Sunday, December 1, 2013

Doi Inthanon and Chang Mai, Thailand 2013, part 3



The books say these birds are quite shy, but not on this mountain. To the contrary; they are active, cheeky, cute and very entertaining: Chestnut-tailed Minla,









Also very cheeky: Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush 





Suddenly the clouds packed, the sky turned grey and raindrops blurred my vision. Just then a female sunbird came to sit right in front of me. I quickly took its picture thinking it probably was a Green-tailed Sunbird - the very bird I came to see! There was no sign of a male around and I was getting cold. Thinking I had another chance the following day I walked on...


female Green-tailed Sunbird



As I was about to head back downhill I met a small group of birders who were going on a trail leading to a small swamp. I asked if I could come along. They had been there a few times over the last days and were hoping to see the White-browed Shortwing... And we did, too! A very shy bird that lingers in the undergrowth and doesn’t show itself often. The place was too dark for any kind of photography. I don’t use flash for the birds’ sake, so no images. The picture stays in my memory. We also ran into a Dark-sided Thrush. Same story, no photo. At one stage a large flock of wagtails, yuhinas and other small birds flew over. I managed to capture some later on.


Yellow-bellied Fantail





Time to move on, or rather down hill again. While driving I spotted this Verditer Flycatcher in a very tall tree at a great distance. 



And 4 Sibias around a flowering tree, not too far.  Dark-backed Sibia





At the end of the afternoon I drove down and checked in with Mr. Deang who runs a small eatery with accommodation for birders. He organized a local guide for me for the following day.

We left the next morning at 7am and Mr. Tana showed me a few more points. The sky was clear and there was little wind. The kind of weather that's actually too good for birding. It was awfully quiet, but we managed to see some.


At a large distance a tree full of White-headed Bulbuls, apparantly a rare sight.



 Looking pretty between the pink flowers.


On a campsite near the Huai Sai Lueang Waterfall: Blue Rock Thrush M.s. pandoo





Sooty-headed Bulbul  P.a. klossi



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