Just a short write-up on what was billed as a nice 8 nights break for my wife and I (16-24th October 2014) with hopes of some landscape photography and maybe 2-3 early morning walks for me to sate my bird-lust. I'd had a hard time finding anything on birding in this area - which as a very popular tourist destination, due to the spectacular Karst mountains that line the two rivers here, the Li and the Yulong .. and in fact these little Karst mountains (the highest is ca. 2,000m) cover an area of hundreds of square kms (there are more than 70,000 of them), probably has a very high number of birders passing through - even if it's not their primary reason for being there.
We flew (40 mins late taking off as per) down in the morning from Shanghai to Guilin and immediately grabbed a taxi (RMB250) to take us the ca. 75 mins drive to Yangshuo (I've done the Li Jiang ferries twice before so was happy to skip it this time).
We had booked into a little boutique hotel, the Li River Retreat (recommended if you are OK with the 30mins walk into town), just outside Yangshuo (ca. 2 kms). Although very tough for taxis to find, the hotel was nice, OK food and good rooms, and with good views of the mountains for which Yangshuo is famous (though the scenery a little further up the river, at YingPing and especially Yangdi, is far better in actual fact).
At a late breakfast one morning, right overhead .. and seen within not more than 2 mins of each other ... were an immature Pied Harrier and a Grey-faced Buzzard, both Lifers for me :t:
I saw quite a few (<20) Collared Crows by the river during these 8 days so if here look out for them when on the boat trips.
Most of our time was spent walking around the area, both into the town for meals (lunch and/or dinner) and to investigate the town itself. This town is very touristy and offers German, British, Italian etc. cuisine .. all run by their own nationals.
After Yangshuo we moved up river to XingPing for a night (for the mountains, river and cormorant fishing). The scenery from XingPing to Yangdi (on a motorised punt that takes around 90 mins) is spectacular. Try to time your trip up-river for late-afternoon and you'll have the sun behind you.
Upon arriving in Yangdi our hired car/driver were waiting for us and we drove about an hour to The Giggling Tree guesthouse (recommended) about 5kms outside Yangshuo close by the Yulong River. The countryside here is much nicer than in Yangshuo itself. Very unfortunately my wife's sciatica had started to play up with a vengeance and so while she spent the last 2 days here stretched out on the bed I hired a cycle each morning and went downstream checking every bush and tree along the way.
Bulbuls don't usually excite me but a Sooty-headed Bulbul and a Brown-breasted Bulbul were both exciting discoveries for me here. There were also 3 types of Prinia (inc. Rufescent) and flocks of Black-throated Tits and Vinous Throated Parrotbills were seen on both mornings whilst warblers both leaf and bush kept me busy trying to figure them out !
We spent the last day in Guilin at the Grand Bravo hotel (extremely ornate but excellent - 5 star quality at a decent price, the restaurant has 5 star prices though) but I didn't investigate the parks and otherwise nothing of note worth mentioning.
Pheasants and allies (Phasianidae)
Chinese Bamboo Partridge Bambusicola thoracicus
Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
Grebes (Podicipedidae)
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
Herons, Bitterns (Ardeidae)
Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Kites, Hawks and Eagles (Accipitridae)
Greater Spotted Eagle Clanga clanga
Pied Harrier Circus melanoleucos (immature male)
Crested Goshawk
Pigeons, Doves (Columbidae)
Spotted Dove Spilopelia chinensis
Cuckoos (Cuculidae)
Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis
Shrikes (Laniidae)
Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach
Crows, Jays (Corvidae)
Red-billed Blue Magpie Urocissa erythroryncha
Eurasian Magpie Pica pica
Collared Crow Corvus torquatus
Tits, Chickadees (Paridae)
Great Tit Parus major
Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae)
Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus
Brown-breasted Bulbul Pycnonotus xanthorrhous
Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis
Sooty-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus aurigaster
Bushtits (Aegithalidae)
Black-throated Bushtit Aegithalos concinnus
Leaf Warblers and allies (Phylloscopidae)
Dusky Warbler Phylloscopus fuscatus
Radde's Warbler Phylloscopus schwarzi
Warbler TBC
Cisticolas and allies (Cisticolidae)
Black-throated Prinia Prinia atrogularis
Rufescent Prinia Prinia rufescens
Plain Prinia Prinia inornata
Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius
Babblers (Timaliidae)
Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus ruficollis
Rufous-capped Babbler Stachyridopsis ruficeps
Fulvettas, Ground Babblers (Pellorneidae)
Grey-cheeked Fulvetta Alcippe morrisonia (note this is hueti)
Sylviid Babblers (Sylviidae)
Vinous-throated Parrotbill Sinosuthora webbiana
White-eyes (Zosteropidae)
Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus
Starlings, Rhabdornis (Sturnidae)
Crested Myna Acridotheres cristatellus
Thrushes (Turdidae)
Common Blackbird Turdus merula
Chats, Old World Flycatchers (320) (Muscicapidae)
Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis
Blue Whistling Thrush Myophonus caeruleus
Plumbeous Water Redstart Phoenicurus fuliginosus
Stejneger's Stonechat Saxicola stejnegeri
Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches (Passeridae)
Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
Waxbills, Munias and allies (Estrildidae)
White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata
Wagtails, Pipits (Motacillidae)
White Wagtail Motacilla alba
Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni
Finches (Fringillidae)
Grey-capped Greenfinch Chloris sinica
Species: 43
IOC World Bird List 4.3 (August 2014)
#3 pic below is mislabeled as Grey-faced Buzzard when it should be Crested Goshawk.
