We left Longcanggou close to nightfall, the rain falling harder and harder, and two hours later reached the foot of Wawu Mountain. Frogs love to come out in exactly this kind of heavy rain, and after dinner it happened to stop, just right for a look at the local herps.
Because of the steady rain, many frogs had jumped onto the roadside. The moment we got out of the car, an Emei horned toad stood handsomely at the edge of the road, presence and all. Nearby were two Chishui horned toads, smaller and redder in color. They lack the calm dignity of the Emei horned toad, but their colors are far brighter.
The rain had stopped, but the lightning went on, lighting up the mountains in front of us now and then. By the time the raindrops came again and the frogs were calling more merrily than ever, it was almost midnight and time for us to leave.
The rain was still falling when I woke the next morning. Going up the mountain in this weather was out of the question, so we planned to rest at the hotel first, then look for Watercocks in some farmland after lunch.
After lunch we drove to a big stretch of farmland as the rain gradually eased. A small lane took us out among the fields, and Watercock habitat stretched in every direction. We watched from the car, and every little while a Watercock would fly past in front of us. Sometimes two males would even settle together, perhaps off to fight over territory in the fields.
The rain died away and the sky cleared, revealing Wawu Mountain in the distance: its summit flat and open, exactly like a giant table. No wonder they call it the world's greatest table mountain.
The Watercocks, cooped up all day, grew lively; some called from the fields, some even crossed the road. A glance at the forecast showed a very friendly morning tomorrow: overcast, no blazing sun, exactly the weather when birds are most active.
At night we went out again for snakes and herps. A sweep of the flashlight, and there was a snake right by the road: a Wawu Mountain keelback, endemic to this place, though sadly a dead one. It looked completely intact, so it hadn't been run over.
We kept searching along the streams and found an Emei toothed toad and an Emei palm-tubercle toad, both species more or less endemic here. After that we headed back down the mountain for a good rest; tomorrow we would presumably walk ourselves ragged all day inside Wawu Mountain.
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