12th & 13th Jan
12th Jan
This was an interesting morning. Up very early for breakfast and we were then parked roadside at first light, about a km or two below the Doi Inthanon summit car park. It was surprising to see a large number of cars parked up by the roadside as we made our way to 'our' spot - local people coming up solely for the sunrise. It was pretty cold, and we were initially bemused by the sight of quite a few local people kneeling or squatting down by the road edges, until we realised there were patches of nicely crystalline frost which they were taking closeups of with their 'phones - obviously a bit of a novelty never encountered at sea level down below.
Anyway, back to the birding. We were here as it was a known location for Speckled Wood Pigeons coming out of roost and settling in a specific tree. We were gazing up for a fair while whilst trying to keep warm when suddenly two birds came in and settled in the tree in the rising sun [which wasn't reaching where we were down at road level!]. We watched these for a while and we just on the point of retreating to the warmth of the bus when 20 more birds suddenly appeared, followed by another group. The whole flock didn't stay long however and soon flew off over the forest. I hadn't taken my camera due to the height of the trees but did manage to get some record shots by 'phone-scoping'. We also saw Mountain Bulbul, Short-billed Minivet, and Davison's Leaf Warbler. Needless to say after the pigeons had left we legged it back to the bus to get warm.
Anyway, back to the birding. We were here as it was a known location for Speckled Wood Pigeons coming out of roost and settling in a specific tree. We were gazing up for a fair while whilst trying to keep warm when suddenly two birds came in and settled in the tree in the rising sun [which wasn't reaching where we were down at road level!]. We watched these for a while and we just on the point of retreating to the warmth of the bus when 20 more birds suddenly appeared, followed by another group. The whole flock didn't stay long however and soon flew off over the forest. I hadn't taken my camera due to the height of the trees but did manage to get some record shots by 'phone-scoping'. We also saw Mountain Bulbul, Short-billed Minivet, and Davison's Leaf Warbler. Needless to say after the pigeons had left we legged it back to the bus to get warm.
We then set off up to the summit and parked up and walked up towards the cafe. A few roadside birds were found, including Yellow-browed, Davison's Leaf, and Ashy-throated Warblers, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, and Bar-throated Minla. I didn't fall up the steps this time! We wandered around the grounds here and behind a building by the cafe we watched a Green-tailed Sunbird of the subspecies angkanensis {Doi Inthanon Sunbird} which is only found on this mountain, so pretty special. It was coming to drink at a dripping pipe. We walked around the boardwalk again and found Silver-eared Laughingthrush, Yellow-bellied Fantail, Blyth's Leaf Warbler, Blue Whistling Thrush again, and Mrs. Gould's Sunbird. This was also supposed to be a chance of seeing Dark-sided Thrush but it was very busy, being a sunday, so we dipped out.
To get away from the crowds we drove downhill to Checkpoint no.2 where we parked and then set off along a known trail, which turned into a bit of a jungle bash as the trail hadn't been maintained. A Common Green Magpie was seen but unfortunately I didn't get on to it, but Chestnut-crowned Warbler was a good one, as was Silver-eared Mesia, White-bellied Erpornis, and Mountain Bulbul. Eventually the way was blocked by a fallen tree so we retraced our steps back to the road and dropped down to Mr. Deang's for lunch again.
After that we headed off to visit Wachirathan Waterfall which was fairly impressive but undoubtedly is rather more so in the wet season. It was pretty obvious what we would be looking for here, and after some patient waiting we were soon rewarded with views of a handsome male White-capped Redstart, albeit quite a long way below us on a large slab of rock at the base of the waterfall. The same slab of rock was also favoured by a Plumbeous Water Redstart, characterised by the white flashes at the base of its tail.
To get away from the crowds we drove downhill to Checkpoint no.2 where we parked and then set off along a known trail, which turned into a bit of a jungle bash as the trail hadn't been maintained. A Common Green Magpie was seen but unfortunately I didn't get on to it, but Chestnut-crowned Warbler was a good one, as was Silver-eared Mesia, White-bellied Erpornis, and Mountain Bulbul. Eventually the way was blocked by a fallen tree so we retraced our steps back to the road and dropped down to Mr. Deang's for lunch again.
After that we headed off to visit Wachirathan Waterfall which was fairly impressive but undoubtedly is rather more so in the wet season. It was pretty obvious what we would be looking for here, and after some patient waiting we were soon rewarded with views of a handsome male White-capped Redstart, albeit quite a long way below us on a large slab of rock at the base of the waterfall. The same slab of rock was also favoured by a Plumbeous Water Redstart, characterised by the white flashes at the base of its tail.
At this point we headed back to Inthanon resort to relax for a while. Having a look around the extensive grounds gave us Purple Sunbird, Common Iora, Ashy Woodswallow, Zebra Dove and Striated Swallow. After some downtime we headed off later in the afternoon going back into the park and heading along a new mountain road in more open country. This started at a turn off at km13 on the main access road to the summnit. Given the time of day there weren't large numbers of birds to see, but we did tick off a few quality species, including three woodpeckers - Common Flameback briefly, then three very smart Black-headed Woodpeckers settled in a dead tree giving good 'scope views [and a chance to phone-scope a photo]. There was also a White-bellied Woodpecker seen but I failed to get on that one. A tiny Collared Falconet was a good one to get although it didn't hang around too long. Finally a Hair-crested Drongo was logged and some Radde's Warblers although I didn't record seeing any myself. Dusk was approaching so we headed back down to the resort.
13th Jan
Last night was our last at Inthanon Highland Resort so we checked out after the usual early breakfast and headed back once more into the park, and turned off at a location called Ban Khun Klang. We were headed for a site where there was a stream-side hide. On arrival we appeared to be in amongst some private dwellings. It was 7 a.m. We were led for a short walk past one of the dwellings and ended up in a long thin makeshift hide with plastic chairs to sit on, the hide itself comprising a fairly crude framework by some trees by the stream, covered by coarse black netting [this became a feature of hides we visited later in the trip]. Anyway, the netting at the front had slits to look through, which overlooked the narrow stream. So we settled down and waited for the action to start. The first showing was by two very smart White-crowned Forktails, looking like giant pied wagtails. They were incredibly close and it was a privilege to see what is a very shy species so easily. It was interesting to see the white crown feathers being raised and lowered as the birds fed. We then had two females - Hill Blue Flycatcher and Rufous-bellied Niltava. Again these were very close and it was possible with the rather drab Niltava, to see the characteristic little blue mark on the side of its neck - see image below. Then a similar shaped bird appeared, bobbing up and down a bit like a Dipper - an immature Plumbeous Water Redstart. A yellow-billed race of Blue Whistling Thrush called in, looking splendid at such close range, and then we lucked out when a Dark-sided Thrush appeared [the one that we failed to find during the summit boardwalk excursions]. A strange looking bird with a shortish tail and long slightly drooping bill. Finally a tiny Pygmy Cupwing, appeared, which is a tiny babbler species with little or no tail, looking like a minute south american antpitta. Nearly forgot - on the non-avian front we had lovely views of a Northern Tree Shrew.
We left the hide and stretched our legs after the rather cramped conditions, and more or less straight away got on to a Pied Bushchat. It was then time to head off for Chaing Mai airport as we were due to catch and early afternoon flight south to Bangkok. Nick wasn't coming with us as he was driving the bus all the way south and would meet us again in Bangkok - what a star! All went to plan and after landing at Bangkok we were transferred to the comfortable Amari Don Muang Airport Hotel for the night. We had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant, whilst being serenaded by a male & female duo, who sang some popular songs which some of us joined in with.
For the days in the south go back up to the main menu.