We flew (40 mins late taking off as per) down in the morning from Shanghai to Guilin and immediately grabbed a taxi (RMB250) to take us the ca. 75 mins drive to Yangshuo (I've done the Li Jiang ferries twice before so was happy to skip it this time).
We had booked into a little boutique hotel, the Li River Retreat (recommended if you are OK with the 30mins walk into town), just outside Yangshuo (ca. 2 kms). Although very tough for taxis to find, the hotel was nice, OK food and good rooms, and with good views of the mountains for which Yangshuo is famous (though the scenery a little further up the river, at YingPing and especially Yangdi, is far better in actual fact).
At a late breakfast one morning, right overhead .. and seen within not more than 2 mins of each other ... were an immature Pied Harrier and a Grey-faced Buzzard, both Lifers for me :t:
I saw quite a few (<20) Collared Crows by the river during these 8 days so if here look out for them when on the boat trips.
Most of our time was spent walking around the area, both into the town for meals (lunch and/or dinner) and to investigate the town itself. This town is very touristy and offers German, British, Italian etc. cuisine .. all run by their own nationals.
After Yangshuo we moved up river to XingPing for a night (for the mountains, river and cormorant fishing). The scenery from XingPing to Yangdi (on a motorised punt that takes around 90 mins) is spectacular. Try to time your trip up-river for late-afternoon and you'll have the sun behind you.
Upon arriving in Yangdi our hired car/driver were waiting for us and we drove about an hour to The Giggling Tree guesthouse (recommended) about 5kms outside Yangshuo close by the Yulong River. The countryside here is much nicer than in Yangshuo itself. Very unfortunately my wife's sciatica had started to play up with a vengeance and so while she spent the last 2 days here stretched out on the bed I hired a cycle each morning and went downstream checking every bush and tree along the way.
Bulbuls don't usually excite me but a Sooty-headed Bulbul and a Brown-breasted Bulbul were both exciting discoveries for me here. There were also 3 types of Prinia (inc. Rufescent) and flocks of Black-throated Tits and Vinous Throated Parrotbills were seen on both mornings whilst warblers both leaf and bush kept me busy trying to figure them out !
We spent the last day in Guilin at the Grand Bravo hotel (extremely ornate but excellent - 5 star quality at a decent price, the restaurant has 5 star prices though) but I didn't investigate the parks and otherwise nothing of note worth mentioning.
Pheasants and allies (Phasianidae)
Chinese Bamboo Partridge Bambusicola thoracicus
Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
Grebes (Podicipedidae)
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
Herons, Bitterns (Ardeidae)
Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Kites, Hawks and Eagles (Accipitridae)
Greater Spotted Eagle Clanga clanga
Pied Harrier Circus melanoleucos (immature male)
Crested Goshawk
Pigeons, Doves (Columbidae)
Spotted Dove Spilopelia chinensis
Cuckoos (Cuculidae)
Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis
Shrikes (Laniidae)
Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach
Crows, Jays (Corvidae)
Red-billed Blue Magpie Urocissa erythroryncha
Eurasian Magpie Pica pica
Collared Crow Corvus torquatus
Tits, Chickadees (Paridae)
Great Tit Parus major
Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae)
Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus
Brown-breasted Bulbul Pycnonotus xanthorrhous
Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis
Sooty-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus aurigaster
Bushtits (Aegithalidae)
Black-throated Bushtit Aegithalos concinnus
Leaf Warblers and allies (Phylloscopidae)
Dusky Warbler Phylloscopus fuscatus
Radde's Warbler Phylloscopus schwarzi
Warbler TBC
Cisticolas and allies (Cisticolidae)
Black-throated Prinia Prinia atrogularis
Rufescent Prinia Prinia rufescens
Plain Prinia Prinia inornata
Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius
Babblers (Timaliidae)
Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus ruficollis
Rufous-capped Babbler Stachyridopsis ruficeps
Fulvettas, Ground Babblers (Pellorneidae)
Grey-cheeked Fulvetta Alcippe morrisonia (note this is hueti)
Sylviid Babblers (Sylviidae)
Vinous-throated Parrotbill Sinosuthora webbiana
White-eyes (Zosteropidae)
Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus
Starlings, Rhabdornis (Sturnidae)
Crested Myna Acridotheres cristatellus
Thrushes (Turdidae)
Common Blackbird Turdus merula
Chats, Old World Flycatchers (320) (Muscicapidae)
Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis
Blue Whistling Thrush Myophonus caeruleus
Plumbeous Water Redstart Phoenicurus fuliginosus
Stejneger's Stonechat Saxicola stejnegeri
Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches (Passeridae)
Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
Waxbills, Munias and allies (Estrildidae)
White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata
Wagtails, Pipits (Motacillidae)
White Wagtail Motacilla alba
Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni
Finches (Fringillidae)
Grey-capped Greenfinch Chloris sinica
Species: 43
IOC World Bird List 4.3 (August 2014)
#3 pic below is mislabeled as Grey-faced Buzzard when it should be Crested Goshawk.
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