Sichuan Safari (on the sly) – November 2014

[kittykat23uk]

We stopped for lunch in Song Pan around 12.30. On the way to our overnight stop in Jiuzhaigou we stopped to find Preswalski's (white-cheeked) nuthatch, where we also saw common crossbill and Chinese nuthatch.

20141116_132210 Chinese bling by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_140807 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_140926 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_140934 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161851 Rufous-vented tit by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161892 Common crossbills by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161947 Chinese nuthatch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161952 Chinese nuthatch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161970 Chinese nuthatch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161998 Sooty tit by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB162002 Sooty tit by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB162011 Chinese nuthatch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB162018 grey-crested tit by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB162020 Grey-crested tit by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB162023 Coal tit by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_160717 Chinese weirdness by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_170001 Road to Jiuzhaigou by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_170244 Road to Jiuzhaigou by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Monday 17^th November.

We left Jiuzhaigou and headed over the mountain pass of A'ba. We stopped regularly to bird watch. Our first stop produced great spotted woodpecker, great parrotbill, grey-hooded fulvetta, Elliott's laughingthrush and dark-rumped rosefinch.

20141117_074937 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB172028 Great Parrotbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB172029 Grey-hooded fulvetta by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141117_095200 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

At our next stop we found a mixed flock of tits, including grey-crested, rufous-vented, sooty and coal tits. Nauman's, red throated thrush and goldcrest were also noted. I also finally managed to see Swinhoe's striped squirrel.

White-throated and blue-fronted redstarts, white-winged grosbeak, white-browed tit-warbler and Sichuan tits showed at our next stop.

20141117_111306 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141117_101345 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141117_111543 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141117_122636 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

We then stopped by the river at Ping Wu. Here we saw the usual birds, water redstarts, little forktail, wagtails and dippers. Then Ian spotted a small rat, which after consulting the mammals of China book, the description that best matched was Anderson's Niviventer. As I was filming the rodent Sid called out that he'd spotted a wallcreeper so I went over to take a look. Wallcreepers are always a delight to see and this one was making its way along a vertical rock-face.

Further along the river we picked up even more birds, including grey-headed greenfinch at a rubbish dump, a female mandarin duck, shoveller and several collared crows. We also had Hodgeson's redstart, russet sparrow, white-browed laughingthush and little bunting. I heard the distinctive call of an ibisbill and saw it briefly flying upstream. We also spotted long-billed plover and brown-breasted bulbul.

PB172051 Collared crow by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB172087 Plumbeous water redstart by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB172096 Russet Sparrow by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB172104 Oriental Turtle dove by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB172113 Brown-breasted bulbul by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB172118 red-billed leiothrix by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141117_164338 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

http://youtu.be/ebtZ7tIPjoQ

Finally at our last stop before we reached the hotel we added collared finchbill, white-collared yuhina, red-billed leiothrix and grey-headed woodpecker.

We arrived at the hotel, the only one where we had to put up with a squat toilet, and Sid offered to stay at the cheaper hotel next to ours (100 yuan vs 170 for our room) the main difference was that we had heating and Sid didn't. We could hear some very loud music emanating from the town. As we were getting settled in, he came knocking on our door asking for our passports and explaining that the police were downstairs and needed to check our visas. A little while late we got our passports back, apparently the issue was that the reception had entered the wrong details into the system. We at dinner in town and got a reasonably early night.

[kittykat23uk]

Tuesday 18^th November.

It was another grey day, as we were back in the Sichuan basin. We drove on to Tangjiahe park and had to wait for the staff to get up before we were able to purchase our permit to gain entry. The key species to find here is the Takin. We first spotted an eastern buzzard and a pretty little elegant bunting. The road leads from the entrance up to the hotel inside the park and runs along the bottom of a river valley with steep hills either side. A minibus driver stopped us and told Sid that there were two takin up on the mountainside not far away. We thanked him and carried on and were soon watching them grazing peacefully on the slope.

20141118_100119 Takin with a trident by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB182230 Little forktail by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB182241 White-capped water redstart by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Along the river we found the usual species, along with Pere David's squirrel, little forktail, and the large crested kingfisher. There is a road that leads up to the top of the mountain, which used to be accessible to self drivers staying in the park. This has changed since the last time Sid was her and unfortunately now you have to pay for a bus to take you up there as they no longer allow people to take their own cars. Sid was very reluctant for us to go, as he didn't feel that we should have to pay to get up there as we were staying in the park and so, given the cost, we didn't bother. We did take a short walk up the road instead, spotting green and white-browed shrike babblers, songar tit, David's fulvetta, green-backed and yellow-browed tits, Himalayan bluetail and great spotted woodpecker.

