David Stirling

Macdonald Burbidge

Dr.Rob Butler

Karen Shih

Madelon Schouten

BIRDING TAIWAN, MAY 2–11, 2005 — A PERSONAL VIEW

George Clulow

Bill Keay

Simon Liao

Yang Chung-Tse

Allan Ridley

Hue Mackenzie

Hugh Currie

Kijja Jearwattanakanok

Peter Candido -

Re-Tern to Taiwan

Dave & Carol Roelen

Mark Wilkie

Phil Rostron

Héctor Gómez de Silva

Hanno Stamm

Terry Wright

Valerie Gebert

Roger Barnes

Alan Brown

ALAN BROWN

Birds recorded in Taiwan

17-29 July 2007

Introduction and Acknowledgements

The reason for this trip was that Eleanor Hurley, a Lothian birder, won (at the British Birdwatching Fair) a free trip from Taipei to Matsu to see Chinese Crested Tern.  She was unable to go and I took her place, so first thanks go to Eleanor.  Although I had been to Taiwan twice before, in 1997 and 1998 for a week each time, I decided to add on time to look for a few species I had not seen or only heard on previous trips and to visit Lanyu Island as well.

On both my previous trips, in May and in January, there had been much rainfall and with July being in the typhoon season I feared the worst.  Rain was not a problem.  On the contrary, the weather was exceptionally hot and dry with the temperature in the Taipei area reaching 38.6 degrees on 21 July, a record high for July last equalled in 1923.  This made birding largely a waste of time apart from the early morning and late afternoon so it was fortunate I needed a limited number of species.

I also thank Simon Liao who made all the arrangements for the trip and for his excellent company throughout.  Thanks, too, to Dustin Wang who was with us for most of the trip.

Chinese Crested Tern by Rob Tizzard

Itinerary

17/7                 Birded very small ‘peace’ park near YMCA in Central Taipei 17.30-18.30.

                        Sunny with some cloud.  Very hot (still 32 degrees at 18.30).

18/7                 Flew to Matsu Islands.  Boat to tern breeding islets of Liuchan Reef and Sheshan 10.00-12.00.  Some sightseeing and TV interviews in afternoon.

                        Clear and sunny.  Sea choppy.  Very hot.

19/7                 Back up day for Chinese Crested Tern in case weather had been bad yesterday.  No birding.  More sightseeing, TV interviews and meeting with Governor of Province.  Flight back to Taipei late afternoon.

                        Clear and sunny.  Very hot.

20/7                 Left Taipei at 06.00.  Birded near Ilan 07.15-08.15, then Fu Shan Reserve 10.30-12.00.  Afternoon meeting with K K Kuo, Chairman of Olympus cameras, a superb bird photographer.

                        Clear and sunny with some thin cloud at times.  Very hot.

21/7                 Left Taipei at 14.30.  Birded Wulai 16.30-17.30.  After dinner still at Wulai where not even a response from Mountain Scops Owl and a long fruitless wait for Tawny Fish Owl until 02.30.  Back in Taipei at 04.00.

                        Clear and sunny.  Very hot.  The record July temperature day with 38.6 degrees – perhaps explains lack of owl activity and probably not helped by a Tawny Fish Owl being shot at the site not long before.

22/7                 Afternoon visit to Taiwan Palace Museum.  No birding.

                        Sunny with variable cloud.  Very hot.

23/7                 In morning flew to Lanyu Island via Taitung.  Birded 16.00-18.00 and 19.45-20.30.

                        Sunny with a little cloud.  Very hot.

24/7                 Birded Lanyu 05.30-07.30.  After breakfast scooter ride round island.  Afternoon flight to Taipei via Taitung – c20 minutes birding outside Taitung airport.

                        Sunny with some cloud.  Very hot.

25/7                 Left Taipei 07.30 for Alishan National Scenic Area.  Birded Chaushan road at c800 metres 15.30-17.00.  Drove on to Guanghua Village where birded 17.30-18.45 and 20.30-21.10 at c1500 metres.

                        Sunny with variable cloud.  Short spell of complete overcast with some drizzle 16.30-17.00.  Hot until 16.30 when cooled to warm.

26/7                 Birded Guanghua 05.45-07.45 and 09.00-10.15.  Left at 13.00 and drove with one stop to Tataka, Yushan National Park at c2600 metres where birded 15.00-17.15 and 19.30-21.15.

                        Overcast with occasional sunny periods and misty periods.  Warm.  Cool at night.

27/7                 Birded Tataka area 06.15-08.00.  Left 08.30 and drove to Chingjing arriving 12.30.  Birded Blue Gate Trail No 1 at c2200 metres (Rui Yan Xi Reserve) 15.00-17.30.

                        Clear and sunny in the morning.  Increasing cloud in afternoon, overcast with mist patches from 15.00, intermittent light rain from 15.30 then heavy rain from 17.20.  Cool first thing, then warm to hot.

28/7                 Birded Blue Gate Trail No 1 from 07.00-10.30 and then nearby mountain Baitungyenshan 11.45-13.00.  Departed and arrived Taipei 17.45.

                        Clear and sunny morning becoming overcast about 11.00.  Clear and sunny again on coast road.  Warm in mountains, hot on coastal plain.

29/7                 Birded Wulai again 07.00-08.00 and 9.00-10.00.  Early evening departure from Taipei.

                        Sunny and clear till 10.00 then clouding over.  Hot.

Tawny Owl by Dustin Wang

Systematic List

In the attached daily log # usually means that there were good numbers (10 plus) of the species concerned but a count was not always made.  The total column is the number of bird-days recorded.  H indicates that a species was heard only, but where a species was seen on the trip the numbers given may also include heard birds.

The following introduced species (not included in the systematic list) were also seen – Rock Dove, White-vented Myna and Common Myna.

Taxonomic Notes

The systematic list largely follows Clements 2007, but differences include the following.

Taiwan Bamboo Partridge.  Treated as a race of Chinese Bamboo Partridge by Clements but morphologically and vocally distinct.

Lanyu Scops Owl.  Treated as a race of Ryukyu Scops Owl by Clements but morphologically and vocally distinct.

Taiwan Barbet.  Treated as a race of Black-browed Barbet by Clements but morphologically and vocally distinct.

Taiwan Island Thrush.  Treated as a race of Island Thrush by Clements but morphologically very distinct.

Taiwan Shortwing.  Treated as a race of White-browed Shortwing by Clements but morphologically and vocally distinct.

Taiwan Bush Robin.  Treated as a race of White-browed Bush Robin by Clements but morphologically and vocally distinct.

Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush.  Treated as a race of White-throated Laughinthrush by Clements but see article on a partial revision of Asian babblers by Collar in Forktail No 22 (August 2006).

Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler.  Treated as a race of Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler by Clements but see article on a partial revision of Asian babblers by Collar in Forktail No 22 (August 2006).

Taiwan Scimitar Babbler.  Treated as a race of Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler by Clements but see article on a partial revision of Asian babblers by Collar in Forktail No 22 (August 2006).

Taiwan Fulvetta.  Treated as a race of Streak-throated Fulvetta by Clements but see article on a partial revision of Asian babblers by Collar in Forktail No 22 (August 2006).

Red Oriole.  Treated as a race of Maroon Oriole by Clements but is morphologically very distinct.

Taiwan Bullfinch.  Treated as a race of Grey-headed Bullfinch by Clements but is morphologically distinct.

Other Wildlife Recorded

This included Spectacled Toad, Brown Tree Frog, Formosan Red-bellied Squirrel, Formosan Striped Squirrel, Formosan Reeve’s Muntjac and Formosan Yellow-throated Marten.