Tour Narrative
In Brief: It responded almost immediately with a couple of short bursts of song. We headed back up the road, gradually closing in on our quarry, which continued to sing, coming closer and closer and closer until, suddenly, there it was. This first view was brief, but it came back again and again, singing from deep in cover. Eventually it came right out and sat still, its rambling song full of eclectic mimicry. Stunning, absolutely stunning, and we knew at that moment that the title of “Bird of the Tour” was already in the bag. We’d just seen a male Firethroat, mid-slope on the mighty Balangshan Pass in Wolong National Park. Even without this magnificent sprite, we’d already had an excellent day, with no less than 12 Tibetan Snowcocks, seven Chestnut-throated Partridges scurrying across the road, two White Eared Pheasants, a Wood Snipe, and Rufous-tailed Babbler and Chinese Fulvetta down to almost the closest distance our binoculars would let us focus at. We were elated.
In Detail: This, our first Sichuan tour since the Wenchuan earthquake of 2008, was an unmitigated success. We saw almost 290 species amid some of the most dramatic scenery on the earth, and enjoyed some of what’s arguably the best birding in the Middle Kingdom. We marveled at some truly spectacular wildflowers and exotic mammals, enjoyed good—sometimes even excellent—accommodation, and thrived on the more than ample supplies of delicious food.
The tour started with three full days on Roof Tile Mountain (Wawu Shan), where, in spite of the hundreds of other tourists taking a state-wide holiday, we managed to find almost all of our targets. Prime among these were the parrotbills that the mountain is so rightly famed for. Our first, and arguably best, encounter was with Fulvous, with one bird in particular coming way too close for us to focus on. Three-toed Parrotbill gave itself up in a similarly satisfying fashion and equally quickly, while the extraordinary views of another Chinese endemic, the rare and extremely local Gray-hooded Parrotbill, are sure to be among everyone’s lingering images of the tour.
Other goodies on Wawu Shan included a close-range Temminck’s Tragopan, a male Lady Amherst’s Pheasant that crossed the road in front of us twice, White-throated Needletails cruising effortlessly around the bamboo-strewn summit, several parties of Wedge-tailed Green Pigeons, Black Bazas carrying nesting material, several Fujian Niltavas, and both Chinese Blue and Snowy-browed Flycatchers. We also had particularly satisfying encounters with Golden Bush Robin, Little Forktail, the recently described Sichuan Treecreeper, several fine Slaty Buntings, Emei Shan Liocichla, and Spotted, Buffy (Rusty), and Red-winged Laughingthrushes.
Leaving Wawu, we had one night at the foot of mighty Emei Shan, where the best rarity was a Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher, probably only the second for Sichuan. Our next major port of call was Rilong near the mighty Four Sister’s Mountains (Siguniangshan); along the way, we enjoyed a few hours birding the edge of a Giant Panda sanctuary. With a pair of Chinese Bamboo Partridges, another Lady Amherst’s Pheasant, a couple of very obliging Ferruginous Flycatchers, and umpteen more Brown and Russet Bush Warblers, our spur-of-the-moment decision to stop there was clearly a good one.
This year we entered the world-famous Panda Reserve of Wolong from Rilong, driving up and over the mighty Balangshan Pass. It was here that we saw our ten Snow Partridges, our first strutting Tibetan Snowcocks and Snow Pigeons, a cracking male Grandala at close range, Alpine Accentors, and Plain-backed and Brandt’s Mountain Finches. We found our Red-fronted Rosefinches—said to be the world’s highest-breeding passerine—less than 20 yards from the vehicles, and our only Blue Sheep of the tour were also seen right from the road.
