NORTHERN THAILAND 

23 February – 5 March 2003

Gruff Dodd, 2 Clos Tawe, Barri, Bro Morgannwg, Cymru/Wales

Gruff@doddg.freeserve.co.uk 

Introduction and strategy

Our first visit to Thailand was long overdue, and the biggest problem facing us on this trip, especially given the short amount of time available, was deciding which sites to visit.  We eventually decided to concentrate on just a handful of sites in the north of the country, centred in the historical city of Chiang Mai.  This allowed me to spend enough time on finding the key species in these areas, while avoiding moving around too often, which suited Sara just fine.

We also fitted in a day in the Bangkok area on our last day, which took away any worries about connection problems with our flights from Chiang Mai (a good decision in hindsight as this got cancelled and we got moved onto a later flight), as well as allowing me a chance for Spoon-billed Sandpiper, high on my “most-wanted” list.  If I had been able to extend the trip to a full two weeks, I would have spent the additional time at Khao Yai, but that will have to wait for a future trip.

I was delighted with how the trip worked out.  Thanks to my excellent local guides I managed to see a large number of my target birds, including such wonderful species as Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Green Cochoa, Purple Cochoa, Jerdon’s Bushchat and Giant Nuthatch, as well as a host of other species.  The pace of the trip was just right, with minimal time spent on travelling, and the standard of food and accommodation was excellent throughout.

The only thing I might change if I was visiting again was the timing of the trip.  Even though my trip was only some 10 days long, bird activity declined noticeably throughout this period, with Doi Inthanon being much harder work in the first week of March than at the end of February.  This was confirmed by the other birders we met – the Canadian group found the km 37.5 jeep track so productive on their first visit in mid-February that they spent the whole day covering just a few hundred metres, and amassed a big list of birds.  In contrast it was almost birdless on 5 March, although given that about the only birds we saw here in three hours were a pair of Purple Cochoas, we couldn’t complain too much!  If I was visiting again, however, I’d probably go perhaps a month earlier to be sure of seeing as many birds as possible.

Overall a highly enjoyable trip, and it’s now just a matter of when we’ll return to enjoy some more of the country’s birds and hospitality.  

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, huge thanks to my two guides, Rachen Charoennugul and Kamol Komolphalin, as well as Kamol’s wife Patcharee who organised the trip so well on our behalf.  Thanks also to John and Nollie van der Woude, Kingsley and Sharon, and the Canadian family (didn’t get their names) who we kept meeting at most sites we visited, and who were such good company throughout.

Finally thanks to those who provided advice and assistance before the trip –

Tony Ball, Andrew Merewether, Paul Bamford, Suppalak Klabdee, Malcolm Roxby, Chaiyan Kasorndorkbua and Andy Adcock,  

Getting there

We flew from London Heathrow (LHR) direct to Bangkok (BKK) with British Airways. The flights were booked on-line through E-bookers (http://www.ebookers.com  tel 0870 010 7000) and cost a rather hefty UKP 556 each including taxes, more expensive than I had expected, but the cheapest I could find despite a lot of searching.

The flight times were as follows:

Outwards: Depart LHR  21.02.03  21:20,  arrive BKK  22.02.03  15:40

Return: Depart BKK 05.03.03  23:45,  arrive LHR  06.03.03  05:40

We then took an internal flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (CNX) with Thai Airways, at a very reasonable rate of UKP 72 each for a return flight.  I originally booked the flights via Thai’s web site (http://www.thaiair.com/_), but then realised that tickets would only be sent to addresses within Thailand, or picked up at their booking office, neither of which was convenient.  I therefore phoned their UK office (tel 0870 6060 911), who picked up the reservation and issued the tickets from London.

Flights times were as follows:

Outwards: 22.02.03  Depart BKK  19:30,  arrive CNX  20:40 

Return: 04.03.03   Depart CNX  19:30,  arrive BKK  20:40

In the event, we arrived at Chiang Mai airport on 04.03 to find that our flight had been cancelled, however we were moved onto their 21:00 without any fuss.  

Travelling around

I had arranged local bird guides with 4WD transport for most of the trip, although 4WD only really seemed necessary for the trip up Doi Chiang Dao.  For the three days I was without a guide, I booked a hire car through a local Chiang Mai company called North Wheels (nwcarent@chmai.loxinfo.co.th, web site – http://www.northwheels.com/)

The car, a Toyota saloon, cost THB 1,170 (UKP 18) per day including unlimited mileage and all insurance, which was pretty good value.  A small 4WD Suzuki Caribian was even cheaper (THB 800 per day), but we opted for a little more comfort given that we didn’t need the 4WD for that part of the trip.  The only down side with the car was that it didn’t have air conditioning, but it wasn’t as much of a problem as we’d thought it would be.

Driving around was generally very easy – the roads were of very good quality, and signposting was in both English and Thai.  Traffic was also lighter than we’d expected, and even driving through Chiang Mai itself was pretty straightforward.  The one thing you have to look out for are the numerous motorbikes, scooters and tuk-tuks everywhere.  One of these ran into the back of us near Chiang Saen, damaging our bumper, although no-one got hurt.  Getting his name and address was, however, tricky given not only the language barrier but also the different alphabet! 

North Wheels got a bit upset with me when I returned the car, as apparently I should have immediately phoned them to report the accident before either I or the other driver left the scene – quite how I was supposed to do this in the middle of the countryside with the language barrier problems was a mystery, but I haven’t heard any more from them about this subsequently.

Another thing to look out for is the variation in the spelling of place names in English – Thai does not seem to be transliterated consistently into the Roman alphabet.  Thus, for example, you may also see Chiang Mai spelled as Chiengmai or Chiengmei, Tha Ton as Taton, Ta Don etc.

Finally, on a couple of occasions we took a tuk-tuk (three-wheeled motorbike taxi) around Chiang Mai – probably not the safest form of transport, but great fun!  

Bird Guides

Given the relatively little time we had for the trip, I decided to hire a local guide for part of my stay.  I organised this through a Thai-based company called Nature Trails (http://www.naturetrailsthailand.com ) - contact Patcharee Komolphalin on ntrails@ksc.th.com or ntrails@samart.co.th, tel +66 2735 0644, fax +66 2735 0638

My guide in the north was Rachen Charoennugul - Rachen guided me for the first five days, at Doi Inthanon and at Doi Chiang Dao, and again for two days at Doi Inthanon at the end.  In between, I did a three day trip to Chiang Saen, Tha Ton and Doi Ang Khang on my own.  Patcharee’s husband Kamol Komolphalin was my guide for one day, my last, in the Bangkok area. 

Both Rachen and Kamol were excellent guides, knowing the local sites very well, and being familiar with the birds, including the local specialities.  I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending either of them for future visiting birders, and will use Nature Trails again on any future trips I make to Thailand.

In addition to guiding, both Rachen and Kamol provided their own transport, and took care of all the administrative arrangements, permits etc.  Patcharee also booked our accommodation for us at Doi Chiang Dao.

I paid Nature Trails a total of THB 36,700 (UKP 565) – this covered 8 days guiding, vehicle hire, fuel, packed lunches and park entrance fees, as well as two nights accommodation at Doi Chiang Dao, which I felt was good value.  

Costs & Money

The local currency is the Thai Baht (THB), although some businesses quote in US Dollars (USD).  The approximate exchange rate against sterling (UKP) at the time of my visit (which I have used in translating costs throughout this report) was as follows:

UKP 1 = THB 65

UKP 1 = USD 1.50

Credit cards were accepted widely throughout, and I also made use of ATM machines which were easy to find, in Chiang Mai at least

Petrol was extremely cheap by UK standards, around THB 17 (UKP 0.26) per litre.  It cost THB 200 (UKP 3) per person to enter Doi Inthanon N.P. and to climb Doi Chiang Dao, plus another THB 50 (UKP 0.77) per vehicle.  Food was also cheap – a meal for the two of us, including drinks normally cost between THB 500 - 600 (UKP 8 - 9) per night, even in the Hotel Empress and the Angkhang Resort.  Lunch in restaurants was often buffet-style, and superb value – all you could eat for THB 100 (UKP 1.50) per head was normal.

