The final part of my southern Taiwan trip (2009-10-17)

Doing some internet surfing on Flickr when I came across this picture and chuckled at myself at the caption below "...in BC if you're waiting for the rain to stop before you go out, there's every chance you'd die of old age first." Very true.

I have been putting off writing the last few parts of my southern Taiwan trip, and I think I will continue today (from last month). One of the things that we were there to do was to find some Taiwan Barbet nest cavities, as well as to witness and gather some information about the famous raptor migration occurring during the beginning of autumn. It is a spectacular sighting to see tens of thousands raptors flying and gliding on currents of hot airs rising through the peninsula.

On October 17, we woke up quite early, had simple breakfast, and rode our scooters back to Sheding Nature Park where many bird-watchers and photographers gather to see and capture this phenomenon.

Shortly after leaving the dormitory, we saw a Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos canicapillus). It was definitely to find a lifer for me, as well as the idea of another cavity-nester sharing the same habitat as our Taiwan Barbet. I wonder if there are direct competitions between the two species in terms of cavity resources.

Later on, we also came across a group of Formosan Rock Macaques which are pretty common in the area.

On the way to the platform of the highest point in the park, we encountered a few more interesting animals/plants.

Plank Root Tree (Heritiera littoralis). From its root system, you can probably guess that this is a species that live near mangroves with fluctuating tides.

Taiwan Giant Cricket (Brachytrupes portentosus) - it was already dead but I uprighted it for a documentation.

A friendly dog belonging to the person in charge of the dormitories.

Candidiopotamon rathbunae with my shoe stopping it from moving for a second. C. rathbunae is a freshwater crab and has the widest distribution in Taiwan. Even though both pincers are about the same size, the left is slightly larger. They are the largest and most fierce freshwater crabs in Taiwan, and they can be found underneath rocks or leaves alongside streams, as well as in muddy holes.

Athyma cama zoroastres.

An unknown species from Family Pompilidae.

Once we arrived at the platform, there were probably tens of photographers and birders there. Even though I can see many birds flying in the sky, there were too unfamiliar for me to identify right away (and plus they were just too fast). I didn't capture any images of the must-see Grey-Faced Buzzard. Instead I got a couple of shots of bird-in-flight (one of the reasons why I would like to own a DSLR) and identified only after I sat down and opened my field guides. Needless to say, they are all lifers for me!

Besra (Accipiter virgatus)

Oriental Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus)

Oriental Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) - a honey-feeding accipiter. I believe this is a male because it is lighter in color.

After lunch, we headed to the Manzhou Eagle-watching Expo, but it was too far away and by the time we got there, the expo already came to an end.

Near dark, we scootered back towards our dormitory (along the windy waterfront and the dangerous encounter of a bull out-of-nowhere in a dark road) to pack up our luggages and prepare heading to Taipei.

Along the dark roads, we came across a roadkilled Taiwan Green Snake (Cyclophiops major). RIP.

As well as finding a stickbug (Entoria koshungensis) right outside or dorm. So cool! The people that helped me id this believe it is a male.

After dinner, we took a taxi ride to Kaohsiung (about 2 hours). Spend another hour or so in Kaohsiung waiting for the shuttle bus to Taipei. We left Kaohsiung just past midnight, and when we woke up in Taipei, it was almost 6-am (of October 18th, Sunday)! We ate some early breakfast and said good-bye to each other and headed to our own homes - because we have a get-together later that night in a friend's home again.

So early...and so tiring!

That concludes my work-trip to Southern Taiwan which was both memorable and important (to me) at the same time. I miss it so much.

366 days ago (2009-01-29) ...
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Exploring the Silver-Dragon Cave at night (2009-10-16)

I was helping my mother cleaning the house today, so I didn't have time to go out and wildlife watch. So here's a continuation of my trip in southern Taiwan after watching the sunset in Guanshan (2009-10-16).

After having mouth-watering dumplings for dinner, we headed back to our dormitory. And after getting some rest, we went to explore a public-accessible cave in the Kenting Botanical Garden. Since the whole area is closed off during the evening, we were the only people able to go into it. The cave is called Silver-Dragon Cave and it is a natural limestone cave.

