CHINA - Day 13 - Qing Xiu Shan, Nanning

After yesterday's visit to Nanhu Lake I decided I would head back up to Qing Xiu Shan as the habitat was much better and I could also get away from most of the people! Now I had visited the few parks in Nanning I had decided that this was by far in a way the best of the lot and I would concentrate my last few days on the quieter areas of the mountain.

Eurasian Jay (ssp., Sinensis)

I headed for the eastern side of the mountain which was an area I had not yet been. This section of the reserve was where they grew many of the plants that were in the mountain range. They called in the nursery though some of the plants were absolutely huge! On the path downwards I managed to find a few nice bits. The first was the Sinensis form of Eurasian Jay which showed well when it came out of the bamboo.

Further down I enjoyed great views of 4 Spangled Drongo's which were a new bird for me. They were very active and skittish so I make no apologies for the poor photo!



Spangled Drongo

I then headed around the bottom path back towards the east gate to the mountain. As I walked along this wonderfully quiet area (for China!) I managed to find several more Spangled Drongo as well as Yellow-bellied Prinia, Oriental Magpie Robin and several Spotted Doves. As I approached the gate I noticed a Shrike sat on the hedge. It turned out to be my first and only Brown Shrike of the trip, which was strange in itself as I thought I would come across more of these than I had.

Brown Shrike

As I gradually climbed higher up the mountain I started to come across more and more warblers and other bits mixed in. I managed to get a few new birds too in the form of a pair of Blue-winged Minla, a single Black Bulbul, a pair of Silver-eared Mesia and a single Drongo Cuckoo

Drongo Cuckoo