Sichuan birds

I had a great time on my recent Sichuan (southwest China) trip. March was a really interesting time to be birding there, in large part because I could find no information on the Net about birding there at that time of year. Some wintering birds were still present, including a variety of waterfowl, a few raptors and some high-altitude species that were still at their lower wintering elevations.

I have posted a trip report on Surfbirds that can be found by clicking here or copy and paste this address: http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=1341

White-browed Rosefinch (male) was the most widespread rosefinch during the trip.

Hwamei, a kind of laughingthrush that is a very popular cagebird in China. This was the only one I saw, at Emei Shan

Kessler's Thrush in Hongyuan

The strange Ground Tit, one of the highlights of my trip, was fairly common on the Tibetan Plateau.