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Thailand’s great range of habitats, some superb national parks, and outstanding diversity of migrant and resident birds make it the premier Southeast Asian birding destination. We’ll see a rich variety of migrant waders along the mangrove coastline west of Bangkok and search for freshwater marsh birds among the rice paddies, glittering temples and ancient ruins of the Chao Phraya floodplain. The towering evergreen forests of Khao Yai will give us hornbills, trogons, and leafbirds among many other tropical species. And fabulous mammals including noisy gibbons and perhaps Asian Elephant can also be found. Amid the cool ambience of the subtropical broadleaved and pine forests of Chiang Mai region, we’ll visit the summit of Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s highest mountain, and the rugged Thai-Burmese border around Doi Ang Khang. Our Gurney’s Pitta pre-tour extension to southern Thailand will offer a chance to see 50 or more species restricted to peninsular Malaysia and the Greater Sundas. Our time will be spent mostly in lowland forest, secondary growth and cultivation at Khao Nor Chuchi, where our primary aim will be to see the critically endangered and stunningly beautiful Gurney’s Pitta. We stand a decent chance of seeing this species due to the expertise and careful arrangements of our local guides. Our other birding location here is at Krabi Bay on the west coast of the peninsula, where we’ll explore by boat both mangrove forest and open mud and sand flats amid the classic scenery of limestone karsts. Finally we are offering a short post-tour extension to the Thaton Highlands. This is a remote mountainous region in the extreme northwest of Thailand and is where a number of new, seldom-seen species await us. Phil Round knows the region well and is looking forward to sharing its avian delights with us. Friday 1 February to Monday 18 February 2008 with the post-tour Northern extension to Wednesday 20 February Day P1: The pre-tour Gurney's Pitta extension begins with an overnight flight to Bangkok. Day P2: On arrival in Bangkok, we'll transfer to our hotel for the night. The remainder of the day has no planned birding excursions. Night in Bangkok. Day P3: Today we'll take an early morning flight to Krabi where we'll be met by our local guide. We'll go directly to the Khao Nor Chuchi area for an afternoon’s birdwatching. Night at the Morakot Resort. Day P4: We’ll spend the first of two mornings in the Khao Nor Chuchi area in search of the superb Gurney’s Pitta. Afterwards we’ll search speciality species such as Red-crowned and Red-throated Barbets, Red-bearded Bee-eater, Black-thighed Falconet , Banded Pitta, Banded, Black-and-Yellow, and Green Broadbills, Dark-throated Oriole, Rufous-winged Philentoma, Fulvous-chested Flycatcher, and Ferruginous and Large Wren Babblers among others. Wintering species from eastern Asia may include Crow-billed Drongo, Orange-headed Thrush, Asian Brown and Chinese Blue Flycatcher, Siberian Blue Robin, and both Arctic and Eastern Crowned Warblers. The rare Green-backed Flycatcher is also a possibility. We’ll bird on at least one of our evenings and have a good chance of seeing the localized, distinctive sounding, and rare White-fronted Scops-Owl. Other nocturnal species might include Spotted and Brown Wood-Owls, and with very good luck, either a Gould’s or a Javan Frogmouth. Night at the Morakot Resort. Day P5: Morning at Khao Nor Chuchi, including the possibility of further work for Gurney’s Pitta if we have not already seen it. Otherwise we’ll walk the splendid forested trails of Khao Nor Chuchi. In the afternoon we’ll return to Krabi. Night in Krabi. Day P6: This morning we’ll take a boat ride through mangroves to the mouth of the river. In the mangroves we’ll be searching carefully for Chestnut-bellied Malkoha, Brown-winged Kingfisher, Streak-breasted Woodpecker, Mangrove Pitta, Mangrove Whistler and Ashy Tailorbird among other species. In addition to the hoped-for Chinese Egret and Nordmann’s Greenshank other shorebirds may include Great Knots, Terek Sandpipers, and Great and Lesser Crested Terns. Brahminy Kites and White-bellied Sea Eagle soar overhead, Dusky Crag Martins are resident, bright orange badia race Striated Swallows skirt the cliff-faces, and Pacific Swallows fly up and down the river. Later in the day we’ll return to Bangkok where the pre-tour extension concludes on Day 2 of the Main Tour. Night