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Panjin Birding by the Old Fat Man (4 Viewers)

Hi Owen,

Two Swallowtails are common in East China. Asian Swallowtail(Papilio xuthus) which has the black bands(streakings) on the upper wing and also its distribution range spreads through Russia, Japan, Korea and China.

Common Swallowtail (Papilio machon) is much similar except for the upper wing markings. Its widely distributed through China although i have never seen them near the coast.

Attached the photos for your reference.

PS : The Asian Swallowtail is captioned as Southern Swallowtail (noob mistake) but i never got around to fix it.
 

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Interesting,

The Common Swallowtail is the closer of the two, but not a match to the quick impression I got. General size and shape looks good but the markings are not quite right. Then again it was only a quick look, so I may be mistaken. I am going out in a few minutes for a quick jaunt before the predicted heavy rain, so hopefully I'll get another chance.

You've managed to catch my interest. Being more of a naturalist than just a birder, butterflies and moths make a good supplement to the birding, so I have just ordered a copy of Butterflies of the World by Lewis. I'm currently in the middle of Cornell Universities Handbook of Bird Biology, but once that is completed, I can start on butterflies.

I managed to dig up a few older images from up to two years ago that I had not deleted and still don't have an ID.
 

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July 21 2017

Brown Shrike in abundance this afternoon feeding recently fledged young. A few Chinese Bulbul and one rather bold Hoopoe. Also a shot from a couple of days ago that I forgot to post of a young Great-Spotted Woodpecker. The parents had decided that it was time for it to set off on its own. It would fly over near them and as soon as it started squawking for food they would drive it off.
 

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Hey Dev,

Just got back in from the walk and came up with what I think is a shot with a Bath White and a Small White together. Also a small yellow unidentified. Maybe just slightly larger than the Bath White.
 

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For whatever reason, I am not able to edit post #422 or I would just delete the images. It just dawned on me that I spent the summer in America that year and hence those butterflies are from Johnson and Miami Counties in Kansas. Lots of online resources for butterflies in the US and Britain, so I am sure I can figure those out.
 
July 22 2017

A cold front moved through from the north yesterday dropping the high temps down into the 20's and apparently brought some oddities with it. The first was when I noticed the Swallows over our apt. complex mobbing what at a distance seemed to be a few other swallows. I at first thought it to possibly be parents trying to shoo off juveniles but getting closer and employing the binoculars it appeared to be 4 Sand Martin. That was a bit puzzling as I have never seen them nesting here and I thought that they nested north of here. Too early for the migration to begin I would think. I know that there are some species where the males do not take part in raising the young and hence do start south in mid-July (Hummingbirds in the Americas for instance), but didn't think Martins would be one of those. First juveniles of the season moving south early or just ranging wide?

The second one I first spotted yesterday moving fast and hence not able to get a good look at and that I got a better look at today through the bins. Both days a flock of about 15 Eurasian Jay staying close together and moving about mostly silently. Mostly only a 'growling' call and an occasional soft whistle. A second flock of 5 spotted about a half a kilometer from the first flock. Well inside their range but I have never seen them here before.
 
I managed to dig up a few older images from up to two years ago that I had not deleted and still don't have an ID.

I just discovered that the BF has an ID thread for butterflies and moths. They pegged the strays from 2 years ago in Kansas as:
1 Mourning Cloak (Camberwell Beauty for us in UK)
2 male Diana Fritillary
3 Painted Lady
4 Red Admiral
 
Hey Dev,

Just got back in from the walk and came up with what I think is a shot with a Bath White and a Small White together. Also a small yellow unidentified. Maybe just slightly larger than the Bath White.


Hi Owen,

Both Whites are Small and its actually the mating display. Rest of the Yellow's are Eastern Pale clouded Yellow (Colias erate).
 
I just discovered that the BF has an ID thread for butterflies and moths. They pegged the strays from 2 years ago in Kansas as:
1 Mourning Cloak (Camberwell Beauty for us in UK)
2 male Diana Fritillary
3 Painted Lady
4 Red Admiral

That's what i figured. I have very little experience with butterflies and almost none outside China but that 3rd one looks good for Indian Red Admiral and the fourth one is definitely not the Indian Red Admiral.
 
