Chlidonias Goes To Asia, part three: 2013-2014

DavidBrown said:
Those must have been some deer. How far up in the trees were they?

Sorry to hear that the deer sanctuary was a bust. It's good to know that there are still some wild ones running around though.

When do you head up into giant panda country?
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Pere David's deer are also known as "monkey deer" because they are commonly found browsing in the canopy. That's why they have the weird tines on their antlers, they use them for brachiating! (I have now slightly edited my post to say "....a couple of deer amongst the trees beyond").

I may see some "more free" ones at Yancheng reserve later in the year if I get there. Or I may not.

Sichuan is pencilled in for just over a week from now. I won't actually be looking for giant pandas because, one: it would be a fool's mission; and two: the best giant panda reserves are now closed to visitors, especially foreign visitors. But if I should chance to see one whilst looking for pheasants then I won't look away.
 
FBBird said:
Thanks for the Ringnecks. That's a start. Maybe you'll get White Eared up in Panda Territory. Golden -- or anything -- would be nice. Still really enjoying your updates -- there's a book in this.
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I would like white eared pheasants. I am aiming/hoping to get to Balang Shan near Wolong, which is where birders go for white eared, Chinese monal, snowcock, etc. I know of a site with habituated [fed by monks] brown eared pheasants but that is north (I'd have to back-track to Xian or somewhere from Sichuan.....which I will do if I end up with the time). There's a blue eared site somewhere too but I can't recall it off the top of my head. Lady Amherst's and tragopans in the Emei Shan area.....

Pheasants can be tricky devils though so who knows how it will go!
 
FBBird said:
Thanka for the Ringnecks. That's a start. Maybe you'll get White Eared up in Panda Territory. Golden -- or anything -- would be nice. Still really enjoying your updates -- there's a book in this.
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Yes just today I too was thinking that there's a book in this. The kid writes well.
 
Chlidonias said:
I would like white eared pheasants. I am aiming/hoping to get to Balang Shan near Wolong, which is where birders go for white eared, Chinese monal, snowcock, etc. I know of a site with habituated [fed by monks] brown eared pheasants but that is north (I'd have to back-track to Xian or somewhere from Sichuan.....which I will do if I end up with the time). There's a blue eared site somewhere too but I can't recall it off the top of my head. Lady Amherst's and tragopans in the Emei Shan area.....

Pheasants can be tricky devils though so who knows how it will go!
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It you decide to watch pheasants at all costs, there are many good places to watch them in Sichuan: Daocheng for White-eared pheasants; PaMuLing and GongGaShan for blood pheasants; Tangjiahe core area for Chinese monals; Wanglang for blue-eared pheasants. And there is a good place for golden pheasants and Temmincki‘s tragopans in Guizhou province, KuanKuoShui Reserve. The first two sites are in Ganzi Tibetan County of Sichuan, where the locals even can't speak Chinese well and the bus system is very, very confused ~~
 
Chlidonias said:
I would like white eared pheasants. I am aiming/hoping to get to Balang Shan near Wolong, which is where birders go for white eared, Chinese monal, snowcock, etc. I know of a site with habituated [fed by monks] brown eared pheasants but that is north (I'd have to back-track to Xian or somewhere from Sichuan.....which I will do if I end up with the time). There's a blue eared site somewhere too but I can't recall it off the top of my head. Lady Amherst's and tragopans in the Emei Shan area.....

Pheasants can be tricky devils though so who knows how it will go!
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So finally you became smart and focus on the interesting stuff. On a serious note: If you manage even one of that list I will be soooo jealous :).
Are going to Yunnan as well? If so and you might see some loud buggers a.k.a. Psittacula derbiana please take pictures!!!
 
I am going to Yunnan. I shall have to look up to find where derbiana is found. Maybe I shall see it. I doubt I would get photos though; birds in China are not trusting!!
 
I think I must be allergic to China. Remember I woke up in Beijing with one cheek swollen and my ankle feeling sprained, well this morning I woke up with the opposite eye swollen up and the other ankle swollen twice normal size. Pretty weird!

