My local patch is a temple with fairies- Huben, Taiwan. (1 Viewer)

That's a great link, Mark, and what a beautiful bird the Blue Magpie is. But it's much bigger than the Black Bulbul, why would they attack a pair? Maybe it's like the sort of behaviour where smaller birds attack a bird of prey/owl over here?

florall said:

Maybe it's like the sort of behaviour where smaller birds attack a bird of prey/owl over here?

Click to expand...

Hi Floral.Yes,exactly that kind of behaviour.The most aggresive smaller birds around here are the Bronzed Drongos.They are always after the Jungle Crows and Crested Serpent Eagles.

Pheasants???

Went birding at the Fairy Temple this morning with a good friend.We had a great sighting of a pair of Malayan Night Heron within minutes of starting our walk.We were after Fairies.For my friend,a sighting of a Pitta would be a lifer.After about 30 minutes of hard walking along muddy paths we climbed an embankment.We paused to take a breather.I was beginning to feel the pressure.I really wanted to find a Pitta for my friend but I hadn't even heard a call yet.We carried on and the path was leading up the side of a hill.I caught sight of a bird disappearing into the undergrowth up ahead.The size of the bird was right but that didn't mean it was a Fairy.I knew that the bend in the path about 20 metres away would give us a good view of the undergrowth.We stopped and waited.We saw nothing.We moved on a few metres to get a better view.As we looked down over the undergrowth a Pitta broke cover and flew off through the trees.We waited and within minutes we had several good sightings of a pair.I felt very good.

We then decided to take a steep path that lead up a smallish mountain to go and see some Tree-frogs .We got to where we wanted to go.While we had a breather we had a chat about some Bamboo Partridge I had seen in the area the week before.I was now getting very hot and the mosquitoes were buzzing around us in clouds.We decided to head home for breakfast.The path down was very slippery.We had seen our Pitta and I was concentrating on not falling.Ahead I noticed a movement.My view was obscured by leaves and it was quite dark in the forest.I lifted my bins and I could make out a grey silhouette of a bird.My first impression was Bamboo Partridge.The tail was kind of long for a Bamboo Partridge but I didn't really think about that.The bird looked up and it looked a little like a Malayan Night Heron for a moment but I knew it wasn't.A second bird came out of the undergrowth and walked across the path.I didn't get a good look at it but could see it was a game bird."Bamboo Partridge" I said not really thinking.Bamboo Partridge are common in the area and I was concentrating on my footing.The pair of birds had disappeared into the undergrowth.Suddenly my mind cleared."The Tail"I shouted!The tail was too long for a Bamboo Partridge."The size!"For a moment I had thought the bird was a Malayan Night Heron.There are a few Swinhoe's Pheasant in the mountains around the Temple.I have never seen them but I know that they are seen from time to time.In all probability a pair of female Swinhoe's Pheasant had walked in front of us and we hadn't even realised.

Amazing tales. Thank you for sharing Mark.

More like "amazing tails" in this case! Looking forward to the next adventure!

Two surprises.

Haven't spent too much time around the Fairy Temple of late.With trips to some of the Taiwan Strait islands,work and three typhoons in the last eight weeks it was great to spend the whole afternoon walking around the local patch.The Fairies have headed south for their wintering grounds in Borneo.The forest seems incomplete without their distinct double whistle.

I arrived in rather overcast weather and the sound of distant thunder echoing through the mountains confirmed that rain was on the way.There seemed to be a lot of small insects about and the Pacific Swallows were gorging themselves.I headed up a small track and Bronzed Drongos were buzzing between the bamboo.I had not been going long when I spotted a dull light brown bird amongst some fallen bamboo.I studied him for awhile and was a little puzzled as to what it was.Next,it flew out of the bamboo and landed on a bamboo stump.It could see it clearly,it was a Brown Shrike.It was a young male and the first I've seen this autumn of this common winter resident.I guess being this far inland he would be a winter resident and not just passing through.Each spring and autumn I always watch the "flocks"of Brown Shrike in the brush along the coast,as the create mayhem as they pass through the island on their way north or south.I was rather surprised seeing him there because one normally starts to see them in late September.

