Sichuan Safari (on the sly) – November 2014

[michael-ibk]

Oh no ... Your sadface-smiley pretty much gave it away already, but I still hoped it would be something less sad. Really sorry you had to experience that.

[SafariChick]

Really enjoying this report, the pandas are so cute - but what a terrible experience with the one on the road - I am so sorry you had to go through that!

[graceland]

I did not read it but from the comments I am so sorry to hear of it. Sometimes I just can't bear to see something that might stay with me too long.

Thanks for the heads up

This time of year I need to exist with my head up in a cloud

[kittykat23uk]

Thank you everyone. So we tried to carry on...

 

Monday 10^th November – Wolong & Balang Shan

In light of being out from 05.00 to 22.00 the previous day we arranged for a slightly later start of 06.30. We had an uneventful drive up to the monal site which was again obscured by fog. So we headed to a site that Sid has had white eared pheasants at before but again there was a lot of mist and none were seen. We then walked along the track in the blood pheasant area, but no blood pheasants were seen, although Sid and Ian spotted a moupin pika, which I missed.

PB100319 pony at dawn by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB100324 ponies in a fog-bound blood pheasant site by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Above the clouds we stopped to look for Tibetan snowcocks and were rewarded with scope views of a pair of them in the scree. The scope also revealed herds of blue sheep, including an impressive male with huge horns at around 4500m. We drove on up the pass and stopped at a popular shrine that was covered in Tibetan prayer flags. Yellow-billed choughs tumbled aerobatically over the cliffs.

PB100336 tumbling yellow-billed chough by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB100343 yellow-billed chough by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB100344 yellow-billed chough by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB100359 Himalayan Griffon vulture by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Now I guess a lot of people have this romantic notion of these colourful prayer flags blowing in the wind on the mountainside, but the truth is that these days they appear to be mass-produced nylon jobbies that take a long time to degrade in the environment. So whilst the most recent additions might look pretty for a time, in China these are not disposed of responsibly and what ends up is a massive pile of litter strewn all over an otherwise beautiful vista. Added to this, there are also little paper prayers that are discarded in thick layers on the ground.

20141110_113122 Balang Shan pass by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141110_113156 Balang Shan pass by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141110_113416 Balang Shan pass by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

We didn't venture down the other side of the pass, as we were focused on searching for pheasants. We returned to the white eared pheasant area and we spent the time watching more lammergeirs and griffons drifting below us, these were joined by the occasional cinnereous vultures and golden eagle. Sid went back to the car to get his scope, meanwhile the mist had cleared and a procession of white eared pheasants broke cover and strutted out in a line across the grassy slope!

Once these had disappeared back into cover, we moved on.

Our next stop down the mountain was back at the woodland track where we could hear the blood pheasants calling. They sounded so close! But despite a lot of patience and Sid's efforts with the tape, only he was able to glimpse a pair of birds. I did, however spot a large wild boar cross the road and along the track we found grey-headed bullfinch.

20141110_122920 looking for white eared pheasant by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Here's a video of the day's birding:

 

[kittykat23uk]

We had a rather large late lunch and a short rest before heading out on another night drive. We were joined by Justinian, an American from an NGO on secondment to the panda research base in Wolong. Apparently there are only a couple of pandas at the base, which was hit hard in the earthquake. There is also an Asiatic black bear which can sometimes be seen from the road, though we weren't lucky on the day we arrived. We had a very good drive that night, but as I was the one with the spotlight I didn't manage to get any shots of the closer mammals, which included three separate hog badgers. We did manage to film more gorals and complex-tooth flying squirrels, and had a great sighting of another takin.

Here's the vid from the night drive:

[Atravelynn]

I was almost as thrilled to see that red panda a few scrolls down as I bet you were to find it in real life. The ponies in the snowy mist and scenery are beautiful. Disappointing about the prayer flags but nowhere near as disappointing as the panda on the road. Inconsolable would only be natural.

