• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Sichuan Birding (3 Viewers)

Coturnix japonica

I will not quail at the ID and proffer, gamely, that your bird would feel more at home in Tokyo than London.

Having said that, I've never seen one of either species so well.

Fabulous shot.
 
There has been horrible damage out here due to mudslides that were triggered by the heavy summer rains. The path up to Wuyipeng has been badly affected - you can now only get 3/4 up the ridge before you hit a mudslide that has taken out the path. Any further ascent becomes a bit of a mountaineering project - I hope the path gets repaired before next season!!!!!

The road to Wolong and Balang Shan is supposed to partly be under tunnel by end of the year(?). But, whether or not they are interested in maintaining the Wuyi Peng trail?

These quails really are birds of good luck. I mean you probably won't find them, if you are looking for them in particular. You rather run into them accidentally while driving: But then, you just can see them struggling away from the road hecticly. Great picture Meggie! Requires a fast hand on the shutter!
I had one on the road Jiulong-Xinduqiao this autumn, too, but of course was much too slow.

Another bird I was surprised to find on an ancient watch tower was a Wallcreeper - seems to be good habitat these clusters of old buildings (older than 1000 years).

The next image is a Daurian Jackdaw. Quite distinctive from the Collared Crow: The white parts stretch all over the belly down to the bottom, additionally the white on the nape seems to be much more extensive.

I also was wondering why there where so many Black-faced Laughers this year. If there is a rustling in the bushes, I usually expect Elliot's. But this autumn/summer it almost was the other way around: Black-faced - usually quite shy - showed up everywhere this time: Erlang Pass (both sides), Moxi, Xinduqiao, Danba...
Could it be that Elliot's decided to use make-up from now on???

Another, probably very subjective discovery this year: While I was missing a lot of birds such as parrotbills, flycatchers, waders or snowfinches, I stumbled into Tib. Partidges, Pere David's Tit or Rubythroat in almost every potential habitat.
 

Attachments

  • wallcreeper.jpg
    wallcreeper.jpg
    129.6 KB · Views: 81
  • watchtower.jpg
    watchtower.jpg
    137.2 KB · Views: 89
  • Daurin Jackdaw.jpg
    Daurin Jackdaw.jpg
    131.9 KB · Views: 81
Last edited:
We've just come back from another trip to Wolong/Balang - this time with Duncan and Pieter from Wildsounds. And what a great trip! Lots of good birds, some Blue Sheep - but the star of show - roadside Monals.
I've never seen this brilliant Chicken so close - and judging from the reaction of the wildsounders this tick ranked right up there with some of their best birding experiences.
As ever up on Balang 99% of Monal viewing involves getting to the right place at the right time in clear, mist-free, conditions. We had already had one morning's Monal watch ruined by zero visibility mists and low cloud over Wolong made us think that morning two would also be a cloud-out. However the weather gods must have had a call from the birding-gods and just a km or so before Monal stakeout the mist cleared to expose a very frosty - and fantastically picturesque - Balang morning. We heard Koklass Pheasant and Rufous-throated Partridge and then got the usual scope views of Chinese Monal up on the high ridge. Then two male Monals launched themselves off the high ground, glided over our heads, and amazingly descended in a direction that followed the road round a blind corner. Now a race was on to quickly get into the van and hope our quarry was somewhere within easy view. We lucked in - the birds were actually on the roadside. And although our close views were only in the two-minute class - Pieter was able to get some great shots.

Here are some pics from yesterday morning -

The first is when we realized the Monals were on the road - we had been sure they had landed on the hillside so excitement levels really started to peak at this moment!!!!!!

The second is an illustration of how close we could approach our birds by stalking them in the van. In situations like this its always difficult for me to know how close I should drive - but we got it just about right with the birds remaining pretty placid to our approach.

The other two pics show the wonderful scenery at this birding location - that winter landscape is taken around 7.30 at the stakeout - and the second shows how some more driving up towards the top of the pass brings you over the cloud into a burning alpine sun.

Thanks to Duncan Macdonald and Pieter Wessels at Wildsounds for letting us use their Monal pictures.
 

Attachments

  • road monal 700.jpg
    road monal 700.jpg
    149.4 KB · Views: 126
  • Chinese Monal.jpg
    Chinese Monal.jpg
    150.2 KB · Views: 139
  • scene.jpg
    scene.jpg
    105.5 KB · Views: 120
  • scene top.jpg
    scene top.jpg
    92.6 KB · Views: 117
Last edited:
Yep, that's the right word Mike..... Gonna have to suffer plenty of stories from the pair when I next see them, gripped....thoroughly!
 
