Introduction
When David Scott contacted me asking for my advice on an enjoyable
short trip for the end of November/beginning of December I
had no hesitation in recommending Doi Lang. Although we had
visited this site together in the past, the opening of a new
route up the mountain meant that there would be lots of new
birds for David as well as great scenery. For some variation
I decided to add some time at the nearby rice fields at Thatorn
which continue to turn up rarities and to make a journey up
Doi Pha Hom Pok - a site we had not been to before.
Transport
We used a four-wheel drive Ford Ranger which performed excellently
on highways and proved to be essential on some of the muddy
dirt tracks that we drove down to our accommodation and for
birding. In the wet season there is always a distinct possibility
of very muddy tracks and flooded roads so our decision to
use a sturdy, four-wheel drive vehicle was a good one.
At Bueng Boraphet we took a boat out onto the lake with the
Khun Phanom piloting the boat. The fee for boat trips is 500
baht per hour.
Accommodation
We spent four nights at Thatorn
Garden Home, a place that I have been staying at for many
years now. It is a simple but pleasant place with good food
and the family that operate it do their best to accommodate
all reasonable requests. Packed lunches to be taken onto the
mountain can be ordered here.
Food
There was a family event at our accommodation which meant
that the restaurant was closed for the first two nights. We
tried two different restaurants in Thatorn and the food was
good in both of them, indeed decent meals can be found virtually
anywhere in Thailand for low prices. Lunches on Doi Lang were
sandwiches prepared by the lady at Thatorn Garden Home which
is where we had breakfast at 6am each morning. On the way
to and from Chiang Mai we stopped in local roadside places
where we had a quick bowl of noodle soup.
Weather
The weather was really mixed; we had some nice sunny weather
but also some rain and locked in cloud on mountain tops. Although
November and December are regarded as being the dry season
there can often still be rain and this was the second year
in a row that I experienced rain in the north into December.
Notes on Finding Birds
Although bird activity was a little lower than may have been
expected for the time of year (mixed flocks were found but
far fewer than usual) we managed to see new species throughout
every day; every time we got out of the vehicle to do some
birding we saw another new species for the trip. By being
patient and enjoying the forest and scenery we came across
a large number of highly interesting birds and got good views
of many northern speciality species as well as encountering
a good number of scarce migrants. At times finding birds was
extremely difficult due to fog and rain but we just drove
around until we found clear patches and consequently more
birds.
Field Guides
1. Birds
of Southeast Asia by Craig Robson
2. Guide
to the Birds of Thailand by Philip D. Round & Boonsong
Lekagul
3. Birds
of Thailand - Thai language field guide by various contributors
Birding Highlights
Doi Lang: Grey-headed Parrotbill, Lesser Rufous-headed
Parrotbill, Spot-breasted Parrotbill, Eyebrowed Thrush, Grey-sided
Thrush, Chestnut Thrush, Long-tailed Thrush, White's Thrush,
Crested Bunting, Black-headed Greenfinch, Scarlet-faced Liocichla,
Spectacled Barwing, Black-throated Tit, Crested Finchbill,
Giant Nuthatch, Mountain Bamboo Partridge, Red-billed Scimitar
Babbler, Collared Babbler, Pin-tailed Green Pigeon, Chestnut-headed
Tesia, Spot-winged Grosbeak, White-bellied Redstart, Aberrant
Bush Warbler
Thatorn: Russet Sparrow, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Pied
Harrier, Rosy Pipit, Australasian Bushlark, Siberian Rubythroat
Doi Pha Hom Pok: Chestnut-headed Tesia, Black-throated
Tit, Himalayan Bluetail
Daily Account
28th November - Chiang Mai to Doi Lang
Having met David at the Dhara
Dhevi Hotel, Chiang Mai, we began heading towards
Doi Lang at midday, stopping briefly for a light lunch. We
headed straight up Doi Lang from the Fang bypass; the journey
taking around 3 hours.
Once on the mountain we stopped at the first photographic
stakeouts in some moist forest where we found the sign erected
by the national park department ordering birders to avoid
using call playback, meal worms and staking out nest sites.
Sometimes mealworms and call playback are overused, and certainly
these techniques to see birds should not be used near known
nests, but interest in birds and conservation is growing rapidly
in Thailand because of the photo opportunities created by
meal worm stakeouts. In a country where governments ignore
wildlife conservation at best, the only way for progress to
be made is for large numbers of people to be aware of nature
and enjoy it, and in my opinion, the ever-increasing popularity
of birds is worth the disturbance to a small number of birds
lured in by mealworms.
