A whole winter of scanning tree tops and listening for a certain high pitched trilling call finally paid off again. As always it is at the most unexpected moments that Waxwings strike. On this occasion my family and I were making our way back from Bury Knowle Park where we had been admiring the magnificent newly carved Aslan. C.S. Lewis wrote the Narnian series just round the corner on the edge of Shotover Hill, Headington and this magnificent carving by Matt Cave adds to his existing wood carvings in the park. Best of all, it was paid for by the 5p carrier bag levy from the local Tesco store. As we neared our house, I was cut short in conversation by exactly the sort of high pitched trill that I have been listening out for. Even without optics or camera, we could make out 3 Waxwings perched among the upper branches of a tree just off Bateman Street:
I ran home to grab my camera and returned a couple of minutes later, slightly frustrated that the birds were just out of sight and sound of our house, leaving the garden list still Waxwing free. But the birds were still there and the sun had come out, so some distant record shots were possible.
Where I really wanted the Waxwings to perch was on top of a local landmark, about 200 metres up the road:
The Headington Shark, a symbol of the power of radiation descending from the sky following the 1986 Chernobyl Disaster, is a pretty eye-catching structure in a terrace of Victorian houses. Now imagine a line of Waxwings perched on the tail – that would be a picture!
I don’t know what surprised me most: the fact that a Little Bunting was unearthed wintering in Oxfordshire or that I took the decision to actually go and see it. Having no other pressing plans on Monday morning and a few hours free before work, I made the short trip to Over Norton. For some reason I assumed that a cold dull January morning at the beginning of the working week would dampen down interest in this bird. I was wrong – virtually everyone I knew was there! It was amazing how many people could free themselves up at short notice if required. As such, it was a much more sociable and pleasant experience than I had expected. The bird itself would periodically drop down to feed on seed on the path and looked fantastic in the ‘scope. It was too distant and too dark for my camera, though you can get an impression of the small size from comparison with a nearby Chaffinch…
Those who were digiscoping got some fantastic footage – see here. Little Buntings have a cracking head pattern, two dark tramlines on the head separated by a greyish median crown stripe, lovely chestnut ear coverts and face and a neat white eye-ring. But strangely, the feature that most caught my eye was the breast pattern. When the bird was standing and alert, with neck stretched up, the malar patches and the horseshoe like patch on the central breast framed a pure white throat with a distinctive pattern:
Well, something like that. All in all, a very pleasant morning with some good people and a great local bird.
I was just leaving the house to take the girls to the park, when news arrived that the pink wave had finally broken in Oxford: there were Waxwings on the Marston Road. It was entirely expected, Waxwings had been reported from as nearby as Crowmarsh Gifford and Banbury in the last few days. But they had taken their time this year, holding back in the north and east, waiting until the days were just about increasing in length before penetrating into central England. I threw the optics and camera into the car and explained to my children that we were going to see Waxwings on the way to the park, without really working out how I would look after and 5 and 7 year old, whilst trying to see Waxwings, a habit that often seems to involve some hanging about. As it turned out, the 6 Waxwings were feeding on the berry tree opposite number 285 Marston Road as we pulled up, enabling the girls to see these lovely birds and me to attempt to murder some photographs in the late afternoon gloom:
Then, after all of 30 seconds of viewing, a jogger ran past the tree, flushing the flock, just as Pete and Mrs Roby and John Reynolds turned up. My girls then suggested that we should hold up berries to attract the Waxwings, a tactic that has worked for them with flowers and butterflies, but one that I gently suggested probably would not work with Waxwings: you have to be on Fair Isle for that level of approachability.
Despite their efforts, the birds remained in the area, perching in tree tops in Haberton Mead and Jack Straws Lane, but only made a couple of brief visits back to their berry tree. I last saw the flock flying up the hill towards Jack Straws Lane at about 15:30, so still in the vicinity. I would expect more birds to turn up in Oxford over the next few weeks as the pink hordes continue moving south and west. Which means that every single trip to the shops becomes an opportunity to find a good local bird. That is the beauty of a Waxwing winter.
