Vietnam August – October 2013, Bach Ma National Park

This site, known for several range restricted specialities, is not for the easily frustrated. Most birds are shy, elusive and hard to see.  Moreover the logistics within the park are not ideal for birdwatchers.  The park is situated 45 km south of Hue and the gateway town to the park, Cau Hai can be easily reached by public transport. 4 km further are the headquarters of the park, where apparently accommodation is available, but requesting this was most bewildering to the staff so we stayed at the “villa” at KM 17. There is only one road within in the park and all trails start from here. This area can be divided into three areas: low, mid and high altitude forest, of which the first and the last are the most interesting for birdwatchers.

We birded four days in Bach Ma, or at least we tried, but lady luck was not on our side. Most of the  time the weather was dominated by dense fog and heavy rains for a typhoon was raging on the South Chinese Sea... The consequence was that only one day was invested in birding the lower elevations and the rest of the time we birded at higher elevations. The biggest speciality at higher elevations is the range-restricted and near-threatened Indochinese Wren-babbler (formerly called Short-tailed Scimitar-babbler), which was seen twice (one pair at KM 18 and one pair on the Rhododendron trail). The main road between KM 16 and KM 19 is good for huge mixed species flocks which held Sultan Tit (ssp. gayeti), Indochinese Yuhina (formerly part of the Striated Yuhina complex), Ratchet-tailed Treepie (once), Indochinese Green Magpie (once), Black-throated and Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, White-browed Scimitar-babbler, Fork-tailed Sunbird, Silver-eared Mesia, Orange-bellied and Blue-winged Leafbird and Red-headed Trogon. Huge flocks (>200) of Pin-tailed Parrotfinches were also observed. Around the “villa” Blue-rumped Pitta, Red-collared Woodpecker and Rufous-throated Partridge remained heard-only. This area can also provide productive night birding, for we heard Hodgon´s Frogmouth, Mountain Scops Owl and Brown Wood Owl. Black Eagle and Mountain Hawk Eagle were observed soaring overhead, whilst Crested Serpent Eagle could join the ever growing list species that remained heard only. Interesting mammals included the rare Red-shanked Douc Langur, Southern White-cheeked Gibbon, Pallas´ Squirrel and Maritime Striped Squirrel. The park also hosts the rare and recently discovered Saola, but chances of seeing this beautiful antelope are equal to seeing a unicorn...

Indochinese Wren-babbler (Jabouilleia danjoui)

Ratchet-tailed Treepie (Temnurus temnurus)

Part of a huge Pin-tailed Parrotfinch (Erythrura prasina) flock

Black Eagle (Ictinaetus malayensis)

Mountain Hawk Eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis)

On the last day the weather was more friendly and I drove down with Nhan, the parks only bird guide (0914052575), on a motorbike (350.000 VND). The Pheasant trail is the only trail giving acces to the lower elevations, which hosts a whole bag of goodies. However the trail is situated at KM 8, thus 9  km from the “villa” and 5 km from the park headquarters. Obviously one day was not enough to hear Crested Argus (I don´t know of any Western birder that has seen this gigantic, but elusive bird). Strangely enough it was three years ago Nhan heard Crested Argus… Are they getting even more rare? One day was also not enough to see or hear the endemic Annam Partridge (keep in mind that this taxon may prove not to be a valid species after all). However just two Sultan Tits (ssp. gayeti), one Blue-rumped Pitta sighting and another calling individual appeared to be not a good catch to me. The Bar-bellied Pitta´s didn´t give a peep! We also did not walk all the way to the river at the end of the trail, for Nhan said this area to be not good birding-wise, but later I learned that this area might yield Blyth´s Kingfisher. Furthermore we were lucky enough to stumble upon a Sun Bear in the afternoon so we got the hell out of there before the afternoon activity kicked in… Red-shanked Douc Langurs were also observed along the Pheasant trail. The Trees around the entrance gate used to be a reliable spot for Brown Fish Owls, but the trees were cut so we also missed this species. Apparently one can still see them in the evening around the headquarters, but we were not there at that time of the day.
 

A crappy record shot of the endemic gayeti subspecies of Sultan Tit (Melanochlora sultanea) which might be elevated to species levels

My advice for this park: Do not go in this time of year, invest much time in the Pheasant trail, particularly in the early hours of the day, but do not forget the higher elevations and bring your own transport.