Taiwan, May 2012- 台灣, 2012年5月. (1 Viewer)

Day 6.

This morning was spent birding at Beidongyushan which I think is also known as the Pipeline Trail.

There was plenty around but nothing new for much of the morning, though we did get on to Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler yet again. I suspect this bird hates me as the other two got good views of it, whilst once again I only got fleeting glimpses. To compound things we did get on to a new bird a bit later on namely a Snowy-browed Flycatcher calling up the slope which resolutely refused to show. Likewise Dusky Fulvetta of which I would've liked better views.

My luck did change however as by late morning we heard a White-backed Woodpecker calling and then saw it fly into a tall tree. I got onto it almost immediately and had excellent views as it moved along a horizontal branch. The others couldn't see it however before it flew off. The third and final woodpecker was in the bag, for me at least!

Another White-backed Woodpecker was seen, again only by me a bit later, but no matter how hard we tried, we added nothing new this morning. The walking here was pretty gentle and yet I felt really tired. I hadn't been sleeping very well and the lack of new stuff suddenly made me feel like I just wanted to sit down, or better still lie down.

The result was that as we got back into the car and drove on, I promptly fell asleep. Now I don't sleep easily anywhere other than my own bed so no one was more surprised at this than me and I awoke with a start as Stijn yelled out 'Oriental Pratincole!' flying over the car as we headed down the tollway. Needless to say I missed it... I managed to stay awake long enough however to see another a short while later with its unmistakable flight silhouette.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving. We eventually left the tollway and headed back into the mountains. Our destination would be the town of Alishan close to the Yushan National Park. In order to get there we had to drive through the National Park itself. Just after we entered the park however, we found the road ahead barred and a sign in Chinese telling us the road was closed due to a landslide. We had just passed a massive landslide on the way up that had completely taken out the road about two years ago. It had taken them this long to clear it and reconstruct the road such was the scale of it. We had no alternative but to turn around and head all the way back north retracing our steps for about 50 kilometres before we could head west and back onto the tollway, then south and up the main route to Alishan. Needless to say this cost us quite a lot of time so just as well we weren't planning to do more birding today.

We arrived at our hotel fairy late and found eateries were closing up for the evening. Fortunately we found one place that was prepared to stay open however and had a nice dinner before retiring.

105) Snowy-browed Flycatcher -heard only; included here for completeness.
106) White-backed Woodpecker.
107. Oriental Pratincole.

Day 7.

The day started cool and clear. The clearest weather I'd seen yet on the trip. We got up early enough to grab some breakfast from a food outlet before heading up into the National Park. As we walked over to get our food, we spotted a Eurasian Jay feeding on something in a pine by the steps we were climbing. We couldn't have been more than a few metres from it as it completely ignored us, so preoccupied was it with its own breakfast.

Heading up the mountain we passed the mother of all landslides to date. So bad was it, they were building a bridge out over the chasm to bypass it but the temporary road that we used passed right under it. I just hoped that all the rain we'd had would not send the whole lot crashing down over the road any time soon. A lot of other work was being done on the road further up as well and we had to thread our way past construction vehicles, some of which seemed perched precariously close to the edge.

Eventually we reached the main track into the park and almost immediately we had a female Mikado Pheasant on the road ahead, the first female pheasant of any kind we would see all trip. A short while later, we stopped again for a Taiwan Bamboo Partridge which picked its way across the road ahead of us.

We stopped a little further up to admire the view on this gloriously clear day; we really were very high up and this was a stunning part of the world no doubt. As I was looking down the valley, one of our group spotted a couple of Pigeons flying over the ridge above our heads. He only got a brief glimpse of them but it was not unreasonable to speculate from the brief view we had that they were Ashy Woodpigeon. Alas we never saw them again and couldn't entirely rule out White-bellied Green Pigeon.

At the head of the trail we would be taking, we parked and got out. There was quite a lot of activity on the trail ahead and we got onto quite a lot of stuff in short order that we'd seen before only this time we weren't seeing silhouettes in poor light but birds in glorious technicolour, lit as they were by bright sunshine. I was able to reacquaint myself with Black-throated Tit, Taiwan Yuhina, Steere's Liochichla, Collared Bush and White-browed Robins, Flamecrest, Ferruginous Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Bush Warbler and Coal Tit all over again, but in far more relaxed and comfortable circumstances and showing them at their best. As we came around to the end of the trail, an all too familiar call was heard just below us in a bush: a Taiwan Wren Babbler. This was clearly going to be one of those days, as the bird flew out of cover and hopped about in the open, along a concrete plinth before dipping back into cover. It was a 'wow' moment as this notorious skulker suddenly decided it liked being in the open.

