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| 3 Days Doi Ang Kang & Doi Lang, 26th-29th December 2009 | |||||||||||||
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| Introduction Last time David Scott and I were out together he asked me about the possibility of a short trip to northern Thailand, particularly in relation to Doi Lang, a site he had never visited before. With only a few days available, I decided that by combining some time at Doi Ang Kang with nearby Doi Lang we could maximise the number of interesting species, particularly migrants, and enjoy some very lovely scenery. |
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| Accommodation At Mae Rim we stayed at the luxurious Sukantara Cascade Resort and Spa. At Doi Ang Kang we stayed at the Ang Kang Nature Resort. At Thatorn we stayed at Thatorn Chalet (currently closed and for sale). |
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| Food One of the great things about travelling in Thailand is the abundance of excellent food at cheap prices. However, early starts in remote places can cause a few problems in terms of finding food. At Sukantara the food was excellent as one would expect of such a place, and far more reasonably priced than I thought it would be (although accommodation is expensive). A packed breakfast was prepared for us to take on our way. At Doi Ang Kang restaurants in the village of Ban Khoom don't open until about 7am so breakfast can be a problem. However, a breakfast buffet was served at 6.30am at the Ang Kang Nature Resort. Decent food can be had at any of the restaurants at Ban Khoom and really good food can be found at the restaurant in the King's Project or the Ang Kang Nature Resort. There are no facilities at all at Doi Lang so breakfast was taken in packed form from the hotel as was a packed lunch of sandwiches. The food in the restaurant of Thatorn Chalet is good and they also serve passable western food for those who are tired of rice and noodles. There are lots of other places to find good food in Thatorn and roti pancakes sold from a food stall near the bridge are really nice and cheap. |
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| Notes
on Finding Birds Although there were good birds to be found at both Doi Lang and Doi Ang Kang, generally things were pretty quiet. Bird waves were few and far between and many birds which are fairly common residents were hard to find. Some target birds were also missed due to noise and disturbance from the large number of people present at the sites over this holiday period. The lack of flocking species is difficult to explain but it is possible that the cold weather had made them flee somewhere warmer or that the superabundance of fruit, seeds and flowers meant that finding food was easy and that birds were not forced into much activity. On the other hand a good number of winter visitors were present and with patience and skill they could be tracked down. On Doi Lang a group of Thai photographers had set up camp at the checkpoint and were feeding birds at certain places. If you see them, don't be shy to ask them what is about as they are friendly and most speak some English and are a good source of information. |
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| Bird
Calls At this time of year very few birds are calling and even fewer respond to call playback making species that dwell on the forest floor or spend large periods of the day in inactivity, very hard or impossible to find. Winter migrants, obviously do not sing at this time of the year but do often call aiding in their finding and, in the case of Phylloscopus and Seicercus warblers, their identification. Bird calls used were from The Birds of Tropical Asia and a few calls downloaded from Xena Canto. |
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| Field
Guides 1. A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand by Craig Robson 2. Guide to the Birds of Thailand by Philip D. Round & Boonsong Lekagul 3. A Guide to the Large Mammals of Thailand by John Parr. |
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| Birding
Highlights Doi Ang Kang: Giant Nuthatch, Scarlet-faced Liocichla, Chestnut-headed Tesia, Black-breasted Thrush, Black-headed Greenfinch, Dark-sided Thrush, Grey-winged Blackbird, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler, Chestnut Bunting, Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher, Slaty-blue Flycatcher, Spectacled Barwing. Doi Lang: Black-throated Tit, Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher, Black-eared Shrike-babbler, Chestnut Thrush, Fire-tailed Sunbird, Eyebrowed Thrush, Scarlet-faced Liocichla, Himalayan Bluetail, Long-tailed Sibia, Spectacled Barwing. |
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| Daily
