Author: summerwong

Sichuan, China

 

9th – 26th June 2017

Leader: Summer Wong

This is a tour joined by two families: Paul & Jill Rendell, Ophelia Winyard and her parents: Colin Winyard, Cordelia Brand

 

Day 1-2, Paul and Jill arrived on 9th June, Colin family arrived on 10th June.

Day 3 June 11 Chengdu Panda Base, Chengdu to Tangjiahe NNR

It’s Sunday today, lots of tourists in the panda base, we headed straight to the place where normal tourists do last in sightseeing tour, so no body there except us on the begging of the day, there we got our first male Chinese Grosbeak, and White-browed Laughingthrush every where on the ground and trees, Chinese Bulbul flying around on the top of the trees, Grey-capped Greenfinches very active and in big number, Chinese Pond Heron, Black-capped Night Heron, Cattle Egret, Little Egret flying across above head. Red-billed Liothrix went crazy to the owlet call, 2 Rufous-capped Babblers came with a few Japanese White-eye and a pair of Collared Finchbill. When we were watching at a small group of Vinous-throated Parrotbill on a open flowering land a pair of Chinese Bamboo Partridges walking alone the edge of bamboo, and eventually cross the flower field and the road into another bamboo field. Near the swan lake we got a big group of White-rumped Munia, Common Moorhen and Little Grebe in the lake. On the way to baby panda enclosure, we got Rufous-faced Warbler right above our head. After lunch outside of the panda base, we headed to Tangjiahe, birding on the way, got Brown-breasted Bulbul, Crested Myna, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Asian House Martin, Long-tailed Minivet, Crested Kingfisher. We arrived at Tangjiahe in late afternoon, on the way to hotel, we got Wild Boar and Chinese Goral.

Day 4 June 12 Tangjiahe

Before we took the bus inside the park to the tragopan place, we tried to look for Golden Pheasant on the way by our own coach, on a usual place, we heard it, but seems like it up on the slope somewhere, it’s calling a lot, but not interested our tape, so we decided to climb up to reach the bird, Colin and I went up on the middle area of the slope, then we found the male pheasant feeding on a tree, we told the others we got the bird, but no one wanted to climb up, we had to go down and decided to leave to the tragopan place, on the way, we changed mind, decide to have a try again, to photograph the bird, so we drove back, and this time, Ophelia, Cordelia and Paul made up mind to come with Colin and I，when we reached the pheasant tree, we found a gap to look the bird, after we all had a view of it, it jumped off the tree, we moved quietly to change a anger hiding behind a tree, we got great view of it feeding on the grass for around 10 minutes, everybody was happy of the result. We had breakfast on the parking lot while we were waiting for the bus to the tragopan place, there we got Sulphur-breasted Warbler. With some other Chinese tourists, we took the bus to Motianling, did birding alone the way up, got Yellow-bellied Tit, Martin’s Warbler, Large-billed Leaf Warbler, Salim Ali’s Swift, while we were watching a bird wave of small birds, a pair of Barred Laughingthrush singing in the background, took us a while to get them out. In he bird wave we had Ashy-throated Warbler, Claudia’s Leaf Warbler, Emei Leaf Warbler, Kloss’s Leaf Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler. On the middle way, we got a group of White-throated Laughingthrush, and a pair of Spotted Nutcracker, and a singing Indian Blue Robin, very cooperative, had great view of it, near to the top area, got a very close view of a White-backed Woodpecker, in the bamboo, got Golden-breasted Fulvetta, on the top, we got another small birds’ wave, Pere David’s Tits, Yellow-browed Tits, Fire-capped Tits, White-collared Yuhina and Japanese White-eye. We waited for the tragopan to show, but no sign, around lunch time then we decided to go down slowly, on the way down, we got Ferruginous Flycatcher, Colin walked in the front, he spotted a male Temminck’s Tragopan walking alone the trail, Ophelia and I had a glimpse of it running into the bamboo, I went back to show the other the direction of the bird, but it crossed the river to the other side disappeared in the bamboo, the others behind missed it. On the way back to hotel, on the river, got White-crowned Forktail and Brown Dipper. On the low area, in a bird wave, got Mrs Gould’s Sunbird, Chestnut-flanked White-eye. On the day, got Tibetan Macaque on the road in the moring, Reeve’s Muntjac, Takin, Chinese Serow.

Day 5 June 13 Tangjiahe to Chuanzhusi

After breakfast in hotel, we headed to Chuanzhusi via Huanglong, out of Tangjiahe nature reserve, we managed to see a Black-streaked Scimitar Babbler and a Collared Crow flew across the road and landed on a big tree, there we also got actively singing Eastern-crowned Warbler and Chinese Leaf Warbler, a pair of Yellow-throated Bunting showed well near by the road, Elliot’s and White-browed Laughingthrush and a group of Vinous-throated Parrotbill in the same place. When we arrived at the high altitude area, we got Chestnut Thrush, Daurian and Blue-fronted Redstart, Grey-backed Shrike, Red-billed Chough and Alpine Leaf Warbler. After dinner we discussed about the plan for next morning, normally we will start in the very early morning to look for Sichuan Wood Owl, but except Colin would like to try very early for the owl, nobody else want to do so, the final decision is we will start after sunrise.

Day 6 June 14 Gonggangling, Ruoergai

This morning we started around 6AM, had breakfast at a parking lot. The first bird I tried was Sichuan Wood Owl, but no response at all, I heard Siberian Rubythroat singing in the bush, so we tried to get the rubythroat, but it started to rain and was windy, making the bird very hiding, it kept moving around us but always through the bushes near to the ground, very hard to get a chance to have good view of it for everybody. After everybody had reasonable view of the bird, we headed to look for other species. There we got Hodgson’s Redstart, Himalayan Beautiful Rosefinch,
Hodgson’s Treecreeper, Grey-crested Tit, White-winged Grosbeak, Greenish Warbler, Bianchi’s Warbler, Buff-barred, Sichuan, Hume’s and Alpine Leaf Warbler. We heard Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush singing nearby, managed to get them out, but they were very hiding, just got view of them flying through the pine trees and moved around the bushes on the ground. Around 8:30 AM，I heard Sichuan Wood Owl calling in long distance behind us, we turned back, tried to get it closer, then we heard it very close, but took me some time to spot it was just in front of us hiding behind the thick pine leaves, can only saw it through a small hole. But later it moved out just seating on a dead pine tree in the open. We kept following it, it was moving around us more than 2 hours. A pair of Crested Tit Warbler hanging around in the pine trees for a while, they were always high up on the big pine trees, while we were watching the tit warbler, a Grey-headed Woodpecker calling loudly and flew to the pine tree behind us. After Gonggangling forest, we had lunch in Chuanzhusi then headed to Ruoergai. On the way, we got Daurian Jackdaw, Black-necked Crane, Little Owl, Carrian Crow, Northern Raven, Golden Eagle, Lammergier and Himalayan Griffon.

Day 7 June 15 Ruoergai
Started in the early morning, our first target species was Blue-eared Pheasant, on the way I heard the call, so stopped there and checked, eventually found it sitting on a pine tree down the valley, because most of it’s body was hiding in the tree and distance made it hard to spot it. We had good view of it through the telescope. Later it jumped off the tree, starting to walk up the slope, another 3 Blue-eared Pheasants just showed on the slope too, no idea where they came from. We stayed there watching them walked up the slope slowly, obviously they were about to cross the road to the up area. After breakfast, we started to look for Chinese Grouse, we flashed one out from the bushes, it flew into the pine forest in front us. In that area, we got a male Three-toed Woodpecker on top of a dead pine tree, Maroon-backed Accentor singing on top of pine trees. On the way up we got a pair of White-browed Tit Warbler in the small pine trees and bushes, alway moving and hiding. White-cheeked Nuthatch was found on the usual place, singing loudly on top of pine trees. A pair of Tibetan Siskin were heard and spotted on pine trees alone with Goldcrests, Rufous-vented Tit. Chestnut and Kessler’s Thrush were very common, and got Golden Eagle, Slaty-backed Flycatcher, Rufous-breasted Accentor, Olive-backed Pipit, Common, Chinese White-browed and Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch, Grey-headed Bullfinch, White-winged Grosbeak, Godlewski’s Bunting, Buff-throated, Buff-barred, Sichuan, Chinese, Hume’s Leaf and Greenish Warbler there. Heard Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge, Blood Pheasant and White-bellied Redstart.

On the way back, Cordelia and Jill spotted a Black Woodpecker sitting on a short dead trunk on up slope of the road, close view but after we stopped the vehicle to check, it moved away. Got Pere David’e, Giant and Elliot’s Laugingthrush.

