Taiwan - Jan 2016 : Part 3

Day 5:

A very bright morning with clear sky. The plan was to drive 30 minutes to Xitou to bird in the morning. So after breakfast we checked out and headed out. Before we set off I noticed a very pale object sat on top of a tree on top of the hill, even with binoculars I wasn't sure what it was. I had to take a photograph and zoom in to see the details, and it reveals a juvenile pale morph Oriental Honey Buzzard. Great start to the morning!

Oriental Honey Buzzard

Beautiful morning at Sun-Link-Sea

While on the road, I heard the call of the Taiwan Wren Babbler nearby the road. I stopped the car and we got out to see if we can get a glimpse of the bird. I played it's song and waited, soon enough one individual replied at close range. It got slightly closer and base on where the call was coming from I think it must have just been five meters away. But the light wasn't good on the forest floor and the undergrowth was very overgrown. Soon after, another individual called on the opposite side of the road, and the two sang to each other for a few minutes. All the while I hoped we could glimpse the bird's movement, but we got nothing. So, we soon gave up and accepted it was probably not our turn yet to see this island endemic.

We soon arrived at Xitou Nature Education Area. This site have long been a famous birding destination for decades, mainly for the mid-altitude forest birds. Trails here are very well marked and easy going, on the day we saw a lot of elders and school children visiting despite it being a weekday, so be prepared for large crowds at some areas.

Entrance at Xitou Nature Education Area

Just near our car park, we saw a Crested Goshawk (endemic subspecies formosae) perched on a tree. It perched for quite some time, allowing prolonged views of it calling. Upon entering the park gate, we immediately saw a flock of Leere's Liocichla (endemic) foraging near a rubbish bin. These were extremely bold and were obviously very used to human, no wonder they have been given a nickname; "rats of Xitou", quite literally they act more like rats then birds! One of them posed for a very lovely portrait. A lot Pallas's Squirrels were along side them, all of them looking very chunky...again having no fear of human at all.

Crested Goshawk (formosae)

Leere's Liocichla (endemic)

Pallas's Squirrel - very fat and bold...

We entered the trails, habitat was mainly planted conifers with mixed broad leaf scrubs and undergrowth. We encountered a "red squirrel", which still remains a mystery to us of it's true identity. As I have checked with all references on Taiwan's mammals and found no squirrels of the same colour, my guess is that it's probably a mutation of a regular Pallas's Squirrel? It was a pretty little creature however.

Part of the walking trails

Mysterious "Red Squirrel"

We didn't encounter a lot of birds, but a notably large bird wave contained quite a few species including some quite confiding Grey-cheeked Fulvettas (endemic) and Rufous-capped Babblers (endemic subspecies praecognitum).  We later also found a male Vivid Niltava within the bird wave. We also heard a few Taiwan Wren Babblers and White-browed Shortwing (endemic subspecies goodfellowi) on a few occasions, but none replied to my playback. At a stream we found a Little Forktail feeding alongside a Grey Wagtail, but it took off before I could take a photo, chased away by a Plumbeous Redstart.

Grey-cheeked Fulvetta (endemic)

Rufous-capped Babbler (praecognitum)

Vivid Niltava (vivida)

Near the exit to the carpark, we found a few fruiting trees teaming with birds! Taiwan Yuhinas (endemic), White-eared Sibias (endemic), Taiwan Barwings (endemic) and Collared Finchbills (endemic subspecies cinereicapillus). This gave us a wonderful chance to really appreciate each of these species, especially White-eared Sibias as they usually dwell near the tree tops. So getting near eye-level views was pretty amazing. They are in my opinion one of the prettiest of Sibias! No doubt one of my favourite Taiwan endemics.

Taiwan Yuhina (endemic)

White-eared Sibia (endemic) - one of my favourite Taiwan endemics

Taiwan Barwing (endemic)

Collared Finchbill (cinereicapillus)

After lunch we headed south towards Alishan, our destination was Star Resort (觀星園生態民宿) near the foothills of Alishan at a location call Dingbenzai (頂笨仔). The drive proved to be one of our toughest of the trip. Our GPS took us on a longer route on larger roads, but then we have to cut through some very narrow and winding roads that were not particularly friendly to our big car. The heavy fog did not help one bit, it got quite bad at some point that we could not see further then 5m and visibility was near zero. When we finally got to Star Resort, the owner Mr. Liu stated that he didn't thought we will come after having waited for us throughout the afternoon. He poured us some tea which was comforting after the tough drive.

