Cambodia Custom Tour 9th – 18 th March, 2013 Guided by Charley Hesse & Mony Sang Report by Charley Hesse. Angkor Wat, built in the 12 th century, is a must see for any visitor to Cambodia. (Charley Hesse) Birders come to Cambodia to find species no longer available in other countries. With an ever expanding network of sites for some of SE Asia’s rarest large birds, and conservation efforts in a race against rapid environmental destruction and hunting, there is no better time to come. This short custom tour concentrated on the must see birds of Cambodia, starting with the endangered race of Sarus Crane and Milky Stork at Ang Trapeng Tmor, threatened waterbirds like Spot-billed Pelican and both adjutants at Prek Toal, Bengal Florican & Manchurian Reed-Warbler on the flood plain grasslands of Tonle Sap, Giant & White-shouldered Ibises and numerous owls & woodpeckers in the dry deciduous dipterocarp forests of Tmat Boey, and finally to the evergreen forests of Bokor National Park in the south where we tracked down the charismatic Chestnut-headed Partridge. In just 8 and a half days of birding, we racked up an impressive 289 species including all major targets for the trip. Of course no trip to Cambodia would be complete without a trip to the ancient temples at Angkor including the largest religious building in the world, Angkor Wat. All tour participents were impressed by the quality of birding, the friendly & welcoming nature of the Cambodian people, good food and were happy to be supporting the excellent conservation work of our ground agent. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 1 9th March – Angkor Wat After the clients arrived at the airport, we went straight to Angkor Wat for sunset. Even these serious birders would not miss the chance to see this unforgettable place. It’s also not a bad place for birding. On the way in we saw Long- tailed Macaque by the side of the road and some Little Cormorants perched in a tree. We stopped at the back of Angkor Wat which was a lot quieter than the main entrance and we enjoyed our first birding of the trip. We had some Oriental Pied-Hornbills flying in and out of a fruiting tree, several Shikras and Lineated Barbet calling all over. We spotted a Brown-backed Needletail amongst the more common Asian Palm- & House Swifts and a Taiga Flycatcher perched on top of a tree was chased off by the colorful Indian Roller . We also saw our first Greater Racket-tailed & Ashy Drongos before climbing the steps into the Angkor Wat itself. This ancient temple built in the 12 th century is the largest religious building in the world. The scale and symmetry of the temple is very impressive and there was a wonderful atmosphere. We enjoyed the cultural diversion although we did sneak in some nice scope views of several Blue Rock-Thrushes perched on top of the temple aswell. Leaving Angkor Wat, we spotted a distant Asian Barred Owlet which we chased until dark, some of us finally got views of this distant bird along with the very unique race of Variable Squirrel present here. It had been a nice introduction and we went off to our hotel for check in and dinner. Oriental Plovers are tricky birds to come across in Asia. (Charley Hesse) 10 th March – Ang Trapeng Tmor & Angkor Wat Our first full day of birding was a day trip to the fabulous Ang Trapeng Tmor; a huge reservoir built in the 1970s about an hour’s drive from Siem Riep along a very good road. It has become famous as THE site for the endangered sharpei race of Sarus Crane . We started birding soon after we got off the highway and although the bare fields didn’t look much, on closer inspection they were loaded with birds. We stopped at a flooded field and scoped it out to find Pacific Golden- & Little Ringed Plovers, Spotted Redshank, Wood Sandpiper & Common Snipe . Red-throated Pipit & Oriental Pratincole were particularly common and the latter flew over in numbers giving its distinctive vocalization. We saw several female-type Eastern Marsh-Harriers which we took particular care to separate from the very similar Pied Harrier. We finally saw a nice male too which sealed the deal. A week earlier, I found the rare Oriental Plover and luckily the birds were still around and this was a much wanted bird for everybody. We had fleeting views of Australasian Bushlark and nice views of Painted Stork . Our local guide, Mony, shouted out “Sarus Crane!” and we got on several birds in flight crossing the road ahead. We followed in our bins to find many of these rare birds in the distant fields, which we drove closer to for much better views including a pair doing their wonderful courtship display. