Thoughts on Cambodia

Hi everyone, my family and I recently flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Phnom Penh is so different, and sad and depressing. Why? First of all, I have never seen so much poverty in one city before. Many people just live on mats on the sidewalk, some babies don't have any clothes, beggars are scattered around the city, and I heard that the average Cambodian lives off $1 a day. The city is hot, low 90s in winter. Rotting garbage is everywhere, causing the city to smell in several places. I feel incredibly lucky to be where I'm from and have grown up the way that I have. Life is tough here. Another thing that made me sad was the whole trapping birds in cages thing. I respect other people's culture, but I don't approve of this. The man in the white hat pictured below uses Barn Swallows to make money. Here is the process. First, he traps the birds. Second, he asks people to give him money, and in return you can let a bird free for good luck. The first thing that the birds do is skim the water of the Tonle Sap River, then fly right back to the man after their quick drink. They're trained to do this. His customers may think they are helping the birds by freeing them, but they're not. They are only helping this unkind man. If you ever come here never support this practice. A bird being trapped in a cage for life with other birds is like you being stuck in a room for life with other people, only escaping to drink water. The birds all looked very unhealthy, their color fading. They were dying. 

After walking for a few more minutes, we walked to a temple that we planned to see. I wanted to bird a little, so I went around to the back of the wat. It was sad. There were dead birds everywhere. I saw one who was still alive though, but he did not look well. After the caged birds are so worn down that they can no longer fly, the owner throws them out in this big, hot, dirty, polluted city to die. But there was still hope for this dying Scaly Breasted Munia. We thought he was probably thirsty, so we decided to help him out. Poor bird.

In fact, there were so many dead birds that I captured 3 in one picture. There is a dead Barn Swallow in the bottom of the picture, a dead Scaly Breasted Munia near the red brick by the tree and another dead bird a few inches away on the other side of the red brick. More dead birds were also seen, 1 including a squished Scaly Breasted Munia on the sidewalk.

Luckily I did see some healthy birds, such as this unknown flycatcher.

After that, we got hungry and went to a restaurant for lunch. I'm not joking, they served tarantula, which is common in Cambodia.

We walked to our last spots for the day, the Silver Pagoda and the Royal Palace. We had almost arrived, and then a large black bird flew into a nearby tree. ASIAN KOEL, life bird! I also saw this Coppersmith Barbet when we arrived at the Silver Pagoda and the Royal Palace.

During our time in Phnom Penh we also went to the Killing Fields, which is a result of Pol Pot's radical view of the world in which he cleared entire cities forcing people to work as peasants in the countryside. During that time it was believed that between 1 and 3 million people died. Pol Pot was a cruel man. Unfortunately, he lived a long happy life.

At the killing fields I did manage to see a bunch of BLACK WINGED STILTS, which was a pleasant surprise. Each morning we had breakfast at our hotel, and I birded on the property. I saw my life bird DARK NAPED ORIOLE there!

After a few days in Phnom Penh, we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia, which I liked more. On our first full day there, we woke up at 5:00 AM to go see the sunrise at Angkor Wat.  Angkor Wat was built in the first half of the 12th century. I managed to get a great shot of it at sunrise.

 As the sun came up, I saw this COMMON MYNA.

And this BLUE ROCK THRUSH.

On our drive back, we saw wild monkeys. I got some great and hilarious photos. We stopped along the road to watch. One of them came up to the basket in the front of the tuk tuk, which is a motorbike with a trailer attached where the people ride in. The monkey removed a mask from the basket, and the driver offered the monkey a water bottle. He gladly took it, but could not get it open! He eventually did, and drank it all. Its pretty entertaining to watch! I got videos, but sadly they didn't upload.

Later in our stay, we also explored many other wats in the Angkor Wat area. I saw my life birds HAINAN BLUE FLYCATCHER, BLACK HEADED BULBUL and RED BREASTED PARAKEET all in one spot. Hainan Blue Flycatcher below.

One of the craziest things I have ever seen was this tree whose roots grew around one of the temples!

Finally, I went on a special birding trip to Phnom Krom, the best nearby birding spot. It's and array of 
ricefields, which makes for good birding. Our guide, Ladong, picked us up at 5:30 and we were at Phnom Krom by 6:00 AM. Ladong knew every call he heard. Just as we were listening and scanning for birds, my dad pointed out the beautiful sunrise. 

We saw many birds. At our first stop I got 4 lifers, DUSKY WARBLER, ASIAN OPENBILL, COTTON PYGMY GOOSE and BLUE TAILED BEE EATER! We went off to look for waders next, and some lifers included WHITE BROWED CRAKE, WOOD SANDPIPER, PHEASANT TAILED JACANA, PLAIN PRINIA, LITTLE CORMORANT, and YELLOW WAGTAIL. Then, we saw a YELLOW BITTERN fly right by us! We also saw a CINNAMON BITTERN very briefly as it flew away, I wanted to get better looks. We also saw a COMMON KINGFISHER at this location. We did get a few flocks of BLACK WINGED STILTS fly over us, and I managed to snap this pic.

We were just walking back, and then there it was, I had flushed the CINNAMON BITTERN! We stopped at one more location, and lifers were CHESTNUT CAPPED WARBLER, LITTLE RINGED PLOVER, and ORIENTAL PRATINCOLE, Ladong's first sighting at this location. It was a great day birding, and together we saw and heard 40 species On our last full day here we saw 2 more wats, and I saw this really cool bird there, but I don't know what it is. Any Help?

 At what I think was the very last wat, I saw COMMON HILL MYNA, my second sighting. I am also adding my life bird COMMON TAILORBIRD that I saw in Thailand to my list! Stay Tuned, Bali is next!

Bird List For Cambodia

Cotton Pygmy Goose 7 life bird!                                            Life List 395 (18 life birds in Cambodia) +                   
                                                                                              Common Tailorbird (seen recently)
Little Grebe 1
Asian Openbill 200 life bird!
Little Cormorant 1 life bird!
Yellow Bittern 1 life bird!
Cinnamon Bittern 2 life bird!
Intermediate Egret 1 
Little Egret 1 
Cattle Egret 20
Chinese Pond Heron 3
White Browed Crake 1 life bird!
Eurasian Moorhen 1 
Black Winged Stilt 25
Pheasant Tailed Jacana 4 life bird!
Wood Sandpiper 1 life bird!
Oriental Pratincole 1 life bird!
Spotted Dove 1 
Zebra Dove 2 
Plaintive Cuckoo 3
Asian Palm Swift 1
Common Kingfisher 2
Blue Tailed Bee Eater 8 life bird!
Brown Shrike 2
Black Drongo 7
Bank Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 20
Yellow Vented Bulbul 3
Black Collared Starling X (seen by Ladong and my dad)
Dusky Warbler 2 life bird!
Chestnut Crowned Warbler 2 life bird!
Golden Headed Cisticola (heard by Ladong)
Plain Prinia 2 life bird!
Siberian Rubythroat 2 (Heard)
Siberian Stonechat 2
Pied Bushcaht 1
Common Myna X 
White Vented Myna X
Yellow Wagtail 2 life bird!
Oriental Pipit 7 life bird!
Scaly Breasted Munia 2
Black Naped Oriole X life bird!
Rock Pigeon X
Common Tailorbird X
Ashy Drongo 2
Scarlet Backed Flowerpecker 2
Common Hill Myna X
Hainan Blue Flycatcher 2 life bird!
Black Headed Bulbul X life bird!
Red Breasted Parakeet X life bird!