We had lunch in downtown of Ruoergai, then headed to Flower Lake area, there we got Upland Buzzard, Saker Falcon sitting on a high point on rocky area of the grass land, 10 Black-necked Cranes, Brown-headed Gull, Ruddy Shelduck, Red-collared Dove, 10 Common Cuckoos, Daurian Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Ground Tit, 4 Tibetan Larks, Horned Lark and Oriental Skylark, White-rumped and Rufous-necked Snowfinch.

Day 8 June 16 Ruoergai to Maerkang

In the early morning we headed to Maerkang, had field breakfast on the way. There we got a male Przevalski’s Rosefinch in the yellow flower land, very actively singing. We tried to get Tibetan Partridge, we were once quite close to it, we heard it call behind us down the slope, but when we approached it, it stopped, never call again and disappeared. White-browed Tits were found on the same place alone with 3 young male Przevalski’s Finch. Dusky Warbler singing loudly inside the bush, managed to get it out in the open. Tibetan Snowfinches were found on a mud slope of roadside. Saker Falcon was spotted on wire. Other species we got on this day were:
Brown and Grey-backed Shrike, Black Drongo, Azure-winged Magpie, Ground Tit, Hume’s Short-toed Lark, Oriental Skylark, Horned Lark, Black and Hodgson’s Redstart, Siberian Stonechat, Rock Sparrow, White-rumped Snowfinch, Rufous-necked Snowfinch, Citrine Wagtail, Rosy Pipit, Twite and Common Rosefinch. Mamals this day were : Plateau Pika, Woolly Hare, Himalayan Marmot.

After hotpot dinner, we discussed about the plan for next day, Colin family didn’t want to start early in the morning, Paul and Jill agreed to start late, so the plan for next morning is had breakfast in hotel at 7:30 AM, then start to leave hotel at 8:00 AM.

Day 9 June 17 Mengbishan

After breakfast at hotel, we started at 8:00 AM, heading to Mengbishan, when we arrived at the mountain it was around 9:00 AM, wondering maybe it’s too late for the partridge, but still had a try for the Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge, very quite, no response at all. But in the meantime, I heard Blood Pheasant calling on the up slope, so I set clients hiding behind high bushes, I went up to get close to the pheasant, to attract it crossing the open grass between the pine trees, and it worked, clients had good view of it in the open grass under pine trees. Later I decided go to a spot where I had seen partridge before, not sure about this time of the day, but still gave it a try. Unexpectedly, a pair of Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge were very excited and active, running all the way up directly to us from down slope ! Near lunch time, we heard Blood Pheasants calling near the road, gave it a try, got 2 males and 1 female, good view close to the roadside. A group of 6 White-eared Pheasants were feeding on a mountain on the other side of the valley, good view through the telescope, I think it’s the same group we saw in April and May, they were always on the same place. Around 10:30 AM, when Ophelia said hungry, so we decided to stop and have a brunch with Tibetan bread and Yak yoghourt, while we were eating, I heard some strange call behind us, I was expecting Sichuan Jay, so I ran back to check, and it was a Sichuan Jay !! It just came from down slope climbing up a pine tree and feeding, I called every body back to see it, and ran back to get my camera, two Sichuan Jays feeding quietly through the pine trees and crossed the road to up slope, great view!! Giant Laughingthrush was spotted feeding on the open land out of the fence, not afraid of us at all. 3 Chinese Fulvetta were found near to the top of the mountain in the bushes. 1 Przevalski’s Nuthatch was spotted on top of a pine tree on up mountain, a pair of Hodgson’s Treecreeper were found nearby.

Other good species of the day : Himalayan Buzzard, Rufous-vented Tit, Grey-crested Tit, Goldcrest, Alpine, Buff-throated, Yellow-streaked, Buff-barred, Hume’s Leaf, Greenish Warbler, Elliot’s Laughingthrush, Himalayan Bluetail, Blue-fronted, White-throated, Plumbeous and White-capped Water Redstart, White-crowned Forktail, Slaty-backed, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, Common, Pink-rumped，Chinese White-browed Rosefinch, White-winged Grosbeak, Godlewski’s Bunting. Long-tailed Thrush was heard in long distance, but too far away, couldn’t see it.

Day 10 June 18 Maerkang to Wolong

We started in the early morning, planning to pass by Balangshan and do some birding there, but when we went down Mengbishan, passed by the nearest town, the road was blocked, workers told us, because of the rain, the flood and landslide, the road further down was destroyed by the river water, we got out of coach and walked further to check, indeed more than half of the road was washed away by the river, workers there told me that it gonna take at least 5 days to repair it, we had to return back and took another longer way to Wolong via Lixian. It took us whole day on the road, when we arrive at Wolong, it’s dinner time already. No birding this day.

Day 11-12 June 19 – 20 Balang Shan

During the two full days in Balang Shan, we had great two days there. Chinese Monal was still active, a male one flew across the valley to our side just below us on the down slope grassland in the open! Later we spotted it crossed the road to the up slope. We watched it the whole way, had great view of it. A group of Snow Partridges were spotted just 5 meters above us on the up slope of the road, they were calling a lot too, while we were watching the partridge, a pair of Tibetan Snowcock with 3 chicks were spotted just down there on other side of the road! The parents snowcock calling a lot to the chicks to follow them. After that I heard another group of Snow Partridges on the corner down the road, I went down and got very close view of them while they were walking up to cross the road. 4 White-eared Pheasants were spotted on the usual slope. Alpine Thrush was spotted on a rocky part of the mountain while we were watching a male Grandala on the grass, some females feeding nearby. Snow Pigeons were spotted feeding on the ground while we were watching a pair of Red-fronted Rosefinches. Sichuan Tits were found on Rilong side of the mountain. Chinese Babax was also found on Rilong side, and Chinese Beautiful , Pink-rumped Rosefinch. Chestnut-headed Tesia was very active and singing a lot, it’s not hiding that as usual, we had good view of it in a open gap through bushes. Spotted Bush Warbler and Baikal Bush Warbler these similar two species were found by their typical sound on the way from Wolong to the mountain. White-tailed Rubythroat was found on the found near to the top, in total got 4 of them. Brown-breasted Flycatcher was found near Wolong. White-throated Dipper were somewhere 4000 meters place in a stream. Plain, Brandt’s Mountain Finch were found on the top area alone with Alpine Accentor. 2 male and 1 female Sharpe’s Rosefinches were found down the tunnel, 2 female Streaked Rosefinch were found in the rain above the big tunnel. Slaty Bunting was found near Wolong. 3 Firethroats were found on a usual spot, but very hiding, eventually every body managed to see it through leaves, one male flew down to bushes nearby us, had good view of it.

Other good species in Balang Shan: Lammergeier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Long-tailed Minivet, Grey-backed Shrike, Yellow-billed Chough, Alpine, Yellow-streaked, Ashy-throated, Sichuan Leaf, Hume’s Leaf, Greenish, Claudia’s Leaf, Bianchi’s and Marten’s Warbler, Eurasian Wren, Giant and Elliot’s Laughingthrush, Vinaceous Rosefinch.

Day 13 June 21 Wolong – Labahe

After breakfast at Wolong Hotel, we headed to Labahe, had lunch at Ya’an, a restaurant with Beijing roasted duck. We arrived at Labahe in early afternoon, after checked it, clients wanted ot have a rest before go out birding. In the afternoon we did some birding behind Lanshuijin hotel, on the trail there we got a pair of Golden Parrotbills, great view, but I didn’t take my camera, no photo. Got 4 Slaty Buntings near to a small stream. Other good species there are Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Grey-hooded Fulvetta, Stripe-throated Yuhina, female Indian Blue Robin.

Day 14 June 22 Labahe

Started early in the morning to look for Lady Amherst’s Pheasant, in the low area, we got a young male and a female, on the up area, got another two female. Then we started to look for Temminck’s Tragopan, heard one calling in the bamboo, we tried to get closer to it, but it hided well in the bamboo, couldn’t see it. A White-browed Shortwing singing a lot in the bamboo, managed to get it crossed the trail. When we were on the way down to the main road, a male Temminck’s Tragopan was spotted, but it ran quickly down into the thick bamboo, Paul and Jill didn’t see it, so I tried to find it again, the lucky thing is the bird didn’t go far away, still nearby in the bamboo, and eventually it showed up and landed on a tree, this time we all had good view of it, it stayed there more than 20 minutes, we watched it until it flew down into the bamboo. The rest of the day we managed to see some small birds, Chinese Wren Babbler singing near a broken board walk, it showed up a few seconds standing on a open dead wood. Pygmy Wren Babbler took us some effort to get it into view. Ophelia like the wren babblers very much because they look so naughty and cute round shape. On a bird wave we got 6 Fire-capped Tits, a group of Black-browed Tit, Coal Tit, Dark-sided Flycatcher, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher etc. In the bamboo area, we got Aberrant and Yellowish-bellied Bush Warbler, and a curious and active Chestnut-headed Tesia. Speckled Wood Pigeons flying across the trees, got White-throated Needletail on up area. Other good species of the day are: Spotted Nutcracker, Ashy-throated, Sichuan Leaf, Greenish, Large-billed Leaf, Claudia’s Leaf, Marten’s Warbler, Rufous-capped Babbler, Elliot’s Laughingthrush, Golden-breasted, Grey-hooded Fulvetta, Eurasian Nuthatch, Mrs Gould’s Sunbird.

