Weekend in Tuyen Quang

I finally got to Tuyen Quang, and in between the rain got out and about a bit.  On Friday just as it was getting dark, our bus slid off the road, so we had to walk the last km or so to our accommodation.  I saw 6 small dark-coloured raptors (pointy wings and narrow tails), which I take to be some type of Falcon (with no certainty) circling a tree slowly.  I though they could be the tail-end of the migration looking for a roost for the night, then two broke off and flew away.  Interesting.

Saturday morning stroll early around the irrigation dam showed many cinnamon bitterns and two female Watercock (separate from each other) and one bizarre pale-grey bird.  Its body feathers were fluffed up and it had a black bib and no feathers on its head.  The bib suggested no to what it was thinking, and now I think it was a rather sick white alboides wagtail.  I then walked up into the Acacia forest, as I could hear a few calls from in there.  After fleeting views of a couple of babbler species, I came across two Eyebrowed Thrushes.  A nice way to end the day.

Sunday morning and the irrigation dam was close to birdless.  I worked up through the Acacia to the top ridge and saw nothing.  I heard a three bar call and imitated it.  In no time I was being circled by 2-3 agitated red-brown birds with whiter heads and dark eye-stripes.  When I could not get a photo, I recorded the call with my cellphone.  A better description and the recording are attached to this post on Birdforum).  Sunday afternoon and we took the kids to a cave, where we walked up a track up a limestone cliff, covered in scrub and small trees.  I let the kids get well away and sat.  There were plenty of birds moving around, again mostly unphotographed or described.  A female Black-Naped Monarch gave me troubles to ID until the male arrived, as did a striped Tit-Babbler.

Wayne