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks @@Atravelynn

 

Tuesday 11^th November – Balang Shan & Mengbi Shan

 

Today we left Wolong at 06.30 and headed up the Balang Shan pass again, spotlighting briskly with no success on the way up. We tried for monals, but the site was once again fog-bound so we then took our usual walk at the blood pheasant site. We had no luck with the pheasants, but I managed to pull back a mammal with a good sighting of moupin pika. This is a grey-brown forest pika which is significantly smaller than the stocky Glover's pika that we had seen a couple of days before and seemed to be making it's home in a pile of rocks which used to be part of the dry stone wall.

PB100398 domestic yaks by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB110412 Elliott's laughingthrush by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB110414 possibly hog badger or red panda tracks? Not sure by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

There is a tunnel that runs through the mountain at one section and to the side was the now disused road. A thick frost was dripping off all the vegetation giving the landscape a very Christmassy feel. We spent a fair bit of time there searching for monals but had no joy there. We did however see a goral, nice to see in full colour of daytime, and a stocky white-winged grosbeak which was perched on the top of a pine tree. We noticed some interesting tracks that we thought might have been red panda or possibly badger. Other birds seen included crag martins, blue-fronted redstart and plain laughingthrush.

20141111_091655 looking for morals in the fog by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB110416 icicles by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141111_092226 along the old road Balang Shan pass by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141111_092341 the old road Balang Shan pass by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141111_102012 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141111_104424 Balang Shan pass by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141111_124156 Balang Shan pass by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

We continued on, raptors were again in evidence with Himalayan and Eastern buzzards, a hen harrier and common kestrels all seen in addition to the larger birds of prey. We stopped for lunch on the other side of Balang Shan.

We continued with our drive and the architecture became more traditional Tibetan in it's construction. As we reached the far side of Mengbi Shan we stopped at a spot to search for Sichuan Jays. We were successful in finding a couple of birds as well as Kessler's thrush.

20141111_105239 Balang Shan pass by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB110457 Sichuan Jay by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

We stayed overnight in the city of Maerkang. Chinese tourist websites will tell you that Maerkang is “the capital city of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and that it is the birthplace of Jiarong Tibetans with traditional Tibetan dwellings, historical bunkers (we would more likely call these watchtowers), grand monasteries, mysterious ruins of ancient kingdoms and holy mountains”.

 

The thing we took away from our stay was the totally over the top Christmas lights that adorned all the trees along the main canal, that gave the impression of multicoloured rain falling to the ground and the pretentious chandelier style streetlights that seemed to illuminate more of the sky than the road below. We enjoyed some western fast food at a local chain called “Dico's”.

 

20141111_201410 local chicken burger bar by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

Ian took an interest in silly signs in chinglish,,

 

20141111_202353 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

20141111_211606 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

[kittykat23uk]

Wednesday 12^th November – Maerkang city to Rouergai

 

We left Maerkang city sighting tree sparrows en route. I was keen to see an ibisbill and so we stopped in the vicinity of Hongyuan where ibisbill had been seen recently. Sure enough, we were soon able to locate one of these interesting birds, unfortunately we also managed to spook the bird which was initially on our side of the river and it flew some distance away to the other side of the river. We continued to watch it for quite some time and also noted a wood sandpiper.

PB120468 Ibisbill by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

The bushes around the river were also good for birds and we picked up white-winged redstart, brown accentor, robin accentor. As we carried on, we stopped occasionally to bird, with Sid's tape generating interest from a good range of smaller birds including white-browed tit warblers, Sichuan tits, Godlweski's bunting, eastern great tit, white-browed tit, and chinese fulvetta.

PB120508 Sichuan Tit by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120494 Brown accentor by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120526 Robin accentor by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120548 White-browed tit-warbler by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120583 adj White-browed tit-warbler by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120620 White-browed tit by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120624 White-browed tit by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120640 Godlewski's bunting by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Upon reaching the grasslands of the Tibetan plateaux, we added Chinese and Tibetan grey shrikes, many upland buzzards and a few saker falcons, Tibetan and azure-winged magpies, Daurian jackdaw, plain laughingthrush, Hume's ground tit, goosander, ruddy shelducks and ferruginous duck, Pallas's gull, black-necked cranes, little owl and collared dove.

