Dasyueshan, Taiwan - Jan 2014 (1 Viewer)

In January 2014, I was asked to take a business trip to Korea and Taiwan. I arranged to spend the intervening weekend in Taiwan in an attempt to see the remaining endemic species that I’d missed on previous visits. As Clements counts them, Taiwan has 23 endemic species and many more endemic subspecies that might become full species in the future. Knowing that the species I needed were mostly high-elevation ones, I knew that I’d need to head for the mountains. After some research, I figured that Dasyueshan (大雪山) would be the best place to visit. 21of the endemic species along with some of the endemic subspecies are possible in that area.

As an aside, other trip reports refer to visiting the “Blue Gate Trail” near Hehuanshan. I was advised that because of recent earthquakes and typhoons, the Central Cross-Island Highway is no longer open and is unlikely to be re-opened. The highway that passes by the Blue Gate Trail has by default become the only cross-island route. This has increased the amount of traffic in the area, which is leading to degradation of the habitat and less reliable bird sightings.

Dasyueshan turned out to be the right choice. I saw 15 of the 23 endemics and heard another. 5 of those endemics were lifers. However, several of the more challenging endemics are very difficult in winter since they are skulkers and aren’t singing. Those were some of the species I missed. I guess I’ll just have to finagle another trip in April. In addition to the endemics, I saw 3 more non-endemic lifers and saw or heard a total of 50 species. Considering no passage migrants were possible and we spent essentially no time in the lowlands, this is a pretty respectable total.

Additionally, I saw a handful of additional species during the business portion of the trip. These were all common lowland species in Taiwan and really wouldn’t require any birding effort to find.


Logistics:

I’d contemplated renting a car and driving myself, but with the short time allowed, I decided I’d work with a guide who had his own transport. I was eventually hooked up with Yenhui Hsu (徐彥暉 ) who I’d later learned had previously guided for several of the major international birding companies. His emaiI is [email protected]. He was a great guide and good company. He knew where the target birds were supposed to be. In fact he had guided another group to the same area the previous weekend. He also took care of booking the hotels.

Our plan was this: Yenhui would pick me up at Taipei Airport on Friday night and we’d drive from there and stay the night in Dongshih, the small city at the base of the forest road to Dasyueshan. Saturday we’d work our way up the mountain and stay at the forest reserve “hotel” near the top of the road. On Sunday we’d spend more time at the top, then work our way back down the mountain in the afternoon. He’d then drop me off at the Taichung High Speed Rail Station on Sunday night, so I could catch a train to Tainan for work the next day.

In Dongshih, we stayed at the Chang Ti Business Hotel. It’s a typical Taiwanese business hotel – clean but small rooms, though a little frayed around the edges. It cost NT$ 1860/night for room only. As it turns out, we spent all of four hours there.

The forest reserve hotel turned out to be small cabins consisting of two twin bed rooms connected by a small anteroom with chairs and a table. They had full satellite HDTV, but no heat - only an electric heating pad on the mattresses. This meant that in January at 2600m, even in Taiwan, the rooms were very cold. Each room cost NT$ 3200. The rate includes a set dinner and breakfast – Chinese food only - in the restaurant, although Yenhui arranged for a picnic box (some pastries and a juice box) for breakfast since we were heading out early. You also need to supply your own towel, but they’ll provide one for an extra NT$ 100. Frankly, it was too cold to take a shower, so that money was wasted.

Once you enter the forest reserve there aren’t any stores or restaurants until you come to the visitor center where there’s a restaurant and a small café. But we weren’t certain whether we’d make it that far up by lunchtime, so on Saturday we stopped at a 7-11 in Dongshih (they’re everywhere in Taiwan) first thing in the morning to pick up some food for our breakfast and lunch, as well as some snacks to tide us through the day. As it turned out, it was the right choice since it was late afternoon before we made it up there. We did have a late lunch at the café before heading down on Sunday.

