Cambodia and Vietnam
Liberty-bird tour
12th February - 5th March 2009
Leaders: James Eaton & Mario Camici
Mekong Wagtail, Mekong River © James Eaton/Birdtour Asia
In co-operation with Swiss-based bird tour company, Liberty-bird we once again explored these wonderful areas of Indochina in search of the endemic species that make it so special and recording a total of 384 species. Firstly a week in Cambodia visited the northern plains, home of the critically endangered Giant Ibis and White-shouldered Ibis, both of which we secured wonderful views of in the same view. White-rumped Falcon, Chinese Francolin and Brown Wood Owl made for a good supporting cast before we moved to the grasslands of the Tonle Sap floodplain – quite brilliant views of several Bengal Florican were had along with Manchurian Reed Warbler, Lanceolated Warbler and Pied Harrier. Finally a stop along the Mekong provided us with Asian Golden Weaver, Black Bittern and of course, Mekong Wagtail. A week in south Vietnam took in stunning views of Bar-bellied and Blue-rumped Pittas, Orange-necked Partridge, Green Peafowl and Blyth’s Frogmouth at Cat Tien National Park while the highlands of Dalat provided plenty of endemics including stunning views of Collared and Orange-breasted Laughingthrush, Grey-crowned Crocias, Vietnamese Cutia and a wonderful Spot-bellied Eagle Owl – again! Our final week, in the north of Vietnam was hampered by mist and rain at Tam Dao but still produced Grey Laughingthrush, Short-tailed Parrotbill, Green Cochoa and White-gorgeted Flycatcher. Finally, Cuc Phoung National Park scored with Ratchet-tailed Treepie, White-winged Magpie, Limestone Wren Babblers and several feisty Pied Falconet.
After our late morning arrival we headed straight for the temples of Angkor Wat. Visiting Ta Promh, Bayon and Angkor Wat temples gave us a nice cross section of these architectural delights that even the most ardent birder has to stop to admire. Birding around the temples was a welcome introduction to the regions more common species and a few of the more desired species. Ta Promh Temples parakeet colony comprised of a large number of raucous Red-breasted Parakeet and smaller number of the less social Alexandrine Parakeet and a further highlight were the large numbers of Black-headed Bulbul heading for a fruiting tree. Bayon is always a non-avian highlight though a smart Black Baza perched overhead continued to distract us until we moved on to the showpiece Angkor Wat. Asian Barred Owlet occurs here at a phenomenally high density with several calling close-by we soon had one perched quietly in the telescope while at the same time watching a sweet-singing Hainan Blue Flycatcher and surprisingly co-operative and showy Pale-legged Leaf Warbler. As we approached our vehicle at sunset Black-capped Kingfisher, Cotton Pygmy Goose and Hill Myna came into view, making a pleasant ending.
Up and out early on our first morning was to become standard over the following three-weeks this morning particularly so as we went in search of the first of our critically endangered targets, Bengal Florican. As the sun raised so did the Striated Grassbirds, Australasian Bushlarks and Oriental Skylarks. Oriental Pratincoles had just returned on territory, snapping away overhead. As we took a walk towards the grasslands our first male Florican flew up and landed our first of two female Bengal Florican clumsily lifted up, the second bird circling us with the sunlight reflecting off her wings allowing us wonderful views. While atching a nearby Red Avadavat we noticed some movement below as a Small Buttonquail was attempting to conceal itself, with some careful manoeuvring the bird took off towards the group alongside us, even allowing one of the photographers to reel off some flight shots, top stuff!
Brown Wood Owl, Tmat Boey White-shouldered Ibis, Tmat Boey
With the heat soon engulfing us we headed north into the remote Preah Vihear province, passing through the ever-changing mix of cultivation, forest and road works reaching our destination, the small, rural village of Tmat Boey in time for our first of several pleasant meals here. We had three nights in the newly constructed guesthouse, now complete with hot showers that were even hotter than the weather which takes some doing! Exploring the different micro-habitats within the open, dry dipterocarp forest that surrounds the village we managed to pin-down most of our hoped-for species. As each day passed we got progressively closer and better views of the two ibis species that have brought this area into the limelight of ornithology over the past five years. From our first views of two White-shouldered Ibis chicks with a distantly perched adult peering over us and the bugling, dawn duet of a pair of Giant Ibis perched at first light we eventually had them so well that while attempting to creep up, successfully, to a pair of feeding Giant Ibis we had their white-shouldered counterparts circling round to start feeding with their huge sisters to keep the cameras clicking. Heading into some nice evergreen patch some gentle coaxing soon had us staring at a Brown Wood Owl at point-blank range, or was it the other way round?! Unfortunately luck wasn’t quite with us with Spotted Wood Owl as the best we could manage was a couple of flight views and plenty of vocalisations though one evening this was of little concern as a Savanna Nightjar soared really low over our heads for several passes, calling continually in our spotlight.
