Hongbenghe - First Hide

Difficult to put into words how good today was and when you tally up the best birds it reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of Himalayas Most Wanted birds! We visited 3 different hides that were offering some mega birds and we began at 8am with Blue-naped Pitta. Oh yes! It took a little while but eventually it showed at the back of the feeding station on several occasions, one time perching out on a branch lying on the floor only to be spooked by something and it darted back into the gloom of the forest. But it did come out into the open for a few seconds and I fired off a quick record shot before it hit warp factor 10 back into the forest, never to be seen again. 

Blue-naped Pitta

Back-up birds at this hide were many but everything was shy but we still saw:

1. 2 Kalij Pheasant
2. 1 Common Emerald Dove
3. 1 Blue-naped Pitta
4. 2 Large Scimitar-Babbler
5. 3 Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler
6. 2 Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler
7. 1 Spot-throated Babbler
8. 1 Puff-throated Babbler
9. 10+ Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush
10. 1 Hill Blue Flycatcher
11. 1 Chinese Blue Flycatcher
12. 3 Large Niltava
13. 2 White-tailed Robin
14. 1 White-crowned Forktail
15. 1 Little Pied Flycatcher

Common Emerald Dove

Large Scimitar-Babbler

Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler

White-crowned Forktail

White-tailed Robin (female)

White-tailed Robin (male)

White-throated Bulbul

The walk back up to the cars was memorable for a huge flock of Pin-tailed Green-Pigeons, with a few Thick-billed Green-Pigeonspresent amongst them, and best of all a Spot-winged Starling perched at the top of a massive fruiting tree.

Nabang - Hongbenghe

We had the whole morning to bird the wonderful forests of Nabang, but not before returning to the river for one last look. We got there far too early in fact at 07:30am and it was pitch black so had our first cup of coffee of the day and our usual field breakfast. It was light by 8am (just) and we were off along the path scouring the flooded fields, creek and scrub for anything new. A pair of Green Sandpipers were new, and the Citrine Wagtail was in the same place as last night with a White Wagtail of the leucopsis race. Then a Siberian Rubythroat began calling and after a little patience we were rewarded with decent views of a young male perched in a bush. 

There were many Dusky Warblers around, a female Hodgson’s Redstart showed well, a group of perched Wire-tailed Swallows were scoped and we enjoyed fine looks at these before a male Greater Painted Snipe flew right past us. Just as we were trying to relocate this a group of mynas flew over and landed on the telegraph wires nearby, which was such a relief as there amongst the Great Mynas were a few Collared Mynas. Yes! 

Such a relief and a great bird! Flushed with our success we new we it was time to head into the forest but we just wanted to push our luck that little bit more and check the river one last time for Ibisbill. Well, of course we found them as luck was definitely on our side this morning as a pair were feeding in a different part of the river that we hadn’t been to before. Always a great bird to see and not even a lifer for any of us, but I think they caused the most excitement of the entire tour so far! Oh and I almost forgot the pair of Burmese Mynas (split from Vinous-breasted Myna) that landed nearby as well.

Ibisbill

Leaving here we drove along the road and made frequent stops, which turned out to be very productive with a couple sightings of White-browed Piculet, White-crested Laughingthrush, Grey Sibia, a flock of Red-billed Scimitar-Babblers held a Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler that came in to check us out! Result! We saw flocks of Striated Yuhinas, and plenty of previously seen species before heading to our favourite restaurant for lunch and then the 3 hour drive to Hongbenghe.

White-browed Piculet

Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler

Once we reached Hornbill Valley we made a random stop to check out some activity and found the flowering bamboo hosted a large flock of Common Rosefinches. Further investigation produced Blue-eared and Coppersmith Barbets, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Black-hooded Oriole and a few White-rumped Munia. We were all impressed with the hotel at the end of the road and a quick check beside the river revealed Blue Rock Thrush, 2 Crested Kingfishers and a Black-breasted Thrush. I think everyone went to sleep vey excited about what we were going to see from the hides tomorrow.