Drive up Alishan

Common area at Star Resort

Star resort is famous for a few things, firstly for the birding hide where you are guarantee to see the Swinhoe's Pheasant and Taiwan Partridge. The resort is also famous for being one of the best places to observe fireflies, although we have came at the wrong time of the year. Lastly, the owner had been conserving a patch of woodlands up the hill where Red-and-White Giant Flying Squirrels now take safe refuge from poachers, making this one of the best place to see this amazing creature. After a simple noodle dinner, Mr. Liu's son took us up the hill on the 4x4 truck when the mist cleared. Once we got up the hill, he expertly shone his torch at possible locations, soon we found a few of these cute looking flying squirrels! One of them decided to perch on the branch and nibble on fresh leafs, everyone enjoyed wonderful views. This is the endemic subspecies lena, which have a pure white face compare to the nominate race. This wonderful creature ended our day perfectly. Mr. Liu sat outside with us and chatted for quite some time, we heard Mountain Scops Owls calling in a distance. He told us to be ready at 6:15am tomorrow morning to head up to the bird hide.

Red-and-White Giant Flying Squirrel (lena)

Day 6:

I woke up at 5:45am, the sky was still dark. Mr. Liu came bang on 6:00am and we all got geared up by quarter past and hopped onto the van. The ride up was bumpy but brief, we got out and Mr. Liu led us down a narrow path where the bird hide was situated in the middle of the forest. Taiwan Bamboo Partridges and Taiwan Partridges were both calling already. We got seated and peered out of the narrow slits cut on the front canvas, where we get a clear view of the forest floor. Mr. Liu had kept this water hole going for nearly a decade now, and the population of Swinhoe's Pheasant as well as Taiwan Partridge here had increased significantly. We sat still and waited...

Looking out from the bird hide

First bird was not a pheasant, but a male White-tailed Robin (endemic subspecies montium). The sun was still not fully out so I had my ISO setting set to 6400, still most of my images of the Robin was blurred. I only managed a single shot that I was happy with.

White-tailed Robin (montium)

Suddenly, I heard my father pointed towards the left side of the hide, a female Swinhoe's Pheasant (endemic) walked slowly out onto the "stage", nervously checking for threats nearby. This was the first female we have seen the whole trip, although very modest looking, the subtle markings and patterns were still beautiful.

Swinhoe's Pheasant (endemic) - female

One female came and another one came passed, after a while we lost count. A young male also came by for a while, not as beautifully marked as the adult male, but it had just started to get the bluish sheen on it's neck and breast. It's overall a lot duller then the adult, and also very nervous! But it stayed long enough to feed for us to enjoy. Nothing much came by during the next hour or so except a few more females. Mr. Liu had stated that mornings are usually less productive as birds are aware of the dangers of Crested Goshawks and Besras nearby, I indeed heard the call of a Besra constantly.

Swinhoe's Pheasant (endemic) - young male

Mr. Liu came to pick us up at around 8:15am when everything seemed to have quieted down. His wife had prepared breakfast for us back at Star Resort. After breakfast, Mr. Liu offered to show us a few local specialities around the resort. A short distance from the resort, we stopped by a few trees with mistletoes growing from the branches, he played the call of the Plain Flowerpecker (endemic subspecies uchidai) briefly and soon we had two calling from the tree. This is the smallest bird in Taiwan, measuring at just 7cm. We moved to another location where he tried to lure out a few other specialities including Striated Prinias and Black-necklaced Scimitar-Babbler, but unfortunately none responded well. So, we headed back up to the resort.

Plain Flowerpecker (uchidai)

Mr. Liu had setup a bird feeder just outside the house, and he kept his flood lights on throughout the night which attracted tons of moths to reset on the trees just outside the house. This was like a free buffet for birds, and all sort of birds seems to enjoy the abundant of food here. Most notably a pair of Green-backed Tits (endemic subspecies insperatus) that constantly fed on the moths. We got some cracking shots just sitting by the trees for the next couple of hours. Mr. Liu had other business to attend to, so he just left us there to wait for the birds to come! As it started to rain, we opened up our car boot and used that as a roof over our head and waited.

