Jakarta Boat Trip Birding | Birding Indonesia

Where can you see Christmas Island Frigatebird, Sunda Teal, Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Milky Stork, Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, Cerulean Kingfisher, Clamorous Reed Warbler and a wide range of other species in an urban setting? On a boat trip from Jakarta, Indonesia! The island of Java is one of the most densely populated areas of the world [...]

Milky Stork Milky Stork

Pre-Trip Birding Around Incheon | South Korea Birding

Have you ever started a birding tour by getting off of the plane and rushed into a vehicle, sleep-deprived and confused, spending the remainder of the day birding in extreme weather conditions, seeing some amazing birds but not being able to enjoy them properly due to your body being on the verge of shutdown? Well, [...]

Naumann's Thrush Naumann's Thrush

Top 5 Birds of Cambodia Birding Tour 2023 | Cambodia Birding

Cambodia is the last refuge of a number of exciting species in Southeast Asia as well as the home of a wide range of birds at a greater abundance than most of the surrounding countries. Leading the Calidris Birding Tours trip to Cambodia in March 2023 gave all of the tour participants the opportunity to [...]

White-shouldered Ibis White-shouldered Ibis

Waterbirds at Prek Toal Reserve | Cambodia Birding

One of the great spectacles of any birding trip to Cambodia is a visit to the waterbird colonies at Prek Toal Reserve on Tonle Sap where birders can be surrounded by huge numbers of waterbirds from a trip on a small boat. This is exactly the situation I found myself in when leading the Calidris [...]

Lesser Adjutant Lesser Adjutant

Birding at Bach Ma National Park – Vietnam Birding

At the beginning of November 2022 I found myself with the opportunity to visit Bach Ma National Park, near Danang in Vietnam. While other sites in Vietnam could promise more new birds for me but I had limited time and so arranged a driver to take me from Danang to the national park and back, [...]

Grey-crowned Bushtit Grey-crowned Bushtit
Milky Stork

Jakarta Boat Trip Birding | Birding Indonesia

April 14th, 2024 Nick

Where can you see Christmas Island Frigatebird, Sunda Teal, Pink-necked Green Pigeon, Milky Stork, Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker, Cerulean Kingfisher, Clamorous Reed Warbler and a wide range of other species in an urban setting? On a boat trip from Jakarta, Indonesia!

The island of Java is one of the most densely populated areas of the world and the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta, situated on Java, is a mega city, sprawling with a huge population so it might not seem like an obvious place to go birding. Indeed, if one wants to go birding in a pristine habitat with clear air and untouched habitats then this type of urban birding might not be the first thing that you think of, but for those who are fascinated in the ability of birds to live alongside humans then a boat trip from the northern suburbs of Jakarta is an interesting excursion with a wide variety of birds including some globally rare species. This boat trip is something I always include when leading Indonesia birding tours that visit Java, providing us with some easy birding from the boat and some great photo opportunities, particularly of Christmas Island Frigatebirds. Read more »

Naumann's Thrush

Pre-Trip Birding Around Incheon | South Korea Birding

June 5th, 2023 Nick

Have you ever started a birding tour by getting off of the plane and rushed into a vehicle, sleep-deprived and confused, spending the remainder of the day birding in extreme weather conditions, seeing some amazing birds but not being able to enjoy them properly due to your body being on the verge of shutdown? Well, when leading the Calidris Birding South Korea Winter Birding Tour in January 2023 I tried to ensure that this did not happen by planning a night in a hotel near Incheon airport. It turned out that all mebers of the group arrived quite early to check in to the hotel and after taking a rest in their rooms everyone was keen to see their first birds in South Korea. Luckily, the hotel, Ocean Park 9 Hotel, was in a good location for birders with a small wooded park very close by, a small harbour, mud flats at low tide and a larger area of scrub and reeds all making for a pleasant birding walk right from the hotel.

Read more »

White-shouldered Ibis

Top 5 Birds of Cambodia Birding Tour 2023 | Cambodia Birding

April 10th, 2023 Nick

Cambodia is the last refuge of a number of exciting species in Southeast Asia as well as the home of a wide range of birds at a greater abundance than most of the surrounding countries. Leading the Calidris Birding Tours trip to Cambodia in March 2023 gave all of the tour participants the opportunity to see a large number of fantastic birds in this interesting country. With birds as sought-after and as varied as Great Slaty Woodpecker, Asian Woolly-necked Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Slender-billed Vulture, Milky Stork, Black-headed Woodpecker, Cambodian Tailorbird, Chinese Grassbird, Sarus Crane, Rufous-bellied Woodpecker and White-rumped Vulture all being seen but not making the top five list it is clear to see that this was a birding tour full of highlights.

