South & Central Vietnam December 2016 – January 2017

By Jaap Hennevanger, André-Willem Faber and Tjeerd Burger (author).

Introduction Vietnam is an interesting country to visit from a birding point of view. As it stretches from the

southern border of China to the Gulf of Thailand, it covers a big part of the South-Asian avifauna. In

addition, it hosts 12 true endemics and a whole bunch of near-endemic species and endemic

subspecies. As two of us really wanted to see Spoon-billed Sandpiper this was an extra reason to visit

Vietnam and after all it is also a very convenient country to travel around as it is pretty well

developed.

General information Logistics - We travelled around using multiple modes of transport. Car rental is possible, including

driver, but is very expensive. We had 2 domestic flights, from HCMC to Dalat and from Hue to HCMC.

Tickets are usually quite cheap, we paid $16 for the flight from Hue to HCMC and $60 for the flight to

Dalat. Buses are cheaper, but take much longer. We used buses to get from one site to another, in

some occasions sleeper busses. Although the bus drivers drive like maniacs the buses are reasonably

comfortable and good value for money. We saved quite some time by taking sleeper buses, arriving

at our next destination in the early morning. To get to Than Tanh beach we rented a car (see site

description). In most other occasions we used taxi’s to get around, which are not expensive, but one

has to bargain to get a good price. In general we experienced it was really useful to ask a Vietnamese

person to arrange the transport for you and to write down your destination on a piece of paper. For

instance, the lady of the hotel in Di Linh arranged our sleeper bus to Kon Tum, which took 12 hrs.

This was a non-standard route and probably who have cost a lot more effort to arrange by ourselves.

Accommodation - We never pre-booked our hotels and never had trouble to find good

accommodation. All rooms were clean to quite clean and usually equipped with air-conditioning.

Showers usually worked well, although we had some cold showers. Early-breakfast could be arranged

in some instances.

Guides – We normally try bird by ourselves, but as it is necessary to have a guide to try for Golden-

winged Laughingthrush we used the services of Phuc Lee. He is a biologist and a young and eager

guide. He knows his birds and their calls well and is good companion. We can really recommend his

services. When using his services, ask for a proper driver. We had a really bad driver, almost ruining

our trip to the Golden-winged Laughingthrush.

Contact information of Phuc:

https://www.facebook.com/vietnambirdingtours?fref=ts

vietnambirdguide1@gmail.com

Itinerary Since we had only limited time (two weeks) we had to choose which areas to visit. We decided to

skip North Vietnam and to focus on South and Central Vietnam. In hindsight we have birded very

efficient, spending about the minimum time at each site. Normally one would travel south to

HCMC/north from HCMC, but in order to catch up with Arjan Dwarshuis during his Big Year we had to

start in Dalat.

Figure 1: sites visited

Day 1: Dalat Day 2: Dalat Day 3: Dalat – Di Linh Day 4: Di Linh – bus to Kon Tum Day 5: Kon Tum – Mang Dang – village close to Mang Ri Day 6: Mang Ri Day 7: Mang Ri – Kon Tum – bus to Bach Ma Day 8: Bach Ma Day 9: Bach Ma - HCMC Day 10: HCMC – Than Thanh Day 11: HCMC – Cat Tien Day 12: Cat Tien Day 13: Cat Tien Day 14: Cat Tien – HCMC Day 15: HCMC – Than Thanh – HCMC airport

Day to day itinerary

30th December – Dalat, Tuyen Lam lake

As other trip reports (e.g. Radstaak, 2014) give a lot of general information the focus will be on

additional information or changed circumstances. We stayed in the recommended Dreams hotel ($40

for 3 pers.), which serves a delicious and early breakfast. We did not visit all standard sites in Dalat as

we caught up with Arjan Dwarshuis and his guide Phuc on his final day of his big year on 31

December. We did however visit Mt. Bidoup NP and see the Grey-crowned Crocias on a different

location. The valley where these birds used to be is now transformed into a resort and the birds have

left the place, according to our guide Phuc. A very worrying development as the remaining habitat is

quickly disappearing due to developments and logging. Around lake Tuyen Lam some good forest can

still be found, although it can take some effort to reach the best parts.

