Thursday 27 September 2018

Taiwan 27th March 2018

Our last day of the trip. We spent the first half of the day again up in the hills. It was nice to get better views of both Rusty and Rusty-crowned Laughingthrush both endemics. We had only got brief views of these two earlier in the trip. I also got my last lifer of the trip here in the form of Dusky Fulvetta, a common enough species but another real skulker.

We headed back to Taoyuan City and visited the same area of agricultural fields and paddyfields around the international airport that we had visited at the very beginning of the trip. We had a few of the very few winter migrants that we encountered on the trip e.g. Black-faced Bunting, Dusky Warbler and Red-throated Pipits.

In the end I got 90 lifers, 27 of which were 27 endemics. I personally saw a total of 175 species. A big thank you to our Stijn De Win of Birding 2 Asia for a smooth and well put together trip.


Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
Eastern Spot-billed Duck
Northern Shoveler
Garganey
Eurasian Teal
Tufted Duck
Taiwan Partridge
Taiwan Bamboo-Partridge
Swinhoe's Pheasant
Mikado Pheasant
Ring-necked Pheasant
Little Grebe
Sacred Ibis
Black-faced Spoonbill
Yellow Bittern
Malayan Night Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Striated Heron
Chinese Pond Heron
Western Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Great Egret
Intermediate Egret
Little Egret
Chinese Egret
Great Cormorant
Osprey
Black-shouldered Kite
Oriental Honey-buzzard
Crested Serpent Eagle
Mountain Hawk-Eagle
Black Eagle
Crested Goshawk
Eastern Marsh Harrier
Black Kite
White-tailed Eagle
Eastern Buzzard
Common Moorhen
Eurasian Coot
Black-winged Stilt
Pied Avocet
Grey Plover
Pacific Golden Plover
Greater Sand-Plover
Kentish Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Greater Painted-snipe
Common Snipe
Redshank
Marsh Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Green Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Great Knot
Red-necked Stint
Long-toed Stint
Curlew Sandpiper
Dunlin
Little Tern
Caspian Tern
Whiskered Tern
Rock Pigeon
Oriental Turtle Dove
Red Turtle Dove
Spotted Dove
Common Emerald Dove
White-bellied Green Pigeon
Whistling Green Pigeon
Lesser Coucal
Oriental Cuckoo
Savanna Nightjar
Silver-backed Needletail
Pacific Swift
House Swift
Common Kingfisher
Taiwan Barbet
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker
White-backed Woodpecker
Eurasian Kestrel
Grey-chinned Minivet
Brown Shrike
Long-tailed Shrike
White-bellied Erpornis
Black-naped Oriole
Maroon Oriole
Black Drongo
Black-naped Monarch
Taiwan Blue Magpie
Grey Treepie
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Nutcracker
Large-billed Crow
Coal Tit
Chestnut-bellied Tit
Green-backed Tit
Yellow Tit
Oriental Skylark
Collared Finchbill
Light-vented Bulbul
Styan's Bulbul
Black Bulbul
Grey-throated Martin
Barn Swallow
Pacific Swallow
Asian House Martin
Striated Swallow
Taiwan Wren-babbler
Rufous-faced Warbler
Brown-flanked Bush Warbler
Yellow-bellied Bush Warbler
Black-throated Bushtit
Dusky Warbler
Arctic Warbler
Taiwan Bush Warbler
Zitting Cisticola
Striated Prinia
Yellow-bellied Prinia
Plain Prinia
Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler
Taiwan Scimitar Babbler
Rufous-capped Babbler
Dusky Fulvetta
Grey-cheeked Fulvetta
Taiwan Hwamei
Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush
Rusty Laughingthrush
White-whiskered Laughingthrush
Steere's Liocichla
Taiwan Barwing
White-eared Sibia
Taiwan Fulvetta
Vinous-throated Parrotbill
Golden Parrotbill
Taiwan Yuhina
Japanese White-eye
Flamecrest
Winter Wren
Eurasian Nuthatch
Crested Myna
Javan Myna
Common Myna
Black-collared Starling
White-shouldered Starling
Chestnut-tailed Starling
White's Thrush
Brown-headed Thrush
Vivid Niltava
White-browed Shortwing
Siberian Rubythroat
White-tailed Robin
White-browed Bush Robin
Collared Bush Robin
Red-flanked Bluetail
Little Forktail
Taiwan Whistling Thrush
Snowy-browed Flycatcher
Plumbeous Water Redstart
Blue Rock Thrush
Brown Dipper
Fire-breasted Flowerpecker
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
White-rumped Munia
Scaly-breasted Munia
Alpine Accentor
Eastern Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
Olive-backed Pipit
Red-throated Pipit
Brown Bullfinch
Taiwan Rosefinch
Eurasian Siskin
Black-faced Bunting

Rusty Laughingthrush

Rusty Laughingthrush

Rusty Laughingthrush

Female Vivid Niltava

Male Vivid Niltava

Male Vivid Niltava

Male Vivid Niltava

Crested Serpent Eagle

Eurasian Nuthatch

Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush

Taiwan Partridge

Black-collared Starling

Eastern Cattle Egret

Black-faced Bunting

Dusky Warbler

Long-tailed Shrike

Black-faced Bunting

Black-faced Bunting

Black-shouldered Kite

Black-shouldered Kite

Saturday 22 September 2018

Taiwan 26th March 2018

On our last full day in country we birded back up in the hills in the general area of the Huisun Forest Area and the Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area. This was the highest we reached during our Taiwan trip at around the 3,000 metres mark. It was unsurprisingly rather chilly up there and there was some snow on the ground on the surrounding peaks. It was here that we found a few of the species that are only really found at the highest elevations in Taiwan such as the Eurasian Wren and Alpine Accentor.
Lifers for the day included Brown Dipper, Asian House Martin, Taiwan Wren-Babbler, White-browed Shortwing, Siberian Rubythroat and Eastern Buzzard. The Wren-Babbler and the Shortwing were both excellent species to get as they take a significant amount of time to see properly. We had encountered both species on call previously on the trip and a few had been lucky to get short views of each. I had given up hope on seeing either and it was equally satisfying to get the Wren-Babbler as this was the last of our targeted endemics for the trip. The Shortwing like many of the other distinctive Taiwan subspecies are a possible likely split in the future. The Rubythroat was incredibly brief and I was about the only one to get onto it other than our guide. We had heard several during the trip but none showed.

Eastern Buzzard

Eastern Buzzard

Eastern Buzzard

Eastern Buzzard

Eastern Buzzard

Crested Goshawk
White-tailed Robin

White-tailed Robin
White-whiskered Laughingthrush

White-whiskered Laughingthrush

White-whiskered Laughingthrush

White-whiskered Laughingthrush

White-whiskered Laughingthrush

Eurasian Wren subspecies taivanus.

Eurasian Wren subspecies taivanus.

Eurasian Wren subspecies taivanus.

Coal Tit subspecies ptilosus.

Coal Tit subspecies ptilosus.

Alpine Accentor subspecies fennelli.

Alpine Accentor subspecies fennelli.

Alpine Accentor subspecies fennelli.

Alpine Accentor subspecies fennelli.
Male Fire-breasted Flowerpecker

Female Fire-breasted Flowerpecker

Taiwan Barwing

Collared Bush Robin

Collared Bush Robin

Flamecrest

Flamecrest

Flamecrest

Flamecrest