I continued back down the track and onto the main track.There was lots of activity in the trees and I saw a number of Grey-cheeked and Gould's Fulvetta mixing with White-bellied Yuhina,Japanese White-eye and Red-headed Tree Babbler.In this noisy mob I had my second surprise,an Arctic Warbler,again I wasn't expecting to see one for about a month.I carried on walking and saw a Grey-headed Pygmy Woodpecker,Black-naped Blue Monarch,Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler,Tawny-flanked Prinia,White-backed and Nutmeg Mannikin,Grey Treepie,Chinese Bulbul,Collared Finchbill,Black-browed Barbet and a Chinese Bamboo Partridge.As I headed back towards the Temple I noted a large shape in a tree on the opposite riverbank.When I glassed it,it turned out to be a Formosan Macaque.Nice to see one as they are not that common around the temple.As I approached my bike in the temple grounds I saw an Oriental Cuckoo.I guess that may well be the last one I'll see this season as they've probably started leaving already.As I got on my bike the rain started.It was kind of nice heading home in the rain after a rewarding afternoon.

Typhoons

Was able to spend some time around the temple on Thursday.With Typhoon Talim the previous week I wasn't able to go birding.Well,when I arrived at the temple I was in for a shock.The area had been subjected to the full wrath of Talim and the forest looked as if a thousand elephants had gone on the rampage through it.Shattered bamboo laying all over the place,trees blown over and a landslide.The birds seemed fine and it was easier to spot them in the new "birder friendly"canopy.I had some great views of a pair of Grey-chinned Minivets hawking insects.I saw a pair of Rufous-faced Warbler,a first for my local patch.With Typhoon Khanun possibly hitting us tonight,I wonder if there will still be a forest on Monday.

A County first!

Yesterday,I had the pleasure of spending the day birding with ornithologists Scott and Cynthia Lin.Both Scott and his wife Cynthia are ornithologists working for Taiwan's Endemic Species Research Institute.Scott's area of research being the Huben area and the Fairy Pitta.Cynthia's field is Passerines in Taiwan's river ecosystems.

After spending most of a hot and sweaty morning scrambling up creeks and providing the mosquitoes with their Saturday morning breakfast we were almost done and heading for the car and then tea and a meeting with a Japanese group at the Fairy Pitta Information Centre.

Earlier in the morning I had asked Scott about sightings of the Dollarbird in Taiwan.There are a hand full of sightings annually of this bird on the island.The Dollarbird was on my 'most wanted' list but I had kind of come to terms with the fact that I was going to have to go elsewhere in SE Asia to see one and have already booked a trip with it being one of my target birds.

A few hundred metres from the car,I looked up and there up ahead in a dead tree,was a Dollarbird.The first thought that came to mind was,"Mark,you've lost it!You've got the Black Drongos turning into Dollarbirds."I started to physically shake my head because I needed to clear it and that's when I saw Scott's face.A quick glance at Cynthia confirmed that they had indeed seen something.As I turned to look back towards the tree a second Dollarbird with the pale dollar patch on its primaries clearly visible flew past the first Dollarbird.

We all stared for a few moments before we looked at each other and said,"Dollarbird".

I had just got my Dollarbird and so had Huben and,as we learned a little later when we met up with the chairman of Yunlin Wild Bird Society and the Fairy Pitta conservation group from Japan who had come out to meet with Scott and learn about his Fairy Pitta conservation efforts,a first for Yunlin County,too.

