TAIWAN III

 OK, we missed a week but now back on the trail to continue the

TAIWAN SOURJON

The deal put to me by my now friend and bird-guide Vicke Cheng was simple, "£100 stering and my taxi driver friend and fellow Birder will take us on the 4 hour drive to the mountains as an 'all in package' including food" - so tempting, without thought I bit both her hands off!

Arriving early dawn all kitted up that cup of coffee had to have been the sweetest ever savoured with a backdrop Dawn Chorus that has been impossible to forget.
With sufficient daylight we entered the 'at altitude'

DASYUESHAN NATIONAL FOREST RECREATION AREA
being met at the gate by a

CHINESE BULBUL
and a warm welcome at the ticket office and the sort of place there is no need to look for stuff as it mostly comes to you!

Many of the protagonists were already in place as Vicky intoduced me in her native tongue, much to the delight of the assembled crew it should be said.
The second bird had already reached the log by this time and considered a bonus indeed as anywhere in the world the Family Group can be difficult, a lone

MOUNTAIN SCOPS OWL
From there there it was mostly 'lifers' (a bird never seen in your life before) that not surprisingly tumbled into the book which you cannot spice up other than present a part of that list here.

What a way to meet a New Day looking 'down' on the Clouds and having

STEER'S LIOCICHIA
land on your lens,

there, take a closer look.
The ROBIN's are particularly startling in this part of the world, like the the White-browed Bush Robin that adornes our Header Page, 

as are

JOHNSTONE'S ROBIN
and

RED-FLANKED BLUETAIL

with my luck having allowed me to view on 3 occassions in our Home Country
but none of the trio looking anything like this! Along with

WHITE-TAILED ROBIN

KOREAN SQUIRREL
was the only Mammal recorded on the day but there were plenty more avians the most outrageous of which was introduced by a

female of the species

a pair of

SWINHOE'S PHEASANT

which really could not be beaten for sheer glamour!
Unfortuneately the video will not glue on as to large.

The almost mandatory Temple which if nothing else are most pleasing to the eye architecturally, and

another gathering of aficionados which have facinated me right across the Far East. Not so interested in the Birds themselves, as most seem unable to ID them when asked, but just wishing to photograph them!
EACH to THIER OWN!
The Back-up Crew included

TAIWAN BARBET

YELLOW TIT

TAIWAN SCIMITAR BABBLER

VINACEOUS ROSEFINCH

TAIWAN YHUINA

RUFOUS-FACED WARBLER

WHITE-BELLIED YHUINA
and

WHITE-THROATED FLYCATCHER WARBLER
which might have been the end of the day save for George, our Chauffeur, who was almost insistant that I should meet his

109 Year's Old Father who cooked me a traditional meal, along with one over the 8 and the odd grunt and smile which said it all.
CHEERS!

It seems somehow appropriate to complete this saga with a one liner 

from the Genesis magnum opus that is

The Battle of Epping Forest from the album Selling England by the Pound.

"It's the end of the day

and the clouds roll away"!
In this instance the clouds are Rolls Royce Silver Clouds.

Listern for yuorself to this magical depiction of

London Gang Warfare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFuIYyXiD5w

Burning of the Midnight Lamp - Jimi Hendrix

 My all-time Hero!

 A post-dawn clear blue sky with a gusty wind and strains of Marillion in the background saw a

Passenger Carrying Jet
cutting off to the south, likely bound for Portugal as that is where most of the controvesy lies at the moment? Intending to carry on in line with the days activities, where the Moths came close to last, we feel we should add just a couple of 'new for the year' Insect in case you think you have logged on to the wrong site.

SCARLET TIGER
always brings with it that most welcome splash of colour, but its peers could not keep up the pace.

PALE OAK BEAUTY

looked a little dowdy by comparison but a most welcome addition to the list.

Another of Eddie Stobart's Harem
as we headed to where the real action started at the gateway to the Heath where, as regular readers know, we have been watching the antics of the c3 nest-bound juvenile

CARRION CROWs
being tended by the parent birds - well not any more as they are

'out-and-about' and vulnerable!

Easily Caught

but we do not remember ever

seeing such a beast 'in the hand'

let alone catching one

ourself.
Another sight worthy of mention are the

ALDERs
which almost overnight seem to have developed from skelitons to ripe leaf-bound trees.
With troubles with the Moth Traps at the moment a moment of ecsracy as you catch first sight of that

First Lamp Burning Brightly

and settling into the possibility of a 'rarity'

while saring into an Oaken vista!
Only one other addition to the Year List came in the shape of a

 YELLOW BELLE

 

We could just Sit, Look and Listen Forever!

along with an oddly marked
TREBLE LINES
but that didn't mean the game was over. While we don't do Micro Moths, mainly down to mostly Latin names and their tiny size we do appreciate the beauty and other wonders of the genere, while hoping we have got this Longhorn Moth right - a real wonder!

NEMOPHORA DEGEERELLA  

 7 - 10 mm long, with antennae stretching beyond the image.
Sitting with one's far more educated peers at an early morning Mothing session can sound similar to the Pope blessing the faithful at the Vatican on Easter Day, or Pontius Pilate dhobying his hands and passing on the 'dirty work' to someone else!
Elsewhere, the

RAGWORT
is taking hold, so keep your Horses away while young

RABBITs

will soon be reaching plague proportions to those above.
Young

MISTLE THRUSH

are also becoming numerous and as ever favouring the bounty within the
Solar Panel Compounds
and we will try to make a better fist of these in days to come

and while within it was though prudent to capture a clip or 2 of the dozen or so

LAPWING
At the Golf Club House we just happened upon

nest building

HOUSE SPARROWs
before making the weekly check on the now developing

CYGNETs

with all c7 alive and well

while strangely, to me at least, the parent birds have built a new nest to accommodate them.
And here's one Pondside Geezer who ain't going to win any

Beauty Pagents
(Muscovy Duck resident of South America)