Bird watching in Siem Reap, Cambodia - Cambodia bird watching trip report

OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.

Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.

So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

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คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

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E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.

December 2023 - Part 1 of 3

Friday 15 ^rd of December 2023 and I have booked the tour with Cambodia Bird Guide Association (CBGA), same company I used when I was birding in Siem Reap back in August. And as the Sarus Cranes have not arrived to Cambodia we have a new itinerary:

Day 1: Full day to Changkran Roy
To look for the Bar-bellied Pitta

Changkran Roy is one of the last remaining evergreen forests near Siem Reap. Protected by the community and local authorities, it is located about 70km northwest of the city.

The reserve supports many avian species, including: Bar-bellied Pitta, Oriental Bay Owl, Blyth’s Frogmouth, Coral-billed Ground-cuckoo, Scaly-breasted Partridge, Silver-breasted Broadbill, Common Green Magpie, Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo, Himalayan Night-heron, etc.

Day 2: Morning to Florican Grassland, afternoon to Tmatboey
Florican Grassland: The Bengal Florican is there, you also have chance for the Sarus Crane too as recently two small flocks is seen flying over the site in the morning and in the evening. So I also ask the community to check and find its roosting or feeding group.

Tmatboey (TB) is a flagship birding site, situated in the Northern Plains, within the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary. It is approximately 200km northwest of Siem Reap.

This area is one of the key sites for the critically endangered Giant Ibis and the White-shouldered Ibis. The conservation project at Tmatboey was set up by the Cambodian government’s ministry of environment, conservation NGOs, and the Tmatboey village community.

During your trip at Tmatboey you will be accommodated at Phnom Tbeng Resort

Day 3: Full day to Tmatboey

Day 4: Morning at Tmatboey, afternoon to Vulture Restaurant
Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant is located in remote forest, within the Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary, 15kms from the nearby village Dangphlet, in Preah Vihear Province.

The Vulture Restaurant is a feeding program set up by the Cambodian government and conservation NGOs, to help sustain 3 critically endangered species of vultures – Red-headed Vulture, White-rumped Vulture and Slender-billed Vulture.

Accommodation at Mey Mey Guesthouse

Day 5: Morning at the Vulture Restaurant, afternoon and we drive back to Síém Reap

Day 6: We hope the Sarus Cranes have arrived. Or we have to come up with something else

My alarm goes off at 4 o'clock and I turn on the kettle first thing I have prepared my box with refreshments with some added snus. I will keep the box in the car and thus I will avoid enjoying the refreshments in my room.

Tea is enough in my room to keep the enjoyments of refreshments to a MINIMUM.

I was surprised to discover that the clock was quarter to 5, where is my breakfast? I had to leave without any breakfast and my Guide and Driver was waiting outside the hotel when I came down a couple of minutes before 5 o'clock in the morning.

Driving towards Changkran Roy

The road is not too bad, at least until we turn off the paved road and we are on a gravel road with huge portholes. After a while I asked the Driver to stop. There was two birds sitting on a branch far away. I aske dmy Guide if he had binoculars.

He checked the birds and it was two Spotted Owlets sitting on the branch together with a Common Myna. I started my eBird app at 06:59 to report the birds.

We could see that the owlets was trying to make babies, but then I was busy with my eBird app so I missed the opportunity to get a picture.

Spotted Owlet

Spotted Owlet

Spotted Owlet

Spotted Owlet

Spotted Owlet

Spotted Owlet

We continued along the gravel road and I did not bother to turn off my eBird app. And that was good, because we stopped every now and then to try to take pictures of birds along the road.

I spotted one Brown Shriek in a tree and I tried to take a picture, the birds was very far away from the road so I did not get many good pictures. But thanks to Topaz Gigapixel AI I could get afew good pictures out of all the pictures.

The Spotted Owlet pictures would have ended up in the garbage bin if it was not for the Gigapixel AI. I blew them up by 400% and I could use them.

We saw a lot of birds on our way to the bird hide at the Changkran Roy Ecotourism Community. We spotted two Pied Bushchats and we stopped to have a look at 3 Pond Herons sitting in a tree. They took off and a beautiful Black Baza landed in the tree.

