Taiwan May 6th - 18th
This trip was 12 days in Taiwan, and organised by Rockjumper, who I had not travelled with before, but the trip was well organised and ran smoothly, in addition to our Rockjumper guide, Erik, the local birding guru was Richard Foster, a Northern Irish ex-teacher who had lived in Taiwan for 30 years, spoke fluent Mandarin and importantly knew where all the birds were.
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| MAP OF TAIWAN |
T
he rather rough map above show the blue circles where we went, starting in Taipei at the top working down to the southern point and over to Lanyu island then back up the middle of the island. Taiwan is around 250 miles long and 150 miles wide at its widest point, so not huge but with very large mountains dominating the middle and East of the island the population of 23m is centred from Taipei in the North to a strip along the West side of the island. Luckily it has a limited number of bugs and diseases so helpfully avoiding the requirement to take malarials and more innoculations.
Unlike memories of China, Taiwan displayed a quiet calm to proceedings with very polite and accommodating locals (at least to an English tourist). The food was always good where we ate out in local restaurants, although I'd had enough of Seven Elevens which was our staple lunch source and were everywhere.
I flew with Singapore Airlines, via Singapore, maybe not the shortest route, but the changeover in Changi airport is easy and the flights were comfortable and on time, I arrived late afternoon the day before the tour officially started and was taken to the hotel in central Taipei, meeting up with the rest of the group by breakfast time, there were 6 Americans and 3 Brits including me. One small milestone I was hoping to hit on this list was to see my 4,000th species of birds. I was on 3,965 when I left the UK, so 35 to go and I was estimating between 45-50 lifers for me so it should be achievable.
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| A cold beer on arrival is always important ! |
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| Not much of a view from the hotel ! |
Day 1 - 7th May - Taipei
T
his morning we walked from the hotel to the Taipei botanical gardens, a short walk of maybe 15 minutes, the weather was wet and mild. The gardens were not huge but well laid out and we soon started to get to grips with the first birds. Taiwan Barbet, Grey Treepie, Oriental Magpie Robin, White-rumped Sharma, Japanese White-eye and Taiwan Scimitar Babbler were all quick to be seen. There were also Malayan Night Heron, sometimes a difficult bird to find in Asia but Taiwan seems to have monopoly on easy sightings also Black-crowned Night Heron and a few Great and Little Egrets were in the park.The smaller birds were dominated by abundant Tree Sparrows but a nesting Black-naped Monarch was a good find and a few Light-vented and Black Bulbuls were at first good to see, although by the end of the tour they had become 'trash' birds.
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| Water in the Botanical Gardens covered by Lotus Plants |
We returned to the hotel around lunchtime for a couple of hours, I wandered down the street and ended up in a Starbucks !!!. Getting a feel for the sights sounds and smells of a new city is always a great experience. It is quite difficult to navigate by signs as they are all in Chinese but the menu in Starbucks was the same as world over. The strange tunes emanating from a vehicle sounded like an ice-cream van but turned out to be the garbage trucks, which all play 'Clare-de Lune' or something similar.. at least the city seems fairly clean.
In the afternoon, the weather still looked wet so we decided to walk to another Taipei park, this time the Chaing-kai-sek Memorial Park. More of the same birds were seen with better views of Oriental Turtle Dove, Red Collared Dove, Spotted Dove, Grey Treepie, Javan Myna, Black-collared Starling, Asian Glossy Starling. A flyover Black Kite was the only raptor and a few Great and Little Egrets were in the park.
A good introduction day to Taiwan birds finished with a dinner at the hotel.
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| One of the Memorial buildings in the park. |
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| Oriental Turtle Dove (on a dove statue !) |
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| Spotted Dove |
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| Grey Treepie |
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| Javan Myna |
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| Pallas's Squirrel |
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| Malayan Night Heron (imm) |
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| Malayan Night Heron (adult) |
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| Malayan Night Heron (adult) |
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| Light-vented Bulbul |
Day 2 May 8th- Dasyueshan Rd via Shimen Reservoir
We loaded up onto our bus (driven by Ms Chen, or just Chen) after breakfast and left Taipei behind, it was still raining, but we were heading to the well known Dasyueshan Road. Our first stop was at the Shimen Reservoir. We stopped at the reservoir entrance where, the reservoir itself had a couple of Eastern Spot-billed Duck, and a couple of migrant Red-rumped Swallow with the Barn Swallows. More Taiwan Barbets were vocal and we soon had views of several magnificent Taiwan Blue Magpies and a Taiwan Whistling Thrush.
