upon by the participants at the completion of
each tour.
THAILAND
30 January to 17 February 2006
Trip Report by Mike Haldeman, Tour Leader
After leaving Bangkok we stopped at a local wetland for a lesson in telling Chinese from Javan Pond-Herons and picking up Asian Openbills and a couple of prinias, then we were on our way to Khao Yai National Park. By noon we were already on a quiet forest trail where we found Large Scimitar-Babbler and a pair of Purple-throated Sunbirds and had our first good looks at beautiful birds like Green-billed Malkoha and Chestnut-headed Bee-eater.
Just two hours north of Bangkok, Khao Yai's large expanses of wilderness are home to all of southeast Asia's large mammals and some incredible birds. In all of this beautiful wilderness we made the obvious choice and headed for a small dump in the park behind one of the small park restaurants. As soon as we arrived behind the kitchen we found our target -- the ordinarily skulking Coral-billed Ground-Cuckoo was easily visible in an open patch beneath the brush with a wild Red Junglefowl and a Blue Whistling-Thrush. During our two full days at the park we had incredible views of Blue-bearded Bee-eater, the spectacular Long-tailed Broadbill, three species of hornbill and four barbets, Green Magpie, Slaty-backed Forktail, and Crimson Sunbird. At one point we were standing patiently on a quiet side road intent on catching a glimpse of a singing Red-headed Trogon. We heard some crashing in the brush just down the road but nothing could break our concentration -- until someone yelled, "ELEPHANT." The source of the crashing noises emerged from the brush as if in slow motion -- a huge male Asian Elephant. When it was out on the road surface it stopped and faced us for one thrilling second before furtively melting into the brush on the other side of the road. Other outstanding mammals encountered in the park were Binturong and White-handed Gibbons, whose comical whoops are a constant background noise in Thailand's big parks. Our night ride gave us looks at Large-tailed and Great Eared-Nightjars, three species of civets, a Slow Loris, and another male elephant.
Leaving Khao Yai we flew north to Chiang Mai to explore a few of Thailand's highest mountains. After quick stops in the lowlands for Wire-tailed Swallow, Burmese Shrike, and Siberian Rubythroat, we made our way to Doi Chiang Dao and spent the rest of the day birding the grounds of Wat Thom Paplong, a picturesque Buddhist monastery surrounded by densely forested, near-vertical slopes. The next day with four-wheel drive trucks we made our way on the bumpy dirt road to the summit area of Doi Chiang Dao. On our way up we had incredible views of a pair of Maroon Orioles and watched Crested Treeswifts sallying from dead snags. And before making it to the top we had already located our main target, the incredible Giant Nuthatch. We also saw our first Velvet- fronted Nuthatches and four species of minivets, and on a trail from the top saw Banded Bay Cuckoo, and Slaty-backed and Rufous-gorgetted Flycatchers.
At our next doi, Doi Ang Khang, we stayed at the Angkhang Nature Resort at the Royal Gardens. On the extensive trail system we had great views of several groups of the striking Silver-eared Mesia and close-up extended scope views of a scolding Red-faced Liocichla. Other area specialties that we saw well included Gray-headed Parrotbill, White-browed Laughingthrush, and Brown-breasted Bulbul. And a few patient birders who waited perfectly still and silent on the trail until near dark one evening were finally rewarded with a great look at the diminutive, mouse-like Pygmy Wren-Babbler. One final treat just before leaving Doi Ang Khang was a large flock of migrant Black-headed Greenfinches.
Our third and final mountain, Doi Inthanon, is Thailand's highest. This national park has a paved road all the way to the summit where there is a boardwalk through the damp moss-covered forest. There are many species common up here that we see no where else on the tour, such as Dark-sided Thrush, White-browed Shortwing, Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Chestnut-tailed Minla, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, and Yellow-bellied Fantail. We also picked up some nice migrants since Chestnut and Gray-sided Thrushes were common on the summit this year and we had great looks at a Daurian Redstart at a local orchard. Farther down the mountain a Slaty-bellied Tesia came in and we were able to watch this skulking bird as it sang, opening it bill wide to expose the bright orange gape in the low-light levels of the forest understory. A Mountain Tailorbird came right out to the road edge and sang within three feet of us, and some nice bird waves along the main road gave us great looks at Yellow-cheeked Tit, White-browed Scimitar-Babbler, Spectacled Barwing, a Chestnut-crowned Warbler, and Gould's and Green-tailed Sunbirds. At a couple of the park's beautiful waterfalls we picked up both Plumbeous and White-capped Redstarts, the latter foraging by clinging to the cliff face right next to the waterfall. And at the bottom of the mountain in the dry dipterocarp forest we were able to add one new bird, a Collared Falconet, one of the smallest diurnal raptors in the world.
After flying back to Bangkok we left the enormous city behind us and headed south. On our way to Kaeng Krachan National Park, we birded the coast and added many new birds including Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed Jacanas and several kingfishers. Inside a local temple we saw hundreds of Edible-nest Swiftlets on their nests, and in the marshes we were able to compare Chinese and Javan Pond-Herons molting into breeding plumage. While scanning the huge flocks of shorebirds we found a single Asian Dowitcher but could not locate the incredibly rare Spoonbill Sandpiper.
Kaeng Krachan is the largest national park in Thailand and it is much less developed than Khao Yai, with only one dirt road going into the park. The thirty-kilometer drive to the top offers different habitats and many scenic vistas. From one of these vistas we spent the first hour of light one morning watching Banded Languars, the rarer leaf-monkey that inhabits mid-elevations of the park, Thick-billed Pigeons, a Wreathed Hornbill, many Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, and a Spectacled Spiderhunter before a Crested Serpent- Eagle flew in and perched for us. At the campground at the top of the park Pin-tailed Parrotfinches were feeding in the bamboo and in a small fruiting tree right above us we watched several Great Barbets and a large Mountain Imperial-Pigeon picking off fruit. Also in the bamboo at the top was a group of Vernal Hanging-Parrots, one of which landed on a stalk at eye-level and, with the sun at our backs, this bird seemed to be glowing fluorescent green. It stayed there and dazzled us for several minutes earning it the distinction of number 1 bird of the tour. By walking down the empty dirt road from the campground we soon found one of the park's great specialties, a Ratchet-tailed Treepie. This isolated population was first found in Thailand in the early 1990s. And it was here in Kaeng Krachan that we finally started seeing woodpeckers -- White-browed Piculet, Greater Flameback, Heart-spotted and Great Slaty Woodpeckers, and the rare chance to watch a Black-and-buff Woodpecker taking a bath in the fork of a tree. Other highlights of our time at Kaeng Krachan included excellent views of groups of both Dusky and Silver-breasted Broadbills, White-hooded Babblers, a Rufous-browed Flycatcher, an East Asian Porcupine on the road, and on our way out of the park one evening, a Black-thighed Falconet, the other of the world's smallest diurnal raptors.
Upon leaving Kaeng Krachan we made a brief stop for Vinous-breasted Starling and then headed back to Phetchburi for another shot at some shorebirds. By walking the dikes at the salt "farms" we finally found a single Spoonbill Sandpiper and we were all able to study this unique shorebird at length. We still had enough time for a short boat ride to a sandspit for Malaysian Plover, which we found easily along with Great Crested Tern and Pacific Reef-Heron. Then it was off to another excellent seafood lunch and a relaxing drive on the elevated expressway back through Bangkok to the Rama Gardens Hotel where the tour ended.