Thailand; Day 4 - Doi Inthanon National Park

   For our second morning in Doi Inthanon National Park we birded the 34.5 kilometre trail off the main road, which was a tarmacked road through a nice area of forest. It is a popular area with birders to access the forest, and in the hours we spent there we enjoyed many mixed species flocks with a few new birds for us, such as White-browed Shrike-Babbler and Rufous-backed Sibia. We also managed to finally see the Golden-throated Barbet that has been tormenting us since we got here, with its call constantly going on in the background.

  One of the reasons we decided to bird this trail was because we were told by our friend Sam Pitt-Miller about a feeding station well down in the valley where he had seen several interesting birds for us. As such we visited the feeder with our own worms to see if we could have the same success. And we did, with Slaty-breasted Tesia, White-gorgetted Flycatcher, Himalayan Shortwing and the absolute highlight with a Pygmy Cupwing that visited twice, but on both times passed through extremely rapidly. Whilst we were waiting, we also had a small group of Spectacled Barwing pass through.

  After a lunch stop at Mr Daengs we returned to the Yee Lee resort hide we had gone to the previous day where we had enjoyed some nice birds visiting a hide overlooking a stream. Sadly, the forktails we had hoped for did not visit in the hour we spent there, and the birds we did see were all the same as the previous day. Helpfully, once again, Sam came to the rescue and tipped us off to another location to check for forktails, on the river next to the Rong Fai Fa Ban Khun Klang Restaurant where we were delighted to have a Slaty-backed Forktail showing nicely, if a little distant and always remaining wary. In addition, there was a smart White-crowned Redstart here, a stunning riverside inhabitant.

  At the end of the afternoon we decided to visit the hide complex at Rang Bon Doi, slightly lower down the mountain, and as such had a completely different species composition visiting the feeders and watering hole. Despite arriving quite late, much to the surprise of the owner, in the 90 minutes of light we enjoyed brilliant birding with a constant stream of birds passing through. Although we only recorded 10 species, each one was new for us. The highlights were a fantastic pair of Orange-bellied Leafbirds drinking from a small bamboo puddle, and a pair of White-tailed Robin which were absolutely stunning birds. Plus we had a lot of mammal activity, with Northern Treeshrew and Himalayan Striped Squirrel both making appearances. The squirrels were especially entertaining as they were ever-present and constantly chasing each other around the site. 

Species List:
Doi Inthanon National Park: Spotted Dove, Asian Palm Swift, Asian Barred Owlet, Golden-throated Barbet, Short-billed Minivet, White-browed Shrike-babbler, Clicking Shrike-babbler, Yellow-bellied Fantail, Japanese Tit, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Pygmy Cupwing, Barn Swallow, Striated Swallow, Puff-throated Bulbul, Grey-eyed Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Davison's Leaf Warbler, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Grey-throated Babbler, Buff-breasted Babbler, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Yunnan Fulvetta, Spectacled Barwing, Rufous-backed Sibia, Oriental Magpie-Robin, White-rumped Shama, Large Niltava, Small Niltava, Verditer Flycatcher, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Hill Blue Flycatcher, Lesser Shortwing, Himalayan Shortwing, Slaty-backed Forktail, White-tailed Robin, Slaty-backed Flycatcher, Taiga Flycatcher, Plumbeous Water Redstart, White-capped Redstart, Daurian Redstart, Black-throated Sunbird, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, Little Spiderhunter, Blue-winged Leafbird, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Grey Wagtail,