5.Thaton & Doi Ang Khang

Our stay at the Kaomai Resort ended with an early breakfast and packing our bags into the mini-vans for the journey to what would be our final destination before flying back to Bangkok. We would be staying at the Maekok River Village Resort for two nights and spending the days birding right up to the Myanmar border in the Do Pha Hom Pok National Park.

Several birding stops were planned on the way and the first of these was the Mae Tang irrigation project,  an extensive government funded project to transfer water into canal systems for agricultural use. A few years ago this was found to be the most reliable site in Thailand for wintering Long-billed Plover. Breeding in S Korea, Japan and China this plover is very reminiscent of a Killdeer.

Arriving on site we started scanning the extensive gravel beds where the birds were likely to be found. Green Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers and Little Ringed Plover were present but there was no sign of Long-billed Plover. The heat haze was causing an issue and there were several false alarms before a single Long-billed Plover was seen flying in and promptly getting lost in the gravel. Getting closer and constantly scanning through the scope we eventually found three one of which eventually showed quite well albeit still distant. No photos but I managed a short phonescoped video.

We hit our 400th species for the trip at this site with a flock of flyover Temminck's Stints. Another highlight was being able to prove, through photographs, the presence of a number of Siberian House Martins. A rare bird this far south and we eventually counted 10 birds flying high above the flocks of House Swifts. A Collared Falconet, found by Marc, was a first record for the  site! 

Leaving this site behind we drove north along some pretty scary roads towards Doi Ang Khang and the Royal Agricultural Project in the Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park. This was a really stunning area with beautifully laid out flower beds and trees attracting a wide variety of birds.

After another superb lunch we started exploring the extensive grounds with a number of new species being added to the list including Indian White-eye and the briefest of glimpses of a Scaly Thrush.

GouldsSunbirds were feeding on nectar in the profusely blossoming trees and a Chestnut-vented Nuthatch reminded me of the Eurasian Nuthatch's at home as it did what Nuthatches all over the world do  - climbing both up and down tree branches.

Our next stop involved a short trip to the Wat Phra monastery where, once again, the local Buddhist monks putting food out for the wildlife had attracted some pretty special birds. We hope to see Black-breasted Thrush and the site was well known for attracting Grey-winged Blackbirds - both rare winter visitor to the region.

Arriving at the site we found a few other birders having the same idea but no visible birds. Jay picked out a Black-breasted Thrush partially obscured by leaves viewable from the road, sitting quietly calling to itself and probably digesting its recent crop full of food! 

Hoping it would return to feed I walked back to the view point in the monastery grounds and suddenly birds were appearing from everywhere. Not only did we get Black-throated Thrush and Grey-winged Blackbird, our two target species,  but other species such is Blue-winged Minla, Silver-eared Mesia, Large Niltava, Eye-browed Thrush, Grey-sided Thrush Olive-backed Pipit and Mountain Bulbul came down to drink, bathe or feed.

Grey-winged Blackbird

Black-throated Thrush

Black-throated Thrush female

Eye-browed Thrush

Silver-eared Mesia

Large Niltava (female)

Blue-winged Minla

Within a short space of time the birds all disappeared again and we decided to head off to our hotel. Next day was going to be a very early start for Jay, Marc and myself........