China (Beijing and Sichuan Province) Mid-August and early-september, 2012

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1 Enjoy the nature beauties of China with PARROTBILL Parrotbill Nature Tour Address: Room 1701, No.28 Shang Chi Zheng Road, Chengdu City, Sichuan province, P. R. China Phone: Website: China (Beijing and Sichuan Province) Mid-August and early-september, 2012 Compiled by Pat Moore Leader: Zhu Lei (Beijing), Yang Xiao-nong (Sichuan)

2 Summary China 2012 (Beijing and Sichuan Province) A four week trip to China in the summer of 2012 afforded me the opportunity to visit family and friends as well as to enjoy some birding. While I had been to China on several occasions in the past, my birding on those trips was not overly successful. Therefore for this trip I arranged the assistance of two excellent guides that accompanied me on my birding expeditions in Beijing and Sichuan Province. Even though the trip occurred at a rather poor time of the year (i.e. summer breeding, prior to any major migratory movements), I was quite pleased with the species that we managed to find in the rather limited time I had available for birding. The birding in Beijing was with Zhu Lei (Robbi), who is in the process of finishing his PhD on the Sichuan Treecreeper at the Chinese Academy of Science at that time (now he is locate in Chengdu). Robbi can be contacted at robbi@birdtour.cn or The birding in Sichuan Province was with Yang Xiao-nong, who just recently completed his Masters Degree in bird artistry at a university in Sichuan Province. Robbi is fluent in English, while Xiao-nong s has passable English and knows all the bird names in English. Both were excellent guides as well as companions during my birding and I would highly recommend both to those visiting Beijing or Sichuan Province. Itinerary August 18 th, 2012 Beijing Olympic Forest Park (Beijing) August 20 th, 2012 DuFu s Thatched Cottage (Chengdu, Sichuan Province)) August 21 st, 2012 Labahe Nature Reserve (Sichuan Province) August 22 nd, 2012 Labahe Nature Reserve (Sichuan Province) August 23 rd, 2012 Labahe Nature Reserve, Travel to Mt. Emei (Sichuan Province) August 24 th, 2012 Mt. Emei (Sichuan Province) August 25 th, 2012 Mt. Emei (Sichuan Province) August 28 th, 2012 Qinglong Lake (Chengdu, Sichuan Province) September 6 th, 2012 Beijing Botanical Gardens (Beijing) Daily Account August 18 th, 2012 I met Robbi at the entrance to Beijing Olympic Forest Park and we spent the next three hours or so birding this large park that was established in conjunction with the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The park has several ponds with accompanying vegetation, making it an excellent spot for bitterns. We saw a few Yellow Bitterns flying by at close distance as well as one Cinnamon Bittern. The two most common Reed-Warblers in the park are the Oriental Reed Warbler and Black-browed Reed-Warbler. We saw a few Oriental s, but dipped on the Black-browed. The remaining species seen were common Beijing residents, although the Eurasian Cuckoo was a lifer. 1

