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THAILAND
Spoon-billed Sandpipers & Pittas
Birdquest's Thailand birding tour explores a classic Southeast Asian birdwatching destination that not only has a very rich avifauna but very friendly people, beautiful landscapes and some of the best food in the world. Our Thailand itinerary is the most comprehensive available, producing more of the countries' many specialities than any other, ranging from migrant Spoon-billed Sandpipers and Nordmann's Greenshanks to gorgeous pittas and secretive pheasants.
Sunday 10th March -
Tuesday 26th March 2013
(17 days)
Southern Thailand Post-Tour Extension to Saturday 30th March (4 days)
Leader:
Dave Farrow
Group Size Limit: 8
Tour Category: Easy to Moderate
Spoon-billed Sandpipers - critically endangered and declining alarmingly, this tour offers the best chance of seeing this exotic and enigmatic wader (Dave Farrow)
Undoubtedly one of the most fascinating countries in Southeast Asia, Thailand offers some of the region’s very best birding, including a long list of specialities and some of the most exciting shorebird watching in all Asia. An extremely rich resident Oriental avifauna, ranging from huge hornbills to diminutive flowerpeckers, is supplemented during the northern winter by an influx of migrants from northern Asia, including a fine selection of waders and passerines. Thailand has a superb network of reserves containing representative examples of every major habitat from lowland rainforest to montane evergreen forest and high altitude, moss-encrusted rhododendron thickets.
This beautiful country with its diverse ethnic groupings, much revered, age-old monarchy and rich cultural heritage has great appeal for the traveller as well as the birdwatcher. This is one of our favourite tours, a journey through an exotic, vibrant land that has an infinite capacity to delight and surprise the visitor.
Our itinerary in Thailand is highly focussed on Thailand’s most important specialities and produces more of these for our groups than for any other bird tour to the country. A classic destination for anyone interested in Asian birds, birding Thailand is a real ‘must’. Not only does the country offer wonderful birding, but accommodations and roads are mostly good or very good and the food is simply delicious!
Rapidly leaving the burgeoning Bangkok metropolis behind, we shall head for the coastal mudflats and saltpans of the Gulf of Thailand where, amongst an array of shorebirds, we will be searching for the ultimate prize – the rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper – at what has become the best place in the world for seeing this endangered species. Other special shorebirds include Malaysian Plover, the as-yet-undescribed White-faced Plover, the rare and endangered Nordmann’s Greenshank, Great Knot and with luck the rare Asian Dowitcher.. Before we go on to explore Thailand’s forests and mountains,
We then head westwards to the huge Kaeng Krachan National Park, a superb area that possesses the richest and most diverse forest avifauna in the whole of Thailand, including such specialities as Scaly-breasted Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Grey Peacock-Pheasant, Green-eared and Moustached Barbets, Southern Brown (or Rufous-cheeked) Hornbill, Racket-tailed and Ratchet-tailed Treepies, Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Plain-tailed Warbler and Collared Babbler.
From Kaeng Krachan we travel northeastwards across the rice bowl of central Thailand to the famous Khao Yai National Park for our next taste of forest birds. Targets here will include Siamese Fireback, the shy Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo, Banded Kingfisher, Blue Pitta, Puff-throated and Grey-eyed Bulbuls, and Limestone Wren-Babbler, although there will be many other birds to enjoy ranging from the huge Giant Hornbill to the handsome Hainan Blue Flycatcher.
The next leg of our journey will take us to the far northwest of the country. Based at Chiang Dao, Doi Ang Khang (near the border with Burma), Thaton and finally Chom Thong near Doi Inthanon (Thailand’s highest peak), we shall have ample opportunity to enjoy the mountains, valleys and plains of northwestern Thailand. The superb avifauna of this marvellous region includes many montane specialities, amongst which are the rare Mrs Hume’s Pheasant, Rufous-throated Partridge, Stripe-breasted and Black-headed Woodpeckers, Crested Finchbill, Brown-breasted and White-headed Bulbuls, Dark-sided Thrush, Slaty-bellied Tesia, Russet Bush Warbler, Buff-throated Warbler, White-necked, White-browed and Silver-eared Laughingthrushes, Scarlet-faced Liocichla, Spot-throated Babbler, Chestnut-fronted Shrike-Babbler, Spectacled Barwing, Dark-backed Sibia, Striated Yuhina, Spot-breasted Parrotbill, the badger-striped Giant Nuthatch and, with luck, the secretive Black-tailed Crake, as well as some interesting lowland species like Rufous-winged Buzzard and the rare Green Peafowl, and also some exciting Palearctic visitors, quite possibly including the rare Grey-sided Thrush. This beautiful region of mountains, forests, rushing streams, paddyfields and hill tribe villages has an especially peaceful atmosphere and we shall be sorry indeed when the time comes for us to leave.