We drove further up the road from the reservoir and failed to see a calling Taiwan Bamboo Partridge but got lucky with a Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler, Rufous-capped Babbler and a skulking Black-throated Laughing Thrush (introduced population), and Grey-chinned Minivets. A Crested Serpent Eagle was seen briefly as we descended the road from the reservoir.
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| Taiwan Blue Magpie |
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| Taiwan Blue Magpie in flight |
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| Taiwan Whistling Thrush |
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| Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler |
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| Our bus, |
We then made our way to the town of Dongshi, of course via a 7-Eleven, Dongshi is at KM-0 of the Dasyueshan Rd and our hotel (the Chang-ti) was at the edge of the town. Having dumped our bags, we had a few hours in the afternoon going up the road as far as KM 23. The higher we went up the foggier it became, however, we still did really well for the birds. We managed to see 2 male and a female Swinhoe's Pheasant and 4 Taiwan Partridge and our first Steere's Liocichla. Several small bird flocks were dominated by the noisy and active Taiwan Yuhinas, but also contained Rufous-faced Warbler, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta,White-eared Sibia and Eurasian Nuthatch. We were lucky to come across a small party of Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush and White-tailed Robins occupied the darker gully's.
We diverted to a small bridge as we descended the road and quickly found a pair of Brown Dipper along with Plumbeous Redstart and Collared Finchbill.
We were back at the hotel just after 5pm and ate out at a restaurant a couple of doors away. A Savanna Nightjar was on the hotel roof !.
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| Swinhoe's Pheasant (female) |
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| Swinhoe's Pheasant (male) |
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| Swinhoe's Pheasant (male) |
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| Taiwan Partridge |
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| Taiwan Partridge |
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| Steere's Liocichla |
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| Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush |
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| Taiwan Yuhina |
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| Taiwan Yuhina |
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| Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush |
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| Brown Dipper |
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| Brown Dipper |
Day 3 - May 9th - Dasyueshan Rd
Today's itinerary was fairly straight-forward in that we would be spending the day on the Dasyueshan Road, which was anywhere between km 10 -50. The official park entrance was around km 43 and the top of the road at km50 where there was also a visitor information centre, allowed for walks on several trails.
Our first stop at KM13, where Richard had seen a White-bellied Green Pigeon on a perch in the valley, a distant small accipter flying at the top of the hillside was one that got away, but the roadside bushes also had a small number of birds with Japanese White-eyes, Rufous-capped Babbler, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta,Taiwan Scimitar Babbler and luckily a pair of skulking Dusky Fulvetta,
We carried on up the road to around KM 23, it was very misty but more Swinhoes Pheasants were by the roadside and we found a party of Rusty Laughingthrush.
We travelled to the official park entrance gate, the gate guard being likened to Kim-Jong-un and also apparently does a good impression of the North Korean leader. Breakfast was at the back of the bus and at the edge of the car park we found a small bird-party which included Vivid Niltava, Rufous-faced Warbler, many Taiwan Yuhinas and a Steeres Liocichla. More Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush were near a small shrine and a path into the forest held Taiwan Barwing, Green-backed Tit, Black-throated Bushtit and White-eared Sibias. The rain showers were become more frequent and a heavier fog as we ascended the road.
On one of the tight bends in the road was a small waterfall where we quickly found a smart Little Forktail although he maintained his distance, also by the roadside was a White-tailed Robin which eventually gave a decent view.