The number of woodpeckers in this forest type is quite astounding with no less than 16 species being recorded at this one site alone, we managed to creep into double figures with repeatedly great views of the striking Black-headed, a mesmerised White-bellied and best of all, four huge Great Slaty Woodpeckers doing their thing, waving their wings around, calling insistently, perching one on top of another while peering down at us with their huge, black eyes. The last main target of this area, White-rumped Falcon continued our 100% record of this delightful species here as a female flew in to inspect us as we walked through her territory, regularly zipping overhead with their distinctive, undulating, fast-flapping flight before perching up nicely.
Walking through the forest over our six birding sessions brought a whole range of enjoyable species we were able to watch at length due to the open nature of the forest, the more notable species including unusually showy White-crested Laughingthrushes performing on exposed branches, several universally scarce Brown Prinia, grotesque Lesser Adjutant, a range of raptors including Changeable Hawk Eagle, Rufous-winged Buzzard and Oriental Honey Buzzard, Indian Thick-knee, even a Chinese Francolin was found perched up calling, so often they frustrate us but this bird just sat and called to his heart’s content, three species of parakeet included several gorgeous male Blossom-headed feeding in the ricefields, Banded Bay and Indian Cuckoos, Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, Spotted Owlet, an encouraging site as 25 Oriental Pied Hornbills flew-by to roost, arboreal Indochinese Bushlark, regular Large and Indochinese Cuckooshrikes, Gold-fronted Leafbird, beautifully marked Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, bullish Burmese Shrikes, Black-hooded and Black-naped Orioles, Vinous-breasted Myna and a whole stack of other wonderful birds – a quite remarkable area particularly given the views of all of these species.
Giant Ibis, Tmat Boey Banded Kingfisher, Cat Tien
Our fond farewell was delayed by the presence of the Minister of Environment who had come to inspect the award-winning eco-tourism project so after a few pleasantries with the minister we headed back to the Tonle Sap floodplain to bird a wonderful mosaic of grassland. After admiring the much underrated, yellow-hued Plain-backed Sparrow we began our walk in the grassland quickly locating a feeding pair of Bengal Florican in the rice-field, our first of several this afternoon. Next up a striking male Pied Harrier quartered our field followed by several less-striking but still attractive Eastern Marsh Harriers. Walking through the tall grasses in the late afternoon eventually reaped its rewards with two Manchurian Reed Warblers eventually co-operated showing off their full suite of characters – black lores, short supercillium, warm colouration, large bill and long tail. As soon as that show was over up popped a couple of Lanceolated Warblers to outperform the acro’s, sitting motionless on open stems, they are not supposed to be that showy! After a whole load of other migrants and residents we finally agreed that it was home time as the sun set and three male floricans came out to feed together just in front of us.
Frustratingly the unscheduled overnight thunderstorm had lingered until the morning but those brave enough to weather the storm headed out to the sodden fields, Yellow-breasted Buntings were present in huge numbers, including many feeding in the arable fields with Pacific Golden Plover, Bluethroat, Red-throated Pipit and a surprise Barred Buttonquail. A drive east, across the mighty Mekong, eventually saw us reach the charming riverside town of Kratie by the mid-afternoon. A beautiful area of rice-fields and wetland came up trumps as we identified all three weaver species, Streaked, Baya and eventually a few of the highly-desired Asian Golden Weavers. While we waited for the weavers a family of Black-backed Swamphen came into view, followed by some Black-browed Reed Warbler and many Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers fleeing from in front of us. Another fine sunset was accompanied by Racket-tailed Treepie, Bronze-winged Jacana, Dusky Warblers, and to top it all off 4 Black Bitterns circling us, perching close-by.
Our final morning in Cambodia saw us on a boat on the calm Mekong River in search of the recently described Mekong Wagtail which performed right on-queue as a pair guarding their nest, constantly flew around us, singing from open stems and feeding on the bushy islets. Small Pratincole became even more obliging as they flew low overhead with one giving the photographers a field day as it sat motionless on a rocky islet. A flapping Ruddy-breasted Crake and finally some playful Irrawaddy Dolphins saw us finish our Cambodia leg most pleasantly.
