The Mighty Mekong

 

After a week in Indonesia (and a great weekend of birding in Bali), my March work trip continued with a week spent in Cambodia. Most of it was, of course, a real work trip with birding restricted to morning lists of city birds from my hotel or some random observations from the field. I did manage to get a hotel next to Wat Phnom in the center of the city, which of course meant a brief late afternoon walk to see the absurd flock of feral Great Hornbills and Writhed Hornbills. I totally shouldn't count either of those on my life list considering that they're likely escapees from some rich guy's private aviary, but on the other hand they're great fun to watch. 

Digibinned Great Hornbill at Wat Phnom

Otherwise, my time in Pnom Penh was pretty much just work, along with chances to try as many different Cambodian dishes as I could find. Similar to the rest of mainland Southeast Asia Khmer cuisine makes use of lots of flavorful sauces, spices and herbs and a diverse variety of proteins. More unique is how often fresh vegetables and flowers make their way into cuisine, along with lots of freshwater fish and shellfish. It's really excellent and severely underrated. It's one of many things I love about Cambodia, a country I always look forward to visiting when I get the chance to.

For example.

On Friday, March 24 there was a meeting in Siem Reap, so my coworker and I left early in the morning and made the 6-hour drive there, enjoying the Cambodian countryside along the way. We had a bit of time in the late afternoon, so we headed toward Angkor Wat to enjoy a bit of temple time. There weren't many birds around in the late afternoon besides lots of Red-breasted Parakeets and Alexandrine Parakeets flying overhead, but that's not really why you go to Angkor Wat. I'd spent quite a bit of time seeing the temples on my visit last year, but of course there are hundreds of temples in the area, and one could spend weeks trying to see them all. Seeing the ruins emerging from the forest is always a breathtaking sight though, and I'll always take the chance to return. 

The moat of Angkor Thom

The south gate of Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Khmer Empire

Part of the Bayon temple at the center of Angkor Thom

The main Angkor Wat temple complex seen from Phnom Kulen

Sunset at Phnom Kulen with Brown-backed Needletails

A cool alignment of Venus and the Moon

Thankfully, I was able to align my mission such that I would be in Cambodia through the weekend, which meant I had time to do some proper birding. My initial plan was to visit the forests of Changkran Roy, where the Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo I had painfully dipped on last year was showing quite reliably. Unfortunately everyone else apparently also had the same idea, as the hide was totally booked up for that weekend weeks in advance. Instead, my friends at the Cambodia Bird Guide Association recommended I visit the Koh Samseb Community-Based Ecotourism Site on the Mekong. There were a few potential lifers there for me and I really love big rivers like the Mekong, so I was more than happy to do so.

Since Nara my guide from last year was busy doing bird surveys that weekend, I went with Choam, another guide from CBGA, who was also excellent. Choam picked me up in Siem Reap at 5AM on March 25, and we started making the long drive eastwards toward the Mekong. Despite lots of Chinese loans coming in to finance expressways between major cities, rural Cambodian roads leave a bit to be desired, full of potholes and sudden bumps that sent me flying out of my seat on occasion.

After a few hours of driving we stopped by a bit of scrubby woodland in the middle of dry farm fields, near a small Buddhist temple. I had walked around there a bit last year and found it shockingly full of good birds despite the underwhelming habitat. It's apparently one of the most reliable spots for White-rumped Falcon, a Cambodia specialty bird I'd totally dipped on previously. They can be surprisingly hard to find, as they don't often stick to one area but instead just sort of pop up in random spots. Most sightings seem to be of birds perched in conspicuous spots next to the road. This time there was indeed a falcon perched by the side of the road, but it was a tiny Collared Falconet, the smallest raptor in Cambodia. That was fine by me as I absolutely love falconets- the perfect mix of cute and fearsome.

Collared Falconet

We got out of the car and walked around in some agricultural fields near the temple, where Choam had seen White-rumped Falcons the previous month. There were no falcons, but there were lots of other birds: Asian Green Bee-eaters swooping overhead hawking insects, Black-hooded Orioles and Large Cuckooshrikes hanging out in isolated treetops, a single singing Common Woodshrike, and Chestnut-tailed Starlings and Vinous-breasted Mynas flying around in small flocks. The best however was a noisy pair of Black-headed Woodpeckers flying around, calling and displaying their bright red back tufts. They have to be some of the best-looking woodpeckers in the world, and probably my personal favorite after Yellow-faced Flameback.

