In the morning, I helped volunteer observers with identifying the barbet pair in this locaton. Turned out there is one fledgling left in this nest (there used to be two).
While helping the volunteers with observing the barbets, a couple of other birds had my attention as well, such as Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), Spotted-necked Dove, and Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax).
After lunch, another TV program came to the botanical garden to videotape some footages. After helping them getting what they want, we went over to some nests to see the latest status. While walking, I saw another beautiful Black-crowned Night Heron.
On the other side of the mountain is this nice-looking temple.
Along the way, there was this large Cinnamomum camphora tree more than three hundred years old! It is the oldest tree in Taipei City - the reasons why it has not chopped down during all of this time were: the entire mountain was a military base during the takeover by the Japanese government of the island, and the fong shui is excellent on this mountain so that nothing was disturbed.
Afterwards, I finally found the way to the garden that I was looking for. I came across another large tree along the way.
Finally, I had arrived.
Now, to tell you the truth, I don't think I would visit this place again as it was poorly run and very small. The entrance fee is less than $1 CDN, so it's not a big concern. The only thing I can justify for visiting this garden is its Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center which houses several injuried and sick birds.
When you first enter, you will cross over a small pond on a bridge. The first thing I saw was this King Ratsnake (Elaphe carinata) over 1-m long. It was very cool. It was looking for food and swam across the pond.
The Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center. In it includes several Magpies, Egrests, Herons, Owls, Doves, Pigeons, etc.
An injuried Black-crowned Night Heron.
I also saw a pair of Red-collared Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica). I think this is a female as the wings on the males are darker than the females, who are more grayish brown.
A very common bird in the backyward is the Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus), seen in the top picture below. The sparrow, together with the Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) - middle picture, and the Chinese Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) - bottom picture, are known as the "Big Three" in Taiwan due to their abundance all over the island.
My grandaunt keeps a pair of Common Mynas (Acridotheres tristis) as pets, which are quite popular in Taiwan because of the bird's intelligence and its ability to learn and micmic sounds.
In the afternoon, I biked around the village looking for more wildlife. Sadly, it was around time of schools finishing - causing traffic nightmares as I try to maneuver around cars and motorcycles. Nevertheless, in the empty elementary school, I saw a Red-collared Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica) - left, and a White-vented Myna (Acridotheres grandis) - right.
I also saw a young Chinese Bulbul which I almost couldn't recognize due to its lack of the white patch on the head.
Overall, it was a great birding day since this was the first time that I paid attention to birds when coming back to Taiwan. All lifers for me!
