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Taiwan Birding Trip Report May 14th-24th 2014 Sites visited included Huben, Pitta Cafe, Alishan, Yushan National Park, Wushe, Taroko Gorge, Lanyu Island, Kwangua, Aogu Wetlands. Key species recorded include all endemics and most endemic sub-species. Birds seen included Fairy Pitta, Swinhoe's Pheasant, Mikado Pheasant, Taiwan Hill Partridge, Lanyu Scops Owl, Japanese Paradise Flycatcher etc. Report contains photos and trip list.
Taiwan Birding Trip Report May 14th-24th 2014 Sites visited included Huben, Pitta Cafe, Alishan, Yushan National Park, Wushe, Taroko Gorge, Lanyu Island, Kwangua, Aogu Wetlands. Key species recorded include all endemics and most endemic sub-species. Birds seen included Fairy Pitta, Swinhoe's Pheasant, Mikado Pheasant, Taiwan Hill Partridge, Lanyu Scops Owl, Japanese Paradise Flycatcher etc. Report contains photos and trip list.
Taiwan Birding Trip Report May 14th-24th 2014 Sites visited included Huben, Pitta Cafe, Alishan, Yushan National Park, Wushe, Taroko Gorge, Lanyu Island, Kwangua, Aogu Wetlands. Key species recorded include all endemics and most endemic sub-species. Birds seen included Fairy Pitta, Swinhoe's Pheasant, Mikado Pheasant, Taiwan Hill Partridge, Lanyu Scops Owl, Japanese Paradise Flycatcher etc. Report contains photos and trip list.
Fairy Pitta at Linnei Forest Park, Huben Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 2 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Outline Itinerary May 14 th Arrive Taipei mid-afternoon travel to Pitta Caf, Huben. May 15 th Huben area (Pitta Caf, Linnei Forest Park/Huben Temple), travel to Alishan/Yushan NP. May 16 th Alishan/Yushan NP area. May 17 th Alishan/Yushan NP area, travel to Huisun for afternoon then onto Wushe. May 18 th Wushe area (Blue Gate Trail/Continuation Trail/Peitungyenshan). May 19 th Wushe area (Chung Yang Farm), Hehuanshan Pass afternoon trip. May 20 th Wushe, Hehuanshan Pass, Taroko Gorge, Liwu Rivermouth, Nanping, Taitung, Chiphen. May 21 st Chiphen, Taitung Ferry Crossing to Lanyu Island, Lanyu I sland. May 22 nd Lanyu I sland, Lanyu Island Ferry Crossing to Taitung, travel to Kwangua. May 23 rd Kwangua, Aogu Wetlands, travel to Taipei. May 24 th Leave Taipei early morning.
Outbound I flew Leeds Bradford, UK to Taipei, Taiwan via Schipol, Netherlands with KLM and then inbound I flew Taipei, Taiwan to Leeds Bradford, UK via Hong Kong, China and Schipol, Netherlands with China Airlines and KLM. Flights ran smoothly and pretty much on time. My layovers in Schipol and Hong Kong were 1.5/2hrs, these were long enough to make my transfers and grab a drink.
We hired a car (Toyota RAV4) whilst on the mainland and hired a small car whilst on Lanyu Island. We caught the ferry to Lanyu Island from Taitung and back again (details of these below).
Birding Highlights
This was my first trip to Taiwan after recent birding trips to Thailand (December 2013-J anuary 2014: http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/thailand-trip-report.html) and Malaysia (March 2013: http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/malaysia-trip-report.html). Elsewhere within the Oriental region Ive also visited Borneo (2007) and Goa, I ndia (2009), though neither of these were specific birding trips and Im planning on going back to Borneo next year to do it properly this time.
On this trip I recorded 157 species; just under half of these were new birds and most were recognised endemic species, endemic sub-species with a good chance of being raised to full species status or other endemic races. Didnt really go list-padding as there was not the time and most of the ducks/waders/winter migrants had already headed north to their breeding grounds. The main target of the trip was Fairy Pitta and the endemics; the following are some of my highlights:
Fairy Pitta 1 male seen at Linnei Forest Park, Huben with probably one other heard. Swinhoes Pheasant 1 male and 2 female at Chun Yang Farm, 1 pair at Kwangua and 1 female at Peitungyenshan. Mikado Pheasant 1 male at Alishan, 1 female at Yushan NP and 1 male at Hehuanshan. Taiwan Hill Partridge 6 seen at Kwangua, others heard at Huben and Wushe. Lanyu (Elegant) Scops Owl 1 seen and c.2 heard in Flycatcher Creek, Lanyu Is. Taiwan Blue Magpie Family group with young fledglings at Huisun. Taiwan Barbet Commonly recorded in a range of habitats and altitudes. Yellow Tit 2 on the Blue Gate Trail, Wushe. Styans (Taiwan) Bulbul Commonly recorded on the southeast coast. Flamecrest Several pairs in Yushan NP. Taiwan Bush Warbler Several in Yushan NP and Hehuanshan. Collared Bush-Robin Common in Yushan NP and Hehuanshan. Taiwan Whistling Thrush Recorded in Huisun, Wushe area, Kwangua and Taroko Gorge. Taiwan Hwamei 1 seen at Chun Yang Farm and 1 heard at Liwu Rivermouth. Steeres Liocichla Common above 1,000 m, e.g. Wushe and Yushan NP. White-whiskered Laughingthrush Common at high elevations e.g. Yushan. Rusty Laughingthrush 2 seen in Yushan NP and 1 at Chun Yang Farm. Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush 1 nest building at Peitungyenshan. Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler Family group in Linnei Forest Park, Huben. Taiwan Scimitar Babbler Common in lowlands often in family groups, e.g. Huben. Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 3 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Taiwan Wren-Babbler (Cup-wing) Several heard, 1 seen in Yushan NP. Taiwan Barwing 2 seen in Yushan NP near Giant Hemlock. Taiwan Fulvetta Common in Yushan NP, also in Wushe area. White-eared (Taiwan) Sibia Very common in forests above 1,000 m, e.g. Yushan NP. Taiwan Yuhina Common in Yushan NP and Wushe area. Taiwan Shortwing At least 3 seen Yushan NP, also 3 seen on Blue Gate Trail, Wushe. Taiwan (Vinaceous) Rosefinch Several seen in Yushan NP and Hehuanshan. Grey-cheeked Fulvetta Common and widespread, e.g. Huben, Wushe and Yushan NP. (Chinese) Taiwan Bamboo Partridge 2 seen near the Pitta Caf, Huben, others heard at Wushe, Chiphen and Kwangua. (Brown-flanked) Strong-footed Bush Warbler 1 seen at Chun Yang Farm. (Yellow-bellied) Taiwan Yellow-bellied Bush Warbler Common Alishan/Yushan NP. (Golden) Taiwan Parrotbill Common at Yushan NP in bamboo at Tataka visitor centre. (Island) Taiwan Thrush Several pairs seen in the Wushe area. Taiwan (White-browed) Robin Common in Yushan NP. (Vivid) Taiwan Niltava 1 male and a pair on the Blue Gate Trail, Wushe. (Grey-headed) Owstons Bullfinch 1 male seen on two dates in Yushan NP. (Maroon) Red Oriole 1 female seen in the Huben area. (Dusky) Goulds Fulvetta Several seen in the Huben area and Kwangua. Chinese (Taiwan) Tawny Owl 3 seen in the Alishan/Yushan NP area. J apanese (Black) Paradise Flycatcher A family at nest in Flycatcher Creek, Lanyu Is. Lowland White-eye sp. Common on Lanyu Is. Malaysian Night-Heron Several seen including a showy bird in Huben.
Lanyu (Elegant) Scops Owl at Flycatcher Creek, Lanyu Island Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 4 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk I didnt take too many pictures on this trip but Ive included a few in this report; most are taken at high I SO due to dark forest conditions so are a bit grainy in places but hopefully they give a good idea of what it was like! Most photos in this report were taken with my Panasonic Lumix FZ-200 which I continue to be impressed with, with a couple off my I Phone 5s.
Site and Travel Information
I went on this trip with UK world-birder J ohn Gregory. Mike Edgecombe, another UK world-birder was also going to be travelling with us but unfortunately Mike had to pull out for personal reasons just before the trip. Mike had sorted a lot of gen out for the trip which proved invaluable for us whilst over there. The main target was always the Fairy Pitta, this would complete the world Pitta set for Mike and complete the Asian/Australasian Pitta set for J ohn. For me it would only be my 10 th Pitta, but I was still excited to get a new one! After the Pitta the target was simply to see as many endemic species/sub-species as we could manage in the very short timeframe that we had. We got lucky and met a couple of Dutch birders at the Pitta Caf in Huben whod just completed 11 days birding on the island, with more still to come. We got a lot of current site and logistical information from them; this really was a stroke of luck and after spending an hour chatting to them we had formed the itinerary outlined above. [Edit: 08.06.2014: Mike has just seen the Fairy Pitta this morning in Huben, completing the set! Congratulations Mike].
Background I nformation/ References/ Resources
Our actual route was formed on spec, based on discussions we had with the Dutch birders referenced above. However, prior to heading over there Id read through an awful lot of trip reports on birding in Taiwan and on Lanyu I sland and had a good idea of the birds wed see in each location. Some of the trip reports contained some really useful information on sites/access/logistics etc. and are certainly worth reading. For example check out reports from G Hinchon (May 2011), Sander Bot (Undated) and Gruff Dodd (2005) available via Google (or email me for them). There was also some useful older data on Dave Gandys site and some useful information, including GPS co-ordinates for birding locations on the ever-useful Birding2Asia website.
Of great help was hearing from people who had birded in Taiwan before/recently, or who currently live over there, all who provided something useful, too many to list but thank you.
I used the very good Helm Field Guides: Birds of East Asia by Mark Brazil for the trip as this guide covers Taiwan, has all of the endemic species illustrated and many of the endemic sub-species too.
I had Birds of Tropical Asia 3 on my IPhone and I downloaded a load of songs/calls from Xeno Canto onto my IPhone via the AvesVox App. This combination worked well and we had most of what we needed, including the songs/calls of many of the endemic sub-species actually recorded in Taiwan.
Getting Around - Cars
We hired a Toyota RAV4 for our time on the mainland, this was fairly expensive but it was worthwhile on some of the roads we ended up driving along, especially in the poor weather we experienced in the mountains, it felt nice being in something not tiny. Fuel was cheap, half the cost of UK Id estimate. The car came with SatNav, which was a real blessing! I also had a SatNav App SYGIC SEA HK TW, on my phone which was fairly cheap and a good way to double check that the cars SatNav was taking us to the right place! In addition, J ohn had a road map that was also very useful for planning the route round the country. It is worth noting that many of the place-names (towns and villages) are different on the SatNav, trip reports, maps and the actual signs on the road!