After arriving in Dalat and checking in at the hotel, we took a taxi to the Tuyen Lam lake, arriving in

the late morning. We got off at the second tourist village at the southern side of the lake. We birded

along the road, walking to the south. A Vietnamese Greenfinch was quickly found in the top of a

tree. Other birds along the road included Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird, Slender-billed Oriole and Long-tailed

minivet. At the end of the road there is a restaurant/lodge (‘Beautiful restaurant & café’), where you

can sit at the lakeside. We had a drink there at the end of the day, seeing a White-bellied Sea Eagle

fly by. Behind the restaurant a trail starts, and we immediately found a really nice flock, including 4

Vietnamese Cutia, Black-throated Bushtit and Black Bulbul. We continued on the trail system,

enjoying the many birds here. Although we studied trip reports (e.g. Hendriks 2006) we failed to find

the good evergreen forest. Or, we did actually find it, but on our way back and we did not explore it.

A small map is included below, hopefully giving some direction. There are quite some trails in the

area and it is hard to tell which one Is the right one. On the map below, number 1) indicates the

‘Beautiful restaurant’, 2) indicates the tourist camp (a bunch of small houses). From here several

trails go East or South-East. We eventually continued on a trail along a grassy area and reached a

small pocket of evergreen forest (3)). The trail however disappeared and we ended up following

another trail going up a dry ridge with pine forest. Down the southern slope there was some good

evergreen forest, however we did not find trails going that way. We decided to return and found

probably the trail we should have taken, starting around number 4). Although finding the trails was a

bit troublesome, the birding was simply great. Some of the species seen included: Rusty-capped

Fulvetta, Mugimaki Flycatcher, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, White-throated Rock Thrush, Chestnut-

vented Nuthatch, Red Crossbill, Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon, Blue-winged Minla, Indochinese Barbet

and Red-vented Barbet. In the evening we saw a domestic Elephant behind the restaurant, before

catching a taxi from one of the tourist camps.

Figure 2: map of Tuyen Lam lake area

31th December – Dalat, Tuyen Lam lake, Mt Lang Biang area and Mt Bidoup area

Today we had a mission, finding as many new birds for Arjan on his final day of his Big Year. We joined him and his guide, Phuc, and started on a mountain pass somewhere North-West of Dalat (Rd DT722, gps: 12.097, 108.376). Accidently Phuc was guiding Arjan and would join us a few days later in Mang Den/Mang Ri. At the pass we hoped to find the same birds as one can find on Mt. Lang Biang and the Crocias.. However, it was raining almost continuously. We tried hard, seeing Necklaced Barbet, Large Cuckooshrike, Eurasian Jay, Red Crossbill, Eyebrowed Thrush, Little Pied Flycatcher and Vietnamese Cutia. Around 10am we left in the hope finding better weather down at the lake. Since the Crocias are no longer at Tanung Valley we tried another spot, on the Western side of Tuyen Lam lake (gps 11.883, 108.407), with indeed better weather. We were very, very lucky finding a good flock with a Grey-crowned Crocias and Black-headed Parrotbills. After finding Slender-billed Oriole and Vietnamese Greenfinch for Arjan we continued to Mt. Bidoup, in the hope of finding Black-crowned Fulvetta and Collared Laughers. However, it was raining again when we arrived at the site (probably gps 12.18197, 108.69111). There is a trail, the Hun Giao Biodiversity trail (see picture below), where the Fulvetta usually can be found. Unfortunately, due to the heavy rain the bridge was damaged and we could not cross the river. We were only able to explore the first ~500m of the trail. We walked this part several times, but nothing was seen or heard. We decided to try the main road. After a while Arjan heard a Collared Laughingthrush responding and we managed to tape-lure the bird to the road. The bird remained difficult to see, but we all managed to see the bird. This all happened in the final hour of daylight and miraculously not long after the laugher 2 Black-crowned Fulvetta’s showed up, showing very well! Tired, wet, but happy we returned to Dalat. Happy new year!