On this occasion we did not use meal worms to see any birds
as we were not photographing them and enjoying birding as
we walked along the road was more important to us than sitting
at stakeouts. This way we came across a few Spot-winged Grosbeaks
and a group of White-browed Laughingthrushes then further
along we found a feeding flock that included a Grey-headed
Parrotbill, Spectacled Barwing, several species of warblers
and Rufous-backed Sibia.
We decided to explore further along the road and drove to
a small farmed area a little beyond the army checkpoint, and
parked our vehicle. We hung around this area until leaving
and as the day ended there was a lot of activity including
large numbers of Little Buntings and Olive-backed Pipits with
a few Crested Buntings to join them. While watching these
a larger bird landed on an isolated tree and a quick look
confirmed it as a Giant Nuthatch - seldom has this species
been so easy to find! Many birds were skulking in the undergrowth
and a little "pishing" made an Aberrant Bush Warbler
show itself and eventually we saw a female White-bellied Redstart.
In fact many individuals of this species were calling and
we saw glimpses of several more. With the light and activity
fading we drove down the mountain to our accommodation at
Thatorn.
29th November - Doi Lang
We had our breakfast at our accommodation at 6am, taking some
nice spicy pork and basil sandwiches with us as a packed lunch.
Heading up the mountain from Thatorn provided us with a bumpy
ride due to lots of potholes and we made our first stop at
the large concrete bridge which gives a nice view of the forest
canopy as the first sunshine hits the treetops in the early
morning. Here we saw the expected Blue-throated Barbets and
a Great Barbet as well as several Grey Treepies. More of a
surprise was a Slender-billed Oriole presenting itself nicely
on an exposed tree and 2 Pin-tailed Green Pigeons flying past
at head height.
We then proceeded, driving fairly slowly so that we could
find a pair of Mountain Bamboo Partridges on the road before
making a quick stop at the hill tribe rice fields where we
spotted the regular Grey-faced Buzzard and Oriental Turtle
Doves, as well as commoner species such as Grey-breasted Prinia
and Grey Bushchat, before moving on.
Our next stop was on a steep stretch of road in some moist
forest where we flushed a White's Thrush which had been feeding
in leaf litter. We managed to refind the bird after it flew
away, but we did not get the best of views. However, while
viewing a Golden-throated Barbet we noticed another thrush
in the treetops which revealed itself to be a Grey-sided Thrush
- a scarce winter visitor. In the same area a small flock
of Eyebrowed Thrushes passed through, alerting us to the fact
that migration was actively occurring and that anything could
turn up. Indeed, I have often found that falls of migrants
can occur in the north in the last week of November and first
week of December.
Our next stop was at the border police checkpoint, a spot
that always has some wonderful birds to see. We quickly found
the Scarlet-faced Liocichlas that frequent the feeding station
here enjoying close-up views of this amazing bird; Dark-backed
Sibias, Silver-eared Laughingthrushes and Spectacled Barwings
joined the party as usual. Walking along the road from here
revealed a few flocks of small birds including many Orange-barred
Leaf Warblers, Rufous-winged Fulvettas and a single Yellow-browed
Tit; this latter species can easily be overlooked, mistaken
for a Leaf Warbler so it is worth remembering to look out
for it. This stretch of road beyond the border police checkpoint
is always good and we continued to see new birds for our trip;
Whiskered Yuhina, Small Niltava, Ashy Bulbul, Alstrom's Warbler
and Yellow-bellied Fantail were all memorable for various
reasons.
A good lunch stop is the viewpoint, now named the "San Ju
Viewpoint", so that is where we headed and we inspected the
buddeia bushes here for sunbirds, finding plenty of Mrs Gould's
Sunbird and at least 1 subadult/female Fire-tailed Sunbird
at their regular spot. David flushed a large thrush from inside
the forest here and later I investigated and found it to be
a White's Thrush which perched nicely for me to study before
we had a middle-of-the-day break.
For the remainder of the afternoon we proceeded through drier
forest and open areas in which we came across unusually high
numbers of Common Rosefinches; more evidence of migrating
birds arriving. Brown-breasted Bulbul, Aberrant Bush Warbler
and a group of foraging Crested Finchbills were also to be
found in grassy, open forest before we enjoyed an amazing
sunset after some rain showers. With the weather and light
deteriorating we drove back down the mountain to enjoy dinner.