With the milu reserve at Dafeng a bit of a bust, I decided not to stay in town four nights after all and instead just got a bus to Suzhou a couple of days early. Suzhou is about an hour out of Shanghai and about three hours from Dafeng. If you look at a map of China it might seem like my route so far has been a bit unusual, from Beijing to Xian to Shanghai-Dafeng-Suzhou and then afterwards to Chengdu. It would have made far more sense to go Beijing to Shanghai to Xian to Chengdu, but the reason for that is that my girlfriend is in Suzhou. Originally she was working in Wenzhou (south of Shanghai) but it was bit too polluted so she moved. The start of October is when she is free so that's what I had to arrange the route around. The first week of October is the so-called “Golden Week,” a week-long public holiday celebrating National Day, and apparently the country goes mental with one and a half billion people all going on holiday at the same time. Suzhou seemed like as good a place as any to hide out. So that's where I'll be for the next nine or ten days.
 
Chlidonias said:
I am going to Yunnan. I shall have to look up to find where derbiana is found. Maybe I shall see it. I doubt I would get photos though; birds in China are not trusting!!
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I have seen Psittacula derbiana four times, but thrice in Sichuan, only once in Yunnan; it is not rare in the west mountainous area of Sichuan. But Mangba of Puer County, Yunnan is the best place to see them, however, Mangba has nothing else interesting animals besides the parrots, and I went there just because that place was near my once working area in Xishuangbanna.
 
baboon said:
I have seen Psittacula derbiana four times, but thrice in Sichuan, only once in Yunnan; it is not rare in the west mountainous area of Sichuan. But Mangba of Puer County, Yunnan is the best place to see them, however, Mangba has nothing else interesting animals besides the parrots, and I went there just because that place was near my once working area in Xishuangbanna.
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Mangba was a site I just found reference to earlier. I can't seem to find out how to get there though. What is the nearest town(s) through which to approach it? I thought that might be the best place myself because visiting adds to the incentive of the locals to protect the birds.
 
Notice how he ignores the important posts and focuses on the one on how to see parrots.

:p

Hix
 
Hix said:
Notice how he ignores the important posts and focuses on the one on how to see parrots.

:p

Hix
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I was just about to point that out!

Seems Chlidonias doesn't want his image of a lone wolf who's always on the look out for a hottie soiled by him having a girlfriend:p;)

~Thylo:cool:
 
Chlidonias said:
Mangba was a site I just found reference to earlier. I can't seem to find out how to get there though. What is the nearest town(s) through which to approach it? I thought that might be the best place myself because visiting adds to the incentive of the locals to protect the birds.
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The nearest town is Puer City (whose old name is SiMao City), the village is on the half way between Puer City and LangCang County, but there is no bus directly into the village, thus you'd better find a motorbike or taxi or something else to carry you to the village. Last time I was gave a ride by a wildlife photographer, thus I don't know how to get there by bus and foot. And there is no hotels in the village, and last time we stay in the village head's home. The parrot trees are just around the village, and there is also a small population of elephants around this area, but is far shyer than their brothers in Xishuangbanna.
 
baboon said:
The nearest town is Puer City (whose old name is SiMao City), the village is on the half way between Puer City and LangCang County, but there is no bus directly into the village, thus you'd better find a motorbike or taxi or something else to carry you to the village. Last time I was gave a ride by a wildlife photographer, thus I don't know how to get there by bus and foot. And there is no hotels in the village, and last time we stay in the village head's home. The parrot trees are just around the village, and there is also a small population of elephants around this area, but is far shyer than their brothers in Xishuangbanna.
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I shall see what I can do. I may have seen them in Sichuan already by the time I get to Yunnan. I think derbiana would be the nicest Psittacula to see in the wild. (Although caniceps would be nice too!).
 
Are you planning to go to Nicobar? I personally like Psittacula calthropae a lot as well although it is not as impressive as caniceps or derbiana
 
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