Pere David’s Owl (Craig Robson) SICHUAN 19 MAY – 7 JUNE 2019 LEADERS: CRAIG ROBSON The latest Birdquest tour to Sichuan Province in central China, once again proved to be a marvelous experience, with some really memorable birds and other wildlife. A total of 331 species of bird were recorded, including a large number of Sino-Himalayan specialties and Birdquest ‘diamond’ birds. Some of this year’s highlights were 15 species of Galliform, including Temminck’s Tragopan, Chinese Monal, White Eared, Blue Eared, Golden and Lady Amherst’s Pheasants, Black-necked Crane, Brown-cheeked Rail, Pere 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: Sichuan 2019 www.birdquest-tours.com David’s Owl, Saker Falcon, Tiger Shrike, Sichuan Jay, Collared Crow, Fire-capped, White-browed, Pere David’s, Sichuan, and Ground Tits, Tibetan Lark, Chinese Cupwing, Sooty Bushtit, Crested Tit-Warbler, Sichuan Bush Warbler, 19 species of Phylloscopus warbler, 28 species of ‘babbler’, including Golden- fronted, Chinese, Spectacled and Grey-hooded Fulvettas, Snowy-cheeked, Barred, Giant and Red-winged Laughingthrushes, Chinese Hwamei, Emei Shan Liocichla, and Rufous-tailed Babbler, 8 species of parrotbill, including Great, Spectacled, Ashy-throated, Grey-hooded, and Golden, Chinese and Przevalski’s Nuthatches, Wallcreeper, Kessler’s and Chinese Thrushes, Grandala, Fujian Niltava, Zappey’s Flycatcher, Chinese and Siberian Rubythroats, Firethroat, Blue-fronted Robin, Fork-tailed Sunbird, Black-winged, White- rumped and Red-necked Snowfinches, Robin and Brown Accentors, Przevalski’s Finch, Chinese Grosbeak, Pink-rumped, Sharpe’s, Dark-rumped, Three-banded, Chinese White-browed and Red-fronted Rosefinches, and Pine and Slaty Buntings. Our mammal tally was also high, with our total of 23 species including Grey Wolf, Tibetan Fox, two superb Red Pandas, Altai Weasel, Tufted Deer, Takin, Chinese Goral, Bharal and Tibetan Gazelle. Add to this the stunningly beautiful mountain scenery and the tasty food on offer, and it is easy to see why this tour is such an enjoyable experience. Having met up with our local guide uRo bbi Zh at dawn on day two, the birding began with a walk around Culture Park, which is conveniently situated next to our hotel in Chengdu. Here we found confiding White- browed Laughingthrushes, Vinous-throated Parrotbills, and Chinese Blackbirds, and we had our first David’s Fulvettas and Red-billed Starlings. The highlight however was a couple of very nice Chinese Grosbeaks. On the way out of the city, we also left some time to visit Chengdu Botanical Gardens. This excellent park brought several specialities, including Amur Paradise Flycatcher, Rufous-faced Warbler, and Fork-tailed Sunbird. Chinese Bamboo Partridges called loudly, but could not be tempted out. Following a series of impressive modern roads (something we would see a lot of in Sichuan), we arrived at our comfortable accommodation at Tangjiahe in the late afternoon. This National Nature Reserve is a truly stunning place, and well-known for its plentiful wildlife, particularly the amazing Takin - which we saw very well again this year, as well as Chinese Goral and Tufted Deer. Perhaps our main reason for visiting this remote site, is to see our first of Sichuan’s amazing pheasants. The lovely Golden Pheasant is quite common in the reserve, and afforded some great views once again. A stepped trail leading up to a small pass brought us our first superb male Temminck’s Tragopan, which appeared at exceedingly close range and began to drop its colourful ‘bib’. Another trail, closer to our hotel, produced a stunning singing male Zappey’s Flycatcher and the sultry Slaty Bunting. Other highlights at Tangjiahe were Alström’s, Sulphur- breasted and Kloss’s Leaf Warblers, Barred and White-throated Laughingthrushes, Golden-breasted and Spectacled Fulvettas, Great Parrotbill, Fujian Niltava (amazingly a write-in on this tour), and Chinese Blue Flycatcher. From Tangjiahe, we made our way along river valleys and over impressive mountain passes to the town of Chuanzhusi, our new base in this region following the closure of Jiuzhaigou after the devastating August 2017 earthquake. Early on during the journey, we spent much time scanning for the threatened Collared Crow, eventually succeeding in finding a nice pair of birds thanks to our sharp-eyed driver! Closer to our destination, we had time for a birding stop at lofty Xue Baoding Pass. Our only pair of Crested Tit-Warblers were the main highlight here, but we also had our first taste of such typical montane species as Kessler’s and Chestnut Thrushes, Alpine Leaf Warbler, Chinese Fulvetta, Rosy Pipit, Rufous-breasted Accentor, Godlewski’s Bunting, and Himalayan Beautiful Rosefinch. A pair of totally unexpected White-browed Tits showed well and a migrating Black-capped Kingfisher on a wire was completely out of place at this lofty elevation, as was a lone White-cheeked Starling. Early the following morning, we were at nearby Gongangling Pass. This is one of the best sites for the endemic Pere David’s Owl, and this year we were in for a treat. Following a quiet trail along the coniferous forest edge, we soon heard one of these Ural Owl lookalikes hooting in broad daylight. Quite unperturbed, it sat and vocalized while sunning itself for a long time. The same trail hosted our first Blue-eared Pheasants, and we had some scope views of Three-banded Rosefinch by the roadside. A return visit, the following day, was rewarded with the much-wanted Sichuan Jay (a pair), as well at Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker and a close-range Collared Grosbeak. 