The total cost of the trip is estimated at UKP 2,320 for 2 people (UKP 1,160 each), made up as follows:

International flights -                  UKP  1,112

Domestic flights -                        UKP    142

Car hire -                                    UKP      54

Hotels & meals -                           UKP    347

Guiding -                                     UKP    565

Fuel & incidentals (est.)                UKP    100  

Accommodation and food

We stayed at the following places (cost per couple includes the share of the guide’s cost where applicable), and breakfast was inclusive in all cases:  

22.02.03_Hotel Empress, 199 Chiang Klan Road, Chiang Mai.  Tel +66 (53) 270240, fax +66 (53) 272467, e-mail: empcnx@samart.co.th  Cost - USD 34 (UKP 23) per double room including breakfast.  Booked on the internet via a company called Asian Trails (e-mail "mailto:reservation@wired-destinations.com" , website http://www.wireddestinations.com  who were very helpful and efficient.

This was a total bargain for a superbly comfortable 4 star hotel, but far from unusual – the price of hotel accommodation seems to be extremely cheap generally compared with Europe.  There was also a very good restaurant, where two of us could eat well, with cocktails, for about THB 500 (UKP 8) per night.

If you are here purely on a birding trip, you might be better advised to stay nearer Doi Inthanon (e.g. the new Inthanon Resort) and save yourself the hour’s drive to the park each morning – the park opens at 06:00.  However if, like me, you are accompanied by a non-birding spouse, staying in Chiang Mai itself may be a better compromise. 

I have to admit that it was very pleasant returning to the Empress with its air-con rooms, swimming pool, leisure club etc after a hard day’s birding!

23.02.03_Hotel Empress, Chiang Mai.

24.02.03_Hotel Empress, Chiang Mai.

25.02.03_Malee’s Nature Lovers Bungalows, Chiang Dao.  Tel/fax +66 (53) 456426, e-mail maleenature@hotmail.com  Not sure of the cost – included in the fee we paid Nature Trails.

Everyone who birds Doi Chiang Dao stays here – very pleasant place with comfortable but not luxurious bungalows, great and cheap food and nice gardens.  It is also very near Chiang Dao monastery and the forestry department offices where you get your permits to visit the mountain.  The owner, Malee Keratitaweesuk is a real star and will look after you really well.__

26.02.03  Malee’s Nature Lovers Bungalows, Chiang Dao.

27.02.03  Hotel Empress, Chiang Mai.

28.02.03  Angkhang Nature Resort, Doi Ang Khang.  Tel +66 (53) 450110, fax +66 (53) 450120 e-mail angkhang@amari.com, website http://www.amari.com  Cost – THB 2,041 (UKP 31) per night for double room including breakfast.  Excellent restaurant, with dinner for two costing about THB 600 (UKP 9) per night.  A wonderful place to stay – lovely rooms and a great setting.

Highly recommended

01.03.03  Angkhang Nature Resort, Doi Ang Khang.

02.03.03  Hotel Empress, Chiang Mai.

03.03.03  Hotel Empress, Chiang Mai.

04.03.03  Comfort Suites Airport, 88/117 Viphavadee-Rangsit Road, Don Muang, Bangkok.  Tel +66 (2) 552 89219, fax +66 (2) 552 8920, e-mail pinap@loxinfo.co.th  Cost – THB 1,400 (UKP 22) per double room per night, breakfast extra.  Free airport shuttle included.

Booked on the internet through Hotel Thailand (e-mail sandee@hotelthailand.com, website http://www.hotelthailand.com).  Comfortable enough hotel, although not in the same league as the Empress, however very conveniently located near Bangkok International Airport and pretty good value.  

Red tape

Minimal.  Be careful with your speed while driving as traffic police are apparently widespread and keen.  We passed through a few roadblocks, but were just waved through.  Be aware that a departure tax of THB 500 per head is payable in cash on departure – check in first, then pay the tax at the booth near passport control before proceeding to the departure lounge.

One last warning – don’t even think about messing about with drugs of any kind in Thailand – there is a total zero-tolerance policy including use of the death penalty in effect.  To that end, be especially careful not to leave your bags unattended at the airport.

Weather

Very pleasant– this is the middle of the dry season in Thailand, and we enjoyed warm sunny days throughout.  Thanks to the altitude at the key sites it rarely got too hot to keep birding, although activity died off quite badly after perhaps 10:30, picking up again at around 16:00, and it was much hotter lower down.  It was very cold early morning at the summit of Doi Inthanon.  Dawn was at around 06:00 and dusk around 18:30.  

Health, safety & annoyances

Before visiting we made sure we were up to date with the usual jabs – tetanus, polio, typhoid, yellow fever, hepatitis, meningitis and diphtheria.  Malaria is present in some of the border areas with Laos and Myanmar, but given the low risk of infection, we decided to forego taking anti-malarials, basically because of the side-effects I usually suffer. 

In any case, Dengue Fever is a more likely health risk, against which there is no available vaccine, so we instead concentrated on avoiding getting bitten.  This is especially important as the latter disease is, apparently, transmitted by day-flying mozzies, whereas the Malaria-bearing mozzies are more of an evening / night-time problem.  In the event, we had very few problems with insects, although I did get bitten a few times by something at Doi Inthanon.

Otherwise, we had very few problems, and felt safe throughout.  Be aware, however, that there is a drug smuggling problem in the area, especially those sites that are near the Myanmar border such as Doi Angkhang, and an Australian  birder was tragically shot and killed in this area a few years ago.  There have also been instances of attacks on Western tourists in Chiang Mai, but given the size of the city and the sheer numbers of tourists visiting, this must be a very small risk, probably no more than in any other big city.  Just be sensible about where you go after dark.  

References 

Books

Thailand is fortunate in having 2 excellent field guides available, namely:

A Field Guide to the birds of Thailand – Craig Robson

A guide to the birds of Thailand - Boonsong Lekagul & Philip Round

I took both, and found them both useful, but you won’t go far wrong with either one on it’s own.  Other books taken along included:

A field guide to the birds of West Malaysia and Singapore – Allen Jeyarajasingam and Alan Pearson

Where to watch birds in Asia – Nigel Wheatley - good background info, which formed the basis of planning the trip

Thailand - Lonely Planet

A good site guide to Thailand would be very welcome – almost every birder I met and all the trip reports I read seemed to visit the same standard sites (as did we) – Doi Inthanon, Doi Chiang Dao, Doi Ang Khang, Tha Ton etc, whereas there must be a lot of other great sites which are worth visiting.  For example, the large Mae Ping N.P. is very good for birding, according to Rachen, but I could only find one report of anyone having visited there.  Similarly there are large protected areas such as Doi Luang and Doi Khun Tham N.P.’s about which I could find no information at all.  Given the sheer number of foreign birders visiting Thailand each year, not to mention the growing popularity of birding among Thai birders, such a guide is surely long overdue.  

Sound recordings

Birds of Tropical Asia 2 – Jelle Scharringa

The bird sounds of Sri Lanka part 2 – Deepal Warakagoda

Birdsongs of Nepal – Scott Connop

Birdsongs of the Himalayas – Scott Connop

There were other recordings, available, e.g. by Tony Ball, but I already had recordings for most of these species on the Scharringa CD-Rom. 

