Bird watching in Siem Reap, Cambodia - Cambodia bird watching trip report Part 2

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!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

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 2 of 3

Day 3: Full day to Tmatboey

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 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

Sunday 17 ^rd of December 2023 and we leave Phnom Tbeng Resort at 5 o'clock in the morning. I had been up since 4 so I have had my tea and they brought my omelet at 4 thirty.

We will meet our local guide at 5 thirty and we will get out in the wilderness to look for the place where the White-shouldered Ibis is roosting. It was dark when we left and the spirit was high in the car while we plunged down the highway.

Driving to Tmatboey

Driving to Tmatboey

Our local guide from the Tmatboey community was waiting for us along the gravel road and we continued towards the roosting area. The gravel road is soon turning in to a, well, a dirt track. We pass through a small village and then it is getting very bumpy.

We leave the dirt track and now we're on something that can be called a path. But the 4-wheel drive is very strong and I am quite impressed that we manage to get through the landscape.

We are really off road

We are really off road

We are really off road

Now we have to walk for a kilometer

Gorgeous sunrise over the Tmatboey

We reach the end of the track and there is about 1 kilometer to walk. They told me 300 meters but my eBird app showed 950m. It was dark and at times we had to walk through high vegetation but it was a beautiful morning to have the sun light increasing slowly.

We had walked for 100 meters or so when I could hear one Lineated Brbet calling in the dark and there was one other Lineated Barbet answering the call.

Listen to the Lineated Barbet

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Still dark when we walk through the forest to the White-shouldered Ibis roosting area.

We continue and when we approach the roosting area we spot maybe 20 White-shouldered Ibises flying away in the horizon. I was very disappointed as I had expected to come close to the birds. I never reported the birds in my eBird app as they were to far away.

The White-shouldered Ibises could as well have been crows for me, but my Guide said it was the ibises. And he is really good in ID birds.

We reach a shelter, well, it had been a shelter a long time ago. These shelters, elevated wood floor and a roof and they are sleeping there when they work in the rice fields. Now it was just a wood structure and we could use the frame to sit on.

The sun is slowly rising above the trees and we discover 3 White-browed Fantails in the tree above us and there is 5 Small Minivet. It is still dark so not possible to get any good pictures.

We have one Chinese Francolin just behind us calling loudly and there are at least two Chinese Francolins replying to the call, but they are far away. I make a recording and then there is light enough for me to try to get some pictures.

We are reaching the birding spot

Listen to the Chinese Francolin

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

The area was full of them. On the recording there are at least 3 of them. We can also hear the Lineated Barbet

White-browed Fantail

White-browed Fantail

Small Minivet

Small Minivet

Common Flameback

Enjoying the morning

Enjoying the morning

The sun is coming up

Listen to the female Pied Bushchat

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Female sitting in a tree in front of me singing. We can hear the Red-breasted Parakeet in the background.

One male landing in the tree, but the interest is at least to say "cool" from the male. The male takes off to the next tree and the female is soon following. Listen to recording: XC856056

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Female follow male to the next tree and she is singing from the bottom branch but the male in the top of the tree is not interested. He takes off again and the female follow the male again

Same female as in recording: XC856054

There is a female sitting in a tree in front of me singing. One male landing in the tree, but the interest is at least to say "cool" from the male. The male takes off to the next tree and the female is soon following.

The female is singing but the male takes off again to a tree far away and the female is following.

We will leave to have a look for the Giant Ibis and we want to reach before it is getting too hot. I start to go back from where we came, but now our local guide told us that we would go back on an “easier” track.
- What the

We leave and we are soon running in to a Purple Sunbird. I get a sound recording and a poor picture. We continue and now we start to look for the Spotted Wood-Owl.