Figure 3: Hun Giao Biodiversity trail

1st January – from Dalat to Di Linh/Nui San

We had a bit of a sleep in after celebrating New Year’s Eve last night but all we had to do today was to get to Nui San. We initially planned to stay an extra day in Dalat, but with all the targets in the bag we opted for a short visit to Nui San, which we intended to visit at the end of the trip. As Di Linh is on the main road from Dalat to HCMC several busses stop at Di Linh or can drop you off. We probably

took the best option, arranged by the Dream’s Hotel receptionist. We were picked up in a minivan from the hotel, taken to a bus station and took a 2hrs bus to Di Linh. To our surprise we were then taken by a minivan to our final destination, Juliet’s Villa Resort. This had cost us only a few $ per person, brilliant. The bus company was named Thành Bưởi. Luckily Juliet’s Villa Resort had some rooms left and after lunch we took a taxi to Nui San. At Nui San we had some difficulties to find the right trail, as there are quite some logging trails. The tea stand is not there anymore, but the trail on the opposite side of the clearing at the top (where the tea stand used to be) is quite obvious. It goes upslope and is quite big, almost a dirt track. We did not explore the trail on the opposite side of the road, the one that goes downslope. Birding at Nui San is great, certainly some of the birdiest places of Vietnam. We easily found Red-headed Trogon, Red-vented Barbet, Dalat Shrike-babbler, Streaked Spiderhunter, Black-throated Bushtit, Black-headed Parrotbill and Vietnamese Cutia. We did see our first Black-hooded Laughingthrush and Orange-breasted laughers were heard calling. A Blue Pitta was heard only as well. Juliet’s Villa Resort is a wonderful place to stay and probably the ideal place to stay when visiting Nui

San. They can also arrange taxi’s for you, which is great as there are very few taxi’s here. The place is

not cheap however, we paid about $100 per person, including food and 2 taxi’s.

2nd January – from Di Linh/Nui San to Kon Tum

Seeing the Orange-breasted Laughingthrush was our main target this morning, before getting on to

the bus to Kon Tum. We had arranged an early taxi and at dusk we were at the start of the dirt track

again. This time we explored the track a bit further, till GPS 11.455, 108.066, where we found two

very cooperative Orange-breasted Laughingthrushes. Birding was again great with Clicking and Dalat

Shrike-babbler, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Black-hooded Laughingthrush and again a calling Blue Pitta.

As we were not sure when our bus was departing we were back at Juliet’s Villa around 11am.

Eventually our bus was leaving at 4pm and we had plenty of time to relax. The owner (?) of Juliet’s

Villa arranged our bus, which was quite a hassle as Di Linh was not a standard stop-over. Luckily we

got on to the right (sleeper-)bus and the 13hrs journey could start..

3rd January – from Kon Tum to Mang Canh to Mang Ri area

We were so stressed about our buss yesterday because we would be picked by Phuc and his driver in

Kon Tum in the early morning. Via the Wifi in the bus we stayed in touch and shortly after our arrival

in Kon Tum we were on our way to Mang Canh to search for the Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush. We

only had one day, so this was our only chance. The weather was not cooperating however, it was

raining or drizzling from time to time and heavily overcast all day. At Mang Canh a dirt road branches

off the DT676 (14.668837, 108.257774), and the forest around here is the best place to search for the

birds. Logging is common at this site and big chunks of forest are vanished, a dreadful sight. Despite

the weather we quite quickly found a responsive Chestnut-eared Laughinghthrush, but it remained

out of sight. During the day we found responsive birds at at least 5 different locations, but they all

managed to stay out of sight. Very, very frustrating. Once the birds came really close, but we still did

not spot even a flash of the birds. We did find some other birds, such as Silver-breasted BB (HO), Red-

billed Scimitar Babbler and Yellow-billed Nuthatch. Wet and frustrated we commenced to our

journey to Mang Ri, not knowing how frightening the coming hours would become. Although Phuc is

a skillful guide, his driver is absolute not. See also ‘guides’ in the first chapter.

Mang Ri area and Golden-winged Laughingthrush

Only discovered in 1996, the Golden-winged Laughingthrush is strictly confined to the Mt. Ngoc Linh

area in Central Annam. As Radstaak (2014) describes, getting a permit to visit the area is very difficult

and nearly impossible for foreigners. As a consequence, very few birders have ever seen the Golden-

winged Laughingthrush (e.g. no sightings on e-bird). However, Vietnamese guides have recently

found more accessible sites which do not require a permit. Such a site, or maybe the only one, is

Mang Ri. The forest around the pass of road DT673 reaches an elevation of around 1900 meter.

