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TIBET

The Roof of the World

Birdquest's Tibet birding tour is a real adventure as we travel across 'The Roof of the World'. Our Tibet tour is very comprehensive, covering the montane forests of NE Qinghai with their Blue-eared Pheasants, the famous Koko Nor with its enigmatic Prezevalski's Finch (now elevated to monotypic family level!) the mountains of SE Qinghai, home to Tibetan Sandgrouse, Roborovski's Rosefinch and Kozlov's Bunting, the rarely-visited forests of SE Tibet for Lord Derby's Parakeet and of course the Lhasa region for the fabulous Potala Palace and Tibetan Eared Pheasant.

Monday 22nd July - Saturday 10th August 2013
(20 days)

Leader: Hannu Jännes

Group Size Limit: 10

Tour Category: Easy to Demanding, but mostly Moderate

The enigmatic and endemic Roborovski's (or Tibetan) Rosefinch is at home in the inhospitable terrain above 4,500 meters (Hannu Jännes)

A vast high tableland, out of which rise great mountain ranges, the Tibetan Plateau is truly the ‘Roof of the World’. Here there are towns, villages and grazing lands at heights greater than those of the summits of the Alps! Defended since the dawn of human civilization by the great wall of the Himalayas to the south and by lower but still lofty ranges to west, east and north, the Tibetan Plateau for long escaped the tides of history. Independent for most of the last two thousand years, the modern political entity known as Tibet (which excludes the northeastern part of the plateau, called Qinghai by the Chinese, which has been under Chinese control for over 200 years) was incorporated into China against the wishes of its people in 1951 and now faces an uncertain future as Han Chinese immigrants are shipped in, altering the ethnic balance year by year. The Tibetans are a resilient people, however, and even today their unique culture is still strong, resisting all attempts to assimilate it. Buddhist monasteries have reopened since the end of the ‘Cultural Revolution’, when many were completely destroyed by the nihilistic Red Guards, and prayer flags once more flutter in the breeze around villages and nomad encampments.

For the birdwatcher, as for the traveller, Tibet’s appeal lies in the sheer inaccessibility of its marvels. Closed to outsiders for many centuries, it is only in recent times that Lhasa and much of the Tibetan Plateau has been opened to visitors. During this epic journey we will explore areas only rarely visited by western ornithologists and we have an excellent chance of finding all of the Tibetan Plateau’s endemic birds. Summer is a superb time to go birding in this region, as the weather is at its mildest, breeding birds are in full song, wildflowers are at their peak and the grasslands are a dazzling shade of green, contrasting with the icy summits of the mountain ranges. Indeed the incredible mountain and high plateau scenery on this journey is probably the most outstanding of any Birdquest tour! We shall tread in the footsteps of such early investigators of the Tibetan Plateau’s avifauna as Przevalski, Kozlov and Roborovski. These Russian explorers penetrated far across the plateau during expeditions sponsored by the czars, expeditions which had valid scientific purposes but which were doubtless also part of the ‘Great Game’ played out between the Russian and British Empires north of the borders of India during the nineteenth century.

Nowadays, while still a real adventure, dramatic improvements in the infrastructure, both roads and accommodations, mean that a visit to Tibet does not have to be particularly arduous, so one can become a birding pioneer on ‘The Roof of the World’ without too much in the way of discomfort! This is a unique journey, so if you have always yearned to see the extraordinary scenery of the Tibetan Plateau and its special birds then this is truly a tour not to be missed.

Our itinerary focuses on the speciality birds of the Tibetan Plateau and is unsurpassed in delivering them.

We shall begin our travels in Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, where we will visit several localities in the surrounding region in search of such specialities as the magnificent Blue Eared Pheasant, Daurian Partridge, Severtzov’s Grouse, Chinese Bush Warbler, Gansu and Chinese Leaf Warblers, Crested Tit-Warbler, Chinese and Przevalski’s Nuthatches, and Grey-headed Bullfinch.

From the Xining region we climb slowly up onto the Tibetan Plateau itself, taking it easy at first whilst we acclimatize. First we explore the margins of the famous Koko Nor, one of the largest lakes in Asia, and an important breeding area for Black-necked Cranes, Bar-headed Geese and Pallas’s and Brown-headed Gulls. The surrounding steppes and mountains hold Tibetan Lark, the strange Hume’s Groundpecker, Rufous-necked, White-rumped, Père David’s and Tibetan (or Adams’s) Snowfinches.

After visiting the dry country at the edge of the Zaidam depression, home to Przevalski’s Partridge, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Przevalski’s Redstart, Henderson’s Ground Jay and Blanford’s Snowfinch, we will head towards southeastern Qinghai.

Now that we are acclimatized, we will explore the high Er La pass where we will search for Tibetan Sandgrouse, Güldenstädt’s Redstart, Prince Henri’s Snowfinch, Brandt’s Mountain Finch and the little-known Roborovski’s Rosefinch amongst some truly awesome scenery, while lower down we should find Spotted Great Rosefinch.