log 26th December: I met David at Suvarnabhumi (pronounced Soo war na poom) airport where we checked in and boarded our flight. After collecting our vehicle we headed to Sukantara Resort on the mae Rim road a little north of Chiang Mai. The resort is in the foothills of Doi Pui and we found a little time before dusk to go uphill and locate a Slaty-backed Forktail at a small waterfall and a Verditer Flycatcher. Further uphill we spotted a few Common Rosefinches and Olive-backed Pipits on a dead tree, gathering to roost with hundreds of Asian House Martins wheeling around us. This area had some interesting habitat and might have some good birds for those who investigated it. At the rather luxurious Sukantara Cascade Resort and Spa we had a good dinner overlooking a floodlit waterfall where a Blue Whistling Thrush (eugenei) was taking advantage of the extra light to feed in the water at 9.30pm! 27th December: Leaving at 5.30am we headed towards Doi Ang Kang using the road through Ban Arunothai which starts with a left from the northern end of the Chiang Dao bypass. As we approached Ban Arunothai I spotted a raptor in a tall tree that turned out to be a Rufous-winged Buzzard; as we were watching another flew by. This area of open country with scattered large trees, before and after Ban Arunothai is a good place to look for Rufous-winged Buzzard; I have seen it here on a number of occasions in the mornings but not so often later in the day. The drive is a pleasant one and we made a couple of brief stops to take in the view before arriving at a good spot for Hume's Pheasant. Until very recently this had a kilometre marker numbered Km 34; however, it has now been renumbered as Km 41. Unfortunately, this is a very busy time of year in Thailand and large numbers of people were gathering at Doi Ang Kang for the New Year period which is a big holiday in Thailand and the volume of traffic was such that any Hume's Pheasants wandering around close to the road would have been scared away. We decided to return the next day much earlier. Nearby at the Chinese Cemetery large numbers of Brown-breasted Bulbuls were feeding in flowering trees and a short walk along the road along a sunny ridge allowed me to hear a Slaty-blue Flycatcher in the undergrowth which we managed to get a few brief but clear views of; a nice male cocking its tail. Our next stop was along at Km 21. Time spent here always seems to turn up some good birds and we very quickly called in a Chestnut-headed Tesia. Unfortunately, it didn't show itself very well and we had to be happy with a few glimpses. Whilst it responded to call playback we didn't want to disturb the bird too much and left. Further along the trail a lot of activity in the form of Rufous-backed and Dark-backed Sibias feeding in a fruiting tree made us stop and we also got fine views of a Spectacled Barwing. The trail has a sort of cross roads and we elected to go up a steep firebreak which had a lot of bird activity along it. Firstly we saw some Common Rosefinches and then a female Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher moving rather slowly low in a tree; this is a species I don't see too often. The views from the ridge top are excellent and with such great weather it was a very pleasant place to stop. It was also a place to see 2 Chestnut Buntings, several Chestnut-vented Nuthatches, a distant view of 2 Striated Bulbuls and some Fork-tailed (Pacific) Swifts. As lunchtime was approaching we moved down and ran into our first mixed feeding flock of the trip. In the north these are often detectable by the twittering of the very common Grey-cheeked Fulvetta and this is how we found this flock. The flock contained some nice northern birds including Yellow-cheeked Tit, Blue-winged Minla and Mrs Gould's Sunbird. Before lunch we found time to check out the back of the kitchen at the Mae Per forest trail for a pair of Black-breasted Thrushes that usually winter there but due to the noise of campers there was no sign of them. However, the pines here always contain Japanese Tit (Parus minor according to the new Thai checklist, not Parus Major as in Robson) and Streaked Spiderhunter, both of which we saw easily. As we were heading to the car David mentioned that Maroon Oriole was a bird that he would very much like to see and seconds later one called nearby, as if to let us know it was there. After a brief search it was spotted and a very nice male jumped into a pink flowering tree; a beautiful sight indeed. Lunch was taken on the veranda of the restaurant of the Ang Kang Nature Resort where large numbers of Crested Finchbills were feeding on fruiting and flowering trees. This species seems to be nomadic, sometimes being mysteriously absent but