Day 15 June 23 Labahe – Longcanggou
Before we headed to Longcanggou, we did some birding in Erlangshan, there we got 2 Firethroats, one of it we had great close view. Rufous-headed Babbler was spotted in middle area of the mountain, White-tailed Robin was hiding deep in the bush, Colin managed to had a view of it. A pair of Long-tailed Rosefinches were very actively singing, Black-browed Tit showed in the same place.On the other side of the mountain we got Bay Woodpecker and Fujian Niltava, Emei Leaf Warbler. Other species in Erlangshan are : Yellow-browed Tit, Collared Finchbill, Brown-breasted Bulbul, Ashy-throated, Chinese Leaf, Large-billed Leaf, Claudia’s, Kloss’s Leaf, Marten’s Warbler. Russet Sparrow, Grey-headed Bullfinch, Godlewski’s Bunting.

After arrived at Hulin Hotel and checked in，we did some birding before dinner, got 4 Ashy-throated Parrotbills near the hotel.

Day 16-17 June 24-25 Longcanggou

Spent two full days in Longcanggou, in the two days we got 4 Temminck’s Tragopans in the first day, and another 5 in the next day, all female and chicks. Got 11 Lady Amherst’s Pheasants in two days, all female and chicks too. The first day morning we focused on Grey-hooded Parrotbill and eventually got 2 of them in the rain. A pair of Brown Parrotbills were spotted on top area of the mountain. In the middle of the mountain, we spotted a pair of Emeishan Liocichla were playing in the bamboo in distance, Colin and I decided to go down a slope to get closer view, while we were down there watching the liocichla, Ophelia spotted 3 Three-toed Parrotbills in the bamboo on other side, they were hanging around and feeding there long time, sometime deep in to the bamboo, probably nesting there. On the top area，spot a female Golden Bush Robin was calling under the rhododendron，and a male White-bellied Redstart showed well on a pine tree. On the low area, a bird wave brought Yellow-bellied Tit, Fire-capped Tit,Blue-winged Minla, Golden-breasted and Grey-hooded Fulvetta, Dark-sided and Ultramarine Flycatcher. Near to the bottom area we got 4 Buffy Laughingthrushes singing and playing in the pine trees.

Other good species in the two days: Speckled Wood Pigeon, Darjeeling Woodpecker, Grey-headed Pygmy Woodpecker, Black-naped Oriole, Hair-crested Drongo, Spotted Bush Warbler, Brown Bush Warbler, Buff-throated, Sichuan Leaf, Greenish, Large-billed Leaf, Claudia’s Leaf, Kloss’s Leaf, Bianchi’s Warbler, White-crowned Forktail,, Rufous-gorgeted, Verditer, and Slaty-blue Flycatcher female, Fujian Niltava, Vinaceous Rosefinch, Grey-headed Bullfinch, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler. Heard Lesser Shortwing.

Day 18, June 26 Chengdu
Airport send off.

Will put the bird and mammal species list later…

Eastern China, Shanghai, Jiangxi, Henan, Fujian

 

9th April – 23rd April 2017

Leader : Summer Wong

Participants : MICHEL  WATELET, GILLES WILLEM, THOMAS THIER, MARC  AMEELS

 

This is a private tour arranged by Michel and his friends. During the tour we changed the itinerary a little bit because in Wuyuan and Dongzhai we got our target species earlier than we planned so we saved 3 days in total, with the extra 3 days we went to Jiangle to look for Blyth’s Kingfisher, and went to Junfeng NNR to photograph Cabot’s Tragopan.

9th April, after Pudong airport pick up in the afternoon, we went to a wetland area nearby the airport then headed to hotel.

10th April, on the raining and windy morning, we did some birding in Shanghai area mainly looking for Reed Parrotbill, got 5 of them in the reeds, also got 2 Chinese Penduline Tits, and a actively singing Manchurian Bush Warbler, at least 30 Vinous-throated Parrotbills, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Buff-bellied Pipit, Pallas’s Reed Bunting, Black-faced Bunting, Common Reed Bunting etc.
then headed to Wuyuan, before checking into hotel we did some birding in Wuyuan, got Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Dusky Fulvetta, Huet’s Fulvetta, 2 Masked Laughingthrushes, 2 Grey-backed Thrushes, 2 Pale Thrushes, Dusky Thrush, Red-flanked Bluetail etc.

11th April we spent the whole day in Wuyuan.
12th April, we spent the early morning birding in Wuyuan then we headed to Dongzhai, did some birding there before we had dinner in the hostel.

In Wuyuan, we went to the Pied Falconets place, lot’s of Chinese photographers were waiting there, we chatted with them, they told us someone still saw Scaly-sided Merganser in the usual river place, we were surprised the merganser still there, later we went to the river place, checked the river, using telescope finding something look like a bird on rock, but too far, we were not sure, it can be just a rock. When we walked towards that direction, Gilles spotted the Scaly-sided Merganser on the other side of the river, in long distance it’s very hard to spot the bird while its just sitting on the rock. When we were watching a very active Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler, Thomas ran to us and informed us he got Short-tailed Parrotbills on another trail, so we went with him to the place, luckily they were still there! On the way back I heard Moustached Laughingthrush calling, managed to get it out, we had good view of it, but it moved fast, no chance to take photo of it at that time. We tried to get better view of Dusky Fulvetta, but it kept playing with us, calling a lot, refused to show. Silver Pheasant, Pied Kingfisher, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Grey Treepie, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Rufous-capped Babbler, Chinese Hwamei, Red-billed, Black-collared and White-cheeked Starling were spotted on the rice field. Pale Thrush, Siberian Rubythroat were spotted on a tea terrace, White-crowned Forktail, Little Bunting, Yellow-browed Bunting were spotted near rice field. Crested Serpent Eagle and Besra, Grey-faced Buzzard were spotted on the way to Dongzhai.

We arrived at Dongzhai around 6pm, still had good light, so we checked in hostel, decided to do some birding before dinner. On the way driving up to the reserve gate, passing by some local houses, Gilles spotted a Crested Ibis sitting on a big tree, nearby is it’s nest, later another one flew back to the nest. A pair of Reeves’s Pheasants were spotted just about to cross the road, but scared by our coach, ran into the woods immediately, later when we drove further, another male was spotted in distance, we stopped the coach far from it, it didn’t notice us, we we had good view of this one. Another female was spotted sleeping on a tree nearby the road flying away when we approaching it in the night, Northern Boobook had also been heard in the night there.
Chinese Grosbeaks were just outside of the hostel, Eurasian Jay, Azure-winged Magpie, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Mountain Bulbul and Chestnut Bulbul were common birds there. Hwamei and Masked Laughingthrush were spotted just near the headquarter of the reserve. Collared Crows were spotted both on the way from Wuyuan to Dongzhai and from Dongzhai to Nanchang. Peregrine Falcon was spotted on the way from Dongzhai to Nanchang.

