Thailand; Day 3 - Doi Inthanon National Park

   The plan for the day was to spend the morning on the summit of Doi Inthanon, the highest peak in Thailand. To avoid the masses of tourists, we started as early as possible which meant arriving before sunrise. Unfortunately one of the side effects of this early start meant that it was an astonishingly cold four degrees when we arrived. But we had a hot coffee and started birding as soon as the light began to improve, birding the Ang Ka Nature Tail, a boardwalk just down from the summit, known for its many species on offer.

  Although the species total was limited, we enjoyed some fabulous birding along the boardwalk, with the undoubted highlight being a set of three Rufous-throated Partridges feeding right under us and not at all concerned by our presence. Additionally, we managed some excellent target species with Himalayan Shortwing, Dark-sided Thrush and the Doi Inthanon race of the Green-tailed Sunbird. There were also brilliant commoner birds, although the leaf warblers proved extremely problematic, eventually deciding we had seen Ash-throated Leaf Warbler and Davinson Leaf Warbler.

  The boardwalk was short but we did many loops looking for our targets, so we did not finish until late morning. The summit area was extremely busy, so we drove slightly down the mountain to the Kew Mae Pan area of shops and restaurants, as here there was another nature trail we decided to try. However, before we started we found out that a group of photographers were throwing mealworms down behind the toilets for birds, and this brought out several goodies such as Slate-coloured Flycatcher, Large Niltava and Silver-eared Laughingthrush. We enjoyed spending time watching the birds.

  The trail itself was three kilometres long, and for the most part not birdy at all. It obviously didn’t help that it was the worst time of day for birding and that the trail itself was incredibly steep and busy, meaning that we spent very little time actually scanning the canopy, generally focusing on the understorey and keeping ourselves together as we quickly tired. Still, we managed to find a nice Snowy-browed Flycatcher and a female Himalayan Shortwing. At the top of the trail, where it opened out into a stunning vista, there was a singing Hill Prinia.

  Once we got back towards the end of the afternoon, we decided to check out a hide just above the town of Doi Inthanon that we had heard about. Since the actual site restaurant was not open, it took some time to find the hide but once we did there were some excellent birds on offer; Daurian Redstart, female Lesser Shortwing, Plumbeous Water Redstart and a female Hill Blue Flycatcher. But the best bird at this site was a Pygmy Cupwing, a species we had searched for all day without success which Sarah and Kate found in an ornamental area just downstream from the hide. An excellent end to an excellent day, which saw us birding relentlessly from dawn until dusk.

Species List:
Doi Inthanon National Park: Rufous-throated Partridge, Peregrine Falcon, Grey-backed Shrike, Yellow-bellied Fantail, Japanese Tit, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Hill Prinia, Pygmy Cupwing, Mountain Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Ashy-throated Warbler, Davison's Leaf Warbler, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Mountain Tailorbird, Chestnut-flanked White-eye, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Yunnan Fulvetta, Silver-eared Laughingthrush, Dark-backed Sibia, Bar-throated Minla, Common Myna, Dark-sided Thrush, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Large Niltava, Verditer Flycatcher, Hill Blue Flycatcher, Lesser Shortwing, Himalayan Shortwing, Blue Whistling Thrush, Red-flanked Bluetail, Slaty-blue Flycatcher, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Plumbeous Water Redstart, Daurian Redstart, Grey Bush Chat, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, Green-tailed Sunbird, Grey Wagtail, 

Thailand; Day 2 - Doi Inthanon National Park

   For our first full day in Thailand, and our first-day birding, we started the morning a little later with a nice breakfast at the accommodation from the night before, with some casual birding around the grounds. Although all the birds we saw were common species, I still had a few new birds including Chinese Pond Heron and Streak-eared Bulbul, but nothing exceptional and we were soon on our way to our first proper destination, the Doi Inthanon National Park.

  We arrived at the main gate around 09:00 and purchased our tickets, before driving another 40 minutes into the park to reach the birding areas. Once we arrived at the second park checkpoint, we parked just up the road and birded a trail known as the jeep trail. This was a trail that had been suggested to us, but presumably thanks to our late morning arrival, it was extremely slow birding and the flocks we did encounter moved too fast with the birds moving too quickly for any good identifications. That said, we still had a few nice birds including Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Yunnan Fulvetta and a brilliant group of Slaty-bellied Tesia that showed incredibly well, for Tesias.

