[McMadd]

possibly finally, some scenery...

[McMadd]

At last...

[Shi Jin]

With the gripometer going completely off-the-scale before 9am... I think it's fair to say that you didn't have a bad morning.

Congratulations on a stunning raid.

Shi Jin

[Jeff hopkins]

Wow and wow! Very very nice.

Since I expect to be in Wuhu for the next few weeks a dash to Nanjing isn't out of the question. Can you share which temple?

JH

[mcaribou]

tailorbird?

[MKinHK]

so a reasonable spring so far then . . .

Congratulations on a great couple of weekends.

Cheers
Mike

[McMadd]

Originally Posted by mcaribou

tailorbird?

Hmm...good point...we didn't pay much attention other than me writing it down in my notebook as we taxi'd to the temple...think I'll retract it although Jocko is certainly familiar enough with them from time spent in Hong Kong and elsewhere...

Certainly a good morning's birding although I notice I've a few bites that are irritating me this morning...must remember the DDT next trip

Planning for another trip at present...more as that develops...

Mark

[firstreesjohn]

Your b&w butt in #199 is Limenitis helmanni, I think. Many spp very similar.

Envy you your trips.

[Frogfish]

Love the write-ups on Fuzhou and Nanjing. I'll have to get myself up there soon ! Once beloved daughter and suspicious BF have returned once more to Blighty.

[McMadd]

Been oot 'n' aboot...rather successfully ;D

[McMadd]

...or...

...Laughing all the way to the falconet (not to mention the...)

Friday 8th June dawned early...again. The alarm got me up at 0500 and by 0600 I was on my west through the Shanghai Metro system for a rendezvous with...well...this report will, out of necessity, be brief on detail...following several days of to-ing and fro-ing our plans were settled...5 of us hit the highway by 0700...ROAD TRIP!

The route led us west over the following 5 or so hours and with just the one rest break we found ourselves arriving in the “zone” by lunchtime-ish. Our destination is generally known as “Wuyuan” (pronounced Ooh-you-an) and I will follow that convention. Some background research in the weeks leading up to this trip had fixed our target birds and the places to see them and what better way to start the weekend than lunching in a certain hotel in a certain town that had the best dessert going...

We drove slowly into town and parked up and slowly got out to be greeted by a “eek, eek, eek” overhead and...wasn't that easy?! Two of our first big target birds had decided on a fly-by to greet us to their realm...Pied Falconet was ours!! Quickly inside we were welcomed with the news that...lunch was available! A nourishing table of goodies was soon in front of us and we wolfed it down conscious of...the long hours since breakfast...then...and only then did we ascend the fabled stairs to the fabled, gabled roof and the seats and sunshade...

Pretty quickly the stars of the show put on the performance all who come here hope for...perching in tree-tops, launching into flights across town and our heads and then...finally...one bird came in from the east and alighted on that branch of that tree...shutters crashed in a frenzy of falconet photography...our little bird posing not more than 20m from us...left profile; right; back view with coquettish backward glance over the shoulder; a quick contortion of preening; some tough guy (or gal) stares to the clicking machines; finally a launch off to our right and shows over...wow! Image checks and high fives...a short “to camera” tune from our extrovert American member...destined for a Swede currently on the Churchill tundra of Canada...all hail t'internet!

Meantime I put another bogey to rest as a quick glance over the parapet revealed a pair of Plumbeous Redstart flitting around below us on the riverbank; the male calling and fanning his tail as he kept close by his mate.

So our drive west and our first stop delivered the usual suspects plus one crippling cute megabird and a couple of other good birds...checking my notes I realise I've omitted to mention the Black Eagle we caught soaring around a radio mast en route into town; the first of many Collared Finchbills over the weekend and...here's the list...

Tree Sparrow, Crested Myna, Little Egret, Black-crowned Night-heron, Barn Swallow, Long-tailed Shrike, Chinese Pond Heron, Eurasian Magpie, Cattle Egret, Eurasian/Chinese Blackbird, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Common Kingfisher, Chinese Bulbul, Eurasian Jay, Black-collared Starling, Hwamei, Southern (?) Great Tit, Red-billed Starling, Collared Finchbill, Oriental Magpie-robin, Red-rumped Swallow, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Grey-headed Lapwing, (calling) Chinese Bamboo Partridge, Black Eagle, Plumbeous Redstart and...ta-dahhh...Pied Falconet

Reluctantly taking our leave, having signed the famous flag, we headed into Wuyuan town and our hotel for the next two nights. Once it passed inspection we met up in the lobby after a quick freshen up and headed out looking for “Target Bird # 2”...

Once again, I can say no more than we went to a site that I had pieced together from various sources and, after parking up and quizzing a couple of local people we headed to a “certain landmark” that, coupled with a helpful information sign led us to the woods where we hoped to make the acquaintance of a rather special and spectacular bird...

I'd like to pretend we walked miles and sweated buckets but...within 5 minutes of entering their habitat we were aware of their presence as a garrulous flock of stunning Courtois's Laughingthrush chuckled and squawked and bounced 'n' bopped through the trees seemingly surrounding us! Totally awesome experience and as we sorted through the associated melee we found they had a fan club including a Grey Treepie; a curious Eurasian Jay checking us out; 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers deeply in lust flitting from tree to tree; 2 Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers; 2 Black-naped Oriole; a Grey-headed Woodpecker; 4-5 Vinous-throated parrotbills; an Ashy Drongo (white-faced race) on the nest; Mandarin on the Water (duh, duh ,derrr...)

