Just home late yesterday from the last trip - now 5, hopefully relaxing, days at home and back out on the road. We finished up in Xian. As ever the Crested Ibis is a cinch - no need for Yangxian, you can even get it from the G5 motorway.
As for the other 'holy-grail' on this route There are sites in the Sichuan/Shaanxi border area that combine easy access, a simple "buy a ticket at the gate" type entrance and plenty of bamboo that should provide suitable habitat. We only had a couple of hours search but were finding quality birds like Sooty Tit, Spectacled Parrotbill and Emei Leaf Warbler - more concentrated searches will find more.
Interesting discussion on the state play of Sichuan birding sites. I would love it that hands were kept well away from sites like Longcanggou, Emei, Wawu and Labahe - but, like James, accept that, in a so-called modern China, development is an expected eventuality. What riles me is that conservation areas have been demoted in status to tourist development zones - that allows the building of horrors like ski-slopes - which, when areas of prime hillside bamboo are cleared, are far more damaging than most road building. But again like James has said - such lot of habitat in these areas that the the major damage is to our ability to easily access birding spots - rather than a huge destruction of prime habitat. There's still a lot of great birding between the roads of Sichuan - getting to it is often the real challenge.
I'm actually far more concerned at what's happening to the grassland habitats - at sites like Litang and Daocheng. Here modern China - in the form of economic development and the the new grassland gold of the caterpillar fungus - has generated a situation where herders now have the money to amass huge herds of domestic animals. Everybody can see how the overgrazing is not sustainable on the wild pasture - fencing, fertilizer and reseeding are already part of the scene on sites that were untouched only 3 or 4 years back.
For a few pics from the Litang area go back to around post 305.
The big worry for Sichuan basin birding sites are the new political incentives that allow farmers to rent off their land to commercial concerns that want to plant large areas of plantation, medicine plants or orchard. The outcome of this process is that marginal farming areas that, for many years, have been given up to secondary growth - much of it bird rich - are now in danger of being cleared, in name of reforestation, and replanted with a highly managed, bird unattractive, non-native monocrop.
The last thing I'll write about is Muli - anybody visiting has to realize that they're going into an area that could be the last hold out of an almost extinct bird. If you do manage to find out where the site is - look briefly, disturb as little as possible. Your most important pictures would be the state of the habitat, which was under pressure from domestics - shots that hopefully could be used to influence those who are supposed to protect this area
best of luck
Sid
