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      Taiwan                                  B2A Taiwan trip report -April 09

                                                                        

        Endemics & Black-faced Spoonbills

 

Sunday 4^th April – Sunday 11^th April 2010

Next tour 31 October - 7 November 2010.

  

Tour leader; Stijn De Win                                           Group size ; min. 3 – max. 6

 

Situated 200 km off the mainland China coast, the beautiful, safe and friendly island of

Taiwan offers some of the finest birding in Asia.

Our tour to Taiwan will focus on the 15 currently widely accepted endemics (Clements

6^th ) and all possible future splits.  This is a relatively short holiday but all the endemics

have been recorded in just 3 days in the past so we’ll have plenty of time to search for

them in a relaxed atmosphere.

There’s more than endemic taxa on offer though, with most of the tiny world population

of Black-faced Spoonbills wintering in the Tsengwen river estuary as well as some more

widely ranging but highly-prized species, Vinaceous Rosefinch, White-bellied Green

Pigeon, Rufous-faced Warbler and Pale Thrush, just to name a few.

The rugged mountains of the interior make for some of the most stunning scenery in

Asia, the food is great and people friendly.

 

  

White-whiskered Laughingthrush                                                                            Alpine Accentor

 

Tour itinerary

 

Sunday

Evening arrival at Taipei international airport.  A short drive will see us at our

hotel in Chungli for dinner.

 

Monday

After breakfast we’ll drive for 2 hours to the famous Dasyueshan Forest where

we bird the rest of the day to see our first endemics and more.  Besides our first

chance to see Mikado Pheasant we should easily pick up Steere’s Liochicla,

Formosan Whistling Thrush, White-eared Sibia, Collared Bush Robin and Yellow

Tit amongst others.

We spend the night in Dongshih, just down the mountain, in our luxury hotel.

(see photos on this page)

 

Tuesday

An early start will see us at Huisun Forest Reserve which is an excellent site to

see the stunning Formosan Magpie, Birding2asia’s favourite Taiwan endemic.

Swinhoe’s Pheasant, Yellow and Varied Tit, Taiwan Partridge, Chinese Bamboo

Partridge and Collared Finchbill are some of the regular goodies at the site.

After lunch we will bird at our first site in the Wushe area, Chun Yang

experimental Farm which is a site for Rusty Laughingthrush, Vinous-throated

Parrotbill, Hwamei and Japanese Bush Warbler.

Hotel near Wushe.

 

Wednesday

We spend the morning and afternoon on the famous Pipeline and Blue Gate trails

with a visit to some higher areas at the HehuanPass at noon.

Targets for the day will include Swinhoe’s Pheasant, Taiwan Barwing, White-

bellied Green Pigeon, Grey Bullfinch, White-whiskered Laughingthrush and

Vinaceous Rosefinch.

Same hotel near Wushe.

 

Thursday

Full morning birding at Bedongyueshan, the best spot for Swinhoe’s Pheasant

and Taiwan Partridge. 

A 2,5 hours drive will see us birding in YushanNational Park in the evening.

The Youth Activity Centre near Alishan is where we’ll get some very nice rooms

and dinner.

 

Friday

Full morning birding in Yushan NP with another good chance for Mikado

Pheasant.  Golden Parrotbill and Flamecrest are regular in the park.

In the afternoon we travel to Chiali for the night.

 

Saturday

Birding the Tsengwen river estuary for Black-faced Spoonbills, waders and ducks

in the morning, then drive 2,5h to Kenting where we bird the Kenting Forest Park

where Styan’s Bulbul is common.

Hotel in Kenting.

 

Sunday

In the early morning we visit Longluan lake, an excellent stake-out for (Taiwan)

Hwamei. 

A long drive with some birding stops en-route will see us back at the airport in

Taipei for our evening flight.

Depending on flight schedules we might have time to visit Guandu Nature Park

and the nearby temple as well.

 

General info : Comfortable accommodation in high standard hotels with private

facilities. Transport by air-conditioned minibus.  Walking is easy and

most birding is done on level roadside/tracks/trails, but the occasional

steeper trail might get us to the best birds.  Weather is mostly pleasant

at this time of the year, but it can be cold early morning in the mountains. 

It is usually dry this time of the year but an occasional shower can be expected.

 

                     

Taiwan has marvellous forests                                        and magnificent mountain views.

 

        

Your en-suite                                              hotel room.

 

    

Formosan Macaque -Yushan NP.                          Taiwan Blue Magpie -Huisun Forest Reserve.

 

    

Sun Moon Lake makes for a nice stop en-route.     Taiwan Bush Warbler - Hehuan Pass.

 

   

Black-faced Spoonbills                                         Scaly Thrush

 

All photos by Stijn De Win