Chiang Mai New Year

 

The second half of our trip to Thailand over new year's, after adventures in Bangkok and Phetchaburi, was spent much further north, in Chiang Mai province. We departed Bangkok on New Year's day, once again flying on a day when no-one else was silly enough to travel. This led to one of the smoothest flight experiences I've ever had; no line anywhere, easy security, and no traffic (sadly, as we were to later discover, this is not exactly representative of air travel in Thailand). We arrived in Chiang Mai in the late afternoon of December 31, and mostly spent that afternoon chilling around our hotel in the outer part of the city.

Chiang Mai is actually well-known within Thailand for its New Year's celebrations, particularly the releasing of floating lanterns at midnight. We expect that to lead to gridlock within the city, but things were actually quieter than we expected- there wasn't too much traffic on the roads, the street food places had only small lines, and most of the people we saw releasing the lanterns were actually tourists. We were pretty knackered after a day of travel, so after walking along the Ping River in the late evening we returned to our hotel and watched the midnight fireworks and lanterns from our balcony. I'm against mass releases of floating lanterns from an environmentalist standpoint, but I do have to admit they look pretty cool in the moment- even though I was too lazy to get my camera for a good picture.

New Year's from our hotel in Chiang Mai

We spent the morning of January 1 mostly just lazing around in our hotel, though I did get to manage to get my first lifer of the year in the form of Himalayan Swiftlets soaring above us. In the afternoon, we headed back to the airport to get a rental car to head out on the second (and last) major birding outing of our Thailand trip. Chiang Mai is arguably the best area of Thailand for birding, second only perhaps to Phetchaburi, mostly due to its location on the far southeastern end of the Himalayas. This makes it home to the highest mountains in Thailand, and means that it hosts a suite of Himalayan and South Asian birds that aren't found elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The wide range of elevation, from the lowlands of Chiang Mai in the Ping River valley up to Doi Inthanon, the highest peak in Thailand at over 2,500 meters tall, means that there is also a huge diversity of habitats and birds. 

Unfortunately, Doi Inthanon, where I had originally planned to visit, was a no-go this time of year as it's apparently utterly packed with tourists on a holiday, making for very bad birding. I reached out to Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok of Chiang Mai for some recommendations, and he suggested Doi Lang West, another well-known birding spotin northern Thailand, as no-one ever really visits there besides birders. Located on a high mountain ridge along the border between Thailand and Myanmar, it's a well-known spot to get some otherwise-difficult Himalayan birds like Mrs. Hume's Pheasant, Giant Nuthatch, Himalayan Cutia, and Ultramarine Flycatcher, among others. It's also a solid 3-hour drive north from Chiang Mai, which meant that we would stay somewhere closer the night before going up so we could get a properly early start.

We picked up our rental car, a little Toyota Vios, at the Chiang Mai airport, and started heading north in the mid-afternoon. Since we already had a car I figured we might as well stop for some quick birding along the way, so we made a quick detour to the Mae Taeng Irrigation Project, a little weir and agricultural area north of Chiang Mai that had some otherwise-difficult Thailand birds that I wanted for my life list. 

The irrigation project turned out to be a mostly-dry river running through a picturesque valley. We got there in the late afternoon and it was absolutely full of birds- one of the birdiest places I've ever been in Southeast Asia in terms of sheer numbers, and I was disappointed not to have more time to spend there. I got my first lifer very quickly after getting out of the car: a distant Green Sandpiper hanging out by the riverbank. It was joined by lots of Wire-tailed Swallows, a bird I'd only seen before in Africa and certainly one of the best-looking swallows out there. Huge flocks of Great Mynas were flying overhead, joined by Black-collared Starlings, Siamese Pied Mynas, and a single Chestnut-tailed Starling. On the river were lots of White Wagtails and a single Citrine Wagtail, which was a lifer for me. Best, however, were the flocks of Small Pratincoles, a gorgeous and weird shorebird I'd been wanting to see for almost a year since I'd dipped on them in Cambodia. Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable, and all too short, afternoon of birding.

Great Mynas

White Wagtail

Citrine Wagtail

Wire-tailed Swallow

Small Pratincole

Red-wattled Lapwing

Racquet-tailed Treepie

We spent the night in Fang, a large a couple hours north of Chiang Mai. This far north there's a very high concentration of hill tribes, the diverse group of ethnic minorities inhabiting the foothills and mountains of northern Thailand. Our hotel was actually run by one of the hill tribes and included lots of traditional designs, which was very cool. I would have liked to spend more time in the area just to learn more about the fascinating history and culture, but unfortunately there just wasn't time on this trip. Lesson learned for next time we visit...