On 14th April we drove from Nanchang to Emeifeng, spent 2 full days there.
On the foot of Emeifeng, there are lots of rice field, we saw Mandarin Ducks there every morning, Chinese Bamboo Partridges were spotted there every morning too, Silver Pheasants were kind of common in the mountain, Elliot’s Pheasant took us long time to spot one, while we were driving up, near to the local village place, I spotted a pheasant flapping it’s wings on the open slope, looked white wing and white body in long distance, I was wondering maybe it’s a domestic pheasant, but still asked to stop the coach to check, put bins on, it was a male Elliot’s ! But it noticed us when the coach stopped, it ran to left, took us some time to spot it again inside the bamboo. Cabot’s Tragopan were very quite, we checked the usual place of it many times, but so quite, no sign of it at all, we were wondering maybe there were incubating in the nest. We tried every early morning and afternoon, eventually spotted a pair of them on the road side in the usual place, and followed them, spotted them again on the upper slope, they were quite sensitive and hiding. In the afternoon, on the same area, 2 more female were spotted on slope by Thomas. White-necklaced Partridge was heard everyday there, but couldn’t see it. White-bellied Erpornis, Blyth’s Shrike-babbler, Black Drongo, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Indochinese Yuhina, Black-chinned Yuhina, Rufous-faced Warbler, Pallas’s Leaf Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Sulphur-breasted Warbler, White-spectacled Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Rufous-faced Babbler were quite active and singing a lot during that time. Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush and Buffy Laughingthrush were all in big groups. 3 Grey-headed Parrotbills were quietly feeding on the trees near to the tragopan place, Spotted Elachura was heard quite close to the road side, but it refused to show. Small Niltava, Verditer Flycatcher, Grey-chinned Minivet, Spotted Forktail, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Godlewski’s Bunting, Barred Cuckoo Dove, Large Hawk Cuckoo, White-throated and Common Kingfisher, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Black Eagle, Crested Goshawk were spotted in Emeifeng were spotted in Emeifeng.
Grey-sided Scimitar Babbler, Moustached Laughingthrush, Hwamei, Slaty-backed Forktail and Dusky Fulvetta were spotted on a short cut road from Emeifeng to Jiangxi.

On 17th April, we did some early morning birding in Emeifeng, got at least 8 Silver Pheasants on the way down, then headed to Jiangle where we will look for Blyth’s Kingfisher, Chinese Barbet, we spent the afternoon and one full day there, We did get Chinese Barbet, it’s calling on top of a tree, we managed to get closer view, but still high up on a big tree. We tried the river side road up and down a few times, but only got Common Kingfisher, no sign of Blyth’s Kingfisher. On a rocky part of the river side near a bamboo forest, a female Elliot’s Pheasant was flashed flying away, Common Pheasants were spotted on the field.
Chinese Sparrowhawk, Chestnut-wined Cuckoo, White-throated Kingfisher, White-bellied Erpornis, Grey Treepie, Brambling, Yellow-cheeked Tit were spotted there, a pair of Grey-sided Scimitar Babblers calling a lot and showed well to us alone with a group of Huet’s Fulvetta, A Blue and White Flycatcher sitting on a branch for long time. Slaty-backed and White-crowned Forktail feeding alone the river. Striated Heron was spotted near a small hydro power station on the rocky part of the river.

On 19th April, we drove to Junfeng national nature reserve, on the beginning the Chinese gps map – Baidu Map couldn’t find the right way, leading us to the wrong way. On the wrong way, we went into a valley, got Brown Dipper in the river. I asked local people, eventually we found the way, it’s a new good concrete road, due to the sign on the colorful flags on the roadside, they are making the reserve into a eco tourism place, but the road not in the Baidu map yet. Local people there did a lot of work to make hides for Cabot’s Tragopan, Elliot’s Pheasant, Silver Pheasant and White-necklaced Pheasant to attract Chinese bird photographers to come. We arrived in late morning, did some birding nearby the monastery, a Chinese Barbet singing loudly in the backyard, we went there and took some photos , due to the local people’s information, the tragopan will come in early afternoon, so we had lunch in local people’s house, home made food was delicious, in the afternoon it is also possible for White-necklaced Partridge in hide, but the time overlap a bit, so we have to make a choice, clients all agreed go for the tragopan in the afternoon, and try for partridge next morning. A male Cabot’s Tragopan arrived on time ! Great view of it ! After the first one left another male one came to the same place feeding on the ground. In the afternoon we also did some birding around the village, got Chinese Bamboo Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Common Snipe, Masked Laughingthrush.

The next early morning a local young man Xiao Luo took us to his hide for White-necklaced Partridge, we waited there nearly one hour, but the partridge didn’t show, Xiao Luo was very confusing, it came every morning before. We kept in contact, the next day he sent me message that it came the next morning but earlier than the time he thought. There we got a pair of Chinese Bamboo Partridges feeding. On the way back from the partridge hide we got Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, Silver Pheasant, Common Pheasant, White-breasted Waterhen, after breakfast at Xiao Luo’s house then we headed to Fuzhou.

When we were in Emeifeng, a friend of mine who lives in Fozhou got good photos of Chinese Crested Tern on Shanyutan, which means the bird arrived already! We were all very happy about this information. One week later, on 21st April, we started to try for the tern, but the rain was very heavy since early morning, we spent the whole day on Shanyutan to look for Chinese Crested Tern, but the weather was so horrible, we didn’t find the bird. The next day, we spent the morning at Fuzhou forest park to look for White-necklaced Partridge, after lunch tried again at Shanyutan for the tern, but didn’t see it either. The last day, 23rd April, we decided to try for the tern again, spent another whole day there, alone with at least 10 Chinese bird photographers with their huge lens, no body see the bird, this day it’s still very windy during the whole day. Every day after the shore area, on the way back to hotel we did some birding on the field, on these 3 days we got Black-faced Spoonbill, Great Cormorant, Western Osprey, Pacific Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Kentish Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Pin-tailed Snipe, Swinhoe’s Snipe, Asian Dowitcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Curlew, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Far Eastern Curlew, Common Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler, Terek Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Great Knot, Red Knot, Sanderling, Red-necked Stint, Long-tailed Stint, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Saunder’s Gull, Black-tailed Gull, Mew Gull, Caspian Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Greater Crested Tern, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern, Peregrine Falcon circling above the shore. Richard’s Pipit, Olive-backed Pipit, Pechora Pipit, Red-throated Pipit, Yellow-breasted Bunting, Chestnut Bunting, Yellow Bunting were found on the field. Oriental Reed Warbler, Plain Prinia was found on the reeds of a water pond between sea and field.

In Fuzhou Forest park, we got a pair of Grey-head Parrotbill, Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, Indochinese Yuhina, Slaty-backed Forktail, Fork-tailed Sunbird. A singing Asian Koel on the tree top was spotted in long distance.

Attached pdf bird list of this trip ：

eastern China trip bird list from Gilles. pdf

 

This is client’s Report by Erik Rasmussen, Denmark. I arranged and guided for their Sichuan tour, visited Balang Shan and Longcanggou from 17th July to 24th July.

Participants: Erik and Birthe Rasmussen, Mads and Tina Elley, Carlos Baron.

Balang Shan was as expected, late July is not the best time for game birds, we got 1 Snow Partridge heard, at least 5 Tibetan Snowcocks during the trip, 12 White-eared Pheasants in group, female Koklass Pheasant with 3 chicks, male and female Blood Pheasant, 1 Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge which was very timid took us long time to spot it on near to the edge of the tree line hiding inside the tree, after I spotted it only Mads managed to see it when it walked through the edge of the bushes up into the forest, Golden Pheasant heard, but no sign of Chinese Monal at all, the monal slope full of plants with very big leaves and much taller in July then May and June, some are more than 1 meter high, the monal can easily hide under the leaves…No sign for Firethroat, but still got Grandala, White-tailed Rubythroat ( Chinese Rubythraot ), Red-fronted Rosefinch and Streaked Rosefinch etc.

Longcanggou birding turned out to be better than I expected, small birds and warblers are still there, and we got all the main target parrotbill species, all had reasonable good view, 3 Grey-hooded Parrotbills in 2 different places, at least 8 Three-toed Parrotbills in group on the last moment of the second day in Longcanggou, Great Parrotbill showed well on the top area and calling a lot, Brown Parrotbill just came into view when we just arrived at the entrance of the under-construction Panda Base, Golden Parrotbills mixed with other small species in the bamboo area. Ashy-throated Parrotbills in group just near the hostel. At least 14 Temminck’s Tragopans had been spotted, but all female and chicks, and 1 female Lady Amherst’s Pheasant.

Tibet and Sichuan Birding Trip Report 5th – 25th July 2017 pdf

 

Sichuan, China

25th April – 12th May 2017 

Leader: Summer Wong

This is a tour joined by two families, Tom & Julia Lawson, Daniel Lien and his parents: Leif Lien and Mette Mellegaard. 

