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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Another update that might be of interest: Huge parts of Western Sichuan and adjacent parts of Gansu and Shaanxi Province will be linked and combined into a mega Panda National Park. This park will contain most of the nature reserves between the Sichuan Basin and the Tibetan Plateau, at least all...
  2. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Another site is Hailuogou – the famous glacier park at the foot of Minya Konka. With the new expressway in place, a journey to Moxi/Hailuogou only takes 4h. Sichuan Treecreeper, Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, Alpine Thrush, Chestnut-crowned Bush-warbler, Spot-winged Grosbeak and Blue-fronted Robin...
  3. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    There are also a few new places to go, since traffic has been advancing during the last years: One of them is Heizhu Gou (黑竹沟). This is a reserve ca. 100km south of Emei Shan. It belongs to Leshan and is now reachable by car in about 4h from Chengdu (actually, a new expressway is under...
  4. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    In general, urban birds and resident birds in nature reserves seem to be all in good state, despite huge development projects (such as expressways). Parrotbills and pheasants seem to even be on the rise. In certain areas in Ya’an such as Tianquan or Yingjing I have seen a lot of signs of a...
  5. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Due to conservation reasons there was an agreement to keep the details of the Rufous-headed Robin sites under wrap, for anybody, groups and individuals. Hopefully the bird is able to stabilize and recover from its obvious disappearance, and will be visible for many more people in the future.
  6. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Unfortunately, there was no sign of Wood Snipe on Balang Shan – not these days, nor during the last weeks. But, there’s some good news as well: Rufous-headed Robin is still amongst the living! After a few seasons without seeing or hearing this rare bird in Jiuzhaigou, there were three records...
  7. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Tomorrow I am once more going to check out Wood Snipe on Balang Shan, since there haven't been any records from this site recently. When I am back I hopefully have some time to write up something useful on birds... Cheers Roland
  8. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Thought it's time to fresh up this thread! There have been quite a few changes on road and site accessibility in Sichuan. And, there are some obvious changes in avi-fauna to report as well. First the roads: The building of expressways throughout the whole country hasn't stopped yet (I wonder...
  9. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    I have made a little present for all Sichuan fans: You can download it here: http://www.wstourix.com/pdf_files/sichuan_calendar_2017.pdf It is a set of pictures from Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai, nothing special, but those who like it are free to print it, hang it and enjoy it. Best wishes for...
  10. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Oh, That's why my nose is growing fatter and fatter! Kidding, locals have been eating this for ages, just they also don't have a proper name for it, apart from 'berry'. Don't worry, I'll never make that Atropa Belladonna experiment again (:
  11. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Especially when the cable car is finished. Personally not being a friend of cable cars, but this one makes the previously inaccessible above-2500m-range accessible for birdwatching... and I am expecting quite a few new good discoveries in perfect habitat: brilliant mixed forest with endless and...
  12. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Forgot to say that there were big flocks of Parrotbills roaming through the iced bamboo: Three-toed (1x20) Brown (3x20) Fulveous (1x50) Great (2x5 or 6) apart from nice birds such as Pere Davids Tit, Black-browed Tit and huge flocks of Black-faced Laughingthrush (up to 50 in each flock)
  13. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    .....for it can enjoy the view from over the clouds much easier!
  14. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Hi Alan! Thanks for your thoughts! I will continue with my investigations! Bthw, in terms of Tragopan and Labahe, I've been there last weekend - on pheasant business - and T's Tragopan has been seen there a couple of times, however it wasn't at the previous secure stakeout. This one doesn't...
  15. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Got a question for botany freaks. On my last trip to Liangshan (see above) I have come across a fruit tree that nobody could identify so far. The fruits are 2-3cm in diameter look and taste like ShanZha / Chinese Hawthorn, but are not! The leaves are different and the pit is a single black stone...
  16. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Last weekend I decided to escape the cold, damp and smoggy air around Chengdu and spent three days in Liang Shan Prefecture. I birded one morning at the northern tip of Qiong Hai Lake in Xichang and 1.5 days in some good forests ca. 70km south of Xichang. It was quite a birdy area, and I was...
  17. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Hi Alan In Longcang Gou I had good luck with the Tragopans this year. So they are still there, but often require a big portion of good luck. I will check out Labahe this autumn, and hope that their previous stakeout hasn't been altered. I will report on that matter later then. I am just on my...
  18. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Hi Summer! Great Pictures, indeed! How did you get so close to the Monal - with all the photographers around? At least one of them always makes some noise... I also attached a picture, too cute not to share! Cheers Roland
  19. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Looks like Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher to me. If you can find white spots on the tail on another picture, it would confirm this ID, too. Cheers, Roland
  20. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    What about a female Rufous-gorgetted Flycatcher? The image of the female is missing in the McKinnon field guide. That's why nobody thinks of Rufous-gorgetted. This species is very common in the higher parts of Longcanggou. And never think of Flycatchers have to be in dense forest: Yesterday we...
  21. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Here two links to Blanford's Rosefinch pics. Note the white shoulder patch and the scaly under-tail coverts. Also the cone-shaped bill might help to confirm this ID: http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=7&Bird_ID=1965&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1&Location=...
  22. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Just came back yesterday as well, and found the Phyllos at Longcang Gou quite easy this time - compared with Jiuzhaigou or northern Sichuan. There still were some quite confusing mixtures of Phyllos, with possibly still a few on passage... Here a few of my memory pictures: In Zoige at Flower...
  23. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Hi Tom, The thrush obviously is Long-tailed. Note that half-moon pattern behind the cheeks. Also - on the flight photo - it appears to have white in the outer tail feathers - a mark that distinguishes it from Chinese Thrush. However this is not always very conspicuous. Referring the Phyllos: ID...
  24. sichuan jiujiu

    Sichuan Birding

    Internet is now available either through mobile phone signal or through wifi in hotels all over Sichuan. The problem is that you need a VPN tunnel to get through to (almost all) foreign sites, for these are more or less blocked or loading speed is so slow that they practically don't load...
  25. sichuan jiujiu

    Yunnan Birds

    ANd here two more pictures of two nice mammals: Anderson's Squirrel and Black Giant Squirrel.
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