Birding in Taiwan 2024 - IV

 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,

BUT! the morning we were there it was covered with thick fog! 😭

And yet, we found a Mikado pheasant (mikado-kijiミカドキジ) foraging quietly under the trees just behind the sign.

We went a bit closer but he was just minding his own business.

beautiful tail-feathers!

Suddenly, noisy calls came from the fog - a flock of White-whiskered laughingthrushes (Taiwan-kimbane-gabichoタイワンキンバネガビチョウ) appeared from nowhere.

and started hopping on the ground around us.

A little shadow on the edge of the car park. 

a male Collared bush robin! (Alisan-hitakiアリサンヒタキ)

In the fog it actually looked really blurred like this. Lucky we had an excellent guide like Ko-san to find little birds under this weather condition.

A flock of Black-throated tits (Zuaka-enagaズアカエナガ) flew into a nearby tree👍

Another Mikado pheasant was on the mountain path.

A female Collared bush robin in the bush:)

A juvenile Collared bush robin popped out and quickly back again.

Another male Collared bush robin

a Ferruginous flycatcher (miyama-hitakiミヤマヒタキ) perched on a cable but I failed to capture his whole body! argh!

Taiwan persimmon tree (kaki柿)

Photo-taking was almost impossible in the fog but we had a great morning birding walk in and around the car park.

It was a three-night birding trip with Ko-san and although the number of species we recorded during this trip is smaller than the previous visit in 2015 but we had a wonderful time with Ko-san and we'd like to come back in a different season to see different birds. 

The posts of our 2015 trip are here ↓

Taiwan 2015 - 1

Taiwan 2015 - 2

Taiwan 2015 - 3

Taiwan 2015 - 4

Taiwan 2015 - 5

Taiwan 2015 - 6

Taiwan 2015 - 7

Taiwan 2015 - 8

Birding in Taiwan 2024 - III

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

They are Eastern house martins (iwatsubameイワツバメ)!

Many many of house martins were flying under the bridge 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.

The weather wasn't great for photo-taking but we saw more than I could show here in the posts.

Birding in Taiwan 2024 - II

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.

A Brown shrike (akamozuアカモズ) perched near the finch bills.

We had a glimpse of a flock of Rusty laughingthrushes (Taiwan-takedoriタイワンタケドリ) and a Taiwan scimitar babbler (Taiwan-himemaruhashiタイワンヒメマルハシ) but no luck for taking a picture😢

Asian pear orchard in Heping District of Taichung

Birding in Taiwan 2024 - I

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.

It took only half an hour from the airport to Taichung and the train ride was really comfortable👍

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..

We managed to see/hear quite a few species by the river even before breakfast. 

Ecology Park (I'm back!)

It's September, it's in the middle of September, and yet it is incredibly HOT and HUMID in Chiba. 

I'm back to Chiba and have been trying back to bird-watching life. 

To start with, I went back to the Ecology Park in Aoba no Mori Koen, Chiba.

very calm and peaceful🌳

A juvenile Kingfisher (Kawasemiカワセミ) appeared from nowhere and perched on the pole😍

6 Spotbilled Ducks (Karugamoカルガモ) were foraging on water. 

a graceful Great White Egret (Daisagiダイサギ)

had a private matter... sorry! 😄

moss growing on a wooden bridge

A Chinaberry (Sendanセンダン) tree laden with fruits

An one-hour walk was very satisfying, although there weren't many bird species to see. 

Probably the weather will change in a week or so (I do hope so!), then some wintering birds will have arrived.

Cherry Blossoms

Friends of mine invited me for a farewell (not forever but for a year) lunch and we went for a hanami stroll at Sogo Reido in Narita. I am not particularly a great fun of cherry blossoms myself but it is always nice to catch up with lovely friends under the blossoms.