The next morning we departed bright and early to head up to Doi Lang. The plan was to arrive before sunrise to set up at a stakeout for Mrs. Hume's Pheasant, which is generally only seen early in the morning at a spot where photographers put out mealworms for them. Unfortunately, between stops at 7-Eleven to pick up breakfast and a stop for gas, the sun was already rising by the time we entered the winding road through the pine forests of Doi Lang. When we arrived at the stakeout for the pheasants, there was already a long line of cars and photographers hiding in their camouflaged personal blinds, and no pheasants visible. In short, I blew it. 

The paparazzi crowd at the pheasant spot

All was not lost, however; despite the lack of pheasants, Doi Lang in the early morning was still bursting with activity. We saw a Black-throated Marten, a huge mountain weasel, crossing the road as we drove up, and birds were singing all over as we got out of the car. Short-tailed Minivets, Grey Bushchats, Davison's Leaf-warblers, and Chestnut-vented Nuthatches were all singing near the pheasant stakeout, and as we went further downhill we had good looks at several Giant Nuthatches, though annoyingly enough I failed to get a photo of that bird, one of my main targets at Doi Lang. A nice consolation was a few gorgeous male Mrs. Gould's Sunbirds, certainly one of the best-looking sunbirds in the world. The highlight of the early morning though was a spectacular Ultramarine Flycatcher that showed up at the pheasant stakeout, presumably looking for leftover mealworms.

Male Long-tailed Minivet

Female Long-tailed Minivet

Mrs. Gould's Sunbird

Ultramarine Flycatcher

Eventually the photographers dispersed to either go home or head further along the road for more pictures, and we hung around the blind area for a bit. A Grey-backed Shrike, a Japanese Tit, and many Grey Bushchats were hanging around looking for leftovers, giving me the chance to take what I assume is the exact same photos about a million photographers have already taken of them (have I ever mentioned I'm not a huge fan of blind photography?). 

Grey-backed Shrike

Japanese Tit

Grey Bushchat

A bit further down the road, I ran into what I'd been dreading most about Doi Lang: phylloscopus warblers. You see, in the Philippines we have several endemic phylloscs that are generally fairly easy to ID (weird undescribed ones aside), plus three annoyingly identical migrants from the Arctic Warbler complex, while the rest are vagrants one is unlikely to encounter. Thailand, on the other hand, is directly south of Central Asia and western China, arguably the center of phylloscopus diversity, which means it gets several dozen of them coming through on migration, with Doi Lang being perhaps the phylloscopus hotspot of the country. They're mostly theoretically IDable, as long as one is familiar with inscrutable ID features and chip notes, which I absolutely was not. And while I try not to admit to birding sins, I'm going to be honest here: if I just have one morning of birding in an unfamiliar place, I'm simply not going to spend hours trying to memorize the chip calls of a bunch of LBJs just for a few extra ticks. Based on my pics, my very limited study of songs, and some help from Ayuwat (thanks for that!), I was able to ID Davison's Leaf Warbler, Pallas's Leaf Warbler, Chinese Leaf Warbler, Hume's Warbler, and Grey-crowned Warbler out of the masses of identical leaf warblers overhead, but I'm sure there were many, many more that I missed. Something to look forward to studying next time I'm in Thailand I suppose...

Grey-crowned Warbler- this one might look distinctive, but surprise! There are like 5 identical-looking species you have to rule out first.

This one is brightly-colored enough to be a Pallas's Leaf Warbler

Hume's Warbler

Gun to my head I'd call this a Hume's Warbler, but honestly who even knows man

We drove a bit further down the road, and stopped when we heard a mixed flock moving through. This proved to have Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, and lots of other birds that stayed out of view and I couldn't ID by call since I hadn't study enough. Some grumbling calls by the side of the road alerted us to a group of Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babblers, along with a single skulking White-browed Scimitar Babbler. Further on I hit another somewhat birdy area with Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, Blue Rock Thrush, Olive-backed Pipit, Blue-winged Minla, a gorgeous Sapphire Flycatcher that refused to be photographed, and lots more phylloscopus warblers of which I could only identify Davison's Leaf Warbler. On the way back to the car I ran into a flock of skulking Rufescent Prinias, sadly not the Hill Prinias I had been hoping for.