Dutch birder Thijs de Kruif managed to see a bird in January 2016 in this area. Although the area may

be quite accessible, it is strongly advised to use a guide. There are very few facilities in the area,

people do not speak English and may not be very welcome to foreigners. We experienced hostile

Ginseng growers (see below), and Thijs had an equal experience with poachers. Despite this, visiting

this area can be really exciting. With the only recently discovered Golden-winged Laughinghthrush in

mind and the fact that the area has been rarely visited by birders, it makes one wonder what else

could be out there? Finding out-of-range species is likely and finding new subspecies is not

unthinkable. In addition, attractive birds like Red-tailed Laughingthrush and Black-crowned Barwings

can quite easily be found.

Figure 4: our hotel in the Mang Ri area

4th of January – Mang Ri area

Yesterday we arrived in a proper hotel, probably in the town of Dah Ha and probably one of the very

few in the area. Today we would search for the little known Golden-winged Laughingthrush. We had

arranged the 3-day tour with Phuc mainly to see this bird. Today would be our first attempt, so we

were very excited. After a quick breakfast we took the car to drive to the pass. However, that was the

plan. Our driver had left the car lights on (we already noticed, so we turned them off during

breakfast) and the battery was dead. We tried push-starting the car but this didn’t work. Just at the

point we were starting to get quite angry the hotel owner offered to take us up. We thankfully

accepted his offer and we had a very pleasant drive up to the pass (about 1hr). The weather was fine

all the way up, but the pass unfortunately was clouded and wet. We parked the car at the top, where

the road was covered by a muddy landslide. We birded along the road and after 2-3hrs of searching

we had found our first Black-crowned Barwings. Other birds included Red-tailed Laughingthrush

(HO), Indochinese Vulvetta and Himalaya Cutia. The best place to look for the Laugher is a trail used

by Ginseng growers (starting at gps 15.002, 107.921). As these plant are very valuable (thousands of

$’s) and theft is common, the locals are not very happy with visitors. A local ranger (?) joined us for

this reason and we started to explore the track. The track is clearly marked by a locked gate, but one

can climb around it. We explored the track for about 30 min. before locals summoned us to return to

the road. It was difficult to judge the situation, some men were wearing army/ranger clothes

(including machetes), others were bare-footed and drunk. Anyway, a very hostile situation and it is

advised to not enter this trail on your own. Dutch birder Thijs de Kruif saw Golden-winged

Laughingthrush along this trail, but he already warned us for the hostile locals. In the afternoon we

tried the area on the other side of the pass, exploring one of the very few trails in the area, starting

at gps 15.008497, 107.927744, just after crossing a stream. After a few hundred meters on the track

we suddenly found a responding bird! A Golden-winged Laughingthrush was singing very close to us!

Unfortunately a huge fallen tree trunk was between us and the bird and we could not see it. We tried

to move around, but it was very slippery and Tjeerd slipped away. Chaos, followed by silence. The

bird did not response for the rest of the afternoon. We continued birding and saw Red-tailed Minla,

Ashy-throated Warbler, White-spectacled Warbler, Yellow-browed Tit, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher,

Fork-tailed Sunbird and Bay Woodpecker. At the end of the afternoon we returned to the car and

were quite satisfied. Despite the weather and being send away we found a singing bird. And we did

see some nice other birds too!

5th of January – Mang Ri area

Today started without problems and even the pass was mostly clear of clouds, perfect! We did not

try the ‘ginseng trail’ but stayed on the road and on the trail where we found the GWLT yesterday.

Some of the first birds we found were Red-tailed Laughingthrushes, a great start! We walked

yesterday’s trail up and down during the day for 4-5 times but no GWLT was responding today.

During lunch we had some nice views over the forest and Brown-backed Needletails flew over, while

Green Cochoa’s were calling in the distant. In the afternoon we also explored the edge of a huge

landslide, bordering the forest close to the ‘ginseng trail’. We again found Red-tailed

Laughingthrushes and had great views of these stunning birds. We also found Coral-billed Scimitar

Babblers, Red-tailed Minla, Flavescent Bulbul and Crimson Sunbird. Also Black-crowned Barwings

showed well due to the good weather. Halfway the afternoon we left the place and commenced on

the journey back towards Kon Tum. Phuc wanted to show us Wire-tailed Swallows on a lake along

the main road (14.616523, 107.863296), but thanks to a detour by our driver we were too late and

little daylight was left. In Kon Tum Phuc very helpfully arranged us a night bus to Da Nang/Hue and

gave the driver instructions to drop us off at Bach Ma. We said good bye to Phuc and his driver and

started with the long journey (8-9hrs) to Bach Ma. Despite finding all targets in the past days, only

hearing both main target left us all with a bit of a sick feeling in our stomachs.