extremely abundant when food sources are available. On this occasion flowering, fruiting and seeding trees seemed to be everywhere, and with them Crested Finchbills. After lunch we decided to check out the thrush stakeout behind the restaurant in the King's Project. Every year several scarce thrush species winter here, feeding on scraps of food. Usually one has to be at this spot early in the morning before human activity scares the thrushes away. However, I have found that the birds usually just hide in the twisty trees above the site and can often be found sat on branches so we gave it a try. We were extremely lucky as we managed to see a Dark-sided Thrush foraging on the ground, a male Black-breasted Thrush moving around in the trees and a a male Grey-winged Blackbird sitting on a branch. Also a male Hill Blue Flycatcher was showing itself well. A pretty good result for 1pm with crowds of noisy people milling around! After this we had a very unsuccessful hour or so searching in vain for birds. It seemed like the heat of the day had quietened down any bird activity. It can be difficult birding on northern mountains at this time of year because there is so little time available. It is too cold for birds (down to 4-5 degrees C on this visit) early in the morning and by 11pm to midday it is too hot. At 3.30pm it was back to the Chinese Cemetery to wait for some Black-headed Greenfinches. A large, bare tree seems to be their favourite pre-roost gathering and it was very satisfying that they started to arrive at 3.45 and by about 4pm a flock of 30 birds departed. Also seen here was a Yellow-streaked Warbler which I located from its bunting-like call in the undergrowth. We tried to push our luck by going along the road to try and find a Giant Nuthatch at what is now Km 38. Whilst we got a response from the birds they were too far away to see but a nice flock with a male Little Pied Flycatcher and a male Rufous-bellied Niltava made the excursion worthwhile. We stopped once again at the Chinese Cemetery where this time a Common Buzzard was perched on the bare tree and then we headed to Ban Luang to see the River Chat but this was another case of crowds of people scaring a bird away as large numbers of tourists were busy noisily checking in. We did see a Eurasian Sparrowhawk though, a scarce bird in Thailand. After this we went back to Ang Kang Nature Resort where we had an excellent dinner. 28th December: After breakfast we headed up to Km 40 at 7am hoping to see Hume's Pheasant before traffic scared them away. Alas, lots of early morning traffic was bringing more tourists to Doi Ang Kang for the holiday period and our search was unsuccessful - it was difficult to believe that any self-respecting Hume's Pheasant would be seen foraging along a road so busy with tourist traffic. |
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| This
took us up to about 11am and with bird activity not at its highest,
large numbers of people on the roads and David itching to get to
Doi Lang we decided to move on to our second site. We arrived at
Thatorn for lunch and headed up Doi Lang; it takes about 45 minutes
to 1 hour to get up onto the top ridge of Doi Lang from Thatorn
if not stopping. When we got there things were pretty quiet but
taking a look at the photographer's feeding station, behind the
checkpoint kitchen revealed some really nice birds; firstly a gang
of Dark-backed Sibias arrived to feed on some fruit and they were
very quickly joined by a pair of Spectacled Barwings. Being able
to observe these birds at such close range (about 3 metres) was
a real treat but I was really waiting for a Scarlet-faced Liocichla.
It didn't take long to turn up and seeing this bird at such close
quarters is almost blinding its face is so bright, not to mention
beautiful markings and colouration all over its body, plumage details
which aren't so obvious at longer range. Other lovely birds which
revealed themselves to us here were a male Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher,
a party of colourful Whiskered Yuhinas (common at Doi Lang) and
a female Himalayan Bluetail. Formerly this species was known as
Orange-flanked Bush Robin or Red-flanked Bluetail but many (most?)
authorities have split it into Himalayan Bluetail and Orange-flanked
Bush Robin; the Himalayan obviously migrates from the Himalayan
region and the Orange-flanked Bush Robin comes from Siberia (these
will be the birds which turn up in Europe) - I was given this information
by Phil Round after getting confused on the issue myself. Both species
have been recorded in Thailand but the majority of the birds are
apparently Himalayan, the males are readily identified by their
either blue or white supercilium but the females are difficult (impossible?)