Just a brief note about how much we probably miss all the time. Walking through a section of city park that I traverse probably at least 3-4 times a week, I spotted a pair of Chinese Grosbeak high up in a tree feeding a juvenile. Not so odd except that passing through that often, usually with my bins and often the camera, I had not spotted any C. Grosbeak all summer. They are perhaps the tamest birds that I find around here usually being up at the very tops of the trees and not showing any signs of even noticing human activity, but still makes one wonder how much else goes unnoticed.
 
That's what i figured. I have very little experience with butterflies and almost none outside China but that 3rd one looks good for Indian Red Admiral and the fourth one is definitely not the Indian Red Admiral.

Whoops, I had @3 & #4 reversed.

Too the internet to see what references and/or textbooks I can come up with for butterflies. Long, long ago in a faraway land, when I was finishing up high school I had two offers to choose from. I was handy with mechanical things, engines and such and though my Father preferred electronics he was willing to pay for any engineering studies at Kansas State University. They had actually offered to admit me in my third year prior to my finishing high school. The other was a full ride scholarship from Pennsylvania State University. They expressed a willingness to discuss any major but preferred that I take the Forestry or a Biology major based on my career aptitude tests. I actually preferred Penn State, but my Father made it clear I was on my own if I went that route and being 18 years old I chickened out. Now it seems I am back to learning the biology.
 
I was not able to readily find the original post about the private school ripping out a big section of city park landscape to make a parking lot in order to reference it, but this last week has brought about a surprising development. The local gossip was that the school had not bothered with notifying the city government or getting permission. Not an uncommon approach for those with the big money. Apparently the new mayor decided to make an example of it though as during the last week not only have the new curbing and concrete that had been poured been ripped out but about a half a meter of fill dirt was hauled in. Currently there is even a 'guard' camping out during daylight hours in the middle of the area in a makeshift tent. As I mentioned before the school has plenty of unused land inside their fenced area for many times that much parking area, so it was unnecessary anyway. First time I have seen anyone actually penalized for that kind of behavior.

Given the thoroughness with which it was obliterated I am considering referring to it as 'Carthage'. ;) They did everything except salt the earth.

Also reminds me that I have given up on the whole 'Beautiful Dawa' brand representative bit. My visa was due to expire in the middle of August and the new mayor has just ignored the whole project idea so I applied for a renewal of the Q1 visa last week. Should get an answer by Monday and even if they don't at least I would be back in America in time for the total eclipse.
 
Some of the Brown Shrike and Azure-winged Magpie juveniles are starting to be seen on their own, still obviously not quite sure of what they should be doing. The Hoopoe are still guarding and feeding their young, who are now as big and fully feathered as their parents, often plumper with the parents starting to look rather thin.

I got a quick look at a very small little butterfly this morning. A little Hesperiidae I think, or at least seems to me to look like it fits into there. No more than 1.0 - 1.5 cm across the wings in flight and a mottled light brown on the underside of the wings with the upperside being a universally very deep blue to black. Haven't been able to find an image that matches anywhere with my first reference book set to arrive in a couple more weeks.
 
Just a quick note to catch up on the last couple of weeks. It seems to be trying to make up for the six months of almost no moisture by raining almost everyday now. The short dog walks between rains have produced very little, especially the last couple of days as the fledglings are on their own now. What birds are still hanging around are very quiet now and tending to stay well hidden in the foliage.

In one particular area there is one Hoopoe that will drop down to the ground within a couple of feet of the dog, not to harass her, but rather just eyeing her. She originally occasionally made a halfhearted lunge towards it, but it just hopped up over her to come down behind her. Now they seem to feel like they know each other and will just walk side by side for awhile.

The Azure-winged Magpie are forming up into bigger familial flocks again and I saw about a dozen of them following along with us and scolding on yesterday's walk.

