B2A Taiwan 2012 Endemics and Black-faced Spoonbills, 12 - 21 November    Participants; John van der Woude and Nollie Marissen, Bill Glanz, Jürgen Lehnert    Anmashan, Huisun Forest Reserve, Wushe area, Tsengwen Estuary, Kenting and Yushan National Park

This may not be the first time I mention that November is an excellent time of the year to visit Taiwan and it would be hard to ignore that this tour proved as yet another confirmation of success on a November trip. As John does mention in his trip report (see link below) we notched up no less than 70 endemic taxa. Birders visiting Taiwan understandably are always eager to see as many endemics as possible on a trip and a short while before the tour started I was asked which would be the most tricky species to get on an autumn tour as compared with spring. The answer was easy enough as after so many trips one gets a good insight in what is possible on a trip during different times of the year; Taiwan Bush Warbler and Rusty Laughingthrush would be hardest to find. Anyway, a couple days into the trip and we had both firmly in the bag. I’ve copied comments from our bird list below this fine male Mikado Pheasant.   John made an excellent trip report from our tour. You're welcome to have a look on his website. Recommend! http://www.jvanderw.nl/tripreports/Taiwan2012/report.html

Mikado Pheasant, Anmashan

Taiwan Bush-Warbler  Bradypterus alishanensis  Country endemic One bird showed well (after much effort) on the same Anmashan stake-out we used in Nov. 2010. Taiwan Bush-Warblers are not singing and highly elusive out of the breeding season. Additionally they move to lower altitudes for the winter which makes trying at any of the familiar spots from spring-time to produce nothing. Once a winter site is known things turn feasible again and we even got our bird into some bits of song after playback.   Rusty Laughingthrush  Garrulax poecilorhynchus  Country endemic We encountered a group of about 10 to 15 birds at Anmashan. As compared with the spring time this is one of the more tricky species to find in November for the simple fact that it is easier to find a vocal pair in an area with a chance in 5 locations (10 birds spread out) than it would to find 1 group of 10 silently working through the vegetation.

Black-faced Bunting, Anmashan                                                Daurian Redstart, near Huisun FR

Black-faced Spoonbills, Tsengwen Estuary

Additionally, apart from all the endemics and the usual target species November proved to be quite interesting again with some good surprises/bonuses found. A pair of Taiwan Thrush (the immensely distinct Island Thrush of Taiwan, see photos in our Dec. trip) was probably best as this is one of the hardest to find birds on Taiwan. The time of year, late November, proves no stranger to our sighting…I had not seen them on 5 previous trips at other times of the year. Plenty other Thrushes were encountered with migration still going on. A female Japanese Thrush found on the Hehuan Pass came as a nice surprise as it is a rare passage migrant on Taiwan. Further bonuses that won’t easily appear on a late spring trip included Manchurian Bush Warbler, Dusky Warbler, Grey-streaked Flycatcher, Daurian Redstart, Hawfinch, Siberian Rubythroat, Black-faced Bunting and last but not least Saunders’ Gull.

Swinhoe’s Pheasant                            -Anmashan-                                  Taiwan Tit

Our group at Yushan NP                                                                Yushan mountain scenery

Of course all of the above mentioned does not mean that we didn’t enjoy the classic Taiwan endemics and specialities. Some great sightings that we truly enjoyed were of Mikado Pheasant and Swinhoe’s Pheasant; I’m sure you’ll note that from the photos both on this page and in John’s report. Further highlights included Taiwan Blue Magpie, both Scimitar Babblers, Taiwan Tit, Vinaceous Rosefinch, both Bullfinches, of course the Black-faced Spoonbills, White-eared Sibia, Steere’s Liocichla, Taiwan Whistling Thrush, Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush, Varied Tit, Maroon Oriole, White-shouldered Starling…

Lots of Thrushes this November (8 species seen), this is an Eye-browed.                      Formosan Macaque, Anmashan

Taiwan… Taiwan, always such excellent photo opportunities and it’s becoming a tradition for me to end up with more photos than I would really like to upload in our tour reports. I’m out of text but not out of photos… and so go our photo-report on and on… keep scroll down and further down and enjoy!

Malayan Night Heron, Huisun FR                                                           Taiwan Barbet, Wushe

Wushe

Grey-chinned Minivet, Anmashan                                                                                        Vinaceous Rosefinch, Hehuan Pass

Yushan National Park

Swinhoe’s Pheasant                Anmashan                       Vivid Niltava

Taiwan Bulbul, Kenting                                                        Eurasian Nuthatch, Anmashan

White-bellied Pigeon, Chung Yang Farm                                           Ready for the wing, Vivid Niltava

Malayan Night Heron, Huisun                                                       Believe it or not, the white stripe going through on the left                                                                                                              of the Scaly Thrush is the tail of a Swinhoe’s Pheasant!

Where the tea comes from! This one flowering.                           Taiwan may surprise and look nice just around every                                                                                                                    corner, this is ‘only’ a rest area along the freeway. Mikado Pheasant pair on Anmashan.

Our triplist.   Check our Taiwan reports; April 2009  /  April 2010  /  Nov. 2010  /  April 2011  /  May 2012  /  Nov. 2012  /  Dec. 2012