Nantou 初鄉橋欒樹步道Bike Trail has a bike path full of flamegold rain tree. The appearance of Taiwan Mistletoe trees in the fall is very attractive, as if entering a colorful world. This bike path continues all the way to Yanping Bridge, far away from the city and also rich in bird ecosystems, which is very suitable for a walk in the morning or in the afternoon to relax.

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初鄉橋

In early October, Taiwan’s Mistletoe trees begin to blossom and bear fruit, and the tops of the trees appear in different colors, which are not common street trees in Taiwan, and I’m sure that not a few people have seen them before. Here in Nantou, Mistletoe trees are planted on both sides of the bike path at Chuxiang Bridge, forming a natural green tunnel, and in the fall, it is a colorful and eye-catching tunnel.

The entrance to the bike path also has a small amount of mango grass, and fall is the season to see mango blossoms.

There are always a few people walking here in the afternoon, most of them are covered by the shade of trees, and with the coolness of fall, it’s really good for biking or trekking.

The entire trail runs from Chuxiang Bridge to Yanping Bridge, a distance of about two kilometers. Walking back and forth will not be too tiring, as it is a nice asphalt road (the trees on both sides of Chuxiang Bridge are thicker than those of Yanping Bridge).

The new branches and leaves are a nice maroon color.

The color of the seeds is the most important feature of the Mistletoe, at first it will be greenish-green, then it will slowly turn pinkish-red, and finally deep red to brownish-red, and then it will fall down and wither away, the one below still has a little bit of greenish color, while the second one below has already turned pinkish-red～.

The tops of the trees are covered with small yellow flowers, lime green, pink and maroon seeds in a variety of colors.

延平橋端

As you walk along, you will see a wooden pavilion, which is about half way to the Yanping Bridge.

This is the place I pass by every time I go to Xitou, you will notice that some photos have sunlight and some have soft light, because I took them on two separate days… I also went to Xitou on this trip, and I got off the bus for a few hours to take photos on the way there & back….

Near the end of the Yanping Bridge, the flowers of the Mistletoe bloom later, and the tops of the trees are mostly still yellow.

The small yellow flowers are less than half a centimeter and very miniature. I don’t understand why they bloomed at a later time despite the fact that it is obviously the same trail, and a golden line has been drawn on the ground here.

A few seeds were deliberately placed in the sunlight.

There were a few peach trees by the side of the road, which happened to be in blossom at this time of the year, and I noticed them because there were a few small peaches hanging on the trees that attracted my attention.

The bike path ends at the tower, and the trees aren’t as tight in this section as they were in the previous one.

The World of Birds

The first day of this trip here did not think there are a lot of birds can be shot, at first did not bring a telephoto lens down missed a lot of opportunities, and then ran to the car to get back after … … Only the common White-headed Spoonbill was left.

Bicycle path next to the Gnat Creek in Dongpu, flocks of birds bathe here during the day, and I stood and watched when they were going to wash in this spot alone, and stood for half an hour and still washing… I stood for half an hour and still washing…

Whitehead bathing movie:

The one in the lower right corner is a white-ringed parrotbill that messed up in the white-headed bird group, and there were many other birds such as the Spotted Wenbird, Green Sider’s Eye, Great Crested Newt and many other birds that I couldn’t see without binoculars, but I couldn’t take any pictures of them all without equipment, which is a pity, I will come back again next time I pass by to take pictures of them!

On the day of the Xitou trip, when I was ready to return, I passed by again, I got down and continued to take some photos of the trees, but I didn’t expect to look up and see flocks of Gray-faced Buzzards flying in the sky, mid-October is the season for them to cross the border from the north to the south of the Philippines, and in previous years, I have been going down to Kenting to watch them for many years in a row.

I wanted to stop for a year, but this time I came to Xitou in the fall, but I didn’t expect to meet them. I had planned to drive home in half an hour, but their appearance made me stay for more than an hour, and some bird watchers stopped their cars to watch with me, so I can only say that I was very lucky!

I always thought that when they traveled south to Taiwan, they would directly spend the night in Manjhou, but that afternoon I saw over a thousand of them, half of them continued to fly south, while the other half flew to the trees on the opposite side of the mountain to prepare for the night.