Northern Thailand 18-21st of May, 2023
Peter Ericsson and Timothy Gotsick

Sunday 14th of May.

Many birders do dedicated trips to foreign fields in search of new birds and thrills. To Thailand most such tours happen during Nov-March period.

Other people are blessed with work to foreign countries and are then able to do a little birding besides work.

Timothy Gotsick had a business trip to Thailand and contacted me for some birding. We had a day in the field a few years back and that resulted in some good birds.

I picked up Tim at 6:30 (he arrived at his hotel after midnight coming in from the US). And we basically thought it would be best to get acquainted with some park birds for starters so as to not have to travel too far.

It took less then 10 minutes and there we were at Benjakitti Park in the middle of Bangkok. Migration is over so only resident birds about. Near the parking spot I know a reliable place for Spotted Owlets. These cute little inquisitive birds are quick to respond and so the first target bird was seen almost immediately . Then an Asian Barred Owlet started singing. This rascal is often very hard to see in this park. And inspite of us trying for half an hour we couldn’t get our eyes on it. Ha! So we moved on and saw things like Black-collared Starlings, Indochinese Roller, Great Myna, Large-billed Crow, Magpie Robin, Streak-eared Bulbuls, Pied Fantail, Brown-throated Sunbird, Scaly-breasted Munias etc.

In the new section of the park a Black Bittern decided to fly around the wetlands. Great views of this rather shy bird.

So back for another try with the owl. This time we manage to find it and even got some pictures.
We then changed to Rot Fai park which was very slow but did yield a Stork-billed Kingfisher.
Then I recalled that someone had posted a sighting at a small area of secondary growth across the river so I called the man that runs the permanent hide set up there. He said he was upcountry but we were welcome to visit on our own.

So, this incredible little spot (about 10m wide and 100m long) in the middle of a congested city once again produced the magic. Not only did we see a Blue-winged Pitta in full view but ALSO a Hooded Pitta! Since when do two species of pittas show together? Both these species are passage migrants arriving in Thailand to breed during the wet season. Most visiting birds do not see them as the birds are absent during winter (dry season).

It had been a great day!

Thursday the 18th.

Tim was done with his work and we flew up to Chiang Mai where we arrived midday. Today was not an official birding day but we went straight to Doi Suthep and Doi Pui looking for birds, butterflies and odonatas.

Evening in a modern hotel with views of the mountain as well as authentic Northern food in a stylish restaurant nearby.

Friday 19th.

An easy drive to Doi Inthanon where we drove straight to the top. The temperature was surprisingly low at 12C. And NO tourists! That meant we had the bog to ourselves. The bog is a swamp with a walkway where wild rhododendrons blossom, birds sing and light nestles its way through the leaves and moss laden tree branches revealing the stunning birds found in this unique environment at 2565m above sea level.

Again, no migratory birds around but enough to keep us busy. Ashy-throated, Blyth’s and Davision’s Leaf Warblers are resident here and all showed very well. Mrs Green Sunbirds were abundant, The ever so cute Bar-throated Minlas were roaming around in their usual fashion. Himalayan Shortwings were singing and showing themselves with ease. Mountain Tailorbird always a delight.
Black-backed Sibias add to the feel of Himalayan birdlife as did Rufous-winged Fulvettas. Pygmy Cupwings were singing but oh so hard to see. Ha! This tiny little ball can be a challenge and yet at other times so easy. We did see it though briefly.

A short drive down from the top and we had our lunch with barbecued meats, papaya salad, sticky rice and noodle soup.

After lunch a longer drive to a waterfall area for different birds did yield a few things but not much.

Everywhere we went below 2000m the forest was extremely loud with very noisy cidadas. I have never experienced such incredible abundance and loud insects as these. Even the jeep track was so loud I couldn’t even hear my own playback. Ha!

We picked up some avocadoes and various nuts at the local market run by hilltribe people that work the plantations on the mountain.

Dinner at headquarter and then we settled in very cozy and comfortable bungalows where cold beer and views of the forest was right in front of us. The owner greeted us with homemade yoghurt and berries. A very tasty snack!

The dark of the night fell to the sounds of Mountain Scops Owl, Collared Scops Owl and Asian Barred Owlets.

Saturday 20th.

This morning we went strait for the track at km 34.5. Normally quite a birdy area. But the cicadas were deafening in here and we honestly could not hear a single bird. We kept going anyhow and did add some things: Hume’s Treecreeper, Gold-throated and Blue-throated Barbets, a pair of Speckled Piculets, Grey-chinned Minivets, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Yunnan Fulvettas, Mountain Bulbuls and Mountain Imperial Pigeon.

Clearly there was no place where the cicadas were not noisy except at the top so back up we went. Ha!

It proved to be a good choice as this time we added good views of Snowy-browed Flycatchers, Eyebrowed Tit (so cute) and Rufous-throated Partridges.

Last hour was spent around our resort where we saw Silver-eared Mesias, Hill and Grey-breasted Prinias, Pied Bushchat, Wire-tailed Swallows, Striated Swallows, Orange-bellied Leafbirds, Black-throated Sunbird and more.

Sunday 21st.

Something different. Just passed the local fresh market there is a road going left. This leads to a sparsely populated area interspersed with various plantations as well as a couple of royal projects.
Tim really wanted to see a Forktail and had spent an hour the night before and then half an hour at dawn without seeing one. As we turned into the road going left there was a stream next to the road.
After about 500m a little pull over. As I stopped the car and looked to the left a splendid pair of White-crowned Forktails were not more then 10m from us. Ha! One of those little magical moments!
We continued up the mountain to the royal area. But hardly a single bird around. Not sure why to be honest except those darn cicadas were noisy as anything. So we decided to explore further along this small winding road. It turned out to be a fun experience as we did get to see some new birds: Striated Bulbul, Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrikes, Rufous-fronted Babblers, Velvet-fronted Nuthatches and Fire-breasted Flowerpecker to name a few.

Another visit to km 34.5 in the hope of adding something. Well, we did! A pair of White-gorgetted Flycatchers performed very well! And we got on to Maroon Oriole!

Another phenomena during our stay was to see snowflakes falling and flying around over the forest. Well, it turned out to be a species of planthoppers called White Moth Bugs. There were so many.
The drive to Chiang Mai went well, we visited some fields and parted at the airport.

In spite of it being a slower time of year birding wise we had many good ones and Timothy with pleasing results.

https://ebird.org/tripreport/132949