The vast marshes at the headwaters of the Huang He or Yellow River are another important breeding area for Black-necked Cranes and other waterbirds, while the steppes in this area hold what is perhaps the greatest density of Upland Buzzards and Sakers in the world.

Still further to the south, two more of Asia’s greatest rivers, the Yangtze and the Mekong, flow within 100 kilometres of each other through deep, arid gorges. On the grassy mountain slopes and in the relict juniper forests we will look for two of Asia’s least known birds, Kozlov’s Babax and Kozlov’s Bunting, as well as other specialities such as Szechenyi’s Monal Partridge, White Eared Pheasant, Giant Laughingthrush, Chinese Fulvetta, White-browed Tit and the enigmatic Przevalski’s Finch (now treated as a monotypic family!).

Beyond the Mekong we enter Tibet proper (known to the Chinese as Xizang) and make our way towards distant Lhasa by way of the spectacular forested valleys and deep gorge country of eastern Tibet. Here we will be concentrating on the superb, restricted-range Lord Derby’s Parakeet, the restricted-range Ludlow’s Fulvetta and the endemic Prince Henri’s Laughingthrush.

Eventually we reach the long-forbidden city of Lhasa, dominated by the immense Potala Palace. As well as visiting this greatest of all monuments to Tibetan Buddhism, we will visit a high valley in the mountains where the scrubby woodland holds three more endemics: Tibetan Blackbird, Giant Babax and in particular the beautiful Tibetan Eared Pheasant. From Lhasa we will reluctantly re-enter the modern world after seeming to live on another planet for nearly three weeks.

Birdquest pioneered birding tours to the Tibetan Plateau as far back as 1984.

(Note: The above is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed, day-by-day itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)

Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels in Xining, Huzu Bei Shan and Lhasa are of normal Birdquest standard. Elsewhere the hotel/guesthouse accommodation is mostly simple but reasonable, but we do have to spend a few nights at very basic guesthouses (with primitive washing and toilet facilities). At the monastery guesthouse near Nangqian the rooms hold up to six people or more. Road transport will be by small coach. Nowadays many roads in the region are good, or at least of reasonable quality, but we still have to use rough dirt roads in some places.

Walking & Altitude: Most of this tour is at altitudes between 3000-4800m and in consequence it is unsuitable for anyone with heart or lung conditions that may be aggravated by exposure to high altitudes. For those of normal health there should be no major problems acclimatizing The walking effort is mostly easy to moderate, even allowing for the altitude, but there are several optional quite strenuous hikes.

Climate: Rather variable. Temperatures range from warm (occasionally even quite hot in the middle of the day) to distinctly cold. At this season there is a mixture of dry and sunny weather interspersed with overcast conditions and rain or snow showers.

Bird Photography: Opportunities are good.

Tour Price: (provisional): $6250 Xining/Lhasa. Price includes all transportation, all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.

We can arrange internal flights inside China for anyone needing only those flights.

Single Room Supplement: (provisional): $583 (excluding the night at monastery guesthouse near Nangqian).

Deposit: 10% of the tour price (excluding any single supplement).

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.

One of the tour highlights is the gorgeous Tibetan (or Kozlov’s) Bunting, a species endemic to eastern Tibet, which was rediscovered in SE Qinghai in 1986, after absence of nearly 25 years, by two Birdquest leaders! (Hannu Jännes)

The pretty Ala Shan (or Przevalski's) Redstart, endemic to the NE edge of the Tibetan plateau, is definitely the hardest to find of the eight or so redstarts we encounter on this trip (Hannu Jännes)

This is a tour with exceptional scenery. Here a view over the mighty Mekong near Nangqian in south-eastern Qinghai (Hannu Jännes)

View Map Download Detailed Itinerary 882kb

Report From June 2009/July 2009 Report From June 2007/July 2007 79 photos View Gallery Photos From TIBET

The robust Red-breasted Rosefinch is one of the ten species of rosefinch possible to see on this tour (Hannu Jännes)

White-capped Redstart is common along the many fast flowing rivers (Hannu Jännes)

Prince Henri's Laughingthrush is one of the three Tibetan endemics we will search for in Lhasa (Hannu Jännes)

Sakers can be relatively common and approachable in areas where there are plenty of pikas for food. The local form is the distinctive milvipes, a potential split (Hannu Jännes)

The magnificent Eurasian Eagle Owls is not the easiest bird to find on this trip... (Hannu Jännes)

...whereas the cute Little Owl is a relatively common road-side bird (Hannu Jännes)

Snow Pigeon is one of the specialities of the 'gorge country' in south eastern Qinghai (Hannu Jännes)

Small groups of the handsome Tibetan Wild Ass (or Kiang) are usually seen on the vast plains of the Tibetan plateau (Hannu Jännes)

Himalayan Marmots are common, often noisy and sometimes remarkably tame inhabitants of the grassy alpine slopes (Hannu Jännes)

Several species of pika, like this cute Chinese Red Pika, can be seen on this trip (Hannu Jännes)

This kind of alpine scrub above 4000 meters is typical habitat for the uncommon Kozlov's (or Tibetan) Bunting (Hannu Jännes)

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