My turn to get lucky! I’d love to say that following this autumn’s build of of Waxwings in the north and east of the UK, combined with recent northerly winds and last night being clear, that I deliberately positioned myself on a hill on the Chiltern escarpment to observe visible migration (actually, for future reference, that’s not a bad idea…) But today the reality was very different. I’ve spent recent Sunday mornings cycling increasing long distances out into the Chilterns and planned to extend that today. I was near the top of the very appropriately named Hill Road above Watlington, when the distinctive, long, high-pitched trill of a Waxwing rang out from the sky above me and to my right. “Waxwing!” I instinctively called out, forgetting that in ascending Watlington Hill on a bike, speaking is not really an option: your lungs need every bit of breath they can get. Even better, two seconds later it called again, this time high, from further behind me: the bird was in active flight moving south-west. This is, I think, the first record of Waxwing in Oxfordshire this year, though there are bound to more this winter and hopefully some of those will be more accessible, like the birds below (photographed in central Oxford in November 2012). Waxwings are fabulous birds and a Waxwing winter is a great winter. Bring it on!
On Saturday morning I had yet another insight into the degree of luck that is involved in finding a rare bird. I was in north Norfolk with my family, but first thing Saturday morning I had arrange to meet up with great mate Richard Campey, who lives and works in the county. Burnham Overy dunes is the nearest thing that Richard has to a local patch, he found a nice blythii Lesser Whitethroat there on Thursday and with persistent easterly winds Richard was keen to get out there again. Until a Pallas’s Warbler was found there on Friday afternoon. One thing, of many, that Richard and I share, is dislike of crowds. North Norfolk being north Norfolk, even a Pallas’s Warbler will draw a small crowd, especially on a Saturday. So late on Friday evening Richard rings and we agree to a last minute change of plan. We will abandon our plans to go to Burham Overy dunes but will go to Wareham Greens and work the long hedgerow that runs east towards Stiffkey.
Saturday morning dawns dry after overnight rain, with the brisk easterly wind still blowing. Despite the fact that there could not be better conditions for bird hunting in late October on the east coast, ours is the only car on the concrete pad at the end of the first track to Wareham Greens. Immediately we hear the harsh calls of Brambling in the hedgerows. Goldcrests are everywhere, calling loudly, it feels super-rare! Thrushes are everywhere, Fieldfares clacking overhead, Redwings seeping out of every tree. We work our way east, past the pit, we check the bushes around the whirlygig. Yellowhammers and Redpolls pass overhead, we flush a flock of at least 12 Brambling.
We then bump into another birder, working his way west along the hedgerow. We exchange sightings – lots of common migrants, but so far, nothing rare. After a few moments chatting we realise that we know each other – it is Geoff Wyatt from Oxfordshire! Geoff has spent the last few days on the coast, including the last few mornings at Burham Overy dunes, where he was the first to find the Fin Whale that washed up on the beach on Thursday morning. And then Geoff’s pager goes off – an Isabelline Wheatear has just been found at Burnham Overy dunes. All three of us exchange grim looks and smile at the hand that fate has dealt us. We all could have easily been in the dunes at first light this morning. That could have been our bird, but for our last minute change of plans. Such is the element of luck in birding.
Still, my time in particular being limited, it is time to eat humble pie and join the crowds. We drive the short distance back to Burnham Overy and walk out along the track to the dunes. The Isabelline Wheatear is skittish and mobile, but this just helps show off the distinctive half black, half white tail. The other plumage features were much more subtle, though the black centered alula stood out. Below, looking typically upright and short-tailed:
Below, looking more plump and less structurally distinctive:
Below, a Northern Wheatear at the same site for comparison. The stronger supercilium behind the eye and the more orange tones on the flanks and ear coverts helped pick out the Northern bird from the paler, less contrasting Isabelline. That evening a Desert Wheatear was also to be found at this site.
On Saturday afternoon, I head out to the beach at Burnham Overy with the family to see the Fin Whale. Seeing a dead whale is a strange mixture of emotions, but is the sort of experience that stays with you, whether adult or child. It generated lots of questions from the children. The blood filled pool around the head attracted the most comment. A day to remember, for lots of different reasons.