Black-hooded Oriole

Asian Green Bee-eater

Black-headed Woodpeckers

Common Woodshrike

Choam looking for falcons

It was another few hours of driving until we arrived at the Mekong, crossing one of the few bridges over the massive river in the town of Stung Treng. The Mekong is one of the longest rivers in the world, traveling almost 5,000 kilometers from its source in the Himalayas of southeastern China to the enormous, swampy Mekong delta in southern Vietnam (I visited that area a very long time ago before I was a birder). In this part of Cambodia it's well out of the mountains and instead snakes across a wide, flat plain, separating into hundreds of ever-changing braided channels and small islands. While the banks of the river are heavily cultivated, some remnant bits of dry forest cling on in the riverine islands, where constant flooding and changes in the river course make farming more difficult. 

It's these small islands and sub-channels that form the center of the Koh Samseb community-based ecotourism project. They're home to several riverine and wetland birds that are difficult to find anywhere else in Southeast Asia, most notably the endemic Mekong Wagtail as well as other river specialties like River Lapwing, River Tern, and Great Thick-knee. A small population of Irrawaddy Dolphins remains in the river, and it's the easiest place in Cambodia to see wild Green Peafowl. The rarest resident is the critically endangered White-Shouldered Ibis, found in very few other parts of the world. Other tourists come here for the surprisingly nice beaches that appear in the river islands during the dry season, and to learn more about the way of life of the local indigenous peoples. It's one of many community-based ecotourism projects going on in Cambodia, and I highly recommend others to visit as it's a really fascinating area and a well-run project. Angkor Wat gets practically all the tourists in the country, but it has so much to offer even for people who aren't birders.

We arrived in the village of Koh Samseb a little after noon, and checked in at the ecotourism office in a little hut on the banks of the Mekong. March is one of the hottest months of the year in Cambodia, and this time of day it was bloody sweltering. Despite the heat there was still a pair of Chestnut-headed Bee-Eaters perched in a clump of bamboo, and lots of local kids playing around in the river. 

Chestnut-headed Bee-Eaters

Local kid taking his boat out for a spin

The Mekong in Koh Samseb

At Koh Samseb village we met our boat driver, an old local fisherman Choam simply called Uncle, and set off on the river to look for birds. Our ride was a rickety old wooden canoe with an outboard motor on the back, but it was wide enough for me to sit in comfortably, and mercifully had a roof for some shade from the sun. That plus the nice breeze on the river made being out all afternoon surprisingly tolerable despite the fact it was swelteringly hot.

Uncle took us down a narrow side channel between two sandy islands, where we motored slowly and looked for birds on the river bank. Within the tiny channel there wasn't a great deal of interest: a Greater Coucal feeding along the river, a noisy Red-wattled Lapwing, some Common Sandpipers, and a group of Cattle Egrets perched appropriately on the backs of water buffalo. It was still fun though, as I actually like birding by boat for the unique method of transportation and how it allows you to get much closer to the birds, who for whatever reason are much less wary of boats than of people on foot. 

Common Sandpiper

Cattle Egret

Red-wattled Lapwing- not the lapwing we were looking for!

The view from the boat

We cleared the other side of the narrow stream and emerged onto the main channel of Mekong. This was dotted with hundreds of tiny islands, basically just little piles of rocks with some shrubbery on them. On one of these, we spotted our first major target: Mekong Wagtail! The wagtail was discovered only in 2001, and is found only in a tiny bit of the Mekong River and a few tributaries, mostly restricted to northern Cambodia and southern Laos. Wagtails are always fun to watch, and this was no exception, clambering over roots and rocks and flying up to the tops of bushes to sing, wiggling its butt the whole time. We were eventually able to get good looks, although it generally insisted on perching in the worst possible lighting. On a nearby little island we found a very cute juvenile bird, along with a group of Wire-tailed Swallows and a pair of Chestnut-headed Bee-Eaters.

Adult Mekong Wagtail

Juvenile Mekong Wagtail

Chestnut-headed Bee-Eater

Wire-tailed Swallows

As we were looking at the baby wagtail, I spotted a River Lapwing on another more distant islet. This was another major target for the weekend; while they're not endemic, they're sparsely distributed throughout India and mainland Southeast Asia, mostly being found on the sandy banks of very large rivers. They're also beautiful, with a graceful build and a pleasing combination of black, silver and brown plumage. This one was quite obliging, allowing us to get close so that I could take lots of pictures.

River Lapwing

We motored upstream, through a fast-moving portion with lots of little riffles and rocky islets. This seemed to be the preferred habitat of many of the area specialties, and it did not disappoint. We spotted an Oriental Darter perched on a sapling, and an Indian Spot-billed Duck flew overhead. A beautiful male Eastern Marsh Harrier flew by, and to our surprise perched on a little sandy island next to a Mekong Wagtail!

Oriental Darter

Indian Spot-billed Duck

Eastern Marsh Harrier with a Mekong Wagtail

 A bit further up Uncle spotted my next target, and one of the birds I'd hoped for most: Great Thick-Knee. I love thick-knees for their weirdness, and this one did not disappoint, looking like a child's drawing come to life. This was my second thick-knee of the year after Beach Thick-Knee in Bali, and honestly I hope they just keep coming, they're fantastic birds. This individual was again fairly cooperative, and I was able to get hundreds of pictures of it before it flew off. Indeed, the main problem with this trip was that I ended up with too many good pictures, making editing a bit of a chore!

