| Birdwatching
Tours |
Whether
you are anticipating a few days of birdwatching in and around the
capital city, a couple of days to nearby national parks or planning
a full birdwatching tour of Thailand, thaibirding.com can help you
to organize your holiday.
Tours or day trips can be arranged on request so that you can set
the pace according to your needs and thaibirding caters for birders
of ALL levels, designing a personalized tour around your target species.
Tours can begin in Bangkok, Phuket or Chiang Mai and several other
locations within Thailand and thaibirding.com can arrange all aspects
of your trip including accommodation, vehicles and a varied itinerary.
Please do not hesitate to contact me in order to discuss any aspect
of your trip.
Thank you: nickupton@thaibirding.com |
| Suggested
Itineraries |
| Day
Tours From Bangkok |
1.
Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale - Mud flats, salt pans,
mangrove and paddies provide one of Thailand's premier birdwatching
locations. Here we can find Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Nordmann's
Greenshank, Malaysian Plover, Great Knot, Far Eastern Curlew,
Asian Dowitcher and much more.
2. Bang Pra, Bang Poo &
Muang Boran Fishponds - A freshwater reservoir
surrounded by woodland is an attractive place for a good morning's
birdwatching with species including Rufous Treepie, Lineated
Barbet, Laced Woodpecker, Lesser Coucal, Oriental Darter, Yellow-eyed
Babbler and many more.
In the afternoon visit Bang Poo to check the Brown-headed Gull
flock for rarer species such as Black-tailed Gull or Slender-billed
Gull and Golden-bellied Gerygone in the mangroves before moving
on to nearby Muang Boran Fishponds for White-browed Crake, Pheasant-tailed
Jacana, Asian Golden Weaver, Black-browed Reed Warbler and others.
3. Khao Luk Chang & Petchaburi
Rice Fields - Fragments of dry dipterocarp woodland
around a temple contain Black-headed Woodpecker, Asian Barred
Owlet, Spotted Owlet, Lineated Barbet and a number of other
woodland species. This can be a good area for migrants at the
right times of the year too.
Later on spend time in an agricultural landscape of rice fields,
fish ponds with reedy ditches where Jacanas, Reed Warblers,
Crakes, Rails, Egrets, Herons and Bitterns make for a fantastic
day's birding. |
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| Longer
Tours from Bangkok |
6.
Two or three days: Kaeng Krachan National Park -
Three days is recommended but for those with limited time
a good selection of birds can be seen in two days. This is
one of the best locations for bird watching in the whole of
Thailand and the longer one stays the more birds will be seen.
Species including Great Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill,
Black-and-red Broadbill, Orange-breasted Trogon, Tickell's
Brown Hornbill, Crested Serpent Eagle, Black-thighed Falconet
and Black-and-yellow Broadbill are all frequently seen and,
of course, this is the place, in Thailand, to look for the
weird Ratchet-tailed Treepie.
On a three day trip you will also visit one of the nearby
hides to view a wide variety of birds coming to bathe and
drink for close-up views; species such as Greater Necklaced
Laughingthrush, Large Scimitar Babbler and Bar-backed Partridge
are regular.
On the final afternoon of both the two and three day trip
a visit to Petchaburi Rice Fields will be made on the way
back to Bangkok to look for a variety of wetland species including
Cotton Pygmy Goose, Yellow Bittern, Asian Golden Weaver and
many others.
Kaeng Krachan is closed from 1st August until 1st November.
Kaeng Krachan provides good birding at all times with many
of the most sought-after species most frequently seen in the
breeding season, late February to June: contact
me.
7. Three to five days: Laem Pak Bia/Pak Thale and
Kaeng Krachan National Park - Start the trip by spending
a day near the coast searching for Spoon-billed Sandpiper,
Nordmann's Greenshank, Malaysian Plover, Chinese Egret and
other wetland and open-country species.
Travel on to nearby Kaeng Krachan and use the extra days to
enjoy a magnificent variety of forest species including Woodpeckers,
Hornbills, Broadbills, Raptors and, at the right time of year,
Blue Pitta. There are always many wonderful birds to see here
which change with the season and it is a place you will to
go back to again and again.
The longer trips will also visit one of the hides near Kaeng
Krachan where species such as Kalij Pheasant, Siberian Blue
Robin, Scaly-breasted Partridge and Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush
can often be seen at close quarters.
On
the final afternoon of this trip a visit will be paid to Petchaburi
Rice Fields, on the way back to Bangkok, where many wetland
and open-country birds can be found including Egrets, Bitterns,
Jacanas, Weavers and much more besides.
This trip is likley to produce a massive total of species
due to the quality and diversity of the habitats visited.
This trip is productive for most of the year, although Kaeng
Krachan National Park is closed for the months of August,
September & October: contact
me.
8. Two or three days: Khao Yai National Park
- Due to busy roads between Bangkok and Khao Yai three days
is recommended but for those with only two days to spare a
good selection of species can usually be found. Highlights
here usually include Great Hornbill, Red-headed Trogon, Banded
Kingfisher and Long-tailed Broadbill. This is a very good
location to search for Blue Pitta, Siamese Fireback, Silver
Pheasant and Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo at the right time
of year. Great Eared Nightjar is a great ending to the day
in Khao Yai.
It is essential to visit Khao Yai during the week; weekends
can get extremely busy. Khao Yai is best visited between January
and April although still also quite good into June. The months
of July to November are usually very wet and very quiet here:
contact me.
9. Three days: Bung Boraphet and Mae Wong National
Park - Begin by spending a day at Bung Boraphet taking
a boat trip to look for wildfowl and other waterbirds including
egrets, ibis and reed warblers. Move on to Mae Wong National
Park to search for forest species with Rufous-necked Hornbill,
Burmese Yuhina, Grey Peacock Pheasant and Coral-billed Scimitar
Babbler amongst the target species: contact
me.
