Taipei
We made our way to Taiwan, finally. Depending on who you ask, this could be a new country, or a new province in China we visited (let's leave the politics out for a moment). Regardless, Taiwan is a large island on the Pacific Rim with the Tropic of Cancer dissecting it, it has its unique human and natural history. For this reason we set aside a whole week to explore it. (Click on each image to see the high-resolution version)
Unfortunate for us, our stay in Taiwan was stymied by bad weather -- it rained every single day during our week there. We used Tamsui (淡水, a satellite city of Taipei) as our base and headed to Taipei on most days, except when we took an excursion to Hualien.
Our first visit was to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial (中正紀念堂) (in the rain, of course). The following are a few exhibits at the memorial.
A sketch of Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek's Cadillac
More interesting to me were the art exhibits displayed there.
Painting of a girl
Painting of a Mandrill
The Freedom Square outside the memorial in the dreary weather.
Freedom Square
We made a brief stop at Taipei 101 (but did not go into it) at dusk.
Taipei 101
Then it was dinner time at the Shilin Night Market (士林夜市)! The choices of food were dazzling, I think we feasted our eyes more than stomach.
Shilin Night Market
Shilin Night Market
Shilin Night Market
Shilin Night Market
Shilin Night Market
Shilin Night Market
Shilin Night Market
On two occasions we ate at (two different locations of) Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), the Xiaolongbao (or soup dumpling) specialist, which we quite liked. See my review here.
Din Tai Fung
Of course we also visited the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院), but that visit was filled with highlights and warrants its own page.
Wildlife of Taipei
Taiwan is an island straddling the subtropics and tropics with a unique blend of diverse wildlife, even in the city of Taipei, I saw and photographed quite a few interesting birds. My first surprise encounter was at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial -- a few brown, stocky herons were foraging in the lawn! I instantly recognized them as a new bird to me, and later identified as Malayan Night Heron, an alert and nervous bird, but rather oblivious of my presence.
Malayan Night Heron
Malayan Night Heron
Malayan Night Heron
There is a pond inside the complex and there were a few water birds, including this very wet juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron.
Black-crowned Night Heron
In the same area I also photographed another new bird, the Red Collared Dove.
Red Collared Dove
On the same day we made a short stop at Da'an Forest Park, where I had arguably the best birding experience of the trip. First, a few noisy Grey Treepies (灰树鹊) greeted us, these are apparently common in Taiwan, but new to me.
Grey Treepie (灰树鹊)
Then I saw a hawk lurking in a tree by the water (there is a pond inside the park). It is always exciting to see a raptor at such close range, and this was also a new bird to me, a Crested Goshawk (凤头苍鹰). I noticed that this bird was banded, but it was a free bird. It is a magnificent creature.
Crested Goshawk (凤头苍鹰)
Crested Goshawk (凤头苍鹰)
In and around the pond there were the usual suspects -- herons and egrets.
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Grey Heron
But yet another bird caught my immediate attention, a bird I had never seen before. Light was fading on this rainy and cloudy day, so I had to bump up the ISO in my digital camera to 6400, but I did capture some decent pictures of the White-breasted Waterhen (白腹秧雞).
White-breasted Waterhen (白腹秧雞)
There were also a few squirrels hopping about, I believe these are again Pallas's Squirrels, which I had seen on this very trip in Hong Kong.
Squirrel
On a different day, inside the National Palace Museum complex, I saw a small flock of diminutive birds. It took me a while to track them down in the rows of dense conifers, but I did capture some pictures of them, which turned out to be Japanese White-eyes (暗绿绣眼鸟), a bird I had seen the year before in Guangzhou and Kyoto, but was equally glad to reacquaint with again.
Japanese White-eye (暗绿绣眼鸟)
There is a garden inside the complex, where some usually suspects can be found.
Oriental Turtle Dove
Grey Heron
Little Egret
Then suddenly I noticed a small, active bird, brilliantly colored in green and orange, which I instantly recognized as a Common Kingfisher (普通翠鸟). It may bear "common" in its name, but to me it is beautiful and precious -- I had seen it very briefly the year before in Guangzhou but failed to capture a picture, I was mighty glad that this time I did.
Common Kingfisher (普通翠鸟)
Common Kingfisher (普通翠鸟)
Another bird I photographed at this place is a Daurian Redstart (黃尾鴝), yet another bird I had seen and photographed the year before, which I am more than happy to see again.
Daurian Redstart (黃尾鴝)