At the top of the road (KM 50) we had a bus lunch and despite the heavy rain we walked up the track, where there were a number of confiding White-whiskered Laughingthrush and also a male Collared Bush Robin, then our main target, a male and 2 female Mikado Pheasants , which despite the weather were fantastic to see. We continued up the track where many calling Yellow-bellied Bush Warblers failed to show, but we did get brief views of Flamecrest and Taiwan Fulvetta. We persevered for a while trying to entice a Yellow-bellied bush warbler into view but they were being stubborn in the rain.
Mid-afternoon the weather really closed in and despite a few more attempts we were not seeing anything but getting a good soaking so made our way back to hotel. The dinner was in the same restaurant and the Savanna Nightjar was still out calling even in the wet.
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| White-bellied Green Pigeon |
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| Grey-cheeked Fulvetta |
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| Vivid Niltava |
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| Steere's Liocichla |
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| Rufous-faced Warbler |
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| Taiwan Barwing |
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| Green-backed Tit |
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| Little Forktail |
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| Mikado Pheasant |
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| Mikado Pheasant (M + F) |
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| Mikado Pheasants |
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| White-whiskered Laughingthrush |
Day 4 - May 10th - Guguan Springs , other areas near Dongshi
Even though we still had several targets up the mountain, the weather looked so appalling that Richard decided we should try some lower elevation sites today and then tomorrow head back to the top.
So early morning we had a short drive to the town of Guguan, which is known for its hot springs. There is a small park which leads to a long suspension bridge across a river into a more forested area the park itself held Taiwan Blue Magpie, Taiwan Whistling Thrush, Malayan Night Heron, Taiwan Barbet, Pacific Swallow and a distant Oriental Honey Buzzard. We crossed the bridge and quickly caught up with a White-bellied Epornis and the lovely Chestnut-bellied Tit and a perched Crested Serpent Eagle. There were Taiwan Bamboo Partridge calling around us but only two of the group managed the briefest glimpse as we crossed back over the bridge where we did see a Plumbeous Redstart, Brown Dipper and a Common Kingfisher.
We drove further in the general Guguan area around some more open low river valleys and picked up several species such as Bronzed Drongo, Crested Goshawk, Spot billed Duck, Common Sandpiper, Striated Heron and Plain Prinia.
After a 7-Eleven lunch stop, we drove to some more open scrub-land. The first bird we thought we heard was a Fairy Pitta, but after some investigation we worked out it was a White-rumped Sharma mimicking part of the call. We did have a perched Grey-streaked Flycatcher and a few Vinous-throated Parrotbill. A singing Taiwan Hwamei eventually showed itself, although a Brown-flanked Bush Warbler took rather more patience before one eventually gave-in and gave great views, although it is really not much to look at !. Other birds seen in this stretch included Oriental Cuckoo, Grey-throated Martin, Yellow-bellied Prinia, White-rumped Munias, a group of introduced Orange-cheeked Waxbill and some Grey-throated Martins along with Striated Swallows, Barn Swallows and House Swifts.
It was also nice to have a largely dry day and the weather looked better for trying the mountain again tomorrow.
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| Chestnut-bellied Tit |
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| Rufous-capped Babbler |
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| Oriental Cuckoo |
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| Brown-flanked Bush Warbler |
Day 5 May 11th - Daysueshan Road and drive to Budai.
T
oday was quite important that we managed to see some of the missing species that frequent the higher altitudes, so we planned the morning heading up to the top of the Dasyueshan Road. The weather had cleared sufficiently to allow at least a few hours of being dry. It was also quite important for me as I only had 6 new species to go for my 4,000th bird ! Until around 5 years ago I had been keeping lists on spreadsheets, I never quite knew what my 3,000th bird was, although it would have been on the trip to South Africa in January 2014. Since I switched to using the Igoterra database, I have managed to keep lists up-to date and so have a better idea of current numbers. The total number itself is unimportant but I was hoping that number 4,000 would be a 'decent' bird !!
