Our Feathered Friends, Again, Again

A quick summary of our birding in Thailand and Sri Lanka. Yes, we know that you haven’t read about Sri Lanka yet. Be patient. We’re getting there. 

Doi Inchinon National Park, Thailand

After our experience with a guide on Tonle Sap near Siem Reap in Cambodia, we organized a one day private birding guide for the Doi Inchinon National Park, south of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Randy (an ex-pat from the USA) was our guide and Jackie (a local man) the driver. Jackie spoke very little English, but he was more than a driver; he was a birder in his own right and owned a x50 zoom compact digital camera. (Having experienced the limits of taking bird pics with a phone camera, we wonder if this piece of equipment might be on our horizon!). Between Randy’s incredible knowledge of the habits and habitats of the birds, and Jackie’s sharp eyes (and good pictures) we were well positioned for birding.

Among the sights which will stay in our memories will be a roadside sighting of our first Scarlet Minivet. (top left, stock photo) At the top of Doi Inchonon, we were led behind the cafe to where a pair of Ashy Wood Pigeons were roosting. They are endemic to this area and altitude as is the Green-tailed Sunbird. (bottom left, stock photo) For lunch we ate further down and overlooking a stream where Randy pointed out the Plumbeous Water Redstart that was wintering over there and had for several years. He would fly in from Nepal. So here’s the list of 39 species for our one day tour.

Golden-throated Barbet, Spectacled Barwing, Ashy Bulbul, Black Bulbul, Black-crested Bulbul, Grey-eyed Bulbul, Mountain Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Haircrested Drongo, Spotted Dove, Black Drongo, Bronzed Drongo, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Hill Blue Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Chinese Pond Heron, Little Heron, Silver-eared Laughingthrush, Chesnut-crowned Laughingthrush, Blue-winged Leafbird (female), Green-billed Malkoha, Long-tailed Minivet, Scarlet Minivet, Chesnut-tailed Minla, Chesnut-vented Nuthatch, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Ashy Wood Pigeon, Plumbeous Water Redstart, White-capped Redstart, Oriental Magpie Robin, Dark-backed Sibia, Green-tailed Sunbird, Mrs Gould’s Sunbird, Blue Whistling Thrush, Grey Treepie (heard not seen), Greenish Warbler, Chesnut-flanked Whiteeye, Striated Yuhina

Kandy, Sri Lanka

With our preference for landing in one spot for a few days rather than hopping around, we spent our 5 days in Sri Lanka in Kandy. Kandy is located in the central highlands of this dewdrop shaped island. We will tell more of our train journey and other sights in another blog.

Udawattekele Sanctuary

Close by to our airbnb was a forested nature sanctuary. We had great hopes here. The reality was rather different. We later learned that much of the bird life has been decimated by the resident troops of monkeys. Marsha almost got her backpack picked by one. While we were not enthralled by the variety of birds, we did have two particular sightings that will stick in the memory. The first was of the Crimson-backed Woodpecker and the second was of the Indian Paradise Flycatcher with wonderfully long streaming tail. In this instance we saw the white phase of this bird which made all the more striking. (below, stock photos)

Our list: Tricolored Munia, Red-vented Bulbul, Rose ringed Parakeet, Sri Lanka Hopping Parrot, Black-headed Yellow Bulbul, Crimson-backed Woodpecker, Brown-breasted Flycatcher, Indian Paradise Flycatcher (white phase)

Botanical Gardens

For one of our afternoons we took the local bus out to the Botanical Gardens. Being the middle of the afternoon, the birding was rather frustrating and we wondered whether it would be a bust. But then, around 4, we were in a setting when the birds started to emerge. The highlight was a sighting of a pair of Grey Hornbills and this made us very happy. (left, stock image)

Our list: Orange-billed Babbler, Indian Cormorant, Sri Lanken Green Pigeon, Black-hooded Oriole, Grey Hornbill, Asian Koel, Jerden’s Leafbird, Orange Minivet, Red-wattled Lapwing, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Indian Paradise Flycatcher (rufous phase)

Local Walks in Kandy

In the end we found the most satisfying birding to be our walks along roads nearby to our airbnb and around Kandy Lake. We kept our eyes open and it is amazing what we saw. For example, we were following a road past a pre-school and there in a tree was a White-throated Kingfisher. (right, stock image) It was so beautiful that we just gawked at it for 10 minutes. We enjoyed too identifying a couple of different Sunbirds with their long down-curved bills for sipping nectar. Some we saw trying to hover around a flower and so we named them “hummingbird-wannabees.”

Barbets are most often heard rather than seen. They are largely green and so blend in with the leafs. However, up on Arthur’s Seat (which must have been named by a Scotsman) overlooking Kandy Lake we had a spectacular sighting of the Crimson-fronted Barbet. (right, stock image) We also enjoyed the sleekness of the Tricolored and Scaly-breasted Munias. Here’s the list of our sightings from our various walks.

Our list: Scaly-breasted Munia, Loten’s Sunbird, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Crimson-fronted Barbet, Greater Coucal, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Indian Pond Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Brahminy Kite, Indian Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, White throated Kingfisher, Black-hooded Oriole, Red-vented Bulbul, Cinereous Tit, Oriental White Eye, Purple-rumped Sunbird 

Dubai

We were only in Dubai for 18 hours, half of them asleep and the other half on a half-day sight-seeing tour. But we can assure you that the house sparrows, mynas, and gulls were common. Next and last stop: Kenya!