Cambodia OBC Tour
26th January - 7th February 2009
Leader: James Eaton
Participants: Bob East, Mike Hoit, Les Holliwell,
Don and Sally Roberts, Dave Sargeant, Brian Short
Oriental Bay Owl, O’Koki © James Eaton / Birdtour Asia
The third Oriental Bird Club fundraising tour to Cambodia was just as successful as its predecessors, even exceeding expectations with just about all our targets included within the 271 species recorded. The highlights were obvious, especially those big birds – from Sarus Crane in the open fields, Milky Stork and Greater Adjutant amoung the throng of breeding water-birds. Across the wild plains of the north we unearthed White-winged Duck, four species of savaging vulture, Oriental Bay Owl and Blyth's Frogmouth, then the two iconic symbols of Cambodian birding – Giant and White-shouldered Ibis before finishing off with Bengal Florican and the recently described Mekong Wagtail.
We started the tour in typical fashion by spending the day at the fascinating temples of Angkor Wat. A morning stroll around Angkor Wat, birding under the shadows of the ancient temples makes for an unforgettable experience, starting off with a variety of the more common species typical of the Indochinese landscape was a nice introduction; Common Hill Myna, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Greater racket-tailed Drongo and a whole host of wintering migrants; Olive-backed Pipit, Yellow-browed, Two-barred Leaf Warbler and the usually elusive Pale-legged Leaf Warbler. Scanning the undergrowth, Dave brilliantly picked out a female White-throated Rock Thrush which sat motionless for over ten minutes, and we also came across Ashy Minivet, Black-winged Cuckooshrike and Asian Barred Owlet and finally picking up the most striking raptor of Asia, Black Baza. After a walk through the inner chambers of the temple we had lunch at a charming restaurant in Siem Reap before venturing back for more of an insight into the creation and makings of the structures with a visit to the fascinating Bayon temple still adorned with wonderful carvings on the sandstone. Finally, a visit to 'the Jungle Temple', Ta Prohm Temple where as the sun began to set wonderful colours and pictures began to appear as the jungle slowly takes over the walls. The huge trees, with roots climbing over the stone walls, held many Red-breasted Parakeets along with a few even more raucous Alexandrine Parakeets with several recently fledged young, a species undergoing a severe population crash throughout south-east Asia, surviving now in small pockets of Cambodia and Myanmar.
As dusk descended on us a pair of Brown Boobook eventually appeared and sat out, calling in the telescope, a suitable ending to a pleasant day.
Another day with a difference saw us spend the day on our small boats, cruising through the meandering waterways deep inside the Prek Toal World Biosphere Reserve in the north-west corner of the Tonle Sap, the largest water body in south-east Asia. Although the water-bird numbers weren't at their maximum just yet we still encountered a throng of big birds circling overhead and perched along the waterways, including a confiding Grey-headed Fish Eagle with a freshly caught fish, huge number of Asian Openbill to begin with then more Painted Stork came into view with Cinnamon and Yellow Bitterns flying across in front of us. We reached our intended viewing platform, perched precariously on top of a small tree. Taking it in turns we could scan the Painted Stork colony in front of us, quickly locating two different Milky Stork, but unfortunately they couldn't seem to find each other, instead both were paired with Painted Storks, just as we found last year at Ang Trapeang Thmor. Peering through the colony with a high magnification the huge, grotesque outlines of Greater Adjutants could be made out but we had to wait a little while before a couple came closer, circling around and above us with two more Milky Storks joining in. With our picnic lunch under the shade of the tree platform in the comforts of our little two-man boats we headed back at a relaxed pace, enjoying watching the 28 Peregrines (or was it just two useless birds, over and over again!) maybe hoping for easy pickings as we flushed up birds from the marshes, although never seeming to catch anything!
Heading west we made our way pre-dawn for a full days birding around the reservoir of Ang Trapeang Thmor, constructed during the Khmer Rouge regime. It always seems to take forever to reach the water due to the abundance of birds in and around the roadside rice-fields. Getting out of the car a song drew us straight to an Australasian Bushlark singing close to the vehicle from the top of a bush, Eastern Marsh Harriers quartered the fields, while Red-throated Pipits flew overhead. The roadside dike held Oriental Reed Warbler and White-shouldered Starlings along with attractive, singing Plain-backed Sparrows while a Ruddy-breasted Crake flashed across the open dike before running into cover.
