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.
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
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