26th December 2005 – 7th January 2006
Leader: Rob Hutchinson
White-browed Nutatch (Rob Hutchinson/Birdtour
Asia)
After a short stopover
in the capital Yangon (formally Rangoon) a short flight soon delivered
us to our first destination, Bagan where some initially birding close to
the airport produced our first Burmese Shrike, Plain-backed Sparrows and
Black-shouldered Kites.
It was with great anticipation that we began our birding the next morning – an
early start put us in place to see the sunrise over the arid landscape dotted
with dozens of amazing ancient pagodas – a superb backdrop against which
to search for Burma’s dry-zone specialties. In the early morning the
area was thronging with activity with Green Bee-Eater’s or Brown & Burmese
Shrikes seemingly occupying every available perch and Yellow-eyed Babbler,
Vinous-breasted Starling and Plain-backed Sparrows providing added interest.
Specialties soon appeared with endemic Burmese Bushlarks singing from prominent
perches and the common White-throated Babbler trilling from the undergrowth
all around.
We scored a near-instant success when a small group of exquisite Jerdon’s
(White-bellied) Minivets appeared on the acacias nearby giving great views
and this success continued when later in the morning we were fortunate to locate
a pair of smart Hooded Treepie’s - a rather nomadic species which is
not always easy to locate.
In the heat of the day a visit to a lush park on the edge of town gave great
views of a cute family of Spotted Owlets, numerous Black-crowned Night Herons
roosting near the ornamental lakes and on the adjacent Irrawady River our first
River Lapwings gave good scope views.
In the afternoon we took a relaxing and bird-filled boat journey along the
tranquil waters of the Irrawady and found large groups of attractive Burmese
Spot-billed Ducks and Ruddy Shelduck, striking Pied Kingfishers, more River
Lapwings among a variety of commoner shorebirds and in the evening, enthralling
feeding flocks of Small Pratincoles hawking insects over the river. A perched
Laggar Falcon was the raptor highlight while Sand Larks scuttling along the
sand-bars were joined by large numbers of Red-throated Pipits and Eastern Yellow
Wagtails in the late afternoon. A foray ashore onto a large, grassy island
produced several White-tailed Stonechat, a flushed Rain Quail and excellent
close views of the Sand Larks.
Night-birding that evening near our hotel produced several Spotted Owlets and
an Indian Nightjar perched on a dusty track – a species that we were
to see again later in the trip in full daylight.
The following morning we made an early start, initially heading south to cross
the Irrawady at Chauk then west into dry scrubby forest where a White-eyed
Buzzard spotted from the jeep showed well perched by the roadside. Further
roadside stops produced Rosy Minivet, Crested Treeswift, Lineated Barbet, Oriental
Honey Buzzard and Red-billed Blue Magpies while small numbers of Alexandrine
and Rose-ringed Parakeets accompanied their commoner Grey-headed relatives.
In the late afternoon
we reached our destination, the Pine Wood Villa Resort on the slopes of
Mount Victoria. Our visit to Mount Victoria was the focal point of the
tour – lying in the Chin Hills, the area hosts many Himalayan species
together with several species restricted to this area and during our stay
we were able to explore the several different habitat types associated
with different elevations of the mountain.
Perhaps the most famous bird here is the enigmatic White-browed Nuthatch, a
species restricted to the upper reaches of Victoria and surrounding peaks – fortunately
diligent searching soon paid dividends and we were able to enjoy excellent
views of this attractive species feeding along the mossy, knarled branches
close by. Other species in the uppermost oak forests included a pair of rare
Black-headed Shrike Babblers and it was here that we had our only sightings
of Streak-throated Barwings. Yellow-bellied Flowerpeckers were more common
than usual and included and an impressive 9 birds perched together in one treetop
in response to our Collared Owlet impersonations!
We also had excellent views of the recently split Chin Hills Wren-Babbler in
this area, a species we also recorded at lower elevations but which never again
matched the scope views of a fully-exposed, singing bird that we had here.
Moving lower the extensive evergreen forest holds a fantastic variety of species;
here we found a beautifully marked pair of Himalayan Cutia calling from high
in the canopy, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie and on one occasion a pair of Rufous-throated
Partridges scuttling away in the leaf litter. Fruiting trees here attracted
Wedge-tailed Green Pigeons and good numbers of Golden-throated Barbets together
with the ubiquitous Great Barbet. Diverse mixed feeding flocks were here included
White-tailed Nuthatch and Nepal Fulvetta while Broad-billed Warbler was seen
in the vicinity of large Bamboo patches.
Patches of pines in this area twice produced small groups of Yellow-breasted
Greenfinch and on one occasion a group of Spot-winged Grosbeak. Large grassy
clearings here provided excellent views of Spot-breasted Parrotbills and the
near-endemic Mount Victoria Babax, another species only recently elevated to
full species status, put on a great performance singing at close range and
in full view.
Mount
Victoria Babax (Rob Hutchinson/Birdtour Asia)
At lower elevations,
forest patches in scrubby degraded habitat produced the attractive, range-restricted
Striped Laughingthrush, excellent views of duetting Spot-breated Scimitar
Babblers and the striking Red-faced Liocichla. This area also produced
our only Silver-eared Mesia’s and was a favoured area for wintering
Little Buntings and Common Rosefinch.
