Dan at Fu-Ba trailhead 福巴越嶺古道 in Fushan 福山- 9 AM
Jeff and Philip (photo by Dan)
turn off to 利茂岸山 Li-ma-ao mtn.
(Dan)

turn off to ChaKengShan 茶懇山 9:45

Woodland Beauty 七葉一枝花. Paris polyphylla flower
Woodland Beauty 七葉一枝花. Paris polyphylla flower

nettles 咬人貓 Urtica thunbergiana
Panus rudis 野生革耳
mushroom
Yellow three stipe 黃三線蝶 Symbrenthia lilaea formosanus
Philip on the trail (photo by Dan)
working uphill (photo by Dan)


Strobilanthes formosanus 台灣馬藍



insect nests in the ground?
Tammy
bug
Bird's Nest Fern
new growth in Bird's Nest Fern 台灣山蘇花 Asplenium nidus
forestry sign attached
Dusky Fulvetta 頭烏線 Alcippe brunnea
Gray-sided Laughing Thrush 竹鳥 Garrulax caerulatus
Gray-sided Laughing Thrush 竹鳥 Garrulax caerulatus
Gray-sided Laughing Thrush 竹鳥 Garrulax caerulatus

(photo by Dan)
Dan, Philip and Tammy at Kuai Shan (photo by Thomas)
Dan, Jeff, Ching, Tammy, Philip and Thomas (photo by Thomas)
Tammy making lunch (photo by Thomas)
(photo by Thomas)
Dan at Kuai Shan 檜山
Kuai Shan 檜山 - 1436m, 2PM


An old Japanese era glass bottle has accumulated soil and moisture and gets just enough light to support a mini terrarium of life.
Tammy at the Kuai Shan turn-off 3PM


Bird's Nest Fern 台灣山蘇花 Asplenium nidus




Dan, Jeff and Tammy
view down one of the gullies we cross



Philip and tree
mushrooms
Dan and Jeff


Tammy and rock
八角蓮 Dysosma pleiantha
tree on tree
Jeff and Dan over landslide
(photo by Dan)
giant lingzhi
Chloranthus oldhami Solms. 台灣及己 (四葉蓮)
(photo by Dan)
out at dusk - 6PM
Atayal wildlife names
"no hunting" sign at trail head (photo by Dan)
turn off to Kalamoji and Ma-An villages

Hike to Kuaishan 檜山 - Dan, Tammy, Philip, Jeff, Thomas and Ching. We are at the trailhead before 9:00 in Fushan, up at Kuai Shan at 2PM and back out to Fushan at 6PM. The days starts of sunny, but turns overcast in the early afternoon. We have always noticed a turn-off to Kuaishan 檜山 on the path from Fushan 福山 Baling 巴陵 on the Fu-Ba trail 福巴越嶺古道 at about the halfway point, 8km.

External links to more info about some of the plants:

• Paris Polyphylla 七葉一枝花
• Strobilanthes formosanus 台灣馬藍
• Chloranthus oldhami 臺灣及己

Birds:

• Hear at least one Crested Serpent Eagle 大冠鷲 Spilornis cheela, but never see one
• Plenty of Black-browed Barbets 五色鳥 Megalaima oorti calling
• See one male Grey-chinned Minivet 灰喉山椒鳥 Pericrocotus solaris against bright sky in top of tree with 6~8 other birds, also likely minivets.
• Hear quite a few Black Bulbuls 紅嘴黑鵯 Hypsipetes madagascariensis, only hear the call which bounces back and forth from a high to low note, never the mew call (also like that on Thursday in mountains north of the Fei-tsui Reservoir 翡翠水庫.)
• Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler 小彎嘴 Pomatorhinus erythrogenys, one individual on ground with a large group of Gray-sided Laughing Thrushes 竹鳥 Garrulax caerulatus.
• Gray-sided Laughing Thrush 竹鳥 Garrulax caerulatus. Philip and Dan watch a family group for about 30 minutes. They initially keep hidden but eventually go about their normal feeding in the low bushes and small trees.
• Gray-cheeked Fulvetta 繡眼畫眉 Alcippe morrisonia. See two-three flocks. One strangely silent earlier in the day.
• Taiwan Tit 黃山雀 Parus holsti. See one individual in with fulvettas. Seems unusual to be this low.
• Hear the distinctive and endemic White-eared Sibia 白耳畫眉 Heterophasia auricularis throughout the day

Ecology
Freeze damage evident on banana and elephant ear 菇婆芋 Alocasia acrorrhie at pretty low elevation (maybe 800 m). Some of the lowest falsecypress (Chamaecyparis sp.) we encountered were maybe at 700~800 m, but even though 2 m in diameter, were dead. Some smaller ones were alive. The healthiest trees at that level were possibly Taiwan fir trees 臺灣杉. You pass through several ecotypes in the 1000-m elevation rise from Fushan 福山 to Kuaishan 檜山: subtropical broadleaf forests with lots of bird nest ferns, into the Taiwan shan eventually with a scattering of falsecypress, then more of the mature falsecypress.

Links to previous trips on the Fu-Ba trail 福巴越嶺古道:

• February 2004, also with Jeff
• 2006, September