We decided to head up some steep steps to the road as we wanted to cover as much ground as possible, not least because our target bird was often seen in this area, namely Golden Parrotbill. In short order we got on to a cracking pair of Taiwan Fulvettas showing far better than any we'd previously seen and only a couple of metres away. It was whilst we were admiring these birds that Stijn, called out 'Golden Parrotbill'! We looked up to see him pointing right at our feet. They had been concealed in vegetation as we approached the Fulvettas and we were practically standing on them! No sooner did we panic and try and get on to them, then they took off and flew up across the road with us in hot pursuit. They disappeared into the forest on the rise above the road and couldn't be refound. I had just seen these two tiny birds fly out from under my feet and disappear almost in an instant. Hardly satisfying views...

We nonetheless didn't give up on seeing them and Stijn reckoned that they might return as this was a very reliable place for them. As we waited we were at least able to enjoy a pair of Ferruginous Flycatchers visiting a nest, and a pair of beautiful Vinaceous Rosefinches foraging their way up the steps towards us, feeding on grass seed as they came closer and closer. So unafraid of our presence were they that they came within a metre of where we were standing, too close even for bins.

Whilst watching these birds, Stijn once again got on to the Golden Parrotbills, as they flew into a bush right beside us. As befits these restless birds, no sooner was our attention diverted by them, then they flew out across the steps into another bush, but instead of immediately moving on, they stayed and we all got stunning close up views of these normally very restless birds stripping bits of bark off the bush, presumably for nesting material. This provided a rare opportunity to get fantastic views and we made the most of it.

Climbing up to the road we were already in a celebratory mood when we all heard, then saw a Spotted Nutcracker fly onto the top of a pine tree by the side of the road. We saw another a short while later but much closer, sitting on a telegraph pole. This curiously unspotted (except around the head) subspecies may one day be split I dare say, though Mark Brazil's guide makes no mention of this.

In good weather this really was a terrific spot and with two good birds in the bag we headed off. We drove to Huben. The original plan was to head straight for the CengWen Estuary and bird there tomorrow morning, but buoyed with confidence we decided to head straight for the Fairy Pitta seeing as it was more or less on our way. As it turned out, doing this just about saved us from missing this bird altogether.

After a couple of hours driving, we arrived back in the much hotter and more humid lowlands. It felt like being back in Cairns! We parked by a garishly coloured temple decked out with a basketball court by the main entrance. Stylish. It was here that we saw the first feeding station we had encountered on the trip. Birds were coming to Pawpaw halves laid on the concrete barrier by the side of the road. Chinese Bulbuls and Collared Finchbill seemed to particularly like this feast. They were soon joined by the stunning Taiwan Barbet which allowed ridiculously close approach. Amazing stuff.

As we headed out to the main road, we passed an adult Malayan Night Heron under the trees and again really close. These birds aren't shy at all! We headed up the road and soon found ourselves on a rougher side track running alongside a small gully. This, Stijn confidently said, never failed to produce Fairy Pitta. He played the tape. Nothing. We moved on up the track and repeated this process. Still nothing. Stijn stated that if they were here they would almost certainly have responded by now. We moved further up the main road to another gully. Still nothing. Then another further along. Nope, no Pitta here either. This was worrying. This was the only site we had for this bird and they either weren't calling or simply weren't here, more likely the latter.

Back in the car and we were heading back to a place we'd passed a few kilometres back called the Pitta Cafe or something similar. A giant cardboard Pitta at the entrance greeted us and left us in no doubt what their main reason for being was. As we walked in, we heard a Pitta calling! We whirled around to be confronted with a film of Pittas playing in a side room. Our main reason for being here was to see if they had any idea where the Pittas were.. To cut a long story short, they had no idea either, but they knew a man who did. This it transpired was a local bird guide who could show us the bird. Stijn decided we would hire him. It didn't look like we were going to find the bird on our tight schedule otherwise. Only trouble was, he wasn't around today so we would have to wait until tomorrow. We had been planning on getting the Pitta today and driving on to the estuary, but we all were quick to agree that the Pitta was our main priority right now so we agreed to meet him back here first thing tomorrow.

