Longcanggou Again!

Headed up into the hills at 5.15am in a couple of small minivans and drove to the pass, stopping along the way to secure absolutely crippling views of a pair of Grey-hooded Parrotbills. Sounds easy right? Well, it was our second stop where we searched for this rare endemic and it was very pleasing to find them right beside the main track. What a bird! 

Grey-hooded Parrotbill

Up at the pass we had our breakfast and watched 14 Oriental Honey Buzzards flying over in the clear blue sky, plus a couple of White-throated Needletails. 

Oriental Honey Buzzard

Afterwards we began our time consuming search for Sichuan Treecreeper and walked down to some fantastic forest. Along the way we absolutely nailed Spotted Bush Warbler with very close looks at a singing bird, followed by a pair of Buff-throated Warblers, a posing White-bellied Redstart and a singing Chestnut Thrush. 

Buff-throated Warbler

Spotted Bush-Warbler

When a Chinese Wren-Babbler began calling I didn’t feel too optimistic about our chances of actually seeing it but how wrong can you be? I mean we watched it for about 5 minutes walking along a log on the forest floor repeatedly and then scurrying around a clearing before leaving it in peace. What a result. 

Chinese Wren-Babbler

Well, we couldn’t locate any treecreepers but did get a pair of confiding Great Parrotbills, Bianchi’s Warbler, and eventually fine views of a Chestnut-headed Tesia. We ended the morning’s session with scope views of a calling Lesser Cuckoo.

Great Parrotbill

After our picnic lunch we continued walking and saw Eurasian Wren, Darjeeling Woodpecker, lots of Sichuan Leaf Warblers, Large Hawk-Cuckoo,  and amazingly a Pere David’s Tit - very happy with that. But with mist and low cloud descending, bird activity died off completely as it did yesterday so we drove lower down and found a Sichuan Bush Warbler singing from the top of a grassy bank. And a nearby trail proved to be very quiet with only Claudia’s Warbler and Red-tailed Minla to enliven proceedings so we called it a day. Well that was until we returned to the lodge a little earlier than normal and decided to walk along the road in the forlorn hope of seeing a Chinese Bamboo-Partridge. But we did get our first Eurasian Cuckoo, Grey-backed Shrike, Black-naped Oriole and a few other commoner species.

Longcanggou

Our first full day in Longcanggou turned out to be a really good day where we scored with a number of key target species, several of which often take a few days to find here. So we left the lodge at 5.15am and dove up in our coaster to our usual breakfast spot, and after an eighty minute bumpy drive we were just about ready for it. It was an overcast day and a little cool but this meant that bird activity continued right through to lunchtime, when the mist came in and we had drizzle that lingered for the rest of the afternoon. Anyway, we kicked off proceedings with a Brown Bush Warbler skulking at the edge of a small stand of bamboo. Then we hit the first of many flocks today that gave us our first Mrs Gould’s Sunbird, Yellow-browed, Green-backed and Coal Tits, Short-billed Minivet, Red-tailed and Blue-winged Minlas, the first of many Large-billed Leaf-Warblers, Sichuan Leaf-Warbler, and best of all a pair of Fire-capped Tits. This latter species would be seen very well several times during the day. Whilst we were stood here watching the flock I heard a few more good birds just a little further down the track and sure enough we pulled out a confiding pair of Golden Parrotbills that gave repeatedly close views, plus Yellowish-bellied and Aberrant Bush-Warblers, and there was a flock of Brown Bullfinches flying overhead as well.

Brown Bush Warbler

After our picnic breakfast we spent the rest of the morning walking along a wide track that took us through great habitat with plenty of bamboo. We had a few attempts at seeing Red-winged Laughingthrush and little by little a few of the group managed tickable views, but boy they are true skulkers. Our walk was very productive and we saw several fine Grey-hooded Fulvettas, flyover Speckled Woodpigeon and Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush, Vinaceous Rosefinch, Darjeeling Woodpecker, Blyth’s Shrike-Babbler, Buff-barred, Ashy-throated and Claudia’s Leaf-Warbler, White-browed Bush-Robin, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, White-collared and Stripe-throated Yuhinas, a very showy White-bellied Redstart perched right out on an open branch of a small conifer, Elliot’s Laughingthrush, Collared Grosbeak, Olive-backed Pipit, and best of all a pair of Three-toed Parrotbills spotted by Julian and an Emei Shan Liocichla posing nicely in a small conifer.  

A poor photo of Emei Shan Liocichla

A distant Vinaceous Rosefinch

By the time we had returned to the coach it was midday and lunch already felt overdue, so after some hot noodles we all felt fortified enough to make another short walk. I really wanted to keep our hot streak going by nailing Great Parrotbill. As we walked along the track that passes through the bamboo zone we came across a big flock with Red-tailed and Blue-winged Minlas, several Golden-breasted Fulvettas, and another Golden Parrotbill. As we watched all of the action a Great Parrotbill was found feeding low down inside a stand of bamboo. It was really tucked in and obscured but for those in the right position it gave some decent views. So with the drizzle getting heavier we returned to the coach and drove lower.