Note: Rufous-necked Hornbill is most often seen between June
and October.
10. Three days: Nam Nao National Park - Staying
in national park accommodation we will explore dry and moist
forest in order to observe a wide diversity of species. Nam
Nao is superb for woodpeckers and barbets and there is a high
likelihood of seeing White-bellied and Great Slaty Woodpeckers
as well as many of the smaller species: contact
me.
11. Longer tours - Longer tours beginning
in Bangkok can be arranged to take in any or all of the above
mentioned national parks and travel further afield to the
south and/or north for a greater number and variety of species:
contact me.
|
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| Day
Tours From Chiang Mai |
| 12.
Doi Inthanon - A variety of forest types, chaning with
altitude makes for a wide variety of species here. Highlights
often include Slaty-backed Forktail, Silver-eared Mesia, Green-tailed
Sunbird, Dark-sided Thrush, Pygmy Wren Babbbler, Hume's Treecreeper
and Slaty-bellied Tesia. At the right times of year rarer species
such as Green Cochoa or Grey-breasted Parrotbill can be found.
The summit is always a highlight with flocks of colourful, and
often tame, birds at all times of the year. |
|
| Longer
Tours from Chiang Mai |
13.
Three days: Doi Inthanon National Park - Depart early
morning from Chiang Mai and spend the morning birdwatching on
Doi Inthanon's famous jeep track where we should see Brown-throated
Treecreeper, Blue-winged Minla, Rufous-faced Warbler and a variety
of flycatchers. We will also search for Cochoas and Tesias.
Over the next two days we will visit all altitudes of the mountain
from the bottom where Black-headed Woodpecker is a target species
to the summit where Green-tailed Sunbird is common: at night
we will look for owls: contact
me.
14. Three days: Doi Ang Kang and Fang - A wide
range of accommodation makes this trip suitable for all budgets.
Departing from Chiang Mai in the early morning we will make
a number of birdwatching stops on the journey to Ban Koom at
Doi Ang Kang. Over the next few days we will walk a number of
trails in order to find the specialities of Doi Ang Kang which
include Crested Finchbill, Red-faced Liocichla and Spot-breasted
Parrotbill. On the final day we will descend to the farmland
around Fang where we can observe a number of wetland and open-country
species contact me.
15. Three days: Thatorn and Doi Lang - Driving
to Thatorn form Chiang Mai we will make a number of birding
stops along the way before spending the afternoon and early
evening tracking down wetland and open-country species in the
farmland around Thatorn. Up early the next morning we will head
up Doi Lang for high altitude species - birds such as Stripe-breasted
Woodpecker and White-browed Shrike Babbler are common at this
hieght but in the winter months we will be hoping to see the
rarer species including thrushes and flycatchers as well as
Jerdon's Bushchat contact
me.
16. Seven days: Doi Inthanon, Doi Chiang Dao & Doi
Ang Kang - Starting with Doi Inthanon this trip will
give plenty of time to search for the specialities of all three
of these fabulous mountains and a wdie range of excellent bird
species should be seen contact
me.
17. Extended Trips in the North - Create a
longer birdwatching itinerary choosing from sites such as Doi
Inthanon, Doi Chiang Dao, Mae Hia, Doi Ang Kang, Doi Lang, Thatorn
and Chiang Saen, or go wild and visit them all contact
me. |
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| Longer
Tours from Krabi/Phuket |
18.
Three days: Khao Sok National Park - Taking in a coastal
site on the way to this fabulous national park we can spend
the afternoon tracking down southern forest species. The whole
of the next day will be spent in the forest on our quest for
Helmeted Hornbill, Banded Pitta, Blue-banded Kingfisher and
a host of other southern specialities. Finally we will spend
another morning on the forest trails before heading back and
stopping at a wetland site on the way: contact
me.
19. Four days: Krabi River and Khao Nor Chu Chi
- Beginning with a morning boat ride around the mangroves we
will look for the specialities which include Brown-winged Kingfisher,
Mangrove Pitta and, if we are lucky, Ruddy Kingfisher. Moving
on to KNC there will be sufficient time to watch for Gurney's
Pitta and to search for the many other fabulous lowland species
that occur here. On the final afternoon we will travel back
to Krabi and take another boat trip, this time to the river
mouth where shorebirds can be observed including Terek Sandpiper,
Great Knot and, sometimes, Nordmann's Greenshank: contact
me.
20. Five days: Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, Bala Sector
- This trip will involve a fair amount of travelling on the
first and last days but it is worth it to get to this jewel
of Thailand's forests. Spending three whole days at the Bala
research centre we will indulge ourselves in the many species
of hornbills that can be found, including Rhinoceros, Wrinkled,
White-crowned, Bushy-crested and Helmeted Hornbills. Other birds
we would hope to find are Javan Frogmouth, Bat Hawk and Chestnut-naped
Forktail and there is the chance of finding really rare species
including Garnet Pitta: contact
me.
21. Extended Southern Trips - Longer southern
itineraries can be constructed choosing from sites such as Khao
Sok, Khao Nor Chu Chi, Krabi, Hala-Bala, Thalebun, and a large
number of other speciality sites: contact
me. |
|
| Grand
Tours |
| 22.
Design Your Own Tour - For those with more time longer
itineraries to visit a number of regions of Thailand can be
designed. In two weeks the central area and the north can be
visited, with three weeks this can be done at a more leisurly
pace. With three weeks to a month there is time to visit the
southern, central and northern sites. Please contact me to discuss
an itinerary that will suit you: nickupton@thaibirding.com |
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