Trip reports

These were primarily obtained from the usual sources:

Urs Geiser - http://matrix.crosswinds.net/~birdtrips/TripReports.html

John Girdley’s Birdtours site – http://www.birdtours.co.uk

Surfbirds - http://www.surfbirds.com/Trip Reports/trindex.html

A few others were purchased from Steve Whitehouse’s FBRIS service.

Thailand – 26.11.02 – 17.12.02 – Christoph Moning.  This is especially worth obtaining as it has some very useful maps of the main sites

Thailand – 05.01.97 – 13.02.97 – Raf Drijvers – also has good maps (FBRIS)

Thailand – 18.07.97 – 21.08.97 – Thor Veen

Thailand – 05.02.01 – 22.02.01 – Barry Cooper & Gail Mackiernan

Thailand – May 2000 – Mike Hunter

Bangkok area – January 2001 – Martin Birch

Thailand – 19.03.92 – 04.04.92, 10.02.99 – 07.03.99 & 28.05.99 – 06.06.99 – David Cooper

Thailand – 15.01.00 – 04.02.00 – Roger Ahlman

Three seldom visited sites in Northern Thailand – David Kuehn

Mae Ping & Doi Inthanon – 19.01.01 – 24.01.01 – Peter Ericsson

Thailand – December 1998 – January 1999 – Mike Hunter

Doi Inthanon – 23.02.99 – 27.02.99 – Peter Ericsson

Doi Angkhang – 02.03.02 – Peter Ericsson

Doi Inthanon – 25.01.02 – 28.01.02 – Peter Ericsson

Central & Northern Thailand – 07.11.99 – 18.11.99 – Stephen Mawby

Northern & Peninsular Thailand – 16.04.00 – 30.04.00 - Stephen Mawby

Thailand – 28.10.00 – 14.01.01, 11.03.01 – 19.03.01 – Phil Benstead

Thailand – 02.07.98 – 26.07.98 – Susan Myers

Thailand – 15.12.96 – 04.01.97 – Aidan Kelly

Doi Inthanon – 01.01.98 – 03.01.98 – Shoko Tomikawa

Thailand – 11.03.95 – 31.03.95 – Mark Welfare  

Web sites

Map of Samut Sakhon for Spoon-billed Sandpiper, January 2003 – Nick Moran -  http://www.surfbirds.com/mb/trips/map.htm

The Birds of Doi Inthanon N. P. - http://welcome-to.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/int-birds.htm

Birds of Chiang Dao, Jurgen Beckers -  http://home.tiscali.be/fr018787/birding/chiangdao.htm

Worldtwitch Thailand - http://worldtwitch.virtualave.net/thailand_bird_reports.htm  

Maps

World Travel Map – Thailand - Bartholomew – 1:1,500,000

Chiang Mai & Northern Thailand – Globetrotters – 1:670,000  

Itinerary 

Sites visited were as follows

23.02.03 Doi Inthanon – km 14, km 21, km 38, km 37.5 jeep track, km 34.5 track, Ban Pha Mon (km 23.5)

24.02.03 Doi Inthanon – Hmong village (km 30), km 39, km 44, summit area including summit marsh, Mae Pan (Huai Sai Luang), km 35, km 34.5 track

25.02.03 a.m. - Mae Hia, drive to Chiang Dao via Chiang Mai sports complex, Huai Tung Tao and Mae Taeng irrigation project.  p.m. - Chiang Dao - temple area, checkpoint 1 (Pong creek)

26.02.03 Doi Chiang Dao – ascent, Den Ya Khat area, descent

27.02.03 a.m. - Chiang Dao – new road (past checkpoint 1)  p.m. - drive back to Chiang Mai via Mae Taeng, Huai Tung Tao

28.02.03 a.m. - Huai Hong Krai, drive to Chiang Saen, Chiang Saen Lake  p.m. – Mekong River (Rim Khong Restaurant), drive to Tha Ton, Tha Ton area, drive to Doi Ang Khang

01.03.03 Doi Ang Khang – orchard, exit to Trekkers Route, Ban Luang, orchard, exit to Trekkers Route

02.03.03 a.m. - Doi Ang Khang – exit to Trekkers Route  p.m. – drive to Chiang Mai, visit to Bo Sang craft village

03.03.03 Doi Inthanon – km 13 area, km 24.5, km 26, km 33, km 37.5 jeep track, km 34.5 track.  Drive back to Chiang Mai via Mae Hia

04.03.03 Doi Inthanon – summit marsh, km 37.5 jeep track, drive to Chiang Mai airport for flight to Bangkok

05.03.03 Samut Sakhon, Khok Kham saltpans, Wat near Don Muang, Bangkok, Kamphaeng Saen Kasetsart University Campus, return to Bangkok for flight home

Details of these sites are given in the Daily Account section.  Please note that in respect of references to sites at Doi Inthanon, unless otherwise stated, any reference to the left or right hand sides of the road assume that you are climbing the mountain rather than descending it.  

Daily account 

Sunday 23 February 2003

Having arrived safely at the hotel last night, my guide Rachen met me at my hotel at 06:00, and we headed off to the famous Doi Inthanon National Park for the day.  We arrived at the park at around 07:00, and a quick roadside stop at around km 14 produced my first lifer of the trip, a stunning White-crested Laughingthrush – strangely it was to be the only one I saw on the trip.  A Eurasian Jay was also seen here, the local white-faced form looking very different from those in the UK.

We made a further stop for some hirundines at km 21, near the turn off to Vachiratharan Waterfall, which produced a Crested Treeswift among the numerous Red-rumped Swallows and the only Purple Sunbird of the trip in the bare branches of a roadside tree.  Both Black-crested Bulbul and Common Iora were heard but not seen here.  About 1 km further along, Rachen heard a Velvet-breasted Nuthatch calling, and although it proved elusive at first, flying backwards and forwards across the road, we soon got good views of it feeding.  Ashy Drongo was also seen nearby.

Trying not to get too distracted, we made progress towards our first planned stop of the day, the area around km 38, just after the second checkpoint.  Park on the left here just after the junction with a tarred road to the left, which leads down towards Mae Pan and Mae Chaem.

The birding was good from the roadside here early in the morning – Flavescent Bulbuls were everywhere, and we had soon notched up some birds that proved to be common in this area – Dark-backed Sibia, Silver-eared Mesia and Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo. 

We came across some Phylloscopus warblers, and managed to get good enough views of one to confirm it as a White-tailed Leaf-Warbler.  Rachen showed me a good easy way to identify this from the very similar Blyth’s Leaf-Warbler – the White-tailed shows a clear thin black ‘W’ on the undertail, formed by a black line along the sides, tip and centre of the tail, contrasting with the otherwise clear white feathers – Blyth’s in contrast has a greyish undertail lacking the black ‘W’

Streaked Spiderhunter, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Black-throated Sunbird and a cracking Yellow-cheeked Tit were also seen here, before we found our hoped-for Spectacled Barwings, and then got down to some white-eye identification, eventually confirming both Oriental and Japanese White-eyes.

A new trail had been cut on the left hand side here to coincide with a recent visit by the Queen of Thailand, and a walk along here quickly produced one of the stars of the whole trip, a stunning Slaty-bellied Tesia, which responded brilliantly to tape, buzzing around us at a distance of down to a metre.  Nothing much else was seen along this trail, however, so we returned to the road, crossed over, and started walking along the famous km 37.5 jeep track.

This trail was surprisingly quiet compared with the roadside, and the tall trees made viewing difficult, but quiet progress soon produced new birds, starting with a Rufous-bellied Niltava.  Next up was a Grey-chinned Minivet, but in looking at the bird rather than the trail, I managed to jam my foot into a hole next to a rock, twisting it and gouging our a chunk from the inside of my ankle – very painful.  Still, I managed to get onto the minivet, as well as a Striated Bulbul found shortly afterwards!

