Away from birding, I'm going to upload the pictures from the trip in Taiwan.
Sorry, they'll be a bit random.
river in Guguan
The car park at the end of the mountain road is at 2560m above sea level and a good place to see high mountain birds,
And yet, we found a Mikado pheasant (mikado-kijiミカドキジ) foraging quietly under the trees just behind the sign.
After leaving Guguan谷關 behind, we headed for Dasyueshan大雪山, one of the high mountains in the middle of the island.
It was above 30 degrees celsius in the lowlands but in the mountains it became chillier. That's the interesting factor for birding in Taiwan because you can see birds living in the subtropical climate and in the high mountains within a short space of time.
It didn't take long till we spotted a gorgeous male Swinhoe's pheasant (sankeiサンケイ) foraging on the edge of the mountain road.
The pheasants are one of the reasons why lots of birders come to Taiwan. So gracious!
Birds on the wires over the valley
a mountain view
A Taiwan barbet (goshikichoゴシキチョウ) was in a tree when we looked down over the edge of the road. We couldn't see much of the red part on its body, maybe it was a young one? or just an angle?
A flock of White-eared sibia (mimijiro-tsumedoriミミジロツメドリ) enjoyed the fruits in trees.
There were small birds making a lot of noises at the top of the trees, including Swinhoe's white-eye and Black bulbuls but looking up through our binoculars was killing our necks and backs!
A big flock of Collared finchbills (kayanoboriカヤノボリ) in a shrubby area by a stream.
We're back in Taiwan!!
It's for the first time since 2015 and we took the THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail) from Taoyuan to Taichung to be picked up by our friend & bird-guide, Ko-san.
We headed for Guguan 谷關, a famous hot spring town at about 700-1000m above sea level, to stay the night and do some morning birding next day.
It was a pleasant morning in Guguan in spite of the terrible thunderstorm the previous evening.
Black-crowned night herons (goisagiゴイサギ) were everywhere along with some Little egrets (kosagiコサギ).
Brown dippers (kawagarasuカワガラス) were foraging.
Grey wagtails (kisekireiキセキレイ) and Common kingfishers (kawasemiカワセミ) were seen well too.
A female Plumbeous redstart (kawabitakiカワビタキ) was sitting on the rock but didn't move much...
In the trees on the other side of the river, we spotted a Crested goshawk (kammuri-ootakaカンムリオオタカ) and a Crested serpent eagle (Kammuri-washiカンムリワシ, both of which were a bit too far for clear pictures..
