Sapa + Fansipan trail, 30-6 and 1-7-2012

Hi all,

First things first - my quest to find more than 500 species of birds in Vietnam has been successful! As I've never been to Sapa before it was very much anticipated by me but certainly not as easy as I had thought.
First of all, I only had 1 1/2 days. Second, the weather was terrible at times - windy, rainy and foggy, especially along O Quy Ho road where nothing was seen but a whatever finchbill and a Hill Prinia.
A few tourists were around but that was less of a problem.
A pre-arranged guide took me from the Cat Cat View Hotel to Hoang Lien National Park where we took the trail to Fansipan. I didn't stop for Little Forktail at the waterfalls as tourists were everywhere and time was restricted.
Once we started walking up the trail that starts at the "Eco-tourism zone" (this word gives me the shiver) hopes were high! The first birds to be seen, and heard were Whiskered Yuhinas, soon followed by an all too quick glimpse of what might have been a juvenile Green Cochoa - views were too brief to claim it though.
Many Grey-bellied Tesias were heard, and one was seen exceptionally well.
My list kept growing with species added including, Bar-throated Minla, Black-faced Warbler, Hume's Treecreeper, White-tailed Nuthatch, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Red-tailed Minla, Yellow-browed Tit, Golden Parrotbill, Rufous-winged, Streak-throated and White-browed Fulvetta as well as White-collared and Stripe-throated Yuhina.
The night was spent at the lower campsite. It had started pouring down, and would only stop for short periods of time the next day. Most of the higher elevation birds were missed which is a shame but given the short amount of time and terrible weather I think I did OK.
Highlights of the second day included nice views of Hill partridge, Chestnut-headed Tesia, Silver-eared Laughingthrush (brief views but great anyway - thanks Simon!), Chestnut-bellied Rock-thrush and Yellow-billed Blue Magpie!
On the way down a few species I'd seen before were added to the trip list including, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch, White-tailed Robin and Large Niltava.

                                         Ferruginous Flycatcher                                               

                                         White-browed Fulvetta

                                         A spot that looks like a Chestnut-bellied Rock-thrush

The trip was very successful - despite the terrible weather, and the fact that I missed quite a few of the more interesting high elevation species. I had 23 new species though, and that meant I could leave Vietnam with a final count of 511!

I will certainly be back at some stage to make it 600!

Cheers,
Falk

Nam Cat Tien - June 23-25

I finally made it to Nam Cat Tien, and wish I had gotten there earlier.  In 3 days of birding I notched up 54 species (identified - I saw a lot more) which is not to bad, I think, for a beginner (with about a third new species for me).  Someone good could easily double that.

I wish I new what my highlights were.  Sometimes I thought I was in a Lebanese restaurant, there were so many Pitta about.  I must have seen close to 25 Blue-winged, and a couple of Bar-bellied.  I heard from a film crew there that there were two known nests for Blue-tailed, but no such joy for me.  There were several Black-and-Red Broadbills, and a highlight (for me) on my last day were an Orange-breasted Trogon and a Collared Falconet.  I saw Common Flameback and Lesser Yellownapes (in a territory dispute) and Rufous Woodpeckers.  As I waited for the ferry out, I had awesome views of a Green-eared Barbet feeding (very close to me).

Goodbye all!  I really enjoyed Vietnam!!! and hope to be back there working again one day.

Wayne

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

Nha Trang and Mui Ne (& not Dalat)

You have got to love the Vietnamese block on many web and blog sites.  While I can access our blog from Hanoi, no such joy from Nha Trang or Mui Ne, but when I used Tor Project, to hide my location, no problems at all.  The same goes for my friends Gerry's blog of Birds from Thailand and beyond, which I cannot access from Hanoi either (unless I use Tor).  Might be worth remembering, if you will be travelling around Vietnam and want to access these blogs.

