Sichuan and Beijing, China 5 to 21 May 2016
Sichuan 5 to 12 May with Sissi (Xionrui) Tang as bird guide and a driver, arranged through https://chinabirdingtour.com. Accommodations were mostly basic local hotels, the same ones used by birding tours of the region. Two main areas were visited on this planned birding. (1) Mount Wawushan from Longcanngou village (SW of Chengdu) up to about 3200m ASL. (2) Mt Balanshan from Wolong. I recorded 73 life birds with some excellent gamebirds, babblers, thrushes, leaf-warblers and bush-warblers. Construction at the top of the Mt Wawushan road made conditions very muddy and wet on the road, and the whole area seemed more disturbed for pheasants than is desirable. The 7 May on Wawushan was raining and fogged in for most of the day but the best for birds and produced a red panda on the road. Both mountains had rhododendrons and other species in flower, and the mountain flowers on Mt Balanshan were excellent. Birding Mt Balanshan was delightful with beautiful scenery and a pass at 4580 m ASL. Starts at 4am and standing waiting for snowcocks, snow partridge or Chinese Monal before dawn with temperatures below freezing and a breeze made me glad of my down jacket and gloves. A thermos of hot coffee and sandwiches for breakfast were very welcome! Leaf warbler and bush warbler identification proved difficult and I was glad of having downloaded lots of calls from Xeno-Canto. The Chinese guide to Phylloscopus (leaf) warblers by Liu Yang (in Chinese but mainly pictoral) was also very helpful but I found myself searching the internet for information on the distributions of some species, which have been described since the China field guide (Mackinnon and Phillips 2000) and distribution info is lacking in the Phylloscopus guide.
On 13 May I visited Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve (N of Dujiangyan, and N of Chengdu) and walked around a small lake with Prof. Zhishu Xiao having been taken to the reserve by one of the reserve managers.
On the road was a pair of Temminck's Tragopan, and we found singing Sichuan Bush-Warblers which came out obligingly when their voice was played back to them. This last species was only described in 2015! Ate lunch in the kitchen with the (all male) park staff--fun to see how the locals do it. Dumplings for breakfast at a hole-in-the-wall local restaurant in Dujiangyan. Beijing was mainly a work trip but with occasional trips to the Botanical Garden and Olympic Forest Park looking for migrants. Most notable were a Chinese (Green-backed) Flycatcher, Chestnut Bunting, and Yellow-breasted Bunting.
Birds Checklist: Clements (Birds) 2015 1
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 1 heard�� Beijing Botanical Garden 15.5, 3 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5 and 3 Beijing Botanical Garden 18.5 and 3 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 2 Tibetan Snowcock Tetraogallus tibetanus 1 Balanshan 10.5. 3 Blood Pheasant Ithaginis cruentus 8 Balanshan 11.5. 4 Chinese Monal Lophophorus lhuysii (VU) Endemic 5 Balanshan 10.5. 5 Snow Partridge Lerwa lerwa heard Balanshan 10.5, 3 there 11.5. 6 Verreaux's Partridge Tetraophasis obscurus Endemic 1 Balanshan 10.5. 7 Temminck's Tragopan Tragopan temminckii 1�� Balanshan 11.5 and 2 Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve 13.5. 8 Golden Pheasant Chrysolophus pictus 8 heard Balanshan 11.5 and 5 heard Wolong area 12.5. 9 Lady Amherst's Pheasant Chrysolophus amherstiae 1 Wawushan 7.5, 1 there 8.5. 10 Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus 3 Wolong area 12.5, 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 15.5, 1 heard Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5 and 1 heard Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 11 White Eared-Pheasant Crossoptilon crossoptilon (NT) 6 Balanshan 10.5, 4 there 11.5. 12 Koklass Pheasant Pucrasia macrolopha heard Balanshan 10.5, heard there 11.5. 13 Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 3 Beijing Botanical Garden 15.5, 1 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5, 1 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5 and 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 14 Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis 2 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5. 15 Gray Heron Ardea cinerea 1 Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve 13.5. 16 Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax 2 Wang Jiang Hotel, Chengdu 6.5, 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 15.5, 1 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5 and 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 18.5. 17 Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus (NT) 2 Balanshan 10.5, 2 there 11.5. 18 Oriental Honey-buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus 25 Wawushan 9.5. 