If the forest scenery at Wawu Shan had been impressive, it was fabulous at Wolong. Gorgeous old-growth forest fills the valleys here, while spectacularly jagged mountain peaks and rolling, flower-filled meadows dominate the higher elevations. The rich biota and almost traffic-free pass make this a nearly perfect birding road, giving quiet, trouble-free access to a variety of altitudes. Goodies we encountered this year at lower elevations included a couple of Darjeeling Woodpeckers, a Wood Snipe out in broad daylight, up to four Lammergeiers, two Golden Eagles, Kessler’s Thrushes galore, a fine male White-tailed Rubythroat, and a pair of Crimson-browed Finches.
A landslide slowed progress to our next base, Maerkang—but thanks to that delay, we saw a fly-by Cinnamon Bittern, then stumbled across an even better bird, a fine male Long-tailed Rosefinch. Moving on, we found even more goodies such as Blood Pheasant, Eurasian Three-toed and Black Woodpeckers, and a handful of Sichuan specialties, including our first Sichuan Tit, Sichuan Jay, and Three-banded Rosefinch near the summit of the next high-altitude pass, the Mengbi Shan. It was here, too, that we encountered our first Chinese Grouse—but it was a frustrating encounter, as just a couple of us heard its wing fluttering before an intense thunderstorm set in; fortunately, we went on to see this species on all three of our days at Jiuzhaigou.
We spent the next two nights in the attractive ethnically Tibetan town of Maerkang. On a daytrip from there, we found four Koklass Pheasants, five Long-tailed Thrushes and our first Chinese Thrush, two cracking Przewalsky’s Nuthatches, another Sichuan Jay, White-browed Tit Warbler, and a most unexpected Lesser Sand Plover.
The next afternoon, Ruddy Shelducks, Daurian Jackdaws, Black-necked Cranes, and Himalayan Marmots welcomed us to the Tibetan Plateau. We spent all of the following day in the splendid open spaces of the plateau, where we were rewarded with fantastic views of three different perched Saker Falcons, two species of snowfinch, and some cracking Red Foxes. We had views of Tibetan Lark, the world’s largest; Citrine Wagtails were wandering around the marshes, and the 50 additional Black-necked Cranes that we encountered included a pair on the nest and another pair with two small colts.
We came down from the plateau the next day and headed from Ruoergai to Jiuzhaigou. Goodies included umpteen Plain and a very cooperative pair of Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrushes, one or possibly two Wallcreepers, two Crested Tit Warblers, and quite a few Chinese Leaf Warblers.
Our final site, Jiuzhaigou (“Nine Village Valley”), is spectacular. The glistening turquoise and emerald pools and pristine sinuous lakes don’t hold many birds, but the forests certainly do. What’s more, in spite of the tens of thousands of visitors each day, it’s easy to escape the crowds. Within minutes of clambering off the bus we were totally alone, and not much later we were watching Chinese Nuthatches, Sooty and Rusty-breasted Tits, and David’s Bush Warblers. And eventually we all saw three elusive Rufous-headed Robins; Jiuzhaigou remains the only place on the planet to see this fabulous songster. On two of our days here, we saw another Chinese endemic, Spectacled Parrotbill, and it was at Jiuzhaigou that we finally cleaned up our views of Maroon-backed Accentor. A few of us also had a close encounter with an Asian Black Bear, as startled to see us as we were it. After our busy days in the field, it was nice to returned to the luxury of our five-star hotel just outside the park.
Historically remote and difficult to access, Sichuan is blessed with rich and varied ecosystems ranging from subtropical lowlands at the base of Emei Shan to cool temperate forests and alpine grasslands on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. And just as importantly, Sichuan is the heart of China’s astonishingly rich “endemic zone,” harboring about two-thirds of the country’s endemic birds. Sichuan offers the very best birding in the whole of China.
All the birds, superb mountain and forest scenery, equally delightful alpine meadows bursting with flowers, thousands upon thousands of feral yaks, and all those Phylloscopus warblers: we’d experienced some truly memorable days, in spectacular gorges and atop impressive passes. We’ll long remember the hillsides full of fluttering prayer flags and the tremendous hospitality we’d been shown throughout on this great tour.
- Paul Holt
Updated: July 2010