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      Taiwan                                           B2A Taiwan trip reports;

                                                      April '09 / April '10 / Nov. '10 / April '11

 

        Endemics & Fairy Pitta

  

Monday 30 April - Wednesday 9 May 2012             Guaranteed departure, 3 places available

  

Tour leader; Stijn De Win                                                      Group size ; max. 6

 

Situated 200 km off the mainland China coast, Taiwan is a beautiful, safe and friendly

island which offers some of the finest birding in Asia.

Our tour to Taiwan will focus on the many superb endemics and all possible future splits. 

There’s more than endemic taxa on offer though, as Taiwan is one of the best places to

see Fairy Pitta and most of the tiny world population of Black-faced Spoonbills winters

in the Tsengwen river estuary (608 present during our November 2010 tour, which is

over 1/3 of the total population). Besides these, there's also a host of some more

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

Pigeon, Rufous-faced Warbler, Pale Thrush, Ferruginous Flycatcher, White-backed WP...

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

Asia, the roads are good, the food and accommodation is great and people friendly.

 

  

Swinhoe's Pheasant                                                                                      Maroon [Red] Oriole

 

Tour itinerary

            

Day 1

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

hotel in Chungli for dinner.

 

Day 2

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 Swinhoe's Pheasant we should easily pick up Steere’s Liochicla,

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

Tit, Flamecrest, Taiwan Yuhina, Taiwan Scimitar Babbler, Dusky Fulvetta...

We spend the night in Dongshih, just down the mountain.

 

Day 3 + 4

Full days birding Dasyueshan (Anmashan) where we visit the different habitats

and ever changing birdlife at various altitudes. We have a first good chance on

finding Mikado Pheasant and others to look for include Golden Parrotbill, Taiwan

Bush Warbler, White-whiskered Laughingthrush, White-backed Woodpecker,

Scaly Thrush, Rusty Laughingthrush, White-browed Robin, Taiwan Barwing...

           

Day 5

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

find the stunning Taiwan Blue Magpie, Birding2asia’s favourite Taiwan endemic.

Malayan Night Heron, Red Oriole, 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, Taiwan Hwamei and Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler.

Hotel near Wushe.

 

Day 6

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

with a visit to some higher areas at the Hehuan Pass in Taroko NP at noon.

Targets for the day will include Alpine Accentor, Taiwan Barwing, White-

bellied Green Pigeon, Brown Bullfinch, Ferruginous Flycatcher, Flamecrest,

Vinaceous Rosefinch, Taiwan Wren Babbler and Taiwan Shortwing.

Same hotel near Wushe.

 

Day 7

Birding at Bedongyueshan, the best spot for Swinhoe’s Pheasant,

Taiwan Partridge and Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler.

A mid-day drive will see us birding in Yushan National Park in the evening.

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

and dinner.

 

Day 8

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

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

Collared Bush Robins and White-whiskered LT are everywhere and Yushan also

is a good place for Vinaceous Rosefinch, Beavan's Bullfinch and Taiwan Bush

Warbler. In the afternoon we travel to Chiali for the night.

 

Day 9

Birding the Tsengwen river estuary in the early morning for waders and more.

We then move on to Kenting where we bird Longluan lake where Styan’s Bulbul is

common and this is also a good stake-out for Taiwan Hwamei and Taiwan Bamboo

Partridge. We might also bird the Kenting Forest Park, a beautiful area and famous

for it's Grey-faced Buzzard migration. Late afternoon return to Chiali town.

 

Day 10

Today we will have ample time for birdwatching in Huben and surroundings.

Fairy Pitta is the star attraction here and our main target. Other good birds in the area include Taiwan Scimitar Babbler, Malayan Night Heron, Besra, Collared Finchbill,

Taiwan Partridge, Oriental Cuckoo, Taiwan Barbet and Dusky Fulvetta.

In the afternoon we return to the airport in Taipei for our evening flights.

 

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. Weather is mild and mostly

pleasant, but it can be chilly in the early morning in the mountains. Fog is always

a possibility in the mountains and some rain can be expected. 

Excellent photographic opportunities are a feature on this tour.

 

                     

Taiwan has marvellous forests                                        and magnificent mountain views.

 

 

Taiwan Yuhina -Blue gate track Wushe.               Malayan Night Heron -Chuchan Botanical Garden.

 

        

Your en-suite                                              hotel room.

 

    

Taiwan Partridge -Dasyueshan                                                       Mikado Pheasant -Anmashan

 

    

Flamecrest - Anmashan                                          Collared Finchbill - Chung Yang Farm Wushe

 

   

Black-faced Spoonbills                                                                                         Scaly Thrush

 

All photos on this page are taken by Stijn De Win on our previous trips which featured excellent

photographic opportunities time after time.

Please find plenty more Taiwan photos in our tour reports; 2009  2010/April  2010/Nov.  2011