20141112_122249 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141112_163043 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141112_164749 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120656 Daurian Jackdaw by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120645 Tibetan magpie by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120668 Plain laughingthrush by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120718 Chinese grey shrike by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120746 Pallas's gull by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120756 Black-necked crane & goosanders by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120781 Tibetan Grey Shrike by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120810 White-winged redstart female by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120820 Azure-winged magpie by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

The first few foxes we encountered were red foxes, and we also started to see colonies of plateaux pikas (also known as black-lipped pika). It was getting dark as we got to Ruoergai so we did some spotlighting before we got to the hotel. On this side of the plateaux Red foxes seem more prevalent than Tibetan foxes and we also spotlighted a woolly hare, the only one of the trip.

PB120796 Black-lipped pika by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120906 Little owl by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120935 White-cheeked starling by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120948 upland buzzard by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB120953 Woolly Hare by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

During our time in Ruoergai we stayed in a soulless city hotel in town. After the first night we swapped rooms with Sid as his seemed to get more sun and the heating also appeared to work better in his room. We were out so early that we had to wake the staff to let us out. The car park got quite crowded at times and was quite challenging to get out of at that time of day. Wifi was available in the hotel, which was a good thing.

[Atravelynn]

You always get such good bird shots. This trip too. Great fox activity, very ballet-like.

[Treepol]

Really enjoying your TR, beautiful scenery around the Balang Shan pass.

[TonyQ]

@@kittykat23uk

You certainly got a good variety of birds.

Is the red fox the same species as the UK red fox?

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks all. @@TonyQ yes red fox is the same as our own red fox. Not to be confused with the Tibetan fox which is a separate species.

[kittykat23uk]

Thursday 13th November

 

We drove out at 05.15 spotlighting as we went, it was below freezing at around -20c! The highlight was a red fox eating close to the road. For the most part we only caught the eyeshine of very distant foxes. We stopped at one of Sid's regular watchpoints as dawn began to break. Pikas began to emerge from their burrows and were running around everywhere. Surely, we thought, there must be some Tibetan foxes around? We moved further down the road and stopped to scan the plateaux. We were delighted to spot a few Tibetan foxes, and red foxes, but they all kept their distance- which would become a regular feature of these animals. Thankfully with Sid's scope we were able to get some good views but the foxes were infuriating to photograph because as soon as we spotted one along the roadside it would be off before we could get close!

PB130954 Red fox by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141113_071327 Ruoergai by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141113_072233 Ruoergai by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141113_132016 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141113_132323 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141113_140030 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141113_141457 Ruoergai by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141113_145441 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Whilst we scanned from our viewpoint Sid exclaimed that he'd spotted a Tibetan wolf. I was delighted, because along with the Tibetan fox this was the one other mammal that I had really hoped to see. The wolf, large in comparison to the foxes, pale furred and fluffy was easily visible in the scope but far too distant for any photography. So I just focused on enjoying watching him trotting along. He was making his way along where we had been watching the foxes and in fact the wolf did chase one of the foxes briefly before disappearing into a channel.

Richard Webb reported seeing a big pack of wolves, but Sid explained that this was not the norm for this area where seeing pairs or individual animals was far more common. I was happy to have seen our one wolf, but also disappointed that we did not see any further wolves during our trip. The areas we focused on had very few yaks at that time of year with the nomadic herders seemingly locating closer to town, so I would imagine that the wolves might be more dispersed at this time of year. The plateaux is vast though, so it's probably easy to go days without seeing a wolf.

20141113_091748 Chinglish sign. by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Beyond the toll gate we stopped to try the site where Sid and Richard had seen Pallas's cat in 2012. Unsurprisingly we didn't find one, despite scouring the area on a few occasions. With regard to smaller birds White-rumped and rufous-necked snowfinches are common around the pika colonies along with the rarer Tibetan Snowfinch. We also encountered small flocks of Elwe's horned larks, flocks of twite, plain and Brandt's mountainfinch, which were being harassed by a Saker falcon. We watched a flock of white-cheeked starlings and mixed in with these a were a few common starlings.

