Dalian (Jinshitan) Birding Reports (4 Viewers)

Jinshitan Sea-farming ponds and ridge Oct. 2, 2013

Ridge from 6-9:30 am, ponds from 3:00-5:30 pm

I thought today would yield more raptors given a strong north wind blowing. Have no idea why numbers were not higher given the day and the weather.

The highlight today came right at dusk when a muskrat/beaver type animal was seen making its way across one of the ponds! I don't know what the name of it is, but very happy to have something in the area! The size was bigger than muskrat and a little smaller than beaver for those familiar with North American mammals. Anyone know mammals in China? It swam as pictured but took short dives every 5 seconds or so. It got out of the water near where I was but tall reeds made it impossible to see anything. I waited for a while hoping it would cross the dike I was on and go into the next pond but no such luck.

The sighting today brings up something I've been thinking for a while. I have now seen Red Squirrel in 3 completely different places in Jinshitan in the last 6 months after not seeing them anywhere for the past ten years here. Today's animal raises hopes that perhaps some of the wildlife is returning? Baby steps, I know, but cool to think about......

List from both the ridge in the early hours and the ponds at the end of the day:

Common Pheasant - 2
Japanese Quail - 2
Mandarin Duck - 2
Mallard - 75
Spot-billed Duck - 7
Garganey - 12
Baikal Teal - 1 (I believe it's a juv. Baikal based on eliminating others....yes?)
Eurasian Teal - 4
Tufted Duck - 1
Little Grebe - 15
Grey Heron - 1
Great Egret - 14
Eurasian Kestrel - 4
Amur Falcon - 4
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Oriental Honey Buzzard - 3 (1 that looked very similar to Short-toed Snake Eagle which created some excitement for a while!)
Japanese Sparrowhawk - 3
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 1
Northern Goshawk - 1 juv.
Eastern Buzzard - 3
Common Moorhen - 8
Common Coot - 14
Green Sandpiper - 1
Black-headed Gull - 5
Hill Pigeon - 3
Oriental Turtle Dove - 8
Short-eard Owl - 1 on the way in this morning
Ashy Minivet - 152
Great Tit - 4
Barn Swallow - 500
Red-rumped Swallow - 2
Eurasian Skylark - 2
Lanceolated Warbler - 2
Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Oriental Reed Warbler - 1
Black-browed Reed Warbler - 2
Dusky Warbler - 3
Yellow-browed Warbler - 2
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
White-eye Sp. - 40
White-cheeked Starling - 27
Siberian Blue Robin - 1
Common Stonechat - 2
White-throated Rock Thrush - 1
White Wagtail - 47 in one group near dusk! At least 1 ocularis earlier.
Richard's Pipit - 2
Olive-backed Pipit - 6
Buff-bellied Pipit - 3
Oriental Greenfinch - 2
Chinese Grosbeak - 4
Chestnut-eared Bunting - 2
Yellow-breasted Bunting - 1
Chestnut Bunting - 1
Black-faced Bunting - 6
Bunting Sp. - 50

the

rest

Mr. Frogfish, I laughed out loud at that. Can you fit a few Azure-winged Magpies in the crate as well? Also a Reed Parrotbill please. At the very bottom of the peninsula, there are oddities.... Not complaining though.

Do most Amurs turn inland on their way south by the time they get to Shanghai?

Dong Bei said:

Mr. Frogfish, I laughed out loud at that. Can you fit a few Azure-winged Magpies in the crate as well? Also a Reed Parrotbill please. At the very bottom of the peninsula, there are oddities.... Not complaining though.

Do most Amurs turn inland on their way south by the time they get to Shanghai?

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Dev has seen large flocks in Nan Hui but I have seen only the one in the past 2 years since I started birding here. Now is the time if at all I guess.

Hmm will take some time to arrange your delivery. AW Mags - will need a trip to the zoo or local park areas where they all seem to hang out but can be arranged. Reed PBs a little more difficult, need to call them in otherwise they are heard but no-see-ums. Maybe as a belated Xmas present :king:

Jinshitan Ridge and Ponds October 12, 2013

Spent some fantastic early morning hours there today. Lots happening at the moment. I think I saw 4 Red Collared/Turtle Doves but am waiting back to see if this is true or not. It would be another lifer this fall. 69 species + 2 if including magpies and sparrows = 71

