Balangshan - The Chicken capital of China..!

What a great day’s birding to celebrate Steve H’s milestone birthday this was. It started inauspiciously enough with heavy rain just before we boarded the coach and as we drove higher my intended destination of the tunnel area was blanketed in dense mist, so I decided to go even higher. This was a good move as the weather was clearer in places, although low cloud swept in from time to time and then there was the snow. Oh yes it snowed alright and we birded the morning in a winter wonderland where some great birds were seen by us.

Some pretty amazing scenery from Balangshan this morning

The guys 'enjoying' breakfast in the snow..

First up was a pair of Tibetan Snowcocks running towards us and stopping about 10 metres away where they called and called, looking all around before slowly walking away. 

Tibetan Snowcocks in the mist

We had already had the usual sighting of a bird high above the road on a ridge, so this was a special treat. In the mist we saw Rosy Pipits, Rufous-breasted Accentor and then a pair of Grandala flew in literally 2 metres away from us and lingered for a long time. Even in the mist the male’s iridescent blue stood out. 

Grandala in the snow

Driving higher up we eventually connected with a group of 4 Snow Partridges just above the road but in the mist you couldn’t really pick up any colour or detail on the birds, so we continued higher and connected with half a dozen Red-fronted Rosefinches feeding amongst the snow covered rocks below us. We’d also seen Lammergeier, a flock of Yellow-billed Choughs, Blue-fronted Redstart, a pair of Brandt’s Mountain-Finches giving stunning views on the road, several Plain Mountain-Finches and several Alpine Accentors, one of which almost walked over one of our group’s shoes! 

Alpine Accentor

Brandt's Mountain-Finch

With the weather improving we had great scope views of the Snow Partridges and this time you could see colour, feather detail – the works. Brilliant! One final stop as we descended the mountain proved to be worthwhile with a Chinese Rubythroat (a recent split from White-tailed Rubythroat) singing from the top of a rock, a pair of Alpine Leaf-Warblers and a Kessler’s Thrush. When the question was asked “what’s that wren-like thing”, well you guessed it – it was a Eurasian Wren!

Alpine Leaf Warbler

With all of our targets reached from the higher levels we drove back down to the tunnel, where thick mist still blanketed the area. Both Blood Pheasant and Verreaux’s Monal-Partridge called in the gloom but were unsurprisingly unresponsive so we drove lower. All of a sudden the mist and low cloud cleared and birds began to sing, so we made the best of it and nailed Himalayan Bluetail, Blue-fronted and White-throated Redstarts, Chinese Fulvetta, Rufous-vented Tit, both Collared and White-winged Grosbeaks and several Himalayan Griffons. 

However, all of the previously mentioned species paled into insignificance when a stunning male Temminck’s Tragopan suddenly appeared beside the road and ran across a clearing directly opposite us. So we walked up the slope a little and I quietly played the call when amazingly it reappeared and ran across the clearing in front of us. Then it ran back again, walked around behind some leafless bushes, walked back in front of us, and then back again. All of this was just a few metres away from our astonished faces – much too close to photograph really but who’s grumbling? Still I managed to get these uncropped images to remember this special treat. 

Temminck's Tragopan - wow!!

With that in the bag how could you top that? Well you can’t but there’s more birds to find and a Giant Laughingthrush posed nicely at the top of a tree a short while later before we headed back to the tunnel area for our picnic lunch. More mist and low cloud descended just when we thought the day was going to brighten up so, once again, we drove lower. However, bird activity was practically zero despite our best efforts with a female Chinese White-browed Rosefinch the only new bird over the next couple of hours so we drove right down to the bottom of the valley where a quick search produced the promised Chinese Babax to end the day on a good note and we arrived back at the hotel for an early finish. What a day! We toasted the tragopan with a Wolf Berry spirit that really hit the mark and enjoyed yet another excellent dinner!

Erlangshan at it's Best... Again!!

It felt like a good omen for today when we had a Grey Nightjar right beside our coach just before first light. And then we began our drive for Lady Amherst Pheasant along the Old Erlang Road, which took a couple of attempts but eventually everyone had views of an immature male and a couple of females at various points along the road. A Koklass Pheasant frozen at the side of the road was a first for me here and definitely a surprise.  With the sun hitting the lower slopes there was more bird activity and when an unfamiliar song emanated from the slope above us I recorded the call and played it back. What appeared after a lengthy battle was like a bolt out of the blue. A fulvetta appeared which I assumed would be White-browed Fulvetta, but the narrower white supercilium, prominent black line above it and the rich chestnut crown leading onto the forecrown meant it was a Rusty-capped Fulvetta – a pretty scarce bird in Sichuan. 