PB130972 White-cheeked Starling by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB130982 Plain-backed snowfinch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131037 Saker Falcon by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131066 Steppe Eagle by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131067 Steppe Eagle by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131087 Steppe Eagle by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131095 Plain & Brandt's mountainfinches by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131098 adj Tibetan snowfinch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131114 Plain & Brandt's mountainfinch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131117 Saker Falcon by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

Here's a video of a couple of the Tibetan foxes, very distant though!

 

 

In addition to buzzards and Sakers, we also spotted steppe eagles, more griffon vultures and occasional lammergeirs. On the way back we had amazing close up views of a huge griffon vulture and a raven feeding on a dead Tibetan mastiff, another casualty of the road.

We arrived back around 15.30 and had an early dinner before heading back out for a night drive in which we picked out a domestic moggie, some distant foxes, mainly red ones and a couple of very distant Tibetan foxes.

PB131190 Elwe's Horned Lark by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131235 Elwe's Horned Lark by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131261 Himalayan Griffon by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131267 Raven by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131272 Himalayan Griffon vulture & Raven by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131281 Raven by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131284 Plateaux (Black-lipped) Pika by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB131312 Lammergeir by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[TonyQ]

@@kittykat23uk

Good that you got to see the Tibetan Wolf - and the video shows a good clear view of the Tibetan Fox.

The landscape is amazing again - and the Himalayan Griffon looks like a very special bird.

 

-20 degrees sounds pretty cold!

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks @@TonyQ yeah it was soo cold, my hands were shaking so much that I couldn't keep my binoculars still!!

 

Friday 14th November

 

We were out at 06.30, taking the same route as the previous morning. We first followed a dirt track up to a quarry, we nicknamed this area “pikaopolis” on account of the density of plateaux pikas there. We climbed up to a ridge where we scanned for foxes, spotting a red fox and a steppe eagle who were enjoying the morning sun, suddenly the fox turned and the eagle took off in the opposite direction, as if they hadn't noticed each other until that point!

20141114_074412 20141114_074938 Sunrise over the Tibetan Plateaux by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141114_074814 Tibetan Plateaux by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141114_074936 20141114_074938 Sunrise over the Tibetan Plateaux by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141114_075518 Lookinf for foxes in Ruoergai by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[kittykat23uk]

At the next stop, just off the right hand side of the road we found a couple of very distant Tibetan foxes through the scope. We spent some time here and then drove on. Our next sighting was another Tibetan fox, this time he seemed to be preoccupied with eating something, probably a pika, and, whilst it was still not very close to the road, I was able to grab some video of him. After a while the fox turned and began to trot away from the road so we carried on, stopping to scan for wolf at the same spot on the left hand side of the road but with no joy. We also walked out onto the plain for a closer look at Flower Lake but only saw a couple more distant Tibetan foxes, a couple of groups of black-necked cranes and a steppe eagle on the ground.

20141114_075612 Ruoergai by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB141327 Plateaux (Black-lipped) pika by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB141333 adj Tibetan Fox by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB141336 adj Tibetan Fox by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB141344 Plateaux (Black-lipped) Pika by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

We tried all the same spots on our return drive and only noted more distant foxes. We spent some time watching the pikas at pikaopolis and we also spotted a little owl, before heading back to town.

PB141394 Little owl by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

After lunch Sid intended to take us to the forested valley of Baxi. The intention was that we would drive out mid afternoon and spotlight the area before heading back to town. Unfortunately things didn't work out that way. As we drove through the town we picked up a vehicle tailing us. The driver started beeping his horn at us and Sid initially thought they just wanted to overtake, but it soon became clear that they wanted to stop us! So Sid pulled up and these guys got out and started questioning Sid about what he was doing in the area.

