Sadly our trip had come to an end and we were leaving Jay behind in the north to meet up with another group whilst we returned to Bangkok. There was still time for some birding before we had to catch our flight.
We visited paddy fields north of Chang Mai and were rewarded with an avian feast! Amur Stonechats, Red-throated Pipits, Richards pipits and Citrine Wagtails vied for our attention with track side Long -tailed Shrikes and both Common and Pin-tailed Snipe. This was a well known site for Rosy Pipit although none had been reported in 2026 on eBird. Luckily for us Jay's eagle eyes picked one out and we had good scope views of this subtle pipit species that breed in the mountains and winters in the lowlands.
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| Rosy Pipit |
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| Long-tailed Shrike |
All to soon it was time to leave for Chiang Rai where we'd be flying from back to Bangkok. There was one last trip tick in store for us thought as the airport is the best place to see Burmese Shrike. Sure enough, as we pulled into the car park, Jay spotted one across the other side of the airport approach road. Marc and I, in full ninja stealth mode, moved from post to post until we got superb views of this bird sat on the same razor wire as a Brown Shrike for comparison. A real hardcore bird - most shrikes in Europe use barbed wire or thorns as 'larders' for their prey. This one was using razorwire!
