Dates:
Weather:
Localities:

3 - 7 Aug 2020.
Variable. Some rain. Temperatures ranged from 21°C to 34°C.
Doi Chang, Namtok Huay Nam Oon Forest Park, Chae Son National Park and Doi Inthanon National Park.

24 Aug. Left Chiang Mai around midday to drive the three hours to Doi Chang, where met up with Ian and Games having arrived from Nan. None of us had visited Doi Chang previously, and it was not difficult to see why - widespread agricultural destruction of almost all hillsides, mostly for coffee cultivation, meant next to no natural habitat remaining. It would probably be a fair assumption that this mountain has never been birded, and indeed a quick look at eBird confirmed zero lists. Our starting here was based purely on Doi Chang being the only known locality in Thailand for Himalayan Newt. Despite the late afternoon rain we set out to look for access to remaining habitat. Our first investigation was the area around the Doi Chang Buddhist Park above the town. Habitat was a mix of introduced bamboo and some cut-over secondary forest that looked promising. At our first stop we found Berdmore's Stream Skink and Taylor's Stream Frog, so at least half interesting, and maybe OK for some night herping. Back at the accommodation, discussion with the resort owner proved useful. Firstly he knew the newt, though he'd only seen it during the dry season, but more importantly he mentioned that walking around the Buddhist Park at night would require permission from the military, which he could likely arrange. Rain continued into the early evening.

25 Aug. The owner kindly took us on a couple of hours drive around the area, showing us areas he'd previously seen the newt as well as patches of remnant forest and some trails. We followed this with our own exploration of the short, steep trail to the summit of Doi Chang, at 1,700 metres, where we found Indian Fritillary and Burmese Forest Darter. Birds included vocal White-browed Laughingthrush and White-browed Shrike-babbler. Generally though wildlife was in very short supply as hunting likely rampant. During the afternoon we had a runaround trying to locate Namtok Huay Nam Oon Forest Park. Mainly on account of Google maps having the incorrect location, we had to walk the last 500 metres cross country to find it, though at only 700 metres altitude not too much of interest, other than a Watson's Bushbrown. Mid afternoon we visited the Doi Chang viewpoint, trying a couple of trails. Mixed results, but not much of note until the ultimate step of the day, when climbing into the vehicle, a movement from beneath proved to be Himalayan Newt. What amazing luck, and certainly a few beers were consumed later - not that we needed any excuse.

26 Aug, During the day, for the most part, pretty much a repeat of yesterday. Initially we headed to the summit trail of Doi Chang, but the strong winds and cool temperatures led us to rethink that idea. So instead we opted for a track we'd seen slightly lower which was at least somewhat sheltered. Mountain Bamboo Partridge was the only bird highlight, and a single Silver Royal plus a few insect oddities made up the morning. Lunch on the balcony of one of the numerous coffee shops was rewarded with an Asian Brown Flycatcher of the scarce siamensis race. A short afternoon revisit to the area around the viewpoint produced little of note. As we'd received permission from the military to walk at the Buddhist park after dark we took an earlier dinner, but just as we were about to commence, the long-threatening rain started. Talk about timing! Whilst waiting for the rain to ease we found several Chiang Mai Dwarf Gecko. By 19:45, despite the rain, we donned rain gear and headed out anyway. We herped the area from 20:00 - 23:00, and despite the miserable conditions earlier on, the rain ceased at 21:30 enabling us the enjoy a good hour of dry weather. Pick of the bunch was Hampton's Slug Snake and Lesser Stream Horned Frog.

Lawana sp. Planthopper

View from Doi Chang summit

Indian Fritillary

Himalayan Newt

Hampton's Slug-eating Snake

Scale-bellied Tree Lizard

Great Fivering

Blue-tailed Yellow Skimmer

Inthanon Stream Toad

27 Aug. As last night's rained had produced a beautiful sunny morning, we again returned to the summit area, to walk a side trail we'd encountered yesterday. Although in theory the upper sections of these remnant forests lie within a protected area, it didn't feel as such, with plenty of local hunters and gatherers out for freebies in the forest. Some better bird species included Silver-eared Mesia, Rufous-backed Sibia, and a single Davison's Warbler singing. We left Doi Chang shortly before 12:00, heading toward Chiang Mai, but stopping near Chae Son. Our main target here was Zhang's Asian Toad, a difficult forest species. Armed with a rough idea of where to look we took a recce during the heat of the day to try to locate suitable access and habitat. We were lucky that side roads of the area were now open, as the many landslides from heavy rains earlier in the month had just been cleared. After dark, this time without rain, we herped the area, finding several species of interest - Stejneger's Paddy Frog, Dwarf Litter Frog and Siamese Cascade Frog - but failing on our primary target.

28 Aug. A leisurely drive to Doi Inthanon. Expecting wet weather, on account of the height of this mountain, we were rather surprised to encounter sun and mostly blue sky. A late afternoon visit to the Mae Pan area for butterflies found little. Some night herping along the Mae Wang road gave us Schmaker's Frog.

29 Aug. A return visit to Mae Pan, but still little activity, even on a walk to the waterfall. Best of the morning was a Blue Tit butterfly, and a female Megalestes kurahashii damselfly encountered along the waterfall trail. Following a quick noodle lunch in town we tried the Siriphum Waterfall gardens. Little, to no, maintenance has been done here in the last six months, and it would be sad if the gardens were to fall into ruin, but that's how it currently looked. A Dark Evening Brown was a highlight - very scarce in northern Thailand. Evening herping was quite productive, producing Angka Horned Frog as well as vocal Hodgson's Frogmouth and Mountain Scops Owl.

30 Aug. Trying something different we worked a few spots along the the side roads toward the Doi Pha Tang viewpoint. Almost our first find was Large-eyed Bamboo Snake, plus Reeve's Leaf-litter Skink. Great Fivering seemed fairly common, but generally exceptionally quiet for butterflies. After lunch we visited the two upper temples and the summit, though the summit boardwalk was closed. Night herping gave us Inthanon Stream Toad.

31 Aug. A leisurely morning, again at high elevations, with little found. It definitely seemed that finding butterflies or dragonflies at altitude during the wet season is a tough ask. A mid afternoon return to Chiang Mai.