Ayeyarwaddy Region is one of the nice birding sites in Myanmar, well-known as birding site for Sarus Crane and Jerdon’s Babbler.

In 27 July, 2019, we went for bird watching in Ayeyarwaddy Region. It is rainy season in Myanmar. Ayeyarwaddy Reagon is situated in south of Myanmar according to the ornithology regions in south east Asia and play an importance note for wetland depended bird species in the country, for looking the rare bird such as Vulnerable species of Sarus Crane, Jardon’s Babbler which previously thought to be extinct and resurfaced in March 2015 rediscovered by Wildlife Conservation Society ( WCS ) Myanmar and Yellow-breasted bunting (Emberiza aureola) that is become Critically Endangered.

Then we left Yangon at 7:30 AM in 27, July,2019. We stopped car just two time on the way to Einme township from Yangon to find birds. Fortunately, we found the rare bird species ,Sarus Crane and we recorded other species: Asian Golden Weaver, Large-billed Crow, Eastren Cattle Egret, Common Iora, Plain Prinia , Asian Openbill, Eurasion Tree Sparrow, Spotted Dove, Rock Pigeon, Yellow Bittern, Blue tailed Bee-eater, Common Myna, Pied Bushchat, Barn Swallow, House Crow, Little Cormorant, Indian Pond-Heron, Little Egret, Black Drongo, Lesser Whistling-Duck, Indian Roller, Asian Palm Swift, Oriental Patincole, Red-wattled Lapwing, Chestnut Munia, Red-vented Bulbul, Gray- breasted Prinia, Purple Heron, Zitting Cisticola, Bronze-winged Jacana, Ayeyarwaddy Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Yellow- billied Prinia, Yellow-eyed Babbler. After birding, we drove to Einme township and had lunch taking rest for short time in a local restaurant.

After our lunch, we kept on travelling. We watched birds on the way to Wakhaema and recoreded Sarus Crane,Vulnerable species and other species: Asian Pied Starling, Pied Bushchat, Cinnamon Bittern, Common Tailarbird, Jungle Myna, House Sparrow, Great Egret, Chestnut-tailed Starling, White-throated Kingfisher, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Oriental Magpie-Robin, Little Green Bee-eater, Scarlet-backed Flowerpacker, Scaly-breasted Munia, Red-collered Dove, White-breasted Waterhan, White-rumped Munia, Plaintive Cuckoo.

We stayed one night at AKD Hotle in Wakhaema, a small town in Ayeyarwaddy Region.

On Second day, 29 July 2019, we checked out from Hotle and went to Shwelaung township to watch Highlight Species , Jerdon’s Babbler around Yarma Village. In that time, it is welcome weather for bird watching for us. We took the boat to watch birds with local villages. We found target species Jerdon’s Babbler including rare species , Sarus Crane, with other recorded species: Asian Golden Weaver, Red-vented Bulbul, Plain Prinia, Black Drongo, Jungle Myna, Red-collered Dove, Asian Openbill, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Green-billed Malkoha, Plaintive Cuckoo, Chestnut Munia, Common Myna, Indian Pond-Heron, Barn Swallow , Yellow Bittern, Flavous-breasted Woodpecker, Little Green Bee-eater, White-throated Funtail, Zitting Cisticola, Bule-tailed Bee-eater, Cottm Pygmy Goose, Lesser Whistling Duck, Black -shouldered Kite, Great Egret, Water Cock, Indian Roller.After that we took rest at monastery in Village. We had lunch over a plot of Green tea with jaggery sweet.

After lunch, we start to do bird watching with villagers taking boat along the stream. While we found Vulnerable Species, Jerdon’s Babbler again, all of us very content with happiness and also other specie we can see: Pied Bushchat, Intermediate Egret, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Puple Heron, Spotted Dove, Oriental Magpie- Robin, Ayeyarwaddy Bulbul, Asian Palmswift, Beya Weaver, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Copper-throated Sunbird, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Little Cormorant, Ashy Woodswallow, White-throated Kingfisher, Chestnut-capped Babbler, White-rumped Mynia, Streated Weaver.

Late afternoon, the weather changed immediately and we drove back to Yangon.

Reported by Aung Lin

Myanmar Birders are grouped with professional bird guides, nature keepers and bird lovers in order to love and conserve bird and nature. Normally, we do birding three times a month around Yangon and we hope to do birding activity in other birding sites later. Our Myanmar Birders Group did birding activity at Hlawga Natural Park in Jun 21, 2019. Ko Ye’ (Birder) and Lay Win (Wild) were conducted (guiden) the birding and sponsored by Bird and Nature Tours Myanmar (BNTM).

Objectives

To realize how important nature and birds are to their daily lives

To get knowledge based on conservation of nature and bird

To love and conserve nature and birds by birding

To improve the capacity of local bird guides

Hlawga Natural Park

Hlawga Natural Park is one of the best birding site near Yangon,located in Taukkyan Model Village, Mingaladon Township of Yangon.It was established in 30 September 1982. The area of Hlawga Natural Park is 1540 acres, comprising of 818 acres of Wildlife Park, 62 acres of mini-zoo and 660 acres of buffer zone. It is the type of semi-evergreen, mixed deciduous and swamp forest types. Hlawgar Natural Park is the different varies of wildlife habitat, and recorded in 25 species of mammals, 9 species of reptiles, 54 species amphibious, 192 species of birds, 103 butterfly species and 23 species of fishes, and has opened the purpose of conservation, development and research programs and the opportunities for study and recreation.

