Birding around Siem Reap

The family trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, was coming to an end. I had however managed to squeeze in a day for birding.

When birding in new places, the usual practice I follow is to try and engage a local birding guide. I found this to be the most effective way for me, given that I have very limited time. It also a way of contributing to the livelihood of the local naturalists. This time I had got in touch with Cambodia Bird Guide Association (CBGA) as part of planning for the trip. The guide assigned to me was Naran.

Naran was at my hotel lobby by 5:30am as promised. We had chosen to bird in two places as part of the day of birding. The first was a patch near Kbal Spean & ACCB before breakfast. This was to be followed by birding at Changkran Roy.

It took us almost an hour to reach the first patch. The first bird to greet us was a Sooty-headed Bulbul.

There were plenty of trees around. There were a couple of Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers and a Freckle-breasted Woodpecker busy going from tree to tree. A bird that I had wanted to photograph was the Blossom-headed Parakeet. I saw them flying over. Here are photos of the birds that finally perched a distance away:

Some time later a male came and perched much closer.

Another new bird for me was the Burmese Shrike.

There were several warblers calling around as they went about doing their morning foraging. I could hear Two-barred Warblers and Pale-legged Leaf Warblers. Unfortunately I could not manage to get any pictures of them at the first site.

Another new bird was a Brown Prinia. I managed to capture a photo as it was going between some bushes.

We could hear several Chinese Francolins calling from around the place. Naran finally spotted one on an unusual perch; top of a dry tree at a distance!

The raptors that showed up was a Crested Serpent-Eagle and Rufous-winged Buzzard. The Buzzard was a lifer for me. However it dived down before I could manage a photo.

There were many Minivets around. They included the Small Minivets and Ashy Minivets. The Starlings included a Black-collared Starling and Chestnut-tailed Starlings. I also got good views of a Plain-backed Sparrows.

Some more birds and it was time to stop for a quick packed breakfast. Once it was over, we headed off to Changkran Roy. This was a protected area managed by a local community. The whole place had pretty dense vegetation. The highlight was the bird bath cum feeding station. We paid a quick visit to that first. It was around 10am. However there was no activity at the station then. So we decided to head off and explore other parts. One basically drives or walks on the pathway around the community reserve and look around for birds.

An area that we spent much of the time was around the community centre. Here are some of the birds that I got to see from there:

Towards evening, it was time to go to the bird bath cum feeding station. It took a while for the action to start. The first ones to come were the White-rumped Shamas.

And soon after it was a frenzy as evening progressed. Here are some of the birds that showed up:

I also managed to capture on video a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler visiting the bird bath briefly.

In addition to the above the Large Scimitar-Babbler and Common Green-Magpie were frequently calling around the bird bath. However they did not make their appearance sadly.

Video

Here is a video of some of the birds that I got to see in the trip.

Recommendations

I had a very good experience with Naran. He tells me that the best way to engage a local birding guide for Cambodia is to get in touch with CBGA. I strongly recommend it. Here is their website. This way you can be assured that you have someone with local knowledge.

Make sure you get in touch with them earlier so that all logistics can be worked out. As with all places in Siem Reap (and probably Cambodia), they accept their guiding fees in the local currency (Reils) or in US Dollars.

It is recommended to wear long sleeves as well as full length pants. There can be mosquitoes around. Carry an insect repellent if you have one. Make sure you take a hat along too and carry water. Water, breakfast and lunch were included in my day package. You can check on this when planning the trip.

The sites you can cover in your birding trip completely depends on how much time you have and the birds you want to see. So discuss that with them in advance too. They are pretty helpful with the planning.