Driving was easy, generally good to very good roads, occasionally poor in places (non-existent if you hit a landslide, or rather if a landslide hits you). There was very little traffic on the roads. There was plenty of petrol stations and on the highways/expressways plenty of service stations with fairly decent food, toilets etc. Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 5 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk
There are toll roads, and parking charges and a tonne of speed cameras and traffic light cameras. You pay any charges when you drop your car back at the hire place, which incidentally I cant remember the name of it was about 5 minutes from the airport.
Whilst on Lanyu I sland we hired a small road car (it was a total banger) as no-one would let us hire scooters as it was clear we had no idea what to do with them! It wasnt overly expensive, though I do think we probably ended up paying over the odds but we didnt care as we just wanted to get birding! The lady at the hire place (on the port see below) told us to drive carefully and watch out for all the cows on the island as it was covered in them. We didnt see a single cow, but the island was crawling with goats easy mistake. Driving round Lanyu Island was very easy with hardly any roads, most in a pretty poor state.
Getting Around - Flights
We didnt take any internal flights though it is possible to fly from Taitung to Lanyu Island, but we wanted to do some sea-watching so opted for the boat.
Getting Around - Boats
We got a boat from Taitung (Fugang Harbour, Fugang Street) across to Lanyu Island (and back again). It took about 2.5 hours each way and costs about 25/30 for a return ticket (I think). Doing the boat both ways means staying overnight.
There is a bit of conflicting information about the boat. We found it relatively easy probably thanks to meeting the Dutch birders who gave us some information on it. Id recommend getting there the day before you want to go to Lanyu Island and check the times of the sailing. I think Id be correct in saying there is only one sailing a day each way, and the times are slightly variable presumably based on the tide times. Our sailing times were different to those of the Dutch guys a few days earlier.
A lot of people say you cant look at the birds from the boat as youre enclosed. The boat we went on had an outside upper deck area, complete with deck-chairs (and a sunshade). A bit of careful wedging of the chairs amongst the floatation devices/lifeboat/sick bins etc. allows you to sit down and seawatch till your heart is content, or you get sea sick, or someone blocks your view.
The sailings were both really calm and we saw some nice seabirds and some cetaceans, dolphins, flying fish etc.
Accommodation
Accommodation was booked on the go, with just the first night at the Pitta Caf pre-booked. Finding places to stay in each of the birding locations was generally pretty easy and we didnt really have any problems getting rooms at the last minute. I cant really provide many details on this as most of the places didnt have English names, or we rocked up in dark and left the next day at first light.
The Pitta Caf in Huben was basic (as were most places we stayed), but clean, very nice and the staff were very friendly and food was nice too. In Alishan there is a line of hotels, we just went door to door trying to find one with room (it was very busy there). In Wushe we found a really nice motel type place on the left just before getting into the town. In order to get the boat to Lanyu Island we stayed in Chiphen rather than in Taitung, this allowed us to do an hours birding at first light in decent habitat which was good it was one of the many huge hotels at the (very busy) spa resort area. On Lanyu Island we stayed in a nice small motel on the right about 1.5/2 km before reaching Flycatcher Creek if driving from the direction of the airport. Note finding somewhere on Lanyu Island was harder than on the mainland as on Lanyu Island nowhere seemed to have any signs you may be ok Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 6 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk if you can read Mandarin! For Kwangua we stayed at Fireflies Lodge, and near the airport we stayed at the Novotel (which was booked a few days in advance online).
I think everywhere we stayed (except Fireflies) had free Wifi available.
Miscellaneous (Weather/ Food/ Pests/ Itinerary)
The weather was not great during the trip. We lost a lot of time most afternoons, sometimes from late morning onwards with rain and/or low cloud. We got hit particularly badly in the Wushe area where we probably only had a couple of hours in 2 days when it was dry, and even then the many landslides prevented us getting to the best birding places. Temperatures ranged from low/mid-30 o Cs during the day in the lowlands, dropping to mid-20 o Cs at night (including on Lanyu Island). I n the higher elevation areas it was around mid-20 o Cs during the day, dropping to c.12 o C at night. The top of the Hehuanshan Pass was 8 o C when we were up there near dawn, though it felt a lot colder in the wind and low cloud.
Food was variable. We had some really nice stir-fries, curries and fish (Alishan, Wushe and Lanyu Island), though there were a few questionable dishes that made my stomach turn, which I avoided at all costs. The main problem was finding places with enough English on the menu to be able to know what to order. We made a lot of use of the numerous 7-11 stores but generally ended up eating a lot of junk food from these for breakfast and lunch, sometimes for dinner. I n Wushe we spent a lot of time drinking tea/coffee and eating cake in Starbucks due to the rain! We may also have had a couple of stops at the golden arches when the need hit. We did have some really nice tea drinking sessions with hotel proprietors, Black and Oolong.
The itinerary was rushed, theres no getting around that. Most people staying as short amount of time as we did would not attempt Lanyu I sland, though Im really glad we did. You could quite easily have spent 2 or 3 days at each of the places we stayed perhaps 1 or 2 days. The exception being Lanyu, a half day there is plenty if the birds are playing ball. Maybe we got lucky and you need an overnight stay for the owls?
Worth mentioning here that we tried to see everything without going to a bird-feeding station/photography stake out, which we pretty much did, with the exception of Taiwan Hill Partridge on our last full day birding, mainly because we got rained out of our best site in the Wushe area. We also saw all the endemics etc. without visiting the most popular birding site in the country Dasyueshan (Anmashan area), ironically the site Id done most of my genning up on!