Below were some of the species we saw. I tried to identify most of them and asked for help on forums and so forth, but not all were identified.

Pancala Snail (Pancala batanica pancala). Taiwan has more than 170 snail species, and the Pancala Snail is an endemic subspecies found only in the Hengchuan Peninsula. This special snail has the special trait of being left handedness. I just Googled an interesting information about "handedness" in snails here - for interest's sake.


Next is a large cave-dwelling cricket called Ceuthophilus maculatus. Or maybe a different species in the same genus, I am not totally sure. But it sure is cool to see such large insects crawling on walls all around you in a narrow cave.


This is a mammal that I was very surprised and happy to see in a cave - Formosan Tube-nosed Bat (Murina puta) - an animal that I researched in in the summer of 2008! You can read about my stories from that summer here - good times! It is surprising because it should be a forest dwelling bat, not cave-dwelling, but I guess since the cave is surrounded by forests, it is much safer in a cave than in the furled plant leaf. This species is easily identified by its pointy nostrils (clearly seen in the picture). Wow!


Then we encountered a female Geothelphusa albogilva. It is a freshwater crab endemic in Taiwan and most common in the Hengchuan Peninsula.


The cave itself is fairly narrow and short, and pretty soon we entered the forest and started shining lights everywhere to see some wildlife. We didn't have much luck and the only animal we saw was this small Stejneger's Narrow-mouthed Toad (Micryletta stejnegeri). They are fairly easy identified with their small body size (2 ~ 3-cm) and their dark metallic gray or brown color.


After a while, we gave up and returned back to the cave and to our mopeds. On the cave wall, we spotted this Hekou's Gecko (Gekko hokouensis) - it has alternating dark and light patterns running from the middoral to the tail, and it's tail is more rounded rather than flattened.


Then we saw a large unidentified Heteropoda spp. hiding in the cracks of the cave. Wow.

After we came out of the cave, our light shone on a Acanthaspis immodesta. Neat insect to see before we conclude our adventure and head back to the dorm for a shower and sleep.

365 days ago (2008-12-28) ...
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River tracing adventure to Golden Gorge - Part 1

On July 31, 2009, a group of us hikers met up after work in Taipei to head southeast to Hualien County to get an early start of our weekend trip to Golden Gorge.

In less than four hours (past midnight on August 1st), we arrived at the town next to the Sanjhan South River where we will begin our hike when dawn arrives. We parked our cars in the local elementary school and camped along the hallways of the empty school. It is a pretty common thing-to-do, especially for a small town in the mountains.

Sanjhan Elementary School

Waking up the next morning by barking stray dogs and chanting buddists.

An elementary school surrounded by mountains...

And a river

First light of August 1, 2009

Since this was my first time taking up river tracing, I wasn't quite sure of the safest techniques or routes, so I didn't take my camera out to take the beautiful scenaries along the way. Thankfully, my co-worker Genie (an experienced climber) had her camera and graciously allowed my use some of her photos. Thank you, Genie!!!

The starting point of our incredible journey

Time to start walking and walking and walking...

Along the way, we saw some pretty interesting wildlife.

Especially this mysterious monkey skull placed on a boulder. RIP.

The beautiful views of Sanjhan South River
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Orchid Island Revisited (Aug 18 - 20, 2008) - Part 2

Continued from yesterday's post about my trip to Orchid Island, Taiwan.

The next morning (August 19, 2008), this was the beautiful island view welcoming us. I could get use to this island life.

After our breakfast, my friend and I headed to a nearby beach to enjoy the ocean.

A dead crab in one of the tidal pools. Probably too hot and cooked to death.

Afterwards, the hostel host brought out to the sea to do some snorkeling. The world underneath the sea surface looked so different with different type of corals and tropical fishes. The host pointed out some corals for us, but after a while, we had enough of the rocking of the waves and decided to call it a day. The host, on the other hand, continued to snokel to catch some fish for dinner.

