Legacy Tours Heritage-Style Birding Tour to Taiwan

October 21–November 5, 2010

Michael Carmody, Spokane, Washington, U.S.A.

The seventeen of us meet Simon Liao and Jo Ann MacKenzie in Taipei as the full force of Typhoon Megi pounded a steady press of water against our eager eyes…  needless to say the first day of birding was a bust!  The following morning, between infrequent rain showers, we watched the comings and goings of storm tossed migrants at Yeliou Geopark, a narrow mile-long peninsula on the NE coast.  This second day of birding more than made up for our earlier washout with Water Rail, Siberian Thrush, Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Japanese Paradise-flycatcher, Asian Stubtail, and Grays, Ijima, and Radde’s Warblers; all were write-ins for the evening checklist.  During the next fourteen days we tallied an additional 200 species, including all fifteen of the recognized island endemics.

Simon first greeted us with the phrase -- Good Birds, Good Food, & Good Friends – and it quickly became apparent that he had shared with us the creed by which he and International Birding Taiwan plan and execute their tours.

During our travels we based from eight lovely hotels or highland resorts, ate great food that showcased Taiwan’s culinary delights, and explored the entire gambit of bio-habit zones, while falling under the spell of near daily exposure to temples, national heritage sights, museums, and cultural centers.  Indeed, we seemed to be doing it all and enjoying the reward of one of the highest ever Taiwan bird totals –due entirely the skilled leadership and local contacts of Simon Liao.

The route gave us access to three highland birding sites – Ah-Ma-Shan, Wuling/Taroko, and Ali-Shan.  Mikado Pheasant, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Taiwan Barwing, Vinaceous Rosefinch, Little Forktail, Collared Bush-Robin, Taiwan Bush-Warbler, White-whiskered Laughing-thrush, Little Bunting, and Yellow Tit were some of avian treasures we encountered while birding between four and seven thousand feet elevation.  Our finest mammal sightings also took place in the mountains with Formosan Rock Macaque [an old world monkey], Red-and-white Giant Flying Squirrel, Reeve’s Munjac [Barking Dear], Perny’s Long-nosed Squirrel [Red-bellied], and Maritime Striped Squirrel.

We visited the famed Marble Gorge, followed by a traverse of the eastern lowlands for both dramatic scenery and great birds.  Along the way Dusky Fulvetta, Chinese Bamboo-Partridge, Formosan Magpie, Mountain Scops-Owl, Brown Hawk-Owl [Northern Boobook], Ring-necked Pheasant [native], White-shoulder Starling, and Ruddy-breasted Crake kept the momentum going, and it was during this part of the trip that we realized 200 species was a definite possibility.

After crossing the southern tip of the island, where we saw Middendorff’s Grasshopper-Warbler, Ashy Drongo, and Black-naped and Maroon Orioles, we redirected ourselves northward along the western shoreline.   Black-faced Spoonbill was the highland in this region. The coastal birding included particularly fine views of numerous migrant and wintering shorebirds, a variety of waders, and hawking terns over freshwater ponds.

Before returning the Taipei Simon and Jo Ann had one more surprise in store for us. Using a luxurious thirty-room B&B as our base in the upper foothills, we spent the finest one-hour period of the trip in a blind watching White-tailed Robin, Steere’s Liocichla, Taiwan Partridge, and Swinhoe’s Pheasant from distance of between five feet and fifteen yards…. so many pictures, and so much wonder!

As luck would have it we returned to Taipei in the rain, the first since the big storm on our arrival day two weeks earlier.  This led to our final morning of great birding with Red-flanked Bluetail, Daurian Redstart, and variety of thrushes, buntings, and raptors.  The afternoon was devoted to shopping, and the evening to a fabulous farewell dinner.

Simon and Jo Ann had lived up to the high standard they had set for themselves on day number one – GOOD BIRDS, GOOD FOOD, & GOOD FRIENDS.

The annotated bird list covers those species SEEN by at least one of the tour participants, though through Simon’s skill and patience most everyone saw nearly all of the birds…

Michael Carmody

President

Legacy Tours

PO Box 8156

Spokane WA 99203

Heritage Taiwan by Taxonomy

 Heritage Taiwan Taxonomy by Date

Mammal List, Taiwan,  October 21–November 5, 2010

1. Old World Monkeys

Formosan Rock Macaque      Macaca cyclopis                    

2. True Squirrels

Red-and-white Giant Flying Squirrel  Petaurista alborufus

Perny’s Long-nosed Squirrel Dremomys pernyi       [Red-bellied subspecies]

Maritime Striped Squirrel        Tamiops maritimus

3. Even-toed Ungulated

Reeve’s Munjac          Muntiacus reevesi      [Barking Dear]

4. Vesper Bats

Japanese Pipistrelle                Pipistrellus abramus   [House Bat]

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Michael Carmody
Susan Connolly Carmody   
Legacy Tours
PO Box 8156
Spokane WA 99203
Tel: 509 624-1889
Fax: 509 624-1885
Email: MDCarmody@comcast.net
http://www.legacy-tours.com/