Niagara & Long Point

Well we have arrived in Canada on our short, private tour of the migration hotspots along the northern shore of Lake Erie. Last evening we visited the falls in lovely sunshine but this morning it was quite misty and dull, so instead of hanging around we drove straight to Long Point. But along the way we saw our first Bald Eagle sat in a dead tree, Wild Turkey, lots of Turkey Vultures, Mourning Doves, Red-winged Blackbirds, American Robins, and Common Grackles. 

Once at the Obs at Long Point we quickly started notching up goodies and it was all very exciting. The feeders across the road held both White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, Northern Cardinal, Grey Catbird, Downy Woodpecker, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, and a male Eastern Towhee. 

Downy Woodpecker

American Robin

Eastern Towhee

Grey Catbird

Northern Cardinal

However, the news was not good here and according to local birders it was exceedingly quiet. I really love to be told this and was more determined than ever to dig out some cool birds and was initially quite excited by our first Yellow Warbler – but 50 birds later and they had become a nuisance. Yet walking around the area did produce at least 3 Nashville Warblers, 4+ Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Chipping Sparrow, an Ovenbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, House Finch, Brown-headed Cowbird, Blue Jay and Viv had an American Redstart as well. Back at the car park and we added a stonking male Blackburnian Warbler to our tally, as well as Blue-grey Gnatcatchers and 3 Warbling Vireos.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

 So we scoffed some lunch we had purchased at the wonderful Tim Horton’s in Simcoe earlier (and had Chimney Swifts flying over) and then twitched the reported Harris’s Sparrow down at the park. I don’t really like chasing other people’s birds but this sounded a good bet. Sure enough we nailed the sucker in double-quick time as it fed with some White-crowned Sparrows along the road – and we also got a Field Sparrow into the bargain as well. 

Harris's Sparrow

Field Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

So with that done we drove back to the Obs, where a Song Sparrow was coming into the feeders and then drove off. Our last birding stop of the day was at a watchtower overlooking a marsh where we had 3 Sandhill Cranes, American Bittern, 2 Lesser Scaup, Canada Goose, Mute Swan and a Swamp Sparrow. Finishing the day with a very well marked Yellow-rumped Warbler in the trees opposite the car park was almost bettered by hearing American Woodcocks roding behind the Pelee Day Inn as we finally crashed out after a long and tiring day.

Taiwan Migrants

Yet another early start saw us at the southernmost tip of the island in search of some migrants, which turned up hardly anything apart from a calling  Yellow-browed Warbler – plus a group of Taiwan Scimitar-babblers. 

Taiwan Scimitar-babblers

So we left here and returned to Longluan Lake but the conditions were the same as yesterday with a howling gale. A few thrushes were heard calling from the entrance road, around a large fruiting tree which were most probably all Eye-browed Thrushes, yet one bird that did perch out in the open was a Brown-headed Thrush…… So we decided to call it quits here and packed our luggage onboard the minibus and headed north to Tainan and the Tsengwen Estuary area. The weather by now had become a lot calmer, but with low cloud and light rain which didn’t help things, although I was hopeful it would ground some migrants....... 

But at our first stop from another decent hide we picked up our first Terek Sandpipers of the trip, as well as a group of 18 Caspian Terns, both Gull-billed and Common Terns, as well as an Osprey. We then followed the road around a large lagoon and picked up yet more waders, with at least 10 Grey-tailed Tattlers, 15+ Terek Sandpipers, both Greater and Mongolian Sandplovers, Red-necked Stint, and a few more commoner species. As we drove further along a cracking male Siberian Rubythroat flew up from beside the road and we tracked it down along the beach where it showed amazingly well. I always get excited when I see this species, despite having seen loads over the years. In fact, we found another two at a small wood nearby. 

Siberian Rubythroat

This small patch of conifers along the beach proved to be a little goldmine with somewhere approaching 100 Eye-browed Thrushes, a Blue Rock-thrush, 3 Oriental Cuckoos, both Arctic and Yellow-browed Warblers, plus maybe 20 Brown Shrikes to add to the already considerable fall of this latter species we had witnessed so far. With that done it was time for dinner before boarding the Bullet Train to the airport and a short taxi transfer to our hotel for the night. 

And that was it - tour over. Taiwan had produced once again. I would like to thank Richard Foster for setting the tour up and our excellent driver, Lief, for looking after us so well. So bring on the house and office move and my next trip to Canada..............

Now I believe in Fairies!!!

Left  the hotel very early and drove the short distance to Huben Village, famous for its population of Fairy Pittas that arrive during late April to breed. I wasn’t that optimistic, having dipped here last year and not even hearing one call either on my previous tour. This was compounded with the fact that only 4 birds turned up last year, which was down from 44 in 2006 – depressing news indeed. However, I should know that birding is never ever straightforward (thank goodness) and this year had some local expert help and within 30 minutes of searching I had a Fairy Pitta teed up in the scope as it called from high up in a tree for some 20 minutes! Nice spot there by Sir David! I couldn’t believe it and here’s a record shot of the bird, which was maybe 100m away. Wow! 

Fairy Pitta

We also nailed Taiwan Blue Magpie at last straight after the pitta and then drove a few kilometres away and got Red Oriole – a potential split from Maroon Oriole, but a local endemic race anyway. 

Red Oriole

It took a while to find, but in the end the crippling views were worth it. Several views of Taiwan Bamboo-partridge followed, 2 more pittas were also calling here and our first Dusky Fulvetta appeared. Back at Huben, a Malayan Night-heron showed amazingly well and Taiwan must be the best place in the world to see this bird - and so well. I'd always wanted to see this bird over the last few years, so felt privileged to see it again and it is definitely in my Top 5 birds of the trip.

Malayan Night-heron

Then another Dusky Fulvetta was found just below the night-heron and it was quite responsive but always hid behind a leaf or a tree, so the only photo I managed to get is this one!

Dusky Fulvetta

So with that little lot done we decided to change plans and head to the very southern tip of the island and Longluan Lake. It took a few hours driving but as soon as we pulled into the car park, a Styan’s Bulbul appeared and we saw many more here – our last endemic. We’d seen 31 of the 32 endemics and potential endemics for this beautiful island. 

Styan's Bulbul

So now for some light relief and a bit of migrant hunting, but the gale force winds didn’t help and an Arctic Warbler decided to skulk low down and practically out of sight in some dense fenced-off bushes, with a possible Eastern Crowned Warbler showing even less and not being confirmed. At the posh hide, complete with numerous scopes and large glass windows we scanned the lake and found a Grey-tailed Tattler hiding from the wind amongst a group of Chinese Spot-billed Ducks. A fruiting fig tree at the rear of the building held a Taiwan Barbet, Grey Treepie and we had a very brief sighting of a thrush sp. Which disappeared all too quickly. More thrushes were calling back along the approach road but the wind was making things way too difficult so we headed down the road and our ‘interesting’ accommodation for the night.

Fabulous Taiwan

One thing I haven't done well so far is to convey how amazing the scenery is here in Taiwan. Not only are the birds so special, but we are seeing them amidst what is among some of the best scenery in all of Asia. So here are a few images I took with my iPhone during the course of the tour.....

See what I mean....?

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…..