Day 1 – Saturday, Jan 11, 2014

Our first stop on the way up the mountain was a creek at around km 5. There were a couple of plumbeous redstarts including a singing male, and a little egret in the creek. Spotted doves were singing and we saw one or two on the wires and a gray wagtail or two flew by. As we were heading back to the car, a couple of black-crowned night-herons flew by along with a few more egrets. From there, in one of the villages on the way to the first stop I saw a small flock of Eurasian tree sparrows.

That first stop was at the 10 km marker. As we got out of the car, we heard a couple of gray-capped woodpeckers calling, and eventually they flew across the ravine giving us decent looks. We walked up the road, first spooking a Chinese bamboo partridge which wouldn’t show itself, then seeing a small, plain, female robin that later we concluded was likely a white-tailed robin (though we spent quite a while looking at the field guide considering our options). Further on we found a couple white-eared sibias high up in a bare tree, and checked out the ravine for Taiwan whistling-thrushes – a bird I really wanted since I’d missed it a couple times on previous trips to Taiwan. No thrushes, but I did find a Steere’s Liocichla. Walking back down to the car, while trying to tape out a couple of rufous-capped babblers, a couple Taiwan scimitar-babblers showed up instead.

Once back at the car we continued up to a side road that branched off the main road at km 14. We walked down that road a bit, first finding a couple black-necklaced scimitar-babblers and a few more sibias along the side of the road, then more plumbeous redstarts and a couple brown dippers on the creek that paralleled the road. Further on we found our first large flock of Taiwan yuhinas high in the trees. We looked through the flock for other species and Yenhui found a yellow tit. It flew before he could get me on it, but eventually the flock flew closer and lower, and the yellow tit perched close to us. We also picked out a lot of black-throated tits, a green-backed tit, and at least one gray-cheeked fulvetta.

We walked a bit further down the road, finding another couple of dippers, one of which was apparently a begging juvenile, but no whistling-thrushes, before turning around. On the way back, a couple of birds perched on some wires and started flicking their tails. We first thought they were more gray wagtails, but a closer looked showed them to be a couple female gray-chinned minivets. Lastly, we stopped at the spot where we had the scimitar babblers, and instead of those, found a small group of rusty laughingthrushes.

Yenhui had a friend who lived along a side road near km 15. The weekend before, a fruiting tree at the house held a good number of species including an island thrush, so we headed there next. Just as we turned off the main road we found a small flock of white-rumped munias. Eventually we parked near a bridge, checked for whistling thrushes (nope) and walked to the house, but we found that most of the fruit was gone. Despite that, there was a female vivid niltava perched in the tree, so we went in and sat down to see what else would show up.

While waiting, a large flock of Japanese white-eyes started flying around the yard. Eventually the male niltava joined in showing his beautiful colors. In contrast, the plain thrush that came to the tree was just that…plain. Since the island thrush hadn’t been seen for a week and the fruit was gone, we decided to take a short walk around the property. At the side of the house we found another couple rusty laughingthrushes. Yenhui heard another Chinese bamboo partridge, so we took a quick walk through their farm plot hoping to find one. At the edge, we found a singing bronzed drongo and while looking at some nearby sibias, we found a soaring crested serpent-eagle, but we didn’t turn up any partridges.

Returning to the house, we took a walk up the road where we spotted a pair of white-tailed robins. The female flew into a nearby patch of bushes, but the bright blue male sat by the side of the road fanning his tail showing the white patches. We then looked again at where the female flew, and found another mixed flock. This one consisted of rufous-capped babblers, a dusky fulvetta, and a couple more Taiwan scimitar babblers. We then went back to the house, thanked Yenhui’s friend for his hospitality and headed into the reserve.

Up to this point, the habitat was mostly second-growth interspersed with a lot of farm land, but above km 15, the real forest starts. There are few pullouts along the road, but some of the more notable ones will have photographers, who wait for designated target birds and sometimes set up perches in order to get a perfect shot.

The first of these was at about km 20, where we found a couple photographers set up at a small clearing. Yenhui knew what they were looking for, and eventually a snowy-browed flycatcher showed up for everyone to photograph. After that we searched through the flocks coming to a fruiting tree there, but found only yuhinas and sibias.

