Tragopan Troop! The Forests of Southern China

Welcome to my first-ever non-Philippine blog!

I’ve been holding this off for the past 2 months as I’ve been thinking too much on how to write blogs outside the Philippines. I don’t think I’ll ever be as knowledgeable on international birds as I am on my home turf but these experiences have been just too fun not to share so here goes anyways!

Last October, my very good friend Jao came over to visit me in my place in Hong Kong. To my surprise, he booked to stay the whole week. As much as I love HK, the food and the sights, one whole week in the area is a bit too long, so I felt the need to spice up his trip in China! We had one of our most memorable trips ever to Sichuan in 2018 and it was about time we once again explored this massive country. This is my first time outside the tropical forests I'm very used to and my first venture into birding into subtropical broadleaf and coniferous forests! 

We did have a fun first 5 days in HK, going and exploring new areas and experiences I haven’t done, such as biking in Cheung Chau and horse racing in Happy Valley. No visit to Hong Kong is complete without a visit to our favorite bartender, Ate Michele, who we met in her previous bar but has now moved to Courtyard. We also managed to budol (Tagalog for “convinced”) Ens to join up!

We took the train from HK. This was my first time using the high-speed rail since 2018 and I’m still so highly impressed that it took just 2 hours to get there. We were picked up by Mr. Chen at the train station and went into our very impressive accommodations. 

On our first day, we started off on the mountain roads in hopes of finding Cabot's Tragopan. We waited for a few hours and saw some birds like the Gray Treepie and the Black Bulbul, but I was way too focused on just the tragopan. A few hours later, the bird didn’t show up, and we decided to leave. 

Our group - Ens, me and Jao. I am absolutely dead serious when I saw I will try to bird as much in slippers!!!!!

Tragopan crossing!!!

House rules for my International Blogs moving forward: Flora and fauna ID won't be as meticulous / accurate as my Philippine blogs

Stunning scenery! 

 Black Bulbul

Swinhoe's Striped Squirrel

The chubbiest bumblebee I've ever seen! Will try to get an ID for this eventually!!!

There used to South China Tigers here but they're long gone.

Me, Ens, and Jao with Mr. Chen

We headed back to the hotel for some lunch and we moved on to our next spot. Our target here was Silver Pheasant. I had last seen this species in 2022 in Hainan but this time I had my camera! We were treated to fantastic views of at least 8 individuals. Having had our fill of the pheasants, we moved on to the next hide. 

A male Silver Pheasant

A female Silver Pheasant

The setup of the feeder in the middle of the stream which encouraged a lot of jumping around allowed for more photog type shots... not super my thing but I will oblige this time

I pressume this to be the most mature male with its very prominent crest.

There were so many of them!

We were dropped off in another scrubby-looking forest area. In my limited Chinese, I only knew that this was the spot for the Chinese Bamboo-partridge. We had it almost immediately and as birders, we had no idea what to do for the remaining time and zero idea of what's usually in this area, so we decided to call in the Gray-sided Scimitar Babbler, but nothing responded. We then tried the much more common Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler and it immediately came in. Feeling good, we once again tried calling in the Gray-sided and sure enough, two individuals came in and gave us fantastic views that my photo does not give any justice to. This was our first Chinese endemic of trip! 

Chinese Bamboo Partridge

The hides kept coming and we moved to a hide for the Tawny-fish Owl. It was amazingly equipped with CCTV to see when the owl would come in. We were treated to some amazing views of this species and we called it a day. On the way home, we tried to see some other wild owls to no avail, but we were treated to an Asian Leopard Cat crossing! 

Tawny Fish Owl

The stunning habitat of the Tawny Fish Owl

The next day, we attempted the tragopan and the moment we got there, this gigantic chicken-like bird was feeding from the palm of Mr. Chen’s hand - the Cabot’s Tragopan. This bird was by far our top target and gave us some close-up views. Hide birding is not my favorite type of birding and definitely feels like taking the “easy” route, but when the birds are this great and your time is limited and you don't have the luxury of returning to these places again and again to find extremely difficult birds, it's something I’ve learned to enjoy much more over the years! This legendary species is endemic to Southeast China and has quickly become one of my favorite lifers ever! 

Cabot's Tragopan! Our #1 target!!

I think I panicked too much so I don't have too many wild looking shots. 

The blue wattlles partially seen here. 

Bol

Spot the tragopan at the back! Xavier shirt luck paid off!!!


Phone video!!!

On our way back, we did get a large flock of birds, mostly Indochinese Yuhinas and Huet’s Fulvettas, which I only found out many months later were Chinese endemics. Scanning through the flock, I spotted a cute and tiny Collared Owlet, which was the main reason the mixed flock was being extremely vocal. We ended the morning looking over a nice stream with Plumbeous Redstarts! 

Plain Prinia

Sphenomorphus sp. 

Collared Owlet

Male Plumbeous Redstart

Female Plumbeous Redstart

Redstart habitat

We headed back home, and in a miscommunication with Mr. Chen, I asked where we could go that had a lot of birds, but he just took us to a rice field with pretty much the exact same birds as Hong Kong. Thankfully, I came away with a lifer with an Oriental greenfinch! That night we attempted for the White-eared Night Heron (wait for one of my future blogs) on our final hide for the trip but all we had to show for it was an Asian Barred Owlet!  

Black Drongo - a common sight in Hong Kong

Oriental Greenfinch

Asian Barred Owlet

Red Giant Squirrel

The next day was spent in a montane site in hopes of seeing Gray Laughingthrush, Chinese Shortwing, and a few parrotbills but barely any birds, unfortunately, apart from quick views of Golden Parrotbills and a heard only Gray Laughingthrush.

Common Jester

Some sort of Acanthosaura? 

Nanling doubles as a tourist site with, by my Philippine standards, well-maintained facilities and road yet all 3 days we were here we were the only tourists here. 

All in all, outside the hides, density was poor and the total species count was low, but we did see the Tragopan, which was our top target and had our first taste of mainland Chinese birding!  This area is so close to HK anyways  with birds so good that I will definitely return one day (and have since returned just 2 months after this trip). 

At this point in my life and almost a decade of birding experience, I’ve intensely focussed my birding efforts on only the Philippines and I’ve only seen around 243 complete with our 274 endemics while still feeling like I have so much more to see. In the past 3 years I’ve widened my horizons to the birds of Hong Kong and have done trips in Hainan and Borneo and now that I’ve finally birded in mainland China I’m mind numbingly overwhelmed with just how rich the biodiversity that the world has to offer!