We are walking back to the car

We are walking back to the car

Listen to the Purple Sunbird

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

One lonely bird flying between the trees, when it is flying it is the BRRRR sound and when it is sitting still it sounds like a normal sunbird

Our local guide looking for the Spotted Wood-Owl

Walking back to the car

We will look for the Spotted Wood-Owl walking back as we pass the trees where the owl is usually spending the days sleeping. This path was much easier to navigate and I could not understand why we did not take this way during the morning.

The guides discovered the owls and I was trying to find the owl through my camera when suddenly one of the owl took off. A few seconds later a second owl took off landing not too far away.

But now we had Alexandrine Parakeet, Red-billed Blue-Magpie and other birds starting to mob the Spotted Wood-Owl and the owls disappeared.

Alexandrine Parakeet

eBird Report

Tmatboey Ibis Roosting Aeea, Preah Vihéar, KH
Dec 17, 2023 05:46 - 08:34
Protocol: Traveling
1.91 kilometer(s)
19 species (+2 other taxa)

Chinese Francolin 3 At least 3 calling
Red Collared Dove 1
Spotted Dove 1
Greater Coucal 2 Heard only
Asian Koel 1 Heard only
Asian Woolly-necked Stork 1
pond heron sp. 3 Fly over
Spotted Wood-Owl 2
bee-eater sp. 2 Too dark for ID. Most likely Asian Green
Indochinese Roller 1
Coppersmith Barbet 1 Heard only
Lineated Barbet 2 Heard only
Common Flameback 1
Alexandrine Parakeet 2
Red-breasted Parakeet 13 One loner and one big group
Small Minivet 5
White-browed Fantail 3
Red-billed Blue-Magpie 4
Sooty-headed Bulbul 4
Pied Bushchat 2 Female sitting in a tree in front of me singing. We can hear the Red-breasted Parakeet in the background.

First recording: Singing female and one male landing in the tree, but the interest is at least to say "cool" from the male. The male takes off to the next tree and the female is soon following.

Second recording: Female follow male to the next tree and she is singing from the bottom branch but the male in the top of the tree is not interested. He takes off again and the female follow the male again.

Purple Sunbird 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156511933

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

Today's track at the Tmatboey Ibis Roosting Aeea

Back at the car and I ripped open a diet “FIZZ” drink and we were soon on our way to look for the Giant Ibis. We made one stop to have a look at a Cattle Egret sitting in top of a tree.

We were leaving the gravel road just before we reached the paved road. We found our self on a path going through the landscape. This path looked to be something that was used by cattle only and it was a really bumpy road.

We could not make it all the way and we walked the last distance and we found our self on a dirt track that we could have used. Never mind, we will any way have to walk the last 100 meters. And a little exercise will do us good.

I managed to get a recording of the Great Slaty Woodpecker and the Burmese Nuthatch on the same recording.

Listen to the Great Slaty Woodpecker

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Bird not seen. Burmese Nuthatch in the back ground

We walk through the wilderness, but it is good ground to walk on so it was no problem. Our local guide goes down on his knees and he is looking at something through the binocular. It is the Giant Ibis nest he is looking at.

I could not see the nest, and ONE NEST? I had expected to dee a tree full of ibis nests as I use to see them in Thailand during the breeding season.

We continued and I could still not see the nest, and we were very far away. Even when we walked as far as we were allowed the nest was very small. But now I could see the nest and there is on Giant Ibis sitting on eggs in the nest.

This was a little disappointing, I had expected plenty ibises, but anyway, now I have seen the bird. A new “lifer” for me.

Giant Ibis

eBird Report

Tmatboey - Giant Ibis Nest Area, Preah Vihéar, KH
Dec 17, 2023 9:53 AM - 10:59 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.34 kilometer(s)
6 species

Giant Ibis 1 Sitting on egg
Yellow-crowned Woodpecker 1
Common Flameback 1
Great Slaty Woodpecker 1
Common Iora 1 Heard only
Burmese Nuthatch 1 Heard only. We can hear the bird in the Great Slaty Woodpecker recording

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156506018

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

Today's track at the Tmatboey

We walk back to the car, our local guide had left us to guide the driver to drive the car closer as we had discovered the dirt track. Back in the car and I ripped open a diet “FIZZ” drink. And we drove back through the rough terrain towards the gravel road.

