China in Winter Tour Report 2016


17th November - 2nd December


TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
Either for rarity value, excellent views or simply a group favourite.

  • Swan Goose
  • Lesser White-fronted Goose
  • Mandarin Duck
  • Falcated Duck
  • Baikal Teal
  • Scaly-sided Merganser
  • White-necklaced Partridge
  • Cabot’s Tragopan
  • Elliot’s Pheasant
  • Koklass Pheasant
  • Silver Pheasant
  • Oriental Stork
  • Black-faced Spoonbill
  • Siberian Crane
  • Sandhill Crane
  • White-naped Crane
  • Red-crowned Crane
  • Hooded Crane
  • Spoon-billed Sandpiper
  • Long-billed Plover
  • Saunder’s Gull
  • Pied Falconet
  • Silver-throated Bushtit
  • Hartert’s Leaf Warbler
  • Grey-sided Scimitar-Babbler
  • Dusky Fulvetta
  • Moustached Laughingthrush
  • Short-tailed Parrotbill
  • Reed Parrotbill
  • Indochinese Yuhina
  • Spotted Elachura
  • White’s Thrush
  • Grey-sided Thrush
  • Pale Thrush
  • Northern Red-flanked Bluetail
  • Slaty-backed Forktail
  • Buff-bellied Pipit
  • Yellow-browed Bunting
  • Pallas’s Reed Bunting
  • Japanese Reed Bunting

 

SUMMARY:

Our SE China in Winter tour focussed on some of the rarest and most stunning species on the planet as we visited a variety of habitats from wide, open plains, marshes and huge lakes to forested mountains and coastal marshes and mudflats. This was a thoroughly enjoyable tour with a great group as we visited the famous wetlands of Yangcheng and Poyang Hu during the first half of the tour, which met all of our expectations as we saw 6 species of crane and numerous Oriental Storks. Add to that a few Spoon-billed Sandpipers and the first of our 12 species of buntings seen, plus 8 species of thrush made this a spectacular start. Moving further south to Wuyuan we were lucky to find a pair of Moustached Laughingthrushes in a secluded valley and our main target of Scaly-sided Merganser swimming along a secluded river set amidst beautiful rolling, forested hills. From here we visited Emei Feng, a stunning mountain where 7 Elliot’s Pheasants were the highlight, plus we had some views of Cabot’s Tragopan, and both Koklass & Silver Pheasants. We rounded off our tour at Fuzhou Forest Park and an extra day at Nanhui, close to Shanghai with Spotted Elachura, Asian Stubtail and great looks at a drake Baikal Teal. China has an excellent road network, good hotels and great food making travelling here very easy indeed and I for one cannot wait to return. 

 

DOWNLOAD FULL TOUR REPORT