Jan 26, 2019 - Day 23

Got up the latest after I came to Taiwan at 8:00am. Last night I could not fall into sleep, probably too excited to go home today. Fortunately, all my laundry was dried. After packing up and tidied the apartment I contacted the host Sally. She said her son will help me with my luggage and I should contact her once I get on the MRT back from Dansui about 3:00pm. I went to the 7-11 across the street to get some breakfast. Then, took MRT to Dansui. The first stop is the Red Mangrove Forest. It is a massive red mangrove forest and there is a...

Jan 25, 2019 - Day 22

After I finished breakfast and packing my luggage at 8:00am, Mr. Lin was not up yet. I decided not to waste my time to wait but to walk to a local beach front park. I wanted to see the west side of the Pacific Ocean. Got to the park within 15 minutes’ walk. It is a very nice park with bike and pedestrian paths. Walked along the bike path. It veered off the beach along a river. The most abundant birds were Common Myna and Styan’s Bulbul. No shorebirds at all except a few Common Sandpipers. Noticed a few water buffalos were feeding on the...

Jan 24, 2019 - Day 21

Got up at 5:15am to catch the 6:30am bus to Taroko National Park. My host Mrs. Lin arranged a taxi for me to be picked up at 6:15am. When I got to the train station by taxi, the first thing was to purchase a train ticket back to Taipei for tomorrow afternoon. According to Mr. Lin it is the hottest ticket in Taipei because there is no other transportation choice besides driving oneself. Then, I caught the 6:30am bus to the park. When we arrived the park visitor center at 8:00am, it was not open yet. I started to look for birds nearby. First,...

Jan 23, 2019 - Day 20

It was a travel day. The train left Kaohsiung at 10:30am and arrived Hualien at 3:45pm. There is no HSR on the east side of the island. It is too mountainous. On the train my next seat was a young man. He told me he is with air force. After high school he went to the airforce academy for 2 years and has served 3 years. He is not a pilot but ground man. He wants to visit mainland China very much but now as an active serviceman he could not do so. Taiwan has a volunteer system to serve the army. He chose to be with air force. When train...

Jan 22, 2019 - Day 19

Took a local train to Jiuqutang that is a small town near Kaohsiung. The wetland park has 120 acres and is next to a river. The old railway bridge had been converted to a skywalk. The train uses a new bridge. The old bridge was built by Japanese to transport local wood, sugar and other products out over 100 years ago. Within the park there is a ceramic museum and workshop. A group of school aged kids were there to create some art work. I found two new lifers there: Chestnut-tailed Starling and Black-napped Oriole. I did not expect to see...

Jan 21, 2019 - Day 18

When the hotel shuttle bus got to the public bus station, I was told there is a private van that goes to the Chiayi HSR without stop. It could save 1.5 hours and only $2 more. I chose to get on that van. Pretty soon it filled with passengers and took off. It had to make one stop because the brake needs to take a rest due to continues downhill. We stopped at a tea shop and tasted the local tea, but nobody bought anything. I sit in the front with the driver. He is 72 years old and looked somewhat different from Han Chinese with more defined...

Jan 20, 2019 - Day 17

The phone rang at 5:00am to wake me up to catch the sunrise train. After a cup of hot coffee and some cookies I went to the train station. The rain was stopped but still very wet on the ground. To my surprise there were a couple of hundred people at the station. The ticket purchase line was long. Fortunately I bought the ticket yesterday so that I could line up at the entrance. The train left at 5:55am. There were two engines to pull and push it up the mountain. It arrived the sunrise observation deck in 30 minutes. I found a place that...

Jan 19, 2019 - Day 16

At 6:30am there was light, and I started to hear birds chirping. Hurried to put enough cloth on and went outside. It was cold at 45F. Found a woodpecker, a quiet Taiwan Barbet, a White and a Yellow Wagtail, a group of Japanese White Eyes and the very common Black Bulbul and Light Vented Bulbul. The best finding was a Plain Flowerpecker that is very small and greenish yellow. It was chirping on a mountain cherry tree. Managed to get some good shots. By 8:00am Mr. Liu got the breakfast ready. It was western style with 3 breakfast sausages, a...

Jan 18, 2019 - Day 15

Went to the bus station next to the train station at 7:40am to catch the 8:00am bus to Sizho where the Firefly homestay is. It is half way to Alishan. It took just about 1 hour to get there. The mountain road is paved but narrow. I would not dare to drive considering there are so many tour buses. Talked to the homestay owner and found out that there is a bus to go to Fengqi Lake from Sizho. I decided to go there first since the mountain train station provides luggage locker. The mountain railway was built by Japanese during their occupation...

Jan 17, 2019 - Day 14

The rain stopped today. Had a simple breakfast with soybean milk and corn omelet. Took a taxi for a 10 minutes ride to Chiayi Botanical Garden and the adjacent Forest recreational area. There were many plants, bushes and walkways but hardly any birds. Just like in mainland China there were groups of people doing Taiji or other kinds of exercise with loud music. In Taipei there are regulations to control the noise but obviously no such thing in Chiayi. I enjoyed the walk anyway. Afterwards, I walked to another recreational area called...

Jan 16, 2019 - Day 13

Woke up at 6:00am and it was raining very hard. I had to change my plan for the day. Decided to take the train to Chiayi directly and not go to Tainan for Qigu reservation. The forecast is not good for the day. Maybe I could go tomorrow. Notified Xiao Pong for the change. He said he will come to Chiayi to check me in because my host is out of town for a couple of days . I do not think it is necessary. Once the rain is subsided, I will leave Sho’s place. She got back very late and was up to make me some fruit salad. I invited to her to visit...

Jan 15, 2019 - Day 12

It was just the day break when we met at 6:30am. The walk near the hotel yielded White-browed Bush Robin and Collared Bush Robin. They both appeared at the same location at different time. Then, we ran into a mixed group: Green-backed Tit, Chestnut-breasted Tit, Yuhina, Yellow Tit, Coal Tit, and others. The leader Mr. Chang found a group of Flame Crest. They are very small birds, very similar to our Ruby-crested Kinglet. They live on the high altitude and very active. I managed to obtain a couple of shots. A group of Taiwan Barwing appeared...