The Chicken Run...

Started the day with a ‘chicken run’ on Balang Shan which resulted in a male Temminck’s Tragopan perched up in a pine tree, followed by a couple Koklass Pheasants and an obliging pair of Blood Pheasants. We then had breakfast close to some mature conifers and found a pair of awesome Collared Grosbeaks, as well as Chinese White-browed Rosefinch, male Himalayan Bluetail, Giant Laughingthrush and a Chinese Fulvetta.

Himalayan Bluetail

Moving up to the tunnel area we had another Snow Pigeon, along with Grey-sided Bush-warbler, Sichuan Tit, Rufous-breasted Accentor, Alpine Leaf-warbler and eventually managed to get a look at a pair of Verreaux’s Monal Partridges.

Dropping downhill again a Barred Laughingthrush was a nice find but the area was getting quiet so decided to head to higher levels in search of Snow Partridge. Over the next 4 hours we had further views of yesterday’s goodies such as both mountain-finches, Grandala, Tibetan Snowcock, Alpine Accentor and others during our search. It was pretty frustrating as we heard 4 different partridges at different areas but none were responding to the ipod, and just when we had run out of new areas to check and were thinking about calling it quits -  we found one perched high on a ridge calling back at us. In fact there were at least 3 birds and through the scope we could get all the plumage details. Excellent!

So driving down we had a singing Yellow-streaked Warbler and a Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, and a quick check behind the hotel resulted in Daurian Redstart, several Common Rosefinches and a Godlewski’s Bunting.

Balangshan Magic!

The first day on Balang Shan is always memorable and today was no exception as we found many of the must-see birds of this incredible mountain. As always, the 4am departure hurt and arriving before daybreak resulted in what seems the usual heard-only Wood Snipe in the inevitable mist. Must admit I hate this bird! Anyway, we drove just a few kilometres lower and began scanning for monals and pheasants. Well, we had numerous White Eared-Pheasants feeding on the hillside above, quickly followed by a superb Koklass Pheasant found by Hadyn, calling from a ridge and we had very nice scope views as it called away for a minute or two before disappearing. There was also Kessler’s Thrush and Northern Goshawk as well. Simon spotted our first Dark-breasted Rosefinch perched on top of a nearby pine tree and then, thanks to a tip off from my friend Sid Francis (Sichuanbirding.com), we jumped on the coach and drove up the road. Setting scopes up on a pair of Chinese Monals feeding in the top of a pine tree below us has to be one of the major trip highlights. Thanks Sid. A male Golden Bush Robin was also spotted below us and a real bonus.

Chinese Monals

We then drove lower in search of tragopans without any luck and it was quite gloomy in the mist which was rising from the valley below. So up the mountain we drove and back to the tunnel area where a Chestnut-crowned Bush-warbler was singing and showed very nicely. Then a Wallcreeper appeared and we followed it for a while, getting such great views. As if that wasn’t enough, a Snow Pigeon flew in and landed above us – way below where it should have been.

Wallcreeper

Wallcreeper

Snow Pigeon

Driving up to the higher elevations in search of more ‘chickens’ and we stopped in an area where i’ve seen snowcocks before. Sure enough one was calling and after a lengthy search it was Zu who picked it up feeding on the hillside above us. What a bird this is and another top trip tick – and when you consider the outstanding scenery we were surrounded by then this was a very memorable encounter. We also saw our first Grandalas and Alpine Choughs as well here. After watching the snowcock for maybe half an hour we continued up to the pass at 4347m and searched for Snow Partridges which, judging by other birders comments were just not around. We walked a fair way but didn’t see any, however did get nice looks at Brandt’s and Plain Mountain-finches, as well as several Alpine Accentors.

The stunning scenery of Balangshan

Driving lower birds were thin on the ground but one particular hillside was alive with singing White-tailed Rubythroats, recently arrived from wintering grounds. At a random stop for coffee we picked up a pair of Pink-rumped Rosefinches feeding quietly in some flowering bushes, and another surprising find was a calling Two-barred Warbler! This latter species is way off course I think and is on its way to breeding grounds in Siberia.

White-tailed (Himalayan) Rubythroat

Pink-rumped Rosefinch

Our last birding session of the day was just above Rilong where a nice walk along the road resulted in close views of Black-browed Tit, and there was also Grey-headed Bullfinch, Rufous-vented Tit, Hume’s Warbler, and another pair of Przewalski’s Nuthatch. 

Black-browed Tit

What a day!

Moving on, Rarities and Rice

A long drive today, but the scenery was outstanding as we passed through huge steep-sided river valleys and up to Jiajin Shan at 4155m at the pass. We saw a few birds such as Brown Dipper, Crested Myna and a migrating Arctic Warbler that shouldn’t have been here, before reaching the mountain. Once the road began to rise and lunch beckoned we hit paydirt with a small group of totally unexpected Spectacled Parrotbills – try saying that really quickly! I was amazed that they were here but there was a reasonable stand of bamboo and the birds responded quickly to the ipod and came to check us out. An Alpine Leaf-warbler showed here as well before we drove on up into the pine forest.

We had several Himalayan Griffons, as well as more migrating Oriental Honey-buzzards, Eurasian Kestrel, Himalayan Buzzard and a Lammergeier as well to boost our raptor list. A huge flock of White-collared Yuhinas and Buff-barred Warblers came down to check out the owlet tape and a Rufous-vented Tit was also with them. But then Peter C spotted a pair of Przewalski’s Nuthatch on the other side of the road and we could watch these delightful birds for several minutes below us.

