Syueshan Sacred Tree

We are up early and hope to catch the sun rise up in Dasyueshan but with no luck.

 It was so cloudy and overcast.

 Without the glorious sun rise, I did enjoy the cool morning though.

There are 2 entry points to Syushan Sacred Tree, we use the entry point via Tianchih. The trail will go through beautiful pine tree forest, and not to mention the beautiful Snake Bark Maple (Acer rubescens) that with their leafs turn red before shedding them in winter.

Hanging by the thread?

Having served it's purpose, these leafs end their journey with such a bright colour.

We saw this White-whiskered Laughinhthrush bird yesterday on the ground. They are feeding on the fruiting tree this morning.

A small and cute Taiwan Fulvetta that would not stay still for more than few seconds.

Seen this Black Throated  Tit yesterday and is good to see it again.

This curious Taiwanese macaque check us out before disappear in the forest.

After about 30mins, we reach the Syushan Sacred Tree. Standing about 50m tall with age around 1,400 years. Is been around for a long long time!

How tiny we are when standing next to this giant tree.

One of the branch on top of the tree is like a huge catapult!

We saw one more bird - Eurasian Nutcracker while we are on the way back to Tianchih,

Birds of Tianchih

Besides the cute Red & White Giant Flying Squirrel, I also saw some birds on day one of my trip at Tianchih.

 This super friendly bird is White-whiskered Laughinhthrush.

They are one of the most common birds around here. If you approach them slowly, you can get quite close to them.

There are several birds that we saw during the bird wave, however I only managed to capture photo of Black Throated  Tit.

Forest Night Glider

After the satisfying dinner, is time to try our luck on the mysterious animals that glide from tree to tree at night. I heard so much about it but yet to see it myself of this huge squirrel that can "fly". 

 We start from the entrance of the reserve.

We hear some familiar calls from the top of the tree at the end of this road,  we follow the call and try to pinpoint the location.

 Not just the call but we see movement too. Wow! We found it! The mysterious Red & White Giant Flying Squirrel glide and stop right on top of us!

This squirrel measured from head to tail is about 1 meter but to me, it is just way too cute. Compare to other squirrel this is definitely huge but on its own, isn't it cute!

Not a bad start to our 1st day of birding in Dahshueshan. Looking forward to more exciting finding tomorrow.

Tianchih - Pond in the sky

After check-in and keep our luggage, is time to explore the beauty of Dasyueshan. We have the whole afternoon before dinner and we have plan after dark too.

We will be exploring Tianchih which is part of the area at Siaoxueshan. I have no idea why it is called Tianchih,  means Pond in the sky in Chinese. Perhaps due to the high altitude?

The whole area turn pinkish red as we step out of the car in the car park. I can't help but keep taking photos of the maple leafs looks a like. These are actually Snake Bark Maple (Acer rubescens) tree that are endemic to Taiwan.

I even try to re-create the photo I took in Japan with Mt Fuji at the background.

Didn't manage to take it with clear blue sky. I can only imagine how beautiful it is with the reflection of the sky in the water.

Lichen is doing really well here. They can be found on every tree around here.

No luck for me as there is no snow this winter at Dasyueshan. Not often to have snow here, but when it does, it will be extremely beautiful.

The sun is setting and we can't wait for it get darker soon.

We go for early dinner and is almost dark now. Can't wait to look for the mysterious flying squirrel after dark later. Wish me luck...

Dessert On The Way To Dasyueshan National Forest

After hours of driving, we stop at around KM22 of Dahsyueshan Boulevard for a break. This stretch of road is actually a favorite spot among birders.

I was awe by the beauty of the blooming and suddenly saw some thing moving swiftly from branch to branch. With the help of my lens, is the Maritime striped squirrel. So cute!

Below the tree are equally interesting. Saw this White-tailed Robin showing off his iconic tail.

Is good to see Steere's liocichla again after so long. The last time I saw it was exactly 10 years ago when I first visited Taiwan.

 Among the thick undergrowth, saw this Snowy-browed flycatcher.

Look at the huge bee that fly pass this Taiwan Yuhina. The name Taiwan Yuhina suggest that this is the endemic species of Taiwan.

I spend quite some time waiting for this Morrison's Fulvetta to come to the open with no luck.

Just when the Morrison's Fulvetta fly away,  Swinhoe's pheasant appear and steal the limelight.

We slowly make our way to the viewing platform at KM22.5. Green-backed tit was feeding on Idesia fruits. Is the buffet festival for all the birds during this period.

One have to really decide what they want to watch or take photo with. Wave after wave the birds will take turns to feed on this fruiting tree. Saw this Vivid niltava feeding quietly away from the main wave.

This Yellow tit not here for the fruits but looking for  other small invertebrates or insect that attracted by the fruits. This tit was halfway feeding on a huge larvae that is still holding on tightly on the tree branch.

 I didn't manage to get a good shot of the male. This is the female White-backed woodpecker.

The last bird that we saw is this White-eared sibia before we continue to check in at Visitor Center. Not a bad dessert before the main birding feast at Dasyueshan. ;)

On Route to Dahsyueshan

After a quick bites from 7-11 convenient shop, we set off to our 1st part of the birding trip - Dahsyueshan National Forest. As we approach KM22 of Dahsyueshan Boulevard, we were greeted by cherry blossom blooming. 

This is certainly a good place to stop for birding. We spend about an hour before proceed to check in at Visitor Center.

 It was another hour of long and winding road to the Visitor Center.

There are so may "Red Maple" tree here, are they? I later found out that they are not Red Maple tree but Snake Bark Maple (Acer rubescens) and are endemic to Taiwan!

 This will be our play area for the next 2 -3 days.

 We will spend the next 2 nights in these wooden hut.

The temperature expected to drop below 10 Celsius at night at this elevation. This should be fun as we have plan to look for nocturnal animals at night.