Main Tour

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1

21 October

Arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport (IATA Code BKK), meet with Raptours' guides, and transfer to airport hotel. In the afternoon we will have optional birding either at a local park or at some wetlands adjacent to our hotel, which might yield species like Spot-billed Pelican, Painted Stork and Pheasant-tailed Jacana. Welcome briefing in the evening. Lunch, if arriving in the morning, dinner and overnight at hotel Aranta.

Day 2

22 October

Breakfast and check-out. Transfer to the airport to catch our 9:00 AM flight (Thai Smile, bag limits) to Surat Thani (IATA code URT). Transfer to the spectacular Khao Sok National Park, where limestone mountains and ancient rainforests meet breathtaking lakes. This striking scenery might be recognizable to some as the stunning location for the movie Avatar. We will take a boat ride to check in to our floating hotel, home for the next two nights. Post lunch we will enjoy exploring this wildlife packed National Park by traditional Thai long-tailed boat, targeting raptors including White-bellied Sea Eagle, Lesser Fish Eagle, Oriental Hobby, and Osprey. Other birds to keep an eye out for over the lake include several species of Hornbill including Great and Bushy-crested. This park is home to perhaps the world's rarest stork: Storm's stork, although recent encounters are limited to a few camera trap sightings. Night on floating hotel.

Day 3

23 October

7:00 AM, breakfast. At 8:00 AM we will head out again by long-tailed boat. Birding by boat, we will target raptors including Lesser and Gray‑headed Fish Eagles, White‑bellied Sea Eagle, Brahminy Kite, Crested Honey Buzzard and if we are lucky Black‑thighed Falconet too. Though rare, Blyth's and Wallace's Hawk-Eagles occur here as well. Lunch, either at our floating hotel or at another floating restaurant in the park. In the afternoon another boat ride will take us for a sunset visit to a roost location for Bat Hawks, where we will watch them head out on their evening hunt. We will also keep our eyes peeled for spectacular kingfishers and our ears open at dusk for Buffy Fish Owl (among others). With luck Asian elephant can also be seen in the reservoir. 7:30 PM, dinner. Night in floating hotel.

Day 4

24 October

6:30 AM, breakfast, 7:30 AM, checkout. 7:45-8:45 AM, boat ride back to pier. We will spend our day birding our way north to Chumphon. Stops on-route will allow us to enjoy a variety of species from colorful barbets, sunbirds and parrots to weird and wonderful cuckoos and drongos. Of course we will always have our eyes to the skies for soaring raptors including Crested Serpent Eagle and Booted Eagle as well as rarities including Rufous-bellied Eagle and Black Eagle. Check-in. Dinner. Night in the Nana Beach Hotel.

Day 5-8

25-28 October

For the next four days our daily routine will be similar. We will start at 7:00 AM with breakfast at our hotel and then a ten-minute drive to the Chumphon Raptor Center at 8:00am. There is an uphill hike on paved trails to some of the lookouts here that can be moderately demanding, however all the raptor species at Khao Dinsor can be seen from the Center's parking lot too. Guides will decide where to watch from based on the flight and the mobility of the group. Picnic lunch or return to our hotel for a lunch depending on flight (and weather) circumstances. Between 3:00 and 4:00 PM we will return to the hotel.

Beyond this you have many options: you can choose to relax at the hotel swimming pool, get a Thai massage, take a dip in the sea, or enjoy a drink at the hotel's beachside bar. Optional short local trips to see resident raptors and other birds will also be a part of our daily routine. These might include a trip to Phanang Tak Bay for shorebirds, including Malaysian and White-faced Plovers or up into the surrounding hills at Kromluang Chumphon Wildlife Sanctuary for broadbills, woodpeckers, flowerpeckers and more. We will also take one day to visit an alternative migration site: Radar Hill, depending on flight conditions.

Dinner will be at our hotel or a short walk to a local restaurant at 6:30 pm. Night in the Nana Beach Hotel.

