An early start saw us even
higher up the hills at first light at somewhere called Cheer Point with
incredible views over a valley, we dipped on the two Pheasant species we were
going for but the obvious highlight (maybe for the trip as well!) was a
stunning sub-adult LAMMERGEIER which was flushed from the cliffs below
us to circle round and disappear low over our head – incredible! Other birds here included big flocks of at
least 100+ ALTAI
ACCENTORS flying around, a LONG-TAILED THRUSH seen at dawn, 30+ Himalayan Griffon Vultures which
gave awesome views along with a few Steppe Eagles, Crag Martins and the now
usual spread of woodland species.
We then called back into Jungle Lore Camp for some
more gen on sites to visit, also connecting with the wintering female GOLDEN BUSH ROBIN in the grounds (a big target for all of us!) along
with a cracking pair of SPOT-WINGED GROSBEAKS and
a WHITE-THROATED
LAUGHINGTHRUSH coming into one of the
birdbaths.
Acting on the new information we went down to the
bottom of the hills near our accommodation where an incredible valley was
supposed to lie, near a Shaolin temple; it started well as birds around the
river at the bottom included stunning WHITE-CAPPED WATER REDSTARTS and a female Plumbeous Water Redstart holding
territory near the bridge and showing amazingly well, a cracking male CRIMSON SUNBIRD,
a male SLATY-BLUE
FLYCATCHER and a female
Rufous-bellied Niltava (which actually took several days for us to work out
what it was!).
We then ventured up the valley and it was a brilliant
place with thick streamside vegetation, surrounding tall trees and agricultural
fields creating a great site; highlights included an amazing, glowing male GOLDEN BUSH ROBIN,
a stunning male HIMALAYAN
RUBYTHROAT hopping around at our feet
and at least 3 cracking BLACK-THROATED ACCENTORS. Other birds included brief views of a RUFOUS-BREASTED
ACCENTOR (a three Accentor day!),
groups of GREY-BREASTED
PRINIA, 20+ Oriental Turtle Doves, a smart male Siberian Stonechat
and a pair of Common Rosefinches.
Lammergeier
Himalayan Griffon Vultures
Steppe Eagles
Male and female Spot-winged Grosbeak
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