South Korea and Taiwan - 11th February (Day 17)

After a rather sleepless night on the eco-lodge due to barking dogs we were up 05:15 for our final days birding. We headed the short distance to Pintung University for the two remaining targets of the trip. We walked down the track through forest and secondary growth and set-up on the bund between the two lakes and began scanning. Black Drongo and Light-vented Bulbul began to appear in the tree-tops and then I picked up a bird of different shape and squinting through the gloom of the early morning I could make out some deep red colouration; Maroon Oriole, our first target and one that we had missed earlier in the trip. I shouted and the others got onto the bird fairly quickly. Our first target down. Over the next few minutes we approached the oriole more closely and eventually got great views. Next Ian found a green pigeon perched in a dead tree which was soon joined by others. We identified two species the larger White-bellied Green-pigeon and our final key target, Whistling Green-pigeon. These two species were remarkably similar even when perched together but the orange forehead, heavily marked ventral area and more uniform dull green appearance of the Whistling Green were good pointers. Over the next 45 minutes we had fantastic views of the pigeons eventually seeing 13 Whistling and seven White-bellied. My eBird checklist for the morning can be viewed here.

Maroon Oriole - Pintung University, Taiwan

White-bellied Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

White-bellied Green-Pigeon (lower three birds) and Whistling Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

Whistling Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

Whistling Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

Whistling Green-Pigeon - Pintung University, Taiwan

Chestnut-tailed Starling - Pintung University, Taiwan

Common Kingfisher - Pintung University, Taiwan

 Elated by our early morning success we decided to head north and to the west coast of the island for some wader watching. We arrived at the Qingkunshen IBA at just gone 10:00 and began scanning the large number of waders. The masses were dominated by Dunlin of one of the long-billed races, probably sakhalina. Amongst these were Pacific Golden Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Kentish Plover, Lesser Sand-plover, Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt and Avocet. The star birds were Great Knot some of which were beginning to enter summer plumage and the star, a Nordmann’s Greenshank which eventually gave excellent views . This species is a rare vagrant on Taiwan, this bird has been present at the site since at least the end of 2019. Also at the site we recorded Caspian Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern and Whiskered Tern. It was now 12:15 and we decided that we should start our journey towards the Taipei. A short stop at a lagoon further along the road produced a Black-faced Spoonbill and a rice paddy a little further on was smothered in Wigeon, Shoveler and Pintail. My eBird checklist for the site can be viewed here, here and here.

The drive north took around 4 hours with a couple of brief stops. We checked into a hotel to change and shower and after some dinner headed to our international flights. Mine departing at 00:20.

Lesser Sand Plover - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Caspian Tern - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Pacific Golden Plover - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Black-winged Stilt - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Kentish Plover - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Whiskered Tern - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

The naturalised African Sacred Ibis - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Marsh Sandpiper - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Intermediate Egret - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Great Knot - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Nordmann's Greenshank - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Nordmann's Greenshank - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Nordmann's Greenshank - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Nordmann's Greenshank - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Black-faced Spoonbill - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

 

Black-winged Kite - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

Black-winged Kite - Qingkunshen IBA, Taiwan

List of Birds Recorded in Taiwan

We recorded 153 species in Taiwan of which 33 were new for me (shown in bold). 

Taiwan Partridge

Taiwan Bamboo-partridge

Mikado Pheasant

Swinhoe's Pheasant

Tufted Duck

Northern Shoveler

Chinese Spot-billed Duck

Mallard

Common Teal

Little Grebe

Great Crested Grebe

Ashy Woodpigeon

Oriental Turtle-dove

Red Turtle-dove

Eastern Spotted Dove

White-bellied Green-pigeon

Taiwan Green-pigeon

House Swift

White-breasted Waterhen

Common Moorhen

Common Coot

Black-faced Spoonbill

African Sacred Ibis

Yellow Bittern

Malay Night-heron

Black-crowned Night-heron

Cattle Egret

Grey Heron

Great White Egret

Intermediate Egret

Little Egret

Pied Avocet

Black-winged Stilt

Grey Plover

Pacific Golden Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Kentish Plover