in Bangkok. Main tour: Day 1: The tour begins in London with an overnight flight to Bangkok. Day 2: On arrival in Bangkok we will transfer to our hotel. Night in Bangkok. Day 3: Today we’ll explore the mudflats, mangroves and salt pans of the Gulf of Thailand, west of the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, searching for a variety of shorebirds including Red-necked and Long-toed Stints, Broad-billed and Marsh Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Sandplovers and, if we’re lucky, Nordmann’s Greenshank and Asian Dowitcher. There is a very real chance of seeing the Spoon-billed Sandpiper whose world population is thought to be only 300-600 pairs. One to four birds winter annually near the Chao Phraya River mouth. We should also find Brown-headed Gull, Brahminy Kite and Black-capped and Collared Kingfishers among many other species. If time permits we’ll explore some freshwater marshland and parkland before returning to our hotel in the late afternoon. Night in Bangkok. Day 4: In the early morning we’ll visit a freshwater marsh on the outskirts of the city to look for a variety of marsh birds and wintering passerines including Yellow Bittern, Ruddy-breasted Crake, the secretive Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Oriental and Black-browed Reed Warblers, and perhaps Siberian Rubythroat. As we journey onward to Ayutthaya we’ll stop to examine concentrations of Asian Openbills in the marshy fields. We’ll have lunch at a riverside restaurant in Ayutthaya, the former capital of Old Siam, where among the ruins we’ll find a further variety of woodland and parkland birds including Lineated and Coppersmith Barbets, Common Iora, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, and perhaps Small Minivet. We’ll arrive at Khao Yai in the late afternoon. Tonight, and the next three nights, will be spent in a luxury resort amid spectacular cliffs and wooded scenery by the northern gate of Khao Yai National Park. We’ll search for Red-breasted Parakeets, and other birds, within the resort grounds. Night near Khao Yai National Park. Days 5-7: We’ll spend three full days exploring the densely forested hills, clear rivers and waterfalls at Khao Yai, one of the loveliest and best-preserved tracts of tropical evergreen forest in Indochina. Khao Yai is noted for larger forest birds, and we’ll look for four species of hornbills, including the magnificent Great Hornbill, as well as Orange-breasted and Red-headed Trogons, Banded Kingfisher, Banded and Long-tailed Broadbills, and Sultan Tit. In addition we can expect a variety of raptors, pigeons, barbets, woodpeckers, leafbirds, bulbuls, laughingthrushes, babblers, warblers, sunbirds, and flowerpeckers. Red Junglefowl and Siberian Blue Robin haunt the undergrowth, and there is a chance of scarcer ground birds such as the elegant Siamese Fireback, and the elusive Coral-billed Ground-Cuckoo and Blue Pitta. At dusk we’ll look for Great Eared-Nightjars and we'll make nocturnal excursions in our hotel grounds for Brown Boobook and other nightbirds. Khao Yai is especially rich in mammals including Pig-tailed Macaque, gibbons, Black Giant Squirrel, Civets, Sambar and Barking Deer, and Asian Elephant. Nights near Khao Yai National Park. Day 8: After a final morning’s birdwatching in Khao Yai we’ll return to Bangkok in time for an afternoon flight to Chiang Mai. Night in Chiang Mai. Day 9: The avifauna of northern Thailand differs markedly from that of the central region, and includes many Himalayan birds. Over the following week we’ll visit a succession of habitats from open plains to forested mountain slopes, where we’ll find a wealth of new species, including numerous new barbets, bulbuls and babblers. This is also one of the most exciting parts of the country for such wintering Palearctic birds as Eyebrowed and other thrushes, Olive-backed Pipit, and Common Rosefinch. By special arrangement, we’ll visit the summit of Doi Pui, an area of open oak and pine forest and cypress plantations at over 5,000 feet. It is ideal for wintering and resident birds and always seems to produce a surprise or two. We’ll focus on flycatchers, chats, thrushes, phylloscopus warblers, including both resident White-tailed and wintering Hume’s Leaf Warblers, perhaps Chestnut Bunting, and such resident species as Blue-throated Barbet, Grey-chinned and Long-tailed Minivets, and Yellow-cheeked Tit. There is also a possibility of finding Hume's Pheasant. After a picnic lunch