A Leisurely BY 2022 from Herman and Kit

[Kitsafari]

421. Indochinese Wren-Babbler, Bach Ma

 

skulks around the underground brush but luckily it popped up for a better and quick shot. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

422. White-Gorgetted Flycatcher, Bach Ma

 

while we were busily trying to get a good shot of the wren-babbler, this flycatcher was perched very quietly on a stalk just watching us. didn't escape the eyes of Minh though. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

423. Rufous-throated Fulvetta, Bach Ma

 

At least 3 or 4 of them but heck what a fast fast bird. it became almost impossible to get a good look at them.

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

424. Greyish-crowned Leafbird, Bach Ma

 

The leafbird, sometimes referred to as Orange-bellied Leafbird (greyish crowned), used to be conspecific with the orange=bellied leafbird which does not have a grey crown. The Greyish-crowned is native to southern China and Vietnam. 

 

[Kitsafari]

425. Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon, Bach Ma

 

A pigeon that presented its bum and tail to us and resolutely refused to turn around. 

 

[Kitsafari]

426. Sanderling,  Hoi An Mudflats

 

[Kitsafari]

427. Fork-tailed Sunbird, Bach Ma

 

A difficult bird to take in the low light of the dense forest

 

 

[Kitsafari]

428. Blue Whistling Thrush, Banyan Tree Lang Co

 

The birds were calling around the resort but were quite skittish.

 

[Kitsafari]

429. Eye-browed Thrush, Lang Co

 

a very quick shot of this bird in the mist, before the sun rose. Minh reckoned it was either a female or a juvenile. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

430. Black-throated Tit aka Gray crowned Tit, Bach Ma

 

Only one shot of this tit and i was the only one that saw it as Herman was very focussed on another bird - the owlet which was perched just below the tit. 

A very cute tit but it stayed too high for a nicer shot of it. 

 

[Kitsafari]

431. Sultan Tit (black-crested), Back Ma

 

There are two versions of the sultan tit - the common one with the yellow crest and a less common one with the black crest. 

 

[Kitsafari]

432. Collared Owlet, Bach Ma

 

a small brown owlet that favours mountains and foothills, its call is pretty distinctive. 

 

 

Video clip of its call: 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

434. Blue-rumped Pitta, Bach Ma

 

The best shot of this very shy and unaccommodating pitta. 

 

[Kitsafari]

435. Ratchet-tailed Treepie, Bach Ma

 

A very tough bird to photograph, as evidenced n the limited number of shots of this Rachet-tailed Treepie compared to its more common distant cousins in the treepie family. Its tail is truly unusualy with notches along its whole length. If not for the distinctive tail, this corvid from the crow family would almost look like the black drongo, albeit slightly larger. Found only in southern Thailand, south, central and northern Vietnam, Laos and Hainan. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

436. Racket-tailed Treepie, Banyan Tree Lang Co

 

I was very surprised to find this treepie - also our lifer - in the resort, fairly habituated to humans. but we got better photos from others at the resort';s car park that adjoined to the forested hill. Unlike its cousin above, the racket-tailed corvid is glossy black although the plumage turns bluish green in the sunglight. its tails is long and broad tipped, a typical treepie tail, and its eyes are blue.

 

 

[Kitsafari]

One evening, as I was walking the grounds of the resort while waiting for Herman, I heard a loud owl's call. I had to investigate but as i walked to the tree where the owl was, the calls ceased. I didn't have a torchlight and the mobile phone's torch was too weak.  so i never found the owl. we tried the following night at the resort's car park but again we didn't have proper torches so we couldn't get any photos. but I did tape the calls. I guess the lesson is - bring your torch whenever you go out!! We will  have to go back to this resort to get these owls. besides the resort is the best I've ever stayed at. 

 

The first call heard was the Mountain scops owl that called every night high from the hillside, and the single note was from the collared scops owl that refused to come out into the open. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

437. Red-collared Woodpecker, Bach Ma

 

We were very chuffed to see this woodpecker and so was Minh. Just a couple of days earlier, Minh had walked this trail when he re-discovered the woodpecker that hadn't been seen in Bach Ma for the past 10 years. and we were the lucky foreigners who got a chance to see this returning species. On the near threatened list, the red-collared woodpecker in restricted ranges in Laos and central and northern Vietnam. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

That's it for the new species at Danang - many of which are lifers for us. the following are repeats of species already in our count. 

 

puff-throated bulbul

 

Oriental Dollarbird looking resplendent in beautiful morning light

 

Black drongo

 

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo with a beautiful crest

 

Crested Serpent Eagle

 

Black-tailed Godwit

 

 

Green-billed Malkoha

 

Black-naped Monarch

 

Yellow-browed Warbler

 

White-bellied Erponis

 

Hooded Bulbul

 

Long-tailed Shrike

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Kitsafari

[xelas]

Excellent selection of birds from Vietnam! even with repeats, most of them would be lifers for me.

[Galana]

The excellent results of a worthwhile trip.

[PeterHG]

Beautiful birds form Vietnam and a specatular-looking primate!

[inyathi]

@KitsafariSo glad that you got to Vietnam, I've just had a look back at my report, when you said you planned to visit Son Tra I said  "if you manage to get there on a day when the sun is shining, you might, if you are lucky get great shots of the doucs." nice to see that I was right, great views and in the sun, I can't complain about my sightings, but it's hard not to be a little envious of you seeing them in full sun as they are such gorgeous monkeys. Bach Ma delivered some good birds and that Racket-tailed Treepie is pretty special up close, I'm sure I've seen it but not as well as that, you obviously chose a good place to stay. A short but productive trip and another good advert for Vietnam.  

[Kitsafari]

Thank you @xelas @Galana @PeterHG @inyathi

 

@inyathi Our guide was Lê Quý Minh, the other half of the co-authors of the Birds of Vietnam guide that you had referred to in your TR. He was a valuable guide with his deep knowledge of Bach Ma park having been the head ranger in that park for many years, and he's such a nice person as well. We enjoyed our time at the mountain, and if we had more time probably a day or more to spend there, we would probably  have gotten more birds. the mountains were not fully filled with bird songs, but early in the morning we could hear some birdsongs and we had missed a troupe of stump-tailed macaques but I wasn't fast enough to take a shot. 

Bach Ma wasn't empty of birds, although it was rather quiet. I think it was a prelude to a massive storm that hit the region a few days after we had left. 

I recognised your accommodation in the park, having gone back to read your TR again especially on Bach Ma. It's now empty and not operating, but Minh told us it had a long history behind it, including a period of time when it was a holiday home for one of the wives of the top ministers before the communists overran the south. 

The restaurant where you had lunch, we were there as well for lunch, although the food quality has dropped quite a lot. that's not surprising given the lack of tourists, but local residents are frequenting the restaurant and many come into the park to walk and for the views, I guess. 

 

We plan to return to Vietnam and this time we will visit Cat Tien and Dalat before returning to Danang and Bach Ma. 

 

 

 

[Zim Girl]

What a lovely collection of birds from Vietnam!

[Peter Connan]

What a lovely collection of photos too! Herman is a master!