Return to trip reports.Report on bird observations done during a work-related trip.
| Sa 04 November: | Flight MH 15 with Malaysian Airlines to Kuala Lumpur (dep. A'dam 10.00 h am, arr. KL 05 November 08.45 h am). |
| Su 05 November: | Visit to downtown Kuala Lumpur; afternoon flight (MH 90) to Taipei (dep. 16.30 h, arr. 21.30 h); check-in at Chang Kai Sjek airport hotel. |
| Mo 06 November: | Bus drive to Taichung (09.00-11.45 h am); check-in at Twinstar hotel; afternoon walk to downtown Taichung and city park. |
| Tu 07 November until Fr 10 November: | Participation in International Symposium on Tospoviruses and Thrips (organised
by Dr. George Kuo) at TARI (Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, 16 km SE of
Taichung), including a field excursion to experimental fields and research
centres in Taichung and Tainan counties on November 9. The other days short
walks of no longer than 30 min were made over the compound of TARI.
Friday Nov 10: Transfer to guest house of AVRDC (Asian Vegetable Research and Development Centre) near Tainan. |
| Sa 11 November: | Trip to Alishan for high elevation birding. Arrival at 14.00 h pm; birding around Alishan Recreation Area until dusk (17.45 h). |
| Su 12 November: | Further birding at Alishan in the morning, in the afternoon visit to wetlands along the west coast at Ow-gu. Return to AVRDC in the evening. |
| Mo 13 November: | Visit to Tsengwen Hsi Ko ("Hsi Ko" means river mouth), north of Tainan. Late afternoon flight (18.00 - 18.40) with Far Eastern Airlines from Tainan to Taipei. |
| Tu 14 November: | Flight (MH 79) from Taipei to Kuala Lumpur (09.30 - 14.10 h), drive with rented car to The Gap, near Fraser's Hill (100 km; arrival at 16.30 h; birding till dusk at 19.00 pm). |
| We 15 November: | Drive up to Fraser's Hill ("Bukit Fraser", 1450 m) at 09.00; birding at Bishop's trail and various other locations at Fraser's Hill. |
| Th 16 November: | Early morning birding at Fraser's Hill (Mager trail) until continuous rainfall and fog made further birding impossible at 09.00 am. At 10.00 am drive down to The Gap (also rain) and further to Kuala Selangor (which took 2.5 hours). Birding in the Taman Alam Kuala Selangor from 13.30 till 18.00 pm. |
| Fr 17 November: | Birding in Kuala Selangor until 12.30 pm. Drive back to Subang international airport (72 km, 1.5 hrs). Afternoon visit to Kuala Lumpur. Overnight return flight (MH 14) to Amsterdam (23.30 - 07.25 h). |
Taiwan, with a size of 36,000 square kilometers being only slightly larger than The Netherlands, is for its southern half situated in the tropical zone. The island has a good variety of habitats, ranging from tropical forest to alpine zones. The western part of Taiwan consists mainly of flat lowlands which are consistently being further urbanised, expanding towns and industrial zones claiming most of this area which are further extensively farmed. This part of the country is the least interesting for birdwatching, and the biodiversity is limited to a few dozens species. Along the western coast there are a number of very good wetlands including Tsengwen Hsi Ko (Tainan county) and Ow-gu (Taichung county), both of which I visited. Tsengwen Hsi Ko consists of numerous wetlands and fish ponds, owned by different fish farms, and containing fresh, brackish or salt water, and is currently the most important wintering place for the Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor). In recent years over 200 of the less than 400 Black-faced Spoonbills left wintered here. Another rarity, the Saunders's Gull (Larus saundersi), whose breeding grounds were discovered in eastern China only in 1987, is a second good reason to visit this area (in winter). I was lucky to discover 3 birds there during my visit. Other interesting birds regularly seen at Tsengwen Hsi Ko include Red-necked Stint, Long-toed Stint and Mongolian Plover. The spot can be found by driving the Highway 17, north of Tainan, and to take the first or second road to the west, north of the Tsengwen river. Unfortunately, Tsengwen Hsi Ko is not a reserve and is currently seriously threatened by prestigious industrialisation plans. Between Tsengwen Hsi Ko and Tainan, along route 17, there are a number of wetlands which are important for wintering waterfowl, and where I saw most of the ducks indicated under HSK (see table).