Lesser Sandplover

Bar-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit

Great Knot

Red Knot

Curlew Sandpiper

Red-necked Stint

Common Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Common Greenshank

Nordmann's Greenshank

Common Redshank

Marsh Sandpiper

Black-headed Gull

Little Tern

Common Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Whiskered Tern

Collared Owlet

Collared Scops-owl

Mountain Scops-owl

Osprey

Black-winged Kite

Oriental Honey-buzzard

Crested Serpent-eagle

Mountain Hawk-eagle

Black Eagle

Crested Goshawk

Besra

Black Kite

Common Kingfisher

Taiwan Barbet

Grey-capped Woodpecker

White-backed Woodpecker

Peregrine Falcon

Maroon Oriole

White-bellied Erpornis

Grey-chinned Minivet

Black Drongo

Black-naped Monarch

Brown Shrike

Grey Treepie

Taiwan Blue Magpie

Plain-crowned Jay

Southern Nutcracker

Large-billed Crow

Coal Tit

Chestnut-bellied Tit

Green-backed Tit

Yellow Tit

Plain Prinia

Taiwan Cupwing

Asian House Martin

Red-rumped Swallow

House Swallow

Barn Swallow

Asian Plain Martin

Black Bulbul

Collared Finchbill

Light-vented Bulbul

Styan's Bulbul

Yellow-browed Warbler

Arctic Warbler

Rufous-faced Warbler

Brownish-flanked Bush-warbler

Yellowish-bellied Bush-warbler

Black-throated Tit

Taiwan Fulvetta

Taiwan Yuhina

Japanese White-eye

Taiwan Scimitar-babbler

Black-necklaced Scimitar-babbler

Rufous-capped Babbler

Dusky Fulvetta

Grey-cheeked Fulvetta

Taiwan Hwamei

Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush

Rusty Laughingthrush

White-whiskered Laughingthrush

White-eared Sibia

Taiwan Liocichla

Taiwan Barwing

Eurasian Nuthatch

Northern Wren

Brown Dipper

Crested Myna

Common Myna

White's Thrush

Taiwan Thrush

Eyebrowed Thrush

Brown-headed Thrush

Pale Thrush

Dusky Thrush

Small Vivid Niltava

White-tailed Blue Robin

Orange-flanked Bush-robin

White-browed Bush-robin

Collared Bush-robin

Little Forktail

Taiwan Whistling-thrush

Snowy-browed Flycatcher

Plumbeous Water-redstart

Daurian Redstart

Flamecrest

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker

Alpine Accentor

White-rumped Munia

Scaly-breasted Munia

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Olive-backed Pipit

Grey Wagtail

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

White Wagtail

Taiwan Rosefinch

Brown Bullfinch

Grey-headed Bullfinch

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)

South Korea

26th January (Day 1 and 2) – International flight then Han River area.

28th January (Day 3) – Songdo Tidal Flats and Korea National Arboretum.

29th January (Day 4) – Seosan Reclamation.

30th January (Day 5) – Seosan Reclamation then Geum River.

31st January (Day 6) – Yubu Island, and Han River.

Taiwan

1st February (Day 7) – Fly Seoul (South Korea) to Taipei (Taiwan) then Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

2nd February (Day 8) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

3rd February (Day 9) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

4th February (Day 10) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

5th February (Day11) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve then Huisin Forest Reserve.

6th February (Day 12) – Huisin Forest Reserve then Blue Gates Trail.

7th February (Day 13) –  Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area.

8th February (Day 14) – Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area then Firefly Lodge.

9th February (Day 15) – Alishan.

10th February (Day 16) – Alishan, Kenting National Park and Pintung University. 

11th February (Day 17) – Pingtung University then international flight.

