Dermot Breen's Blog: Taiwan 19th March 2018

Monday, 16 April 2018

Taiwan 19th March 2018

First full day of the trip which was one of three days spent in the uplands of the Anmashan - Daxueshan National Forest Recreation Area. We tried the higher section today as there was some rain forecasted the next day. We stopped at several spots on the way up to Dasyueshan Visitor Centre. While the diversity wasn't enormous the percentage of endemic species was quite high we managed to clock up nine endemic species during the day - Taiwan Hill Partridge, Swinhoe's Pheasant, Yellow Tit, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, White-whiskered Laughingthrush, Steere's Liocichla, Taiwan Barwing, White-eared Sibia and Taiwan Yuhina. Other non-endemic lifers included House Swift, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Large-billed Crow, Green-backed Tit, Rufous-faced Warbler, Black-throated Tit, Javan Myna, Vivid Niltava, White-tailed Robin, Little Forktail, Snowy-browed Flycatcher and Fire-breasted Flowerpecker. We couldn't get up the very top as the road had been wiped out in one section due to a rock slide which seem to be a regular occurrence in the hills here. This would mean that we would miss out on a few of the high elevation species at this location in particular Mikado Pheasant. My back has been acting up for the last three months and I found today's birding really tough. I was having difficultly walking by the end of the day, not fun :-( ! I thought it was from carrying the camera but I think it was simply because of the fact that I was spending so many hours on my feet. Thankfully it eased off after a few days but it was a real nuisance for a couple of days.