3 August 20 th, 2012 Cici and I met Xian-nong in Chengdu and we proceeded to DuFu s Thatched Cottage, a nice oasis in the city. The park closes at 6:00 PM, so by the time we arrived we only have about 2 hours to explore. The White-browed Laughingthrush is quite common in the park and we must have seen over 10 individuals. We came across a flock of Vinous-throated Parrotbills as well as a pair of Black-throated Tits and a female Asian Paradise Flycatcher. The best bird however, a lifer for Xiao-nong, was the Black-winged Cuckooshrike. Leaving the park we saw a flock of Red-rumped Swallow s flying overhead. August 21 st, 2012 The original plan was to visit WawuShan, however it had been closed all year for various improvements. Robbi recommended an alternative with similar avifauna being Labahe Nature Reserve which is approximately a 5 hour drive from Chengdu. Labahe has a beautiful forest and stream running through the reserve, however the best part of the reserve was the almost complete lack of people. During the 2 days there we came across perhaps 5 people on the trails. After arriving at Labahe around 2:00 PM, we explored one of the two main trails this one winding its way up the mountain. An exciting few hours of Sichuan birding seeing species in new families such as White-collared Yuhina, Golden-breasted Fulvetta and Gray-hooded Fulvetta, Elliot s Laughingthrush, Pygmy Wren-Babbler and Rufous-capped Babbler. The stream flowing through the park is home to several White-capped Water-Redstarts and even more Plumbeous Water-Redstarts. A few Spotted Nutcrackers and a flock of Long-tailed Minivets were seen right at the top of the trail at its highest elevation. However the bird of the day was the male Lady Amherst s Pheasant that we saw on the road as we were travelling down the mountain near dusk. That night we saw a female Sambar Deer come to drink from the small pool that can be seen from the dining room of the main hotel in the park. August 22 nd, 2012 A full day at Labahe, with the day spent mostly birding along the road and trail that follows the stream above the main hotel. There was quite a lot of activity along the road/trail, especially just beyond the small cluster of buildings and where you cross the stream. We saw a few new species of warbler, including Largebilled Leaf-Warbler, Bianchi s Warbler and Blyth s Leaf-Warbler. Just beyond the stream crossing we saw several good thrushes and flycatchers, for instance Indian Blue Robin, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher, Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher and Rufous-bellied Niltava. Other key birds seen during the day were Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker, Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler, Red-billed Leiothrix, Collared Finchbill and Himalayan Swiftlet as well as both key tit species in the park Green-backed Tit and Yellow-bellied Tit. August 23 rd, 2012 We had arranged the previous day to drive up to the top of the trail (which winds it way up the mountain). This is where the key species in the park are the parrotbills and laughingthrushes. The birding was slow this morning with more Grayhooded Fulvetta s, Elliot Laughingthrush s and Long-tailed Minivet s seen. However the best bird observed was the flock of Brown Parrotbill s that was seen near the top of the trail. Around 11:00 AM we departed Labahe for the long drive to EmeiShan. 2

4 August 24 th, 2012 EmeiShan is one of the four sacred Chinese mountains in the Buddhist religion and consequently is inundated with people. As such, most birding tours do not visit EmeiShan, despite the fact that it is still a very good destination for birding. The whole day was spent at EmeiShan, although a good portion of the morning was dedicated to actually travelling to the top of the mountain (along with the thousands of other people) as well as visiting the very impressive temple that is present at the top. Once we got down to birding, we saw several new species of warbler at the top, for instance Green Warbler, Buff-barred Warbler and Sichuan Leaf-Warbler. The Rufous-vented Tit was seen as well as looks at the male of both the Vinaceous Rosefinch and Dark-breasted Rosefinch. We walked down (several hundred or thousand steps) from the top of the mountain to the lower tram station. Little bird activity but we did come across a small flock of EmeiShan Liocichla s and got o.k. views of them. At the bottom tram station we walked around and got a great look at a Yellowbrowed Tit and a brief view of the Ashy-throated Warbler. August 25 th, 2012 We again took the tram to the top of EmeiShan and found a new trail away from the throng of people. The new trail resulted in two new warblers, being the Grey-sided Bush-Warbler and Buff-throated Warbler. In the same area that we explored the previous day we saw the unique sub-species of Coal Tit, Chestnut Thrush and fantastic views of a Grey-headed Bullfinch. In the early afternoon we started the trek back to Chengdu. August 28 th, 2012 Returning from primarily a non-birding trip to Jiuzhaigou, Xiaonong accompanied Cici and I to Qinglong Lake, a lake/marshy area in Chengdu. We only had about 2-3 hours to explore before we had to head for the airport and our flight back to Beijing. The main target at Qinglong Lake was the Pheasant-tailed Jacana, which we did manage to see as well as around 4 flying Watercock. Other new birds for the trip included Black Drongo, Chinese Sparrowhawk and some common waterbirds. September 6 th, 2012 Just prior to heading back to Toronto, I met up again with Robbi to visit the Beijing Botanical Gardens, which we had visited in These are very beautiful gardens with a good range of birds. The gardens are better in the winter, however we did manage to see the three main Beijing woodpeckers Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker and Great-spotted Woodpecker. We also got great views of the near-endemic Chinese Nuthatch as well as Arctic Warbler and Yellow-browed Warbler. Species List (See Below) 3

