Sometimes, as birders, we can heap pressure upon ourselves to see certain species and quite frequently the expectations that build up when anticipating a birding trip can be a little unrealistic in terms of entertaining ideas of “cleaning up”. Sometimes these hopes can take a severe hit if there are unfavourable conditions such as high levels of disturbance, a birding site that has been destroyed, the birds simply not showing for some reason and, of course, poor weather conditions. Earlier this year, when leading a trip for Legacy Tours, I encountered a lot of rain while in the north of Thailand, something that has been an ongoing problem this year, and there was persistent rain for much of our time in the area meaning that birding was severely hampered. However, we did manage to see a lot of good birds in the periods of fine weather that we had and all the participants had a good time regardless and just enjoyed the birds we did see and did not spend too much time thinking about the ones we did not.

Doi Lang in the cloud

For those who think that Thailand is always sunny this photo will dispel the myth. In the middle of the dry season persistent rain is becoming increasingly common as the world’s climate undergoes change. Most birds in Thailand respond to sunny weather so this gloomy cloud really killed bird activity and as we ascended we ended up in thick cloud. However, Doi Lang has some great birds that regularly visit stakeouts so we still managed to gain some wonderful sightings of some great birds. Even in the bad weather we saw Chestnut Thrush, Himalayan Bluetail, Scarlet-faced Liocichla, Dark-backed Sibia, Ultramarine Flycatcher, Siberian Rubythroat, Silver-eared Laughingthrush and many more. Of course, had the weather been better we would have seen more but even so everyone was quite happy.

Dark-backed Sibia

Chestnut Thrush

What we lacked in numbers, due to the weather, we made up for with quality observations with birds at very close range.

Himalayan Bluetail

Siberian Rubythroat

Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher

Our spirits were high despite the weather and eventually we had some sunshine and the birds came out in good numbers. In fact we ended up having an amazing day on Doi Lang seeing most of the birds that had been hiding during the poor weather. Mrs Hume’s Pheasant was seen very well, followed by Spot-breasted Parrotbill, Giant Nuthatch, Himalayan Cutia, Black-throated Bushtit and lots more. Never mind anything that we had missed, we just enjoyed the high levels of bird activity that we experienced in the sun.

Stripe-breasted Woodpecker

Silver-eared Laughingthrush

Unfortunately, after a brief spell of good weather the rain returned. Still, the group enjoyed the excellent food, enjoyed being on holiday and were patient, appreciating the moments in which nice birds gave themselves up. With a lot of poor light it was hard to take photographs but birds like this White-headed Bulbul were great to see.

White-headed Bulbul

We had a nice time at Doi Ang Kang with some nice scenery, some tolerable weather and beautiful birds but when we got to Doi Inthanon the weather really was against us and it became extremely hard to go birding. Still, this Hume’s Treecreeper was a magic moment.

Hume’s Treecreeper

So despite the problematic weather we had an enjoyable time in the north of Thailand, appreciating the sightings we made and enjoying all aspects of the trip; food, culture and good conversation, not letting the fact that we might have expected to see more in better weather bother us too much. It is important to enjoy the birds that you see and avoid falling into the trap of wanting the next bird moments after finding the last one. Every sighting is a lucky moment!