Our only city visited in India provided hornbills and hundreds of kites. Nearby Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary hosts pelicans, eagles, herons and ibises. Mysore blends culture and vibrant city life with some great birding.

Bustling Bangkok offers local goodies in urban Lumphini and Rot Fai Parks and many waders and migrants in Bang Pu wetland. We face exotic bird trade at a local market and see a lost species on a museum.

A visit to La Mesa Eco Park fits in a one-day stopover in Manila to connect with Luzon and Philippine specialties without leaving town: ashy thrush, western hooded pitta and stripe-sided rhabdornis.