Chi Phat list

This is the Chi Pat list of Colin Conroy, a visiting birder:

"I have done two lists as there are two very different habitats:- proper forest which I visited for one morning (most of which was spent on a boat trip up a tributary of the main river), and the more open, scrubby/secondary area around the village of Chi Phat (a roughly circular area about 13km in diameter, easily visible from Google Earth).

The first list seems fairly short - mainly this is because I couldn't ID a lot of calls that I heard and lots of small stuff was zipping across the river, never to be seen again.

List 1: Forest proper - (mostly in the order I saw them) visited on 16th March 2013, am

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Common Kingfisher

Asian Palm Swift

Green-billed Malkoha

Wreathed Hornbill (pair seen - another hornbill seen later was not identified)

Crimson Sunbird - 1

Vernal Hanging Parrot

Black and Red Broadbill (1 male seen perched on a post in river)

Black-naped Oriole (1 yellow oriole seen presumed to be this species)

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (1 adult seen very well in bushed on riverbank)

Pompadour Green Pigeon (1 seen - only this species seemed to fit)

Blue-bearded Bee-eater (1 seen very well, twice)

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

Crested Serpent Eagle 1 (identified later after discussion with birders resident in Cambodia)

Dollarbird (1 seen well, several others glimpsed)

Black-capped Kingfisher 1

Little Heron

Green Imperial Pigeon (several seen in flight)

List 2 Rest of Chi Phat area 15th-17th March 2013

Oriental Pied Hornbill 1

Great Hornbill 1  - Both Hornbills seen flying overhead, from moving motorcycle, and without bins, on journey from Andong Teuk to Chi Phat on the 15th March

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Brown-backed Needletail (3 seen very well skimming low over water and drinking)

Hill Myna

Striated Swallow

Barn Swallow

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

Green Bee-eater

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Germain's Swiftlet

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Streak-eared Bulbul

Common Kingfisher

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker

Common Tailorbird

Olive-backed Sunbird

Spotted Dove

Greater Coucal

Asian Palm Swift

Cattle Egret

Little Egret

Puff-throated Babbler

Striped Tit-babbler

Crested Tree-Swift

Asian Koel

Green-billed Malkoha

Little Spiderhunter

Rufescent Prinia

Common Iora

White-rumped Shama.

Regarding Chi Phat - I would definitely recommend a longer visit there, with a couple of days spent in the forest (they do treks of various lengths and would probably be willing to do tailor-made treks). The set-up is pretty good (and cheap), and very well integrated into the local community, but it is mainly geared towards back-packers rather than birders - I couldn't find anything out about birds there from the internet before I went, and very little of any sort on the internet (their website has some pics of hornbills on but some are still incorrectly labelled despite me telling them about it a few months ago), so I was surprised to find quite a lot of back-packers there, and even more surprised to learn that it gets a good write up in the Lonely Planet Guide, and is in Lonely Planet's top ten ecotourism sites in the world. They really need to do some bird ID training for local guides and to have some lists up of species that can be seen (even once I was there no-one could really tell me what birds I might see, apart from 'hornbills and Silver Oriole')."

Phnom Tamao (PP Bird Club Outing N°2)

On 16 March, ten birders from the PPBC harvested no less than 59 species during a morning birding in the secondary forest around Phnom Tamao despite a not-so-early start and an overcast sky.

Unexpected was a Lesser Adjutant seeming settled there (zoo offspring perhaps). Regular Tamao treats were Chestnut-capped Babblers (thriving in this bamboo-shrub habitat, with at least two building nest a few hundred meters from each others) and Common Hoopoes also up for the show.
Other good forest species were:
* a male Spot-breasted Woodpecker
** heard-only Puff-throated Babbler
*** several females and one male Red Junglefowl, to the great pleasure of all present
**** Stripe-throated Bulbul (together with 3 other bulbul species)


The regular open country birds and pond dwellers were present, as well as Indochinese Bushlark and Pintail Snipe.
Territorial and agitated Red-wattled Lapwing strongly indicated breeding too, and then a bird was seen dipping its belly in a pond, betraying nesting was indeed ongoing.

Photos by Senglim / Report by Fredbaksey

P.S. Thanks to Senglim for the organization, and wishing you keep up the bird outings.

Phnom Khieu in Pailin

I had the chance to visit Phnom Khieu with a kru khmer friend (who is not yet a birder, but might become one) on February 26th, and bird from half past seven to noon. Below is my list, and below that a bit of information on the mountain. All of my photos were terrible, so I won't inflict them on you...

1. calling, great coucals (2)

2. greater racket-tailed drongo (7 or 8)

3. black drongo

4. stripe-throated bulbul

5. black-headed bulbul (2)

6. black-crested bulbul

7. green-billed malkoha (at least 6)

8. large niltava

9. pr. Asian brown flycatcher

10. red-rumped swallows

11. barn swallows

12. ochraceous or puff-throated bulbuls

13. scarlet minivet (2 pairs)

14. ashy minivets, small flock, 4-5

15. hill myna

16. leafbird, pr. blue-winged

17. oriental honey-buzzard, dark morph

18. verditer flycatcher (2)

19. grey wagtails

20. pr. buff-breasted babblers, small flock

21. pr. Taiga flycatcher in early breeding plumage

22. pr. crested goshawk (according to Rob, when I described the circling raptor's strange puffy white feathers at the top of its tail and vent)

 

Phnom Khieu, Green Mountain (literally, Blue Mountain, but blue and green are used interchangeably in Khmer) is just east of Pailin city along National Highway 57. The waterfalls that Khmer holidayers head towards are marked by a large billboard on the south side of the highway, and are 7.3 km from the dirt entrance road off the highway. There is a small entrance fee per vehicle and per foreigner. The dense mountain range Phnom Khieu is part of may well be the last large patch of forest around Pailin. Nearly all of the land along the national highway has been cleared of forest in the three years since my last visit to Pailin, mostly for cassava plantations. It is roughly a kilometre up an increasingly steep and winding road up the mountain from the resort's entrance--nearly all of our birding was done along this forested road, which falls away to valleys on the right and is crossed by streams twice before ascending to the Khmer resort, a restaurant and a series of wooden shelters along seven small waterfalls. A tempting footpath leads up the side of the mountain beyond this resort. The locals said it eventually leads to some artisanal gem mines. We took this path for about a kilometre up the mountain before returning to the springs. That said, I would not recommend birding along this path, as there is a strong possibility that landmines remain in the area. This region was under Ieng Sary's faction of the Khmer Rouge until the mid-1990s and landmines were used to hinder civilians attempting to reach the gem mines. I very much doubt that all the mines have been removed. If anyone wishes to wander this trail, I advise extreme caution--as in, never leaving the rocky path for any reason.

Good birding to all,

Lisa Arensen

Prek Toal 20-23 February 2013

After the big duck I spent a few days working at Prek Toal. The pond herons were starting to become identifiable, this one is clearly turning Chinese:

Whilst this one is probably going to become a Javan:

Prek Toal supports the only breeding colony of Black-headed Ibis is SE Asia.

Look! I took a sharp photo! Juvvy Indian Shaggy:

Visitors to Prek Toal are legally obliged to take photographs of trees heaving with large waterbirds. Here are mine:

Simon Mahood

White-winged Duck in PVPF

I spent a night with Ashish, Sony and the Community Management Committee in Okoki at Preah Vihear Protected Forest in the hope of seeing White-winged Duck. On the way in we saw a family of Eld's Deer. During the night we heard Bay Owl, Blyth's Frogmouth and an endless chorus of Brown Hawk Owl.

A 4Am start saw us hiding behind a blind of woven leaves overlooking a trapeang (forest pool) well before dawn. We ignored a calling Banded Broadbill in an attempt to stay quiet and wait for the ducks to come in, but by 7:30 it was starting to get hot and the constant White-breasted Waterhen parade was getting a little tiresome...at 7:45 we heard a quacking and looked up to see a single White-winged Duck flying overhead! Awesome to see the bird, but better views were required. Sony walked off to the other trapeang where one the community members was keeping watch...over a White-winged Duck! He ran back, fetched us we enjoyed this massive duck in the early morning sunlight. Later we taped in a calling Banded Kingfisher for poor views and saw some old elephant footprints.

 Simon Mahood 18 February 2013

Masked Finfoot marvel

Between 19th and 22nd February 2013, Rours Vann, Richard Hillard and myself, Rob Martin, visited various sites in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary. Vann and myself visited the Stung Memei at An Til where the community has begun enforcement of a protected stretch of the river for the health of fish stocks and to benefit a rather marvellous avian inhabitant of the place. Two and a half hours of sitting and waiting overlooking the river drew a blank, so we stayed overnight on the bend of the river and took an early morning stroll along the riverbank on 20th. Walking as quietly as possible we soon saw White-breasted Waterhen, Stork-billed Kingfisher and multiple Junglefowl along the margins, and heard at least a couple of Green Peafowl calling from the east. Then, at 07:15, we climbed up a small rise which revealed a clear view of a good length of the river. Partly submerged logs crisscrossed the channel, and perched on one of these was a fat, ovoid lump of a bird. "Finfoot!". Vann had previously only seen immatures or females and was somewhat amazed by the excess size of this stonking adult male. It slipped into the water and cruised off, pausing briefly to peck a few insects from some overhanging leaves but despite our attempts to head it off further upstream it managed a quite astonishing vanishing act as soon as it disappeared round the first corner. What a beast!

An adult and immature Grey-headed Fish-eagle were also hanging around, and we are hopeful that the community will protect this stretch and it may be possible to take tourists there in the future.
Other sights at other sites in KPWS included at least three Bar-bellied Pittas on trails in an evergreen patch (sadly inside a concession) and a group of 9 Green Peafowl close to Prey Veng. Rufous-bellied, Streak-throated, Grey-headed, White-bellied, Asian Spot-breasted, Grey-capped Pygmy, Great Slaty, Black-headed, Heart-spotted Woodpeckers all seen as well as both flamebacks.
No White-winged Ducks unfortunately, despite trying at two separate roost sites.

Rob Martin

Svay Rieng survey

On 17-20 February, Thomas, Lisa and Fredbaksey conducted an exploratory visit to the birder-neglected Svay Rieng province, as well as a few stops in adjacent Prey Veng province. We recorded just over 100 species and had some good finds. We ended up birding in nice pagoda groves, forested ancient temple, degraded scrub/grasslands and even unsuspected remnant of dry deciduous forest. All being small islands in a populated and cultivated landscape, with still a good deal of natural wetlands, such as the sprawling lake around Svay Rieng provincial town, where an Oriental Darter was at ease.

Recent colonists House Sparrows and Zebra Doves have, quite expectedly, largely invaded both provinces, but the widespread presence of Golden-bellied Gerygone was more surprising, and clearly linked with ubiquitous water-edged Eucalyptus plantations. Chestnut-tailed Starling was boldly nesting in a street lamp in central Svay Rieng town!

Bird of the trip was a very pleasing Large Hawk-cuckoo, showing itself in full exposure, front and back for a few minutes at the Prey Bassac temple. Other nice fellows there were Black Baza, a tentative Grey-faced Buzzard, and a calling Greater Flameback.

Spot-breasted Woodpecker was seen at two sites, and a lone Common Hill-Myna in a provincial town pagoda was an oddity. Indochinese Bushlark was also found at various places. Best relic forest, at the northern tip of the province, yielded Red-breasted Parakeets, Spotted and Asian Barred Owlet and a Flameback sp.

Nothing special amongst the waterbirds, just the classical cortege of waders, walkers and swimmers, apart perhaps that Collared Kingfisher was quite common.

Perhaps as revealing is what I expected to widely find and was not found at all: Jungle Crow, Red-wattled Lapwing, Shikra, harriers. Blue Rock-thrush was also a miss, only god knows why...

Several lifers for Lisa, one for Thomas and... I let you guess.