We walked along a side trail through some great forest and found a few more flocks with Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Yellow-bellied Tit, Ferruginous Flycatcher, Chestnut-crowned Warbler and both Ultramarine and the rare Sapphire Flycatchers all in the first flock. We followed the trail but activity was quite slow but we still picked up Himalayan Swiftlet, Emei Leaf-Warbler, a Fujian Niltava, Eurasian Nuthatch and a confiding Pygmy Wren-Babbler. 

Pygmy Wren-Babbler

Once we were back on the main track we tried to get a view of a singing Marten’s Warbler, when all of a sudden a flock of Buffy Laughingthrushes passed by and we chased them along the track and were rewarded with good views eventually. As we continued down the track it was apparent that the drizzle had literally dampened bird activity so we hopped onto the coach and returned to the lodge, extremely satisfied with our day.

Sichuan Day 1

Our 7th Sichuan tour began in Chengdu with a walk around the nearby park where we picked up Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-browed Laughingthrush, Chinese Blackbird, numerous Chinese (Light-vented) Bulbuls, Black-throated Bushtits and Plumbeous Water-Redstart. It took a while to find Vinous-throated Parrotbill, but as we were waiting for this bird to appear a female Slaty-blue Flycatcher appeared – such a surprising find, but it is migration time after all. A seicercus warbler was also seen but not reliably identified as it wasn’t calling – it definitely wasn’t a Grey-crowned and I suspect it may well have been a rather out-of-place Alstrom’s Warbler….. maybe….

So after breakfast we left on the 2 hour drive to our first proper birding stop near Ya’an.  A quick stop at a service station along the way had some nice habitat and a pair of Swinhoe’s Minivets showed really well at eye-level, whilst Rufous-capped Babbler circled us a few times. From here it didn’t take us much longer to get to our birding site along a river and here we had repeated close looks at Rufous-faced Warbler, along with some confiding Ashy-throated Parrotbills, Collared Finchbills, Black Bulbuls, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, White-rumped Munia, Red-billed Blue Magpie, and some superb close views of a pair of Black Bazas. 

Black Baza

Rufous-faced Warbler was very common

Lunch at the nearby restaurant followed and then a shopping expedition for the next 3 full days at Longcanggou turned into a serious exercise in phaffing before we eventually left Ya’an at 3pm and drove to Longcanggou. I mean, how long can it take a bunch of guys to get some food for the next 4 breakfasts & lunches....?

Eventually we reached the approach rod to Longcanggou and checked out a few spots on the drive up to the lodge which gave us crippling views of Sulphur-breasted Warbler singing by the roadside. There was also Grey Bushchat and a pair of Russet Sparrows on the drive up as well. 

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

And we eventually reached our base for the next four nights around 4.45pm and enjoyed a nice couple of hours birding along the road. We began with a close Brown-flanked Bush-Warbler, followed a cracking Yellow-throated Bunting singing on the telegraph wires, a Little Bunting, Large Hawk-Cuckoo, a pair of Black-naped Orioles, Long-tailed Minivet, Grey-backed Shrike, and an extremely confiding Kloss’s Leaf-Warbler that flew down to the bush next to us and proceeded to sing its heart out – it was almost too close to focus on! 

Kloss's Leaf-Warbler

As usual, Chinese Bamboo-Partridge just called from the fields without being seen and we’d have to give that another try later.

Borneo - Last Morning Madness!

Our last morning along a leech-filled trail produced a wonderful finale just as it did on our last tour here. It started quietly with just a close Lesser Green Leafbird beside the truck. But once in the trail we were treated to a fine male Blue-headed Pitta and an all-too-brief Siberian Blue Robin. We stuck at it along here for an hour without getting much, when all of a sudden and totally ‘out of the blue’ Bornean Banded Pitta hopped down the slope in front of us and onto our life lists. 

Bornean Banded Pitta - rubbish pic of a moulting female. Who cares!

Oh I felt for the 3 guys who remained back at the lodge…! What a corker and a species I’d all  but given up hope of – pitta no 24 for your truly. A pair of Long-billed Spiderhunters at the same spot were also much appreciated as well. If that wasn’t enough just around the corned a Blue-banded Pitta hopped across the hillside in front of us but was too quick for most people, so we returned to the site we’d heard one a few days ago. Sure enough after quite a search we had it teed up in the scope and we were done – all of Borneo’s endemic pitta species on the list! Leaving here we walked along the main track only to find a pair of Helmeted Hornbills to round off another cracking trip to Borneo.

All that remained was to pack, have lunch, drive back to Lahad Datu and fly on to Kuala Lumpur where the tour concluded.