Charles had arranged for Laolin of Nanchang to show us around so I joined him on this short birding trip to SE-China in August 2009, focused mainly to see Cabot’s Tragopan at Wuyishan. Our trip coincided with 3 days of constant rain while we were up Huanggang Shan but this didn’t keep us from seeing 4 species of Pheasant inclusive the odd 10+ Tragopan sightings and an unexpected male Elliot’s Pheasant (we were given 5% chance on it), with both males Koklass and Silver Pheasant very nice additions. I added an extra day at Poyang Hu to the trip, which got me a fifth pheasant species, Common Pheasant.
Logistics for this trip have been described in the 2007 trip report by John&Jemi Holmes so I won’t repeat them here, see their report. http://johnjemi.hk/
Day accounts - itinerary
7 Aug; Evening flight Bangkok to Guanzhou on AirAsia. Overnight at Pullman airport hotel.
8 Aug; Morning flight to Nanchang and met by Laolin at arrivals for the 6,5 hour drive to the reserve HQ. A couple hours were left for some initial birding with Brown Dipper, Crested Kingfisher and Chinese Bamboo Partridge the best finds.
9 Aug; Heavy rain and windy conditions kept us in the car for most of the day but as driving up and down the track is actually the best tactic to see the Tragopans, it gave us our first sightings of 3 females and a male perched up in a roadside tree. Near the summit we got a male Koklass Pheasant for good looks and plenty Rosy Pipits.
10 Aug; An excellent start to the day with a sighting of a male Elliot’s Pheasant 1km below the reserve entrance gate. Further up 2 male Cabot’s Tragopan put a show up for us on the track where we could watch them for about 20 minutes and where able to leave the car and approach fairly close allowing for 116! photos to be taken by me. In rainy and misty conditions though, this resulted in just about 10 good photos, the best of which you can see on this page.
As it wasn’t that windy today we could do some birding on foot along the track, with our umbrella’s of good use. A few nice mixed flocks were encountered. Best birds seen Ferruginous Flycatcher, Green Shrike Babbler, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Yellow-browed Tit, Fork-tailed Sunbird and Brown Bullfinch.
11 Aug; A slow start today and still raining. We saw some endangered Stump-tailed Macaques and a Tufted Deer to make up for the lack of birds. Later in the day we got a male Silver Pheasant and again a couple Tragopan sightings with a female allowing for photographs to be taken.
Near the summit Buff-throated Warblers and a group Vinous-throated Parrotbills were nice and lots Asian Martins were nest building both in abandoned buildings on the summit and on cliff faces along the track. Other nice birds seen included Small Niltava, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler, and Black-chinned Yuhina. A Russet Bush Warbler was singing in the higher part along the track.
In the bamboo area below the gate a female Koklass Pheasant and Barred Cuckoo Dove were seen. A perched Besra allowed for excellent looks.
12 Aug; A short morning walk from the HQ up in the bamboo zone produced plenty Chinese Bamboo Partridges, a few Rufous-faced Warblers, Chestnut Bulbul and another group Vinous-throated Parrotbill.
En-route back to Nanchang we saw a single Masked Laughingthrush, a perched Mountain Hawk Eagle and a pair Red-billed Blue Magpie. A stop at a pond produced a Pheasant-tailed Jacana with 3 tiny chicks and a few Red-billed Starlings.
13 Aug; Charles had left yesterday for work in Korea so just Laolin an myself went for an extra day at Poyang Hu. This is a vast area of lakes and marshes and an important wintering ground for 3 species of Cranes and Oriental Stork. This birds are absent in mid-summer of course and it was very hot with over 35 degrees Celsius. Best birds seen today were Common Pheasant, White-browed Laughingthrush, Pale Sand Martin, both Yellow and Cinnamon Bittern and plenty Red-billed Starlings and Grey-headed Lapwings.
Late afternoon flight back to Guanzhou and late evening flight to Bangkok.