Outside the garden at Star Resort

Green-backed Tit (insperatus)

A Brown Shrike was present and a few Olive-backed Pipits came past, many Japanese White-eyes also passed by. A young male Daurian Redstart marked it's territory around the feeder but was chased off my Chinese Bulbuls constantly. A brown bird flew up and perched on the bird feeding log for a few times, the first few times were too quick and we couldn't quite catch what it was, finally it perched long enough for us to see; a female Siberian Rubythroat! I would have like to see a male, but since I have never gotten any photographs of this species before I was chuff that one turned up as it is, so a female will do for me.

Daurian Redstart - male

Siberian Rubythroat - female

A pair of Taiwan Scimitar-Babblers (endemic) also came by shortly, but both did not respond to our playback and stayed a fair distance away. This species was split from the Rufous-necked Scimitar-Babbler only in recent years, and rightly so if you ask me. They look and sound completely different, the Taiwanese cousins are also a fair bit bigger in size. A beautiful babbler indeed.

Taiwan Scimitar Babbler (endemic) - note the yellow eyes!

After lunch, the rain did not stop, it even got heavier. At 2pm, Mr. Liu's son came to pick us up to once again go to the bird hides. But since it was raining, the van could not climb the steep slope, which meant we had to take the 4x4 pickup up the hill. Problem being the pickup can only have one passenger in the front and everyone else would have to sit in the back exposed to the elements. In the end, we took two trips to get up the hill (Long volunteered to sit in the back with an umbrella). After some waiting and a few females pheasants had gone past, we finally had a male Swinhoe's Pheasant coming onto the stage! We were glad that the rain did not stop birds from showing up. The first male walked around a few rounds.

Swinhoe's Pheasant (endemic) - male

After that it was all about the Pheasants, one Swinhoe's Pheasant after another, and soon we had at least six in the area all at the same time! It got to a point where we would say to each other "Oh, there's another Pheasant." as if it was something ordinary. Rain continued to chuck down, luckily we were all very much dry inside the bird hide. One of the male had already started courting with the females and looked more "macho" then other males, at one point it's wattles were inflated and crest erected! What a stunner it was!

Swinhoe's Pheasant (endemic) - female and the courting male

After some very long wait, we still haven't seen any Taiwan Partridge. We thought the weather was too bad which could be stopping them from visiting. So, by 4:50pm we have nearly given up as light was beginning to dim rapidly. Just before 5pm, Long exclaimed that a pair was coming down the hill from the right! We all tensed up and soon, two rounded birds rolled down the hill in a way only Hill Partridges can. And what a beautiful bird! They dug for food with their feet, all the while seemed very busy. Lights were terrible so my ISO setting was already on 4000 by that time with a very low shutter speed. Luckily with digital photography, I could snap away as much as I wanted to without feeling guilty. Suddenly, sounds from a loud speaker from the village below spooked the pair and they ran back into the cover and didn't return.

Taiwan Partridge (endemic) - glad we didn't miss it!

Mr. Liu came to pick us up by 5:30pm, and we headed back to the resort very satisfied and relieved having seen the last of our main target! After dinner, while having tea with Mr. Liu, he looked outside the door and saw that a Northern Boobook was perched on the wire! He quickly grabbed his torch but the bird flew away before we could get any shots. Mr. Liu reassured us that it will be back again, and sure enough in half an hour it was back! This time were were ready and we got some pretty wonderful closeup view of this owl which made this already awesome day even better.

Northern Boobook - actually the first time I have seen this species at night...

To be continued...

Taiwan - Jan 2016 : Part 1

Introduction:

In amidst of the Hong Kong's "Big Freeze", I finally got some time to sit down and write up the Taiwan report. Temperatures dropped to freezing point in various parts of the city, the lowest it had been for over fifty odd years. We were somehow very fortunate that this freak weather did not occur on the week of our visit, as heavy snow and blizzards had been reported in most of Taiwan's mountains, even Taipei experienced snow (24th Jan 2016)!

My parents and I along with birding pal Long planned this birding trip months before hand. Taiwan had been much anticipated for us all, where me and my father had visited the central mountain ranges in 2002. However, we felt that our last visit did the endemic rich mountains no justice, as we only connected with very limited species. The two big pheasants; the Mikado Pheasant and Swinhoe's Pheasant were our two main targets, we have been dreaming to see these two species for a long time. Recent years the two species have became regulars at Dasyueshan National Forest and became a MUST see for all visiting birders.

