THREE WEEKS
IN THAILAND. 2. THE NORTH
. In my first piece I forgot to mention our first experience with mealworms,
'behind the men's room' at one of the campings we found shamas, a Chinese Blue
Flycatcher, and the rare Rufous-tailed Robin , and at another stake-out the
colourful Mugimaki Flycatcher. And how could I forget our greatest sucess of
all in Khao Yai, point blank views of the rare and seldom seen Eared Pitta, new
even for our leader! Where? Oh, close to where the two Smooth-coated Otters
were sunning.
After Khao Yai we returned to Bangkok for the domestic flight to Chi an g Mai;
even though I stupidly had left my passport in my suitcase, which the vans
had taken directly to Chiang Mai, I still was allowed to come on the
plane---the first time the copy of the relevant passport pages turned out to
be useful. Next mornng the first order of the day was a visit to one of the
many 'King's projects', this one an area of dry forest where the spectacular
and by now quite rare Green Peafowl still can be found. in the afternoon we
samples the dry fields around our hotel, with Rollers, White-throated K
ingfishers, Little Green Bee-eaters, and even Hoopoes (which I consistently
missed). Drongos were common also here, and as usual, there were a few new
bulbuls to get to know. In the evening, acting on tips received, we visited a
roosting area for Blossom-headed Parakeets---beautiful birds, with a Burmese
shrike as dessert.
The next morning we drove up very early to the summit of Doi Inthanon, with
2500m the highest mountain in Thailand , and reputedly very cold indeed (not
for somebody from N.Norway, though) . In the morning twilight Dark-backed
Sibias were the first birds to start singing, and Silver-eared laughing
Thrushes turned out to be quite accustomed to people her. There is a beautiful
boardwalk and nature path here, and we walked this several times , through
marshy area s , and gnarled rhododendron trees with red and white flowers.
Lots of new birds here, some conspicuous, others only discoverable by
sharper eyes than mine. Finally many babblers: fulvettas, yuhinas, minlas,
sibias, and as special treat the comic and endearing Pygmy Wren-Babbler,
belting out its song with all the gusto of our Winter Wren. Thrushes were
among the birds that were hard to discover, but with so many sharp eyes they
'fell' one after the other, and we got good views of Grey-sided and Dark-sided
Thrushes and of the White-browed Shortwing. Snowy-browed Flycatchers and
Himalayan Bluetail were easier, as they were much attracted to the mealworms
that Mike and Dion had brought
We also walked the famous Jeep T rail, a bit further down the mountain, but
here it was already harder to entice the birds to show themselves. White-necked
Laughing Thrushes belted out a highly spectacular medley of sounds all around
us, but we never saw them, nor could the niltavas be enticed to show
themselves. We had much better success , eventually, with the Slaty-backed
Tesia, again a hugely endearing almost tailless small bird, with an
orange-lined mouth conspicuous every time it sang. On the way back a
treecreeper, and the stylish Yellow-cheeked Tit also showed themselves .The
next day we did it all again and saw basically the same birds, although this
time we had an up close meeting with another endearing sprite, the Mountain
Tailorbird and came across a very young Eye-browed Wren Babbler. And we saw two
different forktail sopecies near two different waterfalls (this area has many
scenic waterfalls). In the afternoon we visited an area of rice paddies where,
in addition to the expected herons and egrets, there also were Grey-headed
Lapwings, Pintail Snipe, a Green Sandpiper and even a Painted Snipe.
Black-collared Starlings augmented the many White-vented Mynahs, a Citrine
Wagtail was found besides the many White and Yellow Wagtails, and a majestic
Pied Harrier confirmed once more that this is one of the most stylish raptors;
stylish were also the Black-shouldered Kites. This area was invaded by a
probably African Acacia, which may well cause serious problems, if unchecked.
The next area was Doi Ang Khang, close to the Burmese border. Here we visited
i.a. an area with dry teak forest, said to be excellent for woodpeckers, but on
this trip we had very little luck with woodpeckers, although we did glimpse a
Common Flameback here. We did see the Collared Falconets, though, albeit at
scope distance, and we were lucky and watched a nice Black-hooded Oriole. Also
here there were new Bulbuls (I would see 15 species all in all, and I missed at
least two), and as in all forested areas, barbets were calling all the time;
one wonders when they eat! In another King's project here we profited
enormously from the newest bird-finding technology, i.e. feeding regularly with
mealworms, so that the birds get accustomed to connect people with field
glasses with food. At one place we saw that way the reportedly 'more often
heard than seen' White-tailed Robin as much as we wanted; the birds seemed to
have been waiting for mealworms for a long time already! At another place in
the same project, behind the kitchens of the restaurant, there was already much
to find, and the mealworms just augmented this; here we saw rarities like
Scaly, Eye-browed and Black-breasted Thrushes, as well as the Blue whistling
Thrush and the Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush. Mammals there were not all too
many here (heavy hunting pressure), mainly various squirrels and once a
Stripe-backed Weasel crossing the road.
The last area in the north was Doi Lang. here we finally sonme a few
woodpeckers, ranging from the diminutive White-browed Piculet, via the uncommon
Crimson-winged Woodpecker, to the as always hard to see Bay Woodpecker. A
Maroon Oriole did not give itself up easily, but the rare White-bellied Green
Pigeon, once discovered, could be watched at leisure. Also here there was a
'mealworm station', again with astounding success, This time the
Rufous-gorgeted and the notoriously shy White-gorgeted Flycatchers could be
watched extensively.
the last day in the North brought a very different scenery, as we visited
Chiang Saen lake, a large lake in the extreme north, where we had a nice boat
trip. Thailand has generally few ducks, except the common Lesser Whistling
Ducks, but here there are many wintering ducks. the whistlers dominate also
here, but there are considerable numbers of Spot-billed Ducks, Garganey and
Ferruginous Ducks, and a few each of Tufted Duck, Shoveler, and cotto Pygmy
Goose. Eurasian Coots were here too, as well as Moorhens, many Little Grebes,
Purple Swamphens, and Pheasant-tailed Jacanas. An Osprey was a nice surprise,
and Eastern Marsh Harriers hunted over the lake, where the introduced
Eichhornia absolutely dominated the marsh vegetation.
After this rested only a quick lunch along the Mekong River---with River
Lapwings, Little Pratincoles, Temminck's Stints and Ruddy Shelducks as
additions to our ever growing lists, and a more touristy stop at the Golden
Triangle, the spot where Laos, Burma and Thailand meet. this time i remembered
my passport, so the flight from Chang Rai back to bangkok was routine.
the last bit will deal with our days South of Bangkok.
Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø, Norway
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