West lake - Hanoi

Hi all,

Saturday 14th May, spotted 2 Whiskered Terns above a lotus pond at the north of the West lake.

Cheers,

Sebastien

Giant Ibis at Yok Don!

Hi guys,

I saw a Giant Ibis at Yok Don at a pool on 27th May. This was the first record for Vietnam since the last record, which was made by Jonathan Eames in 2003, which was the first record since the one before, which was in 1931.

Yok Don is great, I also saw all of Vietnam's parrotifauna, Black-headed Woodpecker, White-rumped Falcons and a whole bag of other stuff.

I also made a short trip to Mang Den where I failed to get up the hill to find Golden-winged Laughingthrush. It was nice to see the Chestnut-eared Laughingthrushes again after finding them at this site in May 2010 last year.

Cheers,

Simon Mahood

Nam Cat Tien, 30-4 - 3-5-11

Hi all,

A fantastic prolonged weekend in Cat Tien National Park produced some of its gems, as well as more unusual records including the following:

- 1 probable Spot-bellied Eagle Owl
- 1 Common Tern
- Blue-bearded Bee-eaters
- Black-and-red, Dusky and Banded Broadbills
- Blue-rumped, Bar-bellied and Blue-winged Pittas
- Wreathed Hornbills
- Siamese Firebacks
- Green Peafowl
- Banded Kingfishers (heard only:-()
- 1 Lesser Fish Eagle
- Black, Yellow and Cinnamon Bitterns

and many other great birds/mammals/reptiles!

Cheers,
Daniel, Simon, Nicholas, Falk and friends, wifes, fiancees

Can Gio Biosphere Reserve / Can Thanh, 29-4-11

Hi all,

A great afternoon was spent along the road (Rung Sac) that leads through Can Gio Biosphere Reserve, and along the coastline southwest of Can Thanh (at the roundabout south of the reserve follow Duyen Hai to the southwest, and take any path that leads south to the coast OR take Thanh Thoi straight south, see here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&biw=1280&bih=610&q=vietnam+map&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Vietnam&gl=vn&ei=wvnATbD6H5CkuAPEl5mbBA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ8gEwAA

Interesting birds seen included:
- 1 2nd cy Heuglin's Gull
- at least 6 White-faced Plovers
- at least 3 Grey-tailed Tattlers
- plenty of Whiskered, White-winged Black and Common Terns, as well as 1 Little Tern and 1 probable Swift Tern
- Great Knot, Lesser and Greater Sand Plover, Terek Sandpiper, Turnstone, Pacific Golden Plovers (some of them in stunning breeding plumage) + lots of Bar-tailed Godwits and Whimbrels
- a few Indian Cormorants along the Mangroves
- Collared Kingfishers everywhere
- Ashy Tailorbird
- Golden-bellied Gerygone
- Racket-tailed Treepie

Cheers,
Daniel, Simon, Falk

Edible-nest Swiftlet

Hi,

Today I have a question for you all, and hope someone can enlighten me. Last week I visited Phu Quoc Island, and on one farm they had an open window in the top of a house. In the window a loudspeaker continously gave the sound of a swiftlet, and I saw one bird. If I understood my vietnamese guide correctly, they raised Edible-nest Swiftlets there (and my guide said they do the same near Nha Trang). However, my bird-book says the Edible-nest Swiftlet should not be found in Vietnam. Are they breeding Germain's Swiftlet and using the nest of that species for food like they do with the Edible-nest Swiftlet, or what?

I attach a picture of a Forest Wagtail that visited the area around my cottage for two days - a lovely guest.

Arild