Common Pheasant
Japanese Quail - 9
Mandarin Duck - 7
Mallard - 75
Spot-billed Duck - 4
Eurasian Teal - 5
Little Grebe - 15
Grey Heron - 12
Great Egret - 2
Eurasian Kestrel - 5
Amur Falcon - 12
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Osprey - 3
Oriental Honey Buzzard - 2
Pied Harrier - 1
Japanese Sparrowhawk - 8
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 17
Northern Goshawk - 3
Grey-faced Buzzard - 2
Eastern Buzzard - 27
Baillon's Crake - 1
Common Moorhen - 7
Common Coot - 6
Northern Lapwing - 8
Black-tailed Gull - 25
Mongolian/Vega Gull - 50
Black-headed Gull - 100
Hill Pigeon - 2
Oriental Turtle Dove - 27
Red Turtle Dove - 4
Ashy Minivet - 5
Great Tit - 3
Yellow-bellied Tit - 5
Chinese Penduline Tit - 6
Barn Swallow - 60
Red-rumped Swallow - 75
Eurasian Skylark - 71 flyovers and then more in the dry fields below.
Chinese Hill Warbler - 2
Chinese Bulbul - 4
Brown-eared Bulbul - 1
Lanceolated or Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Black-browed Reed Warbler - 2
Dusky Warbler - 2
Raddes Warbler - 1
Yellow-browed Warbler - 3
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - several groups
White-eye Sp. - 206
White-cheeked Starling - 22
Grey-backed Thrush - 1
Dusky/Naumann's Thrush - 24
Thrush Sp. - 11
Siberian Rubythroat - 2
Daurian Redstart - 1
Siberian Stonechat - 3
White Wagtail - 6 leucopsis, 5 ocularis
Richard's Pipit - 1
Olive-backed Pipit - 4
Buff-bellied Pipit - 4
Brambling - have 493 in my notes but undoubtedly missed some
Oriental Greenfinch - 41
Eurasian Siskin - 1
Common Rosefinch - 1
Hawfinch - 2
Meadow Bunting - 3
Tristram's Bunting - 1
Yellow-browed Bunting - 1
Black-faced Bunting - 14
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 5
Bunting Sp. - 104

next

ones

Country Club October 13, 2013

Went with my son in the afternoon for a few hours so he could ride the dinosaur statues located inside. We also did a walk around and found plenty of sticks, some snails on the sides of trees, and some fun swinging bridges!

On the bird front......there were a few things around as well.

Common Pheasant - 3
Mandarin Duck - 2
Little Grebe - 1
Amur Falcon - 2
Eurasian Kestrel - 1
Oriental Turtle Dove - 6
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Great Tit - 5
Eurasian Skylark - 2
Chinese Bulbul - 2
Yellow-browed Warbler - 4
Eurasian Blackbird - 3
Red-flanked Bluetail - 6
Taiga Flycatcher - 1
Olive-backed Pipit - 8
Oriental greenfinch - 5
Rustic Bunting - 4
Black-faced Bunting - 1
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 3

Tom,
I would scrutinise any October Taiga Flycatchers carefully to check for Red-breasted. Slightly different call (slower, so that you can count the notes) and they have black uppertail coverts, an all black bill and generally look 'warmer' brown (ie less grey). There are several records for Eastern China (Paul saw one at Laotieshan last week), Korea and Japan, so there is a reasonable chance you will get one sooner or later.
Terry

You mean less black (pale) upper tail coverts and a generally pale base to the lower mandible in RBF Terry, though not always the latter. Buff fringed greater coverts is a good feature as this warmth is not shown in RTF.

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the tips. I saw the one listed very briefly but will check out all Taiga's with caution this late in the year. Paul Holt also had one here in Jinshitan a few years ago in February so it's a very likely possibility that I get one.

I forgot to mention that last Saturday morning the Red Turtle Doves were confirmed by Terry which provided me with another life bird this fall. Big thanks to Mr. Townshend!!

We just had a large cold front pass yesteray bringing the temps way down. This morning it was 3 degrees at my house with a strong north wind making it feel colder. It is predicted to warm slowly again. No birding in the forecast for me however, work, work and then the weekend in Qingdao on another hockey trip.

Tom

Yes, absolutely right. It's Taiga Flycatcher that has black uppertail coverts and an all-dark bill..! RBF is exactly how Mark describes. At least I got the RBF call right - should be slow enough to count the notes. Good luck!
Terry

Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds Oct. 27, 2013

Got out for 2 hours this afternoon. It was rather dead until I took a different side road on the way home and ran into 22 Amur Falcons on one stretch of power lines and a Little Owl clearly perturbed that they were there.