On 25 April, in the morning we went to Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center, arrived there at around 7:20 am, waited for a while as the ticket office start to work at 7:30 am. Less traveller when the park just opened, the first bird we saw in the park is Black-throated Tit, on the same tree we got Chinese Bulbul, Japanese White-eye, in the bamboo we got Rufous-faced Warbler, White-browed Laughingthrush popping on the road, Chinese Blackbird flying across with it’s typical high pitch call, when we were trying to get better view of White-rumped Munia in the bamboo, our attention was attracted by contact call of a pair Chinese Grosbeak perched on the big tree later with nest material in the beak. Then we birded near the swan lake got a pair of introduced Black Swan with their four chiks, Common Moorhen, Little Grebe, Mallard in the lake, on the grass area on the side of the lake we got very close view of Grey-capped Greenfinch feeding on the grass, Chinese Bamboo Partridge calling in the bushes and later I spotted one running cross the road into other bushes, there we got another pair of Chinese Grosbeak, Black-crowned Night Heron, Eastern Cattle Egret, Chinese Pond Heron, Little Egret flew across above head. On the way to Sunshine Nursery House for baby Panda, we heard Large-billed Leaf Warbler, but it didn’t show eventually, instead we got a pair of loudly calling Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler, lots of Red-billed Leiothrix. In the Sunshine Nursery House we got 5 sleeping baby Pandas born in last year, hanging on the trees, no activity, but later in the Moon Nursery House we got some active baby Pandas, climbing the trees, chasing each other. On the way between these two nursery houses, we got a stunning close view male Golden Pheasant in the bamboo, April is very good time for pheasant, it ran deep from the bamboo toward us like a bullet when it heard the tape, walking and searching in the roadside bamboo for a while which provided us great view of it and good chance for photographing. In the same bamboo we got Rufous-capped Babbler, Vinous-throated Parrotbill feeding on the roadside. On the Red Panda enclosure area we got a Brown-breasted Flycatcher.

The next day we drove from Chengdu to Tangjiahe NNR. Before we entering the park, we had a short stop on a bridge, got a few species warblers singing on a big tree, Marten’s Warbler, Claudia’s Leaf Warbler, Large-billed Leaf Warbler, Rufous-faced Warbler, 4 Verditer Flycatchers, Yellow-bellied Tit, Black-throated Tit on the same tree. On the bush area we got good view of a Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler, on the river we got our first view of Brown Deeper, White-capped Redstart, Plumbious Redstart. We got our first view of Golden Pheasant on the way to hotel, they were feeding on the roadside, after our coach stopped, they turned off to the grass taking a circle, walked back to the road, great view of they crossing and feeding in the grass. Then we got our first view of Takin and Reeve’s Muntjac on their usual place. Before checked in hotel, we went to the back of hotel, looking for Slaty Bunting, just when I was about to say that’s the place for Slaty Bunting, a male one singing and popping out of grass to bushes, quite active, got great view qof this male one, later we got another pair and also a Brown-breasted Flycatcher and our first view of White-crowned Forktail.
The next day we took a sightseeing bus in the park to the tragopan place, I booked the bus to pick us up on 7:30 am, but they arrived at 8:00 am, the lucky thing is no other tourists, only us. Tom is 81 years old, but quite fit, we walked slowly to Motianling, birding on the way up, in the lower area, warblers singing a lot, got our first Kloss’s Leaf Warbler, Chinese Leaf Warbler, along with Marten’s Warbler, Claudia’s Leaf Warbler, Large-billed Leaf Warbler, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, heard Indian Blue Robin, Pygmy Wren Babbler. Near to the top while we were watching warblers we heard Fulvous Parrotbill calling and then spotted it in the bamboo, eventually we managed to get great view of a pair Fulvous Parrotbills and took some good photos ! Soon after that I spotted our first male Temminck’s Tragopan on a open grass near the bamboo, as it’s in the open we all got good view of it before it went into the bamboo, that was 11:00 am already. Tom and Julia were worried we may miss the tragopan as they couldn’t make the walking faster, I told them if we can’t see it in the morning, in the afternoon we still have chance. In the afternoon, we got another 5 male tragopans, two of them were displaying and calling, Tom got reasonable photo of a displaying one, another two male flew to trees and seating on branch, one feeding in the open, great views ! Tom and Julia think Fulvous Parrotbill make the hard hiking worth, all the Temminck’s Tragopans makes it an excellent day ! On the top we also got a few Sooty Tits, and great view of 3 Spectacled Parrotbills in the bamboo. Around 4:30 pm, we headed down to the bus station, got a group of White-throated Laughingthrush near the top, on the trail we got a nice pair of Golden Pheasant, taking the bus back to hotel, we got Wild Boar and Takin on the roadside.
The first two nights in Tangjiahe, Tom and Julia felt tired, so we decided to arrange the mammal watching in our third night, so we make the daytime easier day, just birding on the valley where the hotel located. In the morning we birded in the back hill of the hotel, there we got Ultramarine Flycatcher, our first view of a pair Slaty Bunting of the day, got other pairs in another two places in the day. I heard singing of Collared Grosbeak in long distance, managed to see two male ones feeding on flower tree. Later we heard two Sichuan Bush Warbler singing, and managed to see one of them. Other new birds of the day is Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Vinaceous Rosefinch, Speckled Piculet, Mountain Bulbul, Chestnut-flanked White-eye, Chinese Sparrowhawk. After dinner when it’s dark, we took our own coach to do mammal watching, got more than 10 Takins, 5 Reeve’s Muntjacs, 2 Chinese Goral, one of them just on the grass of roadside, great view. Not many other mammals, spotted a mammal on the roadside with a long black tail, could be a civet, but it ran down to the slope too fast, couldn’t id it. We turned around back to hotel, didn’t see much, I was a bit disappointed, only takins, muntjacs and two gorals, that’s all ? As a friend who works in the nature reserve here told me the Tawny Fish Owl was scared by the construction of a bridge, they moved, couldn’t find them on the usual spot, due to my experience of spotting it on a tree in the night while doing mammal watching in last Nov, I expected to spot a Tawny Fish Owl on the tree, then later spotted two eyes shining up on a tree on a steep slope the other side of the river, excited putting bins on, a black mammal sleeping on a branch, it was disturbed by our flashlight, moved up, Black Bear !!! When it moved up, we saw the whole body and it’s white V on the chest well. Tried to get photo but too far and too dark, we watched it around 15 mins, then we decided to leave it alone.

A friend who works in Tangjiahe nature reserver also give information about Giant Panda, he saw a Giant Panda climbing up a tree on 12 April, and a group of Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys on 20 April in Motianling area, they checked that area in the next few days, but didn’t see them again.

On 29th April, we drove from Tangjiahe to Chuanzhusi, just out of the nature reserve, we got Common Hoopoe and Collared Finchbill, in Pingwu area, a flying Wallcreeper cross the road, we passed by Mt.Dujuan, there we got  Alpine Leaf  Warbler, Yellow-streaked Warbler, Rosy Pipit, Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch, Pink-rumped Rosefinch and Little Bunting.

Next day in the very early morning, we drove half hour from Chuanzhusi to Gonggangling forest, looking for Pere David’s Owl ( Sichuan Wood Owl ) in the rain, but for nearly 2 hours searching, we only heard two times of it’s call in very long distance, it didn’t show. In the forest,we got Maroon-backed Accentor, Rufous-vented Tit, Grey-crested Tit, White-throated Redstart, Alpine Leaf  Warbler, Sichuan Leaf  Warbler, Olive-backed Pipit, Grey-headed Bulfinch, Godlewski’s Bunting, Chestnut Thrush, Kessler’s Thrush and House Sparrow. Near to the parking lot, Siberian Rubythroat singing in the bush, eventually we got it hiding near to the bottom of a big bush, a nice male one ! Around 10 AM the weather became worse, rain changed into snow and hail, so we decided to leave to Ruoergai. Black-necked Crane was spotted on the plateau when driving to Ruoergai, and also Red-billed Chough, Daurian Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Ground Tit, White-cheeked Starling, Black Redstart.   Before we went to hotel, we decided to have a short stop at Baxi forest. Just when we arrived at the pheasant area, 5 seconds after Daniel jumped out of the coach, he spotted two Blue-eared pheasants on the field and one of it standing on a wood fence! We had good view through telescope, then we headed further, later Tom spotted another two near to the road side below the slope, we got even better view this time, later when we went to a valley to look for other smaller species, we got another Blue-eared Pheasant by it’s sound, and spotted it sitting on a big bush on far slope. In the valley, we got a pair of Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush ( Sukatschewi’s Laughingthrush ) flying through the bushes, also Giant Laughingthrush and Plain Laughingthrush, Elliot’s Laughingthrush in that area. In the forest got Chinese Fulvetta, Goldcrest, Hodgson’s Treecreeper, Himalayan Bluetail, Daurian Redstart, White-browed Rosefinch, Pink-rumped Rosefinch, Blue-fronted Redstart, Rufous-breasted Accentor and Robin Accentor.Near to the hotel, got Russet Sparrow on roadside tree.  Raptors of that day are Black-eared Kite, Himalayan Griffon, Cinereous Vulture, Himalayan Buzzard, Upland Buzzard, Eurasian Sparrowhawk and Common Kestrel.

