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Subject: [China] A trip to Qinghai & Tibet, 2011 青海西藏之旅 [Print This Page]

Author: cywong Time: 14/09/2011 21:57 Subject: A trip to Qinghai & Tibet, 2011 青海西藏之旅

From late July to early August, I joined a package tour to Qinghai and Tibet. Although this was a sightseeing tour, some birds were seen and photographed. Most of these birds are new to me, so I am not sure I have identified them correctly. Comments are welcome.

Qinghai Lake 青海湖

Chaka Salt Lake 茶卡鹽湖, 青海

Namjagbarwa 南迦巴瓦峰, 西藏

Mount Everest 珠穆朗瑪峰

TIBETAN PARTRIDGES

BAR-HEADED GEESE

PALLAS’S GULL

COMMON TERN

EURASIAN CRAG MARTIN

SAND MARTIN

PACIFIC SWIFT

UPLAND BUZZARD

RED-BILLED CHOUGH

YELLOW-BILLED CHOUGH

HILL PIGEON

ORIENTAL TURTLE DOVE

WHITE-COLLARED BLACKBIRD

HOOPOE

BLACK REDSTART
Male

Female

HODGSON’S REDSTART
Male

Female

Juvenile

WHITE-WINGED REDSTART
Juvenile

GREY-BACKED SHRIKE

Juvenile

BROWN-CHEEKED LAUGHINGTHRUSH

GIANT BABAX (far away!)

WHITE-WINGED GROSBEAK
Female

GREY-CRESTED TIT

MARSH TIT

RUFOUS-VENTED TIT

HUME'S GROUNDPECKER

HUME’S SHORT-TOED LARK

HORNED LARK

GODLEWSKI’S BUNTING

TWITE

BROWN ACCENTOR

Juvenile

ROBIN ACCENTOR

Juvenile

BRANDT’S MOUNTAIN FINCH

RUFOUS-NECKED SNOWFINCH
Male

Female

TIBETAN SNOWFINCH

Juvenile

WHITE-WINGED SNOWFINCH

Juvenile

COMMON ROSEFINCH
Male

Female

BEAUTIFUL ROSEFINCH

GREAT ROSEFINCH

Thanks for viewing.

[ Last edited by cywong at 15/09/2011 23:09 ]

Author: Andiona Time: 14/09/2011 23:29

Excellent Trip & Photo

Author: Ronaldo Time: 15/09/2011 01:06

Hi Cherry,

Beautiful trip... I couldn't go to Tibet because of visa issues for foreigners till recently.
Just one comment: I am not sure if the name changed, but don't we use the word Chough, rather than Crow for the two "crow-like" species?

Cheers

Author: wleepoin Time: 15/09/2011 07:36

Looks like a fruitful trip. Beautiful scene shots.

Author: lexusjohn Time: 15/09/2011 10:44

Hi ! CYWong, thank your for sharing !

Beautiful place with lots of beautiful birds.
For this long trip, may I know which photographic equipment that you used ?
FR:John

Author: mbill Time: 15/09/2011 10:46

Great birds photoes even a sightseeing tour.

Author: John Holmes Time: 15/09/2011 13:31 Subject: Tibetan wonders

Hi Cherry,

Looks like you got some great bird shots, even on a non-specialist tour !

John

Author: Andy-li Time: 15/09/2011 16:59

good Trip & Photo...

Author: hkinni Time: 15/09/2011 18:12

Wow, what a wonderful trip

Author: iherman Time: 15/09/2011 18:23

Lot of birds on the sightseeing tour

Author: cywong Time: 15/09/2011 22:56

Thank you very much for all your kind comments.

Author: cywong Time: 15/09/2011 23:03

Quote:

Original posted by Ronaldo at 15/09/2011 01:06
Hi Cherry,

Beautiful trip... I couldn't go to Tibet because of visa issues for foreigners till recently.
Just one comment: I am not sure if the name changed, but don't we use the word Chough, rather ...