List includes a very short hike in the mountains yesterday behind my house as well

Common Pheasant
Japanese Quail - 3
Gadwall - 2
Mallard - 100
Spot-billed Duck - 20
Eurasian Teal - 1
Common Pochard - 2
Tufted Duck - 5
Little Grebe - 5
Grey Heron - 3
Euraisian Kestrel - 3
Amur Falcon - 22
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Japanese Sparrowhawk - 1
Eastern Buzzard - 5
Common Moorhen - 1
Common Coot - 17
Great Knot - 1
Black-tailed Gull - 15
Oriental Turtle Dove - 1
Little Owl - 1
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Great Tit - 3
Eurasian Skylark - 6
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 large group
Daurian Redstart - many around at the moment
White Wagtail - 4 ocularis
Oriental Greenfinch - 1
Black-faced Bunting - 2
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 10

Sea-farming Ponds November 1, 2013

I have been quite busy with work and am not getting out as much as I like to. It's amazing what I can see and hear from going to and from work. The flight calls at night during the last week have been awesome to listen to. I can go out on my deck at any time in the evening and hear things flying overhead. My friend heard geese last night as well. There are so many things that happen in Sept an Oct that I don't record here. Amazing migration location!

Had one hour of pathetic light just before dark today. I turned on my headlight on my bike on the way there! Once there I just checked out a small reed area that seemed to be alive with Pallas's Reed Bunting. I sat quiet in the reeds studying the differences that exist in the species and their call when a Baillon's Crake literally popped out right in front of me. By then the light was even worse than when I arrived and I snapped some photos using manual focus and some camera settings that I've never tried before. I'm really not a photographer in terms of knowing settings. Once home I took the horribly dark photos and played with lighting etc.. (something I also hate to do). I am quite pleased with the photos below given the lighting.

In books, Pallas's Reed Bunting often are illustrated with dark blue lesser wing coverts. I finally found one today that matches the books! I find bill shape, size, and colour in addition to overall size, call, and very limited streaking on the breast to be better field marks in separating with Common Reed Bunting.

Also, I was quite intrigued with a group of Barn Swallows on November 1! It is a bit warmer than usual I guess.

List:

Common Pheasant
Japanese Quail - 4
Mallard - 50
Spot-billed Duck - 10
Common Pochard - 2
Little Grebe - 8
Grey Heron - 4
Eurasian Kestrel - 1
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 1
Baillon's Crake - 1
Common Moorhen - 1
Common Coot - 23
Green Sandpiper - 1
Snipe Sp. - 5
Oriental Turtle Dove - 5
Great Tit - 10
Barn Swallow - 12
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
Daurian Redstart - 3
White Wagtail - 1
Buff-bellied Pipit - 2
Oriental Greenfinch - 10
Yellow-throated Bunting - 1
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 40

Sea-farming Ponds November 2, 2013

I was out with Stephen from 5-8 this morning. We looked for the Baillon's Crake at the same spot as yesterday but found an Eastern Water Rail instead! It's a shame the lighting has been so poor for both birds as both have been out in the open.

The recording below was something approx 20 minutes before it started to get light. Resembles a Little Owl but was much louder. It was in a forested area. The sound is soft in the recording but I was very far away. I forgot to turn off the image stabilizer so there is that distraction as well. Any ideas?

Common Pheasant
Japanese Quail - 8
Gadwall - 2
Mallard - 80
Spot-billed Duck - 15
Common Pochard - 2
Tufted Duck - 2
Little Grebe - 10
Grey Heron - 2
Little Egret - 1
Eurasian Kestrel - 2
Eastern Buzzard - 2
Eastern Water Rail - 1
Common Moorhen - 2
Common Coot - 28
Green Sandpiper - 4
Mongolian/Vega Gull - 15
Hill Pigeon - 1
Oriental Turtle Dove - 1
Common Kingfisher - 2
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Great Tit - 4
Chinese Penduline Tit - 2
Barn Swallow - 3
Eurasian Skylark - 8
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
Thrush Sp. - 14
Daurian Redstart - 3
White Wagtail ocularis - 3
Oriental Greenfinch - 30
Eurasian Siskin - 60
Meadow Bunting - 1
Little Bunting - 1
Rustic Bunting - 2
Yellow-throated Bunting - 3
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 30
Japanese Reed Bunting - 2

Sea-farming Ponds Nov. 5, 2013

Quick hour before dark. The Little Owl pic below is from last weekend -the usual one at the usual place. The Shrike recordings below show 3 quite different calls. None of the recordings below are what I normally hear there. Usually they sound more like a screaming cat!