The wildsounders are now Pandering at Foping - I'm picking them up on their return to go after Red Panda at Wawu. If they get their Giant in Shaanxi then I'm sure I'll also have to put up with some high intensity ribbing!!!!!! Mind you the horror scenario could be that one gets and the other doesn't - if that happens, then it's best to hide somewhere secluded. Maybe we could buy one of those tickets on them new outer space holidays?

That last trip of course wasn't just Monal - here's some of Meggie's pics of other birds that were about.

1 the sinister White-browed Tit Warbler with the evil red-eye!!!!!

2 Close up of Alpine Accentor - loads of these about as ever.

3 Monk, Black or Cinereous - chose a name for this Vulture!!!!

4 Although taken a couple of days before D and P turned up - we also got a male Guldenstadt's during their trip - on a day where the sun was equally viscous!!!!
 

Attachments

  • Tit warbler 700.jpg
    Tit warbler 700.jpg
    116.8 KB · Views: 98
  • accentor 700.jpg
    accentor 700.jpg
    143 KB · Views: 95
  • Black vulture.jpg
    Black vulture.jpg
    53.4 KB · Views: 88
  • Guldenstadt;s Redstart.jpg
    Guldenstadt;s Redstart.jpg
    178.8 KB · Views: 99
Last edited:
Mind you the horror scenario could be that one gets and the other doesn't - if that happens, then it's best to hide somewhere secluded. Maybe we could buy one of those tickets on them new outer space holidays?

Think I'd leave the country LOL... I will have a word with the boss about space flights ;)

Great pics as usual!
 
That happened to me with Brown-eared Pheasant in Shaanxi a few years ago - one very unhappy camper. As I missed it too, he couldn't be too upset with me!

Cheers
Mike
 
This May I was the only person in a group of 8 - to see a Monal. The others were watching further down the road when I got a distant scope view of a bird just coming over a ridge. Needless to say it had disappeared by the time everyone came to get a look - but my brief sighting inspired two very fit Belgian birders to climb up that steep slope to try and search out our fabulous Chicken. Knowing how tough that climb is, and how elusive our gamebirds can be in human company, I felt a tad guilty over setting the project in motion. I felt even guiltier that evening when a couple of very tired Belgians - who. I was now pretty sure, only half believed me over my sighting - reported that the only thing of special note on their Monal quest - were a pair of randy Hog Badgers making high altitude love!!!!! Talk about feeling like a stringer :(


Anyways more pics from the Wolong/Balang area, from a 3 day trip we've just come home from.-

1 - how to beat the winter road-block. They will soon start to close the Balang road overnight - only opening at 8.30. That doesn't help Monal watching, since the magic Chicken hours is from 7 to 8. To counter this we can sleep in our van - on the road beyond the block. The pic - from a couple of days back - shows how we can fold the seats into a pretty comfortable bed - and then keep a little warmer by using a car-cover. It snowed the first 2 days of the trip - so although that block is not officially in place - we still decided not to risk the road suddenly being closed and slept at the bottom of the pass.

2- Best pic got of Monal on this last trip - however we heard others in a couple of areas.

3 - other Chickens were active - Koklass were heard but this time from lower areas. But Chestnut-throated Partridge were about. Here are a couple of birds looking pretty snug in the snow.

4 and 5 - lots of good pics from this last trip. Here's a species that's often seen/heard at the Chicken stake out - White-winged Grosbeak. Pictures of male and female - both have been gorging on some seed/fruit.
 

Attachments

  • bird mobile.jpg
    bird mobile.jpg
    136.9 KB · Views: 107
  • meggie monal.jpg
    meggie monal.jpg
    215.1 KB · Views: 113
  • Chestnut-throated partridge 1 800.jpg
    Chestnut-throated partridge 1 800.jpg
    153.9 KB · Views: 114
  • White-winged Grosbeak 700.jpg
    White-winged Grosbeak 700.jpg
    74.7 KB · Views: 84
  • White-winged Grosbeak fem 700.jpg
    White-winged Grosbeak fem 700.jpg
    145.9 KB · Views: 91
Some more pics from last week -

1 - even though most visiting birders focus their Wolong birding on the Wuyipeng and the Balang pass, there are other stunning pieces of habitat within the area. This is a valley that had an easily walked path - where areas of mud and sand showed lots of animal tracks that belonged to Deer, Goral and Serow. Mixed flocks with Tits, Green-backed Shrike Babbler, White-browed, Grey-hooded and Chinese Fulvetta, Pallas's, Yellow-browed and Chinese Leaf Warbler, Black-faced, Giant and Barred Laughingthrush, Crimson-breasted Woody, Orange-flanked Bush Robin, Sichuan Treecreeper, Red-billed Blue Magpies, Nutcracker and overhead Golden Eagles, Himalayan Griffon, and Bearded Vulture (suppose I should also adopt this PC name for this bird).