Destruction

It's been quite sometime since I've posted anything about my local patch.In early November I arrived for a late Saturday afternoon stroll through the forest behind the temple.I parked my motorcycle and headed down the track that runs through the forest.One look at the track and something didn't look right.The track is usually full of dead leaves as hardly any vehicles use it.The track appeared clear of leaves and one could clearly see from the tire prints in the dirt that many vehicles had been using the track.

I thought it a little strange and carried on a short distance to where I followed a path leading up a hill.I walked along this path for about ten minutes and then turned around and walked back to the track.

As I continued further along the track I noticed that the vegetation along the edge of the track was dead and appeared to have been sprayed with some type of defoliant.I was rather angry at seeing this, considering the numbers of fulvetta,babblers and warblers that live in the tangle of creepers and vines along the edge of the track.The normally continuous calls of these dwellers of the undergrowth were hauntingly absent.

I rounded a bend and was greeted with total destruction.A large area of forest had been cleared.The banks of the stream had been flattened.Earth moving equipment was parked all over the place.I just stood there shocked.In the space of a week Hu-ben had changed forever.

What was really sad was that not too far away in Hushan(about 4km as the crow flies),work on the access roads for the Hushan Dam project had already started.Despite the efforts of so many organisations around the world to try and stop the planned building of the Hushan Dam right in the middle of this very important Pitta breeding area,the project is going ahead.With the dam's impact on the Hu-ben/Hushan area every bit of remaining forest stream is now vitally important if the Pitta is to continue breeding in the area.

Here in front of me was a stream's banks, that for time eternal had provided countless generations of Pitta with nesting sites, laying in ruins.For those BF members who have visited Hu-ben,it was probably along this very stream that you had your Pitta sightings.Strangely the only bird present was an escapee White-rumped Shama*.

I returned to my motorcycle shocked and upset.I was really upset on seeing the destruction going on in Hushan and then being faced with more devastation in Hu-ben ,it was too much.I haven't been to Hu-ben again until today.I rather listened to others reports of what was going on than seeing it for myself.

Today I returned and walked around.I had been told that work was complete,so I decided to go back and see what the Pitta have to live with.A compromise was reached on what work would be done.Thankfully it's only the one stream that has been affected.The area that had been cleared has become cultivated land.

The area was full of birds today.Mixed flocks of Grey-cheeked Fulvetta,Japanese White-eye,Black-naped Blue Monarch and Rufous-faced Warbler moved through the forest.Bronzed Drongo hawked insects from their perches in the canopy.The calls of the Bamboo Partridge echoed through the trees as the sun set.Let's hope that the Fairies can live with it when they return in April.

*Since my first White-rumped shama sighting several months back.It appears that there are three pairs in the Hu-ben forest.In late September we sighted a juvenile,so they may be breeding.

Devastating, Mark. :-C How sad for you to see -- and hear -- it in person.

Much as I love all the technological wonders that make my life easier, there are times, like this, when I absolutely abhor the word "progress."

Hi Mark,

As you know I hate wilderness anywhere being destroyed but to have to watch it happening must be devastating all those birds and animals of course homes gone I just hope the dam was really needed people don't realise how many roads, space is required for the work to be done. I hope they don't come back and spray the roadsides regularly with chemicals to stop it growing.

Thank goodness some birds have returned shows how adaptable they are only hope the more food specific, area specific shy ones come back too (sorry can't find the right words am just so upset at the post).

I hope the Fairies return with their young from last year. I have now added them to my calendar for end of March when hopefully our Ospreys return so if I don't hear from you the Fairies have returned I hope you don't mind I will PM you in April for an update.

I know we all need water to survive but so much of it is used by industrial concerns I hope the right environmental checks are in place to keep the water safe for birds and wildlife that depend on it too.

Ann :-C Sad

Hi Ann,

Sadly,I don't think the construction of the Hushan Dam is really in the best interests of anyone except those building it.The idea of making the dam is to supply water to an industrial park complex on the coast.The environmental impact studies that were done were pathetic.The earthquake issue wasn't even addressed nor were the Fairy Pitta and other protected species.The go ahead was given by officials who have shocking environmental records.Some have since been imprisoned for corruption with regards to an incinerator project,thanks to the gallant efforts of Legislator Yin Ling-ying.National government is no help because they are powerless with the current deadlock between the two major parties.