While we were resting on the beach, a local fisherman was hammering a rock against another. Creeping closer, we realized that he was breaking the shells of a whole bunch of hermit crabs. We asked him what those were for, and he explained that these are their natural baits for catching tropical fishes. Make sense, I guess.

When we headed back to the hostel for more resting. I came across this beautiful bug crawling on the floor. It was missing several limbs, so I guess it won't be alive for long.

Calliphara nobilis

Our friend returned from his collecting and he showed us this little fellow. For the local people, Pachyrhynchus tobafolius is considered a "lucky bug". Why? Because women all want to marry a man who could squish this hardy little bugs with his fingers. Sounds like a stupid folktale, but it may be the reason why there are so few only these bugs around.

Pachyrhynchus tobafolius

Afterwards, we headed to check out the lighthouse on the island, which is considered the highest lighthouse in all of Taiwan because it is placed at the mountain top. The scenes to the lighthouse were just incredible and awing.

Unknown bird species.

That's the lighthouse. But the gate to it was locked at the time, so we couldn't go any further. Too bad.

Along the route, we came across more insects.

Phyllophorina kotoshoensis

Molted exoskeleton of Cryptotympana kotoshoensis

So Blue!

Later, we went to check out another high point on the island.

When we came down (by mopeds), we stopped by a nearby beach to check out the intertidal zones.

Some guppy-like fish were swimming in the pools, as well as some seastars hiding away.

Like this one. I did not rip its arms off. It was already like that when I picked it up, I swear.

Gorgeous view.

Another roadkilled animal. This time, a crab.

Now, one thing to know about Taiwan (and most of Asia) during summer is the numerous typhoons (or hurricanes) that we receive. So, while we planned for a four-day trip here on Orchid Island, a typhoon was approaching us from the Philippines. Therefore, we could either stay on the island for an extended period if the typhoon does hit us, or we could cut our trip short and head back at the next available flight that we can catch. Not wanting to take any chances, we decided to take the latter plan. So, today could be our last night here on Orchid Island (and it was), and we decided to go check out the sunset before we head for dinner.

We came to this wide plain field to view the sunsets, and the views were again gorgeous. I seriously believe there are very few things in this world that are more beautiful than the clouds of tropics, especially the ones before a typhoon.

Now, after the skywatching, my friend and I were trying to find the Master student and his companions. But there was no luck, so we went for dinner on our own. As we later found out, our friend (the Master student) was hit by a construction truck and he was quite seriously injuried (e.g. gashed thighs, arms, etc). Long story short, the hospital on the island was ill-equiped so while my friend received the required treatments, he needed to go back to Taiwan mainland first thing tomorrow morning to get adequate check-ups.

Since we weren't the only tourists on the island and the typhoon was approaching, many needed to leave the island unscheduled. Therefore, people actually need to come to the airport after it closes, write their names and contact numbers on boxes or carboards papers, line them up in front of the door, and hope to get their names on the waitlist for tomorrow's flight.

Anyways, we basically spend the entire next day (August 20, 2008) in the airport hoping to go back to Taiwan. The waitlist was long - about 100 or more passengers waiting for 5 flights that carry 20 people each (actually, three or four flights only because the first few were cancelled). Can't say it was the most exciting way to end the trip but our friend's health was more important, and we can always come again next time.

The view from our hostel that morning.

Took a picture of a dead millipede outside the airport while I was bored.

Airport runway. You can sort of see the waves crashing against the rocks in the picture.

Some ladies were bring these juicy-looking lobsters back to Taiwan mainland. I think it's okay since we are still in the same country and they go into our stomach anyways.

A plane arriving from mainland means one more plane going back to the mainland.

Some angel-wing like clouds. Don't be fooled by it, a typhoon was really coming.

A friend that we made in the airport. The island stray dog. Everybody knows him and cares for him. Such is the life of an island stray dog. I wish my life is like that too.

Anyways, that's my summer story for this holiday season. Feliz Navidad and Hauoli Makahiki Hou!!
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