My recommendation after what we did would be to spend 14 days in the country, spend a bit longer at each location but go a couple of weeks earlier, e.g. mid-April onwards, finishing late-April for the Fairy Pitta, this will allow time to get things like Black-faced Spoonbill and a large number of wildfowl, waders (and other over-wintering/passage migrants), as well as plenty of time for all of the endemic species/sub-species. I found birding in Taiwan excellent and really enjoyable. The two Dutch birders we saw on our first day were the only birders we saw on the whole trip (I guess most of the bird tours go in April) so we had the sites and trails pretty much to ourselves. The country is very popular with Chinese tourists that do tend to take over most of the resort-type places and locations, and are best avoided. They tend to only have one volume too, loud. I think the weather may be better in April too.
We only encountered a couple of leeches, at Wushe on the Blue Gate Trail. There were mosquitoes at several locations, e.g. Huben, Lanyu and Aogu the latter the worst place by far. I understand theres no Malaria on the island so antimalarials were not required. There is Dengue Fever on the island so worth trying to prevent bites. Will update if I come down with anything, but so far so good! There are ticks on Lanyu I sland that carry Lymes Disease, presumably due to the many goats so best avoid those areas, and check yourself for them after bush-bashing for migrant warblers and buntings!
Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 7 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Birding Sites
Below are some of my notes on the locations we visited with some details of the birds we recorded.
Huben Area
We spent one morning in this area, our first morning of the trip. After arriving about 2100hrs after driving straight from Taipei it was nice to wake up at the Pitta Caf. We birded at four locations here (below). It would be quite easy to spend a couple of days here.
1. Pitta Caf 2. Linnei Forest Park 3. The River 4. Huben Temple
Pitta Caf
A Mountain Scops Owl was heard calling in the middle of the night and we were woken up by the song of a White-rumped Shama (a captive bird) just before it got light. The vegetation around the caf held Taiwan Scimitar Babbler, Black Drongo, J apanese White-eye (nesting), Chinese Bulbul (nesting), Black Bulbul, Spotted Dove, Common Myna, J avan Myna and Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Taiwan Barbet was calling from the forest opposite the caf whilst overhead House Swift, Striated Swallow, Pacific Swallow and Barn Swallow were busy feeding.
Linnei Forest Park
We spent an hour or so in the park, prime location for the Fairy Pitta. We went in with a guide supplied by the Pitta Caf (for a small fee split between myself, J ohn and the two Dutch birders). This really took the pressure off as although we found the Pitta easily (it might not always be that easy?) it just meant we didnt have to worry that we were searching the wrong area of forest. As it happens we were drawn to the Pitta by it singing high up in some bamboo. It then flew across the trail where another bird was calling or so we thought. We followed the sound to find a couple of photographers using playback right next to an area they were feeding up with mealworms etc. A few words to our guide passed on to the photographers and the tape was turned off, allowing us to enjoy watching the pitta slightly more traditionally. We spent some time photographing the bird before leaving the photo stage and after a short while managed to pick the bird up as it was moving about within the vegetation, using the bamboo as a song perch.
Fairy Pitta, Linnei Forest Park, Huben
Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 8 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk We had really great views of this rather impressive bird, reminded me a lot of the Indian Pitta Id seen in Goa back in 2009. We did possibly hear a second bird, but probably, unfortunately, cant rule out the photographers using tape lures again. In 2007 there was 40 Fairy Pitta in the Huben area; this had dropped to just 4 birds in 2012. However, promisingly there were 12 birds in 2013. I heard there was at least 4 present while we were there. It is difficult to know what the future holds for this species, but Huben is probably the best place in the world to see this bird.
Whilst in the forest we also recorded the following very good birds: Taiwan Hill Partridge (H), Malaysian Night-Heron, Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Dusky (Goulds) Fulvetta, Emerald Dove, Black-naped Monarch (pair at nest), Bronzed Drongo, Black Bulbul, Chinese Bulbul and Rufous-capped Babbler.
Malaysian Night-Heron, Linnei Forest Park, Huben
The River
Between the Pitta Caf and Huben Temple we stopped for a productive 15 minutes at the river crossing connecting with Chinese (Taiwan) Bamboo-Partridge, Little Egret, Eastern Cattle Egret, Amur Wagtail, Scaly-breasted Munia, White-rumped Munia, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Red Collared Dove, Crested Goshawk, Black Eagle and Little Ringed Plover.
Huben Temple
We spent an hour around the temple, it was not the best time of the day but we still chalked up a few birds, including: Taiwan Hill Partridge (H), better views of Grey-cheeked Fulvetta and Dusky (Goulds) Fulvetta, Crested Serpent-Eagle, Taiwan Barbet, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Maroon (Red) Oriole, Grey Treepie and Taiwan Scimitar Babbler.
Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 9 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk
Taiwan Scimitar Babbler, Huben
Alishan/ Yushan NP Area
We spent a couple of days birding within this area. Our approach was to stay in the accommodation in Alishan, bird our way up the road to Yushan NP at first light (looking for Pheasants, Owls and Thrushes with mixed success), then focus our attention around the Tataka visitor centre (also known as Tatajia in some reports/maps). We spent considerable time around the visitor centre and on the various trails/roads in that area birding here was generally easy and definitely enjoyable, apart from the afternoon rain which we thought was bad, until we got to Wushe! We then birded our way back down to Alishan in the late afternoon.
Highway 18 runs past Alishan up to the visitors centre (with increasing km markers). At the visitors centre the road changes to Highway 21 (with decreasing km markers thereafter) as it winds its way down into the Toroko Gorge. We had Mikado Pheasant (male) at km 94 on Highway 18 on two consecutive days (at 1600hrs) and we had two Chinese (Taiwan) Tawny Owls between km 91.5 and 93.5 also on Highway 18 (bathing in puddles). We also had Chinese (Taiwan) Tawny Owls around the visitors centre. Note there is a nightly roadblock by the visitors centre so make sure youre on the right side of it, otherwise youll get a night in your car!