Immature male Mrs. Gould's Sunbird

Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher

Olive-backed Pipit

Davison's Leaf Warbler

Rufescent Prinia

Further down the road, we parked the rental car in a little wooded section where lots of other photographers were also parked. Here there were lots of feeding stations set up, where photographers were crouched in their mobile blinds waiting for birds to attend them. I decided to let them do their thing and head further down the road, where things were unfortunately rather quiet. I ran into a very tame female Rufous-bellied Niltava and a female Slaty-blue Flycatcher that approached us seeming to hope for some mealworms, while by an unattended blind there was another foraging Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler. Further onward we came across a flock of not-particularly-cooperative Dark-backed Sibias, a beautiful Golden-throated Barbet foraging deep inside a fruiting shrub, yet another Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, and another little group of Mrs. Gould's Sunbirds. There was a skulking Aberrant Bush-warbler chipping at me from deep in the bushes, and I also came across one of my favorite birds of the morning, a spectacular Spectacled Barwing foraging in the brambles by the side of the road. 

Female Rufous-bellied Niltava

Female Slaty-blue Flycatcher

Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler

Dark-backed Sibia

Golden-throated Barbet

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher

Immature male Mrs. Gould's Sunbird

Aberrant Bush Warbler is an extremely taxonomically confusing species, so much so that ornithologists' annoyance spills over into the naming; the birds on mainland Asia are sometimes split as Perplexing Bush Warbler, which is an even better name

Spectacled Barwing- what a good-looking bird

I walked back to the wooded area, and quickly realized that I should have just stayed there the whole time, as it had more birds than anywhere else I'd been on Doi Lang. A gorgeous Large Niltava was coming in to an abandoned feeding station to look for leftover mealworms, and above me I saw a Grey Treepie and a tiny Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker. The photographers that had been manning the hides seemed to all be heading into the woods off the road, and I decided to follow them, knowing that it takes a lot to get photographers to actually climb a hill to see birds, especially without setting up a blind and a stool afterwards. They turned out to be looking at an absolutely enormous mixed flock that was passing through, which included some really top-notch birds: Rufous-backed Sibia, Blue-winged Minla, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Scarlet Minivet, Blyth's Shrike-babbler, a drop-dead gorgeous Himalayan Cutia... the list went on. I was able to see some of my major targets for Doi Lang, even though the photography was sub-par. And I should probably stop dunking on the photographers so much since they did (inadvertently) get me some of the best lifers of the day.

Large Niltava

Grey Treepie

Downy Woodpecker- I mean Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

Blue-winged Minla

Himalayan Cutia!

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Female Scarlet Minivet

Back down at the road, I found an enormous flock of Golden Babblers and Yunnan Fulvettas, none of which felt at all like posing for a picture. White-browed Laughingthrush was similarly uncooperative, while Silver-eared Laughingthrushes were almost too cooperative, hopping up on logs so close I could barely get them in the frame of my camera. A Hill Blue Flycatcher was hanging out by the car along with a Blue Whistling Thrush, along with the usual female Rufous-bellied Niltava and a nice male Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher. In a fruiting tree I found a big group of bulbuls including Mountain Bulbul, Striated Bulbul, and Flavescent Bulbul, very different from the "Flavescent Bulbuls" I've seen before in Borneo. Far above me was a beautiful Stripe-breasted Woodpecker and a very cute Himalayan Striped Squirrel. Just before I got back in the car to start the drive down I got a quick glimpse of a gorgeous White-bellied Redstart, which looked surprisingly similar to the completely-unrelated "redstarts" in the Americas.

White-browed Laughingthrush

Streak-breasted Woodpecker

Hill Blue Flycatcher

Silver-eared Laughingthrush- I have to admit it's a little disappointing that laughingthrushes never made it to the Philippines since they're fantastic birds

Rufous-bellied Niltava

Flavescent Bulbul

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher

Himalayan Striped Squirrel

I could have stayed there all day (or multiple days, really), but we had to make the long drive back to Chiang Mai that day to return the rental car and see more of the city. We spent the next couple of days seeing the sites of Chiang Mai city, including the Ping River, the old town and its ramparts, and trying some classic Chiang Mai food (khao soi remains a favorite). It's a gorgeous city in a great area, and once again we were disappointed by our lack of preparation in terms of reading more about the city and its history. On the morning of January 4 I ventured up to Doi Suthep, the mountain directly above Chiang Mai, to try to do a final morning of birding, but I barely saw anything of interest; a very quiet morning compounded by my general unfamiliarity with the area and with the bird vocalizations this far north. My only lifers were Black-throated Sunbird and a heard-only Giant Barbet. 

We flew from Chiang Mai to Bangkok on the afternoon of January 4, then from Bangkok to Manila that evening. That flight was, of course, delayed by several hours, as if Air Asia just wanted to give us a little preview of air travel in the Philippines. We finished our trip to Thailand with 191 species of birds, not bad considering that there were really only two proper birding outings. Thailand is a really incredible country in so many ways- great birding, amazing food, good infrastructure, beautiful scenery, and a fascinating history as the only Southeast Asian country to remain free from colonization. I certainly hope to return there sometime soon, and next time with a little more preparation.