Arriving at the hotel for lunch, we checked in, but not before watching a single Tibetan macaque who was feeding on the rubbish bins nearby. We seemed to be the only people staying at this large complex. The accommodation here is formed of a number of two storey houses which contain several rooms each located around a central lawn. The main building holds the reception, restaurant and a small souvenir shop.

PB182302 Tibetan Macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

An ominous sign on the hotel grounds warns of wildebeests that come out at night. I think they mean Takin..

20141118_132522 Chinglish sign, By WIldebbeests I think they mean Takin! by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Later on Ian decided to take it easy whilst Sid and I went for a walk up past the hotel. We added red-billed blue magpies, grey-capped pygmy woodpecker and three pairs of mandarin ducks to the day's list.

PB182322 Pere David's squirrel by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB182355 Brown dipper by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB182389 waterfall Tangjiahe by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB182469 Mandarin ducks by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

After dinner, we were going to take a night drive, but were initially stopped in our tracks by two takin who were grazing on the lawn in front of reception, between us and the car. These takin are quite intimidating when seen up close and Sid and Ian were both understandably nervous of the animals, Ian and I retreated to the room, whilst Sid tentatively made his way to the car, he was soon driving round to pick us up.

PB182488 Takin by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

On our eventual drive we saw more takin, mainly on the right had side of the road in a meadow area on the way down.

PB182489 Takin by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Behind the takin we spotted the eyeshine of a smaller animal which, on closer inspection, turned out to be a lovely leopard cat that was stalking in the back of the meadow.

After we lost sight of the cat, we returned to the hotel and stopped to watch the takin. They were grazing peacefully for a time, until they were spooked by someone and started stampeding towards the car! Thankfully they veered off behind us and entered the forest up the hill.

We carried on and spotlighted on the side of the road overlooking the river. Here we briefly saw a Chinese serow in the cover of scrub. It was a nice male animal with a distinctive mane. Over the course of the evening we also racked up half a dozen Reeve's muntjac deer.

http://youtu.be/YW5J6nQJIBI

[kittykat23uk]

Wednesday 19^th November.

The weather still hadn't improved. We had a relatively late start this morning, and began with a drive, where we saw more takin up on the mountainside. Then we took a walk along the road where we were not allowed to drive. Here we found a white-capped forktail in the river, and a big flock of tiny red-headed warblers, along with striking black-throated tits and a bar-tailed treecreeper. A female Temmink's tragopan shot up the hill in front of me and Ian but that doesn't really count as it's not a male. We also saw a chestnut vented nuthatch, a scaly-breasted wren babbler, Himalayan bluetail and a flock of vinous-throated parrotbills and a red-throated woodpecker.

PB192490 Red-headed warbler by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192542 scaly-breasted wren babbler by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192556 Himalayan bluetail by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192559 Himalayan bluetail by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192581 Chestnut-vented nuthatch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192630 Blue-fronted redstart by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192645 red-throated woodpecker by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

We headed back to the hotel and stopped on the way to watch a massive troop of Tibetan macaques who were feeding on the road. Then we spotted a large wild boar. We could have stayed longer if it weren't for a grumpy park official who insisted that we move on. Apparently you're not supposed to stop and watch wildlife in a nature reserve!

PB192675 adj Tibetan Macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192681 adj Tibetan Macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192691 Wild boar by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

We had heard that a sick giant panda had been found in the reserve, but they would not allow tourists to view it. To be honest I was not at all bothered, knowing that we would soon be visiting a panda breeding centre, I didn't really want to see a sick and possibly dying panda after what we had witnessed earlier in the trip.

A big group of people had just arrived at reception and were quickly accosted by the lone macaque male, who was successful in stealing some bread from one of the unwary guests. The group then gathered round the monkey and proceeded to take photos of him with ipads and iphones. One girl got too close and he made a grab for her scarf. She thought it was so amusing that she deliberately goaded him into taking another swipe at her!

PB192705 Tibetan macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192751 Tibetan macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192754 Tibetan macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192760 Tibetan macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192765 Tibetan macaque & stupid person by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192772 Tibetan macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192777 Tibetan Macaque & stupid tourist by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192778 Tibetan Macaque & stupid tourist by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192779 Tibetan Macaque & stupid tourist by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Ian hadn't been impressed with the food the night before and so Sid had offered to drive into the nearby town and pick up a few things for us to cook lunch in our room. However, it was already nearly midday by the time we got back to our room and so by the time Sid got back from town it was approaching mid afternoon. By then I'd already eaten some snacks, but was happy to have a second lunch too. Sid then went for a short rest and Ian did the same, whilst I went to photograph one of my favourite birds, red-billed blue magpies, a whole flock of which were foraging on the grass just outside our room.