NTD 1000 - Print of Mikado Pheasants are on their largest currency note

Day 1:

We flew directly to Taichung from Hong Kong on the 9th of January to visit a friend. Therefore we did not do any birding on that day. We woke up the next morning and headed straight to Taichung Airport for the pre-booked car rental. The whole process took about an hour before we finally headed off in a Nissan Serena. Left hand drive took a little time to get used to, but it wasn't much of a problem at all. Roads in Taiwan are generally quite good and well marked, we used a local GPS as well as Google Maps to guide us throughout the trip with little problem. Only comment about driving in Taiwan is that you really have to be watchful of scooter riders, they can come out of nowhere and many don't seem to have any respect for their own life...

Our route was from Taichung to the famous Dasyueshan (大雪山), we will stay there for two nights and move southwards to Sun-Link-Sea Forest and Recreation Area (杉林溪) and Xitou (溪頭) where we will also stay two nights. Finally we will go to Star Resort (觀星園生態民宿) near Alishan (阿里山) to look for Flying Squirrels and Taiwan Partridge.

The drive was pretty straight forward, when we arrived at the Dasyueshan Forest Road (大雪山林道) it turns out that they were in the middle of a marathon. Roads were narrow so we took extra care when driving past the runners. Our first birding location was located at 15K near the local police station, where a stream is said to be home for a pair of Brown Dippers.

Nissan Serena - our rental car

Marathon runners

Habitat at 15K spot for Brown Dippers

Plumbeous Redstarts (endemic subspecies affinis) were everywhere, they are one of the commonest stream dwellers in Taiwan. It took a while, but the Dippers were finally spotted by my Father and Long along the stream, although it was quickly flushed away by a few locals walking along the stream. Luckily one bird soon came back and gave great views!

Plumbeous Redstart (affinis) - they are literally there every time you go past a stream

Brown Dipper - feeding in the stream

Back to the main road, we found a few Crested Serpent Eagles (endemic subspecies hoya) soaring high up. Other birds included a few Javan Mynas and Black Drongos (endemic subspecies harterti), both common lowland dwellers.

Crested Serpent Eagle (hoya) - endemic subspecies

Javan Myna - common near lowland settlements

Black Drongo (harterti) - the most common road side bird

From there on it was a constant climb, on the way we picked up a White's Thrush next to the road which gave brilliant views, we saw quite of few of them along the roads in the coming few days. Our next stop was the famous birding platform at 23.5K, where the fruiting Idesia attracts a lot of birds to feed on them, it had became a world famous birding spot due to this reason. We have especially timed our visit to the fruiting time of the Idesia trees, the best time to find birds feeding on these red little berries are between January to February, depending on the climate of that year. A handful of birders were already there, however birds weren't very active in the afternoon, only a few distant Eurasian Jays fluttered about. So we tried our luck a little further down the road at 23K, the infamous stakeout spot for the much wanted Swinhoe's Pheasant.

White's Thrush

23.5K birding platform

23K - famous stakeout for Swinhoe's Pheasants

We waited around for half an hour without much luck, Long and my Father had started to doze off when suddenly a birder from up the hill came over and shouted to the fellow birders that a bird had been spotted up hill at a short distance. We all darted towards the location, where a fine young male gave amazing views! It only showed briefly however and was way too close for my 500mm, I found it difficult to keep the whole bird in frame! We could not believe our luck that we bagged a top target bird in the first few hours! The bird soon continued climbing uphill and disappeared, so we thought we would do the same and continued with our journey.

Swinhoe's Pheasant (endemic) - the magnifique!

Just past the park gate we found ourself at a carpark next to a public toilet. Cherry blossoms were planted right next to the toilet and we were just in time for the flowering season. The nectar attracted a lot of Taiwan Yuhinas, all feeding frantically along the flowering trees. They were not shy at all and gave very close views and some great photo opportunity. This is probably THE most common endemic in the mountain ranges, a pretty bird still.

Public toilet with cherry blossoms

Taiwan Yuhina (endemic) - feeding on the cherry nectar

We soon drove up to the Visitor Centre located at around 43K where we checked into Dasyueshan Hotel and dropped our luggage into our lodge. Our lodge was a cozy wooden cabin with around 12 rooms. It was just past 4pm when we arrived at the lodge and I quickly urged the guys to hurry up or we will miss our chance to see the Mikado Pheasants! The pheasants are said to be most active around 4pm to 6pm along 45K to 47K mark, but unlike the Swinhoe's Pheasant which is now more widespread, the Mikado can be elusive at times and not always show itself. We quickly grabbed our gear and headed uphill.

