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9 - 13 Dec 2019.
Dry, with variable cloud cover. Temperatures ranged from 11°C to 26°C.
Tham Lod, Pha Suea National Park, Namtok Mae Surin National Park and Mae Yuam Luang Forest Park.

Asian Barred Owlet

Common Apefly

Common Red Flash

Mrs. Gould's Sunbird

Red-spot Marquis

Yellow-banded Awl

Despite Mae Hong Son being only 120 kilometres as the crow flies from Chiang Mai, the torturous mountain roads throughout the province, and lengthy driving times, mean the whole area is little visited by birders and naturalists.

9 Dec. With there having been a cold front from China dominating the weather systems across northern Thailand the last week, another decidedly cool morning in Chiang Mai, during which we drove five hours to Tham Lod. With tomorrow being a pubic holiday incorporating a long weekend, we avoided the cave area, spending a few hours in the forest before the cave, exploring farther some tracks we'd found on a previous visit. Best bird of the afternoon undoubtedly Grey-headed Parakeet, plus Oriental Cuckooshrike, Black-hooded Oriole and Asian Barred Owlet. In sunny patches, active butterflies included White-banded Pierrot, Common Sergeant, Large Snow Flat and Forest Quaker. With activity dipping by 16:00 we drove the remaining 90 minutes to Mae Hong Son.

10 Dec. Overnight temperatures dropping to 11°C. We started the day with a two hour drive to a supposed butterfly hot-spot near the Burma border we'd been given by a friend. We would have to say, that looking at the location on Google Earth it didn't look particularly forested. And indeed, on arrival it proved to be a huge agricultural area with plenty of corn fields, that left us scratching our heads. On following up later it was confirmed the coordinates were totally duff! Anyway, since we were in the area we explored the nearby eastern edge of Pha Suea National Park. The first interesting forest we discovered was the damp gully at Pha Dang cave, where a tiled stairway, long since unmaintained, led to the cave entrance, although the last 50 metres involved clambering over boulders. We found a reasonable collection of butterflies in the gully, including Dark Cupid, Angled Cyclops, Forest Quaker and Blue Imperial. We next explored an unsigned track we discovered a few kilometres to the south. Initially this climbed quite steeply though dry forest, but then levelled out some at around 900 metres altitude, passing through mixed forest. As this was quite productive, we ended up spending the remainder of the afternoon here, driving about four kilometres through the forest, after which the track continued, albeit through cut-over forest and agriculture, though we had insufficient time to explore. Bird species encountered included Crested Treeswift, Rosy Minivet, Swinhoe's Minivet, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Great Barbet, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Radde's Warbler and White-crested Laughingthrush. Butterflies included Common Apefly, Common Red Flash, Variable White Flat, Waxy Dart and Double-banded Plum Judy,

11 Dec. A slightly warmer day, with temperatures rising to 24°C. We started with the two hour drive to Mae Surin Waterfall at the southern end of the park. Having paid our 200 Baht entrance fee we spent the next three hours aroun the viewpoint and flowing plants at the back of the campsite. Due to the altitude, at 1,250 metres, not particularly productive, though we did find Long-tailed Broadbill, Grey-backed Shrike, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Blue Rock Thrush, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird and Olive-backed Pipit. Also Hampson's Hedge Blue and Shining Plushblue. We left at 14:00 and tried several spots, stopping late afternoon at Mae Yuam Luang Forest Park, which had a pleasant 500 metre trail and waterfall. A later return to Mae Hong Son.

12 Dec. All day at Phu Suea National Park, working the road toward the Burma border. On our previous visit, this narrow road had been largely deserted , but now a border crossing at the northern end had meant a repaving of the road and a constant stream of trucks to/from the border, which were rather annoying. Bird-wise we recorded Bay Woodpecker, Black Bulbul, Northern White-crowned Forktail, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Maroon Oriole and Grey-crowned Warbler. Although the altitude was not particularly low the good weather produced a good list of butterfly species such as Banded Marquis, Red-spot Marquis, Yellow Jezebel, Chocolate Royal, Scarce Tawny Rajah, Mango Baron and Malay Baron.