Steve Happ Photography Ramblings and dissertations

Tuyen Lam Lake, Dalat, Vietnam.

The last blog I posted was from Phong Nha Cave. Since then I have been to Hue, then up the mountains to Phuoc Son, Buon Ma Thuot and finally to Dalat. Tuyen Lam Lake is about five kilometers from Dalat. It is surrounded by pine forests. The birding here is quite good and better than any other place I have been to in Vietnam.

Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius leucotis)

The Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius leucotis), race leucotis, has a black cap and a wide black moustachial band with white sides of the head and throat and buff underparts and back.

Black-collared Starling ( Gracupica nigricollis )

These Black-collared Starling seemed to have a more creamy coloured head than the usual ones which are whiter. It took me a while to identify these because of the different coloured head.

Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata)

I had not seen any Scaly-breasted Munia for awhile. They have been nearly everywhere in South-east Asia. Eating grass seeds is what they do.

Ashy Drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus bondi)

The Ashy Drongos were doing lots of hawking for insects from the pine trees. They would fly out, swoop around for a bit and then return to the tree branch. There were heaps of them around. They seemed to be race bondi which range from southern Vietnam, Cambodia possibly Thailand.

Ashy Drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus bondi)

Lesser Yellownape (Picus chlorolophus)

“The adult male Lesser Yellownape has a green head with a white throat. He has red markings above the eye and above the nape, and red moustachial stripes. Females have only a red patch above the ear coverts. Young birds are like the female, but duller.” (Wikipedia)

Grey Bushchat (Saxicola ferreus)

Habitats for Grey Bushchat are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. They range from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Slender-billed Oriole ( Oriolus tenuirostris )

The Slender-billed Oriole has a much finer and thinner bill than the Black-naped Oriole and is the main distinguishing feature (and possibly the only one). They are found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Little Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula westermanni)

Dalat Bird List

Ashy Drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus)
Grey Bushchat (Saxicola ferreus)
Eurasian Jay ( Garrulus glandarius )
Black-collared Starling
Scaly-breasted Munia
Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier)
Little Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula westermanni)
Lesser Yellownape (Picus chlorolophus)
Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) 6393
Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)
Spotted Dove (Geopelia chinensis)
Oriolus tenuirostris, Slender-billed Oriole, TICK

Dalat Birding Resources

Dalat Birding

Phong Nha National Park.

This afternoon I walked along the river towards Phong Nha cave. I left my motor-bike at the new national park headquarters and had a good look at the steep karsts along the river.

Spotted Dove (Geopelia chinensis)

Chinese Pond-Heron (Ardeola bacchus)

I had seen a few Chinese Pond-heron in the fields and water-ways as I have rode around North Vietnam but this is the first one I have captured in my camera. But it was a bit far away.

butterfly

As usual there were lots of butterflies around.

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Mud nest

This neat little mud nest was in a tree by the river.

Common Woodshrike (Tephrodornis pondicerianus)

And last of all I just managed to get a picture of this Common Woodshrike before the light went completely.

Cuc Phuong National Park, North Vietnam.

It take me ages to get to Cuc Phuong National Park. I thought I would be there in a couple of hours but it took me like seven or eight hours to get here. The last part when I got off the Ho Chi Minh Highway was horrendous. The dirt road had holes so big that trucks were getting lost in them.

The other side of Cuc Phuong

This is the other side of the range of karsts that contains the Cuc Phuong National Park. The park is in a valley between two ranges of karsts.

maybe a Grey-hooded Warbler ???

I could not work this one out. It was mostly yellow with a black stripe through the eye and a rufousish mohawk. At first I thought it might be a Mountain Tailorbird, juvenile but no it is the wrong shape, the bill is not sharp enough and it is too large. Then I thought it might be a Grey-hooded Warbler but the crown is rufousish. I really am not sure.

dragonfly

There were thousands of butterflies around when I rode in to the park, but late in the afternoon I did not see many at all. There were lots and lots of grasshoppers but. And a few dragonfly.

Spider checking his nets

I like this shot of the spider pulling on his web.

Noisy cicadaish thing

There was heaps of noise in the bush from these cicada-like creatures. I have no idea what they actually are but they sound like cicadas.

Spider

This is the same type of spider as above but the photo is a lot sharper.

squirrel up a tree

This squirrel ran up this dead tree and disappeared into the end of it.

Dark Hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx bocki )

Huge butterfly

This butterfly was huge, bigger than some birds. He had his proboscis out, eating a big hole out of the leaf.

Mountain Horned Dragon

This lizard was on the steps of the track down from the hill where the thousand year old tree is. He stayed there for heaps and was not afraid at all. A probable ID for this lizard is Acanthosaura lepidogaster.

pink dragonfly

The last morning it was pouring down with rain and I only had about an hour out in the bush and only got this shot of a pink dragonfly that was hanging out at the blue-green algae swimming pool.