Our first stop, just after a tunnel had us quickly tracking down a Yellow Tit (5 to go), the very different Coal Tit subspecies, Flamecrest, Taiwan Fulvettas, followed by more Rusty Laughingthrush then a pair of White-backed Woodpeckers (4 to go). A further roadside stop we managed to see well a male Taiwan Rosefinch (3 to go) then further on we had a bird party of Taiwan Yuhinas, Rufous-faced Warbler, Flamecrest, Steere's Liocichla and White-browed Sibias and the same stretch of road produced a singing Taiwan Bush Warbler (2 to go). Then we headed straight to the top of the road and walked the same track as the other day, seeing again White-whiskered Laughingthrush, Collared Bush Robin and Mikado Pheasant. We also saw the local subspecies of Spotted Nutcracker , looking very different from its European cousins. We did managed to entice into view a Yellow-bellied Bush Warbler (1 to go), with me rather relieved that this rather dull bird was not number 4,000.
We then tried a different track a heard a calling Taiwan Cupwing. These tiny birds are real skulkers and we had heard a couple on other days without being close, but luckily this one appeared on the steep wooded bank with some gaps in the vegetation. My 4,000th species !!! and high-fives all round and it is a good bird to remember as Taiwan Cupwing number 4,000. Surprisingly, I managed a picture of sorts of this skulker at least for the record !.
The track also produced a pair of Ferruginous Flycatchers and a White-browed Bush Robin. We then needed to head back to the hotel and pack up so we were ready to head off to the Budai wetlands. Richard asked for an extra hour to get things ready for the next part of the trip, so Erik took a few of us to the town park, we were told the park had a lake, so we were challenged to find 20 species.
We found some more common parkland species including Taiwan Barbet, Red Turtle Dove, Cattle Egrets, but also a Yellow-bellied Prinia, Oriental Magpie Robin, Japanese White-eye, and Kingfisher on the lake, we had just about managed 20 species. The surprise, just as we were leaving, a bird flew past immediately grabbing my attention, I thought ' I know what that is, its a Hawfinch' and it called.. a slightly metallic tzchik and landed near the top of a tree, two of us had seen it. It sat there for a while with its back to us, I called to Erik who had walked on and eventually came back only to see the bird drop out of the tree. I said it was a Hawfinch, but Erik said it can't be they don't really get them here it must of been a Grosbeak. Not convinced we headed back to the bus which was waiting for us grabbed the fieldguide and looking at the Grosbeak pictures Bob and I both concluded it was definitely a Hawfinch, which turns out to be a rare bird in Taiwan !.
The scenery changed as we neared the Budai area, to open rice paddies with the occasional pool. A few Oriental Pratincole were seen hawking from the bus windows and one small flooded paddy next to the road we stopped and there were 3 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers , 2 Wood Sandpipers, a Long-toed Stint and some Black-winged Stilts and further on a Greenshank and more Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, It was starting to get dark as we approached our hotel but the spectacle was flocks of hundreds of Whiskered Terns passing over the bus a we drove near to the estuary.
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| Yellow Tit |
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| Rusty Laughingthrush |
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| Rusty Laughingthrush |
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| Taiwan Bush Warbler |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Taiwan Fulvetta |
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| Taiwan Rosefinch |
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| Collared Bush Robin (F) |
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| Taiwan Cupwing - No 4,000 ! |
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| Ferruginous Flycatcher |
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| White-browed Bush Robin |
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| Long-toed Stint. |
Day 6 - May 12th - Budai Wetlands.
A complete change of scenery today as we visited the area known as the Budai wetlands which is a vast area of salt-pans and estuarine mud. We firstly parked up for a field breakfast on the edge of some large salt pans, some with water, some just slightly muddy. Large numbers of Egrets (Great, Cattle and Little) were passing overhead along with Whiskered Terns, Black-crowned Night Herons and obviously introduced African Sacred Ibis. The first salt pan we overlooked I'd never seen so many Great Egrets in one place.
As well as a decent number of the attractive Yellow Bitterns and Cinnamon Bitterns, we found the first group of critically endangered Black-faced Spoonbill, with further groups later on, most of the population winters in Taiwan but breeds in China with a few staying in Taiwan until late Spring. Black-winged Stilts, Pied Avocet and Kentish Plovers, Long-tailed shrike, Chestnut-tailed Starling were some of the highlights from the first stop, along with plenty of terns overhead the majority being Whiskered Terns but also a few White-winged Tern, Little Terns and Caspian Terns.