Asian Brown Flycatcher and White-browed Shrike-Babbler were also seen along this walk, as well as more Yellow-cheeked Tits, and an Eyebrowed Thrush showed well on the walk back to the road.  The star bird, however, came just a few hundred metres before we got back to the road – a Green Cochoa which glided low across the road, alighted very briefly in a trackside tree, and then flew off down the hill and out of sight.  Just a briefest glimpse of this star bird, but sometimes that’s all you get, and I was delighted to see it at all.

Back at the main road, we enjoyed the picnic lunch that Rachen had brought with him, then wandered down the road towards the checkpoint.  A small fruiting tree right opposite the checkpoint on the left hand side (going downhill) was very productive giving great close up views of Golden-throated Barbet and Rufous-backed Sibia, as well as more Dark-backed Sibias and Japanese White-eyes.

Another co-operative phyllosc beyond the checkpoint was identified as a Two-barred Greenish Warbler, and a Yellow-browed Warbler was seen a little further along.  Mountain Bulbul and Large Niltava were seen in this area, while a repeat scan of the fruiting tree on the way back to the car produced good views of a female Slaty-backed Flycatcher.  Finally, a Short-billed Minivet was scoped well near the car, giving me time to get to grips with the wing pattern which is the easiest way to distinguish these similar species.

Having spent most of the day around the km 38 area, we dropped back down the mountain a few kilometres before checking out the track at km 34.5.  This is on the left as you ascend – look out for a wooden sign on the junction on the left, with half a dozen small Thai and blue flags on top – turn left here, and pull over after maybe 20 metres.

The star bird here is Black-throated Parrotbill, which according to Rachen is not found elsewhere in Doi Inthanon.  Walk along the first straight stretch of the track, then follow it as it turns right and twists it’s way uphill for maybe 100 metres.  After this time, there is a patch of bamboo on the right hand side, maybe 20 metres wide, with a dead tree in the background – a quick burst of the tape soon produced a large flock of these inquisitive birds, although it took a little longer to get good views, as they skulked around low in the bamboo.  Golden Babbler, Rufous-bellied Niltava and Rufous-winged Fulvetta were also seen here.

From here, the track levelled out and continued straight and flat for a few hundred meters.  A little way along here, a group of White-necked Laughingthrushes started calling noisily at the bottom of the slops on the left, but couldn’t be attracted into view, just giving brief glimpses between the vegetation.  Walking along the track produced Chestnut-crowned Warbler, a female Chestnut-fronted Shrike-Babbler and a couple of Olive-backed Pipits, as well as another White-tailed Leaf-Warbler.

It was now starting to get late, so we decided to finish off the day at a site for water redstarts, and headed back down the mountain, stopping briefly near the HQ (km 31) for a pair of “Japanese” Buzzards soaring overhead.  Near km 23, we crossed a small river, and immediately turned left, following a driveable track along the bank of the river for a few hundred metres – this area was referred to by Rachen as Ban Pha Mon.  We pulled over on the side of the road at a spot where the river became visible through the vegetation from the road, and where the water dropped down through some rapids.

Some locals were down by the river but we still managed a brief look at a male White-capped Water-Redstart before it disappeared off downstream.  We wandered down a short way hoping to relocate it, and instead came across a pair of Slaty-backed Forktails on rocks in the middle of the river.  An Ashy Drongo and a Blue-throated Barbet were seen in nearby trees, and a Large-billed Crow flew overhead.

Eventually, the locals moved on, and the White-capped Water-Redstart immediately reappeared, giving stunning views as it fed along the water’s edge, and a Blue Whistling Thrush was also seen nearby.  No sign, however, of Plumbeous Water-Redstart which are often here, so we’d have to leave that one for another day.

Back in the car, we stopped briefly at the Vachiratharan turnoff picking up Green-billed Malkoha and Asian Palm Swift, as well as a Spangled Drongo a few kilometres along, before returning to Chiang Mai very happy with my first experience of Thai birding.  

Birds recorded

Doi Inthanon (km 14) – Eurasian Jay, White-crested Laughingthrush

Doi Inthanon (km 21) – Green-billed Malkoha, Asian Palm-Swift, Crested Treeswift, Spangled Drongo, Common Iora (h), Red-rumped Swallow, Black-crested Bulbul (h), Purple Sunbird

Doi Inthanon (km 22) – Ashy Drongo, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Doi Inthanon (km 38) – Green-eared Barbet (h), Golden-throated Barbet, Short-billed Minivet, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Slaty-backed Flycatcher, Large Niltava, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Flavescent Bulbul, Mountain Bulbul, Oriental White-eye, Japanese White-eye, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Yellow-browed Warbler, Two-barred Greenish Warbler, White-tailed Leaf-Warbler, Silver-eared Mesia, Spectacled Barwing, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Rufous-backed Sibia, Dark-backed Sibia, Black-throated Sunbird, Streaked Spiderhunter

Doi Inthanon (km 37.5 jeep track) – Great Barbet (h), Collared Owlet (h), Grey-chinned Minivet, Eyebrowed Thrush, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Rufous-bellied Niltava, Green Cochoa, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Striated Bulbul, Golden Babbler (h), White-browed Shrike-Babbler

Doi Inthanon (km 34.5 track) – Rufous-bellied Niltava, White-tailed Leaf-Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Golden Babbler, Chestnut-fronted Shrike-Babbler, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Black-throated Parrotbill, Olive-backed Pipit

Doi Inthanon (Ban Pha Mon) – Blue-throated Barbet, Large-billed Crow, Ashy Drongo, Blue Whistling-Thrush, White-capped Water-Redstart, Slaty-backed Forktail, Grey Wagtail

Doi Inthanon (km 31) – Common Buzzard  

Monday 24 February 2003

Back to Doi Inthanon today, and another 06:00 start saw us at the park by 07:00.  A brief stop around km 14 added Greater Racket-tailed Drongo to my life list, and also produced White-throated Kingfisher, but we pressed on quickly.  Our aim was to reach the Hmong village (turn off near km 30) as early as possible to have a good chance of Black-tailed Crake.

To reach the site, turn right off the main road, then right again through a barrier into an area with chalets.  Pass a small pond on your right, and carry on until you see a second pond with a marshy area behind on your left.  The road turns sharply left here, and before the pond there is a large open area on both sides where you can park.  Rachen told me that you can see the crakes feeding along the roadside here early in the morning – a Blue Whistling Thrush doing just this when we arrived got the pulse going briefly - but the best strategy we found was to walk up the hill on the left (grassy with pine trees) before the pond, and then along the slope until we were looking down over the marshy, scrubby area to the left of the pond.

We soon had stunning views of Black-tailed Crake, which was seen twice.  The first time it was feeding along the footpath which crosses the scrub area from the chalet you can see on your left, and the second time it worked its way up the narrow drainage channel at the base of the hill (i.e. on the near edge of the marsh).  The second time it gave particularly great views, down to maybe 10 metres.

Several Olive-backed Pipits were feeding among the pine needles around the car, and a Green Magpie which flew across in front of us was the only one for the trip.  Also here were Yellow-browed Warbler and my first Grey Bushchat.

Having enjoyed watching the crake, we returned to the car, but on exiting the chalet area, rather than turning left to the main Doi Inthanon road, we turned right and carried on through the village.  The road climbed up past the village, until it reached a point where it turned left, with a drop on the left to an area of cultivation and cloches on your left, and a bank on your right.  Park before the bend, and look for a dead tree in the hedge on the bend directly in front of you – white in colour, and shaped rather like a candelabra.

