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| Golden-winged Laughingthrush |
February 21 to February 27.
In case you missed it: Vietnam - Part 1
Continuing north from the high plateau of Da Lat we traveled to the dry lowland dipterocarp forest of Yok Don National Park near the Cambodia border. We were now moving into the central part of Vietnam, with long drives between sites, but also where few organized birding tours ever get. After the cool, sometimes even cold temperatures of Da Lat, it was a shock to the system to be back in the hot lowlands. Thankfully this would be the last of the hot temperatures for the remainder of the trip.
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| Passing rice fields along the way |
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| These lowland forest can look bleak during the dry season but there are actually quite a few birds |
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| Crested Treeswift |
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| Germain's Swiftlet |
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| Necklaced Barbet |
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| Yellow-footed Green-Pigeon |
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| Ashy Drongo |
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| Brown Boobook |
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| Burmese Nuthatch |
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| Chestnut-headed Bee-eater |
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| Striated Swallow |
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| Indochinese Roller |
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| White-rumped Falcon |
After some final morning birding at Yok Don we traveled into the central highlands and the small resort town of Mang Den. Many Vietnamese travel here during the summer to escape the city and get out of the heat. Since it was still early spring we missed the large crowds but found the cold and rain. No matter, the birds were worth it. This is the only place on the planet to find the Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush, a species that was only discovered in 2001. This shy bird has only been seen by a handful of birders. Tien had another blind for us to visit here which aided greatly in the sightings of many difficult species, including the laughingthrush.
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| Tim converses at our dinner spot with some local children who are learning English |
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| Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush |
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| Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush |
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| Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush |
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| Rufous-faced Warbler |
Continuing north, we moved another half day drive on to Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve in the second highest mountain range in Vietnam. Here we would see another very difficult species, the endangered Golden-winged Laughingthrush. This species was discovered in 1999 and has been seen by even fewer birders than Chestnut-eared.
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| We got some nice weather in the morning |
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| Slogging our way on a steep muddy trail |
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| This blind was difficult to get to high on a slippery mountain trail |
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| Chinese Blue Flycatcher |
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| Long-tailed Shrike |
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| Black-crowned Barwing |
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| Black-crowned Barwing |
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| Brown-crowned Scimitar-Babbler |
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| Golden-winged Laughingthrush |
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| Indochinese Fulvetta |
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| Indochinese Fulvetta |
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| Rufous-winged Fulvetta |
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| Rusty-capped Fulvetta |
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| Rusty-capped Fulvetta |
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| Snowy-browed Flycatcher |
That will do it for this post. In the next post we'll see the beautiful birds and scenery from the north of Vietnam.
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