Brown Shrike

Pied Bushchat

Greater Coucal hiding in the foliage

Red-breasted Parakeet

Black Baza

Rufous-winged Buzzard

We spotted one Rufous-winged Buzzard when we stopped to have a look at 5 Red-breasted Parakeets in a tree. 2 Hair-crested Drongo was hunting from a tree. Of course, all the birds were too far away for any good pictures.

We had 12 mynas on the road and they took off and landed in a tree next to the gravel road. It was Common Mynas but we discovered one Vinous-breasted Myna in the group of mynas.

We heard one bird calling from next of the road. But we could not see the bird. One Plaintive Cuckoo landed in a tree, but this was not the bird calling. It was one Chinese Francolin calling but we never spotted the bird.

We spotted one Taiga Flycatcher and when we stopped to take pictures of an Asian Green Bee-eater we discovered one Scaly-breasted Munia was foraging in the grass.

Plaintive Cuckoo

Zebra Dove

Asian Green Bee-eater

Asian Green Bee-eater

Asian Green Bee-eater

eBird Report

Gravel road to Changkran Roy Community, KH, Siemréab, KH
Dec 15, 2023 06:59 - 07:55
Protocol: Traveling
7.6 kilometer(s)
18 species (+1 other taxa)

Chinese Francolin 1 Heard only
Spotted Dove 2
Zebra Dove 2
Greater Coucal 1
Plaintive Cuckoo 1
pond heron sp. 3 Winter plummage so no proper ID
Eastern Cattle Egret 1
Black Baza 1
Rufous-winged Buzzard 1
Spotted Owlet 2 Making baby
Asian Green Bee-eater 2
Red-breasted Parakeet 5
Hair-crested Drongo 2
Brown Shrike 2
Common Myna 21
Vinous-breasted Myna 1 In a group of Common Mynas
Taiga Flycatcher 1
Pied Bushchat 2
Scaly-breasted Munia 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156340083

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Today's track going to the bird hide at the Changkran Roy

We approach the Changkran Roy Community - based Ecotourism and I turned off my eBird app. I was happy with the morning, many birds, but not many pictures that was any good. All the birds had been very far away.

My Guide went out to report us and we took off towards the bird hide.

We had to walk the last 100 meters from the car and I discovered the bird hide behind the vegetation. They had prepared the bird hide and I was kind of impressed Changkran Roy Community - based Ecotourism's bird hide. I had not expected much but it looked very nice.

My Guide

Changkran Roy Community - based Ecotourism's bird hide

Changkran Roy Community - based Ecotourism's bird hide

My Guide in the bird hide

Changkran Roy Community - based Ecotourism's bird hide

My Guide

CA guy from the community

Changkran Roy Community - based Ecotourism's bird hide

We took our seats, and I started my eBird app at 08:16. Plenty bird noise but no birds to be seen. After an hour or so we had an Asian Emerald Dove showing up. But the bird disappeared after a minute.

Now it was a long wait with no birds, but we had one Pale-legged Leaf Warbler coming to check out the area. I had time to get a picture before the bird disappeared.

The plan was to go for lunch and to come back here in the afternoon. But I was not fancying to sit here the whole day looking at nothing. I was told that the Bar/bellied Pita was seen in the afternoon last time it was sighted.

Well, we left at 12 o'clock, 4 hours was enough and we will go back to Siem Reap.

Asian Emerald Dove

Pale-legged Leaf Warbler

Listen to the Pale-legged Leaf Warbler

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

The battery in my ZOOM H5 Handy recorder was flat so I made a video with my Canon G7X. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Sitting in Changkran Roy Community - based Ecotourism bird hide.

Listen to the Crested Serpent-Eagle

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

The battery in my ZOOM H5 Handy recorder was flat so I made a video with my Canon G7X. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Sitting in Changkran Roy Community - based Ecotourism bird hide.

2 eagles soaring high talking with each other. I think it is hard to hear the second eagle on the poor recording

Walking back to the car

Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher

Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher

Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher

Walking back to the car and we spotted one beautiful Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher. It was very dark in the forest but I managed to get a picture of the bird.

We had two Hainan Blue Flycatcher flying around when we approached the car. Impossible to get any pictures but I managed to get a recording.

I only saw black spots in the dark, but most likely a female and a male flirting with each others flying around. Calling each other from each side of the dirt track.

