Wreathed Hornbills

Wreathed Hornbills by Fred Rowe

We spent the 28th December 2015-2nd January at Chiang Dao, where I made several visits to Wat Tham Pha Plong and to the rice fields near Chiang Dao Town. The best birds over the temple were five Wreathed Hornbill  which flew high over and were one of only a handful of records from Northern Thailand In recent decades, this is the third time I have recorded this species here in the last five years, the other two occasions was once in late December and another in early January, whether these birds are rare residents, winter visitors or migrants I do not know.  

White-tailed Robin by Fred Rowe

There were plenty of birds in the forest around the temple, with one damp gully being especially productive, with species seen here over a number of visits including a Dark-sided Thrush, male White-tailed Robin, Asian Stubtail, male Siberian Blue Robin, Northern White-crowned Forktail and a pair of Streaked Wren Babbler. 

Streaked Wren Babbler by Fred Rowe

Other species noted at the temple included a Bamboo Woodpecker, pair of Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, 2 Speckled Piculet, several Great Iora, Orange-breasted Trogon, 2 Black-throated Laughingthrush and at least three different Purple-naped Sunbird. 

Birds seen during a late afternoon visits to the rice paddies included a Rufous-winged Buzzard, 4 Eastern Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, 4 Citrine Wagtail and two Oriental Skylark. A feeding flock of 150 Black-collared Starling, was the biggest flock of this species I have ever seen.