Pallas's Reed Bunting - an extremely rare bird in Sichuan

Further up above the tree line a couple odd-looking birds crossed the road in front of the coach and we pulled over to check them out. Unbelievably they were Pallas’s Reed Buntings, on their way north to Siberia or further east no doubt, and I was blown away as we were at around 3400m….!!!! There was also a few Rosy Pipits and our first Blue-fronted Redstarts. Frustratingly the pass at 4155m was shrouded in low cloud and when a Tibetan Snowcock began calling things got even more frustrating as we just could not see it in the poor visibility. Oh well, will have to leave that one for tomorrow…. Continuing on we had a few Eurasian Crag-martins as well.

We eventually arrived at our comfortable hotel in Rilong at 6.45pm and that left just enough daylight for a few of the group to see Hill Pigeon and White-throated Redstart behind the hotel.

Oh the rice in the post title.... Just sick of it really!

Erlang Shan

A 5.30am departure saw us arriving at Erlang Shan shortly after sunrise and we began driving up in search of Lady Amherst’s Pheasant. Well we found two females and a couple of immature males, plus Peter B saw a male briefly as well. Success! Then we drove back down and spent some time in the dry scrubby slopes which were home to Brown-breasted Bulbuls and Collared Finchbills. A singing male Indian Blue Robin here was something of a surprise, as was a couple of Grey-crowned Warblers on territory here and a Grey Bushchat was another surprise. Even more surprising was a Chinese Song Thrush singing right out in the open from the top of a bush near the road. A few Chestnut Thrushes, Daurian Redstarts and Yellow-streaked Warblers were more expected but still very nice, whilst our main targets of Chinese Babax and Black-streaked Scimitar-babbler took more work to find. A flock of Tibetan Siskin flew by as well and turned out to be the only sighting of the tour!

Firethroat - one of the best birds of the tour.

Firethroat - wow..!!

Highlight of the morning was undoubtedly this cracking Firethroat that showed superbly well in some low bushes beside the road and we spent a memorable quarter of an hour watching it. A drive further up resulted in a pair of Grey-headed Bullfinches and a couple of Spotted Nutcrackers before we decided to drive back down and around to the other side of the mountain.

Drove up the other side of the mountain and it certainly lived up to its reputation as the wet side as we had low cloud and miserable drizzle for the first hour or so. Had lunch way up the mountain and our first White-capped river-chat before driving on a little further but the road was deteriorating quickly and all we saw was a Rosy Pipit so turned around and headed down. I didn’t really know if we would see anything at all in these conditions but as luck would have it the rain stopped and so we began walking and saw a number of new trip birds. A male Slaty-blue Flycatcher was a good find, but when a burst of owlet call resulted in a Sooty Tit joining a mega-number of warblers, well it certainly got our pulses racing. In fact there was an incredible number of warblers all around us: Sichuan Leaf, Buff-barred, Claudia’s and Ashy-throated. 

Scaly-breasted Wren-babbler now split as Chinese Wren-babbler.....

Then a Scaly-breasted Wren-babbler sang and we walked back up the hill and had mind-blowing views of a pair just a few metres away. Seems this is actually now split by IOC as Chinese Wren-babbler.........  Another couple of owlet sessions resulted in many previously seen species, including this fine male Gould’s Sunbird. A male Slaty Bunting also put in a very welcome and unexpected appearance as well to continue our excellent run of great sightings today.

Gould's Sunbird

Collared Owlet

Ended the day with a perched Collared Owlet and a Little Forktail posing nicely beside a waterfall. We even reached the hotel at a reasonable time, just a shame there wasn’t any electricity for a few hours..!

Parrotbill Mania..!!

Had to leave at 5am in order to reach the top of the mountain and another crack at Parrotbills, which had so far proved relatively elusive. We made good time up the bumpy forest road and after a quick picnic breakfast started walking towards the pass. We hadn’t gone far when a Great Parrotbill started calling but didn’t respond to the tape, but then another one started calling behind us and this time we had views, albeit rather poor, as it scaled a tall tree. 

Spotted Bush-warbler

Moving on we managed to reach the pass just after 9am and then staked out the marshy area where the Spotted Bush-warbler again showed very well and the Scaly-breasted Wren-babbler still refused to show. We heard the Plain-backed Thrush singing in the distance but it was too far away to see – this bird may be split in the future.

Brown Parrotbill

Eventually after all our hard work we got our just rewards when a Brown Parrotbill came in for close views, followed amazingly by a pair of Great Parrotbills. However Grey-hooded Parrotbill remained elusive and we had to give up and walk back to the coach. On the way down we had our first Chestnut Thrush, another Chestnut-headed Tesia and Alan saw a White-bellied Redstart.

Great Parrotbill

Other birds seen this morning included Stripe-throated Yuhina & Red-winged Laughingthrush…

But now it was time to head to pastures new and our journey to the next hotel was punctuated by….. a puncture! During this frustrating period we occupied our time with some birding and had Ashy-throated Parrotbill, White-browed Laughingthrush, Brown-breasted Flycatcher, Russet Sparrow & Blue Whistling-thrush.

Once the tyre had been changed we drove to the nearby town and saw Asian House Martin and a pair of close Plumbeous Water-redstarts.