2 - a sad picture - a young Golden Snub-nosed Monkey - presumably drowned in the fast flowing water. Evidence that this rare monkey is found in this valley.

3 - Barred Laugher - a bird that enjoys thick bamboo around the 3000m mark.

4 - Presumably a Yellow-bellied Bush Warbler. ID'ing these birds from Brownish-flanked - when they're singing - is a bit of a cinch, but silent, skulking birds during the winter............!!!!
During the breeding season Yellow-bellied are found at higher elevations with lots of bamboo - such as this valley location - and should show warmer colors to the underparts.

5 - Lots of Blue-fronted Redstarts in the lower reaches of Wolong. These birds come down when it snows to find milder winter habitat.
 

Attachments

  • view 9.jpg
    view 9.jpg
    133 KB · Views: 87
  • golden snub-nosed monkey 700.jpg
    golden snub-nosed monkey 700.jpg
    153.5 KB · Views: 146
  • Barred laughingthrush 700.jpg
    Barred laughingthrush 700.jpg
    82.7 KB · Views: 85
  • yellow-bellied Bush Warbler.jpg
    yellow-bellied Bush Warbler.jpg
    99.5 KB · Views: 96
  • Blue-fronted Redstart 700.jpg
    Blue-fronted Redstart 700.jpg
    113.6 KB · Views: 88
We're just back from the second part of our trip with Duncan and Pieter from Wildsounds - this time together with Nigel Goodgame (this guy goes into a gyrating dance every time he gets a lifer),
Anyways they had just come back from a Giant Panda trip - where after crawling and clamoring up the steep sided bamboo mountains of Foping, Shaanxi, they'd all seen their Bear - so now we were after the main target in Sichuan - Red Panda.

Wawu Mountain is about the easiest site for Red Pandas around here - its already shown for us with three earlier groups. – but the weather, namely the infamous Wawu mists, can make this a difficult location.
Our project got under way with a clear morning and on day one a Red Panda was spotted – but frustratingly only by Meggie!!!!!!!
We now had an area where we knew where a Panda was present – but there was a touch of nervous tension in the air – since staking out the area after the initial sighting gave nothing and by mid-afternoon a mist had fallen making further watching impossible.
Next morning – we woke, after a night that had seen some very heavy rain, highly relieved by the sight of clear skies. We watched the area of Meggie’s sighting, and around 9 am the Panda politely came into view to give, for around 10 minutes, an uninterrupted look at this stunning animal. It was seen in a small tree, into which it had probably climbed with the intention of warming up. When first viewed the Panda had ice on one of its ears - but that soon melted away as it thawed out in the rising morning sun.

Soon after Nigel found two more Pandas – which seemed to include a juv. Needless to say this brought on yet another dance!!!!!!

Other good stuff for our visitors were the Lady A’s and the Temminck’s Tragopan seen during “chicken-run” on the park access road. But here we also had a few nervous tinges – since Lady A, surprisingly almost all male, were numerous, while after about 6 runs there wasn’t a Tragopan in sight. Luckily this changed on the very last run. Done in a light mist and drizzly rain - weather conditions that often induce chickens to abandon the wet forest floor for the firmer feel of a road and roadside blocks – we suddenly bumped into 6 Tragopan, including one fine male which gave us some prolonged views. 10 minutes later the mist closed in – we were very lucky!!!!!

Lots of Grey-hooded Parrotbill on this trip and Golden Parrotbilll showed very nicely. We also got Chinese Tawny Owl, a flock of around 100 Tibetan Siskin and, at the mid and lower levels, a few calling Scaly-breasted Wren Babbler (together with Pygmy) – on the animal front, with a couple of night trips we got Chinese Flying Squirrel.

Pics are of –
1-That first – Meggie only - Panda

2-Lady A as you usually see them – a fine male scuttles into the scrub

3-Chicken watching weather – a wet road and a Tragopan. I took this through the windscreen and enhanced the bird in Photoshop – but conditions were starting to get misty.

4-Grey-hooded Parrotbill – very easy on this trip.