Key birds recorded in this area included: Mikado Pheasant (1 male twice and 1 female), Chinese (Taiwan) Tawny Owl (three birds), Ashy Woodpigeon, White-bellied Green Pigeon, Large Hawk- Cuckoo (H), Collared Owlet (H), White-backed Woodpecker, Spotted Nutcracker, Large-billed Crow, Green-backed Tit, Coal Tit, Asian House Martin, Collared Finchbill, Black-throated Bushtit, Taiwan Yellow-bellied Bush Warbler, Taiwan Bush Warbler, Rufous-faced Warbler, Taiwan Wren-Babbler, Rufous-capped Babbler, Rusty Laughingthrush, White-whiskered Laughingthrush, Steeres Liocichla, Taiwan Barwing, Taiwan Fulvetta, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, White-eared Sibia, Taiwan Yuhina, Golden (Taiwan) Parrotbill, Flamecrest, Winter Wren, Taiwan Shortwing, Taiwan (White-browed) Robin, Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 10 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Collared Bush-Robin, White-tailed Robin, Ferruginous Flycatcher, Plain Flowerpecker, Taiwan (Vinaceous) Rosefinch, Owstons (Grey-headed) Bullfinch.
If birding here it is definitely worth birding both sides of the visitors centre as we found the forest slightly different, e.g. more coniferous forest along 18 and more deciduous along 21.
Chinese (Taiwan) Tawny Owl, Alishan
Owstons (Grey-headed) Bullfinch, Yushan NP Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 11 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk
White-whiskered Laughingthrush, Yushan NP
Taiwan Yuhina, Yushan NP Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 12 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Huisun Area
We spent an afternoon in this (rather busy) park. I didnt really enjoy it here, it was overrun with people in some areas and where there were no people you couldnt hear yourself think due to all of the noise generated by the thousands of cicadas. Any hope of picking up birds here on call was a non-starter. We dropped in here on our way to Wushe hoping to find Taiwan Blue Magpie and (Taiwan) Varied Tit. We succeeded with the Magpie, eventually, when we found a family group with a couple of fledglings near the accommodation block right at the top of the site. Unfortunately we dipped the Tit here, and didnt get it anywhere else on the trip.
Birds recorded here included: Taiwan Barbet, Grey-chinned Minivet, Black-naped Monarch, Taiwan Blue Magpie, Grey Treepie, Collared Finchbill, Chinese Bulbul, Black Bulbul, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, and White-bellied Erpornis.
Taiwan Blue Magpie, Huisun
The river that is crossed on entering Huisun just before the ticket office gate and car park was good for Taiwan Whistling Thrush, though to say the bird was shy would be an understatement! It was calling constantly from the undergrowth but only gave a couple of fleeting glimpses. Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 13 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Wushe Area
We got really unlucky here with the weather which was a major disappointment as the trails here seemed really promising; indeed we got some great birds in the short time we actually had here whilst it was dry. We birded, or at least tried to bird at the following four areas:
1. Blue Gate/Continuation Trails (morning) 2. Peitungyenshan (middle of the day) 3. Chun Yang Farm (morning) 4. Wushe Starbucks (most afternoons, some mornings)
We arrived into the Wushe area in darkness after a long day driving from Alishan (via Yushan NP and Huisun) and found a really nice motel-type place. The owner very kindly took us to a nearby restaurant for tea on our first of three nights and on our final night we found a really nice restaurant and had one of the best meals of the trip, and also got a full on tea-tasting session. Mountain Scops Owl was very vocal around the accommodation every night.
Blue Gate/ Continuation Trails
We did these trails on our first morning, arriving at first light. We started off creeping along the trails hoping for Swinhoes Pheasant and/or Taiwan Hill Partridge, neither of which we were successful with though we did hear several Partridges. We noticed that the there was a lot of standing water on the trail. It wasnt long until the dawn chorus got going and it was made up of slightly different birds to what we were used to from previous days which was exciting. The main highlights along these trails included two Yellow Tits, a single male (Island) Taiwan Thrush, a male, then a pair of (Vivid) Taiwan Niltava, an eventually showy male Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Taiwan Shortwing, several White-tailed Robins, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker and Ferruginous Flycatcher. Other birds we noted here included Ashy Woodpigeon, Black Eagle, White-eared Sibia, Taiwan Yuhina, Dusky Fulvetta, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Green-backed Tit, Eurasian J ay (H), Black-throated Bushtit, Rufous-faced Warbler, Taiwan Wren-Babbler and Steeres Liocichla.
Ferruginous Flycatcher (left) and Yellow Tit (right), Wushe area
Peitungyenshan
We got rather unlucky (or lucky) here. After finishing the above trails late morning we thought wed go and scope out the Peitungyenshan area, closer to Wushe so we knew where we would need to be for first light the next morning. On the way to the site we passed over two old landslides that had been cleared enough to drive through. We made our way to the start of the birding track and planned on spending an hour here around noon. The forest was brilliant here, in a short area Id had my first Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 14 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Swinhoes Pheasant (unfortunately just a female), about six (Island) Taiwan Thrush males and females, my first, and only Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush of the trip (nest-building), Scaly Thrush, Black Eagle, White-eared Sibia and Grey-chinned Minivet.