Listen to the Hainan Blue Flycatcher

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

The battery in my ZOOM H5 Handy recorder was flat so I made a video with my Canon G7X. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Leaving Changkran Roy Community - based Ecotourism bird hide and there is on Hainan Blue Flycatcher on each side of the dirt road

Back at the car

eBird Report

Changkran Roy Bird Hide, Siem Reap Province, Siemréab, KH
Dec 15, 2023 08:16 - 11:55
Protocol: Traveling
0.14 kilometer(s)
10 species

Asian Emerald Dove 1
Crested Serpent-Eagle 2 Heard calling each other
Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher 1
Black-headed Bulbul 1 Heard only
Black-crested Bulbul X Heard only, many of them
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler 1
Pin-striped Tit-Babbler 1
White-crested Laughingthrush X Heard all over
White-rumped Shama 1 Heard only
Hainan Blue Flycatcher 2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156340100

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

The water fall area

The water fall area

The water fall area

The water fall area

We leave the bird hide and the plan is to stop at the community center and my Guide and the driver will have their lunch. I will walk around to look for birds while they are eating.

We park the car and I go down to have a look around for birds in the waterfall area. It was getting hot and the birds was hiding in the shadow in the foliage.

So no pictures or any IDs and when I walked back my Guide was ready and we left for Siem Reap. I was a sleep in the back when my Guide called me. We had stopped next to the road.

He had spotted one Collared Falconet sitting in the top of a tree next to the road.

Collared Falconet

Collared Falconet

We were back at the hotel at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I ordered food for my room and I went to see if I had have any luck with my pictures today.

Check out tomorrow and we will leave at 5 thirty for a day full of bird watching.

+++++++++++++++
Saturday 11 ^th of December 2023 and my alarm went off at 4 and I turned of the kettle first thing. I have ordered burgers without the bun and fries yesterday. So I had them for breakfast, not wanting to risk them failing to deliver my breakfast today again.

I had my breakfast and tea and I brought my luggage to the reception a couple of minutes before 5 thirty. I was in a good mood, the breakfast had been good. We will be back here again, but we will have to stay 3 nights at a hotel on the country side.

Two nights at a hotel and one night in a guest house. The guest house was a deal breaker for me, they usually stay in tent when they look for the vultures. So I asked for hotel, and the best thing they could find was a guest house 30 minutes from the “Vulture Restaurant”

Leaving Siem Reap

Heading towards Florican Grassland

Heading towards the Florican Grassland

We are leaving Siem Reap behind heading for the Florican Grassland and we are driving on the road towards Phom Pen and we leave the paved road at the village Preah Hoot and we drive along a very bumpy dirt road.

It is a beautiful area and many of the houses in the village are very beautiful. I would not have minded to have had a wood house like that. We will do bird watching at Florican Grassland and we are looking for the Bengal Florican.

And I guess the area is named after the bird. Anyway, this is our target bird. We drive along the dirt road and it is a very bumpy road. I ask the driver to stop as I spotted a dark bird sitting in the field.

My Guide checked out the bird with his binoculars and it turned out to be an Bluethroat (Red-spotted) and I tried to take some pictures. But the bird was very far away so it was next to impossible to get a usable photo. But it will be good enough for ID.

Bluethroat (Red-spotted)

Bluethroat (Red-spotted)

Asian Green Bee-eater

Plain-backed Sparrow

House Martin

House Martin

House Martin

Processed in Topaz Gigapixel AI

Barn Swallow

We continue along the dirt road and we stop to try to take pictures of a group of Barn Swallows. My Guide discover that there are 3 House Martins in the group of Barn Swallows and I try to get a few pictures.

We continue and we are driving through a village and I spot a girl on a motorcycle in front of a house. She is obviously selling something to the house and the motorcycle looks like a market with all the bags hanging from the sides.

I spotted 2 bags with bread. What I coincidence, we had talked about bread this very morning. Ihad asked my Guide about the bread in Cambodia. I told him that it was very popular in Laos and Vietnam with fresh Baguette.

I had not seen any bread for sale along the streets or at the markets we had passed. I told the driver to stop and to put the car in reverse. We backed up 10 meters and my Guide asked the girl about the bread. We bought two baguettes and we continued along the dirt road.

