26-30 May, 2022 Ho Tram, Vung Tau, Vietnam Callyn Yorke
Introduction
This was our first visit to Ho Tram, Ba-Ria Vung Tau province, South Vietnam, about a two-hour taxi ride south of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). We booked a shoreline view room at the Ho Tram Beach Boutique Resort, a four-star accommodation with excellent facilities, services, food and access to local birding sites, i.e. Ho Tram Beach and Phuoc Buu National Park.
Although birding was our primary objective, we found other wildlife to be relatively conspicuous and easily photographed in the area. Notable herpetofauna included multiple pairs of amplecting Hylarana lateralis, a veritable breeding frenzy in two small ponds adjacent to a large dry lake in Phuoc Buu National Park.
Except for geckoes (e.g. Hemidactylus spp.), which seemed intolerant of close approach around lights at the resort, other lizards, e.g. Eutropis multifasciata and Calotes bachae, appeared habituated to the presence of humans and were easily observed at close range.
The resort allowed us easy access to shoreline birding, though it was problematic due to fairly heavy use by micro-gastropod harvesters, employed by local shrimp pond farmers.
Each morning at dusk, a small battalion of Vietnamese began sifting the sands in the shallows at low tide, filling sacks with large quantities of tiny molluscs (e.g. snails and clams). Naturally, this is an important food resource consumed by a number of migratory and resident shorebirds. The impact of such harvesting on those species is unknown, though probably increasingly significant, considering the number of resort construction projects currently in progress in Ho Tram.
Indeed, we found Ho Tram beaches, which were abundantly decorated with trash, to be largely devoid of birdlife, at least during our early morning surveys at low tide. However, that may have been as much due to an almost continuous presence of people on and near the shore, as to a significant decline in the abundance and/or availability of micro-molluscan food for birds.
An unexpected discovery near the end of our visit, was a small, migratory flock of Sanderling (Calidris alba) foraging quickly in typical fashion at the waterline. This flock was repeatedly flushed by motorbikes and other human activities on the shore and thus was difficult to approach for photos. I managed a few distant shots and later found that one of the birds in my photos had been color-banded on the upper right leg (tibiotarsus); the orange flag-style band displayed an identification code: BMA (the numerical aluminum band on the opposite hindlimb was unreadable). I immediately emailed the Asian regional bird banding team at the Yamashima Institute for Ornithology, Japan, with the sighting report. Mariko Senda, who manages banding reports for the institute, responded promptly and forwarded the details to a Southern Australian team, where the bird had presumably been originally captured, processed, tagged and released. Presently, I am awaiting a response from the Australian ornithologists with whatever information has been collected for this bird.
We hired a taxi for a morning visit to Phuoc Buu National Park, located about 15 km north of Ho Tram. A friendly Vietnamese caretaker greeted us at the Arboretum park entrance, gave us a trail map and instructions, as his four dogs and a troupe of macaques stood guard in the parking area. We were allowed to proceed into the park about a half-hour prior to the official opening time (0700 hrs.).
Aside from a few distant vocalizations, there wasn’t much birdlife in evidence along the pathways through the park. Instead, we were greeted by hordes of relentless mosquitoes. We pressed on for nearly 0.5 kilometer before finding the show piece of the park – a large lake surrounded by a eucalyptus monoculture, coastal second-growth, dilapidated boardwalks and other wooden structures. The lake, however was dry, which the caretaker had failed to mention. Only two small, weedy ponds on the perimeter remained. In those ephemeral swamps, were hundreds of highly vocal frogs (Hylarana lateralis), so crowded, that amplecting pairs were frequently displaced by others engaged in the same enthusiastic activities. So, this rather extraordinary biological event, a spectacle that was doubtless a result of a local drought, became the highlight of our visit to Phuoc Buu. It was just the sort of scene one might expect to find Sir David Attenborough and his BBC film crew, diligently documenting another remarkable natural event scarcely known to the rest of the world.
Annotated Bird List (37 Species) Ho Tram, Vung Tau, Vietnam (May 26-30, 2022) Callyn Yorke
Weather: Mostly cloudy with intermittent thundershowers in the afternoon and evenings; light rain occasionally before noon; air temp. 22-28C; wind NNE 1-3 kph; tide low @ 0600-0700 hrs. seas moderate to choppy, surf 0.2- 0.5m.
Abbreviations and Terminology
Abundance: Numbers (1,2,…) following each species entry represent the highest single-survey count. Frequency: C = commonly observed on all or most of the surveys; UC = uncommonly found, e.g. on half or less of the surveys; R = found on only once. (note: some locations, e.g. Phuoc Buu NP, were surveyed only once).
Sex, Age and Molt (if known): m = male; f = female; ad = adult; imm = immature; bsc = basic (non-breeding plumage); alt = alternate (breeding) plumage.
Behavior and Ecology: vocal = calls and/or song; greg = gregarious; low/mid/upper = levels in shrubs/trees; agl = height (m) above ground level.
Location: HTBR = Ho Tram Boutique Beach Resort grounds (ornamental fruiting trees, shrubs; lawns, lily ponds, buildings and other developments; HTS = Ho Tram beach and shoreline (casuarina groves, low beach scrub, inner and outer shore; nearshore waters); PBNP = Phuoc Buu National Park (see introductory remarks); RS = roadside scrub, ruderal patches along paved coastal roads through the area; Ubiq = Ubiquitous in appropriate habitat.
