Sep 26, 2009

Sichuan Bird Watching - Streaked Barwing

Sichuan bird guiding with Sid and Meggie Francis – chengduuk@hotmail.com - Chengdu the gateway to the birds of Sichuan.
We've just found a way to circumnavigate the China firewall which has been blocking us from putting pictures on our blog - and once again we can now publish illustrated articles onto this blog - that is untill the next trick from the censors.

We also have Sichuan birdwatching thread at birdforum - we hope birders can find some useful info in there, or use the thread to ask us questions about their Sichuan visit - you'll find it at -
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=149725

We've just returned from a short Sichuan trip where we took our client onto the area around the Old Erlang Road - and were lucky enough to find Streaked Barwing.

The Old Erlang Road is track that used used to be the driving road on the G318 highway that leads from Chengdu to Kanding, and ultimately to Lhasa. The road has now been replaced by a tunnel - and is now just a track - winding up the Erlang mountain making for 30 km of great birding.

You can find more pics and info on this area in our Sichuan birding thread at birdforum.

Sep 7, 2009

Sichuan Birdwatching - A trip to Wanglang

Sichuan bird guiding with Sid and Meggie Francis – chengduuk@hotmail.com - Chengdu the gateway to the birds of Sichuan.
We've just found a way to circumnavigate the China firewall which has been blocking us from putting pictures on our blog - and once again we can now publish illustrated articles onto this blog - that is untill the next trick from the censors.

We also have Sichuan birdwatching thread at birdforum - we hope birders can find some useful info in there, or use the thread to ask us questions about their Sichuan visit - you'll find it at -
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=149725


Three-banded Rosefinch - this male is a pretty striking bird - we spotted him on one of the moss covered, primeval like conifer trees that are a feature of the forests at Wanglang. Like other Rosefinches it will respond to calls - this one being brought in by playing White-browed Rosefinch.

Well we tried to stay at home and complete some of those chores we've been promising ourselves to do for ages - but the temptation to get out and bird was far too strong - and being weak-willed...............................
Anyways it seemed a good time to take up north to check out Wanglang and Tangjiahe Panda reserves - and have a look at how the post-quake road mending is coming along.
Areas close to Wanglang were badly hit by the quake - and although the reserve itself is more or less untouched – access by road, when driving the most direct routes from Chengdu, were very badly affected. However, now you can make the journey to Wanglang in 8 hours - and although there are quite a few klm's of unsurfaced temporary road to negotiate - the birds at the end of the journey make all those bumps worthwhile.


Chesnut-headed Tesia - this is a warbler on stilts!!!! Tesia - are lumped under the title of Ground Warbler - being distinguished by short-tails and skulking behavior. But they can become very inquisitive when subjected to a bit of "phishing" - however getting that good shot almost needs an X-ray camera lens that can shoot through dense foliage. We found this bird off the normal paths - in a really dank and damp part of the forest.

Wanglang is a pretty friendly reserve - and it's not spoilt by being "over-touristicated." The basic accommodation is cheap - 60RMB/bed - but if you're into more plush living, there are wooden chalets that cater for a little more luxury. The restaurant is also pretty good for such an out of the way place.
But of course what makes this place is the habitat - nice rough tracks, which are drivable, take you into virgin like conifer forest. There are also walking trails - some being boardwalks - while others being paths into the denser parts of the forest. There are three main valleys to walk - and if you felt really fit – and had a few days to spare - you could walk to either Jiuzhaigou or Huanglong.
One of the best valleys - one we haven't fully explored - comes before you reach the hotel/workplace area (you have to cross the river) - this valley should give the best chance (and of course a rather slim one) for Giant Panda, with March being the best month for finding one.


Chinese Thrush - a shy endemic - which is not that difficult to find up in the Wanglang, Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong areas

Wanglang has an interesting bird list. Being a good site for Blue-eared Pheasant - they'll feed on the pastures that border onto the accommodation area. The best time to see them is when the grass is short - we had good views in early June - but now, during late summer, the grass is longer, so viewing is rather impaired. The only Blue-eared Pheasant we saw on this trip was a group of eight - in a forest area - that hustled their way quickly over the road - and sunk away into the invisibility of dense scrub.


Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush - a very range-restricted endemic - this is a good tick. You can find these laughers in the bamboo that grows around the board-walk area at the end of the right-hand fork of the driving track.

We spent 3 nights at Wanglang - and then moved off to Tangjiahe - our next blog article will be about this reserve.

We're in business again - we can post pictures back onto our blog


Hi there - after a little cunning it seems we have finally circumnavigated the China Firewall and can now add fully illustrated blogs to this site (well at least fingers crossed). And what better pic to celebrate this achievement than a shy China Endemic - Chinese Thrush.
Next step is to see how difficult it is to upload a whole article.



Here's a Blood Pheasant male - we got this bird during our recent Moxi trip.

Sep 5, 2009

Sichuan Birdwatching - a recent trip to Moxi

We're just back from Moxi - which is 5/6 hours outside Chengdu. The birding was great - we got Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker and Streaked Rosefinch, and on the way back a walk up the old Erlang road gave a few Temminck's Tragopan.
As usual, because of the China Firewall block to blogspot - I cant put any pictures up here - so to get an illustrated report on the trip go to my birdforum blog at (I go under the name china guy) -
http://www.birdforum.net/blog.php?b=2134

We've also got pics up in our Sichuan birding thread at -
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=149725