Alishan

After a bit of birding in the garden we drove off up into the dizzy heights of Alishan where we saw plenty of previously seen endemics and other species, but our main aim was to find Parrotbills and bullfinches. As it turned out the Golden Parrotbills came in right on cue and gave mind-blowingly prolonged views and much better than on my previous visit, with at least 5 birds lingering in some roadside bushes. What cuties! 

Golden Parrotbill

We then spent the remainder of the day, some 7 hours searching for bullfinches without any joy. Well that’s birding and we did at least try – very hard. In fact in the afternoon we had thick mist, low cloud and heavy rain that curtailed our efforts, but still saw Taiwan Shortwing, White-eared Sibia, Taiwan Barwing, and all the other usual suspects. 

As I’m typing this I can hear Savanna Nightjars flying past my hotel room window. So now for the pitta…..

Spoonies to Scops!

So we were ahead of the game and decided to change our itinerary and head down to the coast and the wetlands of Aogu this morning. By the time we arrived it was getting quite hot and upon arrival at the Information Centre we were told that there had been no sightings of Black-faced Spoonbills for over a week. Great! But we decided to drive around these extensive wetlands anyway and a good move it turned out to be as at our first stop to scan one of the lagoons we found 4 Black-faced Spoonbills! 

Black-faced Spoonbills

Our first waders here were Wood Sandpiper, Kentish and Pacific Golden Plovers, whilst a few Intermediate Egrets were also present. Overall I was slightly disappointed with the low numbers of waders present when compared to last year but we still managed a reasonable selection. 

Pacific Golden Plover

Some small fish ponds nearby held groups of breeding-plumaged Curlew Sandpipers, along with Marsh Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Whimbrels, more KP’s and a few Yellow Bitterns, whilst there were lots of Black-crowned Night-herons flying around and perched at the water’s edge.

Black-crowned Night-heron

Moving on we found another group of BFS, as well as Garganey, Northern Pintail, Shoveler and Eurasian Wigeon, whilst Greater Sandplover and Red-necked Stints were the wader highlights. A Caspian Tern flew past, and some Little Terns were spotted perched a while later, whilst Black-shouldered Kite and some other commoner species were found.

Oriental Pratincole

By the time we’d done a complete circuit it was after 1pm so we headed into a nearby town for lunch and ice-cream, passing a field full of Oriental Pratincoles along the way before heading up into the hills and the lower regions of Alishan. 

Swinhoe's Pheasant - female

Taiwan Hill-partridge

Arriving just in time for some later afternoon birding we got lucky with a Taiwan Hill-partridge and a pair of Swinhoe’s Pheasants feeding in a secluded corner of the bamboo forest. 

Mountain Scops-owl

And to round off the day how about magnificent looks at this Mountain Scops-owl that took all of 1 minute to call in and landed in the tree right in front of us. A little later we also spotlighted a Collared Scops-owl but that didn’t hang around and all too quickly flew off.

Hehuan Shan

An early start saw us up at a particularly favourite little spot of mine by just after 6am and we got off to a good start with a pair of Taiwan Bamboo-partridges running across the track in front if us, which most of the group managed to get on, and there was also a bonus sighting of a pair of Eye-browed Thrushes feeding out in the open. The hills were alive with birdsong and when we heard the distinctive call of another bamboo-partridge after a short walk it was very pleasing to have another decent sighting. Shortly after the bird we really wanted began calling and after a little playback I managed to call in a pair of Black-necklaced Scimitar-babblers. Always difficult to see well, this pair were no exception, but with a little effort everyone managed some sort of view as they circled us several times in the dense vegetation all around us. 

Rusty Laughingthrush

I must say this site is very good and just to name a few goodies we also had here, how about a pair of Rusty Laughingthrushes on view for ten minutes, calling, perching overhead and generally showing off. A pair of White-bellied Green-pigeons were also quality, and there was also White-tailed Robin, Rufous-faced Warbler and Taiwan Barbet, So with that double-whammy (partridge & babbler!) completed before 8am that left us with the easy option of driving up to Hehuan Shan at 3275m, stopping at a ‘7 and 11’ for breakfast and nice coffee. At the pass we quickly found an Alpine Accentor in one of the car parks, but it didn’t hang around for long.