It turned out that these were local “officials” who seemed to be concerned about why we were there. Sid had a bit of trouble getting himself understood, but eventually managed to persuade them that we were just birdwatchers and we were allowed to carry on. We judiciously decided not to spotlight in the area that evening and it became clear that word was getting around pretty quickly that there were some foreigners in the area as everyone we encountered asked us if we were birdwatching.

Whilst there we saw a gansu pika- almost identical to the Moupin pika, the I.D. Here based more on habitat as they are supposedly impossible to separate without handling them, white-winged redstart, Elliott's laughingthrush, Streaked and pink-rumped rosefinches, hill pigeon and white-throated dipper in a local stream. On the way back we had a good view of a single tufted deer.

PB141399 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB141428 White-winged redstart by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB141442 Pink-rumped rosefinch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB141447 (2) Pink-rumped rosefinch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB141437 Streaked rosefinch & female white-winged redstart by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[Soukous]

some lovely bird photos Jo and I share Ian's fascination with the bizarre English used on signs.

It is not a place I've ever been tempted to visit but there sure is plenty of interest.

[kittykat23uk]

@@Soukous Thanks, yes China was one place where I debated long and hard about visiting myself. The chance for red panda and Tibetan fox nailed it for me and I am glad that I saw most of my targets.

 

Saturday 15th November

 

We spent the first part of the morning searching unsuccessfully for Pallas's cat at the site beyond the toll gate. A single Tibetan fox was seen there. We followed a rough road that led to an area Sid hadn't explored before. This seemed to take us out and round to the back of Flower Lake. On the way we got great close views of upland buzzard, Steppe eagle and raven. We also spotted a Tibetan fox that was really close to the car, but as soon as we pulled up the fox shot off like a rocket before I could get even a sing shot off! I got out and tried to pursue it, but these foxes are just able to vanish without any trace at all! I did spot a goosander in the river though.

PB151450 rufous-necked snowfinches by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151451 rufous-necked snowfinches by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151481 Upland Buzzard by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151485 adj Upland Buzzard by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151542 Steppe Eagle by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151555 Raven by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151568 Raven by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

We carried on towards the lake and spotted three white-tailed eagles as well as several steppe eagles. We reached an impasse when the road crossed a stream in a little gully. It didn't look very deep, but Sid decided not to risk it. By now it was getting on for lunchtime and given how far away we were, Ian was keen to head back to the town to get something to eat, Sid went for a walk to see how close we were to the lake. While we waited at the car we spotted another Tibetan fox in the heat haze, and for a while it looked like it would run right up to us, but sadly it vanished like a ghost instead!

[kittykat23uk]

As we made our way back to town, we spotted a single red fox and then I spotted a lone Tibetan gazelle on the grassland. This was an unusual sighting for the area, and the only one we saw on the trip.

PB151588 Tibetan Gazelle by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

After lunch we were back out on the road, stopping again at pikaopolis. Not far beyond here we spotted a Tibetan fox who was chasing off a number of upland buzzards and steppe eagles. As usual, all the action was taking place well away from the road, but we got some good views through binoculars from the car. As we drove further on we sighted another two distant Tibetan foxes.

PB151633 adj Tibetan fox face off with Steppe eagle & Upland Buzzards by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151639 Saker falcon by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151645 Saker falcon by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

Towards the early evening we drove back to pikaopolis and took the left hand track up the hill. Here we encountred a closer Tibetan fox who, as soon as she sighted our car high-tailed it out of there at speed (again!!). We tried the right hand track where Sid spotted a red fox which disappeared over the hill. A little owl was a bit more accommodating. We spent the rest of the daylight waiting for dusk and observing the pikas, hoping that a predator might venture closer to the car. We watched as local yak herders began gathering their herds. A couple of Tibetan mastiffs were also patrolling the area.

PB151648 Plateaux (black-lipped) pika by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151661 adj copy Tibetan fox by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151724 Little owl by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151729 Little owl by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151742 White-rumped snowfinch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB151752 Hume's ground tit (Groundpecker or ground jay). by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

After dark, our intention was to spotlight up the tracks and this was rewarded with the sighting of a distant cat. Sid and his associate Roland have together recorded both Pallas's and Chinese mountain cat in the area. In this case, we were able to observe the cat for about 15 to 20 minutes but, because of the distances involved, it was difficult to make a firm I.D. Sid was initially convinced that this was a Pallas's cat. He pointed out features such as a pale chin, flat face and pale underside to support his assertion. I shot some very grainy video and attempted to get closer, but the cat moved off.

