Doi Inthanon: 20-22 Aug 2010 III

This is going to be the last post for my trip to Doi Inthanon during 20-22 August. Although I've got quite many photos of the small birds in Ang Ka trail during the first evening, I got a lot more on the second day when the light was a bit better. When we got there, there was already a couple of bird photographers shooting these birds before us. They put out a lot of mealworms for the birds, but both walked out shortly after we arrived, so we took the place and photographed the birds which still came out to pick up leftover worms. The 2 Snowy-browed Flycatchers were the tamest of all. Both of them didn't mind us getting closer than just a foot away from them. We even enjoyed taking photos with the birds, but all photos were in my friend's camera. These birds are really dangerously tame!

As Phil made a comment about photographing the birds in this dense habitat must be something pretty difficult, and it is. Although these birds can be very tame when they come out for food we put out for, when they fly back into the forest, it's not an easy job to spot one. There was also not much light since the forest was very dark and these shots were taken at no more than 1/25 sec. The Snowy-browed Flycatchers were a bit easier to photograph since they often sat still for a quite a while, while the White-browed Shortwings never paused themselves for more than just 2 or 3 seconds.

Female Snowy-browed Flycatcher (Ficedula hyperythra)

And her colourful husband
Male White-browed Shortwing (Brachypteryx montana)
And the female

Among the 5 birds that came out to pick up mealworms (2 Snowy-browed Flycatchers, 1 male and 2 female White-browed Shortwings), the male Shortwing was the hardest target for me to photograph. Its all dark blackish-blue plumage makes it very difficult for the camera to focus. Although having the white eyebrows, it's still difficult to focus as the bird moved around all the time. So I ended up having very few photos of it.

Pre-winter at Doi Angkang

September at Doi Angkang is my favorite! The morning sky is ultramarine, yet the thick fog at noon helps cool down the heat from sunlight. Rain falls in the evening and at night, brings fresh cool atmosphere to the early morning forests. Birds might not be as plenty as in winter, but they seem to be out continuously all day, and surely, seeing new migrants excites me every time I come here.

A male Stripe-breasted Woodpecker on a fruiting Castanopsis tree.

The castanopsis (chinquapin or chinkapin) trees were fruiting and some children were walking around collecting its spiny cupule for the nuts. Few bird-waves came near the roadsides. There were a tiny Grey-capped Pygmy-Woodpecker (Dendrocopos canicapillus) feeding alongside with a flock of Scarlet Minivets (Pericrocotus flammeus) and a cute pair of Grey-headed Canary-Flycatchers (Culicicapa ceylonensis), a Maroon Oriole was also calling from somewhere inside the bush. Grey Treepies (Dendrocitta formosae) were very active and vocal. They perched on open treetops and sing their ugly comical call. Also a lone Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus indicus) was found once again for the second time of this year's migration.

An individual with pale yellowish iris

Another individual with brownish iris, a younger bird?

A Grey Treepie singing on a castanopsis tree

A small flock of White-browed Scimitar-Babbler (Pomatorhinus schisticeps) was busy feeding in a thick castanopsis tree. After a long while, two birds flew out to low bushes and started singing. One of the bird has pale yellowish eye and sings continuously, while another bird obviously has dark brown eyes and tends stay in thick cover. My guess is that the brown-eyed individual might be a young bird which doesn't or still can't sing very well since some research I've seen also pointed out that most bird irises get paler with age. Along the way I was surprised to see so many Brown Shrikes (Lanius cristatus), most are males. White-browed Laughingthrushes (Garrulax sannio) were also seen as usual. Persimmon trees were also fruiting, attracting all kinds of bulbuls around the area to come and join the meal. Most of them were Crested Finchbill (Spizixos canifrons) and Brown-breasted Bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthorrhous). Some Flavescent and Sooty-headed Bulbuls also joined in sometimes. These bulbuls are fast and wary, so photographing them was quite a hard job.

A young adult Crested Finchbill

A male Brown Shrike subspecies 'L.c.confusus'

A variant juvenile pale morph Oriental Honey-Buzzard

Some other birds I found that morning include a young Oriental Honey-Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhyncus), several resident-form S.s.przewalskii Eastern Stonechats, Grey Bushchats, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler (Pomatorhinus erythrogenys) and few Fork-tailed Swifts (Apus pacificus) subspecies 'cooki' which breeds here at Doi Angkang. The surprise of the day was a pair of Green Cochoas (Cochoa viridis) which my father saw near the persimmon tree. In total we got almost 60 bird species in just half a day! That is what I count as 'good'.

The abundant Flavescent Bulbul visiting a broccoli-like fruiting tree