Chiang Rai and Chiang Saen

After the thrilling white-water ride down the Kok river from Tha Ton we spent a couple of days in Chiang Rai, meeting up with friends Steve and Veronica and their travelling companions who had been in Myanmar for a month and were just crossing our path on their way south.

Birding took a back seat here as time here was mostly spent catching up with shopping for some essentials, hanging out in bars and eating that speciality of the north, hotpot; SE Asia's answer to fondue. Also checked out the sights; Wat Phra Kaew and the Emerald Buddha and the famous clock tower with its sound and light show every evening. Some of the more interesting wildlife was around the covered market where Brown Rats and Cockroaches were plentiful!

Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus

Fulvous Forest Skimmer Neurothemis fulvia

Great Myna Acridotheres grandis

Oriental Magpie-robin Copsychus saularis

Many-striped Skink Eutropis multifasciata

Wasp nest

A couple of nights in a city is more than enough for us though so we took one of the tiny songthaews to the bus station and caught a cheap local bus to the border town of Chiang Saen and some very comfortable accommodation overlooking the Mekong river. Wonderful to be back in touch with this SE Asian artery again. The sun and moon rises over the river here were spectacular, culminating in a full lunar eclipse of a blue moon on the night of the 30th, accompanied by various rituals, fireworks and gunfire.

Chestnut-tailed Starling Sturnia malabarica

2 Chestnut-tailed Starlings and a Common Kingfisher were among the common birds in and around the town but we also hired bikes and cycled out the Nong Bong Khai non-hunting area and Chiang Saen Lake (Thale Sap). This is a site for the rather scarce Jerdon's Bushchat but didn't have any luck with that nor with any of the raptors or waterfowl that the area is known for. A longer, dedicate visit with a scope would be necessary and very worthwhile; there are 287 species listed on eBird. I recorded just 39 species here during our visit at the hottest part of the day, the best being 150 Lesser Whistling Duck, many Grey-headed Swamphens, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, a few Hoopoes and a Wood Sandpiper.

Coppersmith Barbet Megalaima haemacephala

Crimson-tailed Marsh Hawk Orthetrum pruinosum

In the surrounding farmland frustrating glimpses of a buttonquail would remain unidentified but Barred Buttonquail most likely. Loud chewing noises from burrows in sandy soil turned out to be from unseen Lesser Bamboo Rats. Passing Yonok Temple on the way back we encountered some very inebriated, happy revellers returning from a fund raising outing and it would have been rude not to accept some of the interesting spirits offered to us.

Combined bird list of 48 species.

Lesser Whistling-Duck
Little Grebe
Spotted Dove
Zebra Dove
Greater Coucal
Asian Koel
Common Moorhen
Grey-headed Swamphen
Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Wood Sandpiper
Great White Egret
Intermediate Egret
Little Egret
Chinese Pond Heron
Eurasian Hoopoe
White-throated Kingfisher
Green Bee-eater
Ashy Woodswallow
Brown Shrike
Long-tailed Shrike
Barn Swallow
Black-headed Bulbul
Sooty-headed Bulbul
Streak-eared Bulbul
Yellow-browed Warbler
Swinhoe's White-eye
Common Myna
Great Myna
Oriental Magpie-Robin
Taiga Flycatcher
Pied Bushchat
Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
Olive-backed Sunbird
Scaly-breasted Munia
House Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Pied Wagtail/White Wagtail
Paddyfield Pipit
White-breasted Waterhen
Common Kingfisher
Coppersmith Barbet
Chestnut-tailed Starling
House Swift
Asian Palm-Swift
Common Tailorbird
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Hume's Warbler
Grey Wagtail