Dates:
Weather:
Localities:

23 - 28 Mar 2025.
Hot and dry. Heavy smoke from seasonal burning. Temperatures ranged from 21°C to 38°C.
Thaksin Maharat National Park, Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary, Palatha Waterfall Forest Park and Wiang Kosai National Park.

Rhinagrion mima

Akaisphecia sp.

Rufous Woodpecker

Scarce Jester

Scarce White Commodore

Lesser Darkie

23 Mar. We left Chiang Mai early to drive the 320 plus kilometres to Thaksin Maharat, arriving just prior to 11:00. Unfortunately the dry conditions, with an almost total lack of water in gullies, made for both poor butterfly and bird lists. Mid afternoon we tried inside the primary forest along the Nature Trail, which was better, though still little found other than a single Tufted Jungleking. Late afternoon we headed to Mae Sot for an overnight stay. It should be mentioned that due to the ongoing war in Burma as well as the latest developments in trying to close down the Burmese scam call centres, army and police checkpoints along the Tak - Mae Sot - Umphang route were more thorough than usual. It seems any foreigners using this route are under suspicion of heading to work in these call centres. We were grilled a couple of times.

24 Mar. From Mae Sot, a couple of hours driving toward Umphang took us into forested higher elevations along the main highway passing through the wildlife sanctuary. With much road repair currently we were disappointed to find one of the better pull-offs for butterflies being used as a cement production facility and workers' camp. A couple of hours here produced a smattering of species, but none of note, so we continued toward Umphang trying various tracks and roadside forest, with the best sightings being Common Silver-streak Blue, Spotted Guava Blue and Variable Sailor. Bird activity was poor due to the hot and arid conditions. A second disappointment of the day was finding our favourite Umphang restaurant closed for holidays. Our first of three nights in Umphang.

25 Mar. The day was dedicated to the 1.5 kilometre trail to Thi Lo Su Waterfall, inside the sanctuary. We had a short wait at the entrance as the official opening time is 08:00, though in practice that usually equates to 08:10 or so. The track from the entrance to the campsite and trail is 24.5 kilometres, and its condition has not improved since our last visit, so it's a an hour's drive of potholes and rough track, suitable only for pickups and the like. We spent from 09:30 - 15:00 along the trail, finding a reasonable collection of both butterflies and birds. The first half is manly bamboo forest, with better forest toward the waterfall. On our return walk we encountered rangers undertaking controlled forest burning, so the very smoky conditions did not help. Best birds of the day were Kalij Pheasant, Violet Cuckoo, Orange-breasted Trogon and Rufous Woodpecker. Butterflies of note included White Diadem, Orchid Tit and Narrow Spark.

26 Mar. This day did not go to plan. We'd been given a potentially interesting site to check, well into the surrounding hills and accessed by dirt track. With 4x4 we managed two river crossings and made about six kilometres into the hills when the track became a lengthy mire of deep mud and water. Clearly, large farm vehicles had been using this track but it was debatable what our chances of becoming stranded in the middle of nowhere would be. Reluctantly we decided caution beat valour, so we returned to the highway and headed to higher elevations once more. This proved highly fortuitous as we encountered a couple of our top targets - Scarce Jester and Scarce White Commodore - the later we'd been looking for for years. We also encountered Abnormal Flash during the day, so all in all a great outcome.

27 Mar. For a change of elevation and forest type we explored the road south of Umphang heading past Doi Hua Mot, toward Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary. During the morning we explored Dipterocarp forest, river edges and a waterfall finding a fair selection of species, though nothing of great note. The afternoon was a longish, return drive to Mae Sot.

28 Mar. Having experienced the species paucity of Thaksin Maharat on our inward journey, we decided to try Wiang Kosai which, despite the longer drive, should at least have a selection of butterflies at the waterfall and along the diver. We left Mae Sot at 06:00, arriving Wiang Kosai before 10:00. In our four hours here we spent a couple of hours along the short but steep waterfall trail, plus a session along the lower elevations of the Nature Trail. These produced Lesser Darkie and Large Yeoman - both scarce species in northern Thailand. Birding was abysmal on account of the low elevation, temperatures up to 38°C and the mainly bamboo forest. A mid afternoon return to Chiang Mai.