Great Thick-Knee

The hits just kept coming: Pied Kingfishers were seen hovering above the river, and shortly after we had amazing looks at a group of adorable Small Pratincoles roosting on a sandbank. I'd seen these before in Thailand in January but this was a much better view of them and I was able to get far better pictures. A Grey-headed Fish Eagle was hunting from the top of a tall tree, and Wire-tailed Swallows were flying all around. 

Pied Kingfisher

Small Pratincole

Grey-headed Fish Eagle

We rounded the end of a large river island and started heading downstream. I spotted some terns in the distance, and upon closer approach they proved to be River Terns, another target. Similar to the lapwing and the thick-knee they're large river specialists, with a wide but fairly sparse distribution. Seeing them up close they were surprisingly good-looking, with bright red feet and big yellow bills contrasting with their silvery-grey plumage. They might actually be my favorite terns, at least until I manage to see Inca Tern.

River Tern

 We boated by a sandy beach, where Choam pointed out a small group of White-shouldered Ibises grazing by the riverbank! I had seen these before in Tmatboey but it was great to see it again- and encouraging that this critically endangered bird is found in another location given how their numbers have crashed in most of their range. We heard the chattering call of a White-hooded Laughingthrush from deep inside a bush, and in some riverside shrubbery saw a huge, beautiful Stork-billed Kingfisher. 

White-shouldered Ibis

Stork-billed Kingfisher

Some locals heading home from the market

Choam and I got out of our boat on a river island and walked a ways over a rocky flatland, as apparently Green Peafowl were known from that area. We didn't see any peafowl, but there were lots of other birds: a Common Flameback flying around calling, a shy Green-billed Malkoha, an Oriental Pied Hornbill flying over the river, Chestnut-headed Bee-Eaters swooping around overhead, and Black-collared Starlings and Black-crested Bulbuls perching on distant trees. A Greater Racket-tailed Drongo flew by showing off its impressive rackets, and there were some distant flocks of Vinous-breasted Mynas flying by as well. The photographic highlight was a pair of River Lapwings that spent the whole time flying around my head screaming, presumably as they had a nest nearby. Like most lapwings, they have an impressive contrast between being incredibly beautiful and graceful, while also having some of the most obnoxious behavior in the bird world.

Green-billed Malkoha

Chestnut-headed Bee-Eater

Black-crested Bulbul

Black-collared Starlings

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Grey Heron in stunning breeding plumage

River Lapwing

We returned to Koh Samseb village to get some camping supplies and food, and then headed to our campsite, a nice sandy island downriver a bit. The sun was setting as we arrived, and I wandered around looking for birds. The island was tiny, probably less than an acre with just a few large trees, but it held some surprisingly good birds, the first of which I saw was a pair of Spotted Wood Owls! Coppersmith Barbets and Lineated Barbets were calling, and Brown-backed Needletails flew over. I spotted an Olive-backed Pipit walking along the ground, a fairly uncommon migrant in Cambodia. To my surprise a White-shouldered Ibis also flew by, although it didn't land on the island. Back by the tents Choam pointed out a Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker poking its head out of a hole.

White-shouldered Ibis

Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

Brown-backed Needletail

Some kind of giant katydid on the island

Kids playing around by Koh Samseb village

Pulling in our boat on the island

The campsite

Sunset over the Mekong

We had dinner after dark, and I enjoyed a nice swim in the Mekong, trying not to think too hard about all the stuff that was upstream of me. Without the breeze on the water it was bloody hot, and between the heat and the sand everywhere I didn't have the most pleasant night's sleep in the world. Choam and I were awakened by an unknown bird calling overhead, perhaps a Collared Scops-owl, but it stopped calling as soon as I got out of my tent. 

I awoke at sunrise, and the day was already hot and the birds were already active. An Oriental Pied Hornbill was in one of the bare trees, and there was a fruiting tree full of green pigeons: Thick-billed Green Pigeon, Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, and Orange-breasted Green Pigeon to be exact. A pair of Blossom-headed Parakeets was perched up high near them, and an Olive-backed Sunbird was singing up a storm. We heard the mournful call of a Green Peafowl from the opposite side of the river- not exactly how I wanted to lifer it but it still counts on my eBird list. 