  A quick break and drinks stop around lunchtime gave us some time to refresh, before heading to the Kings Garden above the town of Doi Inthanon. This was obviously a very artificial environment, complete with well-tendered flowerbeds and mowed lawns. However, there were a few birds for us to find here, including beautiful male Black-throated Sunbird and Mrs. Gould's Sunbirds. Additionally, there were a few migrant species we are familiar with from Western Europe, such as Taiga Flycatcher and Olive-backed Pipit.

  At 17:00 we left the gardens and traveled to our accommodation for the next three nights, the Motho Homestay. The lodging was nice, a chalet with two rooms situated well off the main road in a quiet rural area flanked by forest. After arriving we crashed out a bit, but still spotted a distant Verditer Flycatcher showing well despite the range.

  After a slow start, it was a very pleasant day to have been birding around the Doi Inthanon National Park, and with more days yet to come, we are looking forward to seeing what we can find. 

-Himalayan Striped Squirrel

-Yunnan Fulvetta

-Rufous-winged Fulvetta

-Slaty-bellied Tesia

-Mrs. Gould's Sunbird

-Black-throated Sunbird

-Great Windmill

-Red Lacewing Butterfly

-Black-striped Frog

Species List:
Doi Inthanon National Park: Feral Pigeon, Spotted Dove, Asian Koel, White-breasted Waterhen, Chinese Pond Heron, Asian Green Bee-eater, Clicking Shrike-babbler, Common Iora, Black Drongo, Ashy Drongo, Bronzed Drongo, Yellow-bellied Fantail, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Japanese Tit, Common Tailorbird, Barn Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Striated Swallow, Mountain Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Streak-eared Bulbul, Flavescent Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Mountain Tailorbird, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Yunnan Fulvetta, Common Myna, Eyebrowed Thrush, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Verditer Flycatcher, Blue Whistling Thrush, Little Pied Flycatcher, Taiga Flycatcher, Black-throated Sunbird, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Olive-backed Pipit, Common Rosefinch, Himalayan Striped Squirrel

Thailand; Day 1 - arrival

   So begins the first day of the next birding trip, and the first in 2024. This time I was travelling with a group of friends from Spurn; Paul Collins, Sarah Harris, Rob Hunton and Kate Fox. We had fancied heading to Thailand for some time, and we finally got it arranged for early this year, with the hope of visiting some of the northern national parks and then heading to the south for a few other birds.

  We left Manchester on the 28^th, departing at 08:00 in the morning, and arriving at our change in Bahrain early in the evening. After a four-hour wait there, we then continued on to Bangkok, arriving in Thailand at 09:00 in the morning. Here we had a six-hour wait before we would take an internal flight up to the city of Chiang Mai in the north, so that gave us some time to bird around the airport. We had plenty of Painted Storks fly over, and had even a few new birds with Great Myna, Asian Palm Swift and House Swift.

  Late afternoon, around 15:00, we boarded our flight north and finally reached the end of our travels. We quickly picked up the car, a Nissan X-Trail we reserved through Europcar, and set off out of the city to a small homestead to the south, halfway between Chiang Mai and the first national park we would visit in the morning, which Paul had reserved through booking.com. We were absolutely exhausted at this point so showered and crashed, ready to get started with the birding the following day. 

Species List:
Suvarnabhumi International Airport: Feral Pigeon, Red Collared Dove, Spotted Dove, House Swift, Asian Palm Swift, Painted Stork, Little Egret, Great Egret, Red-rumped Swallow, Common Myna, Great Myna, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, White Wagtail, 

Sandbeach Outflow twitching Red-breasted Goose

   After our success with the Northern Waterthrush we continued on to the Essex coastline where there had been a Red-breasted Goose seen among the rafts of thousands of Brent Geese on the arable fields there. So we spent the rest of the daylight hours here enjoying some very pleasant birding, with a wide variety of species on offer.

  Sadly, despite searching through over 5000 Brent Geese during the afternoon, we failed to find the Red-breasted Goose. It was reported at another location around lunchtime so we headed there, but ultimately failed in our quest. Still, it was very enjoyable and we still had some rare goose action with a Black Brant and a Pale-bellied Brent Goose at the second location we checked. 

