Sichuan lies in the
very heart of China and is situated on the eastern edge of the vast Tibetan
Plateau. It is a huge province, the size
of France and hosts the richest concentration of Chinese specialities and endemics
in this vast country. There is a remarkable wealth of birdlife waiting in its
rich evergreen and temperate forests, alpine meadows, mighty snow-capped
mountains and grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau which form some of the most
spectacular scenery of any bird tour! Our unique and special two-week tour visited the mountains of
Labahe, Balang Shan, Mengbi Shan, the
Tibetan Plateau, and finished with a post-tour extension to Shaanxi Province
for the amazing Crested Ibis. In all we recorded 275 species which included 54
endemic, near endemic and breeding-endemics. Amongst a very special selection
of spectacular species the bird of the trip was Temminck’s Tragopan and families
very well represented including 14 ‘galliformes’, 25 species of warbler, 28
species of babbler and 9 species of Rosefinch.
READ ON FOR THE FULL STORY........
Following an overnight flight from London via Hong Kong we
eventually arrived at Chengdu in the early afternoon. After meeting Tang Jun we
drove to a restaurant for lunch before paying a visit to Yuantan Park where
despite the number of people and noise managed to notch up a few birds. First
up was Chinese Blackbird, looking
and sounding different to the blackbirds back in the UK. A few Vinous-throated Parrotbills showed very
well, as did a cracking Yellow-billed
(Chinese) Grosbeak, Collared Finchbill
and several White-browed
Laughingthrushes. With plenty of Chinese
Bulbuls, a few Black-throated Tits,
Himalayan Swiftlet, and a few other
common species we had made a decent start and with most of the target species
seen headed to our nearby hotel for a much needed rest before dinner.
We
left Chengdu early the next morning and headed out across the Red Basin, a huge area of lowland
cultivation, stopping to check out a small wooded area beside a river. What a
great move this turned out to be as a displaying Forest Wagtail was seen,
quickly followed by a pair of Swinhoe’s
Minivets and a very fine Tiger
Shrike. A small flock of Ashy-throated
Parrotbills also came into view along the narrow stream, and as we watched
them a very bright male Yellow-rumped
Flycatcher flew in. With a couple of Grey-headed
Canary-flycatchers and Asian
Paradise-flycatcher, Oriental Greenfinch
and a pair of Chinese Grosbeaks seen
as well, along with some commoner species things were going well. Moving on, we
checked out some sites for Hwamei
but only succeeded in getting an Asian
Drongo-cuckoo and Brownish-flanked
Bush-warbler. So by now it was late morning and we headed to a great little
restaurant in Ya’an for another great meal before driving further west to
Labahe.
The road went for miles through a spectacularly scenic river valley
with huge, forest-clad mountains on either side and we then stopped to watch a Brown Dipper feeding in the tumbling
river. Also here was a Spangled Drongo
and a very tape-responsive Alstrom’s
Warbler. Once inside the reserve we walked a few kilometres along the road
and despite the misty & drizzly conditions managed decent views of Dark-sided Flycatcher, the endemic Yellow-bellied and several Green-backed Tits, a wing-flicking Claudia’s Warbler and a heard only Bianchi’s Warbler. A large flock of Asian House-martins and Himalayan Swiftlets held one or two Pacific Swifts, and a few White-throated Needletails also put in
an appearance. Other birds seen included Blue
Whistling-thrush, White-capped
and Plumbeous Water-Redstarts, Japanese Tit and Red-billed Blue Magpie before reaching our accommodation for the
next four nights, set amidst superb forest at 1950m.