This is apparently a favourite perch early morning for Fire-capped Tits, and in the twenty minutes or so that we spent here we had birds almost permanently in view, including a few nice males with the orange foreheads.  They fed in the field behind the hedge, but would fly up whenever they got spooked – we had anything between one and twenty birds in view at any time.  Also in this area were Common Rosefinches.

A little further along the road, the road levels out and there is a turn-off to your left into one of these cultivated area.  A quarter of an hour of scooping this area was quite productive for some of the commoner birds – we added more rosefinches here, as well as Red-whiskered Bulbul, Pied and Grey Bushchats, Stonechat, Oriental Magpie Robin and Long-tailed Shrike.

We didn’t want to spend too long, however, as we were keen to visit the summit marsh area before it became too busy, so we returned to the main road, and followed the road up the mountain.  Brief roadside stops were made when we saw something interesting – at km 39 for Verditer Flycatcher and Short-billed Minivet, and at km 44 for Brown Shrike.

On arriving at the summit, we firstly drove all the way to the car park area next to the radar tower, and at the far end of the car park, scanned the shrubby slope below us.  It didn’t take long to find both Gould’s Sunbird and the stunning endemic race of Green-tailed Sunbird, restricted to just the summit area of this one mountain.  Both species were active and tame and gave excellent views.

We then returned back down the hill for a few hundred metres, pulling over on the left (going down), in front of the park office, shops and toilets, where we got good looks at a Chestnut-tailed Minla.  We then took the trail opposite us (denoted the Aang Ka trail) into the famous summit marsh area.  This was one my favourite areas visited – good birding at a nice relaxed pace.  By the way, don’t expect this to be an open marsh – it’s more of a boggy forest, with very little open area.

We heard a Pygmy Wren-Babbler calling on the way down, but couldn’t find it, before coming across a stunning male Orange-flanked Bluetail perched on the rail at the start of the boardwalk.  A Snowy-browed Flycatcher was nearby, and a little further along (following the boardwalk anti-clockwise) we had good close-up views of a White-browed Shortwing.  A Dark-sided Thrush was around, but wasn’t being very co-operative, just flitting out of sight under the boardwalk – non-tickable views so far.

Many phylloscs were present along a more open section of the path, and we quickly identified the hoped-for Ashy-throated Warbler, which in Thailand is restricted to the summit of DI.  The boardwalk crossed a boggy area, then turned sharply left onto drier ground – just at this junction we finally managed to get good looks at a Dark-sided Thrush, and what good views they were, as the bird sat motionless at a range of just 3 or 4 metres, trusting its camouflage.  Ridiculous beak!

A Blue Whistling Thrush showed even closer, if that was possible, and a little further along we found a pair of feeding Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrushes – they looked very different from those I’d seen previously in Malaysia, being less reddish and more green in colour.  More Chestnut-tailed Minlas were also present here, but by this time it was late morning, and starting to get popular with tourists, so we decided to move on and return to this site later in the trip.  On the way out, however, we refound the Snowy-browed Flycatcher at the sign at the start of the boardwalk, and it proved wonderfully unafraid as it flycatched around us, landing as close as a meter away.

We drove down to a lower elevation, but it had now got quite hot, and birding around km 38 was very slow.  We therefore turned right here, on the road to Mae Chaem.  This is a good tarred road, but after a few kilometres we turned right again, on a rough red dirt track which went off downhill at a direction of maybe 2 o’clock off the main road.

This road dropped steadily downhill for a few kilometres, before arriving at the valley bottom at an area of chalets called Mae Pan (also referred to by Rachen as Huai Sai Luang).  We wandered off along the road in front of us, staying straight ahead at the junction to the right a little further along, and birded the roadside.  Even at midday it was surprisingly productive here, and we soon added a number of species not seen previously, despite only walking a total of perhaps 200 metres along this road.

My first lifer here was a Plain Flowerpecker, and these were seen several times at this site.  This was followed by Blue-winged Leafbird, Bronzed Drongo and Hill Blue Flycatcher, all of which I had seen in Malaysia, before the arrival of a Black-winged Cuckooshrike which showed well in the tall branches of a tree overhead.  This seemed a very good area for bulbuls, with the excellent Black Bulbul being the first species seen.

Oriental White-eye, Black-throated Sunbird and Orange-bellied Leafbird were seen, followed by a Common Iora and a Verditer Flycatcher.  Another flowerpecker was initially dismissed as a Plain, before a glimpse of red on the chest made us look a little more closely, and indeed it was a young Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, just starting to acquire its red breast.

At this point the bulbuls arrived in force, an Ashy Bulbul to start with, quickly followed by several Puff-throated Bulbuls and a pair of Grey-eyed Bulbuls, before a Black-crested Bulbul finished off the set.  Pacific Swifts were also feeding overhead here.

By now it was mid-afternoon, and we decided to make another attempt at the White-necked Laughingthrushes at km 34.5, although Rachen brought the car to a rapid halt just before there, at around km 35 when he spotted a Collared Falconet perched on the top of a dead tree on the right hand side of the road.  This species is usually found much lower down the mountain, normally around km 14, but Rachen had seen one in this km 35 area previously, so this may prove to be regular here.  In any case, it was a really stunning bird, and well worth spending half an hour watching it.

Arriving at the km 34.5 track, we saw a Grey-chinned Minivet and heard a Mountain Tailorbird calling, which we tried to tape into view.  It completely ignored us, but instead the tape attracted an inquisitive flock of Black-throated Parrotbills!  They were in the same general area as the birds seen yesterday, but lower down the trail – look for a spot with a bamboo clump on either side of the road, with that on the left being a little lower down the hill than that on the right.  The parrotbills were firstly found on the right, but then flew across the road into the left-hand clump, and so seem to range throughout this area.  We counted at least 15 birds in this flock.

No sight or sound of the laughingthrushes today, so it was back to the car, where we found a small group of Grey-throated Babblers.  They were calling and moving around in the dense vegetation in front of us, but getting a good look was another matter, and I eventually had to settle for numerous glimpses.  A Blyth’s Leaf-Warbler was more co-operative, wrapping up another excellent day’s birding on Doi Inthanon.  

Birds recorded

Doi Inthanon (km 14) - White-throated Kingfisher, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Doi Inthanon (Hmong village) – Black-tailed Crake, Long-tailed Shrike, Green Magpie, Blue Whistling-Thrush, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Common Stonechat, Pied Bushchat, Grey Bushchat, Fire-capped Tit, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Olive-backed Pipit, Common Rosefinch

Doi Inthanon (km 39) – Short-billed Minivet, Verditer Flycatcher, Flavescent Bulbul

Doi Inthanon (km 44) – Brown Shrike, Grey Bushchat

Doi Inthanon (summit) – Blue Whistling-Thrush, Dark-sided Thrush, White-browed Shortwing, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Orange-flanked Bluetail, Flavescent Bulbul, Ashy-throated Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Pygmy Wren-Babbler (h), Chestnut-tailed Minla, Gould's Sunbird, Green-tailed Sunbird

Doi Inthanon (Mae Pan) – Pacific Swift, Blue-winged Leafbird, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Scarlet Minivet, Bronzed Drongo, Common Iora, Verditer Flycatcher, Hill Blue-Flycatcher, Black-crested Bulbul, Puff-throated Bulbul, Grey-eyed Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul, Black Bulbul, Oriental White-eye, Plain Flowerpecker, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Black-throated Sunbird

Doi Inthanon (km 35) – Collared Falconet

Doi Inthanon (km 34.5) – Grey-chinned Minivet, Mountain Tailorbird (h), Blyth's Leaf-Warbler, Grey-throated Babbler, Black-throated Parrotbill  

Tuesday 25 February 2003

A change of scenery today, as we would spend the early part of the morning at the lowland site of Mae Hia – a dawn visit is essential here, as it gets very hot quite early, and stays hot all day.  We drove into the main entrance of this university campus, passing a lake on our left and buildings on our right.  Having passed another lake on our right, we reached a junction to the right, where we watched a Pied Bushchat and a White Wagtail of the distinctive race leucopsis.

