Our tour targets a number of magnificent endangered species as we work with guides from the Cambodia Bird Guide Association, founded initially in 2006 (rebranded in 2016) and dedicated to safeguarding habitat and rare birds as well as helping local people by generating income from visitors for them.
The tour starts in Siem Reap, very close to the marvelous array of temples in the Angkor complex, and we go birding at several of these and have a short tour to the incredible Angkor Wat itself. One day will see us visit Changkran Roy; here the local villagers have set up a blind where we have chances to see rare birds such as Bar-bellied Pitta and Siamese Fireback. This is an example of ecotourism in action as the money earned goes back to the village conservation project.
We'll also visit the fantastic waterbird colony on Lake Tonle Sap, where hundreds of herons and egrets are joined by a few pairs of both Lesser and Greater adjutants, in precipitous decline elsewhere, and the beautiful Painted Stork, with odd pairs of the rare Milky Stork among them. Being out on the lake among the floating villages en route to the sanctuary is an amazing experience. We'll also visit the slave labor wetland artifact of Ang Trepang Thmor, a now-abandoned rice project with Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed jacanas, Pied Harrier, and a population of Sarus Crane. En route to the north we will make a foray for Bengal Florican, a very rare bustard that survives on grassland sanctuaries under heavy pressure from rice farmers.
The dry forest at Tmatboey holds the last of the Critically Endangered Giant Ibis, a shy woodland bird with remnant populations of about 250-300 birds, almost all in Cambodia. There are also the very rare White-shouldered Ibis and White-rumped (Pygmy) Falcon, plus an exciting variety of forest species including many woodpeckers (Black-headed, White-bellied, Great Slaty, Rufous-bellied, Yellow-crested, Rufous, and Spot-breasted) and owls (Brown Fish-Owl, Spotted and Brown wood-owls, Oriental Scops-Owl, Asian Barred Owlet, and Brown Hawk-Owl).
We'll spend a day and a night at the Vulture Restaurant at Baeng Toal, another village conservation project where three Critically Endangered species of vulture--Red-headed, White-rumped, and Slender-billed--come in to feed. At Kratie on the Mekong we will search for the rare Asian Golden Weaver and the recently described Mekong Wagtail, whose scientific name commemorates Sam Veasna, a pioneer of Cambodian bird conservation.
Seima is a large area of moist evergreen forest in the hills along the Vietnam border, with some very different species than we see elsewhere in the tour coming here into Cambodia. Much of it is protected forest, but logging for valuable hardwoods is a serious problem, as is burning. Exciting species we’ve previously seen here include Germains’s Peacock-Pheasant, Green Peafowl, Banded and Silver-breasted broadbills, Great Hornbill, Rufous-bellied Eagle, four species of Barbet including the very localized Annam (Indochinese) and Red-vented barbets, Silver-eared Mesia, and many others.
The tour finale is a visit for the newly described Cambodian Tailorbird near Phnom Penh--ours was the first tour group to see this in 2013 while it was still undescribed.
As noted earlier, we'll spend time birding among the extraordinary ruins of Angkor Wat and the incredible nearby temple complex, a stunning, exotic backdrop and one of the cultural wonders of the world! We'll have an expert temple guide there, so the cultural aspects are nicely catered to and the photo opportunities wonderful. The start of the tour is quite relaxed, with ample opportunities for resting, manicures, pedicures, and shopping in Siem Reap markets.
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