After the cat disappeared we headed back down the track, spotting a red fox in the process. We planned to celebrate our find at a local burger bar in town, but we were accosted by a group of three local yobs who got in our faces and tried to manhandle us into getting our photos taken with them. Ian was not at all impressed! Sid managed to diffuse the situation after ushering us towards the back of the restaurant and having a stern talk with the youths. It seemed that two of them were very apologetic about their other friend who, as the main instigator who was apparently a little worse for wear. but the whole experience darkened our mood somewhat.

Although I was excited with the idea that what we saw was the much sought-after Pallas's cat, I had my doubts about our cat. The main concern that I raised with Sid later that evening was that our cat appeared to have quite distinctive pointed ears, which from all the images I've seen of Pallas's I doubted would have been visible at that range. After reviewing the video and further discussion with Sid the next morning, we believe that our cat was actually a Chinese mountain cat, also known as Chinese desert cat (Felis Bieti). This cat is so rare that it was only photographed in the wild in 2007 by camera trap. Prior to this it was only known from 6 specimens! This might therefore be the first actual video record of a wild Chinese mountain cat!

[Kitsafari]

such beautiful sceneries! unspoilt and remote. sad news about those nylon flags though.

 

so sorry you had to experience the poor panda incident. I would have been furious and depressed as well.

 

you get such marvellous pictures of the birds, and the foxes are gorgeous.

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks @@Kitsafari, in the summer time there are marmots up on the plateaux too.

 

Sunday 16th November

 

When Sid and I first discussed the trip we had planned to go from Ruoergai and Baxi to Tangjiahe in a single day. However, this would have necessitated a very long drive with little time to stop on the way. In the end, we opted to break up the journey by staying over in Jiuzhaigou for a night and then arrive at a hotel on the outskirts of Tangjiahe the following night. In Tangjiahe you have to stay inside the park if you want to take in a private car and the hotel is not cheap. So given that we would not arrive there until late afternoon, there was no point forking out on this expensive hotel for our first night there.

 

One thing, whilst on the subject of journey times, this is something that Sid freely admits is not his strong point for providing firm estimates. As a birder through and through, Sid was always keen to show us what was around the next bend and he will happily put in very long hours from before dawn well into the night to ensure his clients get the most out of their trip. This is something that many hardcore birders and mammal watchers will really value, but for someone wanting more structured mealtimes, or who wants to be able to include some R&R or have a clear idea of when we might arrive at our next hotel, this style of holiday might not be to their taste. In addition, given that Sid was the sole driver for the trip, as the client we felt it important to bear some responsibility for our own safety, particularly given the issues with other drivers on the road, by ensuring that we were not out at all hours of the day and night.

We left at 05.30 and headed into Baxi, spotting a red fox on the way. We had an otherwise quiet morning as far as mammals were concerned, but we did spot a few birds, including red-throated thrush, snowy-cheeked laughingthrush, white-browed rosefinch, Sichuan tit, white-winged redstart, pine and Godlweski's bunting and white-browed tit-warbler.

PB161786 red-throated thrush by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161801 White-browed rosefinch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161806 White-browed rosefinch by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161826 Pine bunting by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

PB161829 Godlewski's bunting by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

We left the plateaux, passing the most extraordinary tourist attraction on the way. We stopped at a police checkpoint where the police were quite friendly but insisted that Sid write something nice about them in their comments book. The did also top up our flask with fresh hot water, for which we were grateful.

 

20141116_102946 monument by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

 

20141116_103811 Chinese weirdness by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_103839 Chinese weirdness by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_110200 by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_115759 Faux policeman by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

20141116_132110 Strange bridge by kittykat23uk, on Flickr