We turned right here, passing a large grassy area on our left, and then turned left along a driveable track into the middle of this area, flushing a Black Drongo and a flock of Scaly-breasted Munias.  We drove along this track until it reached a cross roads, and parked up to scan the grasslands. 

The main point of interest was the large tree ahead and to the left of us, which seemed to attract a number of species while we were there.  A mixed flock of Black-collared Starlings and White-vented Mynas flew in to the top branches, where they were soon joined by a Streak-eared Bulbul.  Rachen found a Grey-breasted Prinia feeding in the long grass at the base of the tree, while other birds seen in this area included Spangled Drongo, Fan-tailed Warbler, Red-whiskered Bulbul and Brown Shrike.

Back in the car, we turned along the track to the right, and at the end of this track we came across what was for me one of the undoubted highlights of the whole trip – a stunning Siberian Rubythroat which didn’t skulk around in low vegetation, but instead perched up on a dead twig for about ten minutes enjoying the sun.  I don’t think Rachen really understood my excitement at what was, for him, probably a common winter bird, but any European birder growing up with a field guide with tantalising pictures of such rarities will fully understand my feelings of elation!

We turned right at the T-junction at the end of the rack, returning to the tarred road, where we turned left, stopping for a flock of Sooty-headed Bulbuls along the fence line, and a lone White-breasted Waterhen in a damp field on the right.  Another sudden halt as a flock of four Racket-tailed Treepies flew into a line of tall trees perpendicular to the road on our left and showed well.

A small pond on the left where the road curved right had good numbers of Chinese Pond-Herons roosting in the trees, and a paddock area on the left further along had a flock of Red-wattled Lapwings and several Paddyfield Pipits.  A Red-breasted Flycatcher was in the bushes in front of us, a Greater Coucal flushed and flew away, and a noisy Coppersmith Barbet flew into a tall dead tree behind us.

It was now starting to get hot, and we were supposed to get back to the hotel to collect Sara, so after watching some Asian House Martins hawking over the pond and a perched Little Green Bee-eater, we returned along the tarred road back to the entrance, making one last quick stop at the first big lake to look at the large flock of Lesser Whistling Ducks which we had somehow missed on the way in.  We duly arrived back at the hotel only half an hour late, pretty good for me!  Having collected Sara and checked out, we started on our way up to Chiang Dao, stopping several times en route.

We turned off the ring road onto Route 107 northwards, and then looked for a turn-off to the left for the Chiang Mai Sports Complex and the City Hall.  At the T-junction just after the City Hall, we firstly turned left for a few hundred metres to see a Crested Treeswift which was nesting on some wires along the roadside – stunning views – Rachen sees this bird each morning on the way to work!

Then a U-turn, and back northwards to Huai Tung Tao.  This area is gradually being ruined by the construction of a bypass, but may still be worth a visit, at least for the time being.  The road follows a canal on the left, with numerous bridges over it – follow this canal until it ends at the construction site, where two bridges close together cross the canal.  Take the second bridge, turn immediately right, and park here to walk along the canal, with fields on your left.

Only a brief visit here this morning, as it was already very hot indeed, and no new species added, with just Little Green Bee-eater, Long-tailed Shrike, Pied Bushchat and Chinese Pond Heron seen.

Back in the car we returned the way we had come, turning left at the City Hall, then left again onto Route 107 northwards.  After about 50 km we reached the town of Mae Taeng, where we looked for a sign and a turning on the left for the Mae Taeng (Me Tang) Irrigation Project.  This seemed like a nice area, but is probably best visited early in the morning.  The main reason for our visit was that a Rosy Starling had been seen here, which would be a lifer for Rachen.  We followed the main road into the project, along a canal on our left, until we reached a turn-off to the right. 

We parked here and walked down the side-road, with grassy area and large trees on our right – this was where the starling had been seen.  Another Thai birder was waiting at the site hoping to photograph the bird – it had apparently been seen early that morning but not since.  We waited for a while here, adding Chestnut-tailed Starling to the list, in the company of Black-collared Starlings and White-vented Myna but sadly for Rachen, no Rosy Starling.

Sooty-headed Bulbul and Streak-eared Bulbul were also here, as well as Black Drongo, and a Green-billed Malkoha flew by.  Eventually giving up we returned to the car and carried on into the complex, eventually arriving at the dam area, seeing Indian Roller and a possible Plain-backed Sparrow en route.

The dam area is often good for waders, but the water level was very low today, and all we found was a Common Sandpiper and a Little Ringed Plover.  However, walking back to the car produced a Wire-tailed Swallow over the canal before the dam.  Driving back out through the park we made one more stop for an Ashy Woodswallow on a roadside wire, before moving on to Chiang Dao.

We arrived here early afternoon (driving distance from Chiang Mai without stops is only c. 80 km, so maybe an hour’s drive), and booked into Malee’s Bungalows.  While we were unpacking a Dutch couple wandered up and introduced themselves as John and Nollie van der Woude – we’d been in e-mail correspondence for a while before the trip, and had swapped itineraries, so I’d hoped to bump into them somewhere along the way – nice to finally meet them after all this time!

We wandered down to the eating area and had a late lunch in the shade while we waited for the temperatures to drop somewhat.  Rachen and myself then walked down the road to the park HQ to organise our permits for the ascent of Doi Chiang Dao the next day.  Please note that these permits must be obtained at least the day before you go up the mountain (there are two checkpoints along the way, so you are unlikely to make it up without one).  The office closes at 16:00, so get to Chiang Dao in plenty of time.  Also, the office is closed on Sundays, so if you plan on making the trip on a Monday, you will need to get your permits on the Saturday.

There was some bird activity around the  HQ, but it was difficult to get good views of the birds.  We eventually identified Blue-winged Leafbird and Scarlet Minivet, before Rachen found a Rufous-fronted Babbler in some trees to the left of the office.  Could this have been a Deignan’s Babbler?!

From here we walked down the road to the temple, and slowly (very slowly, actually!) climbed the big set of steps up from the car park to the temple itself.  A couple of Black-headed Bulbuls at least gave me an excuse to stop on one occasion, but birding was generally quiet.  We added Puff-throated Bulbul and Dark-necked Tailorbird at the temple itself, but this was scant reward for all the effort we had made.  A stunning Black-naped Monarch on the way back down was much better, however.

We walked back to Malee’s, picked up the car, and drove around to the checkpoint 1 area, at the bottom of the new road, where it crosses the Pong creek.  It seems unclear whether or not you need a permit to go up this new road, but we weren’t asked for one, although as we had parked at the bottom and were just walking up, they may have concluded that we weren’t likely to go too far.

There were some nice birds in the trees around the checkpoint, including Thick-billed Flowerpecker and Asian Fairy Bluebird, and some Himalayan Swiftlets were feeding overhead .  Walking up the hill a little added Black-throated Sunbird and Grey Wagtail, but a flock of green pigeons flying overhead were frustratingly not seen well enough to positively identify, although we suspected they were Pin-tailed Green Pigeons.

Back to Malee’s for an excellent dinner which we shared with John and Nollie and a group of Canadian birders.  It transpired that John and Nollie didn't have a 4WD vehicle, and so were unable to make the climb up the mountain, although they had already obtained permits, so we arranged for them to come with us the next day.  

