250 not out

On Saturday Jan 19th with a few hours to spare before our flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok our final bit of birding as a group was at Mae Hia Agricultural College, Chiang Mai. This was a  new location for myself and I was surprised even in the heat of the early afternoon sun, how many birds were around including a few species which can be difficult to connect with elsewhere. At least 3 Rufous-winged Buzzard were dotted about in trees around the fields, 3 Burmese Shrike were noted on roadside wires as were two Indochinese Bushlark. Others species recorded included Thick-billed Warbler, many Little Green Bee-eater, Pied Bushchat, Eastern Stonechat and Purple Sunbird. Very much out of place was a long staying escaped Crowned Crane.

David Bennet, Fred Rowe ( currently a happy Luton Town fan),
The Mrs and Marian Rowe

Over 17 days the group recorded just short of 350 species, which was pretty good considering that the combined age of David, Fred and Marian was over 250 and that we only did four main sites, the coast around Petchaburi, Kaeng Krachan, Chiang Dao and Doi Inthanon. Highlights included 38 species of wader, four species of Hornbill, Silver Oriole, Rachet-tailed Treepie, Duksy Broadbill, Dark-sided Thrush, Streaked and Golden Weaver, Asian Emerald Cuckoo, Whites Thrush, Red-headed Trogon, Mugimaki Flycatcher, Golden-crested Myna, Giant Nuthatch, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Black-eared Shrike Babbler, Spectacled Barwing, Brambling and Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker. Personnel favourites amongst the group where the various barbets, minivets and subirds we saw and the afternoon we spent in the Lung Sin Hide at Kaeng Krachan.

A trip report will be available shortly, if anyone wants any more information about this trip and the places we visited and stayed or help with futures trips please don't hesitate to get in touch.