Longcanggou - Parrotbill Heaven...!

Waking blurry eyed after a poor night’s sleep and it’s onto the coach for 5.30am and we drive up into the hills full of excitement of course. The dirt road is very uneven, with large rocks and potholes carefully hidden by a greasy layer of mud. In fact the road is terrible and the coach ‘grounds’ several times before we make it to our destination. Yet we begin birding in good heart and get a brief look at a singing Yellowish-bellied Bush-Warbler, a flyover Speckled Woodpigeon, and then a pair of Himalayan Cuckoos perch high above us to get the ball rolling. By taking a side track we avoid any traffic and pick up a string of key birds as we walk through excellent undisturbed habitat with plenty of bamboo and mature, moss-encrusted trees proving ideal for our first major sighting of the day as a pair of soon-to-be-split Spotted Laughingthrushes sing at us. What a bird this is and our admiring audience is suitably impressed. 

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. 

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! 

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. 

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. 

Golden-breasted Fulvetta

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. 

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. 

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.

   

Sichuan - here we go again....!

Following a 10 hour overnight direct flight with British Airways we eventually landed at Chengdu around 11am and then headed to a nearby restaurant for our first Sichuan lunch. Then, in a break from our traditional visit to one of the city parks and an overnight stop in Chengdu, we drive south-west for some two hours to Ya’an and visit a narrows strip of woodland bordered by a river and a quant, rustic village. We are targeting some species that are unlikely during the rest of the tour and it is rather pleasing to see a pair of Ashy-throated Parrotbills very close to our coach, as well as a Japanese Tit. There is a rickety old bridge across a river here but it leads to a spot I visit very year and in no time at all we are enjoying point-blank views of a Brown-flanked Bush-Warbler posturing at us from some nearby bamboo. There is also a pair of Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, with the male being particularly sexy, whilst a pair of Rufous-capped Babblers, Asian Paradise-Flycatcher, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Rufous-faced Warbler and a flock of Black-throated Bushtits all put in an appearance. I was particularly keen to find Swinhoe’s Minivet and after a couple of flybys we spot a perched bird at head height in the nearby trees. A brief Chinese Sparrowhawk, equally brief Black-naped Oriole, several White-browed Laughingthrushes and a soaring Oriental Honey Buzzard complete the picture here before it’s time to head back to the coach and drive to Longcanggou – our base for the next 4 nights.

Once we leave the freeway the road winds down into a valley before going up the other side where the habitat becomes better. We stop at a bend overlooking a river where Brown Dipper, Blue Whistling-Thrush and Slaty-backed Forktail are seen. A Sulphur-breasted Warbler gives great views at eye-level, as does the endemic Yellow-bellied Tit, but best of all is a cracking Chinese Blue Flycatcher perched in the bamboo below us. The views are a little obstructed but the bird remains on its perch for several minutes allowing everyone plenty of time to manoeuvre and get better and better views. The only other time I’ve scored this bird on a Sichuan trip was when we came across Per Alstrom holding one he had just mist-netted!

This is our lodge at Longcanggou - a pretty comfortable base for 4 nights.

So from here it is just a short drive to a nice lodge and with bags thrown into our rooms we still have time to find Long-tailed and Grey-backed Shrikes, Brown-breasted Bulbul and Grey-headed Woodpecker, with our showers interrupted by a Large Hawk-Cuckoo perched in the open. Not a bad start and can’t wait for tomorrow.

SE China - The Last Day

Our final morning’s birding was a relatively relaxed affair after yesterday’s long and tiring day, although we did walk quite a way along the forest trails. We picked up Rufous Woodpecker and White-bellied Erpornis, which were both new for the trip amongst good congregations of birds agitated by the owlet call and brought our trip list up to 267 species seen, including some very special and exceedingly rare birds. 

