Sale Town
Continuing east from the pass, we could reach Sale Town, which was unaccessible on the first day. Going further downhill from Sale Town, we can get a few border villages. Mr. Shi suggested we explore that direction, hoping to descend to a lower altitude for birds like Himalayan Bulbuls. The road in Sale Town was extremely tough, which we learned later was due to ecological protection that prevented paving it.
The birds there were the same as we saw on the first day in Jifu and Chongse, such as the Phylloscopus mixed flocks and Rufous Sibia. We had a White-throated Fantail as a team new record on the trip. Despite a few birds, it was a good place for langurs. We encountered some along the roadside. Before we reached a lower altitude than 2,600 m, we reached a checkpoint and were told there was a restricted border control area and we would not be able to descend further.
We turned back and tried to look for birds along the road. Next to the road was a river valley, making the border between China and Nepal. However, we found barely Rufous Sibias and Tickell’s Leaf Warblers. An Eurasian Sparrowhawk rose lazily from the valley, slowly ascending along the border. The country borders of human beings never limit birds, and valleys and mountains never restrict the birds. I guess many must seek solace in the freedom of birds, as they have been suffering from all kinds of burdens.
As dusk approached, and the other villages we had access to here were all above the altitude we were at, we decided to go back. On the way to Sale Town, we encountered a large flock of Yellow-breasted Greenfinches feeding on some Cirsium plants. We pulled over to take some photos. At that moment, a couple of rosefinches suddenly hopped out, perched on the Cirsium for one second, and flew away. The male rosefinch was vibrant red, but nobody had a proper look. Mr. Shi seemed sure that the other female rosefinch was a Pink-browed Rosefinch, but in our opinion, it was closer to a Himalayan Beautiful Rosefinch. Nevertheless, after twenty minutes of effort, we failed to find the rosefinches again. What we found were more and more greenfinches.
Later, Jun found a group of Kalij Pheasants near the roadside—a female with juveniles, all varying wildly in plumage. Shuangqi complained that all the juveniles looked ugly, but we still spent some time taking photos of them.
We recorded a group of Rosy Pipits on the wires when we passed the mountain pass again. Soon after, I saw a perching pheasant by the roadside. It looked like a Blood Pheasant, but could it be a Himalayan Snowcock? I asked Mr. Shi to pull over, and then we found out it was a female Himalayan Monal. The monal started moving uphill, and a male showed up with it. Following them, we found about ten monals along the ridges, most males.
As we passed through Zha Village, we saw a flock of pigeons fly by through the jeep window. One week before, some rare Yellow-footed Green-Pigeons were recorded in Gyirong, and we all got excited. However, they were all Speckled Wood-Pigeons without any exception, as usual.
After dinner, Jun sighed, noting that there were never any records of Pink-browed Rosefinches in Gyirong in October, even in the nearby Langtang region in Nepal. We exchanged knowing smiles, and everybody understood the sentiment.
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