on the mountain, we’ll visit open scrub and grassland on the western outskirts of the city to search for Rufous-winged Buzzard, Burmese Shrike, Ashy Woodswallow, Indochinese Bushlark, and other birds. Night in Chiang Mai. Day 10: We’ll spend the first part of the morning visiting a lowland paddy basin near Doi Saket looking for Oriental Skylark, Pintail Snipe, Grey-headed Lapwing, Bluethroat and perhaps, if we are lucky, either Small or Yellow-legged Buttonquail. We’ll go to the Huai Hong Khrai Royal Development Project, a lovely area of low rolling hills covered with deciduous forest and containing scattered lakes. Here we’ll be looking for one of the most elusive and threatened large birds in Asia, Green Peafowl, which has recently recolonized this area owing to much-improved protection. After lunch we’ll travel on to Doi Inthanon where we’ll spend the next three nights in a pleasant resort at the foot of the mountain. Night near Doi Inthanon. Day 11: We’ll spend these days exploring the huge range of habitats on Doi Inthanon which, at 8,400 feet, is Thailand’s highest mountain. Habitats range from open deciduous dipterocarp woodland on the lower slopes, upward through a succession of pine, open woodland and deforested open country, and finally moist, broad-leaved evergreen forest. We’ll spend our first morning around the summit of the mountain, which supports an upper montane forest with an abundance of gorgeous flowering rhododendrons and orchids. Here we’re certain to see a multitude of brightly-coloured small birds including Chestnut-tailed Minla, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Yellow-bellied Fantail, and the stunning Gould’s and Green-tailed Sunbirds. As we follow a boardwalk around a sphagnum-moss bog, we’ll look for shy ground-skulkers such as Rufous-throated Partridge, White-browed Shortwing, Dark-sided, and Grey-sided Thrushes, Red-flanked Bluetail, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, and Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush. After a picnic lunch we’ll begin our descent, birding as we go. Night at Inthanon Highland Resort. Day 12: We’ll begin the day working the dry dipterocarp forest of the lower slopes, at roughly 1,200 feet, looking for Collared Falconet, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, Black-hooded Oriole, and woodpeckers, perhaps including White-bellied and Black-headed, the latter an Indochinese endemic. If we’re very fortunate we may also find another Indochinese endemic, White-rumped Falconet. We’ll also stop at a waterfall to look for White-capped and Plumbeous Redstarts. After a picnic lunch we’ll spend the remainder of the day in a quiet valley, birding cultivated land and regenerating forest for the birds typical of these habitats. Night at Inthanon Highland Resort. Day 13: Our final morning on Doi Inthanon will be spent exploring the loftiest and most species-rich forest on the mountain, at 5,000-6,000 feet elevation. Among the species we’ll be looking for are Maroon Oriole, Short-billed Minivet, Brown-throated Treecreeper, Silver-eared Mesia, Spectacled Barwing, Rufous-backed Sibia, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, and Large Niltava. We’ll return to Chiang Mai in the late afternoon. Night in Chiang Mai. Day 14: We’ll leave early for the Mae Taeng Irrigation Project, part way to Chiang Dao District. The open country, where a shingle river descends from the steep mountains to the west, always produces a fine variety of birds including Wire-tailed Swallow, Chestnut-capped Babbler, Chestnut-tailed Starling, Crested Bunting, and Red Avadavat. Siberian Rubythroat is common here and we’ll hope for excellent views of this living jewel. We’ll also look for Baikal (Spotted) Bush Warbler among other species. We’ll take lunch on route and drive to our accommodation at the Ang Khang Nature Resort, which lies close to prime birding areas on Doi Ang Khang, at about 5,000 feet. There will be some time for afternoon birding in scrub and open woodland. Night at Ang Khang Nature Resort. Days 15-16: We’ll spend two full days exploring Doi Ang Khang, a rugged and beautiful mountain perched on the Thai-Burmese border. The mountain is home to Chinese (remnants of Chiang Kai-shek’s armies who settled here following the Chinese revolution) as well as Shan, Lahu and Palong tribespeople. The Thai government has established watershed protection and upland agriculture projects to help conserve the environment. Though