An excellent diversity of Warblers were recorded with Blyth’s & White-tailed
Leaf-Warblers and Black-faced, Whistlers and Grey-crowned Warblers frequent
components of mixed feeding flocks which often included Grey-chinned, Long-tailed,
Short-billed and Scarlet Minivets, two species of Shrike-Babbler, three species
of Minla, Rufous-winged, White-browed and Rusty-capped Fulvettas, Yellow-bellied
Fantail and a variety of sunbirds with Goulds, Green-tailed and Fire-tailed
providing frequent blasts of colour.
Species observed at all elevations included Chestnut-crowned and Brown-capped
Laughingthrushes, Grey Sibia, Rusty-fronted Barwing and Grey-sided Thrushes
which were often joined by smaller numbers of Eye-browed. Other species during
our stay included; both Ashy & Speckled Wood Pigeons, Barred Cuckoo Dove,
Chestnut-headed Tesias, Black-bibbed Tit (a strangely disjunct population),
Large and Vivid Niltava, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Whiskered & Stripe-throated
Yuhinas, Daurian and Blue-fronted Redstarts. Woodpeckers were well represented
with Darjeeling, Crimson-breasted, Rufous-bellied, Stripe-breasted and Bay
all recorded. Diligent searches of large groups of Asian House Martins twice
produced the scarcer Nepal House Martin.
Night Forays during our time here produced nice views of a rufous-morph Hodgson’s
Frogmouth on one occasion and several Grey Nightjars in the jeep headlights
during early morning drives up the mountain, on one occasion giving prolonged
views perched on the track. A beautiful Leopard Cat gave good views in the
spotlight close to our lodge one evening.
Returning to Bagan, roadside
stops again proved fruitful – good numbers of Parakeets of five species
were recorded (Alexandrine, Rose-ringed, Red-breasted, Grey and Blossom-headed)
while Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch completed the set of five Nuthatch species
possible in the area. Small Minivet, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, White-browed
Piculet and noisy White-crested Laughingthrushes were all new birds for
the trip while the drier areas dotted with acacias again produced a roving
group of Jerdon’s Minivets.
The next day another morning around Bagan several Indian Nightjars were flushed
giving excellent flight views, two separate Rain Quail gave excellent close
views, a male Chinese Francolin finally gave himself up after repeatedly only
hearing them while further views of Jerdon’s Minivets completed an excellent
showing for this species.
Other species included Brown Prinia, Vinous-breasted Starling and large flocks
of Baya Weaver as well as the now familiar Burmese Bushlark and White-throated
Babbler. Migrants included Siberian Rubythroats, Thick-billed Warbler, Tickells
Leaf Warbler, Wryneck and Hoopoe while a single River Lapwing and several Sand
Larks entertained on the adjacent riverbanks.
Jerdon’s Minivet (Rob Hutchinson/Birdtour Asia)
Heading east we noted
our only Long-billed Pipits of the trip together with good numbers of commoner
waterfowl on the large artificial lakes. Our next destination was Kalaw,
a former British Hill Station in an attractive setting deep within Shan
state where a noisy Barn Owl showed well overnight in the town.
The following day was spent exploring the surroundings of the picturesque Yay-aye-kan
reservoir. Scrubby areas en-route were interesting with noisy Red-billed Blue
Magpies, White-browed Laughingthrushes, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babblers and
wintering Little and Crested Buntings the highlights. In the vicinity of the
reservoir, three flyover Dark-rumped Swifts were a surprise sighting of a species
whose wintering range is currently little known. The evergreen forest here
produced Vivid Niltava, Dark-backed Sibia, Grey Treepies, a glowing male Fire-tailed
Sunbird and great views of Pin-tailed Green Pigeon but not the hoped for Burmese
Yuhinas.
A final morning birding close to Kalaw produced skulking Rusty-cheeked Scimitar
Babblers, Red-billed Blue Magpies, Brown-breasted Bulbuls, Yellow-eyed Babbler,
Black-headed Greenfinch, Oriental Turtle Dove, Daurian Redstart, Chestnut Bunting,
an abundance of Olive-backed Pipits and a typically skulking Lanceolated Warbler.
Moving eastwards the drive to Lake Inle was broken by a productive birding
stop in a forested gully and we enjoyed great scope views of Yellow-footed
Green Pigeons close by the roadside while noisy Grey-headed Parakeets whizzed
overhead.
On our
final afternoon we took a boat ride out onto the Lake – famous for the ‘leg-rowing’ technique
of the local boatmen. Exploring the lake fringes we watched Citrine and
Eastern Yellow Wagtails feeding alongside Wood Sandpipers on floating mats
of vegetation with Purple Swamphen and both Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed
Jacanas found in quieter marshy areas and Eastern and Western Marsh Harriers
quartering together providing a rare comparison.
As the temperature dropped in the late afternoon we found our first Jerdon’s
Bushchat - a striking male – and by sunset we had seen a total of 15
birds, an excellent showing for this scarce species and a fantastic end to
a most enjoyable trip.
In just 12 days we recorded an impressive 328 species with a further 10 only heard, these include many rarely observed species, all in a wonderfully friendly country that we look forward to visiting again soon.
Click here to view the Systematic Bird List
Click here to download the report as a pdf
For further
information on Custom Tours to Myanmar please contact us via info@birdtourasia.com or
follow the links for our scheduled departures, please click here