India (Rajasthan and Kashmir) Trip - 31st July - Day 7

We had to be at Dachigam National Park for 5:30 to meet the park guard today so the alarm went off at 03:30 and after a quick coffee we were off in the dark heading to the park gate. We parked someway from the gate, gathered our gear and planned to be in the park all day. It felt like an undercover military operation when we got to gate two and it was locked with no sign of life, we then walked round to the main gate and there were two guards. However, it appeared that they had no idea that we were due to be there and after much head shaking one of the guards reluctantly agreed to accompany us. However, we were not able to have Farook accompany us and it quickly became apparent that the guard spoke very little English and was not at all keen on us being in the park but he agreed to take us in until 10:00. The target was then to get to the area where the Orange Bullfinch occur at the end of the access road and it appeared that the guard understood this. As we walked the road the first bird of note was a Spotted Forktail which showed well as it fed on the road, we 'chased' this bird up the road in front of us for some time before it eventually decided to head into the forest. In a clearing a Hangul showed well but i can't get very excited about deer! And then things got a bit weird, the guide insisted on taking us off trail and we spent the next couple of hours randomly walking around in the scrub, it was clear that the guide was nervous about showing us around and that we clearly weren't meant to be in the park - he was doing his utmost to keep us off the main access road where we wanted to be. We saw little and when it became apparent that the guard was not going to take us to the Bullfinch area we decided to cut our losses and leave - but, we took an arduous route via back paths and eventually had to climb over a fence to leave the park rather than leave via the main park gate. We had had a somewhat wasted morning and saw little but for a Sulpher-bellied Warbler and Himalayan Langur plus some very fresh Bear poo. We left the park at 09:45 and after some discussion decided that our best option was to head back to the house boat for an afternoon siesta and then head out again in the afternoon.

We spent a couple of hours at the house boat birding from the balcony which overhung the lake and taking some shots of the common lake species (Little Bittern, Whiskered Tern, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Black Kite and Common Kingfisher) before heading out for lunch and then heading for the Shankarachariya Temple.

We parked at the summit of the hill below the temple and walked up with the masses to the temple but other than the view it was pretty uninspiring so we quickly escaped the masses and wandered down the road birding as we went. Very quickly, after a bit of pishing, Andy found a cracking male Kashmir Flycatcher and we spent some time getting views of this bird. The road was generally very birdy and we encountered a few bird flocks which were largely dominated by Oriental White-eye with species such as Rusty-tailed Flycatcher, Western Crowned Leaf Warbler, Two-barred Greenish Warbler and Ultramarine Flycatcher. We birded the road from 15:00-18:00 and then spent the last hour of daylight at Lake Dal photographing boats, Whiskered Tern (breeds in good numbers on the lake) and Kingfisher before heading back to the boat house to drink some Kingfisher.

Todays Weather: Generally sunny with cloudy spells.

Spotted Forktail (immature) - Dachigam

Entrance sign to Dachigam National Park - If only they had given us the chance to 'be alert and look for'.

Very fresh Black Bear poo- Dachigam

Swallowtail Moth at Dachigam

Stream in the deciduous forest at Dachigam

Our exit from Dachigam the least welcoming National Park in the world

Little Bittern - Nigeen Lake

Whiskered Tern (Juvenile) - Nigeen Lake

Little Grebe of race albescens, note the yellow iris - Nigeen Lake

Black Kite of race govinda - Nigeen Lake

Marco Polo Houseboat - Nigeen Lake

Kashmir Flycatcher came into pishing about 100m below the main temple car park - Shankarachariya Temple 

Oriental White-eye - Shankarachariya Temple

Hobby attacking Black Kite - Shankarachariya Temple

Hobby - Shankarachariya Temple

Himalayan Woodpecker - Shankarachariya Temple

Ashy Drongo - Shankarachariya Temple

Common Kingfisher, we found the nest of this bird approximately 200m from the lake in a bank in a woodland - Dal Lake 

Common Kingfisher - Dal Lake

Whiskered Tern (adult) - Dal Lake 

Whiskered Tern - Dal Lake

Whiskered Tern (juvenile moulting to first winter) - Dal Lake

Whiskered Tern - Dal Lake

House Crow of the race zugmayeri a much greyer more Hooded Crow like bird than the familiar nominate race

Dal Lake

Links to the other Days of the Trip:
Day 1 - Background and Travel day
Day 2 - Surajpur Wetland and Nahargah Biological Park
Day 3 - Sonkhaliya
Day 4 - Ajmer Thorn Forest and drive back to Delhi
Day 5 - Fly Delhi to Shrinigar (Kashmir) then Yousmarg
Day 6 - Yousmarg
Day 8 - Yousmarg then return to Delhi and flights home

If you have any comments or queries on this post then please do not hesitate to contact me at simon@ecosa.co.uk