After our evening flight across the border to Vietnam and a pleasant stay in Saigon we moved swiftly the following morning to Cat Tien National Park. Cat Tien is one of the most important protected areas in Indochina as it harbours a number of Indochinese endemics, many of which are largely restricted to Vietnam. With three full days to play with we managed an impressive haul of the parks specialities helped by the fine weather and some very co-operative birds.
We were particularly lucky with one of the main targets inside the park, the Galliformes. Firstly an excursion into the open grasslands soon provided us with the wonderful sight of two male Green Peafowl chased each other before flying off into cover. Not to be outdone three females then flew down onto the track just in front of us and quietly fed oblivious to our watching eyes. Along the main track cutting through centre of the park we thwarted the attempts of male Red Junglefowl to court the females and we were eventually rewarded for our persistence as a stunning male Siamese Fireback sauntered back and forth in front of our vehicle to be followed later by a pair slowly walking across the road. Scaly-breasted Partridge were found feeding quietly by the trailside one morning but to top off proceedings, with some strategic positioning we all had wonderful views of the bamboo-loving Orange-necked Partridge as a single slowly walked through a gap right where we were expecting him to appear! Our only blip being the not-so-great views of Germain’s Peacock Pheasant as one particular calling bird would not sit still as he walked back-and-forth in front of us giving only brief views to most of us.
The other big targets of the park gave us no problems; a vocal Blue-rumped Pitta plumped himself right in front of, sitting motionless just metres away then just five minutes later a female Bar-bellied Pitta performed almost as well for over 10 minutes before we came across a pair and later on the following day a wonderful male, feeding noisily by the roadside, tossing leaves side-to-side, definitely one of Asia’s finest and most striking species. The highlights here kept on flowing, as dusk settled it wasn’t long before a Blyth’s Frogmouth was sat in the spotlight overhead though it took a fair bit of crashing around and stumbling over one another before we could see his hairy face and ridiculously wide bill! A pair of Banded Kingfisher were a surprise roosting nearby, a species which we saw again the next day, and on the jeep ride home we came across three different Collared Scops Owl actually on and around the road giving wonderful views. Following on with the night birding, a pair of Brown Boobook sat together in the spotlight by the canteen while Large-tailed Nightjars flew by and best of all, ‘the harriers of the night’, Great Eared Nightjars floated-by overhead.
Banded Broadbill, Cat Tien Ashy-fronted Green Pigeon, Cat Tien
Apart from these stand-out species we recorded a huge number of other highly desirable species. Woodpeckers included the scarce Black-and-buff on three occasions, a pair of Laced Woodpeckers sat out in the evening sun and best of all, two different pairs of Pale-headed Woodpeckers did their usual thing of flying in too closely on numerous occasions, allowing for excellent flight views in the sun but the briefest of perched views of this noisy but shy species. Red-vented Barbet, a regional endemic, sat out nicely as did Green-eared, Blue-eared and Lineated Barbets. Great Hornbills swooshed overhead a few times, Orange-breasted and Red-headed Trogons provided a splash of colour. Violet and Asian Drongo Cuckoos were scoped nicely on exposed branches, and green pigeons were typically in evidence with Thick-billed, Orange-breasted and Ashy-headed all seen exceptionally well. Banded Broadbill flew straight in as expected with a whirr of cameras as he performed impeccably. While in the feeding flocks we found wintering Swinhoe’s Minivet, Great Iora, Indochinese Tit Babbler (Grey-faced Tit Babbler being the commonly used English name despite the confusing name of the Grey-cheeked Tit Babbler than occurs on Java!), Scaly-crowned Babbler, Ruby-cheeked, Crimson and Purple-naped Sunbirds, surprisingly regular encounters with good size flocks of the nomadic Golden-crested Myna and a vocal Indochinese Green Magpie was pulled into view on a couple of occasions culminating in a prolonged fly-past of this florescent yellow-hued cissa.
Next it was time for some true Vietnamese endemics as we headed east to the Dalat highlands. First of all we made two excursions to Deo Nui San, a beautiful area of hill forest with a winding road cutting through the heart of it. We made a good start when we hit a feeding flock containing two Black-crowned Parrotbills, a very near-endemic, which we would see even better the following morning as a noisy flock of more than ten birds. White-cheeked Laughingthrush, our first endemic laughingthrush appeared in a large and noisy but skittish flock, so typical of the species. Orange-breasted Laughingthrush, one of the finest songsters, provided plenty of entertainment and frustration with several birds in full song but we could never all find that window through the understorey to admire them in all their beauty. Unusually for this site feeding flocks proved thin on the ground as many birds appeared to be breeding, with patience and perseverance however, Long-tailed Broadbills gave us some showing, as did Maroon Oriole, Black-winged Cuckooshrike and an elusive Blue Pitta gave itself away to most of us.