Systematics and Nomenclature largely follows HBW and Birdlife International, Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World (2014;2016) – see also, Craik, R. and L. Q Minh 2018. Birds of Vietnam (p. 18).
- Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) 3 (m,f) greg. at edge of forest, PBNP.
- Red Turtle Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica) 4, C, greg. pairs in mid to upper level in casuarinas, HTBR.
- Zebra Dove (Geopelia striata) 8, C, vocal, greg. pairs on ground and upper mid-level of trees, HTBR, HTS, RS.
- Germain’s Swiftlet (Aerodramus germani) 30 C, greg. flying 1-50m agl (lowest early am and following rains) over beach scrub, lagoons, shoreline, casuarinas, HTBR, HTS.
- Greater Coucal (Centropus sinensis) 2 UC, vocal (unseen) HTS, RS, PBNP.
- Plaintive Cuckoo Cacomantis merulinus) 2 C, vocal (mostly unseen) in tall trees in and around the resort, HTBR.
- Eastern Great Egret (Ardea modesta) 1 UC, flying over adjacent fields, 40 m agl, RS.
- White-faced Plover (Charadrius dealbatus) 6 C, bsc., individuals and pairs on inner and outer shore, HTS (photo).
- Lesser Sandplover (Charadrius mongolus) 1 ad. alt. R, flushed from inner beach, flew s then ne over shore, HTS (photo).
- Greater Sandplover (Charadrius Leschenaultii) 1 bsc. UC with WFPL on outer shore, HTS (photo – see intro.).
- Sanderling (Calidris alba) 5 bsc & alt. UC, greg. foraging quickly on outer shore at or near the waterline, often flushed by people on beach, HTS (photo – see intro.).
- Little Tern (Sternula albifrons) 20 ad, imm., C, greg. a grounded flock was flushed and became highly vocal, swooping low over my head as I approached relatively secluded beach scrub near campground at north end of shoreline survey, suggesting a nesting colony; small groups of juveniles on outer shore, sometimes associated with other terns, e.g. GBTE and COTE, HTS (photo).
- Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) 3 ad. R, greg. flushed from outer shore with COTE and LITE, HTS.
- Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) 4 ad., imm, UC, greg. taking flight from shore when approached, flying around over shore and nearshore waters, not returning to land on outer beach, north HTS (photo).
- Blue-throated Bee-eater (Merops viridis) 5 imm. C, greg. sallying for insects (e.g. hymenopterans) from low shrubs and posts on inner shore and roadside scrub, HTS, HTBR, RS (photo).
- White-breasted Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) 1 R, perched in roadside tree near entrance to PBNP.
- Golden-bellied Gerygone (Gerygone sulphurea) 2 UC, greg. vocal, a pair collecting nest material from clumps of dead casuarina foliage, HTBR.
- Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) 2 ad., C, vocal, one on nest 5m agl in subcanopy of ornamental garden tree at resort reception, HTBR.
- Sunda Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica) 1 vocal UC, in casuarinas, HTBR.
- Racquet-tailed Treepie (Crypsirina temia) 2 ad. R, a vocal pair foraging on clusters of small green fruits in garden tree, HTBR.
- Eastern Jungle Crow (Corvus levaillantii) 2 UC, vocal in flight over resort, HTBR.
- Indochinese Bushlark (Mirafra erythrocephala) ad, imm. C, greg. in short beach scrub, north HTS (photo).
- Yellow-bellied Prinia (Prinia flaviventris) 3 C, vocal, greg. in beach scrub, gardens and adjacent small trees, HTS, HTBR.
- Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) 4 C, vocal, greg. pairs in second-growth edge and garden trees, HTBR, HTS, RS, PBNP.
- Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) 1 R, foraging in fruiting garden tree, HTBR.
- Sunda Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus apalis) 3 C, vocal, greg. in a variety of garden shrubs and trees, HTBR (photo).
- Streak-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus conradi) 3, vocal, greg. in second-growth, PBNP (photo – see intro.).
- Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) 4, C, greg. on lawns and edges of villages, HTBR, RS.
- Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis) 2 C, greg. – vocal, pairs in garden shrubs and trees, HTBR.
- Brown-throated Sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis) 2 (m,f) individuals foraging in flowering garden shrubs and trees, HTBR.
- Ornate Sunbird (Cinnyris ornatus) 2 (m,f) UC, greg. – pairs foraging in adjacent flowering garden trees, HTBR.
- Greater Crimson Sunbird (Aethopyga seheriae) 2 (m,f) C, pairs foraging in adjacent garden flowering trees and tall shrubs, HTBR.
- Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura nisoria) 6 UC, greg. in garden trees and second-growth, HTBR.
- Plain-backed Sparrow (Passer flaveolus) 2 (m,f) UC, greg. a pair evidently nesting 6m agl in a metal utility pole cavity, RS- HTBR.
- Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 6 (m,f) C, vocal, greg. often on ground in gardens and inner beach, HTBR, HTS.
- Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus) 1 R, flushed from ground, inner beach scrub, HTS.
- Oriental Greenfinch (Chloris sinica) 5 (m,f) UC, greg. in small casuarinas and other trees at edge of inner beach, HTS.