For my last 2 weeks in Vietnam, I had organised 4 days in Dalat, followed by leaving the family in Mui Ne, and heading off for a Pilgrimage to Cat Tien.  For the first time, I memorized the endemics there, and their calls.  It was not to be.  Terrible weather in Dalat meant the Vietnam Airlines flights were cancelled, so a rapid change of plan was needed - Nah Trang it was.  Bugger!

I obtained a morning pass up to Yen Bay, but it was very poor birding compared to previous trips, with no birds of note, in the forests, broken scrub edges, or rivers.

A few days later driving to Mui Ne, we saw a Hoopoe, which I thought was interesting, until I saw how many there were around Mui Ne.  The other bird that interested me (as I have seen no crows in Vietnam) was a solitary crow, in Minh Chau, about 40km north of Mui Ne, which I tentatively identified as a House Crow.  I saw not one raptor so far on this trip, which is kind of strange.

I did not have high hopes of birding around Mui Ne, but have had some interesting moments.  Yesterday afternoon, like a fool I walked up the hills, in the heat, into the (almost) desert.  I saw a very large brown owl, but before I could get near enough to ID it, a group of myna ganged up and chased it away.  I kept seeing either yellow or dull coloured sunbirds in the more arid areas.  Not where I would expect to see Olive-backed sun-birds.  It took me two days until I finally saw a male and could clinch the ID.  Seems to be a real gender imbalance here, and they are not where Robson suggests.  Some plain backed sparrows took me a long time to ID as well, as I failed to see the grey strip on the top of their heads.  LOL.


This morning I was the first person up Fairy Stream.  Lots of both Chestnut-capped and Green Bee-eaters close up are always cool to see.  A juvenile Yellow-vented bulbul (I think) sat within metres of me, which was nice (image below).  Right at the top of the valley, just above the waterfall, I saw a red woodpecker.  When it flew, it presented similar colours to a Coucal, and when perched on the coconut trees, the head and back appeared uniformly coloured (at a large distance), but shading to a darker tail.  The darker bill lead me to call Rufous, rather than Bay Woodpecker.  No time for good images, and it was gone when I thought I was closer, but if anyone can confirm from the poor image below, thanks in advance.

As I write this, a very pale coloured tern, with very slender wings, and a largish bill, is working up the beach against the wind.  Terntatively, using Robson I think it is a Gull-billed tern.

Wayne

Birding Lo Xo, 9-6-2012

Hi all,

First things first - I missed the bloody barwing.
Minh who was with me tried his hardest (and so did I) to see the little critters but only the briefest of views were had. I saw a tail in the middle of a climber that might have belonged to the Black-crowned Barwing but certainly not tickable for me.

                                         Looking at no barwings, shitty habitat and bad weather
 
The weather was terrible. Wind greeted us on arrival. Not long after rain joined in. Birding was everything else but pleasant.

                                         Black Eagles scanning for food...

                                         ...including barwings?

A few other species were seen at Lo Xo, including plenty of Black-collared Starlings and Flavescent Bulbuls. Black Eagles, Crested Serpent Eagle, Jerdon's Baza, White-cheeked Laughingthrush, Grey-cheeked Warbler, a possible Rufous-backed Sibia, Plumbeous Water Redstart, gazillions of Long-tailed Shrikes and White-breasted Kingfishers were seen too.
Grey-bellied Tesia, Hill Prinia and Indochinese Green Magpie were heard only.

                                         Black-collared Starling with something (not a barwing).

                                          Crappy shot but it's a Jerdon's Baza.
The day started promising with 2 Mountain Imperial Pigeons, a couple of Red-breasted Parakeets and a few Racket-tailed Treepies on our way to Kham Duc. Unfortunately, the main target didn't reveal itself but the day ended with Blue-tailed Bee-eaters and a House Sparrow in Hoi An.

                                          Blue-tailed Bee-eater near Hoi An.
Germany had won, so it wasn't too bad after all. Well, actually it was...

Huge thanks to Minh for his company, birding skills and safe driving!

Cheers,
Falk

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