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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tony.saw" data-source="post: 2453871" data-attributes="member: 3058">Day 1After some time in Sichuan, our friend Ian had to return to the UK, so my wife and I decided to head for Lijiang in Yunnan Province, China and see if we could find Biet’s Laughingthrush in the surrounding areas. We flew into Lijiang and were met by Jerry Zhao, a local English speaking guide, although a non-birder, and a driver. We headed to our hotel in the old town to relax and plan the next three days.We had heard that the laugher had been found in the nearby Muli County and had been told that it could be in the vicinity of Wei ping luo No.2 village, so after being picked up at 6:15 the next morning, we headed for the village. It was after about 40 minutes drive that we arrived in the centre of a small Chinese village. We had ignored the birds that we had seen – our focus was on the Laugher! What to do next however. Jerry got out to ask a local if he knew anything about the birds and, by chance, the second man he spoke to took us into his large garden. The obligatory large dog was, fortunately, chained up and just beyond it was two bird cages. We casually (!) strolled over, ignoring the dog which was going crazy, and peered in. Each cage held a Biet’s Laughingthrush! We enquired as to where he got them from and he explained that he had caught them in the nearby wooded hills. Excitement rose, then Jerry explained that the man claimed there were none left in the vicinity and we would have to go to the rhododendron reserve over the other side of the hills. No problem, apart from the state of some of the roads! We noticed that the birds were calling to each other, so recorded the calls on a Dictaphone. Couldn’t be better.We headed off towards the reserve, bumping up and down on the unmade roads. We stopped occasionally to play the calls, but got no response, and finally ended up at the reserve. We wandered off down one of the trails, listening for calls etc, but got nothing. There were a few other birds around, but no Biet’s. After a couple of hours we headed back to the ‘centre’ and spoke to the locals, playing them the calls. “Ah, you should have been here earlier! They were just behind the centre.”  By this time, it was 12:00 and getting hot so we decided to head back to Lijiang and resolved to head out earlier the next morning. We stopped at a small local restaurant on the way back for a meal and discovered a Biet’s Laugher in a cage. Again, we recorded some song – with the sound of our chicken being prepared for lunch in the background! The family had brought the bird because they liked its song. They offered it to us for 500 RMB (about £50). We turned down their offer – would it be ethical to buy and release it, then tick it as a wild bird! Jerry, meanwhile, had rung a friend at another nearby village. Yes, he knew of the bird and could even arrange someone to trap one for us. I don’t think his friend had quite grasped the idea of birdwatching!</blockquote>

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