Picking up our ranger we headed for the northern side of the reservoir, keeping clear of the open water he took us to an area where the first Sarus Cranes had arrived for the season just the previous day. We spotted our first cranes feeding in the stubble while still driving, getting out of the vehicle we obtained reasonable views of them and then more flying back and forth but the heat haze was already rising – so much so that a thermaling aquila reminded unidentified. Finally we started scanning the extensive vegetated margins of the reservoir. Thousands of duck swirled around, predominately Lesser Whistling Duck and Garganey, a rare sight seeing such number in south-east Asia. Purple Herons were dotted around and good number of both Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed Jacana joined the Purple-backed Swamphens on the lilies.
After lunch and brief siesta (plastic chairs are not great for a good siesta!) we headed for the opposite side of the reservoir. Passing the huge expanse of open, empty water we noticed a few dots out in the middle, slightly surprised, a scan revealed dabbling ducks – 157 Pintail, 4 Eurasian Wigeon, 2 Tufted Duck and, bizarrely, a drake Greater Scaup. The latter two being new birds for the country while the Pintail count was by far and away a record (in fact one of our previous held the record with a grand total of 6!).
The far side of the water was brimming with birds –many Painted Storks, Spot-billed Pelicans, Oriental Darter, swamphens, whistling ducks, Cotton Pygmy Geese, jacanas and Comb Duck, the latter at its stronghold in south-east Asia. A small number of Sarus Crane fed closer than the morning birds on the opposite side of the road and provided an interesting distraction from the thousands of water-birds. Passerines flicked about too – Dusky Warbler, Ashy Minivet, Indochinese Cuckooshrike and Streak-eared Bulbul. Paying closer attention to the lily-pads a White-browed Crake was located feeding out in the open. With the sun already heading west he decided to start making our way east, back to town. The drive back proved quite memorable, a stunningly close, quartering female Pied Harrier was later followed by a male Pied Harrier, one of the most attractive of eastern palearctic raptors.
Waving good-bye to the luxury and comforts of the city we headed for the wilderness of the northern plains, covering three sites over the next six nights all within Preah Vihear province, a region out of bounds for so many years due to politics and war. A full days drive through the fields, forest and villages saw us navigate to our small camp situated in the middle of nowhere! Fortunately we arrived right at dusk, being held up by two different sightings of the diminutive White-rumped Falcon, and after messing about with our tents and enjoying a camp dinner we headed out for a brief owling session, after a little while an Oriental Scops Owl began hooting, some careful shuffling about was needed and soon enough we found him poking his head out of a Y, peering down at us. Once we were all happy it was straight to bed – some really early starts were to follow!
Quietly sneaking into our hides well before dawn, we sat and waited, a Savanna Nightjar perched on the hide making sure none of us could even think about grabbing some extra winks as he called incessantly! Huge silhouettes began to appear in the trees as the sky lightened, movement in front of us revealed two Golden Jackals nosing around the freshly-laid cow carcass. It was now bright enough to identify the silhouettes as vultures with ones and twos starting to fly down, first a Red-headed Vulture chased off the Jackals then remarkably a huge Black Vulture flew down, dwarfing the Red-headed, this was only the second record for the country. Within five minutes we were staring at 38 White-rumped, 5 Red-headed, Black, and most importantly 6 Slender-billed Vultures all leaving their manners behind and ripping apart the cow, a most comical sight. It took just an hour before the vultures had reduced the cow to a pile of bones, it was just 7am! With so much of the morning still left we birded the immediate vicinity coming across a surprisingly large range of species, first up were stunning Black-headed Woodpeckers feeding in the burnt grasses, the first of many over the next week. Black-hooded Oriole, Small Minivet, Common Woodshrike and Burmese Shrike, all typical inhabitants of the dry, open dipterocarp forest that covers the northern plains.
Blue skies, a light breeze and the mid-morning timing brought up an astonishing amount of raptors, Shikra was common, a dark-phase Booted Eagle (3rd Cambodian record!), vultures circling, Changeable Hawk Eagle, both Greater and Lesser Adjutants and of most interest were two Aquila eagles, wing-shape, upper-part patterning and light colouration found us excitedly considering the prospect of Indian Spotted Eagles, especially as the leader has seen similar birds in previous years and on his subsequent tour in February. Subsequent communication with experts in this notoriously difficult group of eagles confirmed from our photos that the birds were simply bleached Greater Spotted Eagles, presumably becoming so light here due to the intense light, though the wing-shape is harder to explain!