Nabang Day 2

I woke up wondering how we could top yesterday’s success, but as luck would have it I needn’t have worried. The more I do this job the luckier I get….!!. We staked out a patch of bamboo this morning and were eventually rewarded with a group of cracking White-hooded Babblers and Rufous-headed Parrotbills, both species giving much closer and better views than yesterday’s sighting. 

Pale-billed Parrotbill

Rufous-headed Parrotbill

An unusual song then got my attention as it turned out to be a pair of Grey Sibias calling exactly like Drongo Cuckoo to my ears. Truly bizarre! We then walked for a short while and managed to see Stripe-breasted Woodpecker, Rufous-backed Sibia,Grey Treepie, a group of White-crested Laughingthrushes, Puff-throated Babbler, both Scarlet and Short-billed Minivets,  and best of all a Yellow-vented Flowerpecker. Back at the same stand of bamboo, and amazingly this time a group of 6 Pale-billed Parrotbills appeared and were pretty close to us for a while. Luckily for a few of the group a Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler appeared for a short while. Overhead we saw Black Eagle, displaying Crested Goshawk and Crested Honey Buzzard. Not a bad morning at all!

Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler

After lunch at a restaurant during which time we saw Cook’s and House Swifts, Eastern Jungle Crow and Olive-backed Pipit before heading back into the forest seeing a surprising Lesser Coucal and more expected Grey-backed Shrike en-route. It was much quieter this afternoon with previously seen species showing once again, such as Jerdon’s Baza, Striated Yuhina, Maroon Oriole, White-throated Bulbul and others. David spotted a pair of cracking Blue-bearded Bee-eaters, whilst Grey-eyed Bulbul was also new. 

So we decided to return to the river as we still had an hour of daylight spare seeing Green Bee-eater and Ashy Woodswallow en-route. And it turned out be pretty productive with 2 Crested Kingfishers, Brown Dipper, Dusky Warbler, Common Tailorbird, Indian Spot-billed Duck, White-breasted Waterhen, Citrine Wagtail, Common Moorhen, Striated Grassbird and Black-faced Bunting – most of which were new for our list.

Nabang

A great day started off at first light (almost 8am!) in the immediate vicinity of our parked bus, with a pair of White-crowned Forktails parading out in the open. Things then got really interesting when a Pale-headed Woodpecker began calling and after a tense game of hide and seek we were privileged to obtain repeated views of this true skulker – one of the hardest woodpeckers to catch sight of in Asia. The same spot produced Yellow-bellied Warbler, a large flock of Striated Yuhinas, and a pair of obliging Streaked Wren-Babblers.

Slaty-backed Forktail

Pale-headed Woodpecker

We followed this by walking along a nice trail through amazing habitat and pretty quickly found the first of a couple groups of Red-billed Scimitar-Babblers, as well as Rufous-faced Warbler. White-crested Laughingthrushes called from a few places along our walk without revealing themselves, but we did see a few Mountain Imperial-Pigeons, a soaring Black Eagle, Speckled Piculet, Black-crested and White-throated Bulbuls, before things got quiet. However the return to our vehicle was enlivened by a brief appearance from a Grey-bellied Tesia, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker and a flock of Blyth’s Leaf-Warblers. Lunch was enlivened by a flock that held Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Blyth’s Leaf, Davison’s and Chestnut-crowned Warblers and a Velvet-fronted Nuthatch.

Jerdon's Baza

Crested Goshawk

Crested Honey Buzzard

After a picnic lunch in the field we walked along the road seeing a flock of Grey-headed Parrotbills just before seeing a flock containing White-hooded Babblers, and both Pale-billed and Rufous-headed Parrotbills. Oh yes! Overhead we saw Crested Honey Buzzard, displaying Crested Goshawk and amazingly, a soaring Jerdon’s Baza. Further on there were groups of Black Bulbuls and Hair-crested Drongos feeding on flowering trees, as well as a nice Little Pied Flycatcher and a few Long-tailed Sibias.

