Alishan birding in Taiwan (2)

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When: May 2024 Weather : Cool 15C

Nikon P900

we stayed the night at the Alishan Gou hotel and in the morning, the first thing I saw was the railway station where the small gauge railway stopped. The hotel is set among hills and it was avery nice walk around as the birds woke….
First bird of the morning, the female taiwan rose finch
and then the male taiwan rosefinch
female rosefinch again
male rosefinch
we had a lovely close encounter with the taiwan yuhina
taiwan yuhina singing
there were elevated walkways with viewing platforms where the birds were seen at eyelevel
eurasian nuthatch
eurasian nuthatch
green backed tit
white eared sibia
landscaping
ferruginous flycatcher
Juvenile taiwan barwing
and by the old railway tracks, this endemic, stunning Taiwan whistling thrush foraged.
taiwan whistling thrush

We took the shuttle bus back down to the town centre and started our birding as we descended the mountain….we were hoping to see the Taiwan Cupwing but alas only heard its call…

cupwing location but no sighting…
the female yellow grey chinned minivet
grey chinned minivet female
male grey chinned minivet
male greychinned minivet with breakfast
black throated tit
yellow bellied bush warbler
better views of Steere’s Liocichla
back view of steere’s liocichla
and a beautiful Vivid Niltava posed for us in the sunshine
vivid niltava

With that we set off down the road heading back to Taichung for our highspeed rail connection back to Taipei….only for our guide to yell….Mikado pheasant!

The always impressive Mikado pheasant….it was a misty morning and the colours were not as brilliant as usual but still it was such a treat to view this shy male for a few minutes before he scurried away…

36 hours up Alishan yielded a number of lifers and endemic species….recommended.

One thought on “Alishan birding in Taiwan (2)”

  1. Hello, Im interested in this bird watching tour for 2 person. Be coming to taiwan in early november 2024. Can i found out how much is the tour package?

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