Paul Holt on his just-completed tour to Taiwan

With a dozen birds seen, and seen spectacularly well, Swinhoe's Pheasant easily topped the end of tour bird of the trip poll.

The magnificent Swinhoe's Pheasant.

We saw all of Taiwan's 24 endemic species and all bar a handful of its endemic subspecies. Highlights included close range and prolonged looks at both Taiwan Partridge and Mikado Pheasant, some superbly obliging Taiwan Blue Magpies, Taiwan Wren Babblers in the telescope, Taiwan Barwings nest building, such vividly coloured Flamecrests that they genuinely appeared to be on fire, over

The superb Taiwan Blue Magpie

100 Black-faced Spoonbills and several day-time Malayan Night Herons and Cinnamon Bitterns.

Malayan Night Heron

Large numbers of shorebirds included over 550 Pacific Golden Plovers on a single salt pan, Little Curlew, large numbers of Red-necked and 13 Little Stints as well as over 70 Broad-billed Sandpipers. Our success rate with Fairy Pitta continued - we saw three and heard another bird this year as did our good fortune in encountering rarities with a lugens White Wagtail being out of place on Lanyu Island as, perhaps, were several vocalising Japanese Leaf Warblers. We even successfully twitched the country's first Siberian Crane...

Taiwan's first Siberian White Crane...

...must have been very well treated,

All that as well as some great food, great weather, lots of laughs and a real insight into Taiwanese culture.

The "door man" at the scops owl temple.

It was a great trip!