forest cover is much reduced, a great diversity of forest birds remains. Open oak-pine forests support Long-tailed Minivet, Slender-billed Oriole, and even a few Giant Nuthatches, though this species has become very hard to find. Among the specialities we can expect are Brown-breasted Bulbul, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler, White-browed Laughingthrush, and Spot-breasted Parrotbill. We’ll also hope to see Mountain Bamboo Partridge, Buff-throated and Chinese Leaf Warblers, Crested Finchbill, Red-faced Liocichla, and Black-browed Parrotbill, and there is a very real possibility of Hume’s Pheasant. The airspace above at times teems with Pacific Swifts that roost in a cave in the mountain, and there is always the chance of spotting something unexpected – perhaps a rare thrush, bunting or finch. The proximity of our accommodation to the prime birding areas means that we’ll be able to return to the hotel for a relaxing midday break. Nights at Ang Khang Nature Resort. Day 17: Depending on birding opportunities, we’ll either spend our last early morning on Doi Ang Khang or we’ll leave the mountain early and descend to Mae Fang National Park. The latter site, where a clear-water rushing stream emerges from the foothills amid mixed deciduous woodland, is the only known location where Brown Dipper is perhaps still regular. We’ll also have the chance of adding a few more forest birds perhaps including Pin-tailed Pigeon, Yellow-bellied Warbler or Spot-winged Grosbeak. Returning to Chiang Mai for lunch, we'll catch a late afternoon flight back to Bangkok, arriving in time to connect with a flight back to London where the tour ends on Day 18. Post-tour Northern extension: Those taking the post-tour Northern extension will continue to Thaton Resort, in the extreme northern plains, a further 40 km to the north of Chiang Mai. We'll spend the late afternoon birding in open lowlands where we expect to find Striated Grassbird, and if we are lucky, Eastern Marsh and Pied Harriers. Other possibilities include migrant buntings, Citrine Wagtail, and even Jerdon’s Buschat or Rosy Pipit. Overnight at Tha Ton Resort. Day 18: We make a very early morning start for Doi Lang, where a steep metalled road enables us to reach altitudes of around 6400 feet. Doi Lang is really a ridge of Thailand’s second highest mountain, the wonderfully sounding Doi Pha Hom Pok, which supports the largest tract of highland forest remaining in northern Thailand, home of a few species of birds with restricted ranges in Thailand. We’ll look for birds mostly along the roadside forest edge, which allows for spectacular views over a steep escarpment sloping away across the border into the Burmese hills to the north. This is very much an exploratory trip, but species which have been found here and which we’ll be looking for include Black-throated Tit, Whiskered Yuhina, and if we are very lucky, Red-tailed Laughingthrush and perhaps even Spotted Wren Babbler, Golden Bush Robin and Scarlet Finch. Crested Finchbills, which are often scarce on Doi Ang Khang, are usually abundant on Doi Lang and other species which are present include White-bellied Redstart and Jerdon’s Bushchat. We’ll have all day on the mountain, with a picnic lunch, and return to Tha Ton Resort for the night. Day 19: We'll have time for some early morning birding in the marshy plains around Tha Ton before we embark on the three hour drive back to Chiang Mai for our late afternoon flight back to Bangkok. There will be an opportunity to freshen up at a hotel near the airport before taking an overnight flight to London where the tour concludes on Day 20. Main tour only Cost £3270 With the pre-tour Gurney's Pitta extension £4290 With the post-tour Northern extension £3580 Single room supplement £290 With both extensions £4610 Single room supplement £350 Maximum group size: 14 with 2 leaders for the main tour and post-tour extension. 6 with 2 leaders for the pre-tour Pitta extension. 2 leaders will join regardless of group size. The ground arrangements for this tour are organised by our American associates WINGS. E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.
Last updated April 2008. |
along with other waders such as Great Knot.
and Chestnut Bunting.
And there are, of course, a wealth of exotic resident species such as this rarely seen Green Cochoa...
andr cute Ashy Wood Swallows. |
Bird List
Thailand is famous for its wintering migrants too, such as this Siberian Blue Robin...