2 BirdQuest Tour Report: Sichuan 2019 www.birdquest-tours.com Golden Pheasant (Carl-Axel Bauer) & Temminck’s Tragopan (Craig Robson) at Tangjiahe 3 BirdQuest Tour Report: Sichuan 2019 www.birdquest-tours.com The remainder of our time in this area was spent exploring habitats close to Jiuzhaigou, where we were lucky enough to find our only Chinese Nuthatch of the tour. With ongoing roadworks, and various restrictions, there were few other highlights, apart from Brandt’s Jay (a splittable form of Eurasian), our first Chinese Leaf Warblers, Blyth’s Pipit, and Vinaceous Rosefinch. Sichuan Jay (Carl-Axel Bauer) Leaving this region behind, we headed for Ruoergai and the Tibetan Plateau. There were a few short stops along the way: nesting Black-necked Cranes, the usual Ruddy Shelducks and other typical plateau birds began to appear. We made it to the Ruoergai area in good time, so we headed straight for Baxi Forest, to the east of town. Exploring an open conifer-clad valley, with scrubby borders, we soon heard a singing Snowy-cheeked (or Sukatschev’s) Laughingthrush. After a while, a pair were seen rather fleetingly, so we would have to wait for better views. Its rather more sombre close relative Plain (or Pere David’s) Laughingthrush was also seen for the first time nearby, along with the usual Elliott’s Laughingthrushes. Sichuan Tit, Yellow-streaked Warbler and Chinese Fulvetta were seen well, and we had some nice scope views of singing Siberian Rubythroats. Further into the valley we had further sightings of Blue-eared Pheasant and yet more Sichuan Jays, this time a group of at least seven individuals. The whole of the following day was spent exploring the Tibetan Plateau. We began with breakfast close to a small quarry where Saker Falcons were seen at the nest, and there were also good numbers of Rock Sparrows, and both White-rumped and Red-necked Snowfinches, as well as the typically numerous Plateau Pikas. A lone Grey Wolf cantered across open grassland below us. We moved on to beautiful Flower Lake, which is situated within Zoigê Marsh, the largest high-altitude marshland in the world! An excellent and only recently completed boardwalk now facilitates excellent viewing conditions. The first section proved very good for seeing the hulking Tibetan Lark, with several in song-flight, while later on we passed close to open water and marshy grassland. A very interesting selection of waterbirds included: Bar-headed and Greylag Geese, Ferruginous Duck, Red-crested and Common Pochards, Great Crested Grebe, Eurasian Bittern, Glossy Ibis (well north here, and a write-in), Black-necked Crane, Brown-headed and Pallas’s Gulls, Common Tern, and 4 BirdQuest Tour Report: Sichuan 2019 www.birdquest-tours.com Tibetan Wagtail (the black-backed calcarata form of Citrine). Robbi managed to spot a Brown-cheeked Rail, which was a complete surprise and gave some amazing close views. Upland Buzzards and Ground Tits were seen along the roadsides as we explored further afield. Another more remote lake held a pair of Whooper Swans and a single Pale Martin, while write-in Isabelline Wheatears were seen with fledged young at a nearby village. After gaining permission from a caretaker, we explored some scrubby slopes behind a small monastery where several more unexpected species showed-up in the form of a migrant Tiger Shrike, and singing Brown Accentors and Pine Buntings. Black-winged Snowfinches were found nesting, and Robbi kindly spotted some Tibetan Gazelles on a distant slope for us to scope. We had multiple encounters with the strange-looking Tibetan Fox during the day. Brown-cheeked Rail (Craig Robson) We left before dawn the following day and drove east to Baxi Forest. Our first port-of-call was a scrub- flanked valley where we hoped to see Spectacled Parrotbill. Craig eventually tracked one down upslope and it fortunately stayed until everyone reached the spot. Next up was Przevalski’s Nuthatch which perched on top of a tall conifer rather distantly, while nearby we found a very obliging Chinese Thrush in song. Our first Blood Pheasants also appeared here. We continued further east to the Gouwa Forest area, in search of Chinese Grouse. Without any luck after several hours, punctuated by a field lunch, we back-tracked to another part of Baxi Forest.