Up on the Tibetan Plateau

Well, the weather was very kind to us and we had clear blue skies and sunshine all the way to Ruoergai on the Tibetan Plateau, some 300+ kms from Maerkang. The first notable bird of the day was a White-throated Dipper along a fast-flowing river, followed shortly after by our first Plain Laughingthrush and Common Pheasant. There were also some White Eared-Pheasants feeding on a hillside, as well as some Central Asiatic Red Deer. We drove up to the very edge of the plateau and had our picnic breakfast overlooking a river where we saw Siberian Roe Deer and several Tibetan Citrine Wagtails. A little higher we found a Godlewski’s Bunting, Chinese Fulvetta, Streak-throated Warbler and White-browed Tit-Warbler along the roadside bushes. Finally we hit the plateau and drove across an increasingly wide-open landscape dotted with bushes, rivers and soft rolling hills all around. There were many Asian Azure-winged Magpies, Eurasian Hoopoe, Oriental Skylark, Ruddy Shelducks, and some really low-flying Upland Buzzards, Himalayan Griffons and Black-eared Kites. A few pools held some common ducks including Ferruginous Ducks, whilst a Lesser Sandplover in breeding plumage was scoped and 2 Black Storks circled overhead. There were also some Red-billed Choughs, Oriental Crows, Northern Ravens and Daurian Jackdaws.

Tibetan Plateau

Birding on the plateau

We made very good time and arrived for a very early dumpling lunch in Hongyuan before carrying on seeing a soaring Saker, Rock Sparrows, many Twites, a flock of Plain Martins, and eventually after a bit of a search a group of 4 Tibetan Grey Shrikes, with a 5^th individual on the opposite side of the road. We then pressed on over the pass and prepared for our search for Przevalski’s Pinktail, a bird that has caused me some problems during the last couple of tours. Well, within 2 minutes of arriving we were scoping a calling bird from the hillside above thanks to some great spotting by Jules. And what a performance it gave with a parachuting display flight right past us. Wow! With this under our belt we then nailed a pair of Tibetan Snowfinches bringing food to their young in a hidden nest. And it was only 4.50pm! So we birded along the last 25 kilometres to Ruoergai, making some random stops at some good looking areas. This gave us a White-browed Tit in some near bushes after making several attempts earlier in the day. Oh and I should mention the 43 Black-necked Cranes we’d counted throughout the day, with some very close roadside birds feeding in the wetlands – a class bird and one everyone wants to see. We finally arrived at the hotel in Ruoergai at 6.10pm. On a personal note a problem with my memory card meant I’d lost all the photos from today, including crippling ones of the pinktail…