The raptor flight at in late October at Khao Dinsor is dominated, in approximate order of abundance, by Black Baza, Chinese Sparrowhawk, Gray‑faced Buzzard, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Shikra, Japanese Sparrowhawk. Less abundant migrants include Eastern, and Pied Harriers, Crested Serpent Eagle, Besra, Booted Eagle, and Steppe, and Japanese Buzzards. At all times, resident raptors such as Brahminy Kite, Crested Goshawk, and White‑bellied Sea Eagle may pop up at the lookouts. Rarities regularly occurring every season at Khao Dinsor include Rufous-winged Buzzard, Short‑toed Snake Eagle, Black Eagle, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, and Greater Spotted Eagle. The raptors will be joined in the skies by Asian Openbill (storks), a myriad of swifts and a couple of different bee-eaters as well as Indochinese Rollers and Oriental Pratincoles.

Day 9

29 October

7:00 AM, breakfast at hotel restaurant. 8:00 AM, check‑out. 8:15-12:30 AM, drive to Laem Phak Bia. Lunch. Boat trip to target Chinese Egret, and other non-raptorial targets. Then to Baan Maka Nature Lodge on the edge of the incredible Kaeng Krachan National Park. Post checking in we can explore the hotel's wonderful gardens for birds. After dinner will offer optional owling: Brown Wood-owl, Brown Boobook, Collared Owlet.

Day 10

30 October

7:00 AM, breakfast at hotel restaurant. 8:00 AM, drive to Pak Thale to target two very special birds: Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Nordmann's Greenshank: though both are rare globally and locally this is the time of year they start to appear at Pak Thale and we will devote time to seeking out these rare and threatened shorebirds. Lunch. In the afternoon we’ll explore the vast rice fields of Petchaburi to target a wide variety of raptors and other birds. At sunset we will visit a local bat cave, here several accipiter species, Gray-faced Buzzard and Peregrine Falcons come to hunt the millions of bats as they leave their roosts during an extraordinary 15-minute window! 8:00 PM, dinner at hotel. Overnight Baan Maka Nature Lodge. Optional owling.

Day 11

31 October

7:00 AM, breakfast. 8:00 AM on, all day in the lower reaches of Kaeng Krachan National Park. This park is a jewel of central Thailand and hosts a multitude of birds and other amazing wildlife including leopards! We will explore the park extensively for the next few days looking for Jerdon's Baza, Oriental Honey Buzzards and Collared Falconet. As well as the birds-of-prey we will search out non-raptor highlights like Banded Kingfisher, Blue and Eared Pitta, Grey Peacock-Pheasant, Silver-breasted, Banded and Dusky Broadbill, Great Slaty Woodpecker, Red-headed and Orange-breasted Trogon as well as the bizarre Ratchet-tailed Treepie. Either picnic lunch or back at the hotel. Overnight Baan Maka Nature Lodge. Optional owling.

Day 12

1 November

Breakfast and head again for Kaeng Krachan. We will spend the morning in the park looking for a host of birds including Collared Falconet, and birds we missed the day before. Lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon we’ll visit waterholes hoping to see some wild Red Junglefowl (progenitor of your humble chicken) and perhaps even a couple of different pheasants, among other birds. We’ll bird at established blinds here where the birds often come quite close and often afford great photo ops! Dinner and overnight at the Baan Maka.

Day 13

2 November

Early breakfast at the hotel, and then head to Kaeng Krachan NP. Today we'll explore the higher reaches of the park to target a different array of birds including Mountain Hawk-Eagle as well as the spectacular non-raptors like Orange-breasted Trogon, Red-bearded Bee-eater and Banded and Black-and-red Broadbill. Lunch in the park. In the afternoon we’ll head back to Bangkok stopping along the way for bird sightings. Check-in at the Hotel Aranta. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Day 14

3 November

Catch flights back home… or, continue on the Nothern Thailand Extension!

Northern Thailand Extension

Day-by-day Itinerary

Day 1

3 November

Transfer to Chiang Mai International Airport (IATA Code CNX), In the afternoon we will have some relaxed birding at the Doi Lo paddies where are variety of shorebirds, waders and raptors can be found including desirable ones like Pied Harrier. This is also a spot where we might also hope to encounter the critically endangered, Yellow-breasted Bunting or the stunning Red Avadavat. Night on the edge of Doi Inthanon National Park.