Ow-gu is a fish-farming town along the route 17, approx. 70 km north of Tainan. West of this town a large number of fish ponds and reed belts can be found, which are good for waders, ducks and herons.
Taiwan has more than 100 peaks extending over 3000 m, and it is in the mountainous zone where most of the 14 endemic bird species can be found. Although the effective birding time during my visit to Alishan was rather short, I succeeded to observe 7 out of these 14 endemics (indicated E in the bird list).
Geographic regions:
LOW: Lowlands and towns in the western part
ALI: Alishan, in the Yushan National Park
OWG: Ow-gu, coastal wetlands 70 km N of Tainan
THK: Tsengwen Hsi Ko, 10 km N of Tainan
Bird numbers:
1,2,3..: actual number observed
+ : present, easy to find, no counts
++ : abundant
(E) : endemic species
No. SPECIES LOW ALI OWG THK 01. Little Grebe - - 10 6 02. Great Cormorant - - 4 1 03. Grey Heron - - 50 1 04. Purple Heron - - 3 - 05. Cattle Egret + - - - 06. Great Egret - - 30 50 07. Little Egret 2 - 30 200 08. Intermediate Egret + - 50 50 09. Black-crowned Night Heron - - 20 - 10. Black-faced Spoonbill - - - 215 11. Mallard - - 2 - 12. Pintail - - - 3 13. Shoveler - - 4 200 14. Eurasian Wigeon - - - 350 15. Green-winged Teal - - 100 500 16. Spot-billed Duck - - 12 - 17. Japanese Lesser Sparrow Hawk - 1 _ _ 18. Eastern Marsh Harrier - - 3 1 19. Crested Honey Buzzard - - 1 - 20. Moorhen - - - 3 21. Kentish Plover - - 250 ++ 22. Mongolian Plover - - - 20 23. Little Ringed Plover 10 - 2 30 24. Black-bellied plover - - 5 - 25. Pacific Golden Plover - - 20 10 26. Ruddy Turnstone - - 2 _ 27. Dunlin - - 40 500 28. Curlew Sandpiper - - ++ ++ 29. Rufous-necked Stint - - - 15 30. Long-toed Stint - - - 40 31. Common Snipe - - - 1 32. Common Sandpiper - - - 6 33. Wood Sandpiper - - 25 10 34. Green Sandpiper - - 10 5 35. Marsh Sandpiper - - 4 10 36. Redshank - - 1 - 37. Black-winged Stilt - - - 60 38. Curlew - - 10 4 39. Caspian Tern - - - 8 40. Black-headed Gull - - 100 - 41. Saunders's Gull - - - 3 42. Spotted-necked Dove + + + - 43. Red Turtle Dove ++ - + - 44. Common Kingfisher - - 1 - 45. House Swift ++ + + + 46. House Martin - 50 - - 47. Barn Swallow + - - - 48. Red-rumped Swallow + - - + 49. Pacific swallow ++ - + + 50. Brown-thoated Sand Martin - - 10 30 51. Oriental Skylark - - 1 2 52. Siberian Tree Pipit - + 6 - 53. White Wagtail + - - - 54. Yellow Wagtail + - - - 55. Grey Wagtail - 3 - - 56. Chinese Bulbul ++ - + + 57. Black Drongo + - + + 58. Large-billed Crow + - - - 59. Himalayan Tree Pie 2 - - - 60. Nutcracker - 4 - - 61. Magpie - - 3 - 62. Coal Tit - + - - 63. Green-backed Tit - 10 - - 64. European Nuthatch - 1 - - 65. Vinous-throated Parrotbill 15 - - - 66. Taiwan Flamecrest (E) - 25 - - 67. Taiwan Barwing (E) - 4 - - 68. Plumbeous water Redstart - 2 - - 69. Johnstone's Bush Robin (E) - 4 - - 70. Streak-throated Fulvetta - 1 - - 71. Grey-cheeked Fulvetta - + - - 72. Hwa Mei 1 - - - 73. Taiwan Laughing Thrush (E) - 20 - - 74. White-eared Sibia (E) - 8 - - 75. Steere's Liocichla (E) - + - - 76. Formosan Yuhina (E) - 15 - - 77. Red-headed Tree Babbler - 1 - - 78. Wren - 2 - - 79. Verreaux's Bush Warbler - 1 - - 80. Fan-tailed Warbler 4 - - - 81. Tawny-flanked Prinia 4 - + - 82. White-throated Flycatcher-Warbler - 1(h) - - 83. Brown Shrike 3 - - - 84. Black-headed Shrike - - 4 - 85. Crested Myna + - - - 86. Japanese White-eye ++ - - - 87. Spotted Munia (Nutmeg Mannikin) 2 - - - 88. White-rumped Munia 6 - - - 89. Tree Sparrow ++ - + + 90. Black-faced Bunting - 2 - -
Taking into account that we had only 3 days to spend in this bird-rich country, we chose to visit 2 important areas rather close to Kuala Lumpur and the Subang international airport: Fraser's Hill (including "The Gap") and the Nature Park ("Taman Alam") Kuala Selangor. Both spots are only a few hours drive from the airport (Fraser's Hill 105 km, 2 hours drive; and Kuala Selangor 72 km, less than 2 hours drive). We rented a car at the airport (Budget Rent a Car, Proton, 158 M$ per day unlimited mileage but we drove only 360 km in total) as to save time and to be able to transfer ourselves quickly from one spot to the other.
