Cat Tien National Park . A fond farewell.

At the end of May Vietnam was doing well in its response to the Covid 19 pandemic and so Cat Tien National Park was opening up to allow visitors. Grateful to be finally out of lock-down I took the opportunity for a visit for a few days This was to be my last visit before leaving Asia.

Puddling butterflies Cat Tien NP Vietnam

I was a little late for the peak of the butterfly seasonal emergence. I experienced that last year when the forest was alive with spectacular clouds of butterflies, however there were still plenty to see. 

Graphium antiphates itamputi (Fivebar Swordtail) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Clouded monitor lizards can be spotted both on the forest floor and in the trees at Cat Tien. This lovely juvenile example was quick to head up a tree as it detected my approach.

Varanus nebulosus (Clouded Monitor Lizard)

Cat Tien NP Vietnam

As usual, I stayed at the Forest Floor Lodge by the Ben Cuu rapids within the park boundaries. I will take away many happy memories from this place because of its idyllic location and friendly, knowledgeable staff. It is a fantastic place for anyone serious about seeing wildlife in Vietnam.

Ben Cuu Rapids

The banks of the river by the lodge were a spectacular site as they were still alive with swarms of puddling butterflies. I was able to get these shots of large groups, mainly made up of Graphium species.

Graphium species Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Graphium species Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Graphium species Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Staying in the park overnight has the advantage of being able to do night walks. This time I took a UV light with me as well as a torch in order to hunt for scorpions. I was not disappointed and found the two main species that I had encountered before. One with big claws and a small sting the other with small claws and a big sting. Both gave a beautiful turquoise blue colour in the UV.

Possibly Isometrus Sps. Cat Tien NP Vietnam 

Heterometrus laoticus (Vietnam forest scorpion).Cat Tien NP Vietnam

There were also whip scorpions and a number of spiders including this huge red-eyed monster of a spider sitting in a small tree.

Tree Spider Cat Tien NP Vietnam

As well as the arachnids, there were plenty of insects, the most fascinating of which was this female glow-worm/fire fly. It was shaped very much like the trilobite beetles I had seen in Malaysia but belongs to a completely unrelated beetle group. I saw several of these hunting on the side of the trail casting a green glowing light.

Fire Fly Female Cat Tien NP Vietnam

The wet season rains also brought out a number of amphibians onto the road outside the lodge at night.

It is always nice to get up early in the forest and first light is often a misty magical time. With the dawn comes a different cast of animals. Walking through the forest at this time I disturbed some barking deer and a Siamese fire back pheasant on the edge of the botanic garden planting, all too quick for me to get a decent photo of. With the wet season the leaf cover makes it harder to spot and photograph the larger mammals and primates, however I still managed to see some black shanked doucs and golden cheeked gibbons in the canopy. 

Dawn mists in Cat Tien NP

Wherever there are fallen fruit on the forest floor there are butterflies taking advantage. There are two species of Arch-Duke that can often be seen here.

Lexias cyanipardus albopunctata (Blue spot Archduke) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Lexias dirtea bontouxi (Black-tip Archduke)  Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Lexias cyanipardus albopunctata (Blue spot Archduke) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Lexias cyanipardus albopunctata (Blue spot Archduke) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Many insects either have very bright or cryptic colours. I am especially fond of finding iridescent jewellery beetles and bugs.

Chrysocoris sp Cat Tien NP Vietnam

I particularly enjoy seeing insects with iridescent structural colours and I never grow bored of the flashes of blue produced by the Euploea species of butterfly that congregate on damp shaded walls around the lodge. These are easily disturbed and rise in a cloud of flashing metallic blue wings before jostling for space as they settle again.

Euploea species Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Euploea species Cat Tien NP Vietnam

At the other end of the scale some insects are incredibly well camouflaged. This mantis was beautifully disguised as a prickly twig in the gardens of the lodge.

Praying Mantis Cat Tien NP Vietnam

I always enjoy the challenge of trying to spot stick insects and there were many of this brown type near the main trail through the park. The fly on the leaf in the photo was one of many that kept landing on me attracted by my sweat. It was the first time I had encountered these unusual flies, which had wing markings that made them look like jumping spiders when at rest.

Stick insect and fly Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Every time I visit Cat Tien I see something new, and this butterfly was a first for me.

Tanaecia cocytus ambrysus (Lavendar Count) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

The great advantage of Forest Floor Lodge is that so much wildlife can be easily seen nearby and within the grounds. Over the last three years, I have visited several times. With the beautiful view of the rapids, it provides a peaceful spot to unwind and is a wonderful antidote to the buzz of life in Saigon. I will miss it.

Pond at Forest Floor Lodge

Forest Floor Lodge View

Cicada at Forest Floor Lodge Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Cat Tien Dry Season, Mammals and Reptiles.

I just spent the last few days of 2019 in Cat Tien NP.  The dry season was in full swing and the forest floor was carpeted with dry leaves.  Invertebrate numbers were much reduced since my last visit back in June however the reduction in foliage at this time of year made it perfect for spotting mammals and reptiles.