She is selling bread

She stop so we can buy bread

We buy her last baguettes

We buy her last baguettes

eBird Report

Preah Hoot, Siem Reap Province, Siemréab, KH
Dec 16, 2023 07:10 - 07:38
Protocol: Traveling
1.82 kilometer(s)
10 species

Red Collared Dove 1

Zebra Dove 2
Germain's Swiftlet 3
Asian Green Bee-eater 1
Sand Martin 2 Sitting with the Barn Swallows
Barn Swallow 22 Sitting on wire
Bluethroat (Red-spotted) 1
Pied Bushchat 4
Scaly-breasted Munia 2
Plain-backed Sparrow 3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156406339

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Today's track at Preah Hoot

We leave the village and I stop my eBird app and I restart the app immediately as we are now at the eBird hotspot: Bengal Florican Reserve. We can see grassland for long as we can see while driving along the dirt road.

We are soon having a motorcycle parked across the road and the driver have a binocular and he look at the horizon. I tell my Guide that there are more bird watchers in the area today.

Turns out that it is our Guide from the local community. They use these guides to support the local communities and they take care of the land and the birds.

Anyway, he was looking at a group of Spot-billed Pelican, nine of them.

Driving through the grassland

Driving through the grassland

Spot-billed Pelican

Pied Bushchat

Pied Bushchat

We followed our guides that was driving motorcycles and we came far behind as we are driving slow to look for birds on the way. We are soon leaving the dirt road and we go off road to follow a dirt track going through the grassland.

There is a lot of egrets in the area and the grassland is full of small birds. Pied Bushchat, Paddyfield Pipit and there was Zitting Cisticola all over the area. We also passed many Amur Stonechats

The grassland had several small ponds surrounded by bushes and we spotted egrets in the ponds. I managed to get a picture of a Grey Heron before the bird took off.

Grey Heron

Zitting Cisticola

Zitting Cisticola

We see two Indian Spot-billed Ducks flying across the grasslands and a few seconds after that we have one Bengal Florican flying across the fields. The Bengal Florican is a big bird but you cannot see the bird on the ground as it is hiding in the grass.

The only chance you have to see the bird is if it takes off.

Our local guides are waiting for us and they had not seen any Bengal Florican. We drove out in the grassland and we parked the car. Our local guides will go have a look to see if there is any Bengal Floricans. And we will have a chance to see them if they take off.

We stay in the car hopingfor the birds to fly our way. The local guides walking down towards the high grass and we wait to see if there is any of the birds getting flushed.

We see a lot of birds while waiting. We had a group of Oriental Darters flying across the grassland, a group of 5 Oriental Darters.

Oriental Darter

Bengal Floricans

Bengal Floricans

A group of Sarus Cranes are flying over us

Sarus Cranes

Suddenly, we had one Bengal Floricans taking off from the grass and I tried to take pictures, but the bird was way too far away. But it is good enough for ID.

We wait for our local guides to come back and my Guide pointing at the horizon.
- Are those cranes? Or maybe storks? He asked.

The birds came closer and we were very happy when we discovered that it was Sarus Cranes. And I counted to 14 of them and they were flying in the direction of the crane areas that I was supposed to visit on my first day in Cambodia.

We were very happy, maybe we can go have a look at the crane area on my last day here in Cambodia. We were in a very good mood. My Guide asked if I wanted to go look for the Yellow-breasted Bunting.
- Yes!
- We have to walk
- No problem! I said.

My Guide finished the paper work with the local guides and we took off. We were almost back where I had started the eBird app when we stopped. My Guide pointed to the horizon and this was the area we had to go to.

We will drive for long as we can and there is a white 4 wheel drive out in the fields and it is a group surveying the Yellow-breasted Buntings. we could see one Eastern Marsh Harrier hunting over the fields.

We left the dirt road crossing a pond and when we were across I asked the driver to stop. I went out of the car and I asked the driver to go back so I could take a video when he was crossing the pond. A little action will not hurt the web page.

Saving fishes

Saving fishes

We cross the water and we continue towards the white 4 wheel drive parked in the field. I ask the Driver to stop after 50 meters. They fill up the rice fields with water from the pond we had just crossed with our car.

And there are several fishes in the field that must have come out from the hose.

I could see that some of the fishes was moving and I got out to help them. I started to threw the fishes in to the water and the other came to help when they understood what I was doing. We managed to throw back all the fishes that was alive and we could continue.

We spotted one Eastern Marsh Harrier hunting over the fields, same we had seen from the road. We stop to try to get some pictures.