Fraser's Hill is a higher elevation area (1450 m) rich of natural forest and rich in birds. Trails are made, making the surrounding tropical forest well accessible (we walked the Bishop's trail and the Mager trail, map available at the Information Center). We were in the wet season, but lucky to have long, clear periods on the day of arrival (14 Nov) and the next day until 14.00h. Then the rain started and continued the next morning with bad view and very poor light conditions. Therefore we decided to leave Fraser's Hill earlier than planned to visit Kuala Selangor, which was a wise decision. Most common flock birds we had seen, and the remaining ones (Cutia, Malaysian Whistling Thrush, a.o.) were not likely to be seen on such short notice. Unexpected bonus species in Fraser's Hill included Wreathed Hornbill and Chestnut-naped Forktail. The Gap refers to the lower altitude area down at the beginning of the 8 km-long one-direction road winding up to Fraser's Hill. Here the bird life is slightly different from that in Fraser's Hill itself. Still, in the bird table the birds seen at The Gap are lumped with those seen at Fraser's Hill. The Gap Rest House is the obvious place to stay (double room for only 41 M$ a night, good food, splendid birds all around). Among the animals we observed were White-handed Gibbon (only heard), Banded Leaf Monkey, Himalayan Three-striped Squirrel and several unidentified Tree Squirrel species.
The Taman Alam ("Nature Park") Kuala Selangor is 2.5 hours drive from Fraser's Hill and situated along the Western coast of Malaysia. The reserve contains salt water ponds, surrounded by 3 hides, some broadleaf forest and shrub, and mangrove forests with 2 boardwalks. There is accommodation in the park (40 M$ per night) but no catering. The nearby village has numerous small restaurants however. The reserve is good for kingfishers, raptors and herons, while typical mangrove species (Mangrove Whistler, Ashy Drongo, etc.) can be seen, as well as wader birds from the end of the mangrove boardwalk. In addition to birds the reserve is interesting by the presence of 2 monkey species (Silvered Leaf Monkey and Crab-eating Macaque), 2 meter-long Water Monitors and numerous Mudskippers (all easy to see) and 2 species of Otter (not seen by us).