From the base of our comfortable Dalat hotel for three nights we birded three sites, first up was Mount Lang Bian for yet another Laughingthrush, perhaps the most striking yet elusive laughingthrush of the region. Usually the views obtained make the field guide illustration seem rather over the top but with the views we obtained of a pair, including one sat out preening in the sun it looked bland such are the intensity and contrasts of orange, black, yellow and reds. The star of the mountain had plenty of competition on this morning, particularly during one purple patch when our search for a White-browed Shrike Babbler turned into views of Black-headed Sibia, singing Vietnamese Cutia, Yellow-billed Nuthatch and some super agitated Black-crowned Fulvetta just feet away. Lesser Shortwing, Annam Fulvetta (split from Mountain), Kloss’s and Blyth’s Leaf Warbler, White-spectacled Warbler and Chestnut-crowned Warbler made up the supporting cast in the deciduous forest while the walk back through the pines took much longer than usual thanks to the Mugimaki Flycatchers, Large Niltava, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch and Grey Bushchat.
During one afternoon we spent a short time at Tuyen Lam Lake for a couple of local specialities that did not take long to find as several Slender-billed Orioles flew straight in to take a look at us, as did Burmese Shrike, pine-loving annamensis Long-tailed Minivet, Large Cuckooshrike and finally a good little feeding flock contained the hoped-for Grey-crowned Tit just when we were ready to turn around.
We concentrated most of our effort at the small, well-forest valley leading to Ta Nung village. This valley is home to Dalat’s most famous and elusive endemic; Grey-crowned Crocias. This year they had been proving elusive so we followed up the calls of a distant bird which led us to a large feeding flock containing two beautifully marked crocias, though it took some time and walking before we obtained our desired views of this often canopy-dwelling species. While waiting for yet another Orange-breasted Laughingthrush to come into view three Vietnamese Greenfinch flew over in the sunlight, almost amazingly the only ones of the trip. This laughingthrush did not co-operate but the next singing pair we came across more than made up for our earlier views as they crept towards us quietly before jumping onto open branches to perform a deafening duet in the sun, superb! While stalking these birds we even came across a bloomimg Sapria himalayana, a species of raffelsia, which excited the keen botanists amongst us. Feeding flocks came and went, containing several new, exciting species for us; Red-billed Scimitar Babbler, Rufous-backed Sibia, Grey-cheeked Warbler and even a Pale Blue Flycatcher joined the White-cheeked Laughingthrushes, Black-headed Sibia and yet more Black-crowned Parrotbills. Grey-bellied Tesia proved typically pesky in its appearances as they bounced through the thickets. Though despite all these wonderful endemic and near-endemic species what really stole the show was the same bird as last year, after hearing a couple of hoots it did not take long before a huge Spot-bellied Eagle Owl took to the wing, flying overhead and across the large clearing, not once but twice, even perching out in full view on both occasions, gazing at us with his frowning, grumpy expression!
Leaving the south and the good weather behind us we flew to a grey and misty Hanoi, quickly being whisked up to the former French hill station of Tam Dao, via a Long-tailed Shrike and a churring Manchurian Bush Warbler to be greeted by weather that can only be described as awful, when there is fog in the restaurant you know you are in for some tough birding! Despite the weather over our two days at Tam Dao being damp, grey, thick mist and wet throughout the views and species we obtained was quite outstanding. The feeding flocks that shuffled quickly through the lush vegetation were dominated by new species for us, Silver-eared Mesia added a welcome splash of colour to the days although even they could only be identified in the nearest bushes, Schaeffer’s Fulvetta (yet another split, this time from Grey-cheeked) was common as were roving groups of Indochinese Yuhina, wintering Pallas’s Leaf Warbler and Golden Babbler. It was in these feeding flocks that we came across large groups of the diminutive, bull-headed Short-tailed Parrotbill – only the size of a wren but half of its length is taken up by that huge head! We had unusually prolonged views, initially a group of 15 then the following day a group of 10 by the roadside, very high on the bird of the trip rankings. A singing Green Cochoa, one of Asia’s most beautiful birds, sat out on exposed branching close-by though we could only identify him from silhouette due to the fog and just the same happened with Sultan Tit, arhh! A really close fruiting tree offered some respite as a lovely pair of Orange-bellied Leafbird noisily munched away at eye-level. The thick, bamboo forest always held something new for us, first up was a group of surprisingly confiding Grey Laughingthrush, a wonderfully marked species when seen close-up, kept coming into view, often perching out in the open on one of the few occasions that the mist probably worked in our favour. Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler sat up close-by and a pair of noisy Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler gave extended views but often frustratingly just above the bamboo overhead – this was definitely a tour for working out our neck muscles! A personal favourite of mine took some finding but eventually performed, a White-gorgeted Flycatcher that sang ever so quietly.
