TIBET
12 JUNE ¨C 4 JULY 2009
TOUR REPORT
LEADER: HANNU JÄNNES

This year¡¯s tour to Tibet was once again extremely successful, thanks to the very high percentage of the important target birds seen, a good number of unexpected vagrants and write-in¡¯s, plus a very good showing of quality mammals. All in all we recorded 229 species in Qinghai and Xizang, and added 20 more on our last morning in Chengdu scoring 249 species in total. Both figures are new Birdquest records for this tour! Although the total number of species recorded on this tour is relatively low, the bird list is full of important key species, difficult to get anywhere else in the world, including all six Tibetan endemics currently available and 90 or so of Birdquest¡¯s special diamond birds. The highlights were many and varied, but the three Tibetan Sandgrouse on a desolate mountain top was a clear choice for ¡®the bird of the trip¡¯. Other memorable tour highlights included such desirable species as the amazingly tame Tibetan Eared Pheasants near Lhasa, singing Kozlov¡¯s Buntings at their awesome high altitude breeding grounds, the stunning male Pink-tailed Rosefinch in songflight, a very obliging Henderson¡¯s Ground Jay in the semi-deserts of Chaka, a pair Verreaux¡¯s Monal Partridges at Huzhu Bei Shan, a pair of showy Tibetan Snowcocks, point blank views of an adult and juvenile Lammergeier, the very confiding Kozlov¡¯s Babaxes near Nanqien, beautifully patterned Tibetan Partridges at Lhasa, really mind-blowing views of a male Crested Tit-warbler, many stately Black-necked Cranes, and a beautiful pair of Roborovski¡¯s Rosefinches on a stony mountain slope well above 4500 meters. A brief summary of our bird list shows that we scored a total of three species of eared pheasants, seven species of larks, ten species of true rosefinches, all of them seem exceptionally well, seven species of Phoenicurus redstarts, six species of snowfinches, ten species of leaf warblers and five species of buntings during our three weeks adventure! To the surprise of many participants, mammals are also well represented on this tour, and we had great views of a total of six Grey Wolves (the mammal of the trip), Tibetan Gazelle, Blue Sheep, Chinese Ghoral, the smart Kiang

(or Tibetan Wild Ass), three species of pika and fox, Himalayan Weasel, and many cute Himalayan Marmots. Added highlights of travelling to this remote part of China are the breathtakingly beautiful highland landscapes, chances to see the interesting lifestyles and cultures of the local people, and, of course, the (mostly) great food.

Our very international group of six different nationalities met at the Chengdu International airport

and, after a very good lunch, continued on an internal flight to Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, we arriving late in the afternoon. When our plane taxied along the Xining airport runway, we noticed that the large airfield was completely surrounded by mist nets, which must have totaled into the hundreds, with a few birds hanging in the nets. If the birds were to be ringed and released, this would have been a laudable huge bird ringing project, but it was just a massive death trap. It is well known that birds can be a threat to air traffic, but this kind of aimless catching seemed a bit of an overkill. Anyway, soon after arriving in Xining, we found ourselves in the dry, eroded hills near

Xining , where one of the first birds we encountered, was a group of Sinai (Pale) Rosefinches, of the isolated eastern population. Additional goodies included Godlewski¡¯s Buntings, good views of three Pied Wheatears, Little Owl and Red-billed Chough. Then it was time to head to Xining, where we settled down for a night¡¯s rest before what was due to be an action-packed day!

More information http://www.birdschina.com/upload/word/22009_Birdquest_TIBET_Tour.doc