Pandas of the Qinling Mountains A Greentours Trip Report 25th October – 7th (11th) November 2011 Led by Ian Green th Day 1 October 25 Departure Our evening departure was more or less on time. Gill had already departed Manchester and would meet us there. th Day 2 October 26 to Xi’an The night flight to Beijing was efficient, on time and as comfortable as could be expected, the later daylight hours of the flight taking us over the montane steppes of Mongolia, before descending into Beijing. In Xi’an we were met by our ground agents Zoe and Bill, and our local guide in Foping, Rolf. We opted for a swift rinse at the Grand New World Hotel within the Ming Dynasty city walls of old Xi’an before heading out to sample some local specialities in the Muslim Quarter. We had a fun hour wandering down a market street selling all sorts of appetising kebabs and filled pancakes. There were also glittering trinkets, Chinese paint brushes and paints, paintings, and some beautifully carved semi-precious stones. Most of the buildings within the city walls were modern high-rise, but our walk finished by the magnificent Drum and Bell towers. Then a hot shower and comfortable bed in our modern hotel! Day 3 October 27th to Foping Giant Panda Reserve After a superb multi-cuisine breakfast we were met by our drivers and Zoe and Rolf and set off for the five hour drive to Foping Nature Reserve. We made our way out of the traffic and smog of the city into the surrounding rich-soiled countryside, where we saw orchards and fields of persimmons, kiwi, squash, apples and maize covering every usable piece of land. One village positioned by a tributary of the Yellow River (its name meant 'golden rock') had a different source of income – the villagers extracted huge rounded boulders from the water course and sold them as park ornaments. We made a rest stop and suddenly there were birds everywhere. Groups of Grey-capped Greenfinches flew over whilst a group of Meadow Buntings inhabited cover below us. In the same patch were Striated Prinia and a Siberian Rubythroat, the latter only seen by Roger and John. There were Green Sandpipers, a Little Egret and many Brown- breasted Bulbuls. 1 © Greentours Limited. Visit www.greentours.co.uk for further details. Telephone 01298 83563 As soon as we turned on to the road to the mountains the scenery changed. Agricultural usage dwindled away and changed to small terraces on the increasingly steep slopes as we entered the forested hills. We passed a reservoir which supplied drinking water for Xi’an, and started to see more birdlife – Red-billed Blue Magpies were prominent. The road followed the side of the crystal clear, turquoise and green river which flowed down the valley, lined with round white boulders. The forested slopes got steeper still, most of the wooded hills with slopes approaching 75º or 80º in angle. A bright Senecio showered the cliffs with yellow flowers. Each bend of the road brought more breathtaking views. We stopped for a female Wallcreeper that posed for the 'scope and saw Plumbeous Redstarts along the river. Brown Dipper and Crested Kingfisher too. For the past couple of years the park rangers have been habituating Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys by providing them with a regular food source. The monkeys come to this spot, within their home ranges and enjoy the largesse provided and as a consequence now allow people close-up views of them. In many ways it was a rather bizarre experience, there was the extraordinary Gaudi-esque ranger station, the electric car to wheel us uphill a kilometre, and then a ten minute walk to a spot where the monkey’s hangout, and boy, do they hang out! There were at least three family groups, each with a dominant male who was large glossy gold with a dark back, blue face and prominent white testicles. There were around thirty other animals spread between the families, with many palest beige youngsters, and all ages in between. We watched and photographed them swinging through the trees as the guy with the feed moved through. Alpha males argued about possession of the big rock. Indeed Roger was warned off said rock! They are really stunningly beautiful animals, the fur of the females and subadult males a glorious golden-orange, the faces of all the adults blue with a hint of lilac. The monkeys paid no heed to us and we were able to approach some to within a metre. The place was in a nice natural situation (though the trees they were spending most time on were dying) with a glorious multicoloured autumnal mountain forest backdrop. There were some nice birds too, a party of Sooty Tits, fantastic Golden-breasted Fulvettas and a group of chattering Dusky (probably!) Fulvettas. After lunch, an introduction to the self-heating rice meal – a fascinating concept – we drove a few kilometres back up through the most sublime scenery to the entrance to Foping itself. Here Mr Ho Lu lifted the barrier and we headed into the park proper – only a limited number of passes are given to access the reserve. On reaching the end of the tarmaced road, our bags were loaded onto four horses and we set off on the 8km walk to the Research Station. We had little time for stopping en route as we needed to get to the research station by dusk, however there were a few birds to be seen, notably Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler, lots of Red-billed Leiothrix, a Little Bunting and Rufous-capped Babbler. We saw signs of Takin on several occasions including a wallow, but no animals. The scenery just kept getting more and more beautiful, pristine mixed woodland and bamboo, sunlight glinting off autumnal red Acer leaves and a sparkling river, moss covered boulders... A word about the track. It is well made, concrete all the way, either steps or reasonably level. A lot of steps in the first kilometre, downhill on the way in. The worst in fifty year floods experienced this summer had done plenty of damage but it only affected a few short sections where new paths had been forged. And the last gorge section where bridges had been washed out so we had to go round the half km longer horse track which took us through fine countryside. 2 © Greentours Limited. Visit www.greentours.co.uk for further details. Telephone 01298 83563 Finally we stopped photographing the scenery and arrived at the Research Station. Just a fantastic location, with its own hydro electric supply, and this year the rather nice rooms had both gas heating and gas heated showers. It felt like luxury to me, who had experienced the rooms here the previous year with no heating! We settled into our rooms but at various times were interrupted by Red-billed Blue Magpies, a pair of Daurian Redstarts and a bunting that we couldn't quite fathom. Dinner was taken at six and featured just three main dishes, but very tasty they were – a bit spicy for some though with the mix of chili and sichuan pepper. th Day 4 October 28 Foping It was a beautiful bright clear morning though a mite chilly early on. Rising I was under the initial impression that I'd missed breakfast and that everyone was waiting for me, but thankfully the 09.08 it said on the clock was the result of a night-time pressing of the wrong buttons. We explored the environs of Sanguanmiao Station, looking at the area out back by Mr Zhang's small farm and also a little down towards the village. Strikingly obvious in the lovely clear light were Red-billed Blue Magpies and Nutcrackers, both noisy, common and striking birds. Red-flanked Bluetails were common everywhere this morning. There was a brief sighting of a Grey-headed Woodpecker but many of the local race of Nuthatch, these a particularly richly coloured variant. Daurian Redstarts were also frequent with some colourful males seen. Ron came up with an interesting find, for down by the bridge was a dead shrew- like creature with velvety mole-like fur and a bare expanded nose. More on that later. Breakfast was our first taste of how they really do them round here, as opposed to the magnificent multicultural spread at the Grand New World. A thin rice gruel and steamed rice dumplings provided the carbohydrate and were undenyingly plain without the addition of either the jam or the series of stir-fried dishes that appeared. One of these was an excellent smoked tofu and bean dish, though one or two found the chili/sichuan pepper content a little high. There was tea and coffee as well. Once fed and having wrestled with what we needed for the day – always hardest on the first day out here – we were ready for the off. By now it was really warming up so we set off in high spirits, not a cloud in the sky. We walked quickly the kilometre to the first staging area. These are where we wait for news from the trackers who are beavering about the surrounding slopes trying to locate pandas. This means that waits can vary, from minutes to a couple of hours. This first one was about an hour. We enjoyed it greatly as it was a small open area where some medicinal crops were grown and so we could enjoy the sun and the butterflies it brought out. First was a clouded yellow species, soon followed by a much more obliging comma, this one Polygonia c-aureum.