On the Way Back
On the fourth day, we were returning to Xigaze, which took still nine hours. We discovered that in Kaire Waterfall, where we would pass, there were records of Pink-browed Rosefinch and Scarlet Rosefinch in July. For the rosefinch, we departed again early in the morning.
When we arrived at the waterfall, we only found Plumbeous Redstarts in the JilongzanRiveriver. We stepped onto the boardwalk at the waterfall and encountered another mixed-feeding flock of Phylloscpus, most of which were Tickell’s Leaf Warblers. I then followed a Whistler’s Warbler into a shrub and met another Gray-sided Bush Warbler, which only made calls.
A flock of Yellow-breasted Greenfinches flew over us while two White-capped Redstarts flew over, fighting each other. The song of Variegated Laughingthrush came from spruce, which sounded like it was laughing at us. A Blyth’s Leaf Warbler hopped out of a bush and started singing—probably due to it being at its breeding altitude. Everything looked like the past few days!
Mr. Shi asked us how to identify Tibetan Snowfinches and Black-winged Snowfinch. Jun suggested the contrast between the head and the back. I opened the Merlin Bird ID on my phone, searched Tibetan Snowfinches, and found one photo of me.
We made another stop at Yingxionggou, but the only rosefinch we found was still the Himalayan Beautiful Rosefinch. The small passerine around were still Phylloscopus and Gray-sided Bush Warbler, while Coal Tits also joined. The White-bellied Redstart‘s song was heard in the air. In the sky, we saw some Himalayan Griffons and a juvenile Bearded Vulture. So far, we managed to collect all the common birds in the Tibetan Plateau on this trip!
Here, we met another highlight—a flock of European Goldfinches flew around, making a metal-like tone in their flight call. Tianyang took some photos. The subspecies have been elevated to the species level in the recent taxonomy updates in both IOC and Clements systems. As for the target rosefinches, despite there being records here in other seasons, we had no luck. For the rest of the trip, there wouldn’t be any more habitats for both species. I was about to sigh, “Oh, vast heavens, why be so unkind to me?” However, on second thought, missing targets in birding is just part of life.
When we arrived in Zongga Town, there were some seaberry bushes next to the road. Mr. Shi told us there was an excellent habitat for White-winged Redstart and Streaked Rosefinch. As he said, we saw many of these two species as we parked the jeep and approached the seaberry. About twenty White-winged Redstarts were feeding at the seaberries; most were male. That was my first experience with such a large number of this species. I then counted about five Streaked Rosefinches. Also, some Twites joined them. According to Mr. Shi, even more birds would feed on the berries in spring.
Before long, the altitude started to rise. When we passed Zangre Bridge, Shuangqi found a flock of Tibetan Partridges next to our jeep! He was so excited. Despite common, he has been longing for this life for years. He declared his intent to find a Tiberan Snowcock next, also his lifer.
As we were close to Kongtanglamu Pass, we came across two Great Rosefinches. We were looking for the two Leucosticte species for Shuangqi, but what we found were only White-winged Redstarts and Black-throated Snowfinches. At the pass, we found only Alpine Choughs. As for Tibetan Snowcock, it did not show up at the end.
We stopped at the viewpoint of Lake Pelku to take a break and go to the bathroom. Here, the Xibangxiama Peak is clearly visible. To our surprise, Master Shi spotted a Siberian Rubythroat at the viewpoint! The elevation was 4,738 meters, so how did it end up here? I recalled that the breeding rubythroats in Qinghai, which typically bypass the Tibetan Plateau from the east. Yet here it was, seemingly taking the direct route, probably from Central Asia to India. It must be super brave and energetic to cross the 5,000 m region.
We made a detour around the lake to explore it more. Some migratory White Wagtails, as also Blyth’s Pipits, Horned Larks, and Hume’s Larks, occurred there. In the water, only a few Great Crested Grebes and Brown-headed Gulls were floating. Mr. Shi recalled that when he was leading a non-birding tourist group here, they met a very close Tibetan Sandgrouse, and they could even approach to take photos with their phone. We did not have that luck, and the only surprise was three flushed Great Rosefinches.
When we passed the entrance to Everest again, some Black-necked Cranes were feeding in the wetlands near the town. We arrived in Xigase around 10 p.m.
On our last day, back in Shigatse, we rounded out our trip list with one final species at a small park in Xigaze called Gongjue Linka: the Tibetan Blackbird. There is no surprise that this species was as common in the park as Chinese Blackbirds and Eurasian Blackbirds, though they were not closely related, but got a similar appearance in the males by convergence evolution. Surprisingly, this park also had Giant Babax. The subspecies here is different from that in Lhasa.
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