It is 8 years since I drove for hours to see a specific bird. The fact that on that occasion Ian and I were nearly killed by another driver ploughing headlong into the front of my car on the A148 in Norfolk, may have come into my decision, but the thrill of the chase was fading anyway. I realised that I found it much more satisfying to find my own birds, so I covered my Oxfordshire local patch around Cuddesdon and visited Lundy Island in the autumn for my migration kicks. But this autumn has seen a truly spectacular ornithological event. A rare and beautiful species that breeds in Siberia and winters in central China has reached us. In fact, a species only recorded 15 times in the whole Europe in the last 150 years has reached us in unprecedented numbers. To date 146 Siberian Accentors have been recorded across Europe between 4th and 23rd October 2016, including the first 8 British records. Surely the quickest turnaround from first record to many since the first Collared Doves arrived in Norfolk in the late 1950s? With new birds being discovered on a daily basis, online maps of Siberian Accentor sightings quickly became outdated (see full map here):
This irruption raises a number of questions. It seems unlikely to be due to reverse migration. The random chance of a genetic abnormality causing a bird’s migratory compass to propel it far from the usual migratory routes for that species is not going to occur in over 100 birds simultaneously. There was talk on the east Yorkshire coast that the harvest in Russia this summer was the best in a generation. If true, would good conditions for agriculture also benefit breeding passerines? Even if it did, why should so many migrate so far from their usual route from Siberia to central China and end up so far west? Could the mass displacement of so many Siberian Accentors be indicative of some unknown environmental issue on their breeding grounds?
Siberian Accentors are thought to have expanded their breeding range west toward such the Ural Mountains. Perhaps a good breeding season has produced an exceptional number of birds in the far west of their range? Then these young migratory birds are exposed to a prolonged period of wind propelling them towards Western Europe. A prolonged spell of high pressure stretching from central Russian into Scandinavia, combined with winds blowing from central Asia into Western Europe during most of early October may have assisted the irruption. This graphic from 7th October illustrates the prevailing weather conditions (see here for the full animated map). An area of high pressure (blue) stretches across all of central Russia, with winds blowing from east to west (green) picking up from the Urals, blowing straight into the Baltic Sea, southern Sweden and onto the northern east coast of the UK:
From the moment of the discovery of the second British Siberian Accentor last Thursday near Spurn Point, East Yorkshire I realised that I wanted to be part of this remarkable event. I was not alone, it is estimated between 3,000 and 4,000 people traveled to Easington to see this bird during it’s six day stay. For me, what it represented was almost as important. Not merely the epic feat of a long migration from the other side of Eurasia to East Yorkshire, but the fact that hundreds (possibly many hundreds, how many were missed?) of Siberian Accentors were simultaneously entering western Europe in a unique ornithological event. The bird itself was a cracker. An early online description of it being like a “Dunnock doing Bowie” is spot on: it is the head pattern that sets this birds apart, a feast of tan and black stripes that the bird showed off to great effect whilst tossing leaves around during its search for insects:
The collective noun for Dunnocks is, apparently, a “Jovial of Dunnocks”. If this is the case, then a “Joy of Accentors” would seem appropriate for the pleasure and interest that this remarkable event has brought to birders all over Europe. And for me, I had a fabulous day out at Spurn Point, seeing a feast of Siberian breeding warblers including Yellow-browed, Pallas’s and Radde’s Warblers that made up the supporting cast. With the winds remaining in the east, this remarkable autumn is set to run and run.
Phylloscopus warblers, either one of the joys of Sichuan or a constant pain in the neck! These species are not adequately dealt with in any existing field guide, though there are some online resources that cover the warblers of south-west China, for example, Per Alström‘s overview is essential reading. So out of the chaos of wingbars, supercilia and a multitude of shades of olive, I have tried to create order in the species that we recorded.
