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19 -23 Mar 2018
Hot, though pleasant at altitude. Variable cloud. Temperatures ranged from 20°C to 34°C.
Thung Salaeng Luang National Park, Nam Nao National Park, Tat Mok National Park and Wiang Kosai National Park.

With Steve Tibbett. Following our previous trips to the same areas in the last few months - in October and November 2017 - this was a third attempt to find some of the speciality butterflies, allegedly occurring in the region. In common with earlier trips, we were only partially successful in that respect, though that was balanced with finding other interesting species.

19 Mar. We left Chiang Mai at 06:00, arriving midday at Kaeng Sopha Waterfall in Thung Salaeng Luang. A short stroll to the falls showed the area to be extremely dry, and even around the river edge almost no butterflies present. A couple of Red-breasted Parakeet heard. Decided to cut our losses here and try nearer the park headquarters a few kilometres away. As the river edge held a few puddles of butterflies, we spent the remainder of the afternoon in the area, together with walking the track to the campsite. Butterflies included Banded Swallowtail, Brown King Crow, Spotted Zebra, Shan Nawab and Great Nawab. Birds found included Rufous-winged Buzzard, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Greater Flameback and Pale-legged Leaf Warbler. Late afternoon the butterfly puddling area was totally disturbed by some idiot locals deciding to wash their car in the middle of it. A very hot afternoon with temperatures up to 34°C. Overnight in Lom Sak with some welcoming cold beers.

20 Mar. Drove the 50 kilometres to Nam Nao, where we spent the morning and early afternoon along the track to Phu Goom Khao. An excellent day, with good numbers of puddling butterflies, including many nawabs, Indian Yellow Sailor, Long-stick Sailor and Sergeant Emperor. With cloud cover increasing and activity easing we returned to the highway and visited Sai Thong Waterfall where, mid afternoon, in the murky conditions we found a good number of skippers plus Branded Red Forester. Bird highlights of the day included Blue-eared Kingfisher, Large Cuckooshrike, Blue-bearded Bee-eater and Greater Yellownape. At 16:00, the threatening rain arrived, with us returning to Lom Sak through some heavy downpours.

21 Mar. Given the cool and cloudy conditions expected at higher elevations, we decided to try Tat Mok rather than Thung Salaeng Luang. Indeed, we found conditions hot, and even though the forested streams were still running well, butterfly diversity seemed way down on previous visits, with only common species recorded. Mid morning we walked the first kilometre of the Waterfall Nature Trail, that proved excellent for birds, with Dark-sided Thrush, Streaked Wren-Babbler, Grey Peacock-Pheasant heard, Green-legged Partridge, Slaty-backed Forktail and Wreathed Hornbill. A hot and slow afternoon, with little seen, so left around 15:45.

22 Mar. A revisit to Nam Nao, where we'd hoped for similar number of butterflies to our visit two days previously. However, the cloudy conditions persisted and the temperature barely reached 20°C all morning. By some good fortune, at 14:00 the skies cleared with some good activity. Given the cool conditions we spent most of the morning birding the main track, finding Large Scimitar Babbler, Oriental Turtle Dove, Collared Owlet, Greater Yellownape, Vernal Hanging Parrot and Black-winged Cuckooshrike. A second visit to Thong Sai Waterfall produced similar results.

23 Mar. Left at 06:00 to drive to Wiang Kosai, arriving at 11:00. Spent the next few hours around the waterfall and twice walking the Waterfall Nature Trail. Best birds were a Ferruginous Flycatcher hanging around the falls and several Violet Cuckoo overhead. A late afternoon return to Chiang Mai.

Club Silverline

Gretaer Flameback

Yellow Rajah

Little Banded Yeoman

White-rumped Shama