Lady Mikado, The Empress of the Mountain Forest

I saw this female Mikado Pheasant at Dasyueshan National Recreational Forest Area on August 27, 2014. I waited two hours before she appeared and stayed for about an hour before disappearing into the forest. I would have liked to see a male, but this as nonetheless an incredible experience.

The Mikado Pheasant is one of two Taiwanese endemic pheasants, the other being Swinhoe's Pheasant. I originally came to Dasyueshan to find Swinhoe's Pheasant, which was said to be an easy find here if you wait at km 23, but the roads were busy and I only caught a short glimpse of family of birds flying across the road - they were scared away by motorcyclists on the other side of the road. Later that day, I went up t km 47 and waited for the Mikado Pheasant. I really didn't expect to see one. As the fog built up, a female emerged from the slopes below.

All photographs and video taken by Frank Lin. Note this was the first time I used a DSLR for video so the image stabilization was terrible for some of the last scenes.

Music:
1. Path of the Wind from My Neighbor Totoro (instrumental)
2. Nintendo Wii Weather Night Time Theme

I take no credit for the music used in this video.
More here (January 2016): https://www.flickr.com/photos/frankyboy5/albums/72157662079577214

Видео Lady Mikado, The Empress of the Mountain Forest канала Frank Lin