The full report including plenty of photos is posted here; http://www.birding2asia.com/TripReports/ChinaWuyishanAug09.html
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Chinese Pond-Heron Ardeola bacchus
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Striated Heron Butorides striata
Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis
Cinnamon Bittern Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
Besra Accipiter virgatus
Mountain Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus nipalensis
Chinese Bamboo-Partridge Bambusicola thoracica Near-endemic
Cabot's Tragopan Tragopan caboti Vulnerable (VU) Country endemic
At least 6 different birds seen, incl. 3 males. Sightings on approx. 10 occasions
Koklass Pheasant Pucrasia macrolopha
male near summit, female before entrance gate
Silver Pheasant Lophura nycthemera
male near summit
Elliot's Pheasant Syrmaticus ellioti Vulnerable (VU) Country endemic
1 male seen in forest below entrance gate
Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
5-10 Poyang Hu
White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus
Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio
Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus
Oriental Pratincole Glareola maldivarum
Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus
few en-route Wuyishan, common Poyang Hu
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus
Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida
Oriental Turtle-Dove Streptopelia orientalis
Red Collared-Dove Streptopelia tranquebarica
Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis
Barred Cuckoo-Dove Macropygia unchall
Hodgson's Hawk-Cuckoo Cuculus nisicolor
possibly this species seen briefly
Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis
Lesser Coucal Centropus bengalensis
Fork-tailed Swift Apus pacificus
House Swift Apus nipalensis
Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis
Crested Kingfisher Megaceryle lugubris
Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis
Blue-throated Bee-eater Merops viridis
Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis
Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops
3 seen Poyang Hu
Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major
or White-backed seen in flight
Lesser Yellownape Picus chlorolophus
Pale Sand Martin Riparia diluta
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Asian Martin Delichon dasypus
Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica
Rosy Pipit Anthus roseatus
White Wagtail Motacilla alba
Gray Wagtail Motacilla cinerea
Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike Coracina melaschistos
Gray-chinned Minivet Pericrocotus solaris
Collared Finchbill Spizixos semitorques Near-endemic
Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis
Mountain Bulbul Ixos mcclellandii
Chestnut Bulbul Hemixos castanonotus Near-endemic
Brown Dipper Cinclus pallasii
Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush Monticola rufiventris
Blue Whistling-Thrush Myophonus caeruleus
Eurasian Blackbird Turdus merula
Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis
Plain Prinia Prinia inornata
Brownish-flanked Bush-Warbler Cettia fortipes
Yellowish-bellied Bush-Warbler Cettia acanthizoides
possibly this species seen, but altitude low with 1000m asl
Russet Bush-Warbler Bradypterus seebohmi
heard only
Buff-throated Warbler Phylloscopus subaffinis
White-tailed Leaf-Warbler Phylloscopus davisoni ogilviegranti
Bianchi's Warbler Seicercus valentini
Seen at higher altitude (+1800m)
White-spectacled Warbler Seicercus affinis
All seicercus warblers below the 'lunch' house (1800m) most probably this species.
Chestnut-crowned Warbler Seicercus castaniceps
Rufous-faced Warbler Abroscopus albogularis
A few near the accommodation
Ferruginous Flycatcher Muscicapa ferruginea
1 seen
Small Niltava Niltava macgrigoriae
several seen, male and female
Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis
Guanzhou airport only
Plumbeous Redstart Rhyacornis fuliginosa
Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus
Grey Bushchat Saxicola ferreus
Masked Laughingthrush Garrulax perspicillatus Near-endemic
1 seen en-route, more heard
Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush Garrulax pectoralis
White-browed Laughingthrush Garrulax sannio
A pair seen Poyang Hu
Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus ruficollis
1 seen and 1 more heard
Pygmy Wren-Babbler Pnoepyga pusilla
heard only
Red-billed Leiothrix Leiothrix lutea
very common
White-browed Shrike-Babbler Pteruthius flaviscapis
Green Shrike-Babbler Pteruthius xanthochlorus
Only 1 seen
Striated Yuhina Yuhina castaniceps
Black-chinned Yuhina Yuhina nigrimenta
White-bellied Yuhina Yuhina zantholeuca
Vinous-throated Parrotbill Paradoxornis webbianus
2 groups + 1 single bird seen
Black-throated Tit Aegithalos concinnus
Coal Tit Periparus ater
Great Tit Parus major
Yellow-browed Tit Sylviparus modestus
Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea
Fork-tailed Sunbird Aethopyga christinae
only 1 seen
Fire-breasted Flowerpecker Dicaeum ignipectum
Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus
Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus
1 only Poyang Hu
Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach
Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus
Red-billed Blue Magpie Urocissa erythrorhyncha
Seen twice en-route near Wuyishan
Crested Myna Acridotheres cristatellus
Black-collared Starling Gracupica nigricollis
Red-billed Starling Sturnus sericeus
Few en-route but common near Nanchang and at Poyang Hu
Nutmeg Mannikin Lonchura punctulata
Brown Bullfinch Pyrrhula nipalensis
Several seen
Total number of birds: 111