It was then that the afternoon took a twist. The cloud came down; it started raining, lightly at first so I headed back to the car. I n no time at all it suddenly became torrential and the thunder and lightning got going. After J ohn got back to the car we decided it was pretty important that we got out and past the two landslides as soon as possible given the intensity of the rainfall.
We got to the first landside and started to cross, however as we got a third of the way across we noticed that the single track route was blocked by a truck that had got stuck in the now rapidly- moving landslide. It was suddenly clear that we were in a spot of bother. The truck in front of us was totally bogged down, large stones and trees were starting to bounce down the slope around them, and us. Whilst this was going on our vehicle was starting to get surrounded my mud. It was essential that we got off the area as quickly as possible. Luckily the area we were stuck was just wide enough to swing the vehicle round, which J ohn expertly did whilst I watched for the mountainside collapsing, which it was doing all around us. One of the truck drivers came across and said we best get off, and offered to drive the vehicle off for us, which we duly accepted. There was no room for error due to a rather big drop-off to our left. The local guy put his foot to the floor and the RAV4 sped across the gap back onto the road proper. We thanked the local who still had to work out how to get his vehicle out A little shaken we started on the 90 minute detour (in continuing torrential rain) on single track lanes all the way back round to Wushe, slightly concerned we may be spending the night in the car somewhere! Good job we had the SatNav! Whilst negotiating the landslide I did note a Besra and Taiwan Whistling Thrush and on the detour back to Wushe we had a couple of Plumbeous Redsarts.
We went back to check out the landslides the next day, the roads were pretty much wiped out, and totally impassable and a large excavator was busy trying to reopen the road. There was a flock of Asian House Martin and a couple of Crested Serpent-Eagles also having a look!
(Island) Taiwan Thrush, Wushe area Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 15 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Chun Yang Farm
We spent a morning walking a trail here, not sure if it was the right trail or not but we still saw a range of good birds. The highlight here was my first male Swinhoes Pheasant (and at least two females). The male really is absolutely stunning, certainly my favourite endemic of the trip. We also spent about 45 minutes working on trying to get views of a skulking Taiwan Hwamei a real songster; it eventually gave itself up giving nice views.
Other birds here included Crested Serpent-Eagle, Oriental Turtle Dove, White-bellied Green Pigeon, Taiwan Barbet, Grey-chinned Minivet, Black-throated Bushtit, Collared Finchbill, Chinese Bulbul, Black Bulbul, (Brown-flanked) Strong-footed Bush Warbler, Rufous-faced Warbler, Taiwan Scimitar Babbler, Rusty Laughingthrush, Steeres Liocichla, J apanese White-eye and White-tailed Robin.
Collared Finchbill (left) and Oriental Turtle Dove (right), Wushe area
Wushe Starbucks
We spent quite a lot of time here, lots of nice tea and cakes. Eurasian Tree Sparrow and Asian House Martin about the best we saw during the consistent pouring rain!
Hehuanshan Pass/ Taroko Gorge Area
We made two trips up to the Hehuanshan Pass. The first when we tried to drive above the rain in Wushe we failed, it was just as wet up there, and even windier, and the second on our way to the east coast for dawn, but this time we had low cloud/fog and light rain. So all in all two rather unsuccessful trips! It will come as no surprise therefore that we dipped the endemic sub-species of Alpine Accentor which was a huge disappointment. Over the course of the two visits we did record several Taiwan (Vinaceous) Rosefinch, White-whiskered Laughingthrush, Collared Bush-Robin, Taiwan Bush Warbler, Winter Wren and Flamecrest.
Taiwan (Vinaceous) Rosefinch (left) and Flamecrest (right), Hehuanshan area
Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 16 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk The drive through the Taroko Gorge was spectacular, if a bit scary at times! We didnt make too many birding stops as we had a long day ahead and wanted to get to the east coast before it got too hot or wet. We got our first Styans Bulbuls at Tienhsiang, where there were also a couple of Plumbeous Redstart and Taiwan Whistling Thrush. Somewhere between Hehuanshan and Tienhsiang we had a male Mikado Pheasant walking around a litter bin at the side of the road. Unfortunately, as with the previous views of this species it walked off the road before I could grab a picture!
The East Coast/ Taitung/ Chiphen Spa Area
We spent the majority of a day driving down the east coast towards Taitung in order to make arrangements for our trip over to Lanyu I sland. We stopped at the following locations, and after sorting out the boat trip finished the day in the Chiphen Spa area.
1. Liwu Rivermouth 2. Nanping Farmland 3. Chiphen Spa area 4. Taitung area
Liwu Rivermouth
It was fairly easy to get to the Liwu Rivermouth, as per other trip reports we just followed our noses. Shortly after parking up we started to walk along the scrub/dunes/beach towards the rivermouth. Some of the better birds here included: Crested Goshawk, two Oriental Cuckoos, two Savanna Nightjars, Brown Shrike, Long-tailed Shrike, Black Drongo, Grey-throated Martin, Oriental Skylark, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Plain Prinia, Styans Bulbul, Chinese Bulbul (and some Styans x Chinese Hybrids), Arctic Warbler, Taiwan Hwamei, J apanese White-eye, Black-headed Munia and Amur Wagtail.
Nanping Farmland
This was the stakeout site for Ring-necked Pheasant (dont laugh its an endemic sub-species) and so we took a drive round the rice fields here. In the winter, or earlier in the spring you could imagine the place crawling with waders and wildfowl. As it was a bit late in the year the majority of fields were knee-deep in rice. We did however easily connect with the Ring-necked Pheasant, a beautiful bird and we also had several other good birds in the area including Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Great White Egret, Eastern Cattle Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Egret, Slaty-breasted Rail, Ruddy- breasted Crake, Common Moorhen, White-breasted Waterhen, Little Ringed Plover, Common Greenshank, Oriental Pratincole, Lesser Coucal, Long-tailed Shrike and Grey Treepie.
