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| Spotted Laughingthrush |
And then a female Temminck’s Tragopan bursts out of the hillside above us and flies across to a denser patch of forest and promptly disappears. The track meanders from here along the base of a vast swathe of bamboo which is conducive to our sightings of several Brown and Three-toed Parrotbills feeding at different spots along our route. I was very pleased to get the latter species as it has proved tough these past couple of years.
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| Three-toed Parrotbill |
As the track peters out we also nail a pair of hulking Great Parrotbills as well, and they crash through the bamboo and fly in front of us to gaze angrily at me and my ipod. What cool birds they are, full of character and attitude!
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| Great Parrotbill |
At this same spot two Brown Bush-Warblers are singing their weird song from different territories and give us nice views, as does Aberrant Bush-Warbler, which comes in so very close to take a look at us, plus a Buff-throated Warbler puts in an appearance as well.
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| Aberrant Bush-Warbler |
There are also a few Elliot’s Laughingthrushes and some Emei Shan Liocichlas tease us with brief views, but as we return to the coach a pair fly into a nearby bush and hang around long enough for everyone to have very decent views indeed.
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| Golden-breasted Fulvetta |
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| Vinaceous Rosefinch |
Other goodies noted on this walk are Mrs Gould’s Sunbird, Red-tailed Minla, the cute Grey-hooded Fulvetta, stunning Golden-breasted Fulvettas, Besra, White-throated Needletail, Himalayan Swiftlet, Yellow-browed, Green-backed and Coal Tits, a singing Chinese Leaf-Warbler, Red-billed Leiothrix, numerous White-collared Yuhinas, White-bellied Redstart, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, Olive-backed Pipit and some fine male Vinaceous Rosefinches.
So by now it is past midday
and we have a picnic lunch, seeing Slaty-blue
Flycatcher and Fire-capped Tit
nearby, then decide to walk along the main track in search of Golden Parrotbill.
Well it doesn’t take
long and I call in a small group of these delightful birds for crippling views
as they zip around the bamboo in front of us. A flurry of activity brings us Claudia’s Leaf-Warbler, Large-billed Leaf-Warbler, and several
other common birds, with a calling Lesser
Cuckoo perched up in the distance as well. Driving higher the road is
really muddy and we try walking for a bit but to be frank, it isn’t fun so
decide to drive on a bit more (if we can) and we eventually reach the
Shangri-La of higher altitude bamboo forest. We decide to try our luck at
finding Grey-hooded Parrotbill and
it takes us all of two minutes trying before a pair fly down a big slope and
start to feed right over the road.
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| Grey-hooded Parrotbill |
What a result and we follow them for several
minutes before they retreat back into the safety of the impenetrable haven. So
that is five species of parrotbill today – unbelievable. There is also our
second Darjeeling Woodpecker for the
day giving much better views than the earlier sighting, and a pair of Grey-crested Tits here as well.
A bumpy drive to a lower
elevations is curtailed when we get stuck in the mud, but all is not lost as
the recently split Sichuan Bush-Warbler
starts to call behind us. Out we jump and are treated to what can only be
described as crippling views as first it skulks along the floor at the edge of
the track before flying up onto a bare branch at eye level. Wow! The small patch
of forest then reverberates to the song of Emei
Leaf-Warbler and after a bit of manoeuvring we have the bird right above
our heads singing away.
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| Emei Leaf-Warbler |
It is quite mobile and circles us several times before
a different ‘phyllosc’ puts in an appearance, and this one is Kloss’s Leaf-Warbler. Also here are
singing Grey-crowned and Martens’s Warblers, but we only manage
to glimpse the latter species. So we drive back to the lodge for a well earned
early finish, but there’s still time to find Russet Sparrow and Red-billed
Starling in the surrounding area despite the constant drizzle.
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