In the evening of 30th April, Tom and Julia and Mette decided not to join us next day to Baxi Forest, because they felt tired because of the high altitude, and the main target species there Tom and Julia had seen in Qinghai tour in 2012 already, so they would like to skip that morning. On 1st May, we spent the whole morning in Baxi forest, our main target species of this morning is Chinese Grouse, the first one we saw was flashed by us when we walked into the bushes, but it ran away very quickly, we didn’t have good view, so we chased it, but never find it again, while we were waiting for the grouse to show again, a big noise came above our head, it’s Blue-eared Pheasant calling, then it dropped off the tree and landed right in front of us, 10 meters, a huge bird ! It noticed us then ran into the pine trees quickly, at the same place we had very good view of a pair of Crested Tit Warbler, when the male was very close and showing nicely, I regretted that I didn’t bring my camera this morning. On the way back to the main road, a pair of Chinese Grouses were just on the roadside! They just crossed the road, they noticed us then flew and ran back to the other side of the road, hanging around in the open bushes for a while, so that we had great close view of these two birds! I regretted more this time as I lost such good chance to photograph it. In the forest we got Sichuan Tit, Goldcrest, Alpine Leaf Warbler, Buff-barred Warbler, Sichuan Leaf Warbler, Pere David’s Laughingthrush, Giant Laughingthrush, Elliot’s Laughingthrush and Daniel spotted a Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush popping under the pine trees on the grass, Chinese Fulvetta, Hodgson’s Treecreeper just 1 meter from us on a pine tree trunk, Dark-sided Flycatcher, Rufous-breasted Accentor, Robin Accentor.

Lunch time we went back to town to pick up Tom and Julia and Mette, had lunch in town then we headed to Flower lake area, on the way we got Citrine Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Twite, Ground Tit, Oriental Skylark, Horned Lark, Barn Swallow, White-rumped Snowfinch, Rufous-necked Snowfinch, Black-necked Crane, and Lammergeier cycling right above our head in very short distance, later Steppe Eagle showed above the Lammergier.  In the flower lake, we did some water birds watching, there we got Great Crested Grebe, Greylag Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Porchard, Red-crested Porchard, Ferruginous Porchard, Mallard, Gadwall, Eurasian Teal, Great Egret, Little Egret, Eastern Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Common Moorhen, Common Coot, Common Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Common Tern, Brown-headed Gull, Temminck’s Stint and at least 10 Falcated Ducks!

On 2nd May we drove from Ruoergai to Maerkang, birding on the road. On our first stop, we walked on the grass land hill, 4 Tibetan Partridges had been flashed out, running or flying away. Robin Accentor and White-browed Tit also in the same place, Przevalski’s Finch took us a bit long time to get them eventually, a male and a female popping on the grass, but never fly to top of bushes, moving quickly, make a bit hard to photograph them, but Tom still managed to get a reasonable photo. On the second spot, we got very close view of a male White-browed Tit Warbler, and found a nest of White-browed Tit on a mud river band. Got Black-necked Crane again on this day, Little Ringed Plover on grassland, Grey-backed Shrike, Pere David’s Laughingthrush, Chestnut and Kessler’s Thrush, Black, Hodgson’s and Blue-fronted Redstart, Common Stonechat, Rock Sparrow, White-rumped Snowfinch, Ground Tit. A White-breasted Waterhen was spotted on the river side while we were close to Maerkang.

We spent one and half day in Mengbishan, in the first morning, the whole mountain was covered by heavy snow, very quite morning, no response from Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge at all, Leif, Daniel and I decided to go up to a valley to look for it, we heard it once from that direction, when we were up in the valley we saw some partridge foot prints on the snow, we followed the prints toward the direction where the sound from, eventually we found the partridge feeding place, but they were all gone, only left their foot prints and the place where they fed, the foot prints showing that they ran away before we arrived there. Later we focused on looking for Blood Pheasant on the roadside, and eventually got a male running through the heavy snow, not easy for them. The rest of the day we got our first view of Golden Eagle, Salim Ali’s Swift, Hume’s Leaf Warbler, White-winged Grosbeak. Other good view species are Giant Laughingthrush on the pine tree with snow as background, Hodgson’s Treecreeper. Because of the cold and heavy snow, it’s very quiet day, and some of us felt tired, so we decided to go back to hotel quite early, just after lunch then we headed down back to hotel, sun came out after lunch.

The next morning had very good weather, most of the snow had melted, lots of activities of birds, we got our Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge very easy, one of them once very close to our coach, only 10 meters away in front, the other two were up on the slope, taking circle getting closer, we had great view of them! Heard White-eared Pheasant from long distance then I located 6 of them in group on a slope on the other side of the valley. After some hard searching for Sichuan Jay, eventually we heard two of them calling from long distance across the valley, later they came into our direction, and getting closer and closer until stopped on a big pine tree right in front of us, very quiet and popping up on the tree then cross the road. Before we left Mengbishan to Balangshan, we had Collared Grosbeak, Chinese Fulvetta and Alpine Accentor. On the way to Wolong, we got Black-browed Tit, Asian House Martin, we spent some time to look for Long-tailed Rosefinch, a male one showed up when we almost gave up to look for it, it’s quite hiding in the bush, but we all managed to put bins on it.

We spent three days in Balang Shan, the first two days the mountain was covered by heavy fog on both side, very hard to see bird, we got 19 Snow Partridges in the heavy fog in 4 different places, saw Snow Partridges every morning when we were in the mountain there, and 2 Tibetan Snowcocks flew across the road right above our head on the first morning. On the tunnel place we got 3 Chinese Monals flying across the valley and one of them landed on the rocky place, we waited it to go up an close to us in the fog, we were very lucky to have great view of it when it’s right on the open area of the rock, at that moment the fog was gone for a few minutes ! Great time to take photos too! Heard Koklass Pheasant on the Chinese Monal place. On the day when we left to Longcanggou, Leif and Daniel went with me to the monastery place to look for Golden Pheasant, nowadays local people set a pig farm there with fence on the slope, we heard it but very hard to see it, we decided to climb up and get close to them, I spotted one male feeding on a tree with lots of bushes in front of it, Daniel came to my place followed the direction pointed out but he only got view of it jumped down the tree. Red-fronted Rosefinch feeding through the snow on the top area, Streaked Rosefinch hiding in the bush from the rain. Snow Pigeon found flying in group. Plain and Brandt’s Mountainfinch. Grandala and White-tailed Rubythroat ( Chinese Rubythroat ) took us long time to eventually get them, Grandalas were in group, feeding on the mountain side with sunshine on our third morning, Rubythroat was close to Grandala place, a male one showed well on the bush with snow.

On Wolong area, we tried to look for Blackthroat, but no sign of it. Got Pere David’s Tit and a few Firethroats which were very hiding. Buff-throated Warbler and Barred Laughingthrush, White-browed Fulvetta, Great Parrotbill, Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush, Slaty-backed Flycatcher, Dark-breasted Rosefinch, Indian Blue Robin, Slaty Bunting were spotted on Wolong side. On Rilong side, above 4000 meter place we got a Chinese Pond Heron!

The first two days in Longcanggou, we got 5 Grey-hooded Parrotbills in group on the top area, a pair of Brown Parrotbills near by,  and 1 Great Parrotbill in lower area, a few groups of Golden Parrotbills on the way down. Buffy Laughingthrush was found in low area, Daniel and driver got Spotted Laughingthrush in the middle area, Red-winged La ughingthrush singing a lot, but hard to get a view of it, we eventually got it out to fly across a small river, only flying view of it, a pair of Emeishan Liocichla showed very well to us nearby the Red-winged place.  White-throated Needletail flying around on up area, got 2 Speckled Wood Pigeons, Great Spotted Woodpecker, House Swift, Fire-capped Tits mixed with other small birds in a bird wave, Chestnut-headed Tesia gave us good view sitting under a bush but open area, Sichuan Bush Warbler was found near to the park gate. Blue-winged and Red-winged Minla were quite active along with Stripe-throated Yuhina. Golden-breasted and Grey-hooded Fulvetta were quite common there. Sichuan Treecreeper was found on the top area once very close to us but in very foggy weather, White-browed Shortwing was very timid, heard them very close to us, but very hard to get a chance to put bins on it, moved too fast, Daniel managed to put bins on it, others only got naked-eye view of it moving around. White-bellied Redstart normally very hiding, but a male one showed very well on a pine tree on the usual spot. Got Dark-sided, Ferruginous, Rufous-gorgeted, Verditer, Ultramarine Flycatcher, Chinese Blue Flycatcher took us some hard effort to get it close and managed to put bins on it through all the branches and leaves.