30th November - Doi Lang & Thatorn Rice Fields
For this day we decided to drive along the road again, just
stopping when we saw something of interest. Our first stop
was a few kilometres from the border police checkpoint where
we saw a flock of birds crossing the road. Somehow by the
time we had stopped and got out of the car all the birds had
disappeared. We walked along the road a little but could not
relocate them. However, I decided to try the call of Collared
Owlet to draw some birds in. This often does not work but
on this occssion the result was spectacular with many species
mobbing us; Pallas's Leaf Warbler, Speckled Piculet, Black-throated
Tit, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Black-throated Sunbird and
Yellow-cheeked Tit were just some of the many species involved.
Further along several Eyebrowed Thrushes were flushed off
of the road as we drove along slowly and then a larger thrush
flew along in front of us and landed by the roadside. Although
our views were brief, through our binoculars we could confirm
that this was a Long-tailed Thrush, a very scarce visitor
to Thailand. Concentrating our efforts on more open forest
and grassy area we soon came across another migrant thrush;
this time a female Chestnut Thrush.
I took David to an open area that often provides some good
sightings as well as a great view into Myanmar, being careful
not to stray off the road as there is a sign in Thai and some
razor wire warning people of unexploded ordnance. Here we
managed to find the expected Buff-throated Warbler, a nice,
grass-loving Phylloscopus warbler, some more Crested
Buntings as well as great views of a pair of Spot-breasted
Parrotbills - Doi Lang is a really great location for this
bird which is hard to find at other Thai locations.
While taking in the view I heard the gentle call of Black-headed
Greenfinches and some scanning revealed a flock of fifteen
in flight in front of us; they whirled around several times
before landing in some seeding weeds and we were able to view
them feeding through a telescope. The view here provided us
with a nice spot for lunch. After lunch, however, birding
was rather slow and as we had planned to visit rice fields
near Thatorn we chose this afternoon for a visit.
It took around one hour to get to the rice fields and we found
a place to park the vehicle so that it would not prevent farm
vehicles from passing, not wishing to upset the locals and
give them a negative view of birders. Cloudy weather gave
the rice fields an unusually cool climate which allowed us
to cover quite a lot of ground. Birds seen quickly, as expected,
included Long-tailed Shrike, Pied Bushchat, Black-collared
Myna, Citrine Wagtail, Brown Shrike, Dusky Warbler and Green
Sandpiper. After a short walk we spotted a flock of sparrows
and on inspection they mostly turned out to be House Sparrows
but within the flock were at least 2 male Russet Sparrows
- a rare winter visitor. We were able to see these birds for
some time through the 'scope and continuing our walk we saw
a few raptors including Eastern Marsh Harrier, Pied Harrier,
Common Kestrel and Rufous-winged Buzzard; all of these are
regular at this site.
As we were heading back, through the rice fields, to the vehicle
we flushed a pair of larks which typically disappeared into
vegetation. Both David and I could tell by the size and shape
of the birds that these were not the common Indochinese Bushlark,
nor did they look quite right for Oriental Skylark, which
is found at this site. With this in mind I tiptoed into the
vegetation and they flew out to show themselves as Australasian
Bushlark, a species which is seldom seen these days in Thailand.
Having proved, once again, that there are a lot of good birds
to be found at this location we drove back for dinner.
The Sites Visited
The three sites visited are all within a short drive
of each other, from either Thatorn or Fang and provide
a mixture of different forest habitats and farmland
so that a wide range of species could be seen.
Thatorn is about a 3 hour drive from Chiang Mai along
a well-made, but windy road which can be a dangerous
drive; the rice fields are just 5-10 minutes south of
the village of Thatorn.
Driving up Doi Lang from the Thatorn side gets visitors
into good birding habitat in about 45 minutes but the
road on this side is horribly potholed. Driving up from
the Fang side takes a bit longer - a little more than
1 hour perhaps.
The road up Doi Pha Hom Pok is signposted in English
but the road is dirt - a 4-wheel drive vehicle is essential
for almost the entire year. |
1st December - Doi Pha Hom Pok & Thatorn
Rice Fields
We decided to use the day to explore the road up Doi Pha Hom
Pok. This was very easily found as it is signposted from the
Fang Bypass and upon reaching the park gate there was no one
present to buy a ticket from so we just headed uphill. The
weather was pretty poor with persistent light rain and the
top of the mountain enshrouded in cloud, but in our 4-wheel
drive vehicle we felt confident. The drive was plain-sailing
until we were almost at the campsite and came to a junction;
we decided to turn right as the sign said "A-frame huts"
which is where we thought we were supposed to be heading but
soon after making the turning it became clear things were
going to be problematic as we were heading downhill on an
extremely slick, muddy dirt road.