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 2 Went to meet the local guides and while we waited for them, scanned some rice field nearby to find Plaintive Cuckoo and Common Kingfisher . We drove to a kind of savanna area spotting a Spotted Owlet on the way which posed nicely for photos. Once there we continued to add birds, such as the beautiful Black-headed Woodpecker , a nice pair of Rufous Treepies, brief views of Indochinese Bushlark (showing a lack of white in the tail in flight), a female Pied Harrier , a rather vocal male Purple Sunbird and a retiring Burmese Shrike . The main target here was not in fact a bird but a mammal; the endangered Eld’s Deer . The local guides found for us a nice herd including a rather splendid stag. From here we went to the edge of the huge reservoir where we scanned with our scopes for interesting waterbirds. We saw many Lesser Whistling-Ducks with several Cotton Pygmy-geese and Garganey mixed in. We also found Great Cormorant, Yellow Bittern, Pheasant-tailed & Bronze-winged Jacanas, White-browed Crake and after some effort, 2 Watercocks. We enjoyed a very smart Pied Kingfisher hovering nearby and after finding some skulking Black-browed Reed-Warblers in a bush, we moved on to the next site. Further along, we stopped at a spot to scan the nesting storks. As we started walking out to the viewpoint we found a pair of Fulvous-breasted Woodpeckers ( split by some as Spot-breasted) followed by a noisy Racket-tailed Treepie , a colourful Blue-tailed Bee-eater and another skulker, the Dusky Warbler . At the viewpoint we were delighted to find the very rare Milky Stork (a major target here) amongst the more common Painted Storks. At the foot of the trees were several Indian Spot-billed & Comb Ducks and numerous in the marsh were Purple Swamphens (another possible split as Black- backed). It was very hot by now and we went back to the visitors centre for lunch after a very productive morning. After lunch we took a look at Baya Weavers nesting in a palm tree behind the building before returning to Siem Riep. Ta Prom, the most atmospheric temple at Angkor, has been swallowed by the jungle. (Charley Hesse) In the afternoon, we returned to Angkor to visit some of the other temples in the complex and we picked up our temple guide as we entered. One of our vehicles got a flat, luckily in a particularly interesting area, so we explored nearby while the driver fixed it. We got out by the south entrance and walked to a small temple nearby where some of us climbed up the steep steps. In this area we saw a flock of Ashy Minivets, much better views of Hainan Blue- Flycatcher, a skulking Green-billed Malkoha , our first Black-naped Monarch and Large Cuckoo-shrike perched in the top of a tree. With the car fixed, we went on to Bayon, one of the most famous temples in the complex and understandably so. At the nearby Baphuon, we enjoyed the impressively restored temple and also saw Common Hill Myna , Coppersmith Barbet & Greater Racket-tailed Drongo . I was searching for a beautiful, crested raptor called Black Baza which I had seen recently and our eagle-eyed local guide, saw flying in to a distant tree. The clock was ticking so we went on to our final temple; the atmospheric and overgrown Ta Phrom, which is famous for appearing in the Tomb Raider movie. As well as being a great place for Alexandrine & Red-breasted Parakeets which we found easily, we also got better views of Asian Barred Owlet before exploring the fantastic temples. We only had a little time left and decided to return to try for Forest Wagtail near Bayon. We saw several Long-tailed Macaques and the uncommon Blue-and-white Flycatcher before happening on a Forest Wagtail which flew off before everybody could get on it. Great views of Brown Hawk-Owl at dusk were a nice consolation. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 3 11th March – Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary Our second day trip in the Siem Riep area was to the fantastic Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary, home to some of the rarest large waterbirds in the region. We left before dawn and it was a long boat ride across Tonle Sap, the largest fresh water lake in SE Asia. When we reached the other side we transferred to smaller boat that took us along a narrow channel. As we entered the channel the air was filled with Whiskered Terns , several Common Kingfishers were perched on poles over the water and Purple Swamphens scampered for cover (this race may be split as Black-backed Swamphen).