I joined Katy, Bob, and David just before 6 AM to head down our somewhat slippery stairs to the ground floor of this lodge and then down the steeper brick-like steps to the van. We were heading off in the dark to the end of the road in the park where we will have breakfast and then Tien will lead us to the 1st of a number of hides he has set up. It had rained more overnight but was just dripping as we drove. We were driving through thick forest but couldn’t yet see much until sunrise. The trip took about 40 minutes and we were a bit early for breakfast but they soon had it cooked for us. We were served an egg dish like a frittata full of onions and tomatoes. It was really delicious. And we had true Vietnamese coffee but with some hot water added. It is made in very small individual quantities and drunk like espresso. Adding some hot water made it wonderful coffee.
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| David and Katy comparing breakfast notes |
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| Coffee is put into the small metal container, put on top of the small cup and water added |
We then loaded up our packs and binoculars and headed down a trail in the forest that was mostly paved with concrete pavers which made it much easier to follow and less slippery. After about 20 minutes we arrived at the hide. Tien set up folding chairs for us and then also spread some mealy worms to help to attract some very elusive birds. We sat there for about 2 hours and had some fabulous sightings. There are some really colorful birds here and one of the most beautiful today was the Bar-Bellied Pitta. We also had multiple views of a Rufous-throated Fulvetta and Fujian Niltava. Bob was able to get at least 10 new life birds including the Tonkin Scaly Breasted Partridge. We had numerous views of most of them as they returned for more worms. We also saw a large squirrel and northern shrew.
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| Female Japanese Thrush |
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| Inside the hide looking |
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| Outside the hide looking back at it |
Eventually we left the hide and walked out a different way to another area of the park trying to see what else was out. There were a few small A-frame cabins and a huge concrete swimming pool - none of which looked to be in use. It was still pretty overcast but not raining. We walked back to the parking area, got on the van after a bit more birding and headed back to the lodge and the restaurant across the street for lunch. A large bus was turning around and on the front was a sign for Road Scholar so there was a group of 15 or so Road Scholars having lunch who are also exploring Vietnam as a walking tour. One of them said that they are also going to Cambodia.
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| Mist covering nearby hills behind the mammoth pool |
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| Wonderful palms in the forest |
We had another ample lunch with more food than we could finish and this time had cut up fresh guava for dessert.
We had a rest for a couple of hours and then headed out again at 3:30 PM.
We drove back towards the Bong Sub station. We stopped along the way to see if there was anything around but there were no bugs/insects, no bird songs - all was very quiet. We continued on to the sub station where David suggested a coffee. He also produced some Choco Pies which for some of you would recognize as they looked like small Moon Pies. We managed to scoff these down and then contemplated next steps as it started to rain a bit more. We had planned to have dinner out there and then spend some time owling. Tien had arranged for the staff there to cook dinner for us at 6 so we sat around chatting until dinner was ready. Dinner included some new dishes - chicken cooked with ginger and egg rolls wrapped in a large leaves rather than rice skins. The local delicious bananas were our dessert.
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| Dinner with leaf wrapped egg rolls |
We then walked down the road towards the area we had been in this morning while David and Tien scoured the trees with lights looking for owls. We finally did get a Mountain Scops Owl to call back but it never came in so that we could see it. It was time to call it a night and we headed back to our rooms.
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