We were looking for something of an adventure but neither
of us had envisaged what was to happen over the next hour
or more. We attempted to turn around and go back up the hill
but such was the mire we were stuck in that it was next to
impossible to make any progress. Luckily David had a winch
on the front of the vehicle and we eventually managed to haul
ourselves up the hill bit-by-bit by a process of me wrapping
the winch cable around a suitable tree and David driving whilst
operating the winch at the same time and covering us both
in thick layers of mud.
 Bird
Watching & Photography Trips:
Very late November and early December are an excellent
time to be in northern Thailand to witness "falls"
of migrants arriving. Although it is difficult to predict
exactly what will be seen, it can be exciting to search
for migrants.
Contact me to arrange a birding trip and/or to discuss
the best bird watching options for you: nickupton@thaibirding.com |
When we got to the campsite we got some simple food cooked
for us at a little canteen run by the staff and then walked
along a wide trail which was opposite. There was another trail
which led uphill and we were told that it heads to the mountain's
summit with a walk of several hours. The trail we chose offered
a simpler and more-or-less level trail. Although the weather
was misty with some rain we managed to find some nice birds
including a few Chestnut-headed Tesias, several female Himalayan
Bluetails and a flock of Black-throated Tits. We also saw
a good variety of commoner high altitude birds despite the
weather and it would seem to be a good location for birding
on a day with better weather and we decided to retreat and
head out to the rice fields for a second visit.
We made our way carefully back down the muddy road, stopping
a couple of times to have a quick scan of the tree tops for
perched birds and by the time we reached the rice fields it
was quite late and still raining. With low enthusiasm and
wet, muddy clothes we decided to go back and take a shower
and start on the beer!
2nd December - Doi Lang to Chiang Mai
On our last day together we decided to head back up Doi Lang
from the Thatorn side, once more, and try something a little
experimental. Some years beforehand I had come across a small
group of Lesser Rufous-headed Parrotbills following a group
of Collared Babblers in a memorable patch of forest. However,
on subsequent visits to Doi Lang I had not had time to revisit
the spot so I was keen to see if we could find these very
scarce birds again.
Arriving at the right spot the weather was a little chilly
but as the sun crept onto the forest the birds became lively.
A couple of Stripe-breasted Woodpeckers showed themselves
on exposed branches, enjoying some morning sunshine, as did
a number of Black Bulbuls and some handsome White-headed Bulbuls.
As the birds became active I used a little call playback of
Collared Babbler (which is often a bird that reacts well to
this technique) and very quickly these birds appeared in some
bamboo followed by a total of 5 Lesser Rufous-headed Parrotbills,
giving us really good, close views. An added bonus were a
pair of Red-billed Scimitar-babblers that were also part of
the flock that came along calling loudly as they jumped around
in the low foliage.
We were able to watch these three wonderful species for quite
some time until they drifted off into the forest and we were
both pleased that our experimental plan had worked out so
well. Further birding in the same area revealed a nice male
Slaty-blue Flycatcher as well as some flocks of commoner birds
including Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Greater Yellownape
and Greater Racket-tailed Drongo which must be at the maximum
limit of its altitudinal range here.
The remainder of our time on Doi Lang consisted of revisiting
some of the most productive spots over the previous few days
where we saw mostly the same set of species but we did add
a nice Mountain Hawk Eagle to our list and enjoyed the colourful
birds at the border police checkpoint again - they really
are a joy to watch for anyone who is a bird enthusiast rather
than just a "ticker".
David had to get a late afternoon flight at Chiang Mai airport
so we began our journey to the airport having enjoyed a good
birding trip and some adventure; our escapade on Doi Pha Hom
Pok was a fun memory at this point even if it was not at the
time. On our arrival at Chiang Mai airport we found out that
the winching incident on Doi Pha Ham Pok had damaged the power
steering and I had to drop David off but it was easily sorted
out with friendly mechanics helping me patch the vehicle up
until proper repairs could be made.
Nick Upton (nickupton@thaibirding.com) |
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