Cuc Phuong NP, 24-6-2012

Hi all,

A morning spent around the Loop trail at Bong Substation in Cuc Phuong produced only few exciting birds, although the morning drive started off good with at least 5 Malayan Night Herons and 2 Bar-bellied Pittas being flushed off the road.

First birds seen at the start of the Loop trail included a couple of smart Rufous-throated Fulvettas. A Chestnut-necklaced (Tonkin) Partridge was calling close by but didn't show itself. The usual suspects turned up further along the trail with plenty of Buff-breasted and Grey-throated Babblers. A few flycatchers showed up near the 1000-year-old tree, including many Black-naped Monarchs, 1 nice-looking male Asian Paradise Flycatcher, 1 female Fujian Niltava as well as 2 Hainan Blue Flycatchers. Mostly passerines were encountered during the walk but woodpeckers were heard and seen too - mainly Bay Woodpeckers and Greater Yellownapes but 1 woodpecker that was heard sounded reminiscent to Red-collared.

Just before the ancient tree a small birdwave consisted of Limestone Leaf-warbler, White-bellied Erpornis, Black-browed Fulvetta and again, Rufous-throated Fulvetta.
Towards the end of the trail a pitta-sized brown bird was flushed.

2 Yellow-bellied Warblers and a flock of Brown-backed Needletails finished off the morning's birding.

Nothing of interest was seen on the way out of the park.

Cheers,
Falk

Cuc Phuong NP, Van Long NR, 10 - 12/06/2011

Hi all,

A relatively productive weekend in Cuc Phuong produced the following species, amongst others:

- Eared Pitta (Loop Trail, heard only)
- Bar-bellied Pitta (1 heard, Loop Trail; 1 crossing the road between Bong and HQ)
- Malayan Night Heron (at least 2 seen well on Saturday morning along the road around "Early Man Cave", and again 2 ind. on Sunday)
- Maroon Oriole (Valley Trail)
- Silver-breasted Broadbill (Loop Trail)

plus good views of Red-headed Trogons, Rufous-throated Fulvettas, Grey-throated Babblers, Dollarbirds, Sultan Tit, Limestone Wren Babbler, Hainan Blue Flycatcher and White-tailed Flycatcher.

Van Long was a treat as usual, with excellent views of Delacour's Langurs. Avian delights included, Black Bittern, Cinnamon Bittern, Yellow Bittern, White-browed Crake, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, as well as a few White-shouldered Starlings.

Cheers,
Stephan, Daniel, Falk

Cat Tien 18.-21.3.2011

Hi all,

I had a good long weekend in Cat Tien from the 18^th to the 21^st of March. I spent two nights in HQ and one at the Crocodile Lake. The trail to the lake was surprisingly slow in producing birds. This was mainly due to the many noisy Vietnamese students on the trail. However, the trails around HQ were good. The best species were:

- 3x Bar-bellied Pitta

- Germain’s Peackock-Pheasant (2 seen very well; many heard)

- Siamese Fireback (a couple)

- Good selection of Woodpeckers, especially Heart-spotted Woodpecker

- Many White-crested Laughingthrushes

Biggest misses: Blue-rumped Pitta and Pale-headed Woodpecker

Cheers, Stephan

Pittas in Cuc Phuong

Last chance for birding in Vietnam for quite a while, I chose Cuc Phuong for that (16.-18.12.2010). Christian went with me. We spent 2 nights there, first at the HQ, second at Bong, with a stop at Van Long on the way back. It was quite cold, except the last afternoon, which was as good as weather can get in northern Vietnam.

First I tried to look for the Pied Falconet, which I still needed to see despite a few previous attempts. Easy this time, one bird was at the spot indicated by Simon, then a family of 4 perched near the gate at the end of the road through the botanical garden, and finally one more showed nicely and real close at Bong.
Luck was with us, when we flushed a Blue-rumped Pitta on the valley trail, which wasn't too scared and allowed for wonderful close views. Really nice bird, with almost all blue back. Very happy about that, after having tried many times in Cat Tien to find that one. Even better, we saw one more briefly the next day on the loop trail.

Earlier in the morning on the stairs to the loop trail (starting from the swimming pool), we met a family of Silver-breasted Broadbills, with a lot of small birds around. I could not concentrate well on those however, as Bar-bellied Pittas started to call from two sides. One came in to the tape and crossed hurriedly the trail, giving short but nice views.

Descending towards the big old tree, we got great views of a pair of Silver Pheasants. There where a few more nice birds around, here is the complete trip list.

At Van Long, we couldn't take the boat to see the Delacour's Langurs as apparently water is too low now, but we managed to find them in the scope from the dike. Quite far but nicely seen climbing over the rocks, at least 8 adults with 1 baby.

A Peregrine made a spectacular show by snatching a water bird (I didn't see what it was, but from size I guess it was a Crake) and then taking it to the top of the nearest rock for us to watch him plucking and eating his prey...

That was a great last trip of 2,5 years birding in Vietnam. Hope to get more of that in one of the holidays to come, and hopefully with you guys then! I enjoyed it to be out with you and I definitely learned a lot from you... Thanks for that!
Keep up posting good stuff here for me to envy!
Florian

A few more pics taken by Christian: