Dalat and Tuyen Lam Lake

Verditer Flycatcher Eumyias thalassinus

If we were going to see any more of Vietnam we were going to have to leave Cat Tien so we tore ourselves away and took a 4 hour daytime sleeper bus north to the highland town of Dalat, then a taxi to Tuyen Lam lake. Our accommodation here was ludicrously cheap but ridiculously plush in a newly built villa on one of the many developments scattered around the lake. Several of these had been abandoned leaving unfinished shells nestled in the surrounding forest and others, like this one were still under construction. There were no shops here, no public transport and only a handful of restaurants.

Grey Bushchat (female) Saxicola ferreus

Burmese Shrike Lanius collurioides

I always like to get out to explore as soon as I hit a new location and there was plenty to see in a short walk from the resort including three lifers: Green-backed Tit (one of several Great Tit lookalikes from the region), Hill Prinias (fairly common) and at least 4 Vietnamese Greenfinches (which remained elusive after this first encounter). Burmese Shrike, Grey Bushchat, Verditer Flycatchers and only my second ever Mugimaki Flycatchers were also good.

Vietnamese Greenfinch Chloris monguilloti (photo by Phil Hall)

Mugimaki Flycatcher Ficedula mugimaki

Although the lake itself did not hold a great deal of interest, it was clear there was some very good habitat within easy reach of the guest house and I spent as much time as I could over the three days in the wooded hillsides and valleys on the east side. The best area was the top of a valley south of a hill marked Đồi Thánh Giá on Google maps (see this eBird hotspot). Although penetrating further down into this valley would have yielded more species, there was plenty to be going on with on a short visit closer to the top.

Barred Cuckoo-dove Macropygia unchall

Barred Cuckoo-dove showed well occasionally but Banded Bay Cuckoo was heard only. Indochinese Barbets were abundant and heard continuously. Grey-capped Woodpecker, the Black-naped form of Grey-headed Woodpecker and Lesser Yellownape, Scarlet and Grey-chinned Minivets, Slender-billed Oriole, Large Woodshrike, Indochinese Cuckooshrike and Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike all showed from time to time. Black-crested and Sooty-headed Bulbuls were common but Flavescent Bulbul and Ashy Bulbul less so. A flock of Black Bulbuls feeding in a flowering tree were often joined by Eye-browed Thrushes and Hair-crested Drongos.

Ashy Bulbul Hemixos flavala

Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike Hemipus picatus

Black Bulbuls Hypsipetes leucocephalus

Grey-chinned Minivet Pericrocotus solaris

Grey-capped (Pygmy) Woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus

(Black-naped) Grey-headed Woodpecker Picus canus hessei

Scarlet Minivet (male) Pericrocotus speciosus

Scarlet Minivet (female) Pericrocotus speciosus

Slender-billed Oriole Oriolus tenuirostris

White-cheeked Laughingthrush Garrulax vassali

A noisy flock of White-cheeked Laughingthrushes showed a couple of times and the place was brightened up by colourful Fire-breasted Flowerpeckers and Mrs Gould's Sunbirds and the Grey-crowned form of the splendid Black-throated Tit (surely a candidate for a split given the isolated population and different morphology). The Chestnut-vented Nuthatch (ssp. grisiventris) here is also massively disconnected from the main population in the eastern Himalayas. Among the extremely numerous Yellow-browed Warblers, Kloss' Warblers were quite abundant and singing most of the time.

Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus

We spent one day exploring Dalat town itself and the well-named "Crazy House" (which was far more fun that it should have been). We had White-shouldered Starlings and Burmese Shrike in the parks, a White-bellied Eagle over the large lake and Common Sandpiper and Chinese Pond Herons in the flower gardens.

One evening we ate at the guest house opposite and ended up spending a fabulous evening playing music and singing with the French/Vietnamese family running it. A magically spontaneous evening which will be hard to forget.

This was a truly different place to go birding and I'd like to have spent longer exploring. In the end I recorded 66 species with 15 lifers.

Little Grebe
Rock Dove
Spotted Dove
Barred Cuckoo-Dove
Greater Coucal
Banded Bay Cuckoo
Germain's Swiftlet
House Swift
Asian Palm-Swift
Common Moorhen
Common Sandpiper
Little Egret
Chinese Pond Heron
Crested Honey-buzzard
Crested Serpent-Eagle
White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Eurasian Hoopoe
Common Kingfisher
Indochinese Barbet
Grey-capped Woodpecker
Lesser Yellownape
Grey-headed Woodpecker
Grey-chinned Minivet
Scarlet Minivet
Indochinese Cuckooshrike
Slender-billed Oriole
Ashy Woodswallow
Large Woodshrike
Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike
White-throated Fantail
Ashy Drongo
Hair-crested Drongo
Burmese Shrike
Eurasian Jay
Green-backed Tit
Dark-necked Tailorbird
Hill Prinia
Barn Swallow
Black-crested Bulbul
Sooty-headed Bulbul
Flavescent Bulbul
Black Bulbul
Ashy Bulbul
Yellow-browed Warbler
Dusky Warbler
Kloss's Leaf Warbler
Black-throated Tit
Swinhoe's White-eye
White-cheeked Laughingthrush
Chestnut-vented Nuthatch
Black-collared Starling
White-shouldered Starling
Common Myna
Eyebrowed Thrush
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Verditer Flycatcher
Mugimaki Flycatcher
Grey Bushchat
Fire-breasted Flowerpecker
Olive-backed Sunbird
Mrs. Gould's Sunbird
Scaly-breasted Munia
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Grey Wagtail
Olive-backed Pipit
Vietnamese Greenfinch