Chiang Dao

We spent a couple of days at Chiang Dao on the 25th-26th it generally seemed quiet and birding was at times hard. On the 25th we made an early start for DYK, all was going well until just after the second checkpoint where a huge tree had fallen down in the night, blocking the road. We spent the next couple of hours birding back down the track from the checkpoint seeing very little, by 930am the road was cleared and reopened, we headed straight up to camp ground. Though we were nearly three hours late we did manage to see a decent selection of birds, best was a pair of  Pale-blue Flycatcher  and 3 Giant Nuthatch. Other species noted included Stripe-breasted Woodpecker, several calling Large Hawk Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo, 3 Pin-tailed Green Pigeon, Oriental Turtle Dove, Black Eagle, 4 Long-tailed Broadbill, 3 Eurasian Jay, 3 Slender-billed Oriole, 4 Rosy Minivet, 2 Slaty-backed Flycatcher and 2 Japanese Tit.    

The 26th was spent birding around the temple and along the checkpoint road, where highlights were few, best birds Bay Woodpecker, two Pin-tailed Green Pigeon and singing Black-throated Laughingthrush. In the afternoon we visited the rice paddies south of Chiang Dao, where there were 40 Grey-headed Lapwing, 3 Wire-tailed Swallow and 4 Citrine Wagtail.