Geographical regions:
KLU: Kuala Lumpur and environment
FRH: Fraser's Hill (including The Gap)
KSE: Kuala Selangor
Bird numbers:
1,2,3..: actual number observed
+ : present, easy to find, no counts
++ : abundant
No. SPECIES KLU FRH KSE 01 Little Grebe 6 - - 02 Grey Heron - - 5 03 Purple Heron - - 2 04 Chinese Pond Heron 1 - 10 05 Great Egret - - 3 06 Intermediate Egret 1 - - 07 Little Egret - - 5 08 Little Green Heron 1 - + 09 Cinnamon Bittern - - 1 10 Black-shouldered Kite - - 3 11 Brahminy Kite - - + 12 Japanese Lesser Sparrowhawk - - 1 13 Crested Honey Buzzard 1 - 1 14 Crested Serpent Eagle - - 1 15 Blyth's Hawk Eagle - 1 - 16 Eastern Marsh Harrier - - 3 17 White-breasted Waterhen - - 3 18 Whimbrel - - + 19 Redshank - - + 20 Greenshank - - + 21 Marsh Sandpiper - - 4 22 Wood Sandpiper - - 2 23 Common Sandpiper 1 - 2 24 Terek sandpiper - - + 25 Common Snipe - - 2 26 Gull-billed Tern - - + 27 Little Tern - - 4 28 Whiskered Tern - - + 29 Pink-necked Pigeon - - ++ 30 Mountain Imperial Pigeon - 8 - 31 Little Cuckoo-Dove - + - 32 Oriental Turtle Dove - - 1 33 Spotted-necked Dove + - - 34 Zebra Dove + - + 35 Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot _ 2 - 36 Common Koel - - 6 37 Chestnut-breasted Malkoha - 1 - 38 Greater Coucal - - 3 39 Lesser Coucal - - 1 40 Malaysian Eared Nightjar - 1 - 41 Common Kingfisher - - 3 42 Stork-billed Kingfisher - - 2 43 White-throated Kingfisher 1 - + 44 Black-capped Kingfisher - - + 45 Collared Kingfisher - - + 46 Blue-tailed Bee-eater - - 10 47 Red-bearded Bee-eater - 1 - 48 Indian Roller - - 1 49 Dollarbird - - 1 50 Wreathed Hornbill - 2 - 51 Fire-tufted Barbet - 2 - 52 Gold-whiskered Barbet - 1 - 53 Speckled Piculet - 1 1 54 Common Goldenback - - 1 55 Streak-breasted Woodpecker - - 1 56 Greater Yellownape - 1 - 57 Lesser Yellownape - 1 - 58 Edible-nest Swiftlet - + - 59 White-bellied Swiftlet - ++ - 60 House Swift + + 2 61 Grey-rumped Treeswift - 5 - 62 Barn Swallow + + ++ 63 Pacific Swallow + + - 64 Striped Swallow - 2 - 65 Grey Wagtail - - 4 66 Pied Thriller 1 - 3 67 Large Wood-shrike - 10 - 68 Grey-chinned Minivet - + - 69 Scarlet Minivet - 5 - 70 Common Iora - 1 - 71 Blue-winged Leafbird - 5 - 72 Black-crested Bulbul - + - 73 Yellow-vented Bulbul 2 + + 74 Ochraceous Bulbul - - 1 75 Stripe-throated Bulbul - 2 - 76 Mountain Bulbul - 4 - 77 Ashy Bulbul - 2 - 78 Ashy Drongo - - 1 79 Bronzed Drongo - + - 80 Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo - + - 81 Greater Racket-tailed Drongo - 1 - 82 Black-and-crimson Oriole - 2 - 83 Black-naped Oriole - - ++ 84 Asian Fairy Bluebird - 3 - 85 Large-billed Crow + 4 + 86 House Crow 2 - ++ 87 Great Tit - - 4 88 Blue Nuthatch - 1 - 89 Rufous-fronted Babbler - 5 - 90 Golden Babbler - + - 91 Chestnut-capped Laughing Thrush - + - 92 Chestnut-crowned Laughing Thrush - 1 - 93 Mountain Fulvetta - + - 94 Blue-winged Minia - + - 95 Silver-eared Mesia - 4 - 96 Long-tailed Sibia - ++ - 97 Chestnut-crowned Warbler - 2 - 98 Arctic Warbler - - 3 99 Common Tailorbird - - 2 100 Dark-necked Tailorbird - + - 101 Ashy Tailorbird - - + 102 Mountain Tailorbird - 2 - 103 Magpie Robin - + 1 104 Chestnut-naped Forktail - 1 - 105 Siberian Thrush - 2 - 106 Dark-sided Flycatcher - 1 - 107 Little Pied Flycatcher - 3 - 108 Grey-headed Flycatcher - 2 - 109 Large Niltava - 2 - 110 Verditer Flycatcher - 2 - 111 Hill Blue Flycatcher - 1 - 112 White-throated Fantail - + - 113 Pied Fantail - - 2 114 Mangrove Whistler - - 2 115 Brown Shrike 1 1 1 116 Philippine Glossy Starling - - + 117 Purple-backed Starling - - + 118 Common Myna + - + 119 Jungle Myna - - 2 120 Brown-throated Sunbird - - 1 121 Olive-backed Sunbird 1 - + 122 Black-throated Sunbird - + - 123 Long-billed Spiderhunter - 1 - 124 Streaked Spiderhunter - + - 125 Buff-bellied Flowerpecker - + - 126 Oriental White-eye - 1 - 127 Tree Sparrow + + - 128 Scaly-breasted Munia 2 - -