Bayon Temple carving and White-rumped Falcon, Veal Krous
Driving through the dirt tracks of the forest brought us to our next camp, an almost luxurious affair thanks to the hard efforts of the conservation teams working in the area. This camp is situated in a small patch of dense, evergreen forest, holding a different composition of avifauna. Birding in the afternoon couldn't have been worse – we nicknamed the trail 'The Dead Trail' with just a couple of Vernal Hanging Parrots zipping overhead. After dinner we tried the Dead Trail to see if night time might be more productive and soon heard a Blyth's Frogmouth though as usual he stayed in the dense canopy. We continued until we heard another bird further up but it was again a real sod to find keeping to the canopy, we did find him in the spotlight but bottom-end views are not what we want from a frogmouth! After what seemed like an eternity and to a chorus of yawns, the bird finally gave in and we enjoyed full-frontal views of the frogmouth calling away in the spotlight just a few metres off the ground, now we were satisfied (and tired!).
Yet another pre-dawn wait in a hide - this time overlooking a small, secluded forest pool. Split into two hides, one of the hides soon located a pair of sleeping White-winged Ducks sat on a log, unfortunately it was so dark the other hide didn't see them before they vanished and they were soon calling in the distance not to be seen again that day, frustration loomed for the rest of the day and to make matters worse a Bar-bellied Pitta (unknown from the province up until this point) called but refused to show! A few interesting species tried to raise spirits, a cracking Banded Kingfisher, Swinhoe's and Scarlet Minivets, Blue-winged Leafbird, White-crested Laughingthrush and confiding Puff-throated Babbler although the highlight for some was the family group of Germain's Silvered Langur, a severely endangered primate restricted to northern Cambodia and Laos. While some waited, unsuccessfully, for the ducks to return in the afternoon the rest walked through the more open forest, a pair of White-rumped Falcon were attending the same nest as the previous year giving nice views (again!), a Brown Prinia sat up in the scope and a flock of 6 Great Slaty Woodpeckers put on a performance for us. As dusk approached the real show started as several Great Eared Nightjars glided overhead in harrier fashion, a wonderful way to end the day, if it had been the end of the day! After our scrumptious dinner we headed back into the forest, the distant cries of an Oriental Bay Owl were so distant it took a while to work out exactly which direction it was in, but once focussed in there was no stopping us, walking deep into the forest we stopped, in the pitch black, the owl was there, in the middle of the spotlight though frustratingly soon flew off before we could really appreciate the best of Asia's owls. With some gentle coaxing and strategic positioning we had it again, not only sat in the spotlight but seemingly falling asleep in the light as he let us walk as close as we wanted to, even staying long enough for us to walk back to camp, grab the cameras and pose for photos, just like last year!
Predictably we were in our hides pre-dawn once again. The ducks honked distantly, getting closer, and closer and.... before the a pair flew over the hides giving us not-so-satisfactory looks and away they went! Determined, we stayed in the hides well past the usual hour when we heard a huge bird land in the trees close-by, expecting something along the lines of a Giant Ibis we were amazed to find a White-winged Duck sat, staring down at us and looking very nervous. Eventually he built enough confidence to fly down and feed for well over an hour, our patience had been rewarded and it was now time to leave. The rest of the day was spent driving through the same forest tracks, villages and fields as before, via another falcon, this time a fiesty Collared Falconet busily flycatching for dragonflies, reaching Tmatboey village and the new guesthouse just in time for dinner again and preparation for the icons of Cambodian birding the next day.
Giant Ibis, Tmatboey and White-winged Duck, Okoki
Unsurprisingly pre-dawn saw us listening and waiting, this time for the bulging sounds of duetting Giant Ibis. Upon hearing them we soon located a pair sitting in the tree tops, preening and calling. Early success allowed us to relax a little and enjoy the wonderful birding the area has to offer, being so open many species are easy to follow with scope views of most of the passerines too. We walked between trapeangs (small forest pools) in search of various species and yet more ibis. Next was nice flight views of a White-shouldered Ibis, another critically endangered species (our fifth so far) and perhaps even more endangered than the Giant Ibis, later we managed nice perched views of a bird in the early afternoon sunshine. Giant Ibis proved most obliging with several seen, best of all were a pair watched at mega close range, feeding oblivious to our presence for a couple of minutes, a complete contrast to the leaders first visit here five years ago when it took three days and an hour of stalking to obtain a reasonable view! Owls were high on the agenda after our successes in previous years here, even better, we hardly did any night-birding as we managed to locate them during the daytime. Amusingly our main priority was Spotted Wood Owl, our local guide assured us he knew a spot, a snatch of the tape brought a confused look to the local guides face so we then tried a different tape; Brown Wood Owl which brought a smile to his face and bemusement to ours as a stunning Brown Wood Owl flew straight in to perch in front of us. Not what we had hoped, but very nice none the less! We then decided to try an old site of mine for Spotted Wood Owl, sure enough it worked to perfection as he soon flew up and sat in a tall tree looking down at us. As we waited for dusk the bird reappeared for us, his silhouette easily picked out as he glided straight for us before landing in clear view for us. Waiting around at dusk in the evenings was a nice experience with Savanna and Large-tailed Nightjars flying around us. The only frustration was somehow only hearing a Collared Scops Owl just when we thought we were going to see it though we did encounter a Barn Owl, sweeping past us as we waited for the scops owl.