Birds recorded

Mae Hia – Lesser Whistling-Duck, Coppersmith Barbet, Little Green Bee-eater, Greater Coucal, Spotted Dove, White-breasted Waterhen, Red-wattled Lapwing, Common Kestrel, Chinese Pond-Heron, Brown Shrike, Racket-tailed Treepie, Black Drongo, Spangled Drongo, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Siberian Rubythroat, Common Stonechat, Pied Bushchat, Black-collared Starling, White-vented  Myna, Eurasian Swallow, Asian House-Martin, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Streak-eared Bulbul, Fan-tailed Warbler, Grey-breasted Prinia, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, White Wagtail, Paddyfield Pipit, Scaly-breasted Munia

Chiang Mai sports complex – Crested Treeswift

Huai Tung Tao – Little Green Bee-eater, Chinese Pond-Heron, Long-tailed Shrike, Pied Bushchat

Mae Taeng – Indian Roller, Green-billed Malkoha, Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Ashy Woodswallow, Black Drongo, Chestnut-tailed Starling, Black-collared Starling, White-vented  Myna, Wire-tailed Swallow, Black-crested Bulbul, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Streak-eared Bulbul

Chiang Dao (temple area) – Spotted Dove, Blue-winged Leafbird, Scarlet Minivet, Black-naped Monarch, Black-headed Bulbul, Puff-throated Bulbul, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Rufous-fronted Babbler

Chiang Dao (checkpoint 1 area) - Himalayan Swiftlet, Mountain Imperial-Pigeon (h), Asian Fairy-bluebird, Ashy Drongo, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Thick-billed Flowerpecker, Black-throated Sunbird, Grey Wagtail  

Wednesday 26 February 2003

A very early start this morning, as we wanted to be at the Den Ya Khat substation area as early as possible for our best chance of Giant Nuthatch.  So at 05:00 Rachen, John, Nollie and I started off up the mountain, Sara having elected to spend the day chilling out at Malee’s.  The first hour or so was in darkness, but we started seeing good birds as soon as it got light.  A couple of White-rumped Shamas flushed across the road, but I didn’t manage to get good views of either.

This was very quickly forgotten however when we realised that a bird waking up the track ahead of us as forktail.  Even better, it turned out to be Black-backed Forktail, soon joined by two others, apparently a male, female and immature bird.  We slowly followed them for a few hundred metres up the road as they gave fantastic views, eventually flushing and flying up a creek which crossed the road.

It is difficult to explain precisely where this site was, but it was perhaps an hour from the bottom of the hill, along a stretch of road which paralleled a stream on our left.  The road eventually crossed the stream at a hairpin bend, where the road doubled back sharply to the left, and climbed up the hillside.

To add to the experience, just after the forktails disappeared, a White-rumped Shama also landed on the road, and gave excellent views.  We pushed on, passing the second checkpoint at about 06:30, where we took the right hand fork up the hill.  As we drove around this road we entered an area of pines, and almost immediately heard a Giant Nuthatch calling.

We jumped out of the car and Rachen tried to tape in the bird.  It eventually flew in, landing almost directly in line with the sun (don’t they always!), gave the briefest of views, and disappeared – not very satisfying.  An Asian Barred Owlet flushed from very near to us, only Nollie managing to see it before it flew, and then started calling persistently from further down the hill.

We briefly contemplated chasing after the owl, but then decided to press on to look for better views of Giant Nuthatch, pausing briefly on arriving back at the car to watch a Slender-billed Oriole.  We arrived at Den Ya Khat, to be met by flocks of Pacific Swifts and Red-rumped Swallows overhead.  We parked the car by the building, and followed the trail that passed the toilets, to the left of the building, and directly back.

This track, which wound through scrubby deciduous forest was very productive, and we had soon found Black Bulbul, Crested Bunting, Sooty-capped Bulbul and Indochinese Cuckooshrike.  The first of several Chestnut Buntings was seen a little further along, as well as several Maroon Orioles. 

As the track climbed we started entering areas of pines (after maybe 0.75 km), and had our second Giant Nuthatch encounter, a bird calling high on the slope on our right.  It stayed quite distant, however, and didn’t show, so we pressed on, adding Little Pied Flycatcher to the trip list, and Eurasian Jay to the day list.

About 1 km from the Den Ya Khat office, the track took a sharp dogleg to the right, at an area where it widened out briefly, forming a small flat open clearing with scattered pine trees and pine needles on the floor.  Straight in front of us was a view over the valley to the peak of Doi Chiang Dao.  Not a big area, but quite distinctive after the very narrow trail with steep drops on our left that we had been following through the pines up to now.

Rachen announced that this was the best area for the nuthatch, hit the tape, and almost immediately a Giant Nuthatch flew in right above our heads.  It was soon joined by two others, and we enjoyed superb views of these birds directly overhead for about ten minutes before we eventually lost them from sight – one happy Welshman, two happy Dutch birders and one relieved Thai guide!

These birds are apparently best looked for in the morning, and according to Rachen get quite difficult after about 10:30, so we were glad to have connected so soon.  Incidentally, the elevation here according to John’s GPS device was a.470 metres.

Giant Nuthatch apart, these pines were very quiet – as the sun starts to warm up the slopes, most birds apparently move off down the ridge – so we turned around and made our way back to DYK.  Several Chestnut Buntings were seen on the way back, and a Grey Treepie gave brief but good views in a tree ahead of us.  Spangled Drongos and Maroon Orioles were seen periodically throughout the return walk, and variation was added by a pair of very co-operative White-browed Shrike-Babblers and a Hill Blue Flycatcher.

Arriving back at DYK, we enjoyed some lunch, accompanied by several phylloscs, mostly Yellow-browed Warblers, but with the usual high percentage of unidentified birds.  On finishing lunch we walked slowly down the entrance road in the hope of seeing woodpeckers.  On the way we noticed a small wet area on our right – a group of Canadian birders we met flushed a Hume’s Pheasant from the area behind here a few days later!

We encountered a large flock of mostly unidentified phylloscs at the start of the group of pines, at the end of the “gardens” where the track starts to climb uphill, and one was seen well enough for us to identify it as a Pale-legged Leaf-Warbler – one of the easiest to identify with it’s band of streaks across the chest.

Further along, a bird singing persistently from deep within some branches overhead was eventually tracked down and proved to be a lovely Pale Blue Flycatcher.  No sign of any woodpeckers, however, just more Black Bulbuls, so it was back to the car.  We refound the phyllosc flock on the way, one of which was singing, and was thus identified as a Hume’s Leaf-Warbler with the help of John’s minidisk recordings.

Back at the car we came across some minivets, and these were identified as a male Long-tailed Minivet and a female Grey-chinned Minivet.  The Grey-chinned was nesting in one of the trees near the building, something we only realised due to the agitation of the male Long-tailed – could they have been a mixed breeding pair?  Very curious.

Time to start the long drive back down the mountain.  On the way down, shortly after the second checkpoint, Rachen saw movement in a roadside tree, and we pulled over for a look.  The bird transpired to be an excellent Sapphire Flycatcher, an uncommon bird in this part of Thailand, and we also had great views of Puff-throated Babbler as a bonus bird.  There was no sign of the Black-backed Forktail at the place we saw them on the way up, but just a few hundred metres further along we found a pair of Slaty-backed Forktails – obviously a good creek, and maybe worth more exploration!  As we hit the lowlands around Chiang Dao village we added Brown Shrike and Greater Coucal to the day tally before crashing out back at Malee’s, tired but very happy.  