19 Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis (NT) 12 Balanshan 11.5 and 2 Wolong area 12.5. 20 Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos 1 Balanshan 10.5. 21 Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus 1 Balanshan 11.5 and 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 22 Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus 1 Balanshan 10.5. 23 Common Buzzard Buteo buteo vulpinus Wawushan 9.5 and 1 Balanshan 10.5, 2 there 11.5. 24 Eurasian Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 1 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5 and 1 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5. 25 Rock Pigeon Columba livia 1 Wang Jiang Hotel, Chengdu 6.5 and 6 Beijing Botanical Garden 15.5 and 15 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 26 Snow Pigeon Columba leuconota 25 Balanshan 10.5, 6 there 11.5. 27 Speckled Wood-Pigeon Columba hodgsonii 1 Wawushan 9.5 and 12 Wolong area 12.5. 28 Oriental Turtle-Dove Streptopelia orientalis 2 Wolong area 12.5 and 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 15.5 and 2 Beijing Botanical Garden 18.5. 29 Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis 2 Wang Jiang Hotel, Chengdu 6.5, 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 15.5, 2 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5, 2 Beijing Botanical Garden 18.5, 4 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5 and 8 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 30 Large Hawk-Cuckoo Hierococcyx sparverioides Up to 4 Wawushan 6-9.5, 1 Balanshan 10.5, 1 Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve 13.5 and 1 heard Beijing Botanical Garden 15.5. 31 Indian Cuckoo Cuculus micropterus 1 heard Wolong area 12.5, 1 heard Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5, 8 Beijing Botanical Garden 18.5, 2 heard Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5 and 6 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 32 Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus 3 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5. 33 Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus optatus Up to 5 Wawushan 6-9.5, 1 Balanshan 10.5, 1 there 11.5, 2 heard Wolong area 12.5 and 2 heard Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve 13.5. 34 Lesser Cuckoo Cuculus poliocephalus 1 heard Wawushan 7.5 and 1 Wawushan 9.5. 35 Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopaceus 1 heard Wawushan 7.5 and 5 heard Wawushan 9.5. 36 Oriental Scops-Owl Otus sunia 2 Erwang Temple, Dujiangyan, Sichuan 13.5. 37 Himalayan Owl Strix nivicolum nivicolum 1 Wolong area 12.5. 38 Gray Nightjar Caprimulgus jotaka 1�� Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5. 39 White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus Up to 5 Wawushan 7-9.5. 40 Himalayan Swiftlet Aerodramus brevirostris Up to 10 Wawushan 7-9.5. 41 Common Swift Apus apus 5 Wawushan 8.5, 4 there 9.5 and 45 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5. 42 Pacific Swift Apus pacificus 2 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5. 43 House Swift Apus nipalensis 2 Erwang Temple, Dujiangyan, Sichuan 12.5. 44 Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops 1 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5. 45 Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 2 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5 and 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 46 Gray-capped Woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus 2 Wawushan 7.5, 2 Beijing Botanical Garden 15.5, 2 Beijing Botanical Garden 18.5, 1 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5 and 2 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 47 Crimson-breasted Woodpecker Dendrocopos cathpharius 1�� Wawushan 7.5 and 3 Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve 13.5. 48 Darjeeling Woodpecker Dendrocopos darjellensis 2 Wawushan 7.5. 49 Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major 1 Wawushan 7.5, 2 Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve 13.5, 3 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5 and 3 Beijing Botanical Garden 18.5 and 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 50 Gray-headed Woodpecker Picus canus 1 Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve 13.5, 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 18.5, 2 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 20.5 and 1 Beijing Botanical Garden 21.5. 51 Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 2 Balanshan 10.5, 2 there 11.5. 52 Short-billed Minivet Pericrocotus brevirostris 5 Wolong area 12.5. 53 Long-tailed Minivet Pericrocotus ethologus Up to 8 Wawushan 6-9.5 and 2 Wolong area 12.5. 54 Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus 2 Olympic Forest Park, Beijing 16.5.