to separate. After our success at the feeding station we walked along the road a little. At first we ran into a flock of Black-throated Tits; these are beautiful little birds and can always be found on the highest parts of Doi Lang. They can be quite inconspicuous at times and fast moving, but we were lucky and our flock came down quite low and fed in front of us, giving us a good view. Things were quiet after that with even common birds like bulbuls being hard to find but, as ever, for those who don't mind walking and remaining patient something always comes along. For us some nice birds came in the form of a small flock of birds which included Yellow-cheeked Tit, Rufous-winged Fulvetta and a nice male Black-eared Shrike Babbler, one of the specialities of Doi Lang and a bird which can usually be found in feeding flocks on the summit ridge - they even respond to a little call playback at times. As things were getting late, we strolled back towards the checkpoint where we had left the car. On the way we came across some Thai photographers that I know who were waiting at a fruiting tree, about 1km from the checkpoint, for the appearance of a flock of Cutias which had been seen in the preceding days. Agonizingly, we learned that we had missed a flyover Himalayan Griffon that morning, but worse was the fact that we had missed Long-tailed Sibias (a very scarce bird in Thailand and one that I hadn't seen in the country) by about 5 seconds! And there were photos to prove it. David and I accepted that you can't see all the birds and it is better to enjoy the ones you do see than dwell on those you don't - a philosophy which makes for much more enjoyable and rewarding birding. At around 5pm it was beginning to get pretty cold high up on Doi Lang but we were treated to a fine sight of a male and female Chestnut Thrush, chasing each other around the checkpoint and landing in beautiful mossy trees in excellent afternoon light. It was a great spectacle to finish the day. It took us over an hour to get back to Thatorn as we made a few brief stops along the way, seeing a couple of Large-tailed Nightjars as we approached Thatorn. Sitting on the balcony of David's room at Thatorn Chalet, drinking beer, we saw a Barn Owl make a couple of passes for our last bird of the day. We finished the day with some good food in the restaurant of Thatorn Chalet and bought a great map of the far north of Thailand, a map far more detailed than any other I have found in Thailand. It is available from http://www.GT-Rider.com. 29th December : Having organized sandwiches for breakfast (and lunch) we left Thatorn at 6am. I didn't want to be up the mountain too early as the birds don't get active at this time of year until there is some sunshine on them as it is quite cold (approx 6 degrees C at 7.30am) and we wanted to have some light on the road to see the Mountain Bamboo Partridges that are ever present. As predicted we saw the partridges on the road, much nicer birds than illustrations suggest, and further up also some Oriental Turtle Doves, birds which are often to be seen along the road in the areas of woodland just before and after the valley with rice paddies in. |
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| David
made the decision that it was time to move on. He correctly said
that when waiting for something like this, one should set a time
limit. When there are other nice birds to see, I agree with that
sentiment and we moved on. Walking further along the ridge road
activity was not that intense but we found some nice birds including
Maroon Oriole, Golden-throated Barbet and a nice pair of Eyebrowed
Thrushes feeding on berries. Other birds which we saw included noisy
Grey Treepies and Large Cuckooshrikes. The birding was pleasant
rather than spectacular and as the temperature increased I walked
back to get the car and we moved on in search of Fire-tailed Sunbird. A few Fire-tailed Sunbirds winter on Doi Lang each year and can be found in an area of buddlea along the road at a point where there are no trees on the Myanmar side of the road and the view is really good. This view into Myanmar last for a distance of around 1 km and this area is easy recognizable as it is the only really open space along the ridge road after the checkpoint. Most people look for the sunbirds at around 8-9am when the sun brings them out but I had seen them around midday a few weeks previously and we were most fortunate that we walked straight up to 2 birds in exactly the same buddlea bush as I had seen them before (in fact I continuously saw them in exactly the same bush over the next 2 months). Not males in breeding plumage but easily identified by their red outer tail feathers and the male's reddish rump. See Phil Round's article for more on this bird: Fire-tailed Sunbird. We ate our lunch taking in the view and hoping for some raptors. Whilst this is often a decent raptor watching spot due to its open nature, we only saw a Grey-faced Buzzard, and then only briefly. With a fairly long drive back to Chiang Mai, we began to move downhill. To our relief we discovered that we had not missed the Cutias; the crowd was still waiting, three hours after we had left. On the way down we made some stops in various places a little downhill of the large concrete bridge where we ran into some nice flocks of birds containing Stripe-breasted and Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers, Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo, Scarlet Minivet, Short-billed Minivet and a number of White-browed Shrike Babblers; a nice group of birds to end our day with. We reached Thatorn at about 3.30pm and it takes about 3 hours to get to Chiang Mai from there. If you are driving this road please leave plenty of time as it is quite poor for stretches and if you get stuck behind a slow-moving truck (which happens frequently) overtaking is dangerous. I would personally not consider driving this road in the dark when the chances of a bad accident would be quite high due to road conditions, lack of visibility and idiotic driving. Our journey was actually pretty easy and we got back to Chiang Mai comfortably, where we parted having had a good trip. |
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| Nick Upton (nickupton@thaibirding.com) | |||||||||||||
| Species list with sites and notes | |||||||||||||
| Doi
Pui: DP Ban Arunothai Road: BA Doi Ang Kang: DAK |
Fang
Bypass: FB Doi Lang: DL |
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| 1.