6th of January – Bach Ma

As planned we arrived in the very early morning (4am) at Bach Ma. Or, we actually arrived in the

small town of Cầu Hai (?), where the entrance to the park can be found. We were dropped off at a

gas station and walked to the park entrance, arriving at dawn. After a quick breakfast we started to

explore ‘lower Bach Ma’, as we had to wait for the park to open. We walked through some pasture

land and birding was great here, despite the light drizzle. We recorded Chinese Blackbird, Masked

and White-crested Laughingthrush, Striated Heron among others. Also present here: lots of leeches!

When we arrived back at the park’s entrance we bought tickets and ordered a taxi to Upper Bach Ma

at the end of the morning. We entered the park and birded the lowest section of the road. We

mainly spend our time here with a frequently calling Bar-bellied Pitta, which showed itself quite well.

We then took the taxi up the mountain and were quickly up in the clouds. It was dry however and we

were told it was the first dry day after two full months of rain! We got lucky this time. As it was low

season most hotels were closed, only the one opposite of the chicken restaurant was open. We

checked in and spend the rest of the afternoon on the trail to the summit and descended on the trail

which starts at the greenhouse. Good birding here too, with 2 Indochinese Green Magpies, Red-

collared Woodpecker, Black-throated Laughingthrush, Streaked Wren-Babbler, White-spectacled

Warbler, Blue Whistling Thrush, Red-headed Trogon and Long-tailed Broadbill. An evening walk down

the road resulted in a calling Mountain Scops Owl and Green-legged Patridge.

7th of January – Bach Ma to Ho Chi Minh City

Before we had breakfast we birded along the road, walking down towards Kim Giao Villa. A Siberian

Thrush showed really well on the road and also an Orange-headed Thrush shortly appeared. We also

managed to see a Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler. On a clearing behind Kim Giao Villa we hit a nice

flock, with Indochinese Green Magpie, Black-throated and White-crested Laughingthrushes, White-

browed Scimitar Babbler, Sultan Tit (gayeti), Blue-winged Leafbird, Grey-chinned Minivet, Dalat

Shrike-babbler and Long-tailed Broadbill (again HO). On the way back to the chicken restaurant for

breakfast we additionally saw White-crowned Forktail and the real highlight of the morning, a pack of

Black Shanked Douc Langur, an endangered primate species. After breakfast we arranged transport

for our luggage to the park’s entrance and started to walk down. Walking down from Upper to Lower

Bach Ma is a nice way to explore the park and saves you money. It takes about 5-6 hrs of walking

down. Birding along this road was o.k., but as only the very upper and lower sections of the mountain

were not covered in clouds we had poor visibility for most of the time. Walking down delivered Black

Eagles, White-gorgeted Flycatchers, Indochinese Yuhina (HO, at fairly low altitude), Common

Emerald Dove, Bar-Backed Patridge (HO) and Rufous-throated Partridge (HO). At the park’s HQ we

arranged a taxi to Hue Airport for our evening flight to HCMC. We were quite early and had a coffee,

while another flight to HCMC was departing. However, shortly after the gate was closed we found

out our flight was advanced and we had just seen our airplane taking off.. Luckily the staff was very

helpful and we were able to take another flight later that evening. In HCMC we stayed in the same

hotel as our first night, the Vuong Quan Hotel.

8th of January – Than Thanh

Today was spoony-day, one of the reasons of coming to Vietnam. Phuc offered to join us on our

search and he was also able to arrange a car, good job! The car, including driver, cost us $110. Not

very cheap, but it will probably be hard to find any cheaper yourself.

It’s about two hours driving from Ho Chi Minh to the village of Than Thanh and we arrived around 8

am. Driving through the lowland area we ticked our first new species, but at the beach there was just

water, no mudflats. It took some time before we realized our chances of finding a Spoon-billed

Sandpiper had just dropped dramatically. Apparently the high tide was early today and only in the

very southern part of the area there were some waders present, but at great distance. What to do?

