Thailand; Day 7 - Chiang Doa & Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park

   Having had a fairly successful day the previous day, we decided to spend the morning birding an area of open agricultural land rather than return to the forest. This was just a short drive from our lodging, adjacent to the town of Chiang Dao itself. It was quite lively but generally with common birds including our first large numbers of herons of the trip (although all were Eastern Cattle Egrets) as well our first waders with nice numbers of Grey-headed Lapwing, Black-winged Stilt and Little Ringed Plover. We stayed birding here until around 11:00 in the morning when the heat became unbearable to be out birding in.

  There were just a few new birds for me here, but it was nice to finally get a prolonged view of Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker with a male singing on a set of roadside telegraph wires. There were also a few groups of Black-collared Starling feeding on the recently mown lawns adjacent to the road and rice paddies. A leaf warbler we picked up we identified as a Two-barred Warbler, which is a new species for me, and a good species to be aware of for birding the UK. A steady morning birding, but with some nice species to keep things ticking over.

  After the morning birding, we drove north to the Doi Angkhang region, the Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park where we would spend the next few days birding. We arrived around lunchtime, and after checking in to our hotel at 14:00 we drove up the mountain on the western side, up one of the steepest roads I have ever seen, to visit the Doi Angkhang Royal Agricultural Station; where there are some nice botanical gardens with some pleasant birding.

  The birding here started slowly but picked up later on in the afternoon. We enjoyed large numbers of Cooks Swifts passing overhead throughout the afternoon. In the bushes, we had brilliant views of Spot-winged Grosbeak as they noisily cracked open seeds right next to us. A flowering tree had a few bits visiting, including Blue-bearded Bee-Eater and Streaked Spiderhunter, which were both good to see. Although it was a long shot, a singing Banded Bay Cuckoo provided a challenge, and after some time we managed distant views, before it approached and flew directly over us. We rounded off the afternoon with a very tricky Bay Woodpecker, which really did not want us to see it landed, but was quite content for us to hear it at regular at all times. 

Species List:
Chiang Dao Ricefields: Spotted Dove, Zebra Dove, Greater Coucal, Grey-headed Lapwing, Common Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Little Egret, Chinese Pond Heron, Eastern Cattle Egret, Crested Honey Buzzard, Shikra, Black Kite, Asian Barred Owlet, Indochinese Roller, Ashy Woodswallow, Black Drongo, Brown Shrike, Long-tailed Shrike, Eastern Jungle Crow, Common Tailorbird, Plain Prinia, Barn Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Two-barred Warbler, Black-collared Starling, Common Myna, Great Myna, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Taiga Flycatcher, Amur Stonechat, Pied Bush Chat, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Baya Weaver, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Richard's Pipit,
Doi Angkhang Royal Agricultural Station: Spotted Dove, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Himalayan Swiftlet, Cook's Swift, Mountain Scops Owl, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Blue-throated Barbet, Bay Woodpecker, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Ashy Drongo, Bronzed Drongo, Long-tailed Shrike, Japanese Tit, Striated Swallow, Mountain Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Yellow-browed Warbler, Dark-backed Sibia, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Verditer Flycatcher, Blue Whistling Thrush, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, Streaked Spiderhunter, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Grey Wagtail, Olive-backed Pipit, Spot-winged Grosbeak,