We moved a short distance from this first area, stopping at the roadside to overlook some estuarine mud with a large number of waders that included, Pacific Golden Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, and Red-necked Stints. Black-winged Stilts and Pied Avocets were common, as were Kentish Plovers. This was a great gathering of waders in one place especially given the number of would be UK rarities and a spectacle of wader species, which is now increasingly rare in the UK.
We moved on and tried a selection of other salt pans all of which had a selection of different waders, with many including Marsh Sandpiper, Great Knot and some resplendent summer plumage Spotted Redshanks, a pair of distant Eurasian Wigeon added to variety as the only other wildfowl were a small number of Eastern Spot-billed Ducks.
After a really successful and enjoyable morning we collected our bags and headed to the Pheasant-tailed Jacana Reserve on the way to Tainan. The surrounding arable fields turned out to be the most interesting and the field right next to the small reserve entrance had several Oriental Pratincoles, Oriental Skylark a glowing Eastern Yellow Wagtail and a genuine Common Pheasant.
The reserve itself was fairly tame, a few large lotus-leaf covered pools held several Pheasant-tailed Jacana with an Intermediate Egret being the only other bird of note, as we made our way back to the bus Richard came running towards us saying he'd found a Painted Snipe. These birds had eluded me on several trips through Africa and Asia and are known, in particular, to inhabit rice paddies, remaining hidden for the majority of the time. We walked quickly down to a drain and there were 2 pairs of Greater Painted Snipe in the ditch. The more colourful bird being the female, which is unusual in bird species but not unique, the Dotterel (which as has similar colours) is another bird with a brighter coloured female.
We carried on driving south and arrived at our hotel in Fongan just after dark. A town famous for being the hometown of the current lady president of Taiwan.
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| Salt Pan full of Egrets, mainly Great Egrets |
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| Cinnamon Bittern |
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| Cinnamon Bittern |
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| 4 Black-faced Spoonbills. |
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| Sharp-tailed Sandpiper |
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| Eastern Yellow Wagtail |
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| Oriental Pratincole |
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| Intermediate Egret |
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| Pheasant-tailed Jacana |
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| Greater Painted Snipe (Male on left, female on right) |
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| Unusual in bird species the female is more colourful. |
Day 7 - May 13th - Kenting area and ferry to Lanyu
Before breakfast we went on a short walk from the hotel, the only real speciality of the area is the Styan's Bulbul, an endemic to Taiwan which almost replaces the widespread White-vented Bulbul in the southern part of the island. There were plenty of these birds around. A large number of House Swift were hawking over the small river which also held a Common Sandpiper and a Little Ringed Plover, a calling bird on a hillside distracted us for a while thinking it maybe a Maroon Oriole but turned out to be a Taiwan Scimitar Babbler.
We left some bags in our overnight hotel taking carry-on bags only for the ferry to Lanyu Island, the ferry was at 1pm so we were able to stop at a few places on the way. The first few overgrown arable fields we tried to flush any buttonquail but there was no luck, but a couple of Golden-headed Cisticola, plenty of Oriental Skylark and one area of flooded paddies had Oriental Pratincole, Wood Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and surprisingly a Grey-tailed Tattler. A Larger reservoir held flocks of Eastern Spot-billed Duck, where we also saw a Purple Heron, Western Osprey ,Grey-streaked Flycatcher and unusually an Indian Silverbill. Whilst yet another Taiwan Bamboo Partridge remained hidden.
We arrived at the dock, said goodbye to Chen and the bus for one night and boarded the ferry which promptly departed 15 minutes early !!. The prospect of some seabirds meant that I was going to stay out on deck for the 2.5 hour crossing to Lanyu, the weather was actually bright and sunny and relatively calm. A few Black-naped Terns were fishing as we left the harbour. The journey across was relatively uneventful, although we did see around 10 Bulwer's Petrels, but other than flocks of migrating Cattle Egrets no other seabirds were seen, just plenty of Flying Fish and at least one pod of Dolphin.