Thick-billed Green Pigeon

Oriental Pied Hornbill

Blossom-headed Parakeets

Olive-backed Sunbird- the subspecies here looks much different than the ones in the Philippines

Sunrise on the Mekong

We motored over to the opposite side of the river to where the peafowl had been calling, and walked up a little farmer's trail through the dry scrubby forest to see if we could find them. It wasn't a particularly pleasant walk, full of thorny branches and unclear trails, but the birds were plentiful even if Green Peafowl remained heard only. Choam spotted a Brown Boobook roosting in a tree, allowing me to finally get that species off my heard-only list. Greater Racket-tailed Drongos were all around, and Velvet-fronted Nuthatches were busily clambering over the dry branches in search of grubs. A gorgeous pair of Black-headed Woodpeckers showed very nicely, and a Common Hill Myna was gathering twigs for a nest near us. Close to the river, we ran into a mixed flock of birds including Ashy Minivets, Pin-striped Tit-Babblers, Dark-necked Tailorbirds, and a nice Bronzed Drongo.

Brown Boobook

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Black-headed Woodpeckers

Common Hill Myna

Dark-necked Tailorbird

Pin-striped Tit-Babbler

Bronzed Drongo

Uncle took us upriver, and we passed by the same river island we'd walked on the previous day. Annoyingly enough our driver had casually seen Green Peafowls there earlier when he was out fishing with locals, but we once again came up empty-handed, though there was a Great Thick-Knee and a pair of Little Ringed Plovers, along with a few Vinous-breasted Mynas hanging out with the water buffalos. We crossed to a different island and tried bushwhacking there to look for birds, but didn't see much besides a nice Streak-throated Bulbul. 

Little Ringed Plovers

Vinous-breasted Mynas

Streak-throated Bulbul

Water buffalos in Cambodia look a bit different from carabaos in the Philippines, but are still very cute

Common Rose Swallowtail

One of the islands in the Mekong

Sadly we didn't have much time that morning, as we had to be back in Siem Reap in time for my evening flight out. We started heading back downstream, but stopped soon for some very good birds: first an Osprey swooping across the river, but then for an amazing White-shouldered Ibis feeding in the sand right next to the water! It was by far the best looks I'd had of this species, and I was able to come away with some excellent pictures.

Osprey

White-shouldered Ibis!

That was all we had time for, and we headed back to Koh Samseb village, where we bid goodbye to Uncle and paid the ecotourism fees. I highly, highly recommend Koh Samseb to birders and to anyone wanting to experience the indigenous way of life on one of the greatest rivers in the world. There are lots of environmental challenges in Cambodia, but I'm really impressed by some of the community-based ecotourism projects going on there. It's inspiring and I hope something like that can happen in the Philippines someday- local-led initiatives like this are probably the only sustainable way forward.

The drive out from Koh Samseb took us through dry, dusty fields and savanna, and it was here that we had the most shocking find of the trip: a Red-headed Vulture perched in a dead tree next to the road! Cambodia is essentially the only place in Southeast Asia that this critically endangered bird can be found, as its numbers have cratered thanks to the ongoing vulture crisis in Asia caused by toxic medicines prescribed for livestock. India for example has lost 99.95% of its vulture population since the 20th century, with disastrous economic consequences thanks to the role vultures play in waste disposal. This phenomenon is the same in Southeast Asia, and vultures are virtually extinct with the exception of a few "vulture restaurants" in Cambodia where non-contaminated carcasses are put out for them. This, meanwhile, was one of perhaps 10 recent records of this species in Southeast Asia outside of the established feeding spots, an absolute mega find of a huge, gorgeous bird. The vulture took off as soon as it saw our car, and circled higher and higher, hopefully returning to an area that was safer for it. 

Red-headed Vulture! The heat haze was so intense I didn't really get any good pictures...

We had time for one more stop on the way back, once again at the small temple and scrubby forest where we tried again for pygmy falcon. We walked along a trail near the temple, and as always it was full of birds despite being brutally hot and awful habitat. A Rufescent Prinia was calling in a small tree, and Crested Treeswifts were swooping overhead. A Burmese Shrike perched distantly, another nice new year bird and one of my favorite shrikes. Choam played the call of the falcon, and to my enormous surprise it worked, as a pair of White-rumped Falcons swooped right in and perched in front of us! It was a surprise find of a scarce bird and much-wanted lifer, and I was thrilled. They're gorgeous birds, surprisingly similar to the Pygmy Falcon I'd seen in Ethiopia, though not particularly closely related. 

I IDed this as a Grey-breasted Prinia in the field but it looks more like a Rufescent Prinia... annoyingly I can't remember if I IDed it by song or not, which would be the clinching ID mark.

Crested Treeswift

Burmese Shrike

Female White-rumped Falcon

Prime habitat, apparently

It was a great high note to end my Cambodia trip with. Even though I wasn't able to go to my preferred destination I ended up with some great lifers and some of my favorite bird pictures of the year. The CBGA does a great job, and I definitely recommend them to any visiting birders. Cambodia is one of my favorite countries to bird in, and I'm already looking forward to my next trip there.