It was nice and cool this morning at sunrise, giving the first hint of the rapid cool down that will start in another couple of weeks or so.
 
Any chance to grab a pic of your dog with the Hoopoe?

I keep trying, Mike. So far I have only managed the dog alone reacting, the bird alone, the dog with a blur of Hoopoe, the Hoopoe with a blur of dog, etc. One of the problems is that if I get too close or move around too much trying for a good angle the Hoopoe spooks and leaves. Also that where this occurs is just off the walkway in a clearing behind some bushes. Nothing yet even as good as the blurry shot from a year ago with a Hoopoe scolding her.

While I am at it, I decided to include my first attempt at something else to keep myself busy. I took some handheld shots of the Moon back in January 2017 using my Canon 7D Mkii w/100-400mm lens @400mm. I got busy then and forgot about it and just got around to processing the images. Not quite right yet, but not a bad first try. I tried with the extender attached to get out to 560mm during a break in the clouds a few days ago, but got the setting wrong and badly over exposed it.

All prompted by my youngest brother having a telescope he is learning and my having more time to play with the image processing, which takes more time than the imaging. He has a real job and a teenager in high school as well as one in university making demands on his time. ;) While after many years of commonly working 60-70 hours a week, I am thoroughly enjoying being retired. :t: At any rate we are discussing trying having him collect the images and sending them to me to process. Another excuse for why I need to update to a new computer from my 8+ year old one. ;) Seriously though, I tried stacking a large bunch of images yesterday and an hour later it was still working and when I went to adjust the angle on the computer I almost burnt my fingers on the back of the case. :eek!: Shut it down and started lobbying with the wife for a new computer.
 

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Actually, I think you are close there, Jeff. Maybe I could paint some black stripes on her. 8-P

I have thought that the dog is so small that it confuses other critters. "What is that!?". The Azure-winged Magpie seem to be especially intrigued by her and will follow her often getting quite close inspecting her. I have had them do the normal team attack on her with one getting her attention from the front while another gets close enough to peck her in the butt. Seems to be more entertainment than anything for them as long as they don't have a fledgling nearby that they are feeding and protecting. Then I have to rescue her as they will actually mob her.

She can work well for drawing small warblers and such out of the foliage.
 
Weather fronts arriving from the north this last week coupled with the last couple of days clearing off with cooler temperatures and some of the best seeing that I have encountered in China have gotten me out the last couple of days. Beautiful blue skies and cooler temperatures.

Yesterday yielded some Dark-sided Flycatcher and a few very shy Taiga Flycatcher. A few Brown Shrike continue to hang around though they are staying very quiet and hide in the foliage very well.

Today's outing was longer and over to a wetland area. The wetlands recovered very quickly in the last month with the constant rain. The thin and stunted reeds have shot up and are now lush and over two meters high! I managed to add Reed Parrotbill to my life-list and found three Chinese Pond Heron. A few Little Grebe, which I have seen only rarely this season, were found in a water channel in the wetlands. The little terrier passed by a female Ring-necked Pheasant at less than a meter away without it flushing or the dog even noticing it. It finally flushed as I walked by but I wasn't able to get the camera up quick enough to take a photo. One Pallas's Leaf Warbler was observed at very close range, too close to focus on before it disappeared into the foliage.

Panjin, Dawa County, Liaoning, CN, Liaoning, CN
Aug 24, 2017 11:45 AM - 1:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 kilometer(s)
10 species

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) 1
Gray-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus) 1
Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) 6
Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) 5
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 10
Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) 1
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 4
Dark-sided Flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica) 4
Taiga Flycatcher (Ficedula albicilla) 3
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 5

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38805947


Panjin, Dawa County, Liaoning, CN, Liaoning, CN
Aug 25, 2017 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 kilometer(s)
11 species

Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 1
Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) 5
Chinese Pond-Heron (Ardeola bacchus) 4
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 1
Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica) 1
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 30
Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) 4
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 2
Pallas's Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) 1
Reed Parrotbill (Paradoxornis heudei) 2
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 100 one large flock

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38808526
 

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