During the optional extension we will visit the southern end of the long, narrow peninsula that connects Thailand and Burma to Malaysia. First we will explore the mangrove forest near Krabi, where we should find the superb Mangrove Pitta, the huge Brown-winged Kingfisher and the attractive Ruddy Kingfisher, while we may encounter a Chinese Egret on the mudflats. Inland from Krabi, the remnants of lowland forest hold some of Thailand’s rarest birds, and no birding tour to southern Thailand would be complete without a visit to Khao Pra Bang Khram Wildlife Sanctuary. Here we will be looking for the rare and critically endangered Gurney’s Pitta, not seen in the wild for 50 years until it was rediscovered at this location in 1986, as well as Banded and Blue-winged Pittas and many other lowland forest species, including such specialities as Red-crowned Barbet, Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycatcher, Great Iora and Thick-billed Spiderhunter, and more widespread marvels such as Scarlet-rumped Trogon, Rufous-collared Kingfisher and Green Broadbill.
Birdquest has operated tours to Thailand since 1982.
(Note: The above is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed, day-by-day itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)
Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels are mostly of normal Birdquest standard. At Kaeng Krachan, and during the extension at Khao Pra Bang Khram, we will stay at simple but clean lodges with very simple bathroom facilities (shared between two rooms in some cases). Participants usually rate the food on this tour very highly. Road transport is by small coach or minibus (and local pick-ups while exploring more remote areas).
Walking: The walking effort is mostly easy, but there are a few harder walks.
Climate: Mostly hot, dry and sunny in the lowlands. At higher altitudes conditions range from warm to cool. Overcast weather is not infrequent but there is only a moderate chance of rain. It can be rather humid at lower elevations.
Bird Photography: Opportunities are worthwhile.
Tour Price: (provisional): $5090 Bangkok/Bangkok. Post-Tour Extension: $1560 (ending in Phuket). Price includes all transportation (including Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Bangkok and Bangkok-Phuket flights), all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.
Single Room Supplement: (provisional): $622. Post-Tour Extension: $175. The lodge at Khao Pra Bang Khram, visited during the extension, only has a limited number of rooms. Anyone having to share here will receive an appropriate refund.
Deposit: 10% of the tour price (excluding any single supplement).
Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.
Gurney's Pitta, a major draw for all, with the last few of these gorgeous birds available for us to see on our extension to the south, with the help of expert local knowledge (Yotin Meekaeo)
Black-tailed Crake is a shy and retiring fellow that might just walk into the open as this one did on our 2009 tour (Dave Farrow)
A recently discovered population of Green Peafowl in the north of the country adds another blaze of colour to this exciting tour (Dave Farrow)
Banded Broadbills add yet more colour plus some wild sounds to the rich forests (Pete Morris)
The wonderful forests of Kaeng Krachan offer good opportunities for seeing cute Silver-breasted Broadbills... (Dave Farrow)
...and a chance too of the colourful Black-and-yellow Broadbill (Pete Morris)
The stunning Black-and-red Broadbill can be found on our extension to Southern Thailand (Dave Farrow)
The beautiful Banded Kingfisher utters his mournful call from high in the forest trees (Dave Farrow)
A flutter and a flash of orange in the forest heralds an Orange-breasted Trogon (Dave Farrow)
...while the Hainan Blue Flycatcher is a more understated bird (Dave Farrow)
Wetlands near Bangkok may reveal some scarce and attractive Asian Golden Weaver (Pete Morris)
On our 2009 tour we enjoyed a rare view of this Oriental Hobby (Dave Farrow)
In 2009 we saw the recently rediscovered White-faced Plover, a tricky I'D, and perhaps previously overlooked, but the flag on its leg must surely help! (Dave Farrow)
We have a good chance to find Mrs Hume's Pheasant in the north of the country, hopefully one will pose as this fine male did! (Dave Farrow)
Often heard, Collared Owlet can be hard to find due to its tiny size (Dave Farrow)
...whilst the Asian Barred Owlet is usually encountered during the day (Dave Farrow)
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Ph: 512-343-1700, Fax: 512-343-1701
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