16th March 2017 Unst WSW7 Squally showers

Two Snow Buntings first favouring our vegetable plot but remaining around Millfield all day were a welcome surprise and an addition for the year. A Pink-footed Goose was with Greylags at Norwick and 5 juvenile Iceland Gulls and a juvenile Glaucous Gull were present at Haroldswick bay / Clibberswick. Skylarks were present in small numbers at most of the fields we checked.

Two Iceland Gulls and the Glaucous Gull at Haroldswick

15th March 2017 Unst WSW7 Overcast

On our return home there was a marked increase in the number of Oystercatchers, Ringed Plovers, Common Gulls and Skylarks with 20 of the latter at Upper Sotland alone. On a quick check of Norwick we saw a single Fieldfare, a single Redwing and 3 Chaffinches.

11th March 2017 Tmatboey

We spent the early morning at a small area of trashed riverine forest that sometimes holds Pale-capped Pigeon albeit we failed to see any. Despite seeing some nice species including thermalling Woolly-necked Storks, Stork-billed Kingfisher and Van Hasselt's Sunbirds the highlight was watching a displaying male Oriental Honey-Buzzard. We then moved to a small nearby traepang where a White-shouldered Ibis was seen and we were shown an active nest of Brown Fish-Owls. We returned to the lodge, packed, said our farewells to the Danes and made our journey back to Siem Reap in preparation for our international flights back to Shetland via Kuala Lumpur that all ran on time.

Woolly-necked Stork 8
White-shouldered Ibis 1
Oriental Honey-Buzzard 2 displaying
Crested Goshawk 1
Rufous-winged Buzzard 5
Chinese Francolin 1
Red Junglefowl h
Thick-billed Green-Pigeon 4
Green Imperial Pigeon 8
Red Turtle Dove 5
Spotted Dove 10
Asian Koel h
Brown Fish-Owl 3
Crested Treeswift 10
Stork-billed Kingfisher 1
Black-capped Kingfisher 1
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater 2
Blue-bearded Bee-eater 1
Oriental Pied Hornbill 1
Lineated Barbet 1
Swallow 6
Swinhoe's Minivet 2
Ashy Minivet 1
Black-crested Bulbul 1
Sooty-headed Bulbul 2
Ashy Drongo 4
Racket-tailed Treepie 4
Black-collared Starling 2
Hill Myna 2
Ruby-cheeked Sunbird 1
Van Hasselt's Sunbird 6

Male Chinese Francolin at Tmatboey

A King Cobra had shed its skin overnight

Riverine forest at Tmatboey

Stork-billed Kingfisher at Tmatboey

Woolly-necked Storks at Tmatboey

Displaying male Oriental Honey-Buzzard at Tmatboey

A trapaeng near Tmatboey

White-shouldered Ibis at Tmatboey

Rufous-winged Buzzards at Tmatboey

Brown Fish-Owl sat on its nest at Tmatboey

Farewell to Christoph & Nils on their way to Vietnam

who both had a great sense of humour so were good fun to spend time birding with

10th March 2017 Tmatboey

A pre-dawn start to make the long walk to an active Giant Ibis nest resulted in views of the adults attending the nest containing two nearly-fledged juveniles. Whilst a memorable sight it was saddening that chainsaws were again at work and in close proximity. In addition to the Ibises, a White-bellied Woodpecker, a Yellow-crowned Woodpecker and a Neglected Nuthatch were seen in the surrounding dry forest. Wanting to make the most of the experience we watched the Ibises for a fair while that meant a hot long walk back to the vehicle. We sat out the heat of the day back at the lodge seeing a pair of Red-billed Blue Magpies in the grounds. In the late afternoon we made an attempt to see Pale-capped Pigeon at a waterhole where they sometimes drink but there was no sign of any doing so today. Driving back through the dry forest at dusk produced an active pair of Spotted Wood-Owls.   

Giant Ibis 4
Oriental Honey-Buzzard 1
Rufous-winged Buzzard 3
Chinese Francolin h
Green Imperial Pigeon 3
Red Turtle Dove 20
Spotted Dove 30
Spotted Wood-Owl 2
Crested Treeswift c.50
Green Bee-eater 6
Indian Roller 2
Lineated Barbet 1
Black-headed Woodpecker 2
Great Slaty Woodpecker 6
White-bellied Woodpecker 1
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker 1
Yellow-crowned Woodpecker 1
Bar-winged Flycatcher-Shrike 1
Large Woodshrike 1
Large Cuckooshrike 6
Sooty-headed Bulbul 2
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo 1
Red-billed Blue Magpie 2
Neglected Nuthatch 1
Pied Bushchat 2
Grey-breasted Prinia 6
Burmese Shrike 3
Olive-backed Sunbird 4

Dry forest at Tmatboey

Giant Ibis on its nest at Tmatboey

for such a large bird its nest appeared rather basic but therefore proving rather inconspicuous in its chosen large tree

Adult Giant Ibis at Tmatboey

Neglected Nuthatch at Tmatboey

Rufous-winged Buzzard at Tmatboey

Female Crested Treeswift at Tmatboey

Male Crested Treeswift at Tmatboey

Not the best camouflage I've ever seen!

Lizards at Tmatboey


Bee's or Wasp's? nest at Tmatboey

the long walk back!

Wet season rice fields set amongst the dry forest at Tmatboey

Female Oriental Honey-Buzzard at Tmatboey

Black-headed Woodpeckers at Tmatboey

Green Imperial Pigeons at Tmatboey

Spotted Wood Owl at Tmatboey

Sunset at Tmatboey