We did the birding activity in Hlawga Natural Park in Jun 21,2019.We set out about 6 AM and arrived at Hlawga Natural Park around 7 AM. It is the rainy season but it was sunny in the morning. Upon arrival, we had our breakfast and started to watch birds outside the main park till 9:30 AM. This birding activity was conducted by lay win (wild) and Ko Ye’(Birder). Observers are Mai Aung Lin, Mr.Leon, Ms.Than Naing Aye, Ms.May Sabae Wai, Ms.Hay Mar Kyaw, Ms.Thazin Aung and Ms.Yamin Shwe Sin. All are 9 observers including leaders.Before we started birding , our leaders explained Do’s and Don’ts in birding and shared their knowledges about reservoirs in Yangon, importance of tree and forest to reserve the water while we were birding. We recorded Rocket-tilled Treepie, one of the highlight species in Hlawga, Bulbuls, Doves, Kingfisher, Bee-eater and any other species. After that we took  a rest for a while in a local restaurant near Hlawga National Park.

Van Hasselt's  Sunbird

Abbott's Babbler

Black-crested Bulbul

Sharing knowledges concerning birding

Then we went to minizoo. We took some photos of Abbott’s Babbler and Van Hasselt’s Sunbird there. We recorded Ruby-cheeked Sunbird,Olive-backed Sunbird, Copper-throated Sunbird, Oriental Magpie Robin and any other species too.Next We went back to the parking in front of  Hlawga Natural Park and went to the park for lunch. We had lunch in near camp 2 in the park. Our breakfast, lunch including zone fees were sponsored by Bird and Nature Tours Myanmar (BNTM) .After our lunch, we watched birds around again. The weather changed and became gloomy. It is not good weather for birding. That’s why we took some group photos and went back around 1;30 PM. We listed 41 species of birds in Hlawga. We got many experiences and knowleges in birding activity.

Reported by Hay Mar

The rainy season is starting on July in Myanmar and it is a good time for birder to read and write some trip reports. As a birder, who led the bird watching tour in summer and winter have some free time in this season. Fortunately, my colleague Saw Moses is free and coincidental scientist Christoph Zöckler arrived Yangon from England for bird conservation workshop and we grab this good chance to visit the Ayeyarwaddy Delta region, which is situated in south of Myanmar according to the ornithological regions in south-east Asia and play an importance role for wetland depended bird species in the country, for looking the rare birds such as vulnerable species of Sarus Crane, Jerdon’s Babbler which previously thought to be extinct and resurfaced in March 2015 rediscovered by the team from Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Myanmar and Yellow-breasted bunting (Emberiza aureola) that is become critically endangered according to the IUCN Red List.

Therefore we decided to drive there on 17 June 2017 at 1:00 pm. It is raining in the morning before we left Yangon and luckily the rain was stopped the whole afternoon. We stopped several times on the way to find the birds and we recorded these species: Lesser Whistling-ducks, Cotton Pygmy-gooses, four juvenile of Painted Storks, Asian Openbills, Yellow Bitterns, Indian Pond-herons, Eastern Cattle Egrets, at least six Grey Herons, Great Egrets, Intermediate Egrets, Little Egrets, Little Cormorants, six Oriental Daters, Black-shoulder Kites, heard everywhere and seen two Watercocks, Bronze-winged Jacanas, Rock Pigeons, Red Collared-doves, Spotted Doves,

Greater Coucals,White-throated Kingfishers,Little Green Bee-eaters, Blue-tailed Bee-eaters, Common Ioras, Black Drongos, House and Eastern Jungle Crows, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, White-rumped Munias, Eurasian Tree-sparrows.

We stayed one night at Soe Theikpan Guest House in small town, Wakhaema. The guest house is clean with bathroom attached and reasonable price but no hot water and breakfast. Foreigners have to show their passport for staying overnight.

On second day, 18 June 2017, early next morning we checked out from guest house and went to local tea shop where we can get fried rice with omelette or half fried egg, some local snacks with tea and instant coffee mix for our breakfast. We drove back along the same way we came on the first day in the welcome weather and stop at the place which has some patch of grasslands with a grove of rain trees. Here we found a nice variety of birds, including a pair of Sarus Crane, Coppersmith Barbet, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Plaintive Cuckoo, Black Bittern, Red-wattled Lapwing, four Oriental Pratincoles with a young one was fed, a pair of Spotted Owlets, Indian Roller, Pied Kingfisher, Ashy Woodswallow, a nice view of Streaked Weavers building their nests, Asian Golden Weaver in breeding plumage, Chestnut Munia, House and Plain-backed Sparrows, Paddyfield Pipit, Jungle and Common Mynas, Asian Pied and Chestnut-tailed Starlings, Pied Bushchat, Oriental Magpie-robins, Common Tailorbirds, Red-whiskered and Red-vented Bulbuls.

Although we tried to find one of our target species Jerdon’s Babbler by using the playback but absent. And then we moved to another spot and took a walk off the main road along the muddy path through the massive grasslands. Shortly afterwards however, we spotted the real thing in the right habitat and, after a hot pursuit we eventually tracked the bird to a feeding site where we could watch it at close range as long as we wanted. Two of them were feeding on the tall reeds and also collecting the nest material which looked like the cotton between the two leaflets of reed and it might be used for spreading on the nest to smooth the floor of it. Two different groups of Sarus Crane, four in the first group including a young one and six in the second group. Yellow-eyed and Chestnut-capped Babblers, several Zitting Cisticolas, Grey-breasted, Yellow-bellied and Plain Prinias were also found. The habitats around this area is still in good condition but what should we worry is the newly establishment of fish pond near the grasslands.

We spent the whole morning for looking birds and drove back when the torrential rain started and had our lunch on the way back. It took us three hours from the birding site to Yangon.

Reported by Lay Win (Wild)