Before we left, I couldn't help noticing the annual Pitta counts on a board by their reception desk. About five years ago, some thirty five or so Pittas had been located in the area. I don't know if that was pairs or individuals, but clearly there were quite a lot around. This figure grew smaller with each subsequent year until this year when there were only four! Whichever way you look at it, this appeared to be a bird in decline, at this site at least. I mused as to whether they would disappear altogether here in just a few short years...

Before we left, a quick scan of the neighbouring river produced two trip ticks, a Little Ringed Plover flying down stream and a Grey Wagtail in the company of some White Wagtails. We checked into a hotel in town in anticipation of what the morning would hopefully bring.

108) Golden Parrotbill.
109) Spotted Nutcracker.
110) Little Ringed Plover.
111) Grey Wagtail.

Day 8.

May as well finish this thing...

Dawn saw us back at Huben and outside the Pitta Cafe where we met our guide. He spoke no English and my Chinese is bad at best; nonetheless, you don't need great fluency when the purpose of all parties being there is already clear in everyone's mind.

He gestured for us to follow him in our car and we headed up a hillside road away from the sites we tried yesterday. The first place we got out yielded nothing. We got out at the second site, a rather promising looking gully with lots of bamboo. There was a large group of elderly Taiwanese nearby on the road itself doing some rather 'noisy' morning exercises. We hoped they wouldn't scare our target away. We needn't have worried, the guide played the call once and a Fairy Pitta immediately responded. What's more, it flew out of cover, over our heads and straight into a bamboo thicket on the other side of the track where it called again. We tried to see it but needn't have worried again as it flew back out and landed in shade on a tree branch back on the other side of the track, but in full view! What a fantastic bird! It stayed there for several minutes as if posing, looking ever alert for the intruder it had heard earlier.

Fully satisified with the start we made, we thanked the guide and headed off. One of the birds of the trip for sure! I wonder however, considering their rapid decline how much longer birders will be able to see this bird in this area. We drove south; quite a long drive in fact as we were heading to virtually the southern tip of the island for probably the easiest endemic of the lot (apart from the effort it takes to actually drive there). We noted en route, Eastern Great Egret in the fields; no doubt seen before but not noticed!

After about three hours, we arrived at Longluan Lake in the Kending National Park and within about 5 seconds had seen the bird we came for as Styan's Bulbuls were all around us. It was very open here and they were perched on low bushes and marsh vegetation everywhere. This species may well be hybridised out of existence by the introduced Chinese Bulbul one day. We quickly added other birds here too: Zitting Cisticolas were 'zitting' all around us, though not showing nearly so well. On the lake itself we found a single Eastern Spotbill Duck, a pair of Mallards and another Grey Heron. Perched on a post we found a young accipiter that we eventually decided was a Chinese Sparrowhawk. In the long marsh vegetation we spotted at least four Formosan Sika Deer. This animal had been extirpated in the wild and these animals must have been part of the reintroduction programme that had seen them back in the wild for the first time in many years.

Driving further south still towards the Southernmost tip, we missing the turning and found ourselves driving north again on the Eastern side of the island. We stopped and got out as we weren't even sure we were facing north but sure enough we'd rounded the tip and missed it completely unless the mountains we could see ahead were a whole new bit of Taiwan not previously discovered... Whilst re-orientating ourselves, we had several Oriental Skylarks around us and the pleasant surprise of easily the best ever views we'd had of a pair of Taiwan Scimitar Babbler sitting near the top of some low bushes.

We turned around and soon found ourselves at the Southernmost tip of the island to do a bit of seawatching that only yielded what were probably Common Terns, but we were able to get fantastic views of a Black-naped Monarch nestbuilding right beside the busy path to the Southern tip. We also found a Pacific Reef Heron on the rocks.

We drove north. Our final destination for this trip was the Cengwen Estuary on the West coast. We stopped briefly to check out a pair of Black-eared Kites seen out of the right side of the car. Stijn said these were pretty rare in Taiwan, so a good bird to have. This bird is usually merged with Black Kite so I'm not sure it really counts as a new tick but good to have nonetheless.

After a couple of hours we arrived on site. As we drove towards the reserve itself we found ourselves surrounded by flooded fields, not just rice paddies, as well as large fish ponds. We stopped to admire a large group of Black-winged Stilts when suddenly we spotted something a whole lot better. Close by the car were a pair of Greater Painted Snipe just sitting there in full view! This is one of my major bogey birds. I missed them by seconds in The Gambia, way back in '86 and have missed them constantly in Aus too (although I now hear that the Aussie bird has been split so would be another new tick!); now they were right in front of me making no effort to fly or run away. Bloody brilliant!