I followed the magpies across a rope bridge and behind the tennis court. Here I was delighted to spot a beautiful male golden pheasant. We all met up a little later and tried the same area again. Despite trying to draw out the pheasant with a recording, he didn't reappear.

20141119_131023 Chinese weirdness by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141119_130548 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141119_130904 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141119_130442 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141119_130203 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141119_131515 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192800 Red-billed blue magpie by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192823 Red-billed blue magpie by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192845 Red-billed blue magpie by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192921 Tibetan macaque by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192931 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB192958 golden pheasant by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141119_163722 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

After having short walk in the last hour or so of daylight we decided to eat at the restaurant before heading out on a night drive. Sid tried to order sweet and sour pork, and with the help of Meggie on the phone we were soon enjoying a passable sweet and sour chicken with rice and greens. It was much nicer than the meal we'd had the night before. The number of people in the hotel had also swelled since the previous day when we'd had the restaurant all to ourselves. There seemed to be some sort of large conference going on and we speculated that it might be journalists come to report on the sick panda.

Later on we headed out again to do some spotlighting. We first spotted a hog badger foraging by the side of the road. Then we stopped for takin and muntjacs at the meadow. The eyeshine betrayed a sitting leopard cat behind a tree and we watched her for a while before she slunk off into the night.

Finally we were on the way to the bins at the bus car park when we spotted an animal running down the road. Sid thought this was another leopard cat, but I managed to briefly get my binoculars on it and noted the dark tail and white face mask of the masked (Himalayan) palm civet. It was gone before we could get a better view but I was confident that that was what we saw. A wild boar on the meadow and a few more muntjac rounded off the night.

[Soukous]

love the golden pheasant.

I have a friend who keeps a whole range of exotic pheasants on his farm and I was amazed at how beautiful they are, given that I already think our common pheasant is beautiful anyway

[michael-ibk]

Agree, the pheasant is just stunning. Really admire your ability to get pics that good of all those tiny birds in the shrubbery!

[TonyQ]

@@kittykat23uk

The pheasant certainly is stunning!

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks all, we are down to our final few days now..

[Soukous]

Thanks all, we are down to our final few days now..

 

and @@BigBaldIan must be gasping for a pint

[kittykat23uk]

Not as much as I was, no cider or wine to speak of and the local fire water was best avoided!

[BigBaldIan]

Ah yes the local firewater, tried some of it and in my bunged up snotty state couldn't quite identify the potent sour fruity overtone. A couple of sips later it hit me...pear drops, ethyl acetate in your drink is really bad juju.

[kittykat23uk]

Thursday 20^th November.

Ian decided to take it easy first thing so Sid and I went for a walk in an area where officially you need a permit. However, we were lucky that when we arrived at the barrier there were some forest staff who were happy to let us in. We didn't really see an awful lot aside from another sick-looking Chinese goral by the side of the road, which we reported to the forest staff and a Pere David's rock squirrel.

PB203003 Sick Chinese Goral by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB203014 Pere David's rock squirrel by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB203015 Pere David's rock squirrel by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB203031 adj waterfall by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

We left Tangjiahe around 11.40, spotting some more mandarin ducks en route. We stopped for lunch in a town en route. I swear that a three-fingered banjo player would not have been out of place here! As soon as we pulled up we were surrounded by locals staring at us and checking out our car. To be honest, it was quite intimidating!

At least the people in the restaurant were friendly but gave us some space to enjoy the good local fare that we ordered. I had flat noodles that tasted a lot like papperdelle pasta. We also shared some ribs and potato in a spicy sauce. After this, we headed on our way as quickly as we could!

We stopped to stretch our legs and look for ducks in a wide slow river in a large city, I don't recall the name. We didn't find any falcated ducks, but did see black-necked and little grebe, lots of spot-billed ducks and goosanders, brown-headed gull, common sandpiper, little egret, coot and mallards.

We carried on down a route that directed us to the motorway. Unfortunately, we encountered a blocked road and there had been no indication of any diversion, which added a considerable amount of time to our journey. Sid was furious and had some choice words to say to the construction workers!

We therefore didn't get to Dujiangyang until around 20.30. We stopped into a KFC for a quick dinner however, despite ordering, our chips never arrived. As everyone was rather tired and fractious by that point we decided to cut our losses and head to the hotel. Sid was understandably keen to get home and see his wife and son as well. The last thing we all needed was an irate driver blocking our way into the hotel!

We stayed at the Panda Hotel in a nice area of Dujiangyang. They carry the panda theme all the way through their rooms, with panda paintings on the wall, panda crockery, a panda soap dish in the bathroom and a big cuddly panda on the bed! The bed was also the most comfortable one of the trip and it was a very nice hotel to spend out last two nights in. For anyone wanting to pick up a few panda souvenirs this is the place to get them, I ended up buying souvenirs at the airport which was far more expensive.

