Is anyone interested in bird watching in Vietnam in February? David Robertson =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================
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2 comments to Vietnam |
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Hi all, Having lived in Vietnam for a few years I can certainly understand the frustration you would have endured, David! Birding is very tough over there for reasons you mentioned. It is very hard to escape a general pessimistic attitude when you encounter a prolific illegal wildlife trade (not just birds), illegal logging, and a total lack of law enforcement. I must say I have never met guides over there who would excessively use playback or feed mealworms but then again, I am not surprised this happens. Having said all this, Vietnam still boasts amazing species, both residents and migrants, and it’s not unlikely you come across new discoveries like Scaly-sided Merganser in Hanoi (2012, I think it was), new species for SE Asia (Pale Thrush in 2012 in Hanoi’s Botanical Garden) or range extensions for little-known species like Grey-crowned Crocias. Most places will be hard to bird but then you’ll find exceptions like Cat Tien or the Dalat Plateau. You will find the ‘Silent forest syndrome’ to be apparent in most places but with a bit of luck and the right guides you should be able to see a fair number of exciting species. One way to get an idea of what’s going on is to check the very informative VietnamBirdnewsBlogspot, http://vietnambirdnews.blogspot.com.au/ Go through the older posts as well – there are a few amazing sightings and pictures on it! Because I still have friends over there I feel quite connected to Vietnam and must say that (generally speaking) people are just really friendly (though not always useful from a traveller’s point of view) and it is a very safe country to travel in! I hope others will enjoy their holidays more but I think unless you’ve been to the country before or plan to spend a couple of months over there it would be very advisable to hire a recommended guide/birding company – it will be worth it! Best regards, Falk On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 2:14 PM, Dave Torr < davidtorr@gmail.com> wrote: — Falk Wicker 4 Hazel Crescent Healesville 3777 Victoria Australia private – falk.wicker@gmail.com work – fwicker@zoo.org.au _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Interesting – I went some years ago and there were very few birds – but also very few guides, so at least where there were birds they were not too hard to see. Was in Thailand earlier this year where there were lots of birds and lots of guides and in many places the guides had clearings in the forest and fed the birds mealworms to bring them in. So at least there were birds (but only if you came with mealworms in some places!) but not exactly what one would hope for. Big signs in some places forbidding feeding but no sign of enforcement. On 18 March 2014 14:03, david robertson < drdeath@picknowl.com.au> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org