After admiring these birds at length and fully satisfied, we drove on until we spotted some waders in another flooded field. There was good variety here and all at close quarters. Several Wood Sandpipers, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Greenshank a solitary Red-necked Stint, and best of all, two Long-toed Stint surprisingly distinctive amongst the other birds. After several minutes, something spooked them and off they went so we drove on.

At another stop we decided to follow a track between the fields as we could see some activity in the distance. these turned out to be mostly Black-winged Stilts, some of which appeared to be nesting, but there were also a couple of Pacific Golden Plover. On a distant branch we got on to a smart-looking Long-tailed Shrike, but that was it for this spot.

Further down the road we stopped again as we found not two, but no less than six more Greater Painted Snipe. There was a lot more activity here too. Going over in large numbers were both Whiskered Tern and lots of White-winged Black Terns looking stunning in their full summer plumage. 50 or so of those going over was quite a sight. We also had a Cinnamon Bittern here flying right and a distant hovering Black-shouldered Kite.

At the reserve we found the main hide closed for the day so snuck around the side of it and looked out over the main lake. Any faint hopes of a solitary lingering Black-faced Spoonbill were quickly quashed as this was where they were nearly always seen but clearly they'd all gone. A real pity but not a really big surprise. We did however see several Terek Sandpipers feeding manically on the mud; Grey-tailed Tattlers in flight; a solitary Grey Plover and two flyover Little Terns.

Today was a real boost to the trip list and made such a refreshing change from trying to get glimpses of skulky endemics in dense mountain forest. We were due to fly home tomorrow but not without a quick final look around this area in the morning.

112) Fairy Pitta.
113) Eastern Great Egret.
114) Zitting Cisticola.
115) Eastern Spotbill Duck.
116) Chinese Sparrowhawk.
117) Mallard.
118) Oriental Skylark.
119) Common Tern.
120) Pacific Reef Heron.
121) Black-eared Kite (or Black Kite if you prefer).
122) Black-winged Stilt.
123) Greater Painted Snipe.
124) Wood Sandpiper.
125) Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.
126) Red-necked Stint.
127) Long-toed Stint.
128) Greenshank.
129) Long-tailed Shrike.
130) Pacific Golden Plover.
131) Whiskered Tern.
132) White-winged Black Tern.
133) Cinnamon Bittern.
134) Black-shouldered Kite.
135) Terek Sandpiper.
136) Grey-tailed Tattler.
137) Grey Plover.
138) Little Tern.

Day 9.

The final day saw us exploring the area a bit more thoroughly. The bird activity on and around the flooded fields had largely diminished. Perhaps the tide was out and waders had dispersed. Nonetheless, the Painted Snipe were still present and were to be admired one last time. Apart from two Dabchicks on a large pond, there wasn't much else.

At the reserve, we scanned the water and mud in front of the hide once more, adding Common Redshank, Kentish Plover and Whimbrel to the trip list. A Curlew Sandpiper flew over, but that was it for the main lake. We decided to explore the rest of the reserve. A terrific summer plumage Greater Sandplover was found at one spot and a similarly dapper looking Lesser Sandplover at another. These birds don't really colour up much before leaving the Cairns Esplanade so it was really nice to see them in full summer regalia.

A quick scan of the sea revealed several fly-by Crested Terns. We scrutinised them for Chinese Crested Tern but no such luck, though at this range could we really be sure despite the odds? A small party of Scaly-breasted Munia were a trip tick as were a flock of about 12 Tufted Duck flying over. Despite much searching of the backwaters of this site, that was going to be it for this trip. We were too late for most wildfowl and of course the Spoonbills, and a few waders were curiously absent, but overall we'd done pretty well.

We headed into town and had lunch at a 7/11 (these are everywhere in Taiwan and very convenient if you want a quick easy snack plus coffee) before beginning the long drive north, and mused over our 'bird of the trip'. I knew what mine was straight away (Greater Painted Snipe) but the 'collective' consensus was Taiwan Hill Partridge, one of the toughest endemics to normally get but of which we had had unfeasibly fantastic views.