Rufous Woodpecker

There were many Fork-tailed Sunbirds, the most showy Huet’s Fulvettas of the tour, Mountain, Black and Chestnut Bulbuls, Japanese Tit, and both Scarlet and Grey-chinned Minivets amongst others. 

Fork-tailed Sunbird

Huet's Fulvetta

We also heard more White-necklaced Partridges in the distance but all too soon we had to leave and return to the hotel to pack and prepare for the short flight back to Shanghai. Upon arrival we checked in to the airport hotel and enjoyed a few cold beers and then flew back to the UK, USA and Australia the following morning. Now on to Sichuan.......

It's All About The Tern.......

Due to a ridiculously early high tide we left in three separate taxis at stupid o’clock, well that is 4am and drove for 15 minutes to the coast. Here we boarded 2 small boats and got ‘punted’ along a muddy creek for around 25 minutes until we reached Shanyutan Island and already it was light and we could see birds out on the mudflats. So we walked along the sand until we could find a place to cross the sticky mud quite easily and then walked towards the water’s edge to begin scanning for the Holy Grail – Chinese Crested Tern, one of the rarest birds on the planet. According to BirdLife International this bird is listed as Critically Endangered with less than 50 mature individuals left. At first just a few Greater Crested Terns flew by out to sea, but then a couple of large, paler terns were picked far out to sea and as they came closer it was apparent that we were looking at a pair of Chinese Crested Terns. They flew by quite a way out and headed off to the bay to our left where they disappeared. Wow! To say everyone was elated to see them so easily is an understatement. So we watched several White-faced Plovers feeding nearby for a little while and then noticed a group of Greater Crested Terns loafing off to our right on a small sandbar and sure enough, there was another Chinese Crested Tern in amongst them. 

A few iffy photos of Chinese Crested Terns with Greater Crested Terns...

Watching the terns....

So we walked closer, until about 150m away and scoped the flock, getting great looks at ‘the biggie’ and eventually we found 4 Chinese Crested Terns. We watched them for an hour, and occasionally the whole flock would fly around and then settle in the same place again. This could not have gone any better.

There were plenty of shorebirds around including Red-necked and Long-toed Stints, Sharp-tailed and Terek Sandpipers, a lone Great Knot, a flock of breeding-plumaged Sanderling, Dunlin and Red Knot and also a flock of 10+ Black-faced Spoonbills were some distance away. There was also Caspian, White-winged, Black, Little & Common Terns, as well as 3 immature Black-tailed Gulls, Sooty-headed Bulbul and Grey-capped Greenfinch. So we left and returned to the hotel for breakfast, loaded the luggage up and checked out. Then we searched for migrants along the coastal fields and came up trumps with a female Yellow-breasted Bunting feeding along a drainage ditch. There was also Yellow Bittern, Oriental Skylark, 2 Pacific Golden Plovers, Oriental Pratincole, 2 fine Little Curlews, Black-collared and White-cheeked Starlings, Masked and White-browed Laughingthrushes, and both Oriental and Black-browed Reed Warblers.

Little Curlew in the heat haze...

Yellow Bittern

After lunch we drove to our new hotel close to the entrance of Fuzhou Forest Park and following a short break we drove into the park. It was rather hot but there were quite a few birds around and a pair of the distinctive local race of Orange-bellied Leafbirds were seen in a bare tree on the slope above us (a potential future split). Several Great Barbets were around, and Chestnut Bulbuls were also prominent. 

Chestnut Bulbul

Yet another Collared Owlet was seen in a tree beside the path and was attracting numerous birds, with some splendid male Fork-tailed Sunbirds, Common Tailorbird, and both Grey-chinned and Scarlet Minivets mobbing it. The trail went up onto the side of the hill and was quite steep in places but the effort was worth it as we saw Blue Whistling Thrush, a mixed flock of Lesser and Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes, a fine Grey-headed Parrotbill, brief Grey-sided Scimitar-Babbler, and best of all a few White-necklaced Partridges were feeding in the leaf litter below the trail. And that was our day.