Introduction Most birders include Doi
Inthanon as part of a more extended tour of the country,
but for those who are on just a brief stop in Chiang Mai or
on a holiday with non-birding family or friends, Doi Inthanon
represents an opportunity for a day's excellent birding in
the north. This was the situation for Phil Hitchens who joined
me for a day trip to Doi Inthanon.
The park gate, and consequently the birdwatching, is just
1 hour 15 minutes from Chiang Mai town centre, with the summit
another 40 minute drive.
Car Hire
We used a 4-door Toyota Vigo supplied by Thai Rent a car as
I had the vehicle from a trip I had recently finished; Wet
Season Birding Tour of Thailand, 17-25th July 2008; but
for those hiring a car for only a short period there are many
small car hire operators in Chiang Mai and hire usually starts
at 800 baht per day for a small jeep. In the dry season one
may need to book a vehicle at least a few days in advance,
but in the wet season just turn up and sort something out
the day before.
It is possible to get to Doi Inthanon by public transport
but for a day trip this would waste a large portion of the
day so a car is highly recommended.
Notes on Finding Birds
On a day trip one wants to maximize birding time and so staying
out all day is recommended - at the summit in particular there
is always bird activity. Depending on one's experience different
tactics should be employed; if targeting specific species
one should research where and how to see them and spend time
on these; if, however, like Phil, Thailand is a new destination
and virtually everything seen is new it is a good idea to
spend time at a variety of altitudes in order to see as many
species as possible. In this case an hour or two at most stops
will reveal many of the more common species before moving
on to a new set of birds; a stop just outside the park for
open-country species can also be very useful if this is the
strategy.
Diary
After collecting Phil from his guesthouse in Chiang Mai we
arrived at the park gates at about 6.15 am where we paid the
300 baht per person entrance fee, plus 30 for a vehicle. We
began birding a short distance from the park gates where we
found a flock of rather noisy Golden-fronted Leafbirds along
with a few Black-crested Bulbuls and Pin-Striped Tit Babblers,
two of the most common forest birds in Thailand.
Moving a little uphill we made a couple of stops for birds
that we spotted on over head wires and in this way we found
Red-whiskered Bulbul, Ashy Drongo and Bronzed Drongo. Furthermore,
this tactic also brought us excellent views of 2 juvenile
and 1 adult Black-hooded Oriole, birds that we spotted after
stopping for more common species.
Our first scheduled stop was at Vatcharitan waterfall where
we hoped to see Slaty-backed Forktail. This species was very
obliging as a pair of them performed for quite some time fairly
close by giving us an excellent and unobscured view; a eugenei
Blue Whistlingthrush also put in an appearance for us and
a couple of Puff-throated Bulbuls posed in a photogenic way.
With the rain beginning at a very low altitude we headed for
the summit, hoping it would be above the worst of the rain.
This was at first a vain hope and we walked around the boardwalks
in the rain spotting only a few birds including an excellent
Pygmy Wren Babbler, Yellow-bellied Fantail and Silver-eared
(Chestnut-crowned) Laughingthrush, but after a while we got
lucky with a break in the clouds. As soon as the sun came
out so did the birds and before long we were admiring Chestnut-tailed
Minlas, Rufous-winged Fulvettas, a Yellow-cheeked Tit, Ashy-throated
Warbler, more Laughingthrushes and Fantails along with a few
very confiding White-browed Shortwings. It is interesting
to note that the male White-browed Shortwing is able to fluff
its eyebrows and often when first seen the eyebrows are not
obvious, but when it fluffs them up the white contrasts beautifully
with its dark plumage.
As we were considering moving back down the mountain an Ashy
Woodpigeon flew past and another group of birds including
some beautiful male Green-tailed Sunbirds displayed themselves.
Whilst enjoying a cup of hot chocolate we heard dark-backed
Sibia and Golden-throated Barbet but were unable to locate
either of them.
Heading down through the rain we stopped for a couple of Flavescent
Bulbuls and a Dark-backed Sibia before stopping at Km 37.5.
With a persistent drizzle I was not hopeful of our prospects
here but luckily for us the birds performed well and a little
sunshine blessed us with its presence. Along the road we found
a Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Grey-chinned Minivet, Grey-cheeked
Fulvetta, Mountain Bulbul, Golden Babbler, Black-throated
Sunbird, Yellow-cheeked Tit and White-tailed Leaf Warbler
and with this encouragement we headed down the jeep track.
The rain kept things fairly dim at first and we walked quite
some distance without seeing very much at all, just a White-throated
Fantail. At 400m a Green Cochoa was calling and flying around
in the canopy, but despite spending 30-40 minutes with it
we only caught glimpses of it flashing through the upper storey
of the forest. However, as we turned back the sun came out
and with it the birds; we bumped into several excellent mixed
flocks in which we found Lesser racket-tailed Drongo, a male
and a female Large Niltava, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher,
Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, Brown-throated
Treecreeper, Rufous-backed Sibia, Dark-backed Sibia, Grey-cheeked
Fulvetta and Golden Babbler. We also got lucky with a White-crowned
Forktail creeping along the trail. The variety and number
of birds that we found here were very pleasing considering
the weather but it is also worth mentioning the quality of
the forest along this trail. I am always impressed by the
size of the trees and the abundance of ferns, mosses and other
attractive plants along here and Phil was suitably impressed
too.