This is one of the last remaining areas of low altitude forest.Alternatives have been suggested,but have not even been looked at.There has been a lot of underhanded stuff going on.Birdlife and countless other organisations have tried to halt the project without success.

It just seems so tragic that while the area is being destroyed by the dam,that the few remaining areas are now also systematically being destroyed as well.

Here a few links to get the history of the Hushan/Hu-ben issue.

http://eec.kta.org.tw/water_html/hushan-english.htm
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2004/12/fairy_pitta_taiwan.html
http://www.wildatheart.org.tw/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=Hushan

Got it!

For some reason I felt lucky this morning and thought I'd better do some birding.I decided to spend the afternoon birding around Hu-ben.I got to Hu-ben at about 14:30 and decided to have tea at the little information centre before starting to bird.

After a cup of tea I headed to the Temple.I left my motorcycle there and went into the forest.First, I headed up the hill but didn't really see much except a large Formosan Macaque sitting on a branch over a stream.I then went back down and started birding along the main track.

I must have been going along the track for a minute or two before I came upon a mixed flock.The flock was large,at least 200 birds.About half were Grey-Cheeked Fulvetta and the remainder being Japanese White-eye, Black-naped Blue Monarch, White-rumped Munia, White-bellied Yuhina,Bronzed Drongo, Chinese Bulbul, Rufous-capped Babbler, a pair of Grey-Chinned Minivet ,and a lone Arctic Warbler.I watched the flock moving through the trees and bamboo for quite sometime.

I then moved along and saw Black Bulbul,Collared Finchbill,Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler and some Dusky Fulvetta.I stopped to look for some Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler because I thought I had heard them calling from the undergrowth.As I stood there I looked up into the canopy far above me.A movement caught my eye.As I focused my bins I started to shake I was so excited.We all have our bogey bird and I knew I was seeing mine.

For two years I've actively looked for this bird but no matter where I went or what I did I could never get one.Today I got it.A Maroon Oriole,race ardens.It was a male.I watched him high above me for about a full 5 minutes before he moved off.While watching it a pair of Grey-Chinned Minivet and a Black-browed Barbet moved in below the Oriole.What a beautiful scene.

I believe that there is a single pair of Maroon Oriole in the Hu-ben area.Because of the terrain they are very hard to get a look at.After two years I've finally seen the male.I've also travelled much of Taiwan looking for a view of a Maroon Oriole.Maroon Oriole are a rare resident an Taiwan.There are some areas where there are frequent sightings but the birds disappeared every time I showed up.Well today that has changed!

As the sun set I saw four Bronzed Drongo mobbing a Besra.A Malayan Night Heron watched me from the safety of a low branch.The calls of the Chinese Bamboo and Taiwan Hill Partridge were echoing hauntingly through the valley.What a day.

Hi Mark,

Sounds like a fabulous day out congratulations on seeing your bogey bird the Maroon Oriole they are beautiful, indeed by the names they all sound wonderful while I am sat in the freezer watching 3 Sparrows and 3 Collared Doves oh and must not forget the Wren.

None as colourful as yours I am afraid.

Ann :t: :clap:

Cheers Ann!
Wish our Wrens were so obliging.We've got to get into the high mountain forests to see ours.

Almost time.

The first of our Fairy Pitta are due back between the 17th and the 20th.There have been regular sightings of a pair of Maroon Oriole in the area.There have also been some sightings of Swinhoe's Pheasant.

Last Saturday a protest was held on the site of the proposed Hushan Dam and outside the National Yunlin University of Science and echnology to call attention to the impact the construction of the dam will have on the Fairy Pitta and a number of other endangered species in the Huben area.
A "Save the Fairy Pitta fair and concert" was also held to raise awareness.

