After raiding the stakeouts at Dongzhai and Lushan County(Pingdingshan), i had couple of days to spend at Luoyang which  was ample enough to explore the North China food and the world heritage site of Longmen Grottoes. Luoyang was pretty much small and simple and all these places are covered by public transport.

For the Longmen Grottoes, there are public buses available from the bus station infront of the Luoyang Railway station. Just like any other 5A sites in China, the bus drops you at a far off place from the site, then a shuttle bus ride to the ticket office and a caddie raid to the main site.

The Longmen hill holds the vast amount of the rock reliefs, excavations and statues and the main grotto. The following wikipedia page has all the details of the site.

Spoiler Alert : Even though birding was fruitful, i wasn’t carrying my telephoto lens with me, so this post doesn’t have any photos of good birds seen in the site but rather some photos of the Grottoes and temples.

Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

Longmen Bridge

Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

Longmen Hills

Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

Grottoes on the west hill

Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

Xiangshan Temple

Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

West Hill

Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang

Main Grotto

Birding was slow given that it was tourist attraction . A gliding female Eurasian Sparrowhawk  along the Longmen bridge jump started the day. Few Plumbeous Redstarts along the west hill were first for the trip. The no of Azure-winged Magpies beat the competition for the Shanghai Population. Single Crested and Pied Kingfisher were busy establishing their territory along the Yi River infront of the Grottoes. Top bird of the day was just in the main Grotto. I was preparing to setup my tripod at the main Grotto, saw a bird flew out of one of the cave and started to creep on the wall. A flyby Sparrowhawk spooked the bird and in flight the brown birds bright red underwings were so obvious and thereby confirming that it was indeed a “Wallcreeper“.

The next day  visit is to the historic and culturally rich White Horse Temple. It was bit out of the city, the bus ride took almost an hour but the terminus was at the temple, very convenient once again. Plenty of Mountain Bulbuls welcomed all the tourists and the pilgrims.

White Horse Temple, Luoyang

White Horse Temple

White Horse Temple, Luoyang

Prayer Ceremony

Most of the tourists where curious and were observing the prayer ceremony, a drumming and drilling sound attracted me to my first ever “Rufous-bellied Woodpecker“. The following wikipedia page covers the ancient history of the White Horse temple. In the modern era of buddhism, the temple grounds have an International cultural exchange area where they have built temples from the other Asian buddhist countries. They have brought architects, workers and even monks from the countries during the process.

White Horse Temple, Luoyang

International Thai Temple

White Horse Temple, Luoyang

Replica of Shwedagon Pagoda

White Horse Temple, Luoyang

Replica of Kyaiktiyo Pagoda

White Horse Temple, Luoyang

Replica of Sanchi Stupa

Rest of the evening spent in the city ancient street exploring the food and the streets.

Luoyang

Facelifted Tang Palace Grounds

Luoyang

Closer view of Tang Palace Pagoda

Luoyang

Ancient Street

Luoyang

Food Street

The next half day was spent at the Wangcheng City park which harbors a Peony Park and a small zoo. The Peony park is free except the Peony season in spring. I spent a morning in the Peony Park, the new birds for the trip included a Common Kingfisher, White-rumped Munia and a Oriental Magpie Robin.

The complete list for Luoyang is below.

Common name Scientific name Location Date
Grebes (Podicipedidae) – 1 / 23    
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Herons, Bitterns (Ardeidae) – 2 / 72    
Great Egret Ardea alba Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
Little Egret Egretta garzetta Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Cormorants, Shags (Phalacrocoracidae) – 1 / 41    
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Kites, Hawks and Eagles (Accipitridae) – 1 / 256    
Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Pigeons, Doves (Columbidae) – 2 / 335    
Rock Dove Columba livia Wangcheng Park, Luoyang, Henan, China 12/17/16
Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis White Horse Temple, Henan, China 12/16/16
       
Kingfishers (Alcedinidae) – 3 / 93    
Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis Wangcheng Park, Luoyang, Henan, China 12/17/16
Crested Kingfisher Megaceryle lugubris Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Woodpeckers (Picidae) – 1 / 234    
Rufous-bellied Woodpecker Dendrocopos hyperythrus White Horse Temple, Henan, China 12/16/16
       
Shrikes (Laniidae) – 1 / 33    
Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach Wangcheng Park, Luoyang, Henan, China 12/17/16
       
Crows, Jays (Corvidae) – 2 / 131    
Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
Eurasian Magpie Pica pica Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Tits, Chickadees (Paridae) – 1 / 61    
Japanese Tit Parus minor Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) – 2 / 151    
Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis White Horse Temple, Henan, China 12/16/16
Mountain Bulbul Ixos mcclellandii White Horse Temple, Henan, China 12/16/16
       
Leaf Warblers and allies (Phylloscopidae) – 1 / 77    
Pallas’s Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus proregulus White Horse Temple, Henan, China 12/16/16
       
Sylviid Babblers (Sylviidae) – 1 / 70    
Vinous-throated Parrotbill Sinosuthora webbiana White Horse Temple, Henan, China 12/16/16
       
Wallcreeper (Tichodromidae) – 1 / 1    
Wallcreeper Tichodroma muraria Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Thrushes (Turdidae) – 1 / 166    
Chinese Blackbird Turdus mandarinus Wangcheng Park, Luoyang, Henan, China 12/17/16
       
Chats, Old World Flycatchers (320) (Muscicapidae) – 2 / 320    
Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis Wangcheng Park, Luoyang, Henan, China 12/17/16
Plumbeous Water Redstart Phoenicurus fuliginosus Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches (Passeridae) – 1 / 51    
Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus Longmen Grottoes, Henan, China 12/15/16
       
Waxbills, Munias and allies (Estrildidae) – 1 / 141    
White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata Wangcheng Park, Luoyang, Henan, China 12/17/16
       
Finches (Fringillidae) – 2 / 219    
Brambling Fringilla montifringilla Wangcheng Park, Luoyang, Henan, China 12/17/16
Chinese Grosbeak Eophona migratoria White Horse Temple, Henan, China 12/16/16
       
Species: 27