After lunch at Mr Daeng's we moved down to the campsite near
HQ but found only a few birds there; Large-billed Crow, Mountain
Bulbul and Eurasian Jay. Moving on to Siripum waterfall we
saw virtually nothing at all so it was time to move further
down the mountain to another habitat. Intending to go to the
trail at Km 13 for Collared Falconet we got lucky with this
species sitting on a wire at around Km 15. In fact it was
the larger Blue-bearded Bee-eater which first caught my attention
but we very nicely had both of these species in the same field
of view through the telescope.
With time pressing on we decided to head out
of the national park to get some open-country species; I drove
to the Blossom-headed Parakeet pre-roost site close to Inthanon
Highland Resort. It is important to note that the parakeets
only attend this pre-roost in the dry season and in the wet
are not present. Birds that were present in the area included
Pied Bushchat, Common Iora, Plain-backed Sparrow, Coppersmith
Barbet, Scaly-breasted Munia, Indian Roller, White-throated
Kingfisher and Olive-backed Sunbird which were nice species
to end our day with.
Leaving at 5pm we were back in Chiang Mai a little after 6
having had an excellent day's birding.
1. White-throated Kingfisher: 1
just outside the park. 2. Blue-bearded Bee-eater: 1
at Km 15. 3. Indian Roller: I just outside
the park. 4. Ashy Woodpigeon: 1 flypast
at the summit. 5. Mountain Imperial Pigeon: 1
at Km 37.5. 6. Spotted Dove: A few outside
the park. 7. White-breasted Waterhen: 2,
outside the park. 8. Collared Falconet: 5 at Km
15. 9. Golden-fronted Leafbird: A
flock near park gate. 10. Ashy Drongo: 2 mouhoti,
Km 19. 11. Bronzed Drongo: Fairly common. 12. Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo: 1
on jeep track Km 37.5. 13. Spangled (Hair-crested) Drongo: 1
at Vatcharitan waterfall. 14. Eastern Jungle (Large-billed) Crow: Several
at campsite. 15. Eurasian Jay: 2 at campsite. 16. Black-hooded Oriole: 1ad
2j, Km 19. 17. Grey-chinned Minivet: A few,
Km 37.5. 18. Yellow-bellied Fantail: A
few, summit. 19. White-throated Fantail: A
few, Km 37.5 jeep track. 20. Common Iora: 1 outside the
park. 21. Blue Whistling Thrush: 1
eugenei, Vatcharitan waterfall. 22. Large Niltava: 1m 1f, Km
37.5. 23. Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher: Common. 24. Oriental Magpie Robin: A
few outside the park. 25. White-browed Shortwing: A
few, summit. 26. Slaty-backed Forktail: 2,
Vatcharitan Waterfall. 27. White-crowned Forktail: 1
Km 37.5 jeep track.
28. Pied Bushchat: 1j
male outside the park. 29. Chestnut-vented Nuthatch:
1, Km 37.5 jeep track. 30. Hume's (Brown-throated) Treecreeper: 1,
Km 37.5 track. 31. Yellow-cheeked Tit: A few. 32. Black-crested Bulbul: Common
at lower altitudes. 33. Red-whiskered Bulbul: 2 at
Km 22. 34. Sooty-headed Bulbul: A few
at Km 18. 35. Flavescent Bulbul: 2 near
summit. 36. Streak-eared Bulbul: Abundant
outside the park. 37. Puff-throated Bulbul: A few
at Vatcharitan waterfall. 38. Mountain Bulbul: Common. 39. Common Tailorbird: 1 outside
the park. 40. Ashy-throated Warbler: Several,
summit. 41. Davison's (White-tailed) Leaf Warbler: Abundant. 42. Chestnut-crowned Warbler: 2,
Km 37.5 jeep track. 43. Silver-eared (Chestnut-crowned) Laughingthrush:
A few at summit DI. 44. Pygmy Wren Babbler: 1, summit. 45. Pin-Striped Tit Babbler: Many
at lower altitudes. 46. Golden Babbler: Several,
Km 37.5 jeep track. 47. Bar-throated (Chestnut-tailed) Minla: Common,
summit. 48. Rufous-winged Fulvetta: Common,
summit. 49. Grey-cheeked Fulvetta: Common
Km 37.5. 50. Dark-backed Sibia: A few. 51. Rufous-backed Sibia: 2,
Km 37.5 jeep track. 52. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker:
1m, near park gate. 53. Olive-backed Sunbird: 1 outside
park. 54. Green-tailed Sunbird: A few,
summit. 55. Black-throated Sunbird:
1m 2f, Km 37.5. 56. Plain-backed Sparrow: Several
outside park. 57. Scaly-breasted Munia: Common
outside park.
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.
Central
Mongolia , 20th May-3rd June 2021 - Black-billed
Capercaillie, Oriental Plover, Henderson's Ground Jay, Azure
Tit, Pallas's Sandgrouse: Contact
me for details
Thailand
Raptor Migration, 26th Oct-5th Nov 2021 -
Black Baza, Grey-faced Buzzard, Pied Harrier, Lesser Fish
Eagle, Spoon-billed Sandpiper: Contact
me for details
Central
Mongolia , 20th May-3rd June 2021 - Black-billed
Capercaillie, Oriental Plover, Henderson's Ground Jay, Azure
Tit, Pallas's Sandgrouse: 
Thailand
Raptor Migration, 26th Oct-5th Nov 2021 -
Black Baza, Grey-faced Buzzard, Pied Harrier, Lesser Fish
Eagle, Spoon-billed Sandpiper: 
South
Korea, 5-17th January 2022 - Steller's Sea
Eagle, Relict Gull, Red-crowned Crane, White-naped Crane,
Baikal Teal, Solitary Snipe, Asian Rosy Finch: 