Dasyueshan Visitor Center

2,275m above sea-level

around the 45K mark we suddenly saw a large shuttle bus stopped right in the middle of the road, we thought it was stalled so we tried to get past it, only when I was about to past the bus that we realise why they stopped. A pair of Mikado Pheasants were feeding right next to the road! We could hardly believe our luck! We quickly backed up and got out of the car. The pair strolled slowly along the side of the road, totally oblivious of our existence. The male have the most magnificent bluish purple sheen I have ever seen! I have heard that they were not afraid of people, but never thought they were THIS bold. We had some of the most amazing views of the pair before they slowly walked down the slope and out of sight. Two target birds within an hour was more then amazing! I think we were all speechless!

Long photographing the Mikado Pheasant by our car

Mikado Pheasant (endemic) - the absolutely stunning male

Mikado Pheasant (endemic) - modest looking female

A sign to warn drivers not to run over passing pheasants

We headed towards 51K, where we tried to reach Tianchi (Sky Lake) before it gets dark, but by the time we got up there it was already getting much darker. Views up here were amazing, and at the car park we found a flock of White-whiskered Laughingthrush; this island endemic is hard to miss for several reasons, they are very loud, and most of all they know no limits and frequently come to your feet to beg for food. This is a result of tourist hand feeding these birds which slowly made them extremely bold. This species is limited to the higher altitudes at Dasyueshan, therefore we only saw them near Tianchi and near the lodge.

Views up at the viewing platform, clouds beneath us

White-whiskered Laughingthrush (endemic) - another very bold endemic

The only other interesting bird we found before the sun went down was a handsome male Collared Bush Robin, this island endemic is the commonest Bush Robin in mountains of Taiwan. A few Dusky Thrushes foraged along the lawn area, but most were skittish and a bit camera shy. As the lights dimmed we called it a day and headed back to the lodge.

Collared Bush Robin (endemic) - a handsome male

Dusky Thrush

Dinner was served at the dining hall from 5:30pm to 7pm. Weather was very cold so any hot food was welcoming. After 3 bowls of rice and it still didn't feel enough! So we bought a few instant noodles for late night snack! Having had an amazing day, we hoped our next will be just as productive.

Much needed dinner!

Day 2:

Having looked at the weather forecast for the coming week, things did not look optimistic. The weather outside our lodge confirmed that. It was constant rain and mist, wind started to pick up later as well making it impossible to see anything! No doubt feeling slightly down spirited, we still took to the road after breakfast, hoping things might clear up later on.

We planned to drive down to the birding platform at 23.5K, hoping that the birds will still come out to where food is next to the Idesia trees. Along the way at 38K we encountered a bird wave containing Eurasian Nuthatches, Taiwan Barwings (endemic) and White-eared Sibias (endemic). But views weren't great and with the constant rain we were finally defeated and retreated back into the car.

Eurasian Nuthatch

Taiwan Barwing (endemic)

White-eared Sibia (endemic)

Back towards the public toilet, flocks of Taiwan Yuhinas continued to feed on the nectar. They provided the only source of entertainment shortly.

Taiwan Yuhina (endemic)

Things weren't that much better down at the birding platform. There weren't a lot of birds there, only a couple of Vivid Niltavas remained, they fed on the Idesia fruits but soon they were soon gone too. The rain showed no sign of stopping, we tried waiting it out, but since we were already soaked we decided that a hot lunch was probably a much better option.

Birding platform in the rain

Vivid Niltava - male feeding on Idesia fruits

Vivid Niltava - female

We ate at the visitor centre, a hot pot was very much soothing. We took some time to look at the indoor exhibitions, but they weren't all that interesting. Looking at stuffed birds and an introductory video about Dasyueshan (in beautiful weather) didn't make us feel any better either...So, we thought we were better off going back to our rooms where we were at least warm and dry.

Bad weather in general...

A late afternoon walk when the rain stopped produce very little, a Coal Tit up a very tall tree was our only addition, too far for photographs. A group of Taiwan Barwing and White-whiskered Laughingthrush in heavy mist ended our day. Indeed a very down spirited day, but the weather forecast stated that rain will ease off for Tuesday and Wednesday, at least that is what we hope...

Heavy mist near the lodge

Taiwan Barwing (endemic) - mist makes it impossible for any decent photos

To be continued...