5 China Trip List (August-September, 2012) Species (Common Name) Species (Scientific Name) Location Lady Amherst s Pheasant Chrysolophus amherstiae L Mallard Anas platyrhynchos B Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus G Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major G Grey-headed Woodpecker Picus canus G Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis L Common Hoopoe Upupa epops Q Eurasian Cuckoo Cuculus canorus B Himalayan Swiftlet Collocalia brevirostris L Speckled Wood-Pigeon Columba hodgsonii L Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis G Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis D, G Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus Q Watercock Gallicrex cinerea Q Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus Q Oriental Honey-Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus L Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis Q Common Buzzard Buteo buteo L Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis B, Q Little Egret Egretta garzetta L, Q Great Egret Casmerodius albus Q Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis Q Grey Heron Ardea cinerea Q Chinese Pond-Heron Ardeola bacchus B, Q Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis B Cinnamon Bittern Ixobrychus cinnamomeus B Red-billed Blue-Magpie Urocissa erythrorhyncha L, G Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus B, G Black-billed Magpie Pica Pica B, G Spotted Nutcracker Nucifraga caryocatactes L Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos L Black-winged Cuckooshrike Coracina melaschistos D Long-tailed Minivet Pericrocotus ethologus L Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus Q Asian Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi D Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher Culicicapa ceylonensis L Brown Dipper Cinclus pallasii L Blue Whistling-Thrush Myophonus caeruleus L Eurasian Blackbird Turdus merula D Chestnut Thrush Turdus rubrocanus E Indian Blue Robin Luscinia brunnea L Plumbeous Water-Redstart Rhyacornis fuliginosus L White-capped Water-Redstart Chaimarrornis leucocephalus L Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher Ficedula strophiata L Red-throated (Taiga) Flycatcher Ficedula parva G Verditer Flycatcher Eumyias thalassina L 4

6 Rufous-bellied Niltava Niltava sundara L Crested Myna Acridotheres cristatellus L Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea L Chinese Nuthatch Sitta villosa G Coal Tit Parus ater E Yellow-bellied Tit Parus venustulus L Great Tit Parus major G Green-backed Tit Parus monticolus L Yellow-browed Tit Sylviparus modestus E Marsh Tit Parus palustris G Rufous-vented Tit Parus rubidiventris E Black-throated Tit Aegithalos concinnus D Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica B Red-rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica D Asian House Martin Delichon dasypus L Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis B, Q Collared Finchbill Spizixos semitorques L Yellowish-bellied Bush-Warbler Cettia acanthizoides L Buff-throated Warbler Phylloscopus subaffinis E Grey-sided Bush-warbler Cettia brunnifrons E Oriental Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orientalis B Ashy-throated Warbler Phylloscopus maculipennis E Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus G Arctic Warbler Phylloscopus borealis G Buff-barred Warbler Phylloscopus pulcher E Sichuan Leaf-warbler Phylloscopus forresti E Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochiloides E Large-billed Leaf-Warbler Phylloscopus magnirostris L, E Blyth s Leaf-Warbler Phylloscopus reguloides L Bianchi s Warbler Seicercus valentine L White-browed Laughingthrush Garrulax sannio D, Q Elliot s Laughingthrush Garrulax elliotii L Emei-Shan Liocichla Liocichla omeinsis E Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus ruficollis L Pygmy Wren Babbler Pnoepyga pusilla L Rufous-capped Babbler Stachyris ruficeps L Red-billed Leiothrix Leiothrix lutea L Golden-breasted Fulvetta Alcippe chrysotis L Grey-hooded/Streak-throated Fulvetta Alcippe cinereiceps L White-collared Yuhina Yuhina diademata L, E Brown Parrotbill Paradoxornis unicolor L Vinous-throated Parrotbill Paradoxornis webbianus D, Q Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus L Yellow-bellied Flowerpecker Dicaeum melanoxanthum L Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus B, G White Wagtail Motacilla alba L, Q, G Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea L Grey-capped Greenfinch Carduelis sinica B Dark-breasted Rosefinch Carpodacus nipalensis E Vinaceous Rosefinch Carpodacus vinaceus E 5

7 Mammals Grey-headed Bullfinch Pyrrhula erythaca E Note: L = Labahe; E = EmeiShan; B = Beijing Olympic Forest Park; D = DuFu s Cottage; G = Beijing Botanical Garden; Q = Qinglong Lake (Chengdu) Sambar Deer (Labahe); Tibetan Macaque (EmeiShan); Swinhoe s Striped Squirrel (Labahe) 6