Day 2

4 November

We will spend the next couple of days exploring Doi Inthanon National Park. Nicknamed the Roof of Thailand, the park boasts the highest peak in Thailand, spectacular waterfalls, and cooler temperatures year-round. Avian highlights here include a host of delightful passerine species including jaunty Yellow-cheeked Tit, adorable Pygmy Cupwing and spectacular Silver-eared Laughingthrush. Raptors here include the range limited Rufous-winged Buzzard, a small open country raptor with piercing pale eyes and the rare and threatened White-rumped Falcon which is to be looked for but perhaps not expected. Overnight Doi Inthanon National Park. 

Day 3

5 November

After breakfast we will head out again to Doi Inthanon National Park to spend the morning exploring more of this beautiful and expansive national park. One of our targets on the day will be Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird, a particularly spectacular sunbird in a family that hosts many remarkable species. The species is named for the natural history illustrator Elizabeth Gould, whose work was included everything from the Birds of the Himalaya Mountains to illustrating the birds in Darwin’s The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. Other spectacular targets on the day include Silver-eared Mesia, Maroon Oriole and Rufous-backed Sibia. A raptor we will seek out here is the diminutive Collared Falconet, a sparrow sized bird that terrorizes butterflies and moths for the most part. In the afternoon we will wind out way north to the town of Fang in northern Chiang Mai. Overnight Fang – our base for the next few days.

Day 4

6 November

This day will see us exploring Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park. Right on the border with Myanmar, this mountainous National Park boasts rare flora and fauna and amazing mineral hot springs. Bird highlights include rare species like Hume’s Pheasant as well as a couple of different partridge species: Rufous-throated and Mountain Bamboo. A raptor target here will be Amur Falcon, as they make their way south from breeding grounds in Mongolia and North Korea to their wintering grounds in southern Africa – a mind-boggling migration that includes a multi-day non-stop flight across the Arabian Sea. Other highlights of the day might include Daurian Redstart and Giant Nuthatch. Overnight Fang

Day 5

7 November

Another day exploring the wondrous sights of Doi Pha Hom National Park. This day will see us birding our way east along the border with Myanmar. As well as the dramatic scenery we will also be seeking out some desirable passerines including the stunning Scarlet-faced Liocichla as well as Spectacled Barwing, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Himalayan Cutia and Spot-breasted Parrotbill. The park also boasts a host of brightly colored and sometimes highly localized butterfly species which we will also enjoy on our adventure. Overnight Fang.

Day 6

8 November

This day will see us exploring the paddy fields around Fang and Thaton. This will give us another chance to hone our skills with Eurasian shorebirds and to look for a variety of herons and egrets, with the rare Intermediate Egret a possibility. Highlight of any songbirds might include the common but attractive Siberian Rubythroat as well as four species of wagtails and four species of pipits. Raptor targets here might include Black-winged Kite, a close relative of our White-tailed Kite but with a distinctively short tailed appearance. Overnight Fang

Day 7

9 November

We will start our day birding around Fang Hot springs. Targets here will include Spot-winged Grosbeak, a notable species right at the southern edge of its range. We will also hope to encounter the localized and striking “White-faced” Eurasian Jay and of course will keep our eyes to the skies for various swifts and swallows as well as raptors that might include Mountain Hawk-Eagle or, if lucky, Rufous-bellied Eagle.

We will end the northern portion of our extension with an evening stop at the famed Pied Harrier roost at Wiang Nong Lom. The roost here can boast as many as fifty of these remarkable raptors as well as Eastern Marsh Harriers and the occasional Hen Harrier. The perfect raptor fueled end to this Raptours adventure!

Night Chiang Rai.

Day 8

10 November 

Transfer from Chiang Rai to Bangkok. To wrap up the tour we will have the opportunity to head out for the afternoon to Khok Kham on the outskirts of Bangkok for another chance at Spoon-billed Sandpiper. This gives us another shot at this highly desirable species if we don’t have it from the main tour. There’s always lots more to see at a site that has recorded over 30 different species of shorebirds in previous Novembers!