Next stop is the Tmatboey Eco Lodge and my Guide say that we might see the Red-billed Blue Magpie. My Guide and Driver will have lunch there and I will look for birds.

We see another “lifer” for me, two beautiful White Bellied Woodpeckers and I spotted two Blue-magpies. But no pictures. It is getting hot now, but we decided to stop to look for the White-shouldered Ibis nest on the way back to the hotel.

This time our local guide is driving ahead on his motorcycle and we pick him up when we reach the paved road. Then we can drop him here on the way back to the hotel.

We leave the paved road and we are on yet another dirt track. The car takes a lot of beating today and I was really impressed on ow strong this Toyota was. We stop the car and we walk out to the wilderness again.

a 5 to 10 minutes’ walk and we see the nest, but the nest is empty. A disappointment and I suggest that we come back here tomorrow morning again.

White-shouldered Ibis nest

We were back at the hotel around 2 o'click in the afternoon. I will have tea and my burgers without fries and the bun. We have planned to go look for birds around the resort and we will leave at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

It was still very hot so no birds, but it cooled down quite quickly and I could see a few birds and two of them are new to me in Cambodia. The Asian Brown Flycatcher and the Verditer Flycatcher.

I also spotted two small parakeets flying across the road, very quick so not possible for me to ID the birds. So I just report the birds as parakeet sp.

eBird Report

Phnom Tbeng Resort, Preah Vihéar, KH

Dec 17, 2023 16:02 - 16:53
Protocol: Traveling
0.77 kilometer(s)
5 species (+1 other taxa)

Zebra Dove 2
parakeet sp. 2 Small Green, 2 birds flying across the road
Black-crested Bulbul 1
Common Myna 1
Asian Brown Flycatcher 1
Verditer Flycatcher 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156516347

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

Today's track at Phnom Tbeng Resort

I spent the rest of the evening in my room, not that there is much else to do. Seems like there is an outdoor disco next to the hotel and the music was on full blast.

+++++++++++++++

Monday 18 ^th of March 2023 and we left the hotel at 6 o'clock in the morning. I had had my tea and omelet and I was in a good mood in the back. We will go to check out the ibis and I was surprised when I was told that we would stop to pick up our local guide.

We spotted two Asian Woolly-necked Stork flying next to the road, but I never bothered to report them in my eBird app. 30 seconds later and we spotted one Rufous-winged Buzzard in top of a tree and we stopped.

I went out to try to take some pictures and now I reported the bird in my eBird app with the Woolly-necked Storks added to the list.

Rufous-winged Buzzard

Red-billed Blue-Magpie

We are parked next to the road

We stop again after a few minutes, 2 Red-billed Blue-magpies in a bush next to the road. They take off when we stops but I get out of the car to try to get a picture. The bird is way too far away for any good pictures

We stop to pick up our local guide and we continue along the paved road. We stop to look for birds and after a few minutes we leave the paved road to go look for the White-rumped Falcon

We stop on the dirt track to play the White-rumped Falcon sound but we had no luck. We continued deeper in to the forest and we were soon stopping again. we played the sound and now we could hear the falcon.

Our local guide went out to go have a look and he came back to tell us that he had seen a pair of the White-rumped Falcon. I got out of the car and I went off road to get in to the vegetation to come close to the birds.

One female in top of the tree and the male just below. I manage to get pretty closed and suddenly it is burning all over my legs. I look down and there is a million of some red ants.