Birds recorded

Doi Chiang Dao (ascent) – White-rumped Shama, Black-backed Forktail, Great Tit, White Wagtail, Olive-backed Pipit

Doi Chiang Dao (Den Ya Khat) – Pacific Swift, Asian Barred Owlet, Eurasian Jay, Grey Treepie, Slender-billed Oriole, Maroon Oriole, Indochinese Cuckooshrike, Grey-chinned Minivet, Long-tailed Minivet, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Spangled Drongo, Little Pied Flycatcher, Pale Blue-Flycatcher, Hill Blue-Flycatcher, Giant Nuthatch, Red-rumped Swallow, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Flavescent Bulbul, Black Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Hume's Warbler, Pale-legged Leaf-Warbler, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler (h), White-browed Shrike-Babbler, Crested Bunting, Chestnut Bunting

Doi Chiang Dao (descent) – Greater Coucal, Brown Shrike, Bronzed Drongo, Sapphire Flycatcher, Slaty-backed Forktail, Puff-throated Babbler  

Thursday 27 February 2003

We decided to spend this morning exploring the new road past Pong Creek, as John and Nollie had found it very productive on the 25th.  Again, an early start saw us maybe 8 km up this road at dawn, but the birding proved quite slow this morning, as the sun had not yet hit these slopes.

A good trail led off to the left from an area where we could park the car, and we spent some time along here, with little success.  Several small birds were seen in the weedy margins of a field, but couldn’t be identified, until one was eventually confirmed as a Rufescent Prinia, although I think there were other species here too.  Several Common Rosefinches were in the area, and we also found one mixed flock which included Yellow-browed Warbler, Common Iora and Oriental White-eye, as well as Maroon Oriole and Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike.  Not much to show for a couple of hours birding, however.

Back at the car, a Grey-backed Shrike was a good find, and showed well while we ate some breakfast.  We drove back downhill a few kilometres, stopping when we saw signs of activity in a large flowering tree directly in front of us.  This provided much better birding, with Striated Yuhina being a lifer, stunning views of Chestnut Bunting, and many Red-whiskered and Sooty-headed Bulbuls.  A Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher was calling from low vegetation, eventually showing well, and while we were looking for it we added Striped Tit-Babbler to the list.

Black Bulbul and Orange-bellied Leafbird joined the birds in the flowering tree, and following the canary-flycatcher through the low scrub resulted in us finding Yellow-bellied Warbler, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta and Tickell’s Blue-Flycatcher, all lifers for me.  A Mountain Bulbul flew in overhead, but was quickly ignored when it was joined by a Velvet-fronted Nuthatch and a Thick-billed Flowerpecker.

At that point, the bird of the morning put in an appearance – a small flock of superb White-headed Bulbuls, which landed on some dead branches overhead, and were watched flying backwards and forwards for quite some time.  Great to get such good views of this rather difficult bird.  While we were enjoying them, Black-crested Bulbul and Ashy Drongo were also found.

From here we returned to the checkpoint area, where we found Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and Grey-eyed Bulbul.  We gave the forest trail here a go, but the birding was difficult and slow here – little activity, and very difficult to see the birds as they tended to stay high up in the trees.  A small flock was eventually found to contain a Little Spiderhunter and our second Striated Yuhina of the day, but we quickly gave up on this area and returned to the road.

With it being late morning, and consequently very hot, with bird activity being so low, and with tiredness starting to kick in after a succession of dawn starts, we drove back to Malee’s, stopping for a Shikra en route, collected Sara, checked out, and drove back to Chiang Mai.

A brief visit to Mae Taeng in the hope of the Rosy Starling produced White-throated Kingfisher, Black-collared Starling, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Black Drongo, Little Green Bee-eater and White-vented Myna, but nothing new, and certainly no Rosy Starling, so we pressed on.

A spell at Huai Tung Tao was more productive, however.  It started slowly with just Little Green Bee-eater, Black Drongo and Common Kestrel, before we found a group of Ashy Woodswallows and an Indian Roller.  Rachen found a small group of Plain-backed Sparrows in a dead tree, a bird I’d been very keen to see for some reason, and after a Pied Bushchat, we added two more lifers in the form of a Burmese Shrike and a pair of Scarlet-backed Flowerpeckers.

Red-throated Flycatchers, Streak-eared Bulbul and Red-wattled Lapwing were also seen before we arrived back at our hotel in mid-afternoon.  We would be on our own for the next few days so we bit a fond farewell to Rachen, before heading off for a cool shower and a couple of hours to relax around the pool.  North Wheels delivered our hire car at 18:30 (they will deliver to your hotel free of charge, but only between 08:00 and 19:00), so we were all set for our trip up north tomorrow.  

Birds recorded

Chiang Dao (new road past checkpoint 1) – Orange-bellied Leafbird, Grey-backed Shrike, Maroon Oriole, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Ashy Drongo, Spangled Drongo, Common Iora, Tickell's Blue-Flycatcher, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Black-crested Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Mountain Bulbul, Black Bulbul, White-headed Bulbul, Rufescent Prinia, Oriental White-eye, Yellow-browed Warbler, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Striped Tit-Babbler, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Striated Yuhina, Thick-billed Flowerpecker, Common Rosefinch, Chestnut Bunting

Chiang Dao (checkpoint 1) – Shikra, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Grey-eyed Bulbul, Striated Yuhina, Little Spiderhunter

Mae Taeng – White-throated Kingfisher, Little Green Bee-eater, Black Drongo, Black-collared Starling, White-vented  Myna, Sooty-headed Bulbul

Huai Tung Tao – Indian Roller, Little Green Bee-eater, Asian Koel, Red-wattled Lapwing, Common Kestrel, Burmese Shrike, Ashy Woodswallow, Black Drongo, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Pied Bushchat, Streak-eared Bulbul, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Plain-backed Sparrow  

Friday, 28 February 2003

Today’s ultimate destination was to be Doi Ang Khang, but we were going to take the long route, to check out some places along the way.  The first destination was the Huai Hong Krai Royal Project near the town of Doi Saket, east of Chiang Mai.  To get there, take Route 118 from the Chiang Mai ring road towards Chiang Rai, and continue past the right-hand turn into Doi Saket.  24 km from the ring road, look for a turn-off to the right into the project.  Continue along this road through a checkpoint (show your bins and ask if you may proceed), and follow the main road around past some offices and work buildings until you see a lake on your right.  The road continues along this lake, and then crosses over a causeway with water on both sides.  Park on the right after the causeway, or continue into a parking area.  The park entrance gates are just in front of you.

The only real reason to visit this area is for the wild Green Peafowl that roost in the area, usually on top of cages containing their captive brethren.  Dawn is a very good time to see these, but it is important to be the first people into the park, as they quickly move off once people start arriving.  Others have had success late in the afternoon as they return to roost.

I’m not sure when they open – it said 07:00 on the gate if I remember rightly, but I got there at 07:30 and it was still locked up.  Maybe I was lucky in that no-one else had come to visit, because after hanging around for maybe 15 minutes, someone came up, opened the gates for me, then wandered away again.  If you visit in the evening, make sure you  don’t get locked in, or you’ll have to climb over the high fence to get out!

Having got in, I made my way straight ahead, passing cages with captive pheasants on my left – I’m not sure what the royal project actually does, but I didn’t particularly enjoy seeing these lovely pheasants in their small cages.  The track continues along this row of cages until reaching a deer enclosure on my right – here I found a number of Green Peafowl around the adjacent peafowl cages, which slunk off through the trees, down a wooded slope and up the other side, at my approach.  I was able to get some excellent views of a total of eight of these great birds as they walked and flew off among the trees.

Having achieved my objective here, I returned to the car, seeing Red-breasted Flycatcher and Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker en route.  Back in the car, we left the project and continued on our way to Chiang Rai, an easy drive of 160 km (2.5 hours).  In Chiang Rai, we continued on Route 110 for 30 km to Mae Chan, where we turned right onto Route 1016 towards Chiang Saen.  This town is 42 km from Mae Chan, but after 28 km we turned left towards Chiang Saen Lake.

On arriving at the lake, we turned left, and followed the shoreline towards a marshy area at the far end, where Raf Drijvers had p