10th & 11th Jan
10th Jan
Today was basically a transfer day, so we checked out of Tangerine Ville at 6 a.m. and drove up to Doi Lang West to have a final go along the ridge to see if we could pick up any more species. At the now familiar pine ridge we found a couple of raptors still at roost - a Black Eagle and an Oriental Hobby. To our delight we also came upon a cock and two hen Mrs. Hume's Pheasants feeding by the side of the road. They're pretty skittish birds so we couldn't get too close, hence the rather poor cropped image in the header above, taken whilst leaning out of the bus. Much further on towards the army check point we found an active flock of Crested Buntings which didn't hang around [no chance of getting a photo of these sadly]. We continued as far as the checkpoint and then got out and walked, heading towards the actual border post. A trio of woodpeckers was soon logged, comprising Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Streak-breasted Woodpecker, Crimson-breasted Woodpecker and Rufous-throated Partridge. Chestnut-vented Nuthatch showed again, plus Grey-headed Parrotbills, the impressive Mountain Imperial Pigeon, and Blyth's Shrike-babbler. We carried on walking and birding on the move, and added some more species in the form of yet another Giant Nuthatch, White-browed Scimitar Babbler, Flavescent Bulbul, White-browed Laughingthrush, Ultramarine and Slaty-blue Flycatchers, Golden-throated Barbet, Siberian Stonechat [of the prezwalski subspecies], and Great Mynah. Whilst wandering back the way we had come, we were then politely 'moved on' by the border military so scuttled [slowly] back to the bus and settled in for a lengthy drive to our next destination. This had been a good morning but the photo opportunities had been rather limited mainly due to distance from the birds.
Once back down the mountain and on the main road we headed roughly south-east and at about the halfway distance from Chiang Mai to where we were headed we stopped for lunch, and then visited some rice fields near Chiang Dao. Nick wanted to check out this location as a couple of [Northern] Lapwings had been reported the previous day, and they are rare in Thailand. Sadly despite checking every nook and cranny of the rice paddies we couldn't find them. All was not lost however, and we ticked off White-breasted Waterhen, Black-winged Stilt, Grey-headed Lapwing, Asian Openbill and the four 'standard' herons/egrets. Three Teal [Eurasian] were good to find as they are pretty uncommon in Thailand, and Green Bee-eater and Barn Swallows were seen.
We pressed on and eventually arrived at the delightful Doi Inthanon Highland Resort, which comprises comfortable wooden bungalows in extensive grounds with a central restaurant and open terrace with an adjacent lake. We arrived at about 4 in the afternoon and had an hour to settle in. We then headed out to a nearby location which was a known site for Blossom-headed Parakeets coming in prior to going to roost. We wandered around scanning the tree tops and were eventually rewarded with a few birds landing in the top of a tree. Whilst here we also got our first Plain-backed Sparrows, a couple of Zebra Doves, Scaly-breasted Munias, Hoopoe, Green Bee-eaters, Rufous Treepie, Chestnut-tailed Starling and Ashy Woodswallows. Back at the resort we were lucky to get on to a Spotted Owlet. A quick freshen up and we met up at the restaurant by the lake, for our evening meal and a couple of Chang beers.
We pressed on and eventually arrived at the delightful Doi Inthanon Highland Resort, which comprises comfortable wooden bungalows in extensive grounds with a central restaurant and open terrace with an adjacent lake. We arrived at about 4 in the afternoon and had an hour to settle in. We then headed out to a nearby location which was a known site for Blossom-headed Parakeets coming in prior to going to roost. We wandered around scanning the tree tops and were eventually rewarded with a few birds landing in the top of a tree. Whilst here we also got our first Plain-backed Sparrows, a couple of Zebra Doves, Scaly-breasted Munias, Hoopoe, Green Bee-eaters, Rufous Treepie, Chestnut-tailed Starling and Ashy Woodswallows. Back at the resort we were lucky to get on to a Spotted Owlet. A quick freshen up and we met up at the restaurant by the lake, for our evening meal and a couple of Chang beers.
Below, some images of Doi Inthanon Highland Resort
11th Jan
The plan today was to spend the whole day around Doi Inthanon National Park, which has within its bounds Doi Inthanon, the highest peak in Thailand at 2562m. There is an area of cloud forest and also a boardwalk trail through a very small sphagnum bog. This was a pretty busy day bird-wise but I didn't take many photos as the conditions didn't really lend themselves to grabbing good shots - high trees, dark shady forest, very active small birds in the main.
Anyway we left the resort at 06:45 after breakfast and entered the park proper by the first checkpoint, where Nick paid the entrance fee. By 07:20 we were parked by a track known as the 34.5km trail and here the birding started in earnest. First off we were bombarded with a host of small active birds - Grey-chinned Minivets and Short-billed Minivets, a Banded Bay Cuckoo sitting at the top of a tree, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, Claudia's Leaf Warbler, Blyth's Shrike-babbler, the delightful White-bellied Erpornis with its subtle crest, Yellow-cheeked Tit, and Bronzed Drongos.