Taiwan Bush-warbler

At another parking area, a Taiwan Bush-warbler performed unbelievably well, singing from an exposed branch right below the road. So from here we took a nice trail down into pine forest, where Flamecrests gave their best showing of the entire trip and a Taiwan Bush-robin was building a nest in a mossy bank. At the end of the trail before it dropped steeply down into the valley, we found the forest edge alive with activity. More Flamecrests, Collared Bush-robin, Taiwan Fulvetta came in to just a few feet, Yellowish-bellied Bush-robin and the distinctive race of Coal Tits adorned the trees here.

Taiwan Fulvetta

 Leaving here we drove down several kilometres and birded the road in excellent mixed forest, where we bumped into numerous bird waves. It was a very enjoyable afternoon seeing lots of birds although we certainly walked several kilometres, so earned the right to our luck I think. I was surprised to see several small groups of Eurasian Siskin coming in to the owlet call, but I think everyone else appreciated our first Ferruginous Flycatcher much better! I was also glad to get a couple sightings of Taiwan Barwing, which had proved a bit tricky for some of the group to date. 

Taiwan Barwing

Most of the flocks comprised of loads of Taiwan Yuhinas and Black-throated Tits, but also Grey-chinned Minivet, Green-backed and Coal Tits, both bush-robins also put in appearances with a Taiwan Bush-robin showing very well on a mossy branch t one stage right in front of us, Steere’s Liocichlas were common, Eurasian Nuthatch, and we even had a Pallas’s Warbler in one mixed flock.

There was also another very confiding Taiwan Cupwing perched in a bush that allowed me to get a record shot at last.

Taiwan Bush-robin

Taiwan Cupwing - another high altitude endemic

 Driving back up to the pass, a female Vinaceous Rosefinch was found beside one of the car parks, and down at the Blue Gate Trail another pair of Black-necklaced Scimitar-babblers gave even better views than this morning. 

Vinaceous Rosefinch - a potential split

A good day indeed.

Huisun and the Varied Tit Chase

A few of us got up early and birded the gardens in much clearer conditions than we’d experienced so far – and even had a bit of blue sky. The male Pale Thrush showed quite well feeding along a path, David and Ian had Taiwan Barwing, and there were plenty of other birds around this morning as well. I knew it was going to be one of those days when I saw a Scaly Thrush and Ashy Woodpigeon and no one else got onto them. Anyway, we left after breakfast and slowly made our way down the mountain, but it took too long as we waited for a while for Little Forktail to show without any joy, then a puncture delayed us further but we did get a Taiwan (Vivid) Niltava during the wheel changing process which was a result. We made a couple more stops on the way out and really only got Strong-footed Bush-warbler in the process that is of any note, and only heard Black-necklaced Scimitar-babbler and Taiwan Bamboo-partridge. 

Taiwan Yuhina is one of the commonest endemics

I did like getting to watch a huge flock of Asian House-martins feeding below us from the big bridge and when the mist came in quickly got a Grey-headed Woodpecker here as well. Oh and there was a fine pair of White-bellied Green-pigeons on some telegraph wires as well. It took maybe just over an hour to reach Huisun and we drove into this scenic spot where we enjoyed another great picnic lunch. It then took several hours of walking around before we finally managed to find a Taiwan Varied Tit high up in the canopy. Phew and well spotted Ian. There were also flocks of Japanese White-eyes, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Taiwan Barbets, Large-billed Crow, White-bellied Erpornis, Silver-backed Needletail, Bronzed Drongo and a few others but it was hard going. 

One glaring miss was Taiwan Blue Magpie which just wasn’t around and in all we spent over 6 hours here and staking out the entrance where you are supposed to get them without a sniff. A pair of Grey-capped Woodpeckers was a little compensation, but hardly and I must admit I left here feeling a bit despondent. But there’s always another chance or two in the next few days. From here it took an hour to get to Wushe and our excellent lodge.