As we approached km 23, Yenhui stopped and excitedly pointed out a female Swinhoe’s pheasant on the side of the road. I carefully got out of the car to try to get a picture, but just as I did another photographer got too close to the bird and she ran into the brush. I walked to the side of the road and tried to find her again, but she was gone. However, I heard some rustling nearby and going toward that I discovered the male who slowly walked away! While standing there a few liocichlas came out to feed on the seed put out by the photographers.

We rounded the corner to find a parking area full of photographers, so we pulled over to see what they were looking at. It was another male vivid niltava in a tree full of bright red berries. Yenhui also learned from the photographers that a Taiwan whistling thrush – In case I haven’t said it enough, one of my targets - had been seen earlier that day across the road from the parking area, so we waited a while for that to show. It didn’t, but eventually a couple of gray treepies came into the tree with the berries and allowed me to get close and take some pictures.

When they flew off, we walked up a bit from the parking area and found another mixed flock. Again it was mostly yuhinas, but we found another yellow tit and I was finally able to see a rufous-faced warbler – we’d been hearing them for several kilometers – and a few more liocichlas.

As we turned back to the parking area, we saw everyone there looking over the back edge of the lot. We quickly ran back to find them looking at a Taiwan Partridge. We saw that the ground was littered with seed – apparently put there by the photographers in order to lure in the birds. We got our fill of him, then moved on.

We came to the large entrance gate where we paid our admission: NT$ 200 for me and NT$ 100 for Yenhui (he gets a guide’s discount). Beyond that, next to a small shrine is the entrance gate for Forest Trail #210 which we walked for a km or two. The gate says “No Entry” but Yenhui said they allow birders in there. The sign is just to discourage hunters. It was mid afternoon, so the trail was very quiet. We heard a distant ashy wood pigeon and a few tits and also tried and failed to coax out a plain flowerpecker who we heard way above us in a large clump of mistletoe, but other than those the trail was empty.

By now it was around 3 PM, so we headed to the visitor center to check in and get our keys. But rather than go to our rooms, we headed to the Mikado pheasant stake-out at km 47. There were already a few photographers there, but no pheasants. While we all waited, we indulged ourselves taking pictures of white-whiskered laughingthrushes, who were all over the place. One even came right to my feet. We also heard a Taiwan fulvetta, a few flamecrests, and distant large-billed crows and Eurasian nutcrackers, one of which I eventually saw fly across the face of the distant ridge. There’s also a photographers stake-out for both collared and white-browed bush robins just downhill from the pheasant stake-out, but the only things there were more laughingthrushes and a troop of Taiwanese macaques.

We stayed at Km 47 without seeing the pheasants until about 6:30 when it got dark, then headed back to the restaurant for dinner, after which we headed to our cabins for a freezing cold sleep.

Sounds like you connected with some quality birds in a pretty intensive day's birding Jeff - multiple views of Rusty Laughers is a pretty good trick.

Cheers
Mike

Day 2 – Sunday, Jan 12, 2014

We were up at 6 AM and headed back to km 47 and the Mikado pheasant stakeout in the dark. As it brightened we noticed a female collared bush-robin hopping by the side of the road. Then a couple Eurasian nutcrackers came in and perched on the wires over the road while a distant coal tit called from the woods. Finally the troop of white-whiskered laughingthrushes started to jump around the bushes. Unfortunately no pheasants showed up and the area stayed mostly quiet.

At 8:30 we concluded that the pheasants were not going to happen, and we moved on to the top of the road and the Sioasyueshan Ranger Station. There are low evergreens (firs?) there which Yenhui said are reliable for flamecrest, but a conversation with the ranger found that they hadn’t been seen yet that day. We waited a little while and walked around the ranger station/visitor center but the only birds we saw or heard were more laughingthrushes.

So we made our way up the trail/road up to TianChih (Sky Pond). On the way we noticed a few other birders looking at a few gray-headed bullfinches just over the trail, but every other movement seemed to be more laughingthrushes. Further up the trail overlooking the pond, we found a huge flock of coal tits, with at least one green-backed tit mixed in.