The next low tide was at 2-3pm, so we decided to wait and have lunch first. In the tropics you usually

have two high and two low tides every day, but the highs and the lows can differ a lot. This explains

why at 2 pm the water level was still high, apparently the low the afternoon was much higher

compared to the early morning. Disillusioned we returned to HCMC, we hadn’t expected it to be so

difficult. And we felt as if we hadn’t had a fair chance of finding one.

But we did see some other birds indeed: 2 Nordmann’s Greenshank, Black-tailed Gull, Caspian-, Gull-

billed-, Whiskered-, and Little Tern, Great Knot, Red-necked Stints, Far Eastern Curlew, Bar-tailed

Godwit, Yellow Bittern and Black-Shouldered Kite.

9th of January – HCMC to Cat Tien NP

After an early breakfast we had a smooth transfer to the bus station, where we found a ‘direct’ bus

to Cat Tien NP. Perfect, we had planned to take a bus to Dalat and get off at the exit to Cat Tien, but

this was much better of course. It was a real local bus, so it stopped frequently to drop off/pick up

goods or people, but around noon we arrived in Cat Tien. After crossing the river we checked-in at

one of the apartments and were ready for our first birding session at Cat Tien. We walked down the

main road and walked a part of the Lagerstroemia and Uncle Dong Trail. We heard our first Blue-

rumped Pitta, Germain’s Peacock-Pheasant and a Bar-bellied Pitta along the trails, and saw other

species like Little Spiderhunter, Indochinese Cuckooshrike, Black-and-Red Broadbill, Oriental Pied

Hornbill, Red-breasted Parakeet, Ashy-headed Green Pigeon and Collared Falconet. Taking the short

cut (see Hendriks, 2006) towards the ‘barrier’ we came across a small creek. The water attracted lots

of birds and had a great time here with Siberian Blue Robin, White-tailed Fly, Grey-eyed Bulbul and

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher. A short evening walked produced Great Eared Nightjar, Brown Hawk-Owl

(HO) and Collared Scops Owl (HO).

Although being one of the top destinations of Vietnam we found Cat Tien not very welcoming. The

apartments are expensive, and so do the restaurants. The restaurants close early and do not serve an

early breakfast. There is a small shop near the boat ramp, but it was closed most of the time. They

offer a taxi service, which is expensive and they do rent bicycles, which are of course cheaper.

However, one can only rent bicycles between 8 am – 6 pm and only for one day. In order to arrive

early at the crocodile lake trail we could not wait till 8 am and with some hassle we managed to rent

them from 7 am.

10th of January – Cat Tien NP

At 7 am we jumped on our bikes and raced to the start of the crocodile lake trail, arriving around 8

am. We only stopped for a nice group of Black-shanked Douc Langur, a nice start! The first few

hundred meters of the trail are the best site for Germain’s Peacock-Pheasant and Orange-necked

Partridge. The bamboo patches along the road near the trail’s start are the best spot for Bamboo

Woodpecker. We walked the first part of the trail several times, seeing Dusky Broadbills, but only

heard Germain’s Pheacock-Pheasants and no partridges. Orange-necked partridges can be really

hard to find, but Arjan managed to see a few birds about a week ago so we had good hopes. We also

tried for the woodpecker, but only shortly a woodpecker responded, which remained unidentified.

We then started the walk to the crocodile lake, arriving around noon. Along the trail we saw birds

like Red Junglefowl, Orange-breasted Trogon, White-browed Piculet, Greater Flameback, Black-

crested Bulbul and Grey-faced Tit-Babbler. At the lake we had lunch (instant noodles) and enjoyed

the view for some time. Crocodiles can be seen easily as well as many birds. Two Lesser Adjutants

flew around and Lesser Whistling Duck, Darter, Cinnamon Bittern, Purple Heron and Intermediate

Heron were present at the lake. An Osprey flew over and Bronze-winged Jacana and Black-backed

Swamphen could be found at the lake’s edges. We started to walk back, in quite a bad mood. It was

hot and quiet and hadn’t seen our target birds. Totally unexpected we flushed two partridges and

adding up the features we came to the conclusion it was most likely an Orange-necked Partridge!