Overall this had been a fantastic trip. Looking at the list of 33 endemics and possible endemics, we had seen 32, missing only the possible split of the Island Thrush, namely Taiwan Thrush. This is a scarce bird with no reliable sites that we knew of (unless someone could enlighten me?) and nowhere easy to find. Most people just see them more or less by chance. Well I certainly wasn't going to lose sleep over it. I'm not a hard-core birder and don't expect to see everything. I was very tired but exhilarated at what I had seen and that was what mattered.

We stopped off again just shy of the airport to kill a bit of time as we were early. We used the opportunity to do a final update of our trip list, plus to toast Stijn with coffee for doing such a fantastic job of finding us some very tricky birds. And that was it!

Taiwan is a fascinating country, and not just for its birds. The people were mostly very friendly, helpful and courteous even when they spoke no English. They often went out of their way to help us. Taiwan's roads are excellent and enabled us to get around easily. Nearly all road signs are bilingual, so don't worry if your Chinese isn't up to scratch. You'll need good directions for finding some sites however, such as the Experimental Farm which is up an improbably narrow and steep little side track.

If you want the endemics, you can visit any time really. If you want the Pitta then May onwards is your best bet. You need to be here earlier though to catch the Spoonbills; we may have caught a late lingering bird I suppose if we'd headed for the Cengwen Estuary first but my understanding is that they had all gone before our arrival date.

As for food (my favourite subject), I discovered a whole new love for bamboo shoots on this trip, which are often served as a side dish in restaurants. Unlike the horrible little strips you get in tins in the west, fresh bamboo shoots are something else entirely and are completely delicious. I also reacquainted myself with my love of the fatty pork dishes the Chinese do so well. Not chewy at all; just melts in the mouth. The Chinese regard the fat of the pork as the best bit and I agree. Well enough of food, I'm making myself hungry!

So if you're looking for a tourist destination with almost no tourists; lots of new endemics for your 'life list' or just a taste of the Orient, you could do worse than come to Taiwan. Thank you to those of you who persisted with this trip report, I hope you enjoyed it.

139) Dabchick.
140) Common Redshank.
141) Kentish Plover.
142) Whimbrel
143) Curlew Sandpiper.
144) Greater Sandplover.
145) Lesser Sandplover.
146) Crested Tern.
147) Scaly-breasted Munia.
148) Tufted Duck.

Really enjoyed reading your report of what was clearly a brilliant trip.

Thank you.

Thanks for sharing, sounds like you did well! Think you missed Styan's Bulbul off the list though.

Shi Jin said:

Really enjoyed reading your report of what was clearly a brilliant trip.

Thank you.

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Thank you Shi Jin. I'd recommend it highly.

jacana said:

Thanks for sharing, sounds like you did well! Think you missed Styan's Bulbul off the list though.

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Hey thanks for that! Not only did I miss it off this list, it's not on my world list either. So I've just added another lifer!:t:B

149) Styan's Bulbul.

And I also forgot to add a bird seen by the others but not by me when I was busy photographing a Brown Dipper:

150) Common Kingfisher.

I've seen plenty of them so no worries there.

So we did get 150 species after all! We had commented on the way to the airport how close we were to 150, which was our target on the final day. So all's well that ends well.

Here are some pics now that I've finally managed to get some pics uploaded.

WARNING: I take no responsibility whatsoever for the appalling quality of the pics included herein and instead blame the equipment, weather and politicians everywhere (since they are to blame for everything that is wrong in the world).

1) Taiwan Barbet.
2) Collared Finchbill.
3) Malayan Night Heron.
4) Red Turtle Dove.

Some more:

1) Black Bulbul.
2) Taiwan Ginger.
3) Plumbeous Redstart.
4) Taiwan Yuhina.
5) Formosan Macaque.

More still:

1) Steere's Liocichla.
2) Swinhoe's Pheasant.
3) White-whiskered Laughing Thrush.
4) Owston's (Beavan's) Bullfinch.

I'm having all kinds of trouble uploading these pics hence the change in numbers of pics per post. Sometimes it uploads them straight away, but often it takes ages or won't upload them at all.

I had this problem throughout this trip report which is why I waited until now to make one final effort to get some pics up. Grrr.....

I'm not done yet....

1) Vinaceous Rosefinch.
2) Mikado Pheasant.
3) Brown Dipper.
4) Rufous-crowned Laughing Thrush.