My Room Mate   Gecko gecko (Tokay) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

I saw five snakes.  My favourite was this beautiful yellow coloured oriental whip snake which was hunting a lizard in a tree near the grassland at the edge of the park. Previously I have only encountered the brown/grey form of this snake,

Ahaetulla prasina (Oriental Whip Snake) Cat Tien Vietnam

The snake was watching a Calotes lizard on the base of tree trunk.

Ahaetulla prasina (Oriental Whip Snake) Cat Tien Vietnam

After we disturbed the lizard the snake eventually gave up and headed back up the tree.

Ahaetulla prasina (Oriental Whip Snake) Cat Tien Vietnam

I also saw two kukuri snakes.  One was probably Oligodon purpurescens and had a lovely purple sheen to its scales.

Oligodon sps (poss. purpurescens) Cat tien NP Vietnam

The other kukri snake moved across the path in front of me at high speed so I only got the one slightly blurry shot.

Oligodon Sps. (poss kampucheaensis) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Having looked this snake up it looks very like a newly discovered snake Oligodon kampucheaensis, described from the cardamom mountains of Cambodia rather than the rare colour phase of the local Oligodon purpurescens, but I can’t be certain about either snake.

Lycodon Laoensis (Indo-Chinese
Wolf Snake) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Lycodon laoensis (Indo-Chinese
Wolf Snake) Cat Tien Vietnam

My fourth snake sighting was of a colourful wolf snake hunting amongst the leaf litter at night. Try as I might I couldn’t get a shot of its head as it kept diving under the leaves.

I have no idea what the fifth snake was. It was on the river bank near Heaven's rapids and escaped into cover at high speed as soon as we approached. Again I did not get a shot of its head as it was too quick for me, see below.

Unidentified Brown Snake Cat Tien NP Vietnam

I never get bored of seeing and photographing lizards, even the common ones like these.

Eutropis multifasciata (Sun Skink) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Calotes versicolor Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Calotes bachae Cat Tien NP Vietnam

I also photographed this lovely crowned spiny lizard for the first time.

Acanthosaura coronata (Crowned Spiny Lizard) Cat Tien Vietnam

Acanthosaura coronata (Crowned Spiny Lizard) Cat Tien Vietnam

With fewer leaves on the trees spotting mammals was easier. I was delighted to see 5 primates across two days including 3 species of macaque. I have seen the long tailed (Macaca mulatta)  and northern pig tailed (Macaca leonina) macaques before here, but was surprised to see rhesus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) living among the long tailed troop. It’s range is normally much farther north and would not naturally overlap with the long tailed macaques. It appears that the rhesus monkeys were released into the park by people and have since become naturalised.

Macaca mulatta (left) and Macaca fascicularis (right)

Macaca leonina (Northern pig Tailed Macaque)

I also saw a lovely male golden cheeked gibbon on the botanical garden trail as well as a few black shanked doucs.

Nomascus gabriellae (Golden Cheeked Gibbon)

Pygathrix nigripes (Black Shanked Douc)

Pygathrix nigripes (Black Shanked Douc) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

The highlight however was towards the end of the botanic garden trail, by a dry stream near Heaven's rapids. My son and I disturbed a large cat which shot off at high speed across the forest floor remarkably quietly despite the dry leaves. As it moved away, its large fluffy tail put me in mind of a snow leopard and the cat seemed to be the size of a large dog. Unfortunately it went too fast for me to get a photo. It might well have been the extremely rare fishing cat, I discovered later that one had been sighted in the same area 3 years ago. 

On the final evening in the park I saw a family of palm civets feeding on figs high up in a tree. They did not seem to be particularly bothered by my presence and managed to drop lots of figs as I watched them. I also saw a number of squirrels and tree shrews but did not get any photographs.

Paradoxurus hermaphroditus (Common Palm Civet) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Paradoxurus hermaphroditus (Common Palm Civet) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

Despite the dry season there were still a few interesting insects and arachnids about. This lovely club-tail butterfly was a species first for me.

Losaria coon doubledayi (Common Clubtail) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

This scorpion was on the main concrete path through the forest. 

Possibly Isometrus Sps. Cat Tien NP Vietnam

This blueish coloured tarantula was in a hole in the botanic garden.

Chilobrachys sp Tarantula Cat Tien NP Vietnam

This very cool huntsman spider was a guest in my room.

Heteropoda venatoria (Brown Huntsman Spider) Cat Tien NP Vietnam

I stayed at Forest Floor Lodge within the National Park and everything I photographed on this trip was within easy walking distance. The view of the rapids make this a beautiful and peaceful place to stay.

View of the rapids from the Lodge.

Lovely blue winged leaf birds have been in the garden at forest floor lodge every time I have visited.

Chloropsis cochinchinensis (Blue winged leaf bird) Cat Tien NP Vietnam