I expect to lead a team of vaguely competent birders. Failing that, I may be willing to provide transport up there for other teams. A reminder - I am available anytime for bird guiding around the island. Most of the endemics can be seen in a few intensive days. Richard, barkingdeerinfo@gmail.com
Dasyueshan (better known to international birders as ‘Anmashan’) is one of the reasons Taiwan is a fantastic place for birding. This Forest Recreation Area is located in the rugged mountains east of Taichung City. The idea of a Bird Race is to spot and identify as many species of birds in a prescribed time period/area, modest prizes for ‘winners’ in various categories...the real prize of course is seeing the birds.
For beginners to birds in Taiwan I can strongly recommend the book ‘100 Common Birds in Taiwan’ $9.50 from Books from Taiwan. It’s pocket sized, yet has very clear images and packed with practical information on a good selection of the most common and endemic birds - IN ENGLISH.
If Taipei-based, ‘Birdwatcher’s Guide to the Taipei Region’ is a very pleasant English-language field guide to nature trails in Taipei.
Birds East Asia is the large and currently authoritative guide to the birds of the region. Available from Amazon. Birds of East Asia (Helm Field Guides)
'Birdwatching in Taiwan' is a practical guide to the key birdwatching sites.
See BooksfromTaiwan.com main site for a range of other Taiwan natural history books, and more general subjects ranging from cooking, architecture, history, children, writing, travel guides, maps, postcards, Taroko, calligraphy...and much more.
Dasyueshan National Forest Recreation Area, International Bird Race 2011
Dongshih, Taichung, Taiwan
29 - 30 April, 2011(11am-11am, 24 hours)
For registration: www.bird.org.tw e-mail: edu@bird.org.tw, mail@bird.org.tw TEL : +886-2-86631252
Before: 31 March, 2011
Team: 3-4 persons, No registration fee required.
International teams will be provided free accommodation and meals on 28-29.
Dasyueshan National Forest Recreation Area
Located in the Heping District of Taichung City, the recreational area covers altitudes from 2,000 to 2,996 meters with forest vegetation distributed across four forest belts: tropical, subtropical, temperate, and frigid, and has a total area of 3,962.93 hectares. Dasyueshan Forest Recreational Area has the best primeval forest bath in Taiwan and convenient transportation, that is, approx. 31 km from Dongshih when taking the Dasyueshan forest road. Special scenic sports include Mt. Shaolai observatory, Chuansingshan Nursery Garden, sky pond, sacred trees, bird watching, cloud viewing, and the sunrise and sunset. The forest exhibition hall displays forestry history through topics like forest protection, fire prevention, ban on illegal logging and cultivation, reforestation, hillside stabilization, flood prevention, and forest recreation.
Tourists can find both accommodation and meals at Syueshan Villa, Dasyueshan Guest House, Second Guest House and wood cabins.