We took a walk around the pond trying for Taiwan bush-warbler, but only came up with more laughingthrushes. We also heard a couple of calling large-billed crows, but couldn’t see them. Finally we came back to the area with the coal tits, where Yenhui heard a Vinaceous/Taiwan Rosefinch. First we saw the female and then the male came in to join her – and several other birders came in to watch him. We also tried unsuccessfully to pull something different out of another laughingthrush flock

As we walked back to the ranger station, we found a few nutcrackers at the trail head. Then we sat and watched the evergreens again. No flamecrests yet, but a female red-flanked bluetail did visit a couple times.

After a stop in the store for some drinks, we walked down the Siaosyeushan National trail a bit. Some movement by the side of the trail got our attention. We both were hoping it might be a pheasant, but it turned out to be more laughingthrushes. That flock moved into a fruiting tree over our heads, and in all that chaos,, Yenhui picked out a Taiwan barbet and I found a Taiwan fulvetta. Eventually we came to an opening that looked down to the lowlands and we saw a few house swifts fluttering around in the distance. But the return walk back to the car was uneventful.

We made a quick stop at a scenic overlook so I could take some pictures . All of sudden Yenwei called out “Barwing!” It turns out there were four Taiwan barwings in a tree right in front of the lookout. Eventually they flew down the valley, so we got back in the car and headed downhill too, and had a nice lunch at the café in the main visitor center.

Working our way down, we made a stop at the Forest District office at km 41. We found another female red-flanked bluetail and a flock of yuhinas, before a large flock of black bulbuls flew into a distant tree. Another stop further downhill turned up a mixed flock of yuhinas, black-throated tits, and green-backed tits. While we watched that, Yenhui picked out a Eurasian nuthatch crawling down a large tree-trunk in the middle of the flock. We tried another spot near a waterfall for little forktail, but the bird Yenhui had seen there previously wasn’t to be found.

We planned to head to km 23 where our last likely remaining target, Taiwan whistling-thrush, had been seen the day before, but as we passed through the main gate of the reserve, Yenhui noticed a couple photographers staked-out behind the guard office, so we pulled over to check them out. They had been looking at a collared bush-robin that wasn’t present at the moment. But we hadn’t seen a male yet, so we settled in to wait with them.

After a while, another female red-flanked bluetail came in and the male collared bush-robin made a brief appearance. Just as a group of white-whiskered laughingthrushes started to play on the logs the photographers set up, a large blue bird dropped in. My reaction was “Was that what I think it was?!” Yenhui and I looked at each other. It was a Taiwan whistling-thrush - much higher up that we expected.

Since we’d seen that last target, we figured we wouldn’t need to stop at km 23, but as we rounded the corner, we saw two bus-loads of people at the pull out! So we figured we’d get out and see what drew them in. We found them all looking at three male vivid niltavas, and we saw a bronzed drongo fly by as well. Eventually the crowds left, and the remaining photographers looked back over the parking area wall and found two Taiwan partridges. I took some pictures, but when one of the photographers got too aggressive and climbed over the wall, the birds ran off. We headed back to the car and as we left the parking area, we saw a male Swinhoe’s pheasant head into the woods.

We made a quick stop at the snowy-browed flycatcher spot, but only yuhinas were there plus a fly-by gray-chinned minivet, then went back to Yenhui’s friends house at km 15. We sat for a while and tried to tape out a bamboo partridge, but we didn’t even hear one. We did see a plumbeous redstart (on the garage roof!), some plain thrushes, and a couple white-eared sibias. After about a half hour, we concluded that our birding day was essentially over, and we headed on.

The remaining drive was uneventful. We saw a flock of feral rock pigeons as we came back into Dingshih and a few pacific swallows and house swifts as we crossed the large river there. We made it to the High Speed Rail station in Taichung just before 6 PM, said our farewells, and I headed south for work.

Sightings List

Taiwan Partridge (Endemic) - Arborophila crudigularis – Two birds seen below the parking area at km 23. The photographers were putting seed out for them.

Swinhoe’s Pheasant (Endemic) - Lophura swinhoii – A pair seen just below the parking area at km 23 on Saturday. Only the male seen Sunday. Another stake-out location.