Female White-rumped Falcon

Female White-rumped Falcon

Female White-rumped Falcon

Female White-rumped Falcon

Female White-rumped Falcon

Female White-rumped Falcon

Male White-rumped Falcon

Female White-rumped Falcon

Male White-rumped Falcon

Male White-rumped Falcon

Male White-rumped Falcon

Male White-rumped Falcon

We stop again, one male White-rumped Falcon, most likely the same we saw before, sitting in top of a tree. I took a couple of pictures and I spotted one Burmese Shrike in front of the car and I tried to take a picture.

The picture turned out to be no good, well, I have one picture for ID. We turned around and we were soon back on the paved road.

Burmese Shrike

eBird Report

National Road 62 - White Rumped Falcon Area, Preah Vihéar, KH
Dec 18, 2023 06:45 - 08:14
Protocol: Traveling
1.75 kilometer(s)
12 species (+1 other taxa)

Chinese Francolin 1 Heard only
pond heron sp. 2 Winter plumage so no proper ID
Asian Green Bee-eater 2
White-rumped Falcon 2 A pair
Small Minivet 1
Common Iora 1
White-browed Fantail 1
Burmese Shrike 1
Large-billed Crow 2
Indochinese Bushlark 1
Sooty-headed Bulbul 5
Black-collared Starling 2
Pied Bushchat 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156597754

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

Today's track at National Road 62 - White Rumped Falcon Area

We leave the paved road again and we stop to have a look at a Changeable Hawk Eagle. Sitting in a tree in front of us, but I cannot see the bird. Suddenly the bird tales off and it lands in a tree not too far away and we move in to a position to try to take pictures.

The bird is between us and the sun so it is not easy to take the pictures.

I am very unlucky, the bird is sitting on a branch with a leaf covering the head. But I manage to get two pictures that I can use.

Stop in the wilderness to look for the Changeable Hawk Eagle

Stop in the wilderness to look for the Changeable Hawk Eagle

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Changeable Hawk Eagle

We continue and we stop in an open area and our local guide disappears and I ask my Guide where he went. I was told that he is going to the pond to see if there is any birds.

I make a recording of one Burmese Shrike and we can hear one Crested Serpent Eagle far away. The sound became stronger and I went out of the car.

I spotted the eagle soaring above the area and I made a recording. I was turning of the recording and I was going to take pictures, but then the bird disappeared.

Listen to the Burmese Shrike

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my Canon G7X video camera. Converted to MP3 and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

In a tree next to the car

Listen to the Crested Serpent Eagle

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my Canon G7X video camera. Converted to MP3 and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Soaring above us. When I turned of the recording to take pictures the bird disappeared.

Small Minivet

eBird Report

National Road 62 - Off Road, Preah Vihéar, KH
Dec 18, 2023 08:24 - 09:04
Protocol: Traveling
0.24 kilometer(s)
4 species

Crested Serpent-Eagle 1 Soaring above us
Changeable Hawk-Eagle 1
Small Minivet 1 Male
Burmese Shrike 2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156597708

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

Today's track at National Road 62 - Off Road

We dropped our local guide at his motorcycle and we continued to our hotel. We will relax and to have lunch before we leave at 12 o'clock. We will drive to Mey Mey Guesthouse to check in before going to visit Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant.

We left Phnom Tbeng Resort and I had been happy with my two night here. I had not expected much of a dwelling for our wilderness adventure. But this have been very good.

Took us an hour to reach Mey Mey Guesthouse and I was surprised, I was told it would take 2 hours. I was a sleep in the back and I woke up when we rolled up to the guest house.

I was surprised, I had expected a hut. But this was a big building and it looked new. we got our rooms on the second floor as the AC room was on the second floor.

I was kind of pleasantly surprised, a big sturdy bed and a small table. The toilet was nothing I was happy about. But it is for one night and I will have to skip my showers until I am back at my hotel in Siem Reap.

My room at Mey Mey Guesthouse

My room at Mey Mey Guesthouse

We will leave for the Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant at 2 thirty so I had an hour ++ to spend in my room looking at pictures from this morning.