1) White-bellied Green Pigeons.
2) Taiwan Bamboo Partridge.
3) Spotted Nutcracker.
4) Ferruginous Flycatcher.
5) Collared Bush Robin.

Shi Jin said:

Really enjoyed reading your report of what was clearly a brilliant trip.

Thank you.

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Wot Shi Jin said! Excellent report and real appetite whetter...how to get more holidays though..?!

Cheers for writing it all up
Mark

McMadd said:

Wot Shi Jin said! Excellent report and real appetite whetter...how to get more holidays though..?!

Cheers for writing it all up
Mark

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Thanks Mark. You don't realise how time consuming writing these reports up is until you actually do it, so it may have seemed a bit rushed in places as if time compressed into nothing at certain points in the trip.

I enjoyed doing it though!

An excellent report Chowchilla of a successful trip - despite you managing to run into some of the wettest weather here this year. Good points you make, including: “So if you're looking for a tourist destination with almost no tourists; lots of new endemics for your 'life list' or just a taste of the Orient, you could do worse than come to Taiwan.”

Appetite for Taiwan birding whetted? Taiwan is holding a 30-hour Birdathon November 24th and 25th in the southern counties of Chaiyi, Yunlin and Tainan that will give you a chance at most mountain endemics and quality shorebirds. Not many details available yet but I will make sure info is well dispersed ASAP.

I’m planning to have a ‘cheat sheet’ guide to the relevant area available on my 2012 Taiwan blog soon. Foreign teams will have a couple days accommodation and food paid for. Combine this event with another few days mopping up in locations such as Dasyueshan or the greater Wushe area and you have a well rounded bird trip.

PS the ‘Pipeline’ Trail is the ‘Blue Gate Trail’ aka ‘Reiyenshi’ - I saw the Island Thrush near there at the start of the year...and not since. Typical!

BabblerVille said:

An excellent report Chowchilla of a successful trip - despite you managing to run into some of the wettest weather here this year. Good points you make, including: “So if you're looking for a tourist destination with almost no tourists; lots of new endemics for your 'life list' or just a taste of the Orient, you could do worse than come to Taiwan.”

Appetite for Taiwan birding whetted? Taiwan is holding a 30-hour Birdathon November 24th and 25th in the southern counties of Chaiyi, Yunlin and Tainan that will give you a chance at most mountain endemics and quality shorebirds. Not many details available yet but I will make sure info is well dispersed ASAP.

I’m planning to have a ‘cheat sheet’ guide to the relevant area available on my 2012 Taiwan blog soon. Foreign teams will have a couple days accommodation and food paid for. Combine this event with another few days mopping up in locations such as Dasyueshan or the greater Wushe area and you have a well rounded bird trip.

PS the ‘Pipeline’ Trail is the ‘Blue Gate Trail’ aka ‘Reiyenshi’ - I saw the Island Thrush near there at the start of the year...and not since. Typical!

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Thanks Babblerville; I remember thinking if I'd got the nomenclature of some places right. I couldn't've given GPS locations because I've no idea how that all works!

The Birdathon sounds like a cool idea! Alas I'm doing a road trip across Aus around that time so won't be available.

Thanks for the info on the Island Thrush. I guess I couldn't see everything!

So what was your thought on doing a tour? would you do so again?

FYI, and I don't think these are mentioned much in the Brazil guide, but the Pacific Swift and Arctic Warbler have both been split

Great to catch up on the rest of what was clearly a very successful trip, nd nice to see pix of the Taiwan version of Black Bulbul with pale wing patches.

Very sad to hear about the decline of Pittas at Huben.

Cheers
Mike

Mysticete said:

So what was your thought on doing a tour? would you do so again?

FYI, and I don't think these are mentioned much in the Brazil guide, but the Pacific Swift and Arctic Warbler have both been split

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On your first point: I'd consider it definitely, but listening to the other two who had far more experiences of doing bird tours, they can go wrong if you get one in the group who is noisy in the field or selfish. We didn't have that problem with our little group but I can see how with a larger group the odds increase of that happening.

On your second point: Do you know where the splits have occurred; we get Fork-tailed Swift in Aus (I have them on my garden list this year); would they for example be different from the ones in Taiwan or is there overlap?

I've only seen Arctic Warbler in Malaysia; there seems to be a confusion of very similar birds in that part of the world. With Arctic, the three possible species composing that little group all appear to migrate through Taiwan. So in retrospect, it's probably impossible to tell which one I saw.