Many other birds put on fine performances during our three night stay here; yet another White-rumped Falcon (already our fifth!) showed itself to those who could tear themselves away from a Giant Ibis on view in the opposite direction! Chinese Francolin had to wait until the final morning before giving themselves away - flushing and running away at close range, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Rufous Treepie, Taiga Flycatcher, Brown Prinia, Gold-fronted Leafbird, Large and Indochinese Cuckooshrikes, a huge group of Oriental Pied Hornbills, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Yellow-footed Green Pigeons, Blossom-headed, Alexandrine and Red-breasted Parakeets and Rufous-winged Buzzards. The supporting cast of woodpeckers is always a delight here – our 12 species ranged from the manic group of Great Slaty, a solitary White-bellied to the diminutive Yellow-crowned and Spot-breasted and striking Black-headed we also found a Rufous Woodpecker stuck in a tree hole feeding on ants, with the leader having to physically pull it out.
Small Pratincole and Mekong Wagtail, Mekong River
The protection of the ibis here has been a huge conservation success and it was a shame to leave this wonderful area but more special places awaited. The grasslands on the edge of the Tonle Sap were our next destination and within five minutes a male Bengal Florican - our sixth critically endangered species - was found slowly walking through the grasses following a herd of cows. In the heat of the afternoon we headed into the grasslands, searching for wintering migrants that favour these areas. First to appear was a big surprise in the form of two Chestnut-eared Buntings (second for Cambodia!), then another singing Australian Bushlark and an amusing pursuit of the Small Buttonquails we flushed, in the hope of better views! Bizarrely a Rufous Woodpecker was found in the grasslands - presumably feeding on ants, a Black-necked Stork was flushed from a small pool while the marshy edges held Bluethroat, Oriental Reed Warbler, Yellow-breasted Bunting and a brilliant Lanceolated Warbler that ran along the ground like a mouse as we circled it. Of most significance was a Manchurian Reed Warbler in a stand of grasses, showing superbly at times with full suite of characters noted.
As the light faded we jumped on the top of the vehicles to enjoy three Bengal Floricans feeding together further along the track – yet another fine way to end another day.
The following morning we chose a different area of grasslands to bird, Black-shouldered Kite were at an amazingly high density here, as were Eastern Marsh and Pied Harriers. Two Watercock were flushed as besides several Cinnamon and Yellow Bitterns. A confiding Black-browed Reed Warbler was a nice comparison to yesterdays Manchurian and plenty of Eastern Yellow Wagtails and Red-throated Pipits fed along the open margins. White-shouldered Starlings, Yellow-breasted Buntings and Racket-tailed Treepie all fed in the dense gorse but a male Siberian Rubythroat only showed itself to a few as Straited Grassbirds sang from exposed perches. After a long drive and a lunch stop at a favoured restaurant on the banks of the mighty River Mekong we finally arrived in Kratie, a scenic village overlooking that same river. Birding in the afternoon through the green and yellow rice paddies produced large numbers of non-breeding plumaged weavers, plenty of Streaked and Baya with a few mingling Asian Golden, readily identified by their huge bill and brighter plumage. Though the most fun was with the vocal Pallas's Grasshopper Warblers that kept teasing us deep within the grass though we eventually got our way with them.
Our final day was rather relaxing but brought with it an exciting bird and an endangered mammal. A gentle boat cruise on the Mekong took us to some tiny islets in the middle, home to the recently described Mekong Wagtail and we soon found a pair feeding in the bushes and tangles. After we had our fill we enjoyed some Small Pratincole, followed by a surprise River Tern and best of all, Irrawaddy Dolphins regularly coming up for air, a perfect ending to an exciting tour.
Tonle Sap Grasslands © James Eaton/Birdtour Asia
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