“Longcanggou – don’t mention that place, the roads were terrible, it rained the whole time, we saw none of the target species“. So said a member of a Dutch tour party that we met in Tangjiahe as we were about to depart for Longcanngou. Not necessarily what you want to hear about your next destination. And more rain was forecast.
Longcanggou is a large forest covered hill that rises east of the Jingkun Expressway, a few hours south of Chengdu. The far eastern side apparently has, in fair weather, good views and thus a hotel development is being constructed on top. There is only one access road, for construction traffic or for birders and in wet weather it becomes liquid. Our accommodation was at Ganziping at the base of the hill proper. We spent three nights in Longcanggou, the first after driving through the paddyfields and tea plantations of southern Sichuan. The days fell into a routine of awaking in the dark and rain; driving east and up the hairpins of the single liquid mud road in the rain; then working pretty hard to pull a few species of bird out of the mist, fog and rain; before finally descending back to our accommodation, in the rain. People come here for, amongst others, Grey-headed and Brown Parrotbills, Emei Leaf Warbler, Sichuan Treecreeper and Red Panda. These species, plus more beside, are found at altitude in the forests on top of Longcanggou. Our visit, only this late in the trip as we swapped it for the Wolong Blackthroats on the first day, was dominated by rain, fog and poor visibility (picture by Ian):
Our first day here was spent at lower levels, whilst we waiting in vain to see if the weather would improve. Two hours after leaving our accommodation we got lucky with a drive-by Pheasant. Ian, in the front passenger seat, suddenly calls “Lady Amherst’s Pheasant!“. Roland, driving, pulls the car over and there in front of us at the forest edge is a vision of white, green and blue, a stunning male Lady A:
As soon as we stop the bird runs across the road, uses the forest as cover and comes back out behind us. The low light levels mean getting pictures is beyond us, most show a blurred white streak crossing the road, a sort of smeared Roadrunner. Still, in life, this was a fantastic bird to see and raises our spirits. As the morning progresses we pick up some other local goodies: Emei Leaf Warbler, Red-winged Laughingthrush, Kloss’s Leaf Warbler and Mountain Bulbul:
Having few other options we decided to try to get up to the top on our second day. If we thought the lower approach road was bad, the road nearer the construction site on top was appalling. We park and pick our way up the mountain, trying to avoid the very deep areas of mud. It does feel as though we are walking though a human-inflicted scar on the landscape. There are birds, but visibility is poor. Scanning the trees for Red Panda is productive in good weather. We could barely see each other at times:
But with a bit of effort, we take what rewards there are to be had:Red-billed Liethorix, Chestnut-headed Tesias, Aberrant and Brown Bush Warblers are picked up on call and eventually seen. Dead trees reveal Darjeeling Woodpeckers, a perched Large Cuckoo Hawk and our first Sichuan Treecreeper (picture by Ian):
Overhead Himalayan Swiftlets and small groups of White-throated Needletails appear as silhouettes against the low cloud base. Then the road levels out and we have reached the construction site on top. To say it was wet underfoot would be an understatement. Here Roland and I are trying to turn the wet dark shapes in the trees into Parrotbills (picture by Ian):
We, like everyone else we met in those few days in Longcanggou, had no success with Grey-headed Parrotbill, but conditions were hardly favourable and there was little inclination to spend hours waiting in the rain and increasingly cold wind. The plateau/building site area did provide views of both Great and Brown Parrotbill, plus our 16th species of phylloscopus warbler, Buff-throated Warbler (picture by Ian):
Which was rapidly followed by a soaking Brown Shrike:
Conditions being what they were, we did not stay on top too long and we begin our descent. Ian took this great portrait of his boots, which just about summed up conditions during the morning:
However, the afternoon was to prove much more productive. We dropped a few hundred metres in altitude before Roland led us down a track to the west of the main road, along a ridge through mature forest. We quickly called in a large mixed flock of birds; Rufous-gorgetted Flycatchers, Red-billed Liethorix…
…many leaf warblers and two species of Fulvetta: our first Golden-breasted Fulvetta, plus this showy Grey-hooded Fulvetta:
There were also Red-tailed Minla…
… but best of all, a fabulous Streaked Barwing. This thrush-sized bird ran along horizontal branches tossing off moss and searching for insects. It blazed along branches above our heads and was a real show-stopper:
We return to the main road and whilst approaching the Golden Parrotbill site hear, and eventually get glimpses, of a cracking Emei Shan Liocichla. The Golden Parrotbills, although tiny, are much easier to see and full of character:
This is not to say that the rain has stopped, just that the birds are wisely keeping to lower and more sheltered areas of the forest. A couple of damp pictures:
The fabulously named Mrs Gould’s Sunbird. Note the absence of sun and presence of rain:
By late afternoon we have descended right down to the river. From the path I pick out a distant Spotted Forktail bobbing about on a small island…
…by the waterfalls are a nice Blue Whistling Thrush… 
.. and our fourth species of Forktail! Two Little Forktails put on a great display as they sparred over territory with each other on the rocks right in front of us. I can’t think of many birds that have such pale legs and toes:
The day ends with us listening to Himalayan Owl and Oriental Scops Owls with hints that the weather may by improving, just as we have to leave. Our final morning finds us listening to Oriental Cuckoo, Large Hawk Cuckoo, Eurasian Cuckoo and Chinese Bamboo Partridge at dawn. We spend the morning trying, but failing, to see Golden-fronted Fulvetta, David’s Fulvetta being the nearest we got:
We heard White-tailed Robin calling, as we had on our first day. And like that early experience, the bird is incredibly elusive. I confess, after 17 consecutive days of birding, to feeling somewhat birded out, so leave Ian and Roland to stalk their target whilst I check out the more open areas of the path. A flycatcher flies in to perch above me, a nice Brown-breasted Flycatcher. I enjoy it and the singing Kloss’s Leaf Warblers nearby, before we load up the car and drive back to Chengdu:
We saw some 297 species in 17 days, a frustrating total for those of us that like round numbers, but a more than satisfactory total. We were unlucky with the weather in the second half of the trip, Tangjihae and Longcanggou were seriously washed out, costing us a dozen or more species. However, on average it rains every other day in Sichuan in May, all you can do is allow back -up days to account for this. Our schedule could not quite stretch to that. Our adventure took us from the steamy plains of the Chengdu basin to snowfall and altitude sickness at 4500m at Balangshan. Onto the open plains of the Tibetan Plateau and into the stunning mountain and lake filled scenery of northern Sichaun. We saw 12 species of Rosefinch, 7 species of Parrotbill, 16 species of phylloscopus warbler, 14 species of Tit, 5 species of Swift and 14 species of Pheasant & Partridge. It was an incredible trip and is very highly recommended, especially for those that like their birds with some added adventure and spicy food. Big thanks go out to Ian for suggesting Sichuan as a destination, for being the calm pro-birder that he is and for putting up with me for nearly three weeks! We would both recommend Roland as a guide for Sichuan, his knowledge of the language and insight into the country added to our enjoyment of the trip. The knowledge that Sid and Roland have accumulated over the years makes seeing the birds of this very special region much more achievable and I for one will never forget some of the fabulous birds, sights and scenery that we experienced in the mountains of south-west China.