Big Year summary.

So the ‘big year’ is over and the final total number of birds seen came to 388. Very pleased indeed!

Many thanks to the wonderful people encountered this year, for your advice, good company, encouragement and correction. Gratifying to hear how bits of this ramshackle blog have aided other’s explorations of Taiwan - and I hear, others starting a 2013 big year.

Highlights:
Spoonbill Sandpiper; most endemics seen many times; Asian Dowitcher; wintering Avocet; Paradise-Flycatchers; the generally excellent attitude here to birding and conservation; woodpeckers on my neighbor’s house; the offshore islands; the other stuff (flora/mammals/amphibians/reptiles/insects); Fairy Pitta...and many, many more.

Disappointments:
Not to see: Chinese Crested Tern; Blue-tailed Bee-eater (just didn’t have the chance to go to Kinmen at the appropriate time); Oriental Plover; more cuckoos and owls better; Black Bear (let’s see what I have planned this year...); Hawfinch, more flycatchers; 2 pairs of high-end Zeiss binoculars failing (back-up service good); Black-chinned Fruit-Dove etc.

Stats (based on gut-feeling):
Number of possible ‘dodgy’ identifications or recordings: 5-ish
Number of birds I would never have spotted or identified without other’s expert help: 10-ish
There are a few introduced species I listed and arguably could have been skipped - then again there are a few other birds seen that I did not mention, but may be established.
Full list at Birdforum.

IF, IF, IF:
If I had nothing else to do - and more money to spend - and lived closer to Yehliu - and visited offshore islands more -I suspect 420 or 440 species would be within reach. Would I do it again - yes absolutely, maybe 2014 (anyone want to sponsor a photographic version?).

Taiwan is often described as ‘small’. This is nonsense. I have traveled it fairly intensively this year for regular guiding reasons and personal amusement, yet there are still many, places and areas I did not have a chance to visit. In addition to the human world, there are many aspects of the natural world deserving better introduction.

Future for this blog? Yes, it will continue, but still working on the details. Watch this space.

2 Weeks to go...

Breakfast birding at Wushe.

Scattered showers of cold rain at the start of December made birding difficult at times. The absence of a Mikado Pheasant (first trip in a while without) was made up for by an abundance of stunning Vivid Niltava, fearless Swinhoe’s Pheasant, and playful Yuhina.

Counting down the weeks and looking out for any possible ticks.

Eleven months, but finally I’ve bagged the last of the endemic subspecies - the Plain Flowerpecker. Having alluded me for so long I was determined to ensure I would - in the end - have proper views (ensuring no confusion with female Fire-throated). I had information on another reliable location for it - and then in one morning I got it at two locations (at our guesthouse near Wulai and at the start of the Blue Gate Trail).

Unlike last year, thrushes of various species seem common this winter. In Taroko Gorge (Tienxiang precisely) the previously overlooked Grey-backed Thrush were taking in the splendid scenery.

I made a mad rush hour dash (not fun) across Taipei City to the Huajiang Wild Duck Park for an excellent lifer - Siberian Bluethroat. By the time I got to the spot (freshly trampled by bird photographers) light was fading and I was feeling feeling desperate/silly, when the famous female popped up at very close range. Fantastic - and because of the bad photography light, I was completely alone! Sadly no glimpse of exotic Orange-cheeked Waxbill - or any bird as darkness fell.

A damp Yehliu produced nothing remarkable, will revisit in the next few days before and after another endemics tour over Christmas. Coastal sites near Tainan have been satisfactory, (Temminck’s Stint in Sicao was good) but not coming up with the much-desired rare flycatchers or Japanese Robin.

I abandoned my tea-sipping in-laws in Kaohsiung City to visit Weiwoing Park for the easy Zebra Dove. This is an established exotic, only to be found in the Kaohsiung City area. Weiwoing Park is next to the MRT station of the same name.

White's Thrush (split from Scaly): where previously I had lumped the two together. In recent weeks I have had several good views of both to be able to confidently observe the differences in size and coloring.

This is the season again where the (Taipei-based) Central Weather Bureau cannot really believe the weather in the south can be so different - and thus randomly add some "clouds, possibility of rain" to southern forecasts. Taipei residents: go southwards in winter - the weather is often perfect down here!

Birds desired in these last couple weeks: American Wigeon; any swans; Smew; other uncommon ducks; Horned Grebe; various high-seas birds (not very likely!); White-tailed Eagle; Northern Goshawk; Greater Spotted Eagle; Upland Buzzard; better views of any crakes; Oriental Plover (a bit late); Nordmann’s Greenshank (must have been somewhere in front of me this year); any gulls or terns that may inspire; Black-chinned Fruit-Dove; various owls; Black-backed Kingfisher (one in Guandu I hear); a Wryneck on Taiwan-proper would be very nice, better views of Cuckoo-shrikes; Asian Stubtail, Goldcrest; better views of most Phylloscopus and Locustella warblers; migrating flycatchers especially Verditer; rare robins, thrushes - Siberian, Japanese, Red-throated; Chestnut-tailed Starling; Hawfinch; Black Redstart...er...anything new or fresh. A Pangolin would be nice.

New Birds:

White’s Thrush  Zoothera aurea
Gray-backed Thrush    Turdus hortulorum
Plain Flowerpecker    Dicaeum concolor    "Endemic subspecies (D. c. uchidai)"
Zebra Dove  Geopelia striata
Bluethroat    Luscinia svecica
Temminck's Stint    Calidris temminckii