Ayutthaya again

Decisions, decisions. It was always our intention to return to Cambodia after our Gift Of Happiness week but with the pandemic gathering pace we thought it best to weigh up our options. And, with a direct (if rather long and mosquitos ridden) train from Udon Thani, where better to stop and take stock than Ayutthaya. 

We stayed again at the Atthitara by the Chao Phraya river in the SE of the historical park area. For an account of our previous stay see here. Once again it proved a great base for exploring some of the wilder parts of the park. Although a similar range of species seen this time there were some significant differences.

A Brown-backed Needletail on the first day was a first for me in Thailand; I've only previous seen them a few years ago in Cambodia. Possibly overlooked but this very large swift has quite a patchy distribution across the region and is pretty dramatic. Cinnamon Bittern and Bronze-winged Jacana were also additions. I was surprised not to see any Ashy Drongos but made up for it with Hair-crested Drongo.

Hair-crested Drongo Dicrurus hottentottus

Kingfishers were once again well represented, although I failed to find any Black-capped this year. Stork-billed looks to be reliable in the western part of the park and Pied Kingfishers active on the main river again. Ayutthaya also remains the only place I've come across Small Minivet.

Stork-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis

Regular winter visitors included Thick-billed, Dusky & Yellow-browed Warblers, Taiga Flycatcher, and Asian Brown Flycatcher.

Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger

Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus

Asian Water Monitor Varanus salvator

While here we decided we would travel to Chiang Mai and extend our Thai visas to cover the rest of our stay, then move to Pai; we'd never been here but had it recommended a number of times. So after a few days we took the sleeper north. It's fairly new, smart berths were pretty comfortable. While waiting for the train we watched a few Lyle's Flying Foxes flying around a large tree close by, illuminated by the station lights.

60 species in total

Shikra

Hair-crested Drongo

Black-naped Monarch

Green-billed Malkoha

Grey Heron

Common Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Small Minivet

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Brown-throated Sunbird

Rock Dove

Red Collared Dove

Spotted Dove

Zebra Dove

Greater Coucal

Asian Koel

Plaintive Cuckoo

Brown-backed Needletail

Germain's Swiftlet

Asian Palm-Swift

White-breasted Waterhen

Red-wattled Lapwing

Bronze-winged Jacana

Asian Openbill

Little Cormorant

Indian Cormorant

Yellow Bittern

Cinnamon Bittern

Great White Egret

Little Egret

Cattle Egret

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Eurasian Hoopoe

Stork-billed Kingfisher

White-throated Kingfisher

Indochinese Roller

Coppersmith Barbet

Lineated Barbet

Black-naped Oriole

Common Iora

Malaysian Pied-Fantail

Black Drongo

Brown Shrike

Large-billed Crow

Common Tailorbird

Plain Prinia

Thick-billed Warbler

Barn Swallow

Streak-eared Bulbul

Yellow-browed Warbler

Dusky Warbler

Common Myna

Great Myna

Oriental Magpie-Robin

Taiga Flycatcher

Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker

Olive-backed Sunbird

Scaly-breasted Munia

Plain-backed Sparrow