Oriental Pratincole, Nanping area Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 17 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk
Ring-necked Pheasant (left) and Ruddy-breasted Crake (right), Nanping area
Note the directions in older trip reports for finding Nanping are probably now not correct, the highway appeared to be following a new/different route to that described. We just pulled off the highway when we thought we were in about the right place, and where the habitat looked suitable.
Chiphen Spa Area
We had some gen about a site at Chiphen, it was from Dave Gandy but was about 20 years old. We thought wed try it out for Taiwan Hill Partridge and (Chinese) Taiwan Bamboo Partridge. The area was surprisingly good. We spent an hour birding in the evening up till dark, not seeing much but working out the best way of hitting it the next morning. Our approach the following morning was to drive slowly along the single track road along the edge of the forest. However, despite hearing both Partridge species frustratingly neither showed themselves. We did manage good views of the following here though: Taiwan Barbet, Grey-chinned Minivet, Grey Treepie, Taiwan Scimitar Babbler, Crested Goshawk and we heard another Mountain Scops Owl.
Taitung Area
We drove through Taitung a couple of times, stopping briefly at a river where we recorded Red Collared Dove, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Fan-tailed Warbler, Grey-throated Martin and Styans Bulbul.
Lanyu I sland
I was really pleased to be able to get across to Lanyu I sland, I didnt think we would have enough time but we did. Trying to organise getting to the island from the UK was quite difficult so we just organised it the day before in Taitung at the harbour which was easy enough. We caught the boat across (leaving our car parked up in the street near the harbour) and the sailing (both days) was smooth. We spent about 24 hours on the island however we saw all of the target species within the first 56 minutes of being on the island, even though it was the middle of the day! We spent the rest of the time eating, sleeping and touring the island looking for migrants.
The island is a bit of a dump to be honest, lots of dereliction and quite a bit of poverty, and as mentioned in most other literature is more Philippine than Chinese so quite different from mainland Taiwan beautiful landscape though. The people more than make up for the above, with everyone we met being incredibly friendly and helpful. We had some really nice fish to eat and found a couple of very nice cafs. To be honest it was a bit of a surprise how easily we found all the key birds and I dont think we were expecting to have loads of free time. Ironically the one day we didnt need to have a dry afternoon for birding, we got one, it did make a nice change though so no complaints!
We saw the following species on the crossings: c.15+ Streaked Shearwater, c.30+ Bulwers Petrel, c.250+ (presumably migrating) Eastern Cattle Egret, one juvenile Frigatebird sp (probable Lesser Frigatebird but unable to see underwing/belly pattern due to distance/angle/light etc.), two Brown Booby, c.10 Red-necked Phalarope, three Black-naped Tern, two Little Terns and one Whiskered Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 18 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Tern. Didnt attempt to take any photos on the sea crossing but some of the birds were nice and close, just a shame the Frigatebird wasnt!
We arrived in the port on Lanyu I sland, sorted out our hire car (all in the same area) and while waiting for our car to arrive had Brown-eared Bulbul and Lowland White-eye in the trees around the port. After putting the minimum amount of fuel in the car we thought we could get away with we headed down the coast to try and find Flycatcher Creek. This was fairly easy and in no time at all wed parked up at the bridge and were looking into the creek from above. The birds came thick and fast with Philippine Cuckoo Dove and Taiwan Green Pigeon flying around and perching up in the trees at eye-level. A Brown Shrike was getting mobbed by a couple Lowland White-eyes, Brown-eared Bulbul and an Asian Brown Flycatcher (the only one of the trip). Very happy with what we had seen we now knew we were down to the business end of the trip, J apanese (Black) Paradise Flycatcher and Lanyu Scops (Elegant) Owl, and judging by previous trip reports this could take anywhere in the region of hours to days (and nights), and the thunderclouds were building.
I think we got lucky, not that Im complaining. We could hear a Paradise Flycatcher calling so headed into the Creek. After a short while of climbing up the slippery, rocky riverbed and dodging huge orb spider webs we found a good viewpoint and looked up. Within no time at all a flicker of movement caught my eye, a totally stunning adult male J apanese (Black) Paradise Flycatcher was sat on a branch right above me! Its huge bright-blue eye-ring wattle surprised me by being so big, and then its tail which was incredibly long. This was a really impressive bird, and very high up the Bird of the Trip list. We watched this bird for a while before it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Brilliant.
J ohn and I exchanged knowing looks, we were on a roll. We imitated the owl as others have done in the past and straight away at least two birds started calling. This was pretty crazy stuff and well beyond what I was expecting. Suddenly a bit of movement caught my eye, a bit of manoeuvring around the river bed and I was looking straight into the eyes of a tiny Lanyu (Elegant) Scops Owl!
Lanyu (Elegant) Scops Owl, Lanyu I sland Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 19 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk
Lanyu (Elegant) Scops Owl, Lanyu Island
The presence of the owl was not going down too well with many of the other birds in the creek, most of whom had young. During this time I found the Paradise Flycatcher nest, there was at least one fledgling sat near it. I grabbed a couple of record shots but really the Owl was the main attraction during that moment and it held my attention.
