Dates:
Weather:
Localities:

11 - 14 Jun 2019.
Mostly overcast with rain showers. Temperatures ranged from 22°C to 26°C.
Omkoi Wildlife Sanctuary.

Black-headed Woodpecker

Peacock Royal

Crenulate Oakblue

11 Jun. An early start from Chiang Mai to Omkoi, arriving just before 10:00. We spent the day exploring a variety of forest tracks on the Chiang Mai side of Omkoi town. Bird activity was disappointingly lacking, with little of note other than Black-headed Woodpecker. Some better butterflies included Peacock Royal and Pale Bushblue. Overcast all day but at least dry, with a pleasant temperature of around 24°C.

12 Jun. Continuing southward from Omkoi we planned to spend the day at mid to lower altitudes near the Omkoi Wildlife Sanctuary headquarters. With the cloud ceiling around 1,100 metres, weather at the 1,400 metre viewpoint was pretty miserable - wet and windy - so we quickly headed down the opposite flank of the mountain. However, with only a few drier spells it rained fairly consistently all day, so very little of anything seen. Mid afternoon we gave up hoping for better weather, so headed back to the Omkoi side of the mountain, where at least it was dry. A disappointing day with nothing of note found.

13 Jun. With a reasonable weather forecast we spent the whole day again on the southward side of town but remaining on the drier side of the mountain. With improved weather some excellent butterflies found, with Variegated Plushblue, Large-spotted Oakblue, Crenulate Oakblue and Slate Awlet. Early afternoon, with apparently clear weather we again tried the higher reaches of the road, but as soon as we approached higher elevations rain became an issue. So no exploration at all of these higher parts possible on this trip. A calling Chinese Francolin was a new species for our Omkoi list.

14 Jun. A final morning in the same areas as yesterday gave similar results, plus the addition of Yellow-disc Tailless Oakblue. A mid afternoon return to Chiang Mai.