5-Golden Parrotbill – the prototype of a cartoon bird
 

Attachments

  • red panda.jpg
    red panda.jpg
    215.2 KB · Views: 109
  • lady A 700.jpg
    lady A 700.jpg
    98.4 KB · Views: 108
  • Tragopan.jpg
    Tragopan.jpg
    95.1 KB · Views: 128
  • Grey hooded parrotbill 700.jpg
    Grey hooded parrotbill 700.jpg
    88.8 KB · Views: 102
  • Golden Parrotbill 700.jpg
    Golden Parrotbill 700.jpg
    91.8 KB · Views: 119
Last edited:
Some quality birds here - and Red Panda on demand is hugely impressive.

Do you see Chinese Tawny Owl regularly?

Cheers
Mike
 
Those Pandas aren't too difficult to find at Wawu - here's pics of the second day's Pandas - the first pic of number 1 Panda thawing out in the sun - and the second one of that Panda pair. This is the first time we've seen two Pandas together.

We saw the Chinese Tawny Owl twice on this trip - first after being heard at the very start of dawn just behind the top-hotel. I called that one in with a MP3 - which produced a couple of overflights.
The second was found sitting on top of a dead tree using lights during a nighttime mammal run on the mid level access road. Duncan got some nice pics of that bird - I'll have to get copies of those.
We got another Owl species - a daylight bird - it flew high over us during mid evening.
To me the bird immediately suggested Short-eared - but we've also seen Long-eared on the top of Wawu so that is another possibility. The way it flew looked large raptor - Buzzard like, as in the description of Ural Owl flight - so Sichuan Wood Owl could also be a possible species contender.
I've put up three enhanced images of our bird - from Pieter's photo. To me these look like pushing the Owl towards Short-eared - Mark, Mike, Tom, John, Roland or anybody else - what do you make of them??????
 

Attachments

  • red panda 1 s 500.jpg
    red panda 1 s 500.jpg
    93.7 KB · Views: 106
  • panda pair.jpg
    panda pair.jpg
    88.7 KB · Views: 124
  • owl.jpg
    owl.jpg
    60.8 KB · Views: 114
  • owl 1.jpg
    owl 1.jpg
    56.9 KB · Views: 92
  • owl 2.jpg
    owl 2.jpg
    56.3 KB · Views: 110
Last edited:
What a magnificent beast that Panda is, gripped.

I think its a Short-eared Sid, you can see a white trailing edge to the secondaries and everything else fits.
 
These Panda pix are amazing - and cute enough that I might even be able to entice my wife to Wawu, although I think Balang Shan for Monals in the snow might be a slightly harder sell!

It's been a while since I've seen a Short-eared Owl, but the jizz looks properly long-winged. I 've never been to Wawu - What was the habitat like where you saw the owl?

Cheers
Mike
 
Years back I used to live on the west coast of Denmark - just 5km from the German Border - on reclaimed polderland. Occasionally during spring and autumn I could get 360 degrees of Short-eared owls - that is - I could stand on a spot and slowly rotate in a circle and in every direction there would be a migrating Owl hunting over the flat farmland.
Not that kind of habitat at Wawu - this bird was flying high, seen from the mid level just bellow the cable car station, and flew into the far yonder - struck me as a bird in passage flight rather than a hunting bird.
Short-eared are daytime fliers and I suppose they will turn up over passage sites like other BOP's - flying fairly high - like migrating Harriers. I also think everything indicates Short-eared.

Hey Irrobbizl - the wildsound guys got Sichuan Treecreeper at Foping.
And a question - how many species of Flying Squirrel are there at Wawu??????????


Hey Mike - you guys make sure to tell us when you're heading down this way so we can hopefully join you on your trip. PS - don't let onto your wife that Panda spotting can involve some standing around - but then again we can always fix up a stuffed toy panda in a distant tree (with a piece string to produce a little movement) to make any boring wait periods a little more interesting.

Pics of the toes of one of the last Parrotbills the wildsounds guys needed from their Sichuan trip - they'd already got Ashy-throated, Vinous-throated, Spectacled (Foping), Great, Three-toed, Fulvous, Grey-hooded, Grey-headed, Golden - so this bit of toe counting gave them a 101% cert Brown - which looks very similar to Three-toed.
After that tick I suppose we should have rushed south for Brown-winged and then up to Tangjiahe for the legendary - Przewalski's Parrotbill - ohh and we missed Spot-breasted, but they already had that from Thailand.

And a real monster - from earlier mammal reports and a helping hand from Smith and Xie's Guide to Mammals of China - we'll plump for Lesser Striped Shrew (Sorex bedfordiae) - but if anybody knows better, please correct us.
 

Attachments

  • Brown Parrotbill.jpg
    Brown Parrotbill.jpg
    65.2 KB · Views: 100
  • shrew.jpg
    shrew.jpg
    210.6 KB · Views: 115
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top