There are over 25 species of phylloscopus warbler frequently recorded in Sichuan and they are all very similar: the size and colour of a leaf, but so much more mobile. They advertise and recognise each other through vocalisations, so it makes sense that we should do the same. The good news: in order to simplify the field identification of so many very similar species I have grouped the species of phylloscopus warbler that we saw into 5 basic types. Being a UK based birder I have used the following warbler species as headline species, the species within each type share some plumage characteristics:
Pallas’s Warbler types
Hume’s Warbler types
Greenish Warbler types
Eastern Crowned Warbler types
Dusky Warbler types
This model is not perfect, but it gave me a handle on getting to grips with this difficult group and may be useful for those planning to visit Sichuan. I have also embedded recordings of the song of each species from the fabulous Xeno Canto website. The bad news: I have illustrated this blog post with my own pictures. Don’t want to make it too easy for you….
1. Pallas’s Warbler types: Bright supercilium+ bright medial crown stripe, double wing bars, dark tertials and a pale rump. The whole shebang.
Sichuan Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus forresti
Sichuan Leaf Warbler: a muted Pallas’s Warbler. It has the rump and the seven stripes, but none of the vivid greens or yellows of Pallas’s Warbler. The song is a series of rapid high pitched trills, each ending with a Eurasian Wren-like rattle:
[Frank Lambert, XC111060. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/111060.]
Chinese Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus yunnanensis
Even duller than Sichuan Leaf Warbler! A Pallas’s Warbler type, but with a completely different song to Sichuan Leaf or Pallas’s. One of my favourite sounds from Jiuzhaigou National Park, Chinese Leaf Warbler sounds like a tiny sewing machine rattling away, quite Locustella-like.
[Oscar Campbell, XC285252. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/285252]
Buff-barred Warbler Phylloscopus pulcher
Not really so Pallas’s Warbler-like in real life, though it shares many features. However, the crown is grey, contrasting with the green mantle; the bright buff greater covert bar stands out and the pale rump is present. The white outer tail feathers are distinctive.
[Frank Lambert, XC161371. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/161371]
2. Hume’s Warbler types: Bright supercilium, faint (at best) medial crown stripe; double wingbars, dark tertials and no rump patch.
Hume’s Warbler Phylloscopus humei mandellii
The Hume’s Warblers in south west China are mandellii rather than humei. We heard calling rather than singing birds.
[Frank Lambert, XC113239. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/113239]
3. Greenish Warbler types: Bright supercilium, but no real medial crown stripe; double wingbars, greenish tertials and no rump patch.
Greenish WarblerPhylloscopus trochiloides
One of commoner leaf warblers, we found them at a number of different sites.
[Mike Nelson, XC266546. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/266546]
Large-billed Warbler Phylloscopus magnirostris
The long bill can be distinctive in the field. Thanks to James Eaton on Birdforum for noting the weak wing bars and mottled ear coverts of this species. A common, easily recognisable song: a single, followed by two double, melancholy descending notes:
[Guy Kirwan, XC324805. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/324805]
4. Eastern Crowned Warbler types: Larger warblers with a bright supercilium + medial crown stripe, double wings bars, greenish tertials, no pale rump.
Emei Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus emeiensis
We only saw this species in Longcanggou. Can flick both wings simultaneously (see Kloss’s and Claudia’s Leaf Warblers, below). The song is a distinctive shimmering trill:
[Oscar Campbell, XC282711. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/282711]
Very similar to both Emei Leaf and Claudia’s Leaf. Flicks both wings simultaneously (see Claudia’s Leaf Warbler, below). The song is a pleasant burst of notes, delivered with even spacing:
[Mike Nelson, XC267134. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/267134]
Claudia’s Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus claudiae
One of the commoner leaf warblers. Has the habit of flicking a single wing (see picture) or alternates flicking one wing and then the other. The song is a rapid burst of high pitched notes, longer and faster than Kloss’s Warbler:
[Frank Lambert, XC183391. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/183391]
Sulphur-breasted Leaf Warbler
A lower altitude species, only seen in Tangjihae National Park. A feast of strong head stripes, recalling Worm-eating Warbler, but much more yellow! Song consists of a few well spaced bursts of liquid notes, sung at a moderate pace:
[Nick Athanas, XC23034. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/23034]
5. Dusky Warbler types: Buff warblers, with an obvious supercilium, plain wings and plain rump.
Dusky Warbler Phylloscopus fuscatus fuscatus
[Frank Lambert, XC113518. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/113518]
Yellow-streaked Warbler Phylloscopus armandii
The Radde’s Warbler sister species that we await to discover one autumn in the UK! Seen in scrub in lower level river valleys.