We were ready to leave at 2 thirty and I was soon in the back of the car enjoying a diet drink. We are soon turning off the paved road and we find ourself on a dust road and we pass a pond with many Little Egrets.

I don't bother to report the bird and we just keep going towards the Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant and we are soon leaving the dust road.

On the way to Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant

We arrive to the visitor center, well, a camp with some huts and tables and chairs. This is the place where we should have spent the night. But when I booked this tour, I told them that I will sleep in a proper room.

So, they found Mey Mey Guesthouse about 40 minutes away from Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant. So, this is a very good solution.

We picked up our local guide and we drove a couple of hundred meters before we stopped. We have to walk the last 500 meters (900 meters) and there was a lot of birds in the forest so we were busy looking at birds waking towards the hide.

Ashy Minivet

Ashy Minivet

Walking to the bird hide

Rufous-bellied Woodpecker

We reach the bird hide

We could spot a couple of White-rumped Vultures sitting in a tree outside the hide when we reached the hide. But they were sitting between us and the sun, and they were also covered by other tress so no pictures.

We entered the hide and we could not see any vultures. We sat down and after a while I had a big shadow outside the hide. I looked out and I could see a beautiful Himalayan Griffon coming down to have a look at the cow.

I am almost 100% sure it was Himalayan Griffon, but I removed it from my eBird app.

But the bird never landed. There was a lot of other birds in the field in front of the hide, but we were here to look at vultures. My Guide thought that the vultures would not start to eat until tomorrow morning after a night in the trees around the field.

We could soon see Slender-billed and White-rumped Vultures landing in the trees across the field. Way too far away for any good pictures.

Listen to the Burmese Shrike

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my Canon G7X video camera. Converted to MP3 and High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.

Outside the bird hide at Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant

Slender-billed Vulture

Slender-billed Vulture and White-rumped Vulture

White-rumped Vulture

White-rumped Vultures outside the hide

The sun starts to disappear behind the trees and we decide to leave. It is a 15 minutes’ walk back to the car and we want to be back before it is getting dark as it is a little bit of wilderness to walk through.

I try to get some pictures of the White-rumped Vultures outside the hide, still covered by trees but the light is better. I am excited to get back here tomorrow and the plan was to leave Mey Mey Guesthouse at 6 o'clock. But I changed it to 5 thirty to get back before full day light.

We willhopefully be here before the vultures come to eat.

eBird Report

Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant, Preah Vihéar, KH
Dec 18, 2023 15:34 - 17:21
Protocol: Traveling
0.86 kilometer(s)
17 species

Chinese Francolin 2 Heard only
Red Collared Dove 4
Red-wattled Lapwing 2
Little Egret 6
White-rumped Vulture 5
Slender-billed Vulture 4
Asian Green Bee-eater 2
Rufous-bellied Woodpecker 1
Great Slaty Woodpecker 1
Blossom-headed Parakeet 3
Small Minivet 1

Ashy Minivet 5
Black-hooded Oriole 1 Heard only
Burmese Shrike 1
Rufous Treepie 1 Heard only
Large-billed Crow 1
Common Myna 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156613183

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

Today's track at National Road 62 - Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant

Leaving Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant

Leaving Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant

Leaving Boeng Toal Vulture Restaurant

Mey Mey Guesthouse

We were back at Mey Mey Guesthouse and I clocked the time from when we left the bird hide. We left a few minutes before 17 thirty and we arrived to the hotel 18:35. Good to know, 15 minutes walking and 50 minutes drive. So we will arrive to the hide at 6 thirty tomorrow morning.

My Guide and driver is going to have their supper and I left them outside Mey Mey Guesthouse and I went up to my AC room.

I will spend a couple of hours looking at my pictures before trying to sleep. Alarm is sett to go off at 4 o'clock and I will have time for some of my pick-nick cheese and a diet drink.

We are leaving at 5 thirty and you just have to click HERE to find out if we have any luck with the vultures tomorrow morning.

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