Strange weather: very dark and gloomy but quite warm at around 15 degrees. Right at the edge of winter now -- had Dusky Warbler and Siberian Accentor on the same day.

List:
Common Pheasant
Japanese Quail - 2
Mallard - 40
Spot-billed Duck - 40
Common Pochard - 1
Tufted Duck - 5
Little Grebe - 10
Grey Heron - 3
Eurasian Kestrel - 1
Common Coot - 17
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Great Tit - 5
Eurasian Skylark - 1
Chinese Hill Warbler - 1
Dusky Warbler - 1
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
Winter Wren - 1 (quite uncommon here)
Daurian Redstart - 3
Siberian Accentor - 1 (FOS)
White Wagtail - 1
Meadow Bunting - 2
Rustic Bunting - 1
Yellow-throated Bunting - 10
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 10

Sea-farming Ponds woods Nov. 6, 2013

Had all of 45 minutes so I checked out the woods around the ponds. This area has so many Common Magpies that I rarely acknowledge them in my reports. The same goes for Tree Sparrows. Some of the magpies get sick from whatever they're eating (I think that's why) and lose their tails, neck feathers, etc... Many of them do not look very healthy. Today I saw one get taken by a Goshawk. It was one of the non-tail variety and met its death above the forest where I was:t: The photo below shows the last second of its life. Before today I've never seen any bird of prey take a magpie or even get serious about trying. The Gos had a fan on the ground below. Minus one magpie in Jinshitan!B

Daurian Redstart recording below - quite a different vocalization. This is in response to me pishing for quite a while in the area.

Common Pheasant - would love to see an Upland Buzzard grab one sometime.
Eurasian Kestrel - 3
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Northern Goshawk - 2
Oriental Turtle Dove - 8
Great Tit - 25
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 2 huge groups
Dusky/Naumann's Thrush - 2
Daurian Redstart - 10
Siberian Accentor - 3
Oriental Greenfinch - 2
Eurasian Siskin - 3
Meadow Bunting - 1
Rustic Bunting - 2
Yellow-throated Bunting - 60
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 1

Jinshitan Nov. 9, 2013

Tadao (Ted) Shimba was in Dalian again and we covered a lot of Jinshitan together this morning. Although the weather was not ideal at all, we did manage a lifer (Mongolian Lark) for both of us and had a very enjoyable time being out. We started at the Sea-farming Ponds where we visited with the Little Owl. We then covered some other areas of the ponds as well brief stops at the GeoPark platform and some other locations. At the ponds, we had been kicking up some Eurasian Skylark when Ted asked if I ever saw Mongolian Lark in the area. I replied that I hadn't and he began to tell me about the upper wing pattern etc... Within 1 minute of that conversation one erupted out of the short scrub right beside our car! We both had good bare eye and binocular views. I tried a quick recording but didn't get anything of value -- clearly a different call.

Weather was dark and rainy.

The list below is from this morning only, some of the pics are from yesterday.

List:
Common Pheasant
Ruddy Shelduck - 4
Mandarin Duck - 3
Eurasian Wigeon - 1
Mallard - 100
Spot-billed Duck - 40
Common Pochard - 1
Tufted Duck - 6
Little Grebe - 10
Grey Heron - 5
Great Egret - 2
Great Cormorant - 2
Eurasian Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 1
Common Coot - 8
Green Sandpiper - 4
Snipe Sp. - 2
Black-tailed gull - 100
Mongolian/Vega Gull - 50
Black-headed Gull - 150
Sanders's Gull - 2
Oriental Turtle Dove - 1
Red-collared Dove - (3 yesterday)
Little Owl - 1
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Great Tit - 3
Mongolian Lark - 1
Eurasian Skylark - 30
Chinese Hill Warbler - 4
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 single
Daurian Redstart = 10
Blue Rock Thrush - 1
Siberian Accentor - 1 heard
Hawfinch - 3
Oriental Geenfinch - 2
Meadow Bunting - 2
Yellow-throated Bunting - 15
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 4

Chinese Bulbuls at Laotieshan

Tadao Shimba was at Laotieshan for part of the day on November 8. One of the things he noticed was a massive group of Chinese Bulbuls. He estimates the group to be many hundred in number. Here are some of his pictures.

Migrating flocks of Chinese Bulbuls are a feature of this time of year in HK too.

They were a scarce migrant in Beidahe 25 years ago.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK said:

They were a scarce migrant in Beidahe 25 years ago.

Cheers
Mike

Click to expand...

They were, not now, strange how things change, global warming?