The last morning in Longcanggou we went back to mountain again for Temminck’s Tragopan for Daniel and his parents, because they joined the tour from Chuanzhusi, they skipped Tangjiahe, they didn’t see the tragopan there. It’s a very lucky morning, on the way up we got a young male Tragopan, on the way down got another adult male one running across the road! Near to the hotel, we did some birding before leave back to Chengdu, we got Brown Bullfinch, Grey-capped Greenfinch, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler and Ashy-throated Parrotbill.

When I was visiting Daniel and his parents in Norway in middle Sep 2017, I lost my cellphone in the sea there, so all my tour group photos of spring 2017 are lost. Here are some group photos from Tom, Leif and Mette:

Bird list :

Chinese Grouse – Tetrastes sewerzowi
Snow Partridge -Lerwa lerwa
Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge -Tetraophasis obscurus
Tibetan Snowcock -Tetraogallus tibetanus
Tibetan Partridge – Perdix hodgsoniae
Chinese Bamboo Partridge -Bambusicola thoracicus
Blood Pheasant -Ithaginis cruentus
Temminck’s Tragopan -Tragopan temminckii
Koklass Pheasant -Pucrasia macrolopha – heard only
Chinese Monal -Lophophorus lhuysii
White Eared Pheasant -Crossoptilon crossoptilon
Blue Eared Pheasant -Crossoptilon auritum
Common Pheasant -Phasianus colchicus
Golden Pheasant -Chrysolophus pictus
Lady Amherst’s Pheasant – Chrysolophus amherstiae

Little Grebe -Tachybaptus ruficollis
Great Crested Grebe -Podiceps cristatus

Greylag Goose -Anser anser
Ruddy Shelduck -Tadorna ferruginea
Common Porchard – Aythya ferina
Red-crested Pochard -Netta rufina
Ferruginous Porchard – Aythya nyroca
Mallard -Anas platyrhynchos
Gadwall -Anas strepera
Eurasian Teal -Anas crecca
Falcated Duck – Anas falcata

Black-crowned Night Heron -Nycticorax nycticorax
Chinese Pond Heron -Ardeola bacchus
Great Egret -Ardea alba
Intermediate Egret – Ardea intermedia
Little Egret -Egretta garzetta
Eastern Cattle Egret -Bubulcus coromandus
Grey Heron -Ardea cinerea

Black-eared Kite -Milvus migrans
Lammergeier -Gypaetus barbatus
Himalayan Vulture / Griffon -Gyps himalayensis
Cinereous Vulture – Aegypius monachus
Himalayan Buzzard -Buteo burmanicus
Upland Buzzard -Buteo hemilasius
Eurasian Sparrowhawk – Accipiter nisus
Chinese Sparrowhawk – Accipiter soloensis
Golden Eagle – Aquila chrysaetos
Common Kestrel – Falco tinnunculus

Black-necked Crane -Grus nigricollis

White-breasted Waterhen – Amaurornis phoenicurus
Common Moorhen -Gallinula chloropus
Common Coot -Fulica atra

Little Ringed Plover – Charadrius dubius

Wood Sandpiper -Tringa glareola
Common Sandpiper -Actitis hypoleucos
Curlew Sandpiper – Calidris ferruginea

Common Redshank -Tringa totanus
Common Greenshank – Tringa nebularia

Common Tern -Sterna hirundo
Brown-headed Gull -Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus

Whimbrel – Numenius phaeopus
Temminck’s Stint – Calidris temminckii

Snow Pigeon – Columba leuconota
Speckled Wood Pigeon -Columba hodgsonii
Spotted Dove -Spilopelia chinensis

Large Hawk-Cuckoo – Hierococcyx sparverioides
Common Cuckoo -Cuculus canorus heard only
Asian Koel – Eudynamys scolopacea heard only

Sichuan Wood Owl -Strix davidi heard only

White-throated Needletail -Hirundapus caudacutus
House Swift – Apus nipalensis
Salim Ali’s Swift sf Fork-tailed Swift -Apus salimali

Common Hoopoe -Upupa epops

Speckled Piculet -Picumnus innominatus
Great Spotted Woodpecker -Dendrocopos major
Grey-headed Pygmy Woodpecker -Dendrocopos canicapillus

Long-tailed Minivet -Pericrocotus ethologus

Long-tailed Shrike – Lanius schach
Grey-backed Shrike – Lanius tephronotus

Black Drongo -Dicrurus macrocercus

Sichuan Jay – Perisoreus internigrans
Red-billed Blue Magpie -Urocissa erythrorhyncha
Common Magpie -Pica pica
Spotted Nutcracker – Nucifraga caryocatactes

Red-billed Chough -Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Alpine/ Yellow-billed Chough -Pyrrhocorax graculus
Daurian Jackdaw -Coloeus dauuricus
Carrion Crow -Corvus corone
Large-billed Crow -Corvus macrorhynchos
Northern Raven – Corvus corax

Sichuan Tit -Poecile weigoldicus
White-browed Tit -Poecile superciliosus
Black-throated Tit -Aegithalos concinnus
Sooty / White-necklaced Tit – Aegithalos fuliginosus
Black-browed Tit – Aegithalos bonvaloti
Rufous-vented Tit – Periparus rubidiventris
Coal Tit – Periparus ater
Yellow-bellied Tit – Periparus venustulus
Grey-crested Tit – Lophophanes dichrous
Great Japanese Tit – Parus major
Green-backed Tit – Parus monticolus
Yellow-browed Tit – Sylviparus modestus
Fire-capped Tit – Cephalopyrus flammiceps
Ground Tit – Pseudopodoces humilis

Oriental Skylark -Alauda gulgula
Horned Lark -Eremophila alpestris

Collared Finchbill -Spizixos semitorques
Mountain Bulbul – Ixos mcclellandi
Brown-breasted Bulbul – Pycnonotus xanthorrhous
Chinese/ Light-vented Bulbul – Pycnonotus sinensis

Barn Swallow – Hirundo rustica
Eurasian Crag Martin – Ptyonoprogne rupestris
Asian House Martin – Delichon dasypus

Goldcrest -Regulus regulus
Chestnut-headed Tesia -Tesia castaneocoronata
Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler – Cettia fortipes
Aberrant Bush Warbler -Cettia flavolivacea
Yellowish-bellied Bush Warbler -Cettia acanthizoides
Sichuan Bush Warbler -Locustella chengi

Rufous-faced Warbler -Abroscopus albogularis
White-browed Tit Warbler -Leptopoecile sophiae
Crested Tit Warbler -Leptopoecile elegans
Alpine Leaf Warbler sf Tickell’s -Phylloscopus occisinensis
Buff-throated Warbler -Phylloscopus subaffinis
Yellow-streaked Warbler -Phylloscopus armandii
Buff-barred Warbler -Phylloscopus pulcher
Ashy-throated Warbler -Phylloscopus maculipennis
Sichuan Leaf Warbler sf Lemon-rumped -Phylloscopus forresti
Chinese Leaf Warbler – Phylloscopus yunnanensis
Hume’s Leaf Warbler -Phylloscopus humei
Greenish Warbler -Phylloscopus trochiloides
Large-billed Leaf Warbler -Phylloscopus magnirostris
Claudia’s Leaf Warbler -Phylloscopus claudiae
Emei Leaf Warbler -Phylloscopus emeiensis
Kloss’s Leaf Warbler -Phylloscopus ogilviegranti
Grey-crowned Warbler – Seicercus tephrocephalus
Bianchi’s Warbler – Seicercus valentini
Martens’s Warbler – Seicercus omeiensis
Chestnut-crowned Warbler -Seicercus castaniceps

Black-streaked Scimitar Babbler – Pomatorhinus gravivox
Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler -Pomatorhinus ruficollis
Winter / Eurasian Wren -Troglodytes troglodytes
Scaly-breasted Wren Babbler -Pnoepyga albiventer  – heard only
Rufous-capped Babbler -Stachyridopsis ruficeps

Red-billed Leiothrix – Leiothrix lutea
White-throated Laughingthrush – Garrulax albogularis
Buffy / Rufous Laughingthrush sf Rusty – Dryonastes berthemyi
Plain / Pere David’s Laughingthrush -Pterorhinus davidi
White-browed Laughingthrush -Pterorhinus sannio
Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush -Ianthocincla sukatschewi
Barred Laughingthrush -Ianthocincla lunulata
Giant Laughingthrush -Ianthocincla maxima
Spotted Laughingthrush -Ianthocincla ocellata
Elliot’s Laughingthrush -Trochalopteron elliotii
Red-winged Laughingthrush -Trochalopteron formosum  – heard only
Emei Shan Liocichla -Liocichla omeiensis

