Doi Angkhang - A bird watcher's diary
By Tony Ball

I was, once again, very pleasantly diverted from my usual spots by a request to check out the birds of Doi Angkhang by the Amari Hotel Group. I have to admit that this was the first time that I have been there to have a serious look at the birdlife and I wasn’t disappointed. The Amari Group have opened a new resort, the Doi Angkhang Nature Resort, right next to the Royal Angkhang Research Station. It was built partly to help house the overflow of people attending seminars at the project and partly to accommodate people who want to get away from the city and immerse themselves in nature. There is plenty of “nature” there, or at least the birds seem to think so, because they are there in pretty impressive numbers. There has been a lot of deforestation in the recent past but there is also a lot of forest left. What was lost in the way of forest birds was made up for by the influx of grassland and scrub birds.

If you are thinking of visiting the Resort it is best approached by turning off the Fang road (route 107) at kilometre 79 and there the holiday begins. It is beautiful, the road takes you along mountain ridges and through Hilltribe and Chinese villages (Kuomintang) and other villages nestle, picturesquely, in the valley floors. I don’t know how it will affect others but for me the trip was magical and the nearly 3 hours that it took passed all too quickly.

The “work” started immediately on arrival, as I got out of the bus , I looked up to savour the surrounding mountains and to my astonishment was confronted by a Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) . This one was a female (mainly brown) but there was no mistaking the long narrow wings and my surprise at seeing it was because this bird is a rare winter visitor. If I needed convincing it was confirmed for me the very next morning when I spotted the male which is grey, black and white, in almost the same place. That first morning I asked the hotel staff about methods of getting to and from the birding sites and they said that they could deliver me to any place I decided was right for bird wathching and pick me up again at a time and place set by me. This system worked perfectly and allowed me to get on with the job without the worry of having to arrange my own transport.

The first two mornings were interspersed with rain or to be more exact I was in the clouds which had rain in them, the Resort is at about 1400 metres a.s.l. But, with my ever handy poncho at the ready this presented no problem, I even rather enjoyed it, refreshing as it was. Birdwise, Doi Angkhang has a lot to offer especially in species that can only be found in that area ( in Thailand). I came away with three new species for me, the Harrier for one, the Brown-breasted Bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthorrhous) and the Whiskered Yuhina (Yuhina flavicollis), the latter two are both locally common. Another rare bird to be found on Doi Angkhan is the Hume’s Pheasant (Syrmaticus humiae) also the Giant Nuthatch (Sitta magna), which is uncommon, can be found around stands of pine trees above 1200 metres. The first two mornings, because of the rain, I only spotted 33 and 37 species respectively but I think that those are respectable numbers. On the third day ( I only spent 3 days this time) I recorded 49 species and the total numbers of different species totalled 72. Most of the birding was done by the roadside and around the Resort area, I took a few side trips along trails created by the Forestry Department leading, usually, to nursery areas where they were planting seedlings and saplings to help with reforestation. Things seem to be going in the right direction and I think that this is because of the presence of the Royal Angkhang Research Station which was set up in 1969 under the auspices of His Majesty King Bhumibol and is now run by His Serene Highness, Prince Bhisadej Rajani.

The birdwatching sites are numerous and I only covered a fraction of them so I will be going back periodically to cover more and to get a better picture of how to get the best value in as short a time as possible. Most people, nowadays, just don’t have the time to wander about hoping to see something interesting, what they need is an itinerary which will more-or-less gaurantee them a minimum number of sightings. I don’t blame them, in these times, time is money!

Finally, it was very pleasant to come back to the Resort after a six hour stretch on the mountain (6am-12pm), have a hot shower and amble on down to the restaurant for a very welcome meal. Birdwatching doesn’t have to be a trial.

Birds Sighted in Angkhang

1. Common Buzzard
2. Rufous-winged Buzzard
3. Hume's Pheasant
4. Mountain Bamboo-Partridge
5. Ashy Wood-Pigeon
6. Large Hawk-Cuckoo
7. Green-billed Malkoha
8. Blue-Bearded Bee-eater
9. Great Barbet
10. Pacific Swift
11. Barn Swallow
12. Red-rumped Swallow
13. Olive-backed Pipit
14. Grey Wagtail
15. Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike
16. Grey-chinned Minivet
17. Long-tailed Minivet
18. Red-whiskered Bulbul
19. Brown-Breasted Bulbul
20. Flavescent Bulbul   
21. Mountain Bulbul
22. Ashy Bulbul
23. Ashy Drongo
24. Bronzed Drongo
25. Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo
26. Grey Treepie
27. Great Tit
28. Chestnut-vented Nuthatch
29. Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler
30. White-browed Scimitar-Babbler
31. White-browed Laughingthrush
32. Red-faced Liocichla
33. Grey-cheeked Fulvetta
34. White-browed Shrike-Babbler
35. Blue-winged Minla
36. Siver-eared Mesia
37. Black-Headed Sibia
38. Spot-breasted Parrotbill
39. Buff-throated Warbler
40. Radde's Warbler
41. Arctic Warbler
42. Greenish Warbler
43. Blyth's Leaf-Warbler
44. White-tailed Leaf-Warber
45. Orange-barred Leaf-Warbler
46. Hill Prinia
47. Siberian Rubythroat
48. Orange-flanked Bush-Robin
49. Stonechat
50. Pied Bushchat
51. Grey Bushchat
52. Blue Rock-Thrush
53. Blue Whistling Thrush
54. Asian Brown Flycatcher
55. Red-throated Flycatcher
56. White-gorgetted Flycatcher
57. Grey-headed Flycatcher
58. Verditer Flycatcher
59. White-throated Fantail
60. Long-tailed Shrike
61. Gould's sunbird
62. Green-tailed Sunbird
63. Streaked Spiderhunter
64. Oriental White-eye
65. Scaly-breasted Munia
66. Common Rosefinch
67. Chestnut Bunting
68. Crested Bunting

Bird Watching in Angkhang

The famous Thai ornithologist, Dr. Boonsong Lekagul, visited Doi Angkhang on the 8th to 11th February, 2002 and reported the following bird sighting. The time when he was “twitching” was generally from 14:00-18.30 to each day.

He also commented that he would have seen more species if he had been able to climb further off the beaten track which regrettably his age now prevent him from doing.

The numbers listed referred to the numbers given to species in the revised version of his book “Lekagul”. This is available from good bookstores in Thailand such as Asia Books.