Other notable encounters during our two days here included a confiding, vocal Fork-tailed Sunbird, Collared Babbler, Black-chinned Yuhina, a flock of Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush identified by call despite them sitting on exposed branches on the roadside, two female Short-billed Minivet, Chestnut Bulbul, a confiding male Siberian Bluetail and on the way down the hill when leaving a flock of Red-billed Blue Magpie.
Pied Falconets, Cuc Phoung Slender-billed Oriole, Dalat
Our final destination was Cuc Phoung National Park, Vietnam’s oldest and largest, opened by Ho Chi Minh himself. Frustratingly the weather turned out to be not much better here! On the way to the park we made a stop and a boat trip at Van Long Nature Reserve, a beautiful area of limestone karst and open marshes brimming with birds, egrets, herons, White-browed Crake, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Eurasian Teal, Wigeon and Garganey made up the water-birds. Though our main targets were situated on the limestone itself, first an adult and immature Bonelli’s Eagle circled overhead and sat nearby watching over us as we waited for the star of the reserve, which didn’t take long to find as a group of Delacour’s Langur moved from bush to bush, jumping along the open limestone to their next destination. These critically endangered black monkeys with the white shorts number less than 200 and are restricted to a tiny area of the red river basin with Van Long offering the only viable long-term population of this species, quite a sobering thought as we watched the monkeys enjoying themselves playing on the rocks.
Our first morning at Cuc Phoung was spent along the road providing a few instant successes, chunky Limestone Wren Babbler were as confiding and vocal as ever giving the photographers the run-around especially with the low shutter speeds! A fantastic White-tailed Blue Flycatcher shimmered his white outer-tail feathers while mimicking ten species in his song. A pair of White-winged Magpie joined a canopy feeding flock though not long enough for all of us and keeping low as ever were some excellent Rufous-throated Fulvetta, we even managed scope views of this fast-moving sprite. Pied Falconet were conspicuous during our stay, with the misty weather bringing them to the open snags in the clearings and we saw them at three localities numbering at least 6 individuals, one even perching directly above our heads along the road. Deciding to move to the trails for the afternoon pushed our luck a little with less than few birds heard, let alone seen! We still pulled out a couple of goodies though in the form of a wintering male Fujian Niltava sat quietly at eye-level and a close flock of White-winged Magpie’s proved much more accommodating than earlier in the day.
Venturing onto the trails for a full morning on our final full day was equally mixed, Ratchet-tailed Treepie had led us on a merry dance over the previous days with just distant calling and when we eventually got close they would only show themselves openly rather distantly as four (!) groups of school children seemed equally keen on sharing these shy bamboo-lovers much to our annoyance and hilarity. Red-headed Trogon and more Limestone Wren Babbler more or less completed our morning along with a flock of Japanese Thrush feeding in the roadside leave-litter. With most of the hoped-for species now under our belt we relaxed a little on our final afternoon by visiting the Primate Rehabilitation Centre, almost the only way of seeing some of Vietnam’s 25 species of primate including the gorgeous Grey-shanked and Red-shanked Douc’s and some acrobatic gibbons joyfully playing games with toilet rolls! Even here we picked up a new species as two Grey-backed Thrush fed high-up. Thrushes were noticeably scarce due to the mild winter.
Birding around the entrance proved to be birdier than the entire last week with Maroon Oriole, Grey-backed Shrike, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Blue-winged Leafbird joining the large numbers of bulbuls and Japanese White-eyes and right at the death we finally located a quiet feeding flock of another regional endemic, the subtle Black-browed Fulvetta, phew! After a good night’s sleep and some White-browed Crakes and Pheasant-tailed Jacana feeding on the exposed mud at Van Long once again we made our way to the airport, in the rain of course, to end what had been a marvellous three weeks.
Verditer Flycatcher, Ta Nung © James Eaton/Birdtour Asia
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