Another perfect day in Sichuan

Following this we had our picnic breakfast and walked for about an hour, with Pink-rumped Rosefinch being the best bird, although several Elegant Buntings, Slaty-backed Flycatcher and a pair of Streak-breasted Scimitar-babblers were rather nice as well. Suddenly a Firethroat began calling and this individual proved to be very confiding and over the next ten minutes we were treated to an amazing encounter with this much-wanted species. And what a stunner it is..! Meanwhile, overhead 3 Black Bazas and a Himalayan Buzzard were seen, plus we also had Grey Bushchat, Daurian Redstart and other common species.

This stunning Firethroat posed brilliantly today

Moving higher we encountered more and more Spotted Nutcrackers, and in fact I have never seen so many here. A walk into the conifer forest got us some great views of White-browed Fulvettas, Grey-crested Tit, Black-browed Bushtit, and other previously seen species. Following this we spent some time around the abandoned buildings where a female Russet Sparrow, Grey-headed Bullfinch and White-winged Grosbeak were present. And our first Rosy Pipit was spotted by Jeff as we drove higher.

Rufous-breasted Accentor

Long-tailed Rosefinch

Following our noodle lunch we walked up into the alpine pastures but found things to be very quiet and the only real bird of note was our first Rufous-breasted Accentor, so we drove lower and had really nice views of Long-tailed Rosefinch of the henrici race – a potential future split. 

Longcanggou to Erlang Shan

We birded the lower slopes of Longcanggou this morning and had an enjoyable walk along the road, picking up several new trip ticks. A singing Chinese Blue Flycatcher posed nicely on a bare branch right next to us, an Oriental Cuckoo flew over and a Wedge-tailed Green-Pigeon was also seen. 

Chinese Blue Flycatcher

As always there were several large flocks and we had nice views of a pair of Brown Bullfinches, Steve R picked up a showy Speckled Piculet, and in the flocks we also saw a Marten’s Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Japanese White-eye, Kloss’s and Large-billed Leaf-Warblers, Red-tailed Minla, and there was also a nice pair of Pere David’s Fulvettas. To finish a nice little session we had further views of Sichuan Bush-Warbler before heading back to the lodge, loading our luggage on-board and setting out on the five hour drive to Luding.

Pere David's Fulvetta

Speckled Piculet

Along the way we stopped for a ‘rest stop’ and in the gardens behind the toilets we found Yellow-streaked Warbler and a cracking Tiger Shrike. A short drive further and we headed along the Old Erlang Shan Road where a pair of Spotted Nutcrackers greeted our arrival.

Spotted Nutcracker

As it was 4.15pm we had timed it perfectly and in glorious late afternoon sunshine we managed to find a number of great birds that would definitely make things easier tomorrow. Amazingly, I managed to call in a Rufous-tailed Babbler that perched on top of a bush for a little while and although it was partially obscured by a branch the views were good. Our first Collared Finchbills, Brown-breasted Bulbuls, Daurian Redstart and a White-browed Fulvetta followed. 

Barred Laughingthrush

And our run of good luck continued when a Barred Laughingthrush hopped up into a leafless bush right below us and began to sing for several minutes. Wow! Many Grey-crowned Warblers were showing well in the area and we enjoyed repeated views, and an Indian Blue Robin hopped along the side of the road right in front of us. 

Indian Blue Robin

Walking back to our waiting coach a Long-tailed Rosefinch played hide-and-seek but was seen by most of the group.

Longcanggou Day 3

Well it rained all morning and into the early afternoon. We had already driven up the absolutely awful track to the start of the paved section of road ie the last 3kms before the pass and spent most of this time sheltering in a large worker’s tent hovering around the fire. We tried walking out and even drove up to the pass but it rained constantly and the mist rolled in and out. After lunch we gave up and drove lower and sure enough the sun came out and we had blue sky. So we birded several areas on the way down and had quite a few flocks which gave us some previously seen species such as Emei Shan Liocichla, Golden-breasted and Grey-hooded Fulvettas, Red-tailed and Blue-winged Minlas, Ashy-throated and Sichuan Leaf-Warblers etc.

We eventually got to my target area and we quickly located a singing Emei Leaf-Warbler that posed just a few metres away from us and sang its heart out. 

Emei Leaf Warbler

The first of many Brown Shrikes that we were too see in the afternoon was also present as well. Moving to another area we walked through lovely forest where lots of Kloss’s Leaf-Warblers were singing. We stumbled upon several flocks and had close views of Chestnut-crowned Warbler and Yellow-browed Tit amongst a bunch of commoner species. Moving on another flock held Ultramarine and Ferruginous Flycatchers & Yellow-bellied Tit, and another Oriental Honey Buzzard and a Mountain Hawk-Eagle flew over. We also managed decent views of a singing Marten’s Warbler and further on a Grey-crowned Warbler was also seen.

After dinner we went up the valley and called in a Himalayan (Chinese Tawny) Owl that flew right over us and hovered right above our heads before flying away. A lifer for me and what a buzz!

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.