Paul Holt from his just-concluded tour, China: Lhasa and the Tibetan Plateau

This year's tour was superbly memorable encountering a wide variety of awesome birds and mammals amidst truly spectacular 'Roof of the World' surroundings. We saw almost all of our target species with highlights including a cooperative, but typically brief, Chinese Grouse; a spectacular performance from several Przevalski's Partridges; superb looks at both Tibetan Eared and up to 16 Blue Eared Pheasants; majestic Black-necked Cranes on no less than four days; four Amur and up to 13 Saker Falcons in a single day; a prolonged encounter with a family of Henderson's Ground Jays; Ground Tits galore; great looks both Mongolian and Tibetan Larks; White-browed Tit-warbler and more Phylloscopus warblers such as Gansu, Smoky Tickell's and Alpine Leaf than you could shake a stick at; Guldenstadt's Redstart; a complete haul of the region's snowfinches; Mongolian Finch, six species of rosefinch including Pink-rumped and Tibetan and all of Tibet's endemics with Brown-cheeked Laughingthrush and Giant Babax both putting in superb appearances. 

For the umpteenth year we again saw the full set of Przevalski's Plateau birds - his partridge, nuthatch, redstart (arguably the prettiest member of the genus) and no less than seven of his finches - the latter a taxonomic enigma that was once a rosefinch then a bunting and now has its own family! 

We also reveled in some superb mammal encounters including five Tibetan and three Red Foxes, two Wolves, four wild Yaks, over 100 Kiang (also known by the less flattering name Tibetan Wild Ass), 800 Tibetan Gazelle in a single day & last, but certainly not least no less than 65 Tibetan Antelope. 

We watched birds against the stunning backdrop of the high altitude lake Qinghai Hu (Koko Nur to many), spent a fabulous day on the train to Lhasa (the highest elevation railway on the planet) and somehow also managed to fit in a full days sightseeing in Lhasa were we ventured in to the mighty Potala Palace! 

We have a ground agent that looks after us like no other and enjoyed superb food and good quality accommodation throughout. Its not an exaggeration to say this was a brilliant trip and a great insight into life in Tibet and on the 'Roof of the World'!

White-browed Tit-warbler

Przevalski's Finch

Stresemann's (Pink-rumped) Rosefinch

Potala Palace