Join me to see the best birds of Cambodia on next year’s trip - Cambodia Birding Tour.

At the end of this successful trip I asked all members of the group and our local guide, Hat Huon, for their birds of the trip. Using the order in which they ranked their favourite species I allocated points and constructed this list of the top five birds of this Cambodia birding tour.

Read more »

Lesser Adjutant

Waterbirds at Prek Toal Reserve | Cambodia Birding

April 1st, 2023 Nick

One of the great spectacles of any birding trip to Cambodia is a visit to the waterbird colonies at Prek Toal Reserve on Tonle Sap where birders can be surrounded by huge numbers of waterbirds from a trip on a small boat. This is exactly the situation I found myself in when leading the Calidris Birding Tours Cambodia Birding Tour in mid-March 2023, marvelling in the incredible numbers of storks, pelicans, cormorants and other waterbirds wheeling around overhead and perched alongside the channel that our local boat drivers had taken us along. The suspense built up from a pre-dawn start from our comfortable hotel in Siem Reap (Angkor Aurora) with our first birds shortly after first light as we boarded our first boat that would take us along creeks and through floating villages with flocks of Glossy Ibis, Painted Stork and Asian Openbill providing the early promise of what was to come.

If you would like to join me on a birding trip in Cambodia take a look at the dates, itinerary and all the details of my next tour - Cambodia Birding Tour.

Read more »

Grey-crowned Bushtit

Birding at Bach Ma National Park – Vietnam Birding

December 11th, 2022 Nick

At the beginning of November 2022 I found myself with the opportunity to visit Bach Ma National Park, near Danang in Vietnam. While other sites in Vietnam could promise more new birds for me but I had limited time and so arranged a driver to take me from Danang to the national park and back, spending one night there. The cool weather, attractive forest and new location gave me exactly what I was looking for with a good selection of nice Southeast Asian birds including a few new ones, several distinct subspecies and also some birds that I seldom see in Thailand. Although the accommodation was a little “rustic” it was very enjoyable walking along quiet roads through pleasant forest, taking my time to watch and photograph the birds that interested me as well as some great views of one of the most attractive mammals I have ever seen!

If you would like to join me on a birding trip in Vietnam take a look at the dates, itinerary and all the details of my next tour - Vietnam Birding Tour.

Read more »

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

Queen Sirikit Park Autumn Birding | Thailand Birding

October 23rd, 2022 Nick

When it comes to spring and autumn Bangkok-based birders head to the city’s parks in search of a wide variety of passage migrants. For migrating birds heading over this large area of urbanization these green areas provide much-needed rest areas as well as the opportunity to feed and gain the energy required to continue migration. Although spring migration usually provides the greatest concentration of migrants in Thailand, autumn migration is more spread out and there is the possibility of interesting species that are not usually found in the city through a period of several months. Over the last few weeks other birders have found a number of interesting passage migrants, while I have been busy with other things, but I managed to find a morning on 14th October to visit one of the larger parks in the city, Queen Sirikit Park, to see if I could find any migrants of interest.

Read more »

Ferruginous Partridge

Daap Toon Hide at Kaeng Krachan | Thailand Birding

September 7th, 2022 Nick

What I most enjoy is taking long walks in beautiful countryside and being able to see a wealth of bird life along the way. In temperate countries this is a very pleasant way of bird watching and usually by covering a lot of ground and different habitats brings a lot of bird sightings but in tropical environments moving more slowly is not only desirable due to the climate but also because vegetation is often dense with birds hiding within it, making them hard to see. At times it is necessary to sit completely still and quietly in order to get good views of some forest birds and this is exactly what I did recently at Daap Toon hide near Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand.

I have visited a number of the hides around Kaeng Krachan many times but a visit in late August (31st) was a completely new experience and had I not been tipped off to the fact that many birds had been visiting, I would have thought the area too wet to attract much at all. In reality there was a lot of activity and a good variety of species, including some really exciting ones and while the light conditions were low, what light that there was illuminated the birds from the best angle.

Read more »

« Older Entries

Free WordPress Themes