Vietnam August - October 2013, Mang Den

Just like the previous site, Mang Canh was visited by us together with my dear friend Bao from Vietnam Birdwatching. The main reason for our visit to this site is the rare, localised and endemic Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush, that was found here by Bao a couple of years ago. The only other site for this bird is Mount Kon Ka Kinh that is off limits for foreigners and moreover it has not been seen there for a while. Because we reached this site by private transport I have no idea how to reach this site by public transport. It should be possible to reach the town of Mang den, where the closed accomodation to Mang Canh is found, by bus from Kontum and take a motorbike to Mang Canh forest (which is a 45 minutes drive from the town).

We stayed in the area for three nights, but had limited time to do good birding due to heavy rains. Even though we managed to get brilliant views of the Chestnut-eared Laugher on our second day in the midst of heavy rains! We had to work hard to get views and had about ten non-cooperating individuals before we finally saw some feathers! But the area holds more goodies and we recorded Bar-backed Partridge, Besra, Annam Barbet, Blue-bearded Bee-eaters, Silver-backed Needletail, White-winged Magpie, Indochinese Green Magpie, Ratchet-tailed Treepie, White-capped Water Redstart, Yellow-billed Nuthatch, Sultan Tit (ssp. gayeti) Rufous-faced Warbler, Grey-crowned Tit, Grey-headed Parrotbill and Black-hooded Laughingthrush.

Sultan Tit (Melanochlora sultanea gayeti)

Grey-headed Parrotbill (Paradoxornis gularis)

Silver-backed Needletail (Hirundapus cochinchinensis) zooming overhead

We also enjoyed some first migrants like Asian Brown Flycatcher, Yellow-browed Warbler, Pale-legged Leaf Warbler and Arctic Warbler. We missed Pale-capped Pigeon and Northern Brown Hornbill, but that was probably because our birding time was rather limited, for both species are rare in the area and it is more a matter of luck of finding them. Mammals recorded included Cambodian Striped and Black Giant Squirrel.

Pale-legged Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus tenellipes)

Arctic Warbler (Phylloscopus borealis)