Day 1: Arrival in Chengdu

After arrival in Chengdu, we will transfer to a hotel in the city for one night. For early arrivals, we can visit a city park in the afternoon, which may see us encounter our first parrotbill of the tour (Vinous-breasted), in addition to Oriental Greenfinch, David’s Fulvetta, Chinese Blackbird, and White-browed Laughingthrush.

 

Day 2: Chengdu to Longcanggou

We will travel to Loncanggou via Ya’an. Here we will look for birds like Brown-rumped (Swinhoe’s) Minivet, Forest Wagtail, Rufous-faced Warbler, and Ashy-throated Parrotbill. In the late afternoon, we shall check in to our lodging for the next three nights, on the edge of Longcanggou Forest Park. There may be some time in the late afternoon to search for our first specialties of the area, like Brown Bullfinch and Sichuan Bush-Warbler. Three nights will be spent in Loncanggou. (Note – The entry policy changes every year. If this site is not accessible, an alternative site will be substituted.)

 

Days 3-4: Longcanggou Forest Park

We will spend two full days working this park, which has only recently been uncovered as a birding hotspot; mixed forest and woodland types within the park offer up a varied and long bird list. The area is especially rich in parrotbills, with Great, Brown, Golden, and even the rare Gray-hooded all possible there. Longcanggou is also home to some very local species like the shy Gray-faced (Emei) Liocichla, and Emei Leaf Warbler, in addition to Chinese Blue Flycatcher, Pere David’s Tit, Slaty Bunting, and the gorgeous Golden-breasted Fulvetta. With luck, Temminck’s Tragopan, can also be seen too. These nights will also be at simple lodging on the edge of the park.

 

Day 5: Longcanggou Forest Park to Wolong

Today will be a long driving day, but we will make some brief roadside stops en-route. After some final birding at Longcanggou, we will backtrack to Chengdu, then head west into the mountains and onto our rustic lodge in Wolong situated at 1900m (6200ft) elevation. We will spend the next three nights here, below Balang Shan, arguably the most spectacular site of the tour.

 

Days 6-7: Balangshan area

We will have two full days to bird the varied localities and elevations on Balang Shan. Once again, our attentions will be drawn to pheasants on these days, as we spend early mornings searching for some of the most highly-prized Sichuan birds, like White Eared-Pheasant, Chinese Monal, and Tibetan Snowcock. The surroundings to our birding on these days are simply magnificent, often involving snow clad peaks as a backdrop to some of Sichuan’s best birding. Other species we will be searching for include Chinese Rubythroat , Rufous-breasted and Alpine Accentors, the indigo-colored Grandala, Chinese Fulvetta, Black-headed (Brandt’s) Mountain-Finch, Blue-fronted Redstart, and an assortment of rosefinches, including Red-fronted, Dark-breasted and Chinese White-browed. We will have two nights at a rustic lodge in Wolong.

 

Day 8: Wolong to Maerkang

On this day we will have our last birding in the Balang Shan area, before heading to the city of Maerkang. En route we will be on the lookout for Wallcreeper, Przevalski’s Nuthatch, Gray-headed Bullfinch, Black-browed, Gray-crested and Rufous-vented Tits. After the drive, we may have time to bird Mengbishan in the afternoon, which is home to a long list of birds, including Crested Tit-Warbler and Sichuan Jay. The next two nights will be spent at a comfortable hotel in the town of Maerkang, situated at 2400m (7800ft) elevation.

 

Day 9: Mengbishan

A full day will be spent combing the spruce-covered slopes of yet another scenic mountain, something that Sichuan can genuinely lay claim to a plentiful supply of! While the jay and tit-warbler will be the undoubted main focus, there are many other exciting avian offerings here, including Verreaux’s (Monal) Partridge, Blood Pheasant, Pink-rumped, Chinese Beautiful, and Three-banded Rosefinches; the mighty Black Woodpecker, Collared and White-winged Grosbeaks, Himalayan Bluetail, Hodgson’s Treecreeper, and White-throated Redstart. At the end of the day we will return to Maerkang for the night, passing some fascinating local Tibetan architecture along the way.

 

Day 10: Maerkang to the Tibetan Plateau

While this comprises another long driving day, it will not be without avian rewards, as we climb up onto the Tibetan Plateau, with its whole new suite of birds. Along the way we hope to find Ground Tits (formerly Hume’s Groundpecker), regal Black-necked Cranes, beautiful Azure-winged Magpies (now considered a different species from the one found in Europe), and handsome Ruddy Shelducks. Stopping at shallow, scrub-filled valleys in this area may also provide two stunning birds, in the form of White-browed Tit, and White-browed Tit-Warbler, often sharing the same stand of scrub together! The same area will also be where we could find one of the main attractions of the tour, Przevalski’s Pinktail, which occupies its own family. At the end of the day, we will arrive at the Tibetan town of Ruoergai, where will stay in a large hotel for the next two nights.

 

Day 11: Baxi Forest and the Tibetan Plateau

Our day will start overlooking a picturesque spruce-laden valley. Our main target at this site will be the Blue Eared-Pheasant, although there will be plenty more besides, with other birds found in this area including Ring-necked Pheasant, the elusive Sukatschev’s (Snowy-cheeked) Laughingthrush, Pere David’s Laughingthrush, Snowy-browed (Chinese) Nuthatch, Hodgson’s Redstart, Slaty-backed Flycatcher, and Sichuan Tit. After lunch, we will move onto an area of the Tibetan Plateau itself, Flower Lake. While Black-necked Cranes will have likely already featured, another chance comes here too. White-rumped and Rufous-necked Snowfinches can be found among the pika colonies near the entrance to the lake, while Tibetan Larks are often on the wing in display flights at this time of year. Flower Lake itself plays host to waterfowl like Ferruginous Duck and Red-crested Pochard, and birds like Citrine Wagtail, and can be a good place to sight raptors, like Saker Falcon and Upland Buzzard.

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Day 12: Baxi to Gonggangling

After a final morning in the valley of Baxi, where further chances at Blue Eared-Pheasant or Sukatschev’s (Snowy-cheeked) Laughingthrush may be needed, we shall hit the road, heading to our final site of the tour, Gonggangling. A single night will be spent in nearby Chuanzhusi.

 

Day 13: Gonggangling to Chengdu

The high spruce-laden pass near Gonggangling is another site for Blue Eared-Pheasant, the rare Sichuan Jay, endemic Chinese Fulvetta and Three-banded Rosefinch, but also offers a host of other species like Hodgson’s Treecreeper, Crested Tit-Warbler, Maroon-backed Accentor, Goldcrest, and Tibetan Serin (Siskin). If we are lucky we may also find Ural Owl, which is seen at this site more than any other. After a morning in this area, we’ll head back to Chengdu for the last night.

Day 14: Departure from Chengdu

You will be transferred this morning to the airport for departure.