Myanmar 24Feb-6Mar12

From JS

If you had a chance to glimpse at my photos that I have shared on facebook, I hope you do find the endemics interesting. The photos were taken like a point-and-shoot camera although the birds stayed with us for minutes. Quality would definitely be better if my camera's reach was more than the bird's 7-10m radius comfort zone. (Though Jon with his backview shots would tell you that the birds are more accommodating.) That's a limitation of my lens but what's inadequate for a perfect shot is thankfully sufficient for a twitcher.

Shuffling between my short-zoomed binoculars and shortish lens, I was able to identify (either by sight or hearing) at least 335 species. Warblers are difficult to separate with a few-seconds glimpse but when the choir is singing, you can readily tell the tenor from the soprano. In total, 31 species of warblers was identified. Still, it is unfortunate that we dipped on seeing a couple of key warbler species such as the broad-billed warbler and the aberrant bush-warbler. More important is the latter species because it has a near-endemic subspecies aka Mt Victoria Aberrant Bush-Warbler.

Warblers-aside, we also dipped on several other targets such as the Buff-Breasted Parrotbill, Olive Bulbul and White-Rumped Falcon. According to the 16-20 trip reports, the parrotbill apparently comes only in a flock of 30-50 or none and unfortunately, we got none. Olive Bulbul is a much tougher bird to twitch though, which we tried and failed and sacrificed on the last target. For my father and I, we stood at the wrong vintage point and missed 2 showing near-endemic black-throated prinias. Unlike me, my father had an additional dip, the endemic race of the long-billed pipit. Admittedly, birding was tough and tiring when every other bird is a lifer. A pity that the group did not share the same sentiment and we lost more than a handful of lifers. Sometimes, we were frustratingly close but no one was willing to offer directions until the bird took off. Oh well...

With a trip list that is nowhere near embarrassing and having validated my boast of 150 lifers (actually, it had looked impossible prior to the trip), this group that we traveled in was probably the best that the circumstances can provide and we had an enjoyable experience. Really looking forward to the day when I could bird in Myanmar again. Till then, I will be brushing up my skills and studying hard.

Here's our Myanmar trip report written by Jon Hornbuckle: http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=2166

Oriental Honey Buzzard