[Mike Nelson, XC191320. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/191320]
Alpine Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus occisinensis
A high altitude species, seen foraging for insects in snow covered bushes at Balangshān at over 3000m.
[Yong Ding Li, XC144887. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/144887]
Buff-throated Warbler Phylloscopus subaffinis
We only encountered this species in Longcanngou. A simple repeating song:
[Frank Lambert, XC187023. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/18702]
One of the highlights of birding the forests of Sichuan was the constant presence of Leaf Warblers. To stand on, for example, the hills above Wolong (below) and scan through the trees picking up multiple phylloscopus warblers was a fantastic, if technically challenging, experience:
My advice would be go to Sichuan in Spring when the phylloscopus warblers are singing. Otherwise you will have to leave even more species unidentified than I had to: good luck!
One of the pleasures of birding in Sichuan was the diversity of Rosefinches. If you have seen three species in Western Europe you have done well. Below are some photo highlights of some of the 12 species of Rosefinch that we saw in Sichuan. Also seen, but not photographed well, were Dark-breasted Rosefinch, Common Rosefinch, Long-tailed Rosefinch & Crimson-browed Finch.
“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.
Essentially a travel day, but there was some morning birding around Dujiangyan in the Chengdu basin, before the drive south to Longcanngou.
We awoke in Dujiangyan to the aftermath of last night’s Sichuan hotpot. Vast quantities of oil and hot spices have a predictable effect upon the gut. Details are not necessary here, but suffice to say that we now refer to this local specialty as Sichuan Hotbot. We meet Roland round the corner from the hotel and indulge in some local park birding. House Swifts cuts swathes above us, our fourth species of Swift on the trip so far:
Then two cracking birds in quick succession. The wonderfully named Fire-breasted Flowerpecker flew in to perch on a nearby tree…
.. and then Roland located a Northern Boobook Owl perched in a large tree next to some local tower blocks. Any day that you see an Owl is a good day:
We moved into a local park and found Swinhoe’s Minivets and Forest Wagtails in the treetops. At ground level, some humans were engaging in Tai Chi:
Whilst others were teaching their dogs to dance to music. This is apparently unremarkable behaviour in China:
The local insect life was interesting too:
When Sichuan hotpot is your local specialty, emergency toilets are essential. We found these at the edge of the park:
Having checked out of our hotel, we then drove the short distance to the hills just outside of town, visible in the background, below:
It was Drongo time. We were greeting by calling Drongo Cuckoo and Hair-crested Drongo; a Black Baza drifted overhead whilst we watched Japanese White-eyes and Rufous-faced Warblers; a Pallas’s Squirrel scuttled through the canopy. Chinese Bamboo Partridge called, but remained hidden. Slightly higher up Indian Cuckoos called and we had our only glimpse of Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher. Rural folk worked the land:
Best of all, we caught up with another Forktail species. We had tantalizingly brief views of an adult and a juvenile Slaty-backed Forktail flitting about in a stream. As lunch approached we drove back into Dujiangyan, finding a Long-billed Plover on the shingle banks of the river in town. After lunch we traveled south through Sichuan towards our final destination, Longcanggou, a mountain of forest, mud and rain. The drive through cool hills and tea plantations, punctuated by huge advertising hordings, was typically Chinese. As we climbed the foothills below Longcanggou we paused to see Elegant Bunting and Lesser Cuckoo and were then surprised to see this Chinese Water Snake (?) cross the road in front of us:
It had the distinctive habit of hiding it’s head behind the curls of it’s body:
At dusk we checked into our accommodation for the first of 3 nights. Ominously, the rain began to fall again.
Next: Longcanggou: dragging gems from a fog shrouded, mud covered mountain.
Vinaceous Rosefinch
Streaked Rosefinch
Red-fronted Rosefinch
Pink-rumped Rosefinch
White-browed Rosefinch
Blandford’s Rosefinch
Pink-tailed Rosefinch/Przevalski’s Finch
Three-banded Rosefinch