Blue-winged Minla -Minla cyanouroptera
Red-tailed Minla -Minla ignotincta

Golden-breasted Fulvetta -Lioparus chrysotis
Chinese Fulvetta -Fulvetta striaticollis
Grey-hooded Fulvetta -Fulvetta cinereiceps
Grey-cheeked / David’s Fulvetta -Alcippe davidi
White-browed Fulvetta -Fulvetta vinipectus

Stripe-throated Yuhina – Yuhina gularis
White-collared Yuhina -Yuhina diademata

Great Parrotbill – Conostoma oemodium
Three-toed Parrotbill – Cholornis paradoxus heard only
Brown Parrotbill – Cholornis unicolor
Spectacled Parrotbill – Sinosuthora conspicillata
Vinous-throated Parrotbill – Sinosuthora webbiana
Ashy-throated Parrotbill – Sinosuthora alphonsiana
Grey-hooded Parrotbill – Sinosuthora zappeyi
Fulvous Parrotbill – Suthora fulvifrons
Golden Parrotbill – Suthora verreauxi

Chestnut-flanked White-eye – Zosterops erythropleurus
Japanese White-eye – Zosterops japonicus

Eurasian Nuthatch – Sitta europaea
Przevalski’s / White-cheeked Nuthatch -Sitta przewalskii

Wallcreeper – Tichodroma muraria
Hodgson’s Treecreeper – Certhia hodgsoni
Sichuan Treecreeper – Certhia tianquanensis

White-cheeked Starling -Spodiopsar cineraceus

Blue Whistling Thrush -Myophonus caeruleus
Long-tailed Thrush -Zoothera dixoni
Chinese Blackbird -Turdus mandarinus
Chestnut Thrush -Turdus rubrocanus
Kessler’s Thrush -Turdus kessleri
Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush – Monticola rufiventris

White-browed Shortwing – Brachypteryx montana

Siberian Rubythroat -Luscinia calliope
White-tailed Rubythroat -Luscinia pectoralis
Firethroat -Luscinia pectardens
Indian Blue Robin – Luscinia brunnea
Himalayan / Orange-flanked Bluetail -Tarsiger rufilatus
Oriental Magpie Robin -Copsychus saularis
White-tailed Robin – Myiomela leucura heard only

Black Redstart -Phoenicurus ochruros
Hodgson’s Redstart -Phoenicurus hodgsoni
Daurian Redstart -Phoenicurus auroreus
Blue-fronted Redstart -Phoenicurus frontalis
White-throated Redstart -Phoenicurus schisticeps
White-bellied Redstart -Hodgsonius phaenicuroides
Plumbeous Water Redstart -Rhyacornis fuliginosa
White-capped Water Redstart -Chaimarrornis leucocephalus

Grandala – Grandala coelicolor

White-crowned Forktail -Enicurus leschenaulti

Common / Siberian Stonechat -Saxicola maurus

Brown-breasted Flycatcher – Muscicapa muttui
Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher – Culicicapa ceylonensis
Dark-sided Flycatcher – Muscicapa sibirica
Ferruginous Flycatcher – Muscicapa ferruginea
Slaty-backed Flycatcher -Ficedula hodgsonii
Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher -Ficedula strophiata
Verditer Flycatcher -Eumyias thalassinus
Chinese Blue Flycatcher -Cyornis glaucicomans  – heard only
Ultramarine Flycatcher – Ficedula superciliaris

White-throated Dipper -Cinclus cinclus
Brown Dipper -Cinclus pallasii

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker – Dicaeum ignipectus
Mrs Gould’s Sunbird -Aethopyga gouldiae

Russet Sparrow – Passer rutilans
Eurasian Tree Sparrow -Passer montanus
House Sparrow -Passer domesticus
Rock Sparrow -Pyrgilauda ruficollis

White-rumped Snowfinch -Onychostruthus taczanowskii
Rufous-necked Snowfinch -Pyrgilauda ruficollis

Plain Mountain Finch -Leucosticte nemoricola
Brandt’s Mountain Finch -Leucosticte brandti

Alpine Accentor -Prunella collaris
Rufous-breasted Accentor -Prunella strophiata
Maroon-backed Accentor -Prunella immaculata
Robin Accentor – Prunella rubeculoides

Citrine Wagtail -Motacilla citreola
Eastern Yellow Wagtail – Motacilla tschutschensis
Grey Wagtail -Motacilla cinerea
White Wagtail -Motacilla alba

Olive-backed Pipit -Anthus hodgsoni
Rosy Pipit -Anthus roseatus

White-rumped Munia -Lonchura striata
Grey-capped Greenfinch -Carduelis sinica
Twite -Carduelis flavirostris

Pink-tailed / Przevalski’s Rosefinch – Urocynchramus pylzowi
Long-tailed Rosefinch – Uragus sibiricus
Dark-breasted Rosefinch – Carpodacus nipalensis
Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch – Carpodacus davidianus
Pink-rumped Rosefinch – Carpodacus eos
Vinaceous Rosefinch – Carpodacus vinaceus
Chinese White-browed Rosefinch -Carpodacus dubius
Streaked Rosefinch – Carpodacus rubicilloides
Red-fronted Rosefinch -Carpodacus puniceus

Grey-headed Bullfinch -Pyrrhula erythaca
Brown Bullfinch -Pyrrhula nipalensis

Chinese Grosbeak -Eophona migratoria
Collared Grosbeak -Mycerobas affinis
White-winged Grosbeak -Mycerobas carnipes

Slaty Bunting – Latoucheornis siemsseni
Godlewski’s Bunting – Emberiza godlewskii
Yellow-throated Bunting – Emberiza elegans
Little Bunting – Emberiza pusilla

Mammals :

Tibetan Macaque – Macaca thibetana
Himalayan Marmot – Marmota himalayana
Pere David’s Rock Squirrel – Sciurotamias davidianus
Plateau Pika – Ochotona curzoniae
Glover’s Pika – Ochotona gloveri
Woolly Hare – Lepus olostolus
Tibetan Fox – Vulpes ferrilata
Asiatic Black Bear – Ursus thibetanus
Mountain Weasel – Mustela altaica
Wild Boar – Sus scrofa
Tufted Deer – Elaphodus cephalophus
Reeve’s Muntjac – Muntiacus reevesi
Takin – Budorcas taxicolor
Chinese Goral – Naemorhedus grise
Siberian Roe Deer – Capreolus pygargus

Pheasants photography tour report in 2015

This is a Sichuan game birds photography custom-made tour for a singapore couple, Rose and Joseph Lee, during this 24 days tour ( 14th April – 7th May ) we visited Western Sichuan and Northwestern Sichuan, tour route: Chengdu – Kangding- Xinduqiao – Yajiang – same way back to Chengdu – Wanglang – Tangjiahe – Chuanzhusi – Ruoergai – Maerkang – Balang Shan – Chengdu.

During this tour, we got all the possible Phasianidae on that area, some of them are very good sharp photos such as : Lady Amherst’s Pheasant, White-eared Pheasant, Blood Pheasant, Tibetan Partridge, Szechenyi’s Monal Partridge ( Buff-throated Partridge ), Verreaux’s Monal Partridge ( Chestnut-throated Partridge ), Temminck’s Tragopan, Snow Partridge. Some of them are not sharp enough or just recording shots such as : Blue-eared Pheasant ( in Wanglang saw too, in Ruoergai saw another two, both up on the slope ), Chinese Monal, Tibetan Snowcock, Golden Pheasant. One species no photo, we only saw a pair of them around 30-40 meters away, disturbed by us, one running away across the grass, another one flew away into the bushes ahead of us: Chinese Grouse.

Other rare and good species we saw on this trip are: Sichuan Wood Owl ( good photo ), Black-necked Crane ( good photo ), a pair of Sichuan Jay flew across the valley in the freezing snow ( no photo ), Przevalski’s Finch / Pink-tailed Bunting ( young male one, not sharp enough photo),  Lammergeier ( good photo ), White-browed Tit Warbler ( good photo ), Crested Tit Warbler ( good photo ), White-browed Tit ( good photo ), Siberian Rubythroat ( not sharp enough photo ),  Grandala ( no photo), Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush /Sukatschev’s Laughingthrush  (very good and close view, but no photo, we mainly focus on to photograph Chinese Grouse ).

All the sharp and amazing bird photos of this trip are from Singapore client Joseph Lee:

Having Long-life Noodle and Cake in Joseph’s Birthday on tour

   Rose and Joseph Lee , Summer Wong at Erlang Shan