J apanese (Black) Paradise Flycatcher (left) and Brown-eared Bulbul (right), Lanyu I sland
Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 20 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk
Lowland White-eye, Lanyu Island
We spent the rest of the afternoon in a bit of a surprise-induced daze driving a circuit around the island and then spent a couple of hours the next morning watching a couple of interesting spots identified the previous day, in the hope of finding some new migrants yet avoid the ticks. Some of the highlights included: Striated Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Pacific Reef Heron, Black-winged Kite, Grey-faced Buzzard, Black-winged Stilt, Lesser Coucal, Fork-tailed (Pacific) Swift, Common Kingfisher, Brown Shrike (c.40+, a fall?), Fan-tailed Warbler, Middendorffs Grasshopper Warbler, Blue Rock Thrush (c.25+), Grey Wagtail and Kamchatka Eastern Yellow Wagtail.
Brown Shrike (left) and Blue Rock Thrush (right), Lanyu Island Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 21 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Kwangua Area
We spent a night at Fireflies Guesthouse, Kwangua as we were heading back towards Taipei on our final days birding of the trip. The main reason for doing this was not seeing Taiwan Hill Partridge anywhere else during our trip. There was also a good chance of getting further views of Swinhoes Pheasants. We spent a couple of hours early morning in the hide and sure enough we got our targets. First a female Swinhoes Pheasant walked in, then a male, then a covey of at least six Taiwan Hill Partridge. We had seen all of the endemics! Unfortunately it was pretty much pitch black as it was so early in the morning, though I got a couple of record shots. The only other birds noted from/around the hide were a pair of White-tailed Robin, White-eared Sibia and Taiwan Barbet.
Swinhoes Pheasant, Kwangua
Taiwan Hill Partridge, Kwangua Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 22 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk We had a walk around the lodge and heard (Chinese) Taiwan Bamboo Partridge and saw some more White-tailed Robins, a pair of Amur Wagtail, Large Hawk-Cuckoo, Black Bulbul and Chinese Bulbul. At night here we heard Mountain Scops Owl but we were unsuccessful in our pursuit of it, possibly due to the shots of tea and liquor we were drinking! The small river near the lodge held a couple of Plumbeous Redstart and some scrub had nesting Striated Prinia and a few Black-throated Bushtits.
Driving along the minor roads near the lodge we found a very smart male Eyebrowed Thrush, Oriental Turtle Dove, several Taiwan Whistling Thrush, Taiwan Barbet, more Plumbeous Redstarts and a single Emerald Dove.
White-tailed Robin, male (left), female (right), Kwangua
Aogu Wetlands Area
We spent an hour or so driving round this wetland site on our last day. There were not too many birds around given the time of the year though we saw a few new trip birds having not visited any similar habitat previously. I t would be great to visit here during the winter, or earlier in the spring.
We had Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Little Grebe, Yellow Bittern, Cinnamon Bittern, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Eastern Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Egret, Black-winged Kite, White-breasted Waterhen, Moorhen, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Lesser Sandplover, Greater Sandplover, Common Sandpiper, Oriental Pratincole, Caspian Tern, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern, Common Kingfisher, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Long-tailed Shrike and Scaly- breasted Munia.
Eastern Cattle Egret (left), Black-winged Kite (right), Aogu Wetlands Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 23 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk If you want any more detailed information about specific species mentioned above just drop me an email, likewise if you want any further specific information about logistics/ birding locations etc.
Other Wildlife
We saw a few interesting bits of non-avian wildlife on this trip such as Formosan Macaque, Reeves Muntjac, Pallass Squirrel, Pernys Long-nosed Squirrel, Maritime Striped Squirrel, Yellow-throated Marten, Siberian Weasel. There were also a few Whales and Dolphins seen from the ferry crossing, though only brief views with nothing identified specifically. The flying fish seen from the boat were rather spectacular (and tasted nice too).
There were a huge number of beautiful butterflies and moths of all shapes, sizes and colour, the Taiwanese sub-species of J apanese Owl Moth was particularly impressive. We saw/heard a number of frogs, a couple of gecko, snakes and lizards etc. too including Kraepelins Cat Snake (freshly dead on a road), Swinhoes J apalura (possibly another J apalura species too), and a Skink sp. There were also some typically hideous giant spiders and not forgetting the four species of Fireflies at the Fireflies Lodge in Kwangua.
J apanese Owl Moth, Wushe
J apalura (left) and Skink (right), Lanyu Island Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 24 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Summary
I had a fantastic time in Taiwan and enjoyed seeing a large number of endemic and range-restricted species and sub-species. My highlights were Swinhoes Pheasant, Fairy Pitta, Lanyu (Elegant) Scops Owl and J apanese (Black) Paradise Flycatcher.
Birding in Taiwan was very enjoyable not just for the birds, the scenery was very impressive and the people very friendly. Im looking forward to returning one day, and also to my next trip to the Oriental region. These Pheasants and Pittas are quite addictive. Borneo or Sumatra anyone?
If you would like any further information please drop me an email to andywalker1000 AT hotmail.com subject Taiwan Birding.
Due to the complexity of the Taiwanese taxonomy Ive included a copy of my list below for reference and have highlighted the endemic species, endemic sub-species and endemic races.
Thanks, Andy 7 th J une 2014.
Plumbeous Redstart, Kwangua
Taiwan Trip Report J une 2014 Andy Walker 25 http://awbirder.blogspot.co.uk Taiwan Bird Trip List Notes: *E* = Endemic species, *ESs* = Endemic sub-species (considered potential split by some authorities), *Er* = Endemic race (not considered potential split based on current thinking) *H* = Heard only. List only records first location each species was recorded, unless when a heard only was subsequently seen on another date.