On arrival we took a short drive to our basic accommodation then went further up the road to start birding , very quickly we saw Lowland White-eyes and Brown-Eared Bulbul and it wasn't long before Whistling Green Pigeons were in view. Pacific Swallows were flying over and the local race of Blue Rock Thrush. A short walk up a trail and into the forest, had us finding a pair of Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, and later a Ryukyu Scops Owl which sat in the fork of a tree in a dark gully.
Dinner at the very close local restaurant was a delicious mix of local dishes and seafood including Flying Fish !
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| Styan's Bulbul |
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| Bulwer's Petrel |
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| Bulwer's Petrel |
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| The Lanyu Ferry leaving dock |
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| The southern most point of Taiwan |
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| Whistling Green Pigeon |
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| Japanese Paradise Flycatcher (F) |
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| Ryukyu Scops Owl |
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| Ryukyu Scops Owl |
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| Ryukyu Scops Owl |
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| Try saying 'Fried Flying Fish please' |
Day 8 - May 14th - Ferry back from Lanyu and journey to Sandinen
Our ferry back to the mainland was early so we only had around an hour after breakfast, we returned to the same area as the previous evening, adding Brown Shrike, Pacific Reef Egret, Lesser Coucal, White-breasted Waterhen and views of Philippine Cuckoo Dove were so brief flying across the road they were almost un-tickable.
Our Ferry journey back to the mainland was even more uneventful than the journey across, despite the wind picking up which initially looked promising we only had 4 Bulwer's Petrel in 2.5 hours. The rest of the day actually turned out to be relatively quiet on the birding front, we stopped at a wetland reserve before arriving at Sandinen. Several Yellow Bittern, Whiskered Tern and White-winged Tern were present and an Oriental Reed Warbler was new for the trip but we added little else.
We arrived at our hotel in an indigenous park after dark, although we did try a bit of night birding, a Mountain Scops Owl called distantly but that was the limit of our success.
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| White-breasted Waterhen |
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| Lesser Coucal |
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| Lowland White-eye |
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| Brown-eared Bulbul |
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| Whiskered Tern |
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| Whiskered Tern |
Day 9 - May 15th - Sandinen to Huben to Wushe
We departed the hotel fairly early this morning with a field breakfast on the agenda. We stopped in a picnic area, with some cleared grassland and scattered trees. A few birds were close by which included Taiwan Barbet, Grey Treepie and Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker. Then we heard a Maroon Oriole calling and before long it flew into a fruiting tree along with some White-bellied Green Pigeons.
We walked through some wasteland scrub and eventually found a Taiwan Bamboo Partridge which gave good views. Plenty of Black Kites were hawking over the edge of the forest.
The next stop on our trip was supposed to be the mountain area near Alishan where we were due to stay for 2 nights, but we received news there had been an earthquake which resulted in a landslide blocking the road we needed to use to get to the birds and it would take several days to clear the wreckage, so Richard made several calls to change the itinerary. We would head further north to try the Taroko National Park which had a similar species list and he managed to contact the guide we needed for the Fairy Pitta, which we would try this afternoon.
So our drive was to the Huben area which is known for its breeding Fairy Pitta. We only had a short walk from the roadside to an area in the forest where the Pitta was know to have a breeding site. We waited about 40 minutes, seeing a Black-naped Monarch and then the Fairy Pitta arrived in the area and we watched this for a good 10 minutes before it vanished again. Pittas are such great birds I've now seen 16 species of Pitta in the world (There used to be around 30 Species until many of the island Pittas were split into new species and there are now 42 species in the World.
We visited a small café dedicated to the Pitta, (probably called the Pitta café) which had fairly good merchandise and then headed on our way North, calling in at a temple where one of the residents was a Collared Scops Owl and we eventually arrived at our revised hillside accommodation near Wushe. The rain was already going, and we tried again for Mountain Scops Owl only hearing one distantly.
