We all know that birdwatching very much is about moments. Mostly great moments and a few frustrating ones…hehe! After a couple hours waiting on the viewpoint there he is, the Great Philippine Eagle appears above the forest! Long sweaty hours on a forest trail for nothing more than a frustrating glimpse of a Banded Pitta. Suddenly, after quite a while and out of nothing, this male Swinhoe’s Pheasant walks up on the roadside bank and starts posing for a full 5 minutes! A long rough day out on the ocean, but this Waved Albatross just never sailed by. Long hours of travel by plane and car, but here they are, superb graceful White-naped and Siberian Cranes!
It’s all about being in the right place at the right time. And when you finally get those great moments to happen, better hold them and enjoy! I want to tell you about such a moment I deeply enjoyed…a very special tiny bit of time that lasted for 2 hours! “The count from Chiang Dao canopy tower!”
The area in and around the grounds of Wat Thum Phaprong or better known as Chiang Dao temple is well known amongst birders. Not for nothing, it’s a great area to go birdwatching with quite a few specialities on offer in pleasant surroundings. However, few of us, inclusive myself until recently, would have imagined the place to be good for a record!
Great moments happen when you least expect them. On 22 November 2009, Bob East, Bill Glanz and myself were scheduled to bird Doi Ang Khan, where we experienced thick fog, so after a couple hours and having seen some of the easier targets of the area, we decided to leave the place and fog in search of something better at a lower elevation.
We had visited the Chiang Dao area earlier in the trip, but still, with the higher elevations fogged up for the day and not much else to go for, the temple site seemed a good idea…right! We made it quick up the steps and reached by 14h45, the few square meters where we were about to spend the next 2 hours. A superb 360 degrees view of the surrounding forested hills and valley was ours here up the canopy tower…canopy tower you said?? Oh well, Thailand doesn’t have anything that looks like a proper canopy tower, here at Chiang Dao, the little platform on top of Wat Thum Phaprong is as close as it gets. The views and birds are superb anyway.
So, what is this all about? Well, we did a great job to record 52 species in just 2 hours, a 2 hour sit where we never left the little space up the temple platform, a forest-only site in SE-Asia, yes in the afternoon! Must be a record. I reckon 25 to 30 species would be a good average afternoon at the site. The overall experience we had this time was one of a feeding flock that surrounded us but never moved on. While this area usually holds high bird activity in the early morning, afternoons generally are much quieter. Heavy cloud cover and bad weather higher up the mountain must have kept bird activity up all day so we could enjoy this very special moment.
Please check the bird list below to see which 52 species made it in 2 hours. That we didn’t exhaust the area within that time is clear, after we closed the 120 min. count, some more bird species appeared, most notable a Blue Rock Thrush seen from the viewpoint and Streaked Wren Babbler on the way out. If I may highlight a couple birds we saw during our count, it must be the Blue-bearded Bee-eater that kept hanging around below the viewpoint, the Bay Woodpecker that showed exceptionally well and both scarce Asian Emerald Cuckoo and Purple-naped Sunbird are always welcome additions.
Now only rest me to warmly thank Bob and Bill for the enjoyable birding we had together in the mountains of northern Thailand.
You may read the full article inclusive photos taken from the temple viewpoint on;
http://www.birding2asia.com/articles/TheCountFromChiangDaoCanopyTower.html
Full bird list for 14h45 - 16h45, recorded from a-top Wat Thum Phaprong, Chiang Dao, Thailand.
Scaly-breasted Partridge Arborophila chloropus
Heard only
Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis
Heard only
Mountain Imperial-Pigeon Ducula badia
Asian Emerald Cuckoo Chrysococcyx maculatus
A male fly-by at eye level and close range.
Green-billed Malkoha Phaenicophaeus tristis
2 birds around for 20 minutes
Himalayan Swiftlet Aerodramus brevirostris
House Swift Apus nipalensis
2 pairs (breed in Temple building)
Blue-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni
2 birds around for the full 2 hours of which 1 showed at least 5 times using perches in the canopy below the viewpoint and the other bird heard higher up on the forested slope
Great Barbet Megalaima virens
heard only
Blue-throated Barbet Megalaima asiatica
5+ seen
Bay Woodpecker Blythipicus pyrrhotis
A male of this shy species showed exceptionally well.
Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni
Gray Wagtail Motacilla cinerea
Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike Coracina melaschistos
2 birds seen
Scarlet Minivet Pericrocotus flammeus
Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike Hemipus picatus
Black-crested Bulbul Pycnonotus melanicterus
Sooty-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus aurigaster
Puff-throated Bulbul Alophoixus pallidus
Gray-eyed Bulbul Iole propinqua
Blue-winged Leafbird Chloropsis cochinchinensis
Common Iora Aegithina tiphia
Great Iora Aegithina lafresnayei
1 bird seen
Dark-necked Tailorbird Orthotomus atrogularis
heard only
Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus
Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochiloides
1 seen
Blyth's Leaf-Warbler Phylloscopus reguloides
2 seen
Yellow-bellied Warbler Abroscopus superciliaris
2 birds in bamboo
Taiga Flycatcher Ficedula albicilla
heard only
Verditer Flycatcher Eumyias thalassinus
Hill Blue-Flycatcher Cyornis banyumas
Gray-headed Canary-Flycatcher Culicicapa ceylonensis
White-throated Fantail Rhipidura albicollis
2 seen
Black-naped Monarch Hypothymis azurea
Black-throated Laughingthrush Garrulax chinensis
heard only
Striped Tit-Babbler Macronous gularis
Brown-cheeked Fulvetta Alcippe poioicephala
Sultan Tit Melanochlora sultanea
heard only
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch Sitta frontalis
Ruby-cheeked Sunbird Chalcoparia singalensis
3+ seen
Purple-naped Sunbird Hypogramma hypogrammicum
2 seen very well
Black-throated Sunbird Aethopyga saturata
Little Spiderhunter Arachnothera longirostra
Streaked Spiderhunter Arachnothera magna
Yellow-vented Flowerpecker Dicaeum chrysorrheum
Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus
Asian Fairy-bluebird Irena puella
Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus
Bronzed Drongo Dicrurus aeneus
Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo Dicrurus remifer
1 bird seen
Hair-crested Drongo Dicrurus hottentottus
Common Hill Myna Gracula religiosa
heard only
Total number of birds: 52
You may read the full article inclusive photos taken from the temple viewpoint.
Stijn De Win / www.birding2asia.com