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| Black-throated Tit |
February 28 to March 12, 2023Link to eBird Trip Report
In case you missed it:
Vietnam - Part 1
Vietnam - Part 2
The north of Vietnam is very mountainous and has long travel times between birding sites. But mountains are good, and the scenery was spectacular. We were making our way into the heart of the tallest of the Annamite Mountains and the limestone karst formations found there. From Ngoc Linh we traveled via Sa Mua Pass and on to Phong Nha National Park. This park is a very famous tourist destination, and scenery shows you why. The beautiful karst formations kept us gawking constantly. But there are great birds there too, so we had to take our eyes off the mountains once in a while.
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| Indochinese Yuhina |
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| Limestone Leaf Warbler |
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| Puff-throated Bulbul |
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| Stripe-throated Bulbul |
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| White-bellied Erpornis |
Next up was Cuc Phong National Park where we spent a couple of days searching for birds along the mountainous trails. There was a fantastic blind tucked away in the forest where we had an amazing morning surrounded by great birds.  |
| Some birding on the way to Cuc Phong turned up a log of fog and not too many birds |
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| But this farmer going by with his water buffalo powered cart was a lot of fun |
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| We have arrived - Cuc Phong National Park |
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| Tree roots growing up on the outside of the limestone formation |
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| There were some really big trees |
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| And we did a bit of owling too |
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| Annam Limestone Babbler |
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| Bar-bellied Pitta |
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| Blue-rumped Pitta |
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| Fujian Niltava |
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| Japanese Robin. While more common further north, this species is a super vagrant to Vietnam |
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| Japanese Thrush |
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| Japanese Thrush |
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| Rufous-throated Fulvetta |
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| Tonkin (Scaly-breasted) Partridge |
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| Fork-tailed Sunbird |
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| Fork-tailed Sunbird |
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| Fork-tailed Sunbird |
From Cuc Phong we moved on to one of the real treats of the trip, the incredible Van Long Nature Reserve. Here the still water of the Hong River Delta meanders past massive karst limestone mountains that host the last remaining population of the critically endangered Delacour's Langur. With a total population of just 200 or so animals, seeing one in this immense landscape is difficult. We floated the marsh in a sampan for a lovely late afternoon of birding, scenery, and searching for langurs. There was even a great cave in the limestone to float the sampan into. With only minutes to go on our outing and daylight quickly waning, keen-eyed guide Tien spotted a small group of langurs high on a limestone ridge. It was a long range view, but satisfying enough just to see such a rare animal.
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| A cave for exploring |
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| Birding the levee the following morning before leaving |
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| Eastern Marsh Harrier |
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| Pheasant-tailed Jacana |
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| Delacour's Langur. A terrible photo at long range, but good enough for the memories. |
Our next location of Cao Bang would be the worst weather we would experience on the trip. This location high in the mountains contains many great species and some endemics, but the socked in conditions made birding very difficult. After a day of no change, with nothing in the immediate forecast that looked promising, we move on a day earlier than planned. This was also the farthest north we would go, within about 25 miles of the China border.
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| Chestnut Bulbul |
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| Little Bunting |
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| Olive-backed Pipit |
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| Streak-throated Scimitar-Babbler |
With extra time we moved west to our final birding location of trip, the scenic mountains of Mu Cang Chai. This area is famous for it's terraced rice fields and is a popular location for landscape photographers in June and September. We didn't see the lime green expanses of terraced rice, but did see some dramatic vistas and fantastic birds. There are no lodges or hotels in this area so we did what is locally known as a "Home Stay." This is similar to what we would call an AirBNB at home. Our host family was fantastic, great food and very friendly.
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| Our first dinner at the Home Stay |
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| The terraced rice fields aren't so green quite yet |
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| Black-headed Greenfinch |
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| Crested Finchbill |
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| Yellow-cheeked Tit |
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| Yellow-bellied Fairy-Fantail |
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| White-collared Yuhina |
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| Whiskered Yuhina |
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| Spot-breasted Parrotbill |
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| Spectacled Barwing |
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| Small Niltava |
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| Short-billed Minivet |
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| Pale-throated Wren-Babbler. A real skulker and a treat to see this well. |
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| Mrs. Gould's Sunbird |
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| Green-tailed Sunbird |
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| Crested Bunting |
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| Black-faced Warbler |
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| Chestnut-crowned Warbler |
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| Rusty-capped Fulvetta |
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| Black-throated Tit |
A long day of travel got us back to Hanoi for our late departure. Many, many hours later we were home.
We very much enjoyed our time in Vietnam. It is safe, friendly and full of great scenery and birds. Thanks as always to our special friends Tim and Agnes for another fantastic trip together. Our excellent driver and field food cook Ty was outstanding and we thank him a bunch for keeping us safe and fed. Our trip guide Tien of Vietbird Tours, was as good a guide as they come and a real pleasure to spend a month with. We highly recommend Tien and Vietbird Tours for those looking for any kind of wildlife trip to Vietnam.
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| Tien and Ty |