A minute later and we discover a second Eastern Marsh Harrier.

The Eastern Marsh Harrier is yet another new bird for me so I have seen a few “lifers” this morning so I was happy. And if we get a climpse of the Yellow-breasted Bunting it will be yet another “lifers”

We got out of the car and the survey team was leaving and we interrogated them. There were,
- Hmm, I don't remember, but 2 or 300 of the buntings in the bushes.

We had to cross yet another obstacle, water and mud and our Driver found some plans that we put out and we crossed the water/ mud and we moved them to the second water/ mud obstacle.

We need to arrange something for the water/ mud

We need to arrange something for the water/ mud

Crossing the obstacle

We had put all the obstacle behind us and we continued out in the field. After a few hundred meters we reached a group of bushed and a small pond in the middle.

We stopped there and our local guide continued to the next group of bushes and the plan is for the flushed birds to come sit in front of us. Well, the bird came but when they spotted us, they turned around. So, I never got any pictures of the birds.

I don't know how many of the Yellow-breasted Bunting we spotted, there was many of them. But I reported 5 birds in the eBird app.

There were skylarks and Zitting Cisticola in the field. We walked back to the car and we left Bengal Florican Reserve.

Going back to the car

eBird Report

Bengal Florican Reserve, Siemréab, KH

Dec 16, 2023 07:39 - 10:18
Protocol: Traveling
8.92 kilometer(s)
26 species (+2 other taxa)

Indian Spot-billed Duck 2 Fly over
Spotted Dove 2
Zebra Dove 1
Bengal Florican 1
Sarus Crane 14 Fly over
snipe sp. 1 Not possible to ID

Oriental Darter 5 Fly over
Spot-billed Pelican 9
Little Egret 13
pond heron sp. 1
Great White Egret 9
Grey Heron 3
Eastern Marsh Harrier 2
Black Drongo 1
Brown Shrike 1
Oriental Skylark 1
Zitting Cisticola 3
Barn Swallow 4 Hunting
Yellow-vented Bulbul 1
Black-collared Starling 2
Siamese Pied Starling 2
Common Myna 4
Amur Stonechat 3
Pied Bushchat 4
Chestnut Munia 7
Eurasian Tree Sparrow 2
Paddyfield Pipit 5
Yellow-breasted Bunting 5

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156406307

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Today's track at eBird hotspot: Bengal Florican Reserve

We leave the grassland and we drive back towards Siem Reap and we continued towards north and the Tmatboey. We will stop for lunch on the way, but I will eat my pick-nick cheese that I brought from Thailand.

We stopped at Rumduolangkor II Reataurant in Phumi Boeng Mealea and it looked to be a nice restaurant so I decided to join my Driver and Guide for lunch. But they did not have any hot tea so I decided to skip lunch.

I went out and I turned on my eBird app and I walked along looking for birds while waiting for them to finish their lunch.

Mid day and it was hot so no birds to be seen so it was not an impressive eBird checklist.

Feral Pigeon

eBird Report

Rumduolangkor II Reataurant, Phumi Boeng Mealea, Siem Reap Province, Siemréab, KH
Dec 16, 2023 12:03 - 12:30
Protocol: Traveling
0.51 kilometer(s)
4 species

Feral Pigeon 3
Eastern Cattle Egret 1 Fly over
Coppersmith Barbet 1 Heard only
Common Myna 2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156408412

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Today's track at the Rumduolangkor II Reataurant

We continue toward Tmatboey and we will start at the Tmatboey Eco Lodge to set up the schedule for tomorrow. Then we will go to check in at Phnom Tbeng Resort.

I was pleasantly surprised when I reached the resort, it looked very nice. I was even surprised to see that they had anything like a hotel in the area. Here is nothing and have not been for the last hour or so driving along the road.

A/C and OK food so I will not mind staying here for 2 nights.

My room at Phnom Tbeng Resort

My room at Phnom Tbeng Resort

My room at Phnom Tbeng Resort

My room at Phnom Tbeng Resort

We will leave at 5 o'clock tomorrow morning and we will meet our local guide at 5 thirty. We will spend the day at the Tmatboey, and we have 3 target species:
1) Giant Ibis
2) White-shouldered Ibis
3) Spotted Wood-owl

You just need to click HERE you can find out if we find any birds.

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