Today I was up before 6AM to make sure the weather was clear. It was, so I was going to head up to Son Tra Mountain to do some birding. My driver was early so we started at 6:20 and drove to the sidewalk cafe for him to get a coffee and some breakfast. I was already fueled up so I declined this opportunity to test my digestive system. We got half way up the mountain to the gate where they stop all the automatic scooters. The automatic scooters can't handle the steep 18% grades so they are not allowed. I was in a car so that was not going to be a problem. The problem was that the gate is not opened until 7:30 so the driver had to cool his heels and wait while I started out on foot. Right off the bat, I sat two lifebirds, the racket Tailed Treepie and the Pin-striped Tit-Babbler. As I headed up the hill, I saw bicyclists going up and coming down, hikers, runners and a few other early birds. More life birds peeked out of the trees and a I saw a few repeat customers. My technique is to photograph every bird I see and sort out the "who's who" later. It turns out that this was the Great Backyard Bird Count weekend so taking note of every bird was exactly what I needed to do. After 7:30 the driver, Karo, drove up to me and I jumped in. We drove up higher to the mountain top where I got out for a few pictures. I would walk the road in likely birding spots ands he would either catch up to me or drive ahead and I would catch up to him. In total I documented 11 species, 6 of them new to my lifelist. Two or three other species flew in front of me and I could have made an educated guess, but I only count the birds that I have a half decent picture of.
A beach side fish market
Karo gets his breakfast
It started out with a squirrel!
A scooter performance issue
The Racket Tailed Treepie Lifebird #1
I hear you!
This looks like waves but it the a fog layer at ground level, a clear layer and then a cloud layer up top
Pin-stiped Tit-Babbler lifebird #2
A very nice looking bird
Da Nang peeking out of the fog
The forest is dense along the road
Hikers
A Greater Racket Tailed Drongo
Here the tail feathers are more easily seen
The Greater Iora is considered rare Lifebird #3
They have a distinctive white patch on the back
Great views of Da Nang
The power lines were not well maintained and often I could hear sparking noises off too the side
A water tank?
It is 7:30 and the gates have been opened
Up top there are large domes
See no domes, hear no domes, speak not of any domes
More fantastic views
Just me and the monkeys
Great views
The greenish color gives it a feel of being abandoned
This is seriously a steep 18% grade
The hikers made it
This deer looks like it is has the butcher's guide lines already marked out
I must be a bit scary for this little guy
Walking this stretch
I found a side path that ended here
But gave me a good picture of a house swift Life Bird #4
The other peak of Son Tra mountain
Three different domes
This little monkey was more relaxed
It seems to be getting foggier down low
A strip throated bulbul
Olive Backed Pipit Lifebird #5
Off in the distance another monkey
A restricted area...maybe I won't take pictures here
Hang on!
No need to go further downhill
Ill go downhill this way
Grooming on a Saturday before noon
A relaxed pair
The fog is definitely getting thicker
A forced march of school kids
the Dark Necked Tailorbird Lifebird #6 for the day
Another curve on the downhill ride
A White Throated Kingfisher
A cool boulder field with a waterfall
Doing some fishing
A stream flowing into the ocean
Mr. Crabs
Down on the shore line
It is not easy to row a round boat
Big shell
Carrying the boat
Little Egrets
These containers of food were on the elevator when I got home
Lots of eggs