Little Egret - Egretta garzetta – Scattered sightings near water at lower elevations.

Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax – A pair flew over near the creek at km 5.

Crested Serpent-Eagle - Spilornis cheela – One seen soaring from Yenhui’s friend’s yard near km 15.

(Feral) Rock Pigeon – Columba livia – A flock seen flying in Dongshih.

Ashy Wood-Pigeon - Columba pulchricollis – Heard along Forest Trail #210.

Spotted Dove - Streptopelia chinensis – A few heard and at least one seen in the lowlands Saturday morning.

House Swift – Apus nipalensis – A few seen from an overlook on the Siaosuehshan Trail and a handful more in Dongshih.

Taiwan Barbet (Endemic) - Megalaima nuchalis – One seen in a fruiting tree in a mixed flock on the Siaosuehshan National Trail.

Gray-capped Woodpecker - Dendrocopos canicapillus – A couple seen at km 10.

Gray-chinned Minivet - Pericrocotus solaris – A couple perching on wires along the km 14 side road and another one flying over at the km 20 pull-out. Only females seen.

Bronzed Drongo - Dicrurus aeneus - One singing near Yenhui’s friend’s house near km 15. Another seen at the km 23 lookout.

Gray Treepie – Dendrocitta formosae – A couple seen in a fruiting tree at the km 23 lookout.

Eurasian Nutcracker - Nucifraga caryocatactes – Common anywhere above km 47 especially around the Siaosuehshan Ranger Station.

Large-billed Crow – Corvus macrorhynchos – A couple heard at the around Tianchih Pond and another heard at km 47.

Pacific Swallow – Hirundo tahitica – A few in the lowlands around Dongshih.

Coal Tit – Periparus ater – Common above km 47, often in large flocks.

Green-backed Tit – Parus monticolus – A few found at elevation in mixed flocks with other tits and yuhinas.

Yellow Tit (Endemic) - Macholophus holsti – Only two seen in mixed flocks in the mid-levels.

Black-throated Tit - Aegithalos concinnus – A couple of flocks at middle elevations. Often mixed with yuhinas.

Eurasian Nuthatch - Sitta europaea – One seen with a mixed flock around km 30.

Brown Dipper - Cinclus pallasii – Two sets of two birds along the km 14 side road, including an adult and a begging immature.

Black Bulbul - Hypsipetes leucocephalus – A large flock seen at the forest headquarters near km 41.

Flamecrest (Endemic) - Regulus goodfellowi – Heard at the km 47 pheasant stake-out. They’re also supposed to be regular at the Siaosuehshan ranger Station, but we didn’t find them there.

Rufous-faced Warbler - Abroscopus albogularis – More often heard than seen, they’re a regular member of mid-elevation mixed flocks.

Taiwan Fulvetta (Endemic) - Fulvetta formosana – One seen in a mixed flock on the Siaosuehshan National Trail. Also heard at km 47.

Taiwan Yuhina (Endemic) - Yuhina brunneiceps – Abundant in large flocks at middle elevations.

Japanese White-eye - Zosterops japonicas – In flocks at lower elevations up to about km 15.

Gray-cheeked Fulvetta - Alcippe morrisonia – Just a couple along the km 14 side road. A common bird in lowland Taiwan.

Dusky Fulvetta - Schoeniparus brunnea – A few birds in a mixed flock along the km 15 side road near Yenhui’s friend’s house.

Rusty Laughingthrush - Garrulax poecilorhynchus – A small flock along the km 15 side road.

White-whiskered Laughingthrush (Endemic) - Garrulax morrisonianus – Abundant at km 47 and above. Noisy, conspicuous, and not afraid of people.

Steere's Liocichla (Endemic) - Liocichla steerii – Scattered sightings in the middle elevations

Taiwan Barwing (Endemic) - Actinodura morrisoniana – Four birds in a tree at a scenic lookout near the Siaosueyshan parking area.

Rufous-capped Babbler - Stachyridopsis ruficeps – Scattered sightings at the middle elevations, but more often heard in the mixed flocks.