We moved along the road a bit and started picking up some more species, not all new, but good to see nonetheless. Clicking Shrike-babbler was new tho', followed by Blue-throated and Golden-throated Barbets, Large Niltava, more Yellow-cheeked Tits, Yunnan Fulvetta, Slaty-bellied Tesia, an elusive Maroon Oriole, and Blue Whistling Thrush. We then walked back to the bus picking up another new species on the way, Little Pied Flycatcher, plus a flock of Spectacled Barwings, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Rufous-backed Sibias, and Davison's Leaf Warbler.
We drove on a short distance to the east to walk along another track which turned out to be not quite so birdy, but we did see another Davison's Leaf Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, Black-throated Sunbird and Indian White-eye. We also called briefly into a park which is the location of the Doi Pha Tang Forest Protection Unit. There were attractive flowering cherry trees which were popular with Mrs. Gould's Sunbirds and a number of Indian White-eyes. The adjacent street was busy with children & teenagers of the local hill tribe who were dressed in traditional colourful costumes, celebrating their new year.
Not a bad morning's birding! Happy, we dropped in at Mr. Deang's cafe and 'birding centre', a cosy ramshackle affair in amongst some trees and garden
Anyway we left the resort at 06:45 after breakfast and entered the park proper by the first checkpoint, where Nick paid the entrance fee. By 07:20 we were parked by a track known as the 34.5km trail and here the birding started in earnest. First off we were bombarded with a host of small active birds - Grey-chinned Minivets and Short-billed Minivets, a Banded Bay Cuckoo sitting at the top of a tree, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, Claudia's Leaf Warbler, Blyth's Shrike-babbler, the delightful White-bellied Erpornis with its subtle crest, Yellow-cheeked Tit, and Bronzed Drongos.
We moved along the road a bit and started picking up some more species, not all new, but good to see nonetheless. Clicking Shrike-babbler was new tho', followed by Blue-throated and Golden-throated Barbets, Large Niltava, more Yellow-cheeked Tits, Yunnan Fulvetta, Slaty-bellied Tesia, an elusive Maroon Oriole, and Blue Whistling Thrush. We then walked back to the bus picking up another new species on the way, Little Pied Flycatcher, plus a flock of Spectacled Barwings, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Rufous-backed Sibias, and Davison's Leaf Warbler.
We drove on a short distance to the east to walk along another track which turned out to be not quite so birdy, but we did see another Davison's Leaf Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, Black-throated Sunbird and Indian White-eye. We also called briefly into a park which is the location of the Doi Pha Tang Forest Protection Unit. There were attractive flowering cherry trees which were popular with Mrs. Gould's Sunbirds and a number of Indian White-eyes. The adjacent street was busy with children & teenagers of the local hill tribe who were dressed in traditional colourful costumes, celebrating their new year.
Not a bad morning's birding! Happy, we dropped in at Mr. Deang's cafe and 'birding centre', a cosy ramshackle affair in amongst some trees and garden
After lunch we made a quick stop at a camp site where we had Black-naped Monarch [we had superb photo opportunities for this later on in the trip], Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo and Ashy Drongo. We then continued on to the summit of Doi Inthanon where there is a sizeable car park which was more or less full - it's a very popular spot, and of course it was a weekend. There was a cafe by the car park with a flowering tree outside which housed a confiding flock of Bar-throated Minlas, plus the by now very familiar Mrs. Gould's Sunbirds. The summit also houses a radar station and by the path nearby overlooking some bushes and trees we found an Ashy-throated Warbler, a speciality of this area. We then walked the Ang Ka Nature Trail, which comprises a boardwalk wending a circular route through the area of cloud forest and sphagnum bog that I mentioned at the start of today's account. The best bird here was a White-crowned Forktail although the views weren't particularly good as it was below us by a small stream, seen through the fairly dense foliage. Also seen on this short amble were Rufous-winged Fulvettas, the yellow billed race of Blue Whistling Thrush and Yellow-bellied Fantail. I think it was after we had emerged from this walk and were walking up steps to the cafe area that yours truly managed to miss his footing somehow and fall forwards, and in a desperate attempt to protect my heavy Canon camera which was over my right shoulder, I put my right hand out and on contact wth the ground I managed to partially detach the fingertip of the third finger, which then started to bleed pretty profusely. OMG what on earth do we do now - top of the mountain, long way from any form of hospital, and it bloody hurt! To cut a long story short, there were military personnel at the radar station so Nick took me over to the gate and thanks to his good Thai, ascertained that there was a military doc on site, who was duly summoned. He eventually turned up on a moped with his bag of tricks and set about cleaning and dressing my finger, which he made a pretty good job of. With a couple of pain killers I regained some comfort but it still throbbed and made holding the binoculars a delicate operation! To say I was grateful to Nick and his knowledge of the place and his language skills, and to the doctor who was very thorough and helpful, would be a gross understatement. My recollection immediately after this was treating myself to an ice cream from the cafe! Round the back of the buildings we found four smart Rufous-throated Partridges and a very confiding immature Himalayan Shortwing - sounds exotic but it's just a dumpy brown job! Well birded out we drove back to the resort for a well-earned rest and dinner.