They're back!

I heard from Fairy Pitta researcher, Scott Lin that he and his team had heard their first Pitta of the summer calling at Hu-ben on the night of the 17th.This afternoon I headed to Hu-ben to have a look round.

I parked at the temple and headed up the hill.There were a number of Bronzed Drongo and Grey-cheeked Fulvetta about.I also saw a male Black-naped Blue Monarch and some Chinese and Black Bulbul, but that was pretty much it on the hill.I walked back down and followed the track along the stream. A fair number of Bronzed Drongo, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Black-naped Blue Monarch, Chinese Bulbul, Black Bulbul, Japanese White-eye and Black-browed Barbet were about.

Towards five o' clock it became pretty overcast but no rain.I headed along the edge of the stream and observed a Grey wagtail up ahead for awhile.As I moved ahead quietly I saw some small birds splashing in a pool and then shooting off into the undergrowth.I approached quietly and was able to watch the delightful scene of a number of Dusky Fulvetta and Rufous-capped Babbler shooting out of the undergrowth, having a quick splash and then disappearing back into the undergrowth only to reemerge a moment later in some bamboo where they happily preened themselves.

As I watched this happy little gathering, the unmistakable call of a male Fairy Pitta echoed through the valley.I moved along quietly in the direction of the call.A few moments later the Pitta flew across the stream and disappeared into the thick bamboo and undergrowth on the opposite bank.

I sat quietly and waited.Shortly the call started again.Not long after that another call could be heard not too far off.I waited for some time before moving off.I didn't get another view of the Pitta, but was happy to have at least caught sight of one so early in the season.

As I moved off, I saw a large bird disappear into a clump of trees up ahead.As I approached the area where I saw the bird enter the trees, I had a wonderful view of a Malayan Night Heron standing motionless under a tree.A moment later there was a commotion above as a troop of Formosan Macaque, obviously startled by my presence, rushed off through the treetops.

By now it had started to clear,so I carried on and had good views of some Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, Rufous-faced Warbler and Bamboo Partridge.As I walked back to the temple the sun was setting over the forest and hills.I flushed a pair of Bamboo Partridge which gave me a bit of a fright.It was dark when I arrived at the temple and the call of a Mountain Scops Owl started as I reached my scooter.

I don't think I could have asked for a beter start to the Pitta season.

Hi Mark,

I am glad to hear the Fairies are back and hope they have a good breeding season, good luck with the dam protest.

What a fabulous list of birds all so exotic compared to Blackbirds, Woodpigeons and Collared Doves oh and the "little brown jobs" that are usually Sparrows or Dunnocks in my case and yes I can tell them apart.

I look forward to reading your reports, I wish more people from other countries would post theirs too. We have a world full of birds but mostly read about the English ones.

Please keep them coming I can read about the birds from the comfort of my own chair, if I go looking they disappear and also know I am not causing more damage to the environment by using a plane to get there.

I look forward to hearing how the Fairies are doing.

Ann :bounce: :t: :flyaway:

Pitta rescued

Last Thursday a Fairy Pitta was found caught in netting on a poultry farm in Meishan.Luckily, the farmer knew what the Fairy Pitta was and rescued it.He rushed the Pitta to veterinarian Chen Jin-fa, the Yunlin Wild Bird Society's rehab specialist.The Pitta was found to be in uninjured and in good health despite it's ordeal.The Pitta has since been released at Huben.Attached is a photo of veterinarian Chen Jin-fa examining the rescued Pitta.

Large Hawk Cuckoo

Been reports of at least two Large Hawk Cuckoo in Huben the last few days.I'll be looking for them over the weekend.These are the first ever reports of Large Hawk Cuckoo in the Huben area.Large Hawk Cuckoo are usually found in our mountain forests above 1000m in summer.