We ended the day along the river where River & Red-wattled Lapwings, White-throated Kingfisher, a superb Crested Kingfisher, Green Bee-eater and Pied Bushchat were all new additions to our list.

Leifengshan - Nabang

Spent the morning on Leifengshan, where we found ourselves at 7.45am waiting for sunrise! Walking up to the top of the mountain along the road was enlivened by Scaly Thrush, Slender-billed and Maroon Orioles and stacks of previously seen species. About three-quarters of the way up we found a cracking Rufous-bellied Woodpecker beside the road, along with a Black-headed Greenfinch singing away from the top of a pine tree, as well as a flock of Ashy Bulbuls. 

Large Hawk-Cuckoo

At the summit a Large Hawk-Cuckoo, Collared Owlet & Pygmy Cupwing were seen but a flock of 100+ Tibetan Serins was quite a sight and sound. The feeding station was relatively quiet with Red-billed Leiothrix, Bar-throated Minla, Black-throated Bushtits and nice views of the series plus some common species being seen. 

Black-throated Bushtits

Tibetan Serins

So we left at 1.15 for the 4 hour drive to Nabang. En-route we made a random stop and saw a pair of Striated Swallows, with a pair of Black Eagles circling overhead. Approaching the town a Slaty-backed Forktail put in a brief appearance. Our hotel for the next 3 nights is rather basic but is the best in town and does have hot showers, although the hard beds weren’t to everyone’s liking!

Baihualing - Tengchong

We spent the morning birding the higher elevations and walked quite a way into the Gaoligongshan National Park. The day got off to a flier with crippling views of Grey-bellied Wren-Babbler from a feeding station. There wasn’t a hide, so we just stood in the open watching this crippling endemic feeding at the edge of the forest some 3 metres away from us. Amazing! 

Grey-bellied Wren-Babbler

There was also a Grey-capped Woodpecker nearby, along with some Mountain Bulbuls, Blue-fronted Redstart, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher and other common species. The track up into the mountains went through great forest, but just as last year, bird activity was slow and over the course of the next 3 hours the only new birds were Hume’s Treecreeper, a flock of Black-faced Warblers, Chinese Leaf Warbler and a large group of Yellow-browed Tits.

Following lunch back at the hotel we drove for around 3 hours to a nice hotel at Tengchong.

Baihualing Just Gets Better and Better

In the afternoon we went lower down to Hide No 37 where there were two megas – Hume’s Pheasant and Moustached Laughingthrush.

Mrs Hume's Pheasant

Western Moustached Laughingthrush

1. 1 Mrs Hume’s Pheasant
2. 5 Blyth’s Shrike-Babbler
3. 1 Crested Finchbill
4. 4 Flavescent Bulbul
5. 2 Black-streaked Scimitar-Babbler
6. 2 Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler
7. 12+ Rusty-capped Fulvetta
8. 10+ Yunnan Fulvetta
9. 2 Moustached Laughingthrush
10. 4 Scarlet-faced Liocichla
11. 19+ Silver-eared Mesia
12. 8+ Black-headed Sibia
13. 4 Whiskered Yuhina
14. 4+ Black-breasted Thrush
15. 2 Grey-winged Blackbird
16. 3 Large Niltava
17. 2 Himalayan Bluetail
18. 1 Golden Bush-Robin
19. 1 Daurian Redstart
20. 1 Blue-fronted Redstart
21. 2 Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush
22. 2 Grey Bushchat
23. 2 Orange-bellied Leafbird
24. 1 Mrs Gould’s Sunbird

Black-breasted Thrush

Black-streaked Scimitar-Babbler

Blue-fronted Robin

Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush (female)

Golden Bush-Robin