Asia bird-watching is some of the best in the world

The Wall Street Journal weekend's Steve Mollman reports from Southeast Asia on the growing popularity of bird-watching in that part of the world.

His first-hand account starts off bad; he woke up late for the beginning of his Bali, Indonesia birding tour and runs to meet his group - (probably making a big ruckus and actually scaring the birds the group wants to see).

Most of the people who go on bird-watching tours in Asia are westerners, but the sport is slowly catching on with Asians:

"In fact, birders are spoiled for choice in Asia, with great sites from Malaysia to China to Taiwan. Indonesia's Sulawesi island 'is becoming increasingly popular,' thanks in part to better roads and more inter-island flights, says James Eaton, a 26-year-old British birding enthusiast who runs U.K.-based Birdtour Asia.

And then there is India. 'Everywhere you go, there's birds,' says Mr. Eaton. Even in Delhi's city center, he says he finds species ranging from eagles to wild green parakeets."

Read the full story: Flight time: bird-watching takes off in Asia

Mollman mentions the bird-watching tours in Cambodia run by the Sam Veasna Center, where Ecotravel News traveled to last year. For more on this click here to read my print report and click here to watch my video report.