  In addition the birding was excellent, with flocks of Corn Buntings being the highlight, a species I see so infrequently in the UK. There were also groups of waders around, especially Golden Plover in the fields. Despite the dip, it was an excellent afternoons birding. 

-Dark-bellied Brent Geese & Marsh Harrier

-Black Brant & Dark-bellied Brent Geese

-Corn Bunting

Species List:
Sandbeach Outflow: Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Pale-bellied Brent Goose, Black Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Pied Avocet, Grey Plover, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Common Snipe, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Western Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Cetti's Warbler, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, Fieldfare, European Robin, European Stonechat, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, European Rock Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, Common Linnet, Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Common Reed Bunting, 

Heybridge Creek twitching Northern Waterthrush

   I headed down to London for a weekend of visiting David Darrel-Lambert, and on the Saturday we decided to spend the day out birding in the adjacent county of Essex, where there were a few interesting birds on offer, the most notable of these of course being the Northern Waterthrush that turned up about a month prior. Since its initial discovery, it had become more erratic in its sightings in the small creek it had frequented, and we did not know how long we would have to wait before we might actually see the bird.

  We arrived on site at 07:25, just as the visibility started to improve. Maddeningly, it turned out the bird had briefly visited at 07:18, and as such we had just missed it, although seeing it in the near darkness would not have been a particularly exciting. Still, that meant we had to wait around, and in the end we endured two and a half hours in the freezing cold waiting for the bird to return, which fortunately it eventually did.

  The bird returned at around 10:00, calling loudly as it flew in. It then spent about 5-10 minutes moving up and down the creek feeding on the edge of the frozen waterway before flying into a nearby tree and then off again at height. During its short stay it offered absolutely brilliant views jumping across broken reed stems and walking along the edge of the ice, well worth the long and painful wait. 

-Northern Waterthrush

Species List:
Heybridge Creek: Canada Goose, Egyptian Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Tufted Duck, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Moorhen, Northern Lapwing, Common Snipe, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Little Egret, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Cetti's Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Chaffinch, Common Reed Bunting, Northern Waterthrush, 

Rishworth Moor

  It was a stunning winter day, with frosty ground and clear blue skies. After a walk around Soil Hill in the morning I decided to take the car out and try to work on my Calderdale year list, checking out a few locations with resident species that I could see nicely and easily. One of these that I was especially keen to see were the Twite on Rishworth Moor.

  The previous week I had visited with Harry Coghill, and although we did see three individuals at one location, they quickly left and we had no further sign. Consequently, today I returned hoping to get some better views and hopefully some photos in nice light. It took a few hours of checking different locations before I eventually found them, back at the first site I had checked. Here there were only two individuals, but they were busy tucking into seed that seemingly kept them occupied, allowing me to approach reasonably close without disturbing them. 

  It is sad to see the decline of the species even during my time in Halifax, with this now being the last site to find them, having previously seen them at several different spots in years gone by. How much longer the colony here lingers, only time will tell. 

-Twite

Species List:
Rishworth Moor: Common Goldeneye, Stock Dove, European Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Wren, White-throated Dipper, Mistle Thrush, European Stonechat, Grey Wagtail, Twite, Common Reed Bunting, 

Soil Hill

  Having searched almost every day since my return to the UK at the start of November, it's hard to believe it's taken until the 9th of January to find my first Soil Hill Jack Snipe of the winter. But fortunately, it was worth the wait with a grand total of three individuals being flushed when searching through their usual haunts. Presumably, this apparent arrival of Jack Snipe is a product of the cold front moving through, with seriously cold temperatures on the continent. Whatever the reason, it is good that they are back.

-Jack Snipe

  Buoyed by my success with finding Jack Snipes the previous day, this morning I went up again in the company of Harry Coghill, and using the thermal whilst patiently moving through the marsh, we managed to locate an individual before it flushed, offering absolutely unbelievable views as it relayed totally on its camouflage. This is only the third time I have found an individual this way, and hopefully, it will not be the last. 

-Jack Snipe

Species List:
Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Jack Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Common Buzzard, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Common Blackbird, Fieldfare, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Goldfinch,