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| Taiwan Barbet |
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| Taiwan Bamboo Partridge |
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| Taiwan Bamboo Partridge |
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| Fairy Pitta |
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| Collared Scops Owl |
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| If you were in any doubt...the entrance to the Pitta Café |
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| Inside the home of the Collared Scops Owl |
Day 10 - 16th May - Wushe to Taroko National Park
T
he theme for the next 2 days was solid rain, lots of it, very heavy, and the higher we went it was also accompanied by thick fog. In the UK you just wouldn't bother attempting birding, but we persevered.
We even started with a field breakfast under our umbrellas. A short roadside walk produce 2 Brown Bullfinch, before we drove further up the mountain. We reached the Heuhan pass and the highest road point in Taiwan, although we couldn't see much due to the fog. We did manage an Alpine Acccentor next to the roadside and the local race of Eurasian Wren, which only seems to occupy the highest altitudes and sparse hillside cover. We started a slow descent and found some Grey-headed Bullfinch, along with Flamecrest and Taiwan Fulvettas and a small number of Taiwan Rosefinch feeding in the misty grass. Both White-tailed Robin and White-browed Bush Robin were seen amongst a flock of Taiwan Yuhinas. White-whiskere Lughingthrush were present at the higher altitudes and Steere's Liocichla frequently popped up. Another Ferruginous Flycatcher was seen as was Vivid Niltava. Black-throated Bushtits showed well enough and Yellow-bellied Bush Warblers were easier to see here than on the Dasyueshan Road. We still had some altitude species eluding us but the weather was just getting worse with heavy rain and you could hardly see the trees from the side of the road due to the low cloud/fog. We had a 7-Eleven lunch and tried a walk from this venue through a tea plantation, where we did find more Taiwan Bamboo Partridge but the rain got heavier and eventually we admitted defeat by the weather and returned mid afternoon to dry out.
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| Outside the highest 7-Eleven in Taiwan at 2,050m |
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| Balcony view from our wet hotel |
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| A misty and wet Taiwan Rosefinch (F) |
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| An equally misty Flamecrest |
Day 11 - 17th May - Heuhan Pass to Jincheng Lake to Acassha Hotel, Longtan
We were determined to head up the Heuhan Pass road again in the morning,g as there were a few species eluding our list such as Golden Parrotbill, Island Thrush, Ashy Woodpigeon and the White-browed Shortwing. However our attempts this morning mirrored yesterday afternoon as the rain continued to be unrelenting and after a good soaking where we only managed glimpses of Taiwan Yuhinas, White-tailed Robin and Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush we again had to admit defeat and decided that getting to lower altitude might be our only prospect of getting much birding in for the day.
So having packed the bus again we headed towards the coast and the Jincheng Lake area. Many of the side roads here were flooded and the wind was very strong but at least it wasn't raining. We saw a few birds on the mudflats, mainly Kentish Plover and the usual haul of Egret species, there was not much on the Lake as the water levels were so high but the flooded fields attracted a bit more interest with some Pacific Golden Plover, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers with Whiskered Terns, White-winged Terns and a Little Tern. Golden-headed Cisticola was over the field calling with a Black-winged Kite and Grey-throated Martins on the wires and the best bird was a Barred Buttonquail which briefly ran along the track in front of us. As we were leaving the area in the bus we saw another 4 Greater Painted Snipe at the muddy fringe of a wet field.
We got to our last hotel late afternoon and had our last evening meal out in Longtan
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| Greater Painted Snipe |
Day 12 - 18th May - Rice Paddies - Back to Hotel Pack, Lunch & depart
We had a couple of hours this morning and headed for a rice paddy area with a little more scrubby valleys around the edges, the highlight of the brief walk were 2 Ruddy-breasted Crakes , a few other birds seen included Oriental Cuckoo, Lesser Coucal, Kingfisher, Taiwan Barbet, Grey Treepie and Common Sandpiper.
We returned to the hotel to pack bags and head off to the airport. Despite the weather wash-out in the Taroko National Park the trip was a success and I saw plenty of birds around 180 species with 55 being new for me, which is a good haul for a short trip.
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