Hi Ronaldo,

You are right! They should be Red-billed Chough and Yellow-billed Chough. I have amended the captions.
Thank you for correcting this mistake.

I hope you will be able to go to Tibet in the future, you will enjoy watching the birds and the beautiful mountains there.

Cherry

Author: cywong Time: 15/09/2011 23:08

Quote:

Original posted by lexusjohn at 15/09/2011 10:44
Hi ! CYWong, thank your for sharing !
Beautiful place with lots of beautiful birds.
For this long trip, may I know which photographic equipment that you used ?
FR: ...

Hi John,

My photographic gear included a DSLR camera (EOS7D), 2 lenses ( 100-400mm lens and 17-40mm lens) and a compact DC (S90).

cywong

Author: lexusjohn Time: 16/09/2011 12:02

Dear CY Wong,

Only 100-400 lesn can take the birds photos in the trip !

It's great. No need to carry 500mm or 600mm. It's really heavy and tired.

Thank you for your sharing again.

FR:John

Author: HFCheung Time: 16/09/2011 12:22

Dear Cherry,

I think you got Dusky Crag Martin, instead of Eurasian Crag Martin. This bird has rarely been photoed in China.

HF Cheung

Author: EricB Time: 17/09/2011 06:08

Thanks for sharing a great collection of photos.Are you sure you didn't actually get on a Birdquest coach by accident?
(Only kidding!)
Do you have a link to the tour you took? I can see many birders with non birding spouses could get quite interested in Qinghai & Tibet!
Some of the birds are really tough to id.
I would be surprised if Marsh Tit, even the brevirostris race can have such a huge black bib.
Tibetan Snowfinch is a name that has been applied to several species - White winged,Black winged & Henri's. This is a complex group of which I have little experience except White winged and none of these photos look like White winged to me.I think the bird which most fits the juvenile is Henri's(generally treated as a race of Black winged but also known as Tibetan Snowfinch to complicate matters!)- this link shows a juvenile that most matches the juv you have photographed-[url]http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Henri's_Snowfinch.[/url]
The 3 dark faced birds labelled White winged are a nice Brandt's Mountain Finch.The juv White winged looks like the same species that was labelled Tibetan!
With kind regards,
Eric

[ Last edited by EricB at 17/09/2011 06:09 ]

Author: cywong Time: 18/09/2011 22:45

Quote:

Original posted by HFCheung at 16/09/2011 12:22
Dear Cherry,

I think you got Dusky Crag Martin, instead of Eurasian Crag Martin. This bird has rarely been photoed in China.

HF Cheung

Dear Dr. Cheung,

Thank you very much for sharing your expert opinion.
Here is another photo of the crag martin:

Cherry

Author: cywong Time: 18/09/2011 22:49

Quote:

Original posted by EricB at 17/09/2011 06:08
Thanks for sharing a great collection of photos.Are you sure you didn't actually get on a Birdquest coach by accident?
(Only kidding!)
Do you have a link to the tour you took? I can see many birders ...

Hi Eric,

I am often amazed by your knowledge in birds and your experience in bird-watching.

I really have difficulty in identifying the snowfinches and thank you so much for helping me to i.d. them. I agree that the first 3 birds labelled as "White-winged Snowfinch" are Brandt's Mountain finches and the bird labelled as "juvenile White-winged Snowfinch" is a Tibetan Sowfinch.

I think the Marsh Tit belongs to the race hypermelaena which has olive-green tinge to upper parts and a larger black bib. This race is illustrated and described in "A Field Guide to the birds of China". Here are another 2 photos of this tit.

Some Marsh Tits that have similar appearance are shown in 'A Database of Birds of China"
http://www.cnbird.org.cn/resust. ... +tit&Submit4=Go

The tour I joined was operated by a Hong Kong travel agency. I am not going to advertise this travel agency here, as my friends and I were not happy with some aspects of this tour. Below is a part of the brochure about this tour:

With the licence no. and the tel. no., those who are interested in this tour can contact the travel agency by themselves. I am sorry that no English version of the brochure is available.

Cherry

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