Black-necklaced Scimitar-Babbler (Endemic) - Pomatorhinus erythrocnemis – A couple at the km 14 side road. The harder to see of the two scimitar-babblers

Taiwan Scimitar-Babbler (Endemic) - Pomatorhinus musicus – Several seen at the lower elevations. Often seen in mixed flocks with rufous-capped babblers. For a scimitar-babbler, they’re relatively easy to see.

Vivid Niltava - Niltava vivida – A pair seen in the tree at Yenhui’s friend’s house near km 15. As many as three males at the same time in a tree at km 23. This species seems to be a favorite photographer’s target, probably because of its bright colors.

Taiwan Whistling-Thrush (Endemic) - Myophonus insularis – One bird dropped in at the photo stake-out behind the entrance gate office.

White-tailed Robin - Cinclidium leucurum - A pair along the road at km 15 near Yenhui’s friend’s house. Probably another female at km 10, but we weren’t sure at the time.

Red-flanked Bluetail - Tarsiger cyanurus – Three different females seen: One at the Siaosyueshan Ranger Station, one at the forest office at km 41, and a third at the photo stake-out behind the entrance gate.

Collared Bush-Robin (Endemic) - Tarsiger johnstoniae – A female at km 47 and a very obliging male at the photo stake-out behind the entrance gate office.

Snowy-browed Flycatcher - Ficedula hyperythra – A lone male seen at a photo stake-out around km 20.

Plumbeous Redstart - Phoenicurus fuliginosus – Common at any stream crossing along the road at lower elevations.

Pale Thrush - Turdus pallidus – A few seen in the fruiting trees at Yenhui’s friend’s house near km 15.

Plain Flowerpecker - Dicaeum minullum – One was heard along Forest Trail #210, but it wouldn’t come out of the large clump of mistletoe it was hiding in.

Gray Wagtail - Motacilla cinerea – A common winter visitor in the lowlands.

Vinaceous (Taiwan) Rosefinch - Carpodacus vinaceus (formosanus) – A pair was seen above the Siaosyueshan ranger station at Tianchih Pond. The Taiwanese authorities and IOC have split this as a separate endemic species, but Clements hasn’t split it yet.

Gray-headed Bullfinch - Pyrrhula erythaca – Three birds feeding in a fruiting tree on the trail to Tianchih Pond above the Siaosyueshan Ranger Station. The Taiwanese subspecies is sometimes called Bevan’s Bullfinch.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow – Passer montanus – Common around human habitation in the lowlands.

White-rumped Munia - Lonchura striata – A small flock at the turn off onto the road at km 15.

Other common lowland birds seen during the work week after the weekend in the mountains were great and little egrets, red-collared and spotted doves, common moorhen, plain martin, striated swallow, javan myna, black drongo, and Eurasian tree sparrow.

Enjoyed reading that Jeff - well done with your TWT Sir !

Sounds like a great couple of days.

Reminds me of my trip there a couple of years back. Unlike you however I missed the Thrush, the SB Flycatcher and Ashy Woodpigeon calling or otherwise.

Thanks for sharing!

Nice one Jeff...had a week there in July...very impressed...

1. Gray Treepie
2. Snowy-browed Flycatcher
3. Taiwan Partridge
4. White-eared Sibia
5. Taiwan Yuhina

The first 2 are endemic subspecies, the last 3 are endemic species.

Two more endemics: Steere's liocichla and white-whiskered laughingthrush.

Sights:

And Scenery:

Jeff hopkins said:

Two more endemics: Steere's liocichla and white-eared laughingthrush.

Click to expand...

Same as White-whiskered Laughingthrush (Trochalopteron morrisonianum) I assume?

stonechat1 said:

Same as White-whiskered Laughingthrush (Trochalopteron morrisonianum) I assume?

Click to expand...

Oops. Corrected.

Great report Jeff....you found some of the more difficult birds!!!

Especially love the Partridge photo, now I need to go back to Dasyueshan

Cheers

Dave

Dave 2x said:

...now I need to go back to Dasyueshan

Click to expand...

So do I. :-O

Great Taiwan adventure Jeff. Nice scenary of Dayueshan.

on our list

So thanks for useful info.