But to be sure we had to see the birds again, in which we failed in the following minutes. When we

had given up our hopes and started to walk back we miraculously flushed them again! This time we

had better views and indeed, two Orange-necked Partridges!! The spot (gps 11.449, 107.359) is

quite unusual, as there are no bamboo patches in the near vicinity. We walked back in a much better

mood and almost at the end of the trail we found two responsive Germain’s Pheacock-Pheasants.

We managed to tape-lure one bird and had incredible views, wow! What a finish of the day. We

quickly cycled back to the HQ, handing in the bicycles a little after 6 pm.

11th of January - Cat Tien NP

As we still hadn’t seen Blue-rumped Pitta we walked the trails behind the HQ in search of the Pitta.

Again we heard several Bar-bellied Pitta’s and also a least one Blue-rumped Pitta, but the birds

remained out of sight. Birding was nice however, with birds like Thick-billed Green Pigeon, Golden-

crested Myna, Grey-faced Tit-Babbler and Scaly-crowned Babbler. In the afternoon we hired bicycles

again and went for the fields south of the HQ in search of Green Peafowls. We really enjoyed our

afternoon here, seeing first 1 and later 4 Green Peafowls, but we liked birding in the open country

most. We dared to climb one of the towers (gps 11.405, 107.393) and enjoyed the view for some

time, while parakeets and pigeons flew past. Highlights of the afternoon included 2 Lesser

Adjudants, Woolly-necked Stork, Siamese Fireback (gps 11.409, 107.414), Blossom-headed

Parakeet, Grey-headed Parakeet, Orange-breasted Green Pigeon, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Stork-

billed Kingfisher, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Lineated Barbet, Crested Serpent Eagle, Irrawaddy Bulbul

and Chestnut-capped Babbler. In the evening we tried for Blyth’s Frogmouth, apparently the end of

the concrete road/start of Uncle’s Dong trail a good spot. We found a responsive bird, seen flying

briefly in the darkness.

12th of January – Cat Tien NP to HCMC

Our final day in Cat Tien. With most targets in the bag the motivation lowered, but we did want to try

one more time for the Blue-rumped Pitta. Again we walked the trails behind the HQ, hearing several

Bar-bellied Pitta’s and a distant Blue-rumped Pitta. Phuc already told us they can be really hard to

find this time of the year since they do not respond to playback. We had two ticks however this

morning, Grey-headed Woodpecker and Black-and-buff Woodpecker. After lunch we crossed the

river and took the local bus to HCMC. Stayed in the same hotel again in HCMC.

13th of January - Than Thanh

Initially we planned to do Nui San after Cat Tien, but thanks to our good start in Dalat we had already

visited this site. This gave us the chance to try a second time for Spoonie! We had to be at the airport

around 5pm, enough time to spend a morning at Than Thanh. Again Phuc picked us up (earlier this

time!) and around sunrise we arrived at Than Thanh. The scene had changed dramatically, mudflats

as far as you could see! Unfortunately the birds were also far away, and so a tense morning of

searching started. We split up and searched the area between the beach and the big sandbar. When

walking around, use the routes the locals do! Apparently some parts or paths are harder, while in

some part you have to walk through knee-deep mud. At the end of the morning the tide started to

come in. Numbers increased, but also the tension. We had only one shot! It was around noon when

Phuc and Tjeerd were called, Jaap and Andre-Willem had found a Spoon-billed Sandpiper! (gps

10.275, 106.770) After a short rush towards a cheering duo also Phuc and Tjeerd managed to see

the bird. While trying to get some better pictures we lost the birds, they were moving fast as the

time was coming in. We tried to relocate it, but it was possible to keep up with the rising tide. But

BOOM! what a bird and what a way to end our trip to Vietnam! Other birds seen during the morning

included Broad-billed Sandpipers, Nordmann’s Greenshank and Terek Sandpiper. After a quick lunch

we jumped in the car, on our way to the airport.

Triplist See:

https://observation.org/user/lifelist/2901?user=2901%2F&g=1&local_list=0&local_list=1&fam=0&ja

ar=0&maand=0&from=1800-01-01&to=2017-07-

09&prov=265&rar=0&s%5B%5D=S&s%5B%5D=I&akt_g=0&method=0&met_absolute=0&kle_g=0&ex

o=0&esc=0&incm=0