Today would mostly be spent travelling down from Chiang Saen to Chiang Mai, from where we would fly out the following morning to continue our travels in the south. We had been very successful in our time around Chiang Saen and so had little in the way of new targets to search for, the only species that had eluded us so far being Small Pratincole. As such, we first headed to the Meekong River at Rim Khong restaurant, as we had the previous day, in the hope that there might be some on the shingle spits where there were none yesterday.
Sadly it was not to be. The previous evening had been a
prelude to Chinese New Year and fireworks had been going off all night. Were it
this or simply the extensive development along the river, there was no sign of
any Small Pratincoles here. Generally birding was slow, but we had nice views
of Red Avadavat in the reeds there. There was a big surprise however, when I picked
up a small gull species flying up river. I grabbed the camera and fired off a
few photos before I lost it behind the island in front of the beach. I was in
for a shock when I checked the photos; the bird was an adult Black-legged
Kittiwake! Although the photos were not clear, it is possible to see the black
ocular spot and the clean black wingtips. Apparently this was an incredibly rare
bird for Thailand, especially this far inland, and since it was in the middle
of the river it may well be a first for Laos as well. Apparently it has already
been accepted by the Thai rarities committee, or so I am told.
After the disappointment of the Rim Khong section of the
river, we also tried a few other areas for Small Pratincole, but the areas we
wanted to check were now all built up and there was no sign or habitat for the Pratincoles.
A disappointing dip, but hard to complain after the incredible few days we have
had in the area. By this point it was mid-morning so we started our drive south.
Half way down the drive, just to the east of the city of Chiang Rai, we visited
a large lake Nong Luang where we hoped to find a few last waterbirds.
And we were in for the waterbird surprise, when Sarah picked
out a cracking drake Baers Pochard among the Ferruginous Ducks. With none of
this species reported in Thailand yet this winter, this was a huge surprise for
us, and a massive bonus bird for our trip. It was always distant and we had to
photograph it through the scope, but it was often active and in view, with the
fudge ducks for comparison. Otherwise there was just common waterbirds in the
area, with Cotton Pygmy Goose and Tufted Duck both being new birds for our trip.
Thrilled with our bonus stop, we continued on our journey
south, arriving in Chiang Mai early afternoon. Once we had checked into our
hotel and sorted the car out we drove the short distance from the city to the Huai
Hong Khrai royal gardens, which have a population of Green Peafowl. Although this
population is not truly wild, it was still our only opportunity to see a
stunning species that we otherwise would not get to on our itinerary.
Initially we were not sure how to find the birds, but
fortunately we spotted two very quickly as we drove along the road into the
grounds. Around the lake we then saw several more, oftentimes distant but
sometimes much closer and we were very satisfied with our late afternoon birding.
The site was generally quiet, but it was nice to see our first Red Junglefowl
of the trip, with a cracking male, as well as our first Striated Heron of the
trip.
That evening, I headed out in Chiang Mai with a friend from
University. It was certainly a messy night, but an excellent way to finish off
our time in the north of the country. Before the next phase in the south.
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