Baihualing - second morning

We visited Hide No 33 this morning, that’s the famous Scarlet Finch hide. It’s a walk of approx. 800m down into the valley and boy what a morning we had from 8am – 1.30pm with stand-out highlights being 2 female Scarlet Finches that were almost the first birds we saw, a superb and stonking White’s Thrush and a pair of Slender-billed Scimitar-Babblers. 

Scarlet Finch (female)

Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler

Again, the sheer number, variety and volume of birds was breath-taking.

1. Banded Bay Cuckoo
2. 2 Great Barbet
3. 3 Greater Yellownape
4. 1 Bay Woodpecker
5. 30+ Long-tailed Broadbills
6. 3 White-bellied Erpornis
7. 1 Bronzed Drongo
8. 4 Yellow-cheeked Tits
9. 2+ green-backed Tits
10. 24+ Striated Bulbuls
11. 5+ Mountain Bulbuls
12. 1 Buff-barred Warbler
13. 1 Sichuan Leaf Warbler
14. 2 Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler
15. 2 Grey-throated Babbler
16. 5+ Rufous-capped Babbler
17. 2 Golden Babbler
18. 30+ Yunnan Fulvetta 
19. 2 Blue-winged Laughingthrush
20. 45+ Red-tailed Laughingthrush
21. 50+ Blue-winged Minla
22. 7+ Scarlet-faced Liocichla
23. 12+ Rusty-fronted Barwing
24. 35+ Silver-eared Mesia
25. 5 Black-headed Sibia
26. 11+ Beautiful Sibia
27. 5 Whiskered Yuhina
28. 35+ Oriental White-eye
29. 6+ Chestnut-vented Nuthatch
30. 1 White’s Thrush
31. 7 Black-breasted Thrush
32. 12+ Grey-winged Blackbird
33. 2 Rufous-bellied Niltava
34. 1 Small Niltava
35. 5+ Large Niltava
36. 4 Himalayan Bluetail
37. 1 Blue Whistling Thrush
38. 2+ Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher
39. 2 Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush
40. 2 Scarlet Finch

Bath time for Blue-winged Minla and Japanese White-eyes

Blue-winged Laughingthrush

Golden Babbler

Great Barbet

Greater Yellownape

Grey-winged Blackbird

Himalayan Bluetail

Mountain Bulbul

Red-tailed Laughingthrushes

Rufous-bellied Niltava

Rusty-capped Fulvetta

Silver-eared Mesia

Small Niltava

Scaly Thrush

Baihualing - First Afternoon

The more secluded hide in the afternoon produced a number of widespread species but seeing the ‘new’ Himalayan Thrush so well was a real privilege and not something that many people get to observe as good as this.

Himalayan Thrush

Hide No 27:

1. 3 Wedge-tailed Green-Pigeon
2. 2 Great Barbet
3. 2 Golden-throated Barbet
4. 2 White-bellied Erpornis
5. 1 Ashy Drongo
6. 2 Green-backed Tit
7. 2 Yellow-cheeked Tit
8. 3 Buff-barred Warbler
9. Ashy-throated Warbler
10. 1 Chestnut-crowned Warbler
11. 2 Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babblers
12. 2 Grey-throated Babbler
13. 5 Rufous-capped Babbler
14. 1 Golden Babbler
15. 8+ Rusty-capped Fulvetta
16. 20+ Yunnan Fulvetta 
17. 15+ Red-tailed Laughingthrush
18. 7+ Blue-winged Minla
19. 7+ Bar-throated Minla
20. 13+ Red-tailed Minla
21. 5 Rusty-fronted Barwing
22. 8+ Black-headed Sibia
23. 20+ Beautiful Sibia
24. 3 Whiskered Yuhina
25. 4 Chestnut-vented Nuthatch
26. 1 Himalayan Thrush
27. 1 Long-tailed Thrush
28. 2 Himalayan Bluetail
29. 3 Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher
30. 3 Large Niltava

Bar-throated Minla

Great Barbet

Golden-throated Barbet

Grey-throated Babbler

Himalayan Bluetail

Long-tailed Thrush

Red-tailed Laughingthrush

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher

Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler

Wedge-tailed Green-Pigeon

Whiskered Yuhina

White-bellied Erpornis

Yunnan Fulvetta

Walking between hides after a field lunch was rather productive with Himalayan Griffon, 2 Bonelli’s Eagles, Davison’s, Hume’s and Sichuan Leaf-Warblers and a flock of Black Bulbuls.

Baihualing - First Morning....

We visited two hides and spent the whole of the day up on the mountain. See the below list of birds seen at each hide, but its difficult to describe the excitement of seeing so many birds at each location as the views are so good and everything is so close. For instance, if you’ve seen Great Barbet before then you know it’s a great bird but to see it here at such close quarters with the light so perfect is a whole new experience. So when a gang of Red-tailed Laughingthrushes comes in to feed, and that’s a bird everyone wants to see, the excitement is palpable amongst the group. Seeing Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler anywhere is tough, but at a feeding station here, well you just couldn’t imagine the mind-blowing views! The same with Mountain Bamboo-Partridge….

Red-tailed Laughingthrush

Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler

Mountain Bamboo-Partridge

Hide No 35:

1. 3 Rufous-throated Partridge
2. 4 Mountain Bamboo-Partridge
3. 1 Great Barbet
4. 8+ Ashy Drongo
5. 6+ Crested Finchbill
6. 9 Red-vented Bulbul
7. 10+ Flavescent Bulbul
8. 2 Hill Prinia
9. 4 Black-streaked Scimitar-Babblers
10. 2 Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babblers
11. 1 Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler
12. Rufous-capped Babbler
13. 10+ Rusty-capped Fulvetta
14. 15+ Yunnan Fulvetta
15. 5+ Blue-winged Laughingthrush
16. 3 Scaly Laughingthrush
17. 6+ Assam Laughingthrush
18. 12+ Red-tailed Laughingthrush
19. 3+ Blue-winged Minla
20. 5 Scarlet-faced Liocichla
21. 9+ Rusty-fronted Barwing
22. 8 Red-billed Leiothrix
23. 14+ Black-headed Sibia
24. 10+ Beautiful Sibia
25. 3 Whiskered Yuhina
26. 1 Long-tailed Thrush
27. 10+ Black-breasted Thrush
28. 10+ Grey-winged Blackbird
29. 1 Eyebrowed Thrush
30. 1 Himalayan Shortwing
31. 1 Himalayan Bluetail
32. 1 Golden Bush-Robin
33. 2 Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher
34. 3 Large Niltava
35. 1 Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush
36. 2 Grey Bushchat
37. Mrs Gould’s Sunbird

Rufous-throated Partridge

Ashy Drongo

Crested Finchbill

Black-streaked Scimitar-Babbler

Blue-winged Laughingthrush

Assam Laughingthrush

Blue-winged Minla

Scalet-faced Liocichla

Rusty-fronted Barwing

Grey-winged Blackbird

Large Niltava

Long-tailed Thrush

Black-breasted Thrush

Eye-browed Thrush

Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher

Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush

Golden Bush-Robin