20141120_212525 cuddly panda at the Panda Hotel by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Friday 21^st November.

Today we left the hotel at about 08.45, stopped in at Sid's to pick up Maggie and Saker, his son and then headed the short distance to the new Panda Valley centre. Thanks to Meggie's connections one call to an official got us free entry into the centre.

To date, China's panda conservation programme has been focused on developing a strategy for successfully breeding pandas in captivity. There are now a number of breeding centres, including a large one in Chengdu. However, to date between only 1 and 3 pandas have been released into the wild. The Panda Valley Centre has been established to provide a base for a soft release programme. It is located in a beautiful setting at the base of a mountain containing good panda habitat. There are 13 pandas now residing here in three spacious enclosures comprising an indoor den area and outdoor playground with trees and climbing frames as enrichment.

PB213089 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213137 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213143 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213166 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213171 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213173 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

The intention is to “train” these pandas to return to the wild through a soft release programme, beginning with a “semi-wild transitory training area”. The centre is set to expand further with plans for its own breeding centre, and further educational areas.

PB213180 adj Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213200 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213260 adj Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213282 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213301 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213305 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213306 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213321 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

We had a lovely time enjoying the pandas, who we saw playing rough and tumble with each other, relaxing in the trees, clambering around on the climbing frames, feeding and generally being totally adorable! We were practically the only ones there for the first hour or two, after which a steady trickle of visitors began to arrive. Sid told us that this was a much better centre compared to Chengdu Panda Base, although currently they do not have the very young pandas that the breeding centre obviously does.

 

PB213332 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

PB213337 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

PB213353 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

PB213370 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

PB213375 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

PB213388 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

PB213113adj Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

 

PB213191adj Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

PB213245 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

PB213286 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

PB213290 Giant Panda by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

[kittykat23uk]

We also saw some good birds, white-crowned forktail, vinous-throated parrotbills and white-browed laughingthrush in the surrounding vegetation, a flock of collared finchbills bathing in the stream. Oriental magpie robin and yellow-browed tits were also noted.

Sid and Meggie treated us to lunch in the old quarter and then we all went birding up the local mountain. We spotted a few new birds including chestnut-bellied rock thrush, a very vocal great barbet and speckled piculet. We also saw white-browed shrike-babbler and Eurasian jay. We returned to Sid's for a cup of tea and then tried birding in the local park just before dark but we didn't see anything new.

PB213392 Vinous-throated parrotbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213398 Vinous-throated parrotbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213401 Vinous-throated parrotbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213426 Collared finchbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213434 Vinous-throated parrotbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213442 White-capped water redstart by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213448 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213466 Speckled piculet by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB213450 Grey-headed greenfinch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Sid dropped us back at the Panda Hotel and we chilled out for a bit before exploring the local area and grabbing some dinner at the local Dicos. In Dujiangyang, every other shop seems to be either selling puffa jackets or shoes and we had a good laugh at the fashion!

[kittykat23uk]

Here's some of the interpretation boards from Panda Valley:

 

20141121_105927 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

20141121_105933 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

20141121_105941 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

20141121_105950 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

20141121_105957 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

Last video:

 

 

Another Chinglish fail:

 

20141121_122328 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

Cable car that was destroyed in the earthquake:

 

20141121_135129 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

20141121_203702 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Saturday 22^nd November.

Before heading off to catch our flight we birded a local area spotting Himalayan bluetail, rufous-faced warbler, black-throated tit and David's fulvetta. Just before getting to the airport we stopped at a rough meadow area where we added a few new birds including plain prinia, buff-throated warbler, Hoopoe, common teal and light-vented bulbul. We also saw little bunting and grey-headed greenfinch. We then said our goodbyes to Sid at the airport and were soon boarding our flight home. We had some wonderful views on the way back.

20141122_155836 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141122_172047 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141122_181628 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141109_095703 Ian and Me by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

THE END

20141118_132600 adj by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[SafariChick]

Very enjoyable report, especially as many of us will probably not go there so it's great to hear about it firsthand from a fellow wildlife enthusiast. The pandas were indeed adorable from the photos - now I have to go see the videos. That last sign with the Chinglish fail looks like the middle part of it says "INGHT BEER CORRIDOR"? so they meant to say "Night Beer Corridor"? I should think you might have wanted to visit the beer corridor to see what that entailed!

[graceland]

Loved the panda series, they are quite captivating. The landscapes along your route were lovely as well. Many types of birds and animals I've never heard about. Quite good report from an area very few will get to. Some of the Chinese buildings had to have been drawn up while the architects were drinking "something" other than tea. Must have been the "Pear Drops"

 

Thanks for sharing this; it was nice to follow @@kittykat23uk along. And see actual pics of the author!

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks both, glad you enjoyed the report!