East of Ruoergai the grassland plateau breaks up into an area of wooded valleys, not far away, some the most picturesque parts of this landscape form the National Park at Jiuzhaigou.
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| Daybreak near Ba Xi Forest |
We began our birding with the valley closest to Ruoergai along the S 445 road, known as “Ba Xi Forest”. I had read of birders visiting the area but hadn’t actually been there before, and neither had any of my companions. After a bit of faffing around (sorry, “diligent exploration”) we found the right track into what looked like suitable habitat.
After viewing Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrushes, Black Woodpecker and White-cheeked Nuthatch - among other things - we bumped into a local guide with a foreign birder. So we were more confident we were in the right place.
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| Farmsteads, Ba Xi Valley |
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| Snowy-cheeked Laughingthrush |
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| Black Woodpecker |
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| Marmots |
Later, a grinning local on a scooter yelled “Bird-Watching !” in English at me.
Meanwhile, the livestock viewed us impassively.
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| Domesticated Yak, Ba Xi |
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| Domesticated Yak, or "Dzo", Ba Xi |
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| Brown Shrike, Ba Xi |
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| Yak herder, with the Yaks very attentive to her |
The local guides we bumped into on our journey had been generous with site information and news of sightings, so we were never short of ideas about places to go.
Further east we birded lower-elevation habitat near the roadside, and settled for two nights (22nd and 23rd May) in Qiuji Town, at this comfortable and new hotel.
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| Hotel in Qiuji Town |
East of Qiuji Town, the road rose again, via a couple of logging checkpoints to a pass at nearly 4,000 metres. This mountain road proved to be productive for pheasants, especially at dawn and dusk -
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| Blood Pheasant, s 445 road |
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| Blue Eared Pheasants |
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| Blue Eared Pheasants |
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| Meconopsis integrifolia |
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| Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge |
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Chestnut-throated Monal Partridge
- and it was along this road, twenty minutes drive from our hotel, that we finally connected with Sichuan Wood Owl. |
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| "Sichuan Wood Owl" |
(I am aware that scientific spoilsports have re-lumped the former “Sichuan Wood Owl/Pere Davids Owl” with Ural Owl - but I am ignoring them.)
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| Chinese Grouse - Ba Xi valley |
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| White-cheeked Nuthatch - Ba Xi forest |
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| Tibetan Siskin (male) |
On the day we left (May 24th) we had a drive through the scenic hills, enjoying the road engineering and scenery in Jiuzhai County....
The car was returned at Chuanzhushi (near Songpan), and one of the garage people drove us to the High Speed Rail Terminal -
It was less than two hours to Chengdu, no wonder that the train was so popular !
Thanks again to my companions for their enthusiasm and great company throughout the trip.
I have no doubt this was a grand adventure, John, the kind that most of us will never experience, unless we come to Hong Kong and you agree to organize it for us! I’m with you on those spoilsport taxonomists. Sometimes it’s better to ignore them!
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