Mountain Bamboo Partridge: 3 on road
at DL. 2. Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker: 2 at Doi Lang. 3. Stripe-breasted Woodpecker: 1m at DL. 4. Great Barbet: A few at DL & DAK. 5. Golden-throated Barbet: 1 at DL. 6. Blue-throated Barbet: 1 at DL. 7. Blue-bearded Bee-eater: 2 at DL. 8. Green Bee-eater: A few at DP. 9. Greater Coucal: A few, DAK. 10. Green-billed Malkoha: 1 DL 11. Indian Roller: A few BA 12. Hoopoe: 1 BA 13. Himalayan Swiftlet: A few DAK 14. Asian Palm Swift: A few DP 15. Fork-tailed Swift: Many DAK & DL 16. Barn Owl: 2 Thatorn 17. Large-tailed Nightjar: 2 DL 18. Mountain Imperial Pigeon: 2 DAK 19. Oriental Turtle Dove: a10 DL 20. Oriental Honey Buzzard: 1 DAK 21. Besra: 1 DL 22. Eurasian Sparrowhawk: 1 DAK 23. Rufous-winged Buzzard: 2 BA 24. Grey-faced Buzzard: 1 DL 25. Common Buzzard: 1 DAK 26. Black-shouldered Kite: 1 at Fang 27. Common Kestrel: 1f, Fang 28. Orange-bellied Leafbird: A few DAK & DL 29. Long-tailed Shrike: A few DAK & DL 30. Grey-backed Shrike: A few DAK & DL 31. Ashy Drongo: A few DAK & DL 32. Bronzed Drongo: A few DAK & DL 33. Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo: 1 DL 34. Grey Treepie: A few DL 35. Slender-billed Oriole: 1 DL 36. Maroon Oriole: 1m DAK, 1m DL 37. Large Cuckooshrike: 1 DL 38. Grey-chinned Minivet: A few DAK & DL 39. Long-tailed Minivet: 1m 1f DAK 40. Short-billed Minivet: A few DAK & DL 41. Scarlet Minivet: 1m 3f DL 42. Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike: 8, DAK 43. White-throated Fantail: A few DL 44. Common Iora: A few DL 45. Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush: 1m DL 46. Blue Whistling Thrush: A few everywhere eugenei & caeruleus 47. Black-breasted Thrush: 1m DAK 48. Chestnut Thrush: 1m 1f DL 49. Eyebrowed Thrush: 2 DL 50. Dark-sided Thrush: 1 DAK 51. Grey-winged Blackbird: 1m DAK 1m DL 52. Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher: 1f DAK, 1m DL 53. Slaty-backed Flycatcher: 1f DAK 54. Little Pied Flycatcher: 1m DAK 55. Slaty-blue Flycatcher: 1m DAK 56. Hill Blue Flycatcher: 1m DAK 57. Verditer Flycatcher: 1, DP 58. Small Niltava: 1f, DAK 59. Rufous-bellied Niltava: 1m, DAK 60. Vivid Niltava: 1f, DL 61. Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher: A few, DAK |
62.
Oriental Magpie Robin: A few, DAK
& DL |
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| Nick Upton can be contacted at nickupton@thaibirding.com | |||||||||||||
| More information on Doi Ang Kang | |||||||||||||
| If you are interested in arranging a bird watching tour you can see some suggested itineraries here - Birdwatching Trips - and you can contact me at the above email address to discuss the best options. | |||||||||||||
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