Close by some cultivated fields added Little Egret, Chinese Pond Heron, Black-collared Starling, Black Drongo, Red-billed Starling, an Oriental Turtle Dove or two...

But, back to the stars of the show, who seemed to be doing a circuit of the woods. A couple of pairs decided to do “oh so cute” allo-preening over my head and them the group decided to move to some low trees scattered among tea plants where improving light afternoon light made their colours shine and their interactions easier to appreciate without a “warbler neck” stance as we'd all been adopting in the woods. Soon they tired of us and flitted off and away back into the canopy and we chose to retreat and leave them to their evening while we headed back to town and an “all right” noodle bar (the beef and coriander starter/side dish was welcome to these taste buds which have been missing their coriander badly!)

A couple of refreshing beers and a quick council of war and it was early to bed with the alarm set for 0400...we had birds to seek in the early, early light...

[McMadd]

Some pictures of the stars of the show...

[McMadd]

Later that day...

[McMadd]

and finally...

[MKinHK]

Magical birds - sounds like a great trip!

Bit of a shocker to get the falconet before Plumbeous Redstart.

Cheers
Mike

[Jeff hopkins]

Nice, Mark, nice. Brilliant photos. Such beautiful color.

[McMadd]

Saturday 09 June - pre-breakfast

0400 and the day began...3 of us left to drive west and try to scout out another potential locale from information gathered...some to-ing and fro-ing and then a decision to take a side road started our journey back in time to small villages seemingly off the tourist trail...not pretty but real; places with ordinary, everyday folk doing their best to make ends meet...simple dwellings and suddenly Saturday morning tv was forgotten as 3 tall “long noses” wielding large camera lenses took inordinately many pictures of birds they probably paid little attention to...

The strategy was to drive the single track road through the low, wooded hills at a snails pace using the car as a hide with a few short excursions to follow up promising glimpses or sounds...it worked pretty well and as we passed the hours between 0500 and 0900 (when the food thing intervened) profitably...

The weather was still hot and sweaty, lacking the breeze we Shanghai-ers are unconsciously accustomed to and some light rain and dull skies didn't help the picture-making...

The road wound through low, wooded hills and small villages; the valley bottom and side branches under cultivation...

Birds were about in reasonable numbers and we recorded Chinese Pond Herons, Red-rumped Swallows, Red-billed Starlings, Barn Swallows, a male Chinese Sparrowhawk on roadside wires...briefly...Collared Finchbills, Barn Swallow, Orinetal Magpie-robins, Chinese Bulbul, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Cattle Egret, Little Egret...

One particular flash of black and white prompted a stop and delivered two stunning White-crowned Forktails plus a gang of inquisitive, yet skulking, Greater-necklaced Laughingthrushes. A frog with a single stripe along it's spine sat still for pictures so hopefully someone can ID that one..?

Arriving at a small village on a bend in the river we spied 2 birds high on the power lines...almost as I started to say “Do we get Doll...” Dev chimed in with “...arbird on the water tank” There were 3 birds in total and we disembarked to try for shots of these charismatic birds...no luck beyond a dodgy flight shot...but a charming village full of Red-rumped Swallows...we walked through the narrow lanes like Pied Pipers as the locals came out to see what we were up to...and that was sufficiently interesting for them to stick around...4 fresh out of the nest Red-rumped Swallows posed on a corrugated shed roof at eye-level...how could we not blast umpteen shots off...I spied some interesting décor and “added” Mandarin and a pheasant spp. to the list...they are nailed on and will still be there today if you need them..;D

Our Chinese speaker chatted up the old ladies and scared the kids and we wondered down to the riverbank where a Collared Finchbill pair were obviously nesting...although the choice of prey seemed too large for the adult let alone any chicks!

The clock was ticking so we decided this was our furthest point and slowly made our way to the car and prepared to depart...not before I spied a Scaly-breasted Munia on the wires. Off we drove retracing our steps and as we exited the next village more Red-rumped Swallows were perched on low wires so we stopped to blast more images onto our memory cards...as we did a dark shape came in low from behind us and resolved into a fly-over Black Bittern...result! Another lifer for me!! The sounds of a calling Koel ahead drew us on and a Yellow-bellied Prinia sat up too briefly on a roadside bush...

Moving up the valley once again we slowed on the outskirts of another village and the kingfisher family put on a show in the light rain as a Common Kingfisher and a White-breasted Kingfishershared the overhead wires and the good “fishing” in the rice paddy below...a Long-tailed Shrike joined the aprty to ensure it appears on every list I've kept so far in my Chinese birding adventures!

A quick pit-stop for fried bread sticks (I want icing sugar on mine...then they'd be the perfect healthy snack!) and back to the hotel to meet the rest of the party and decide the rest of the days plans...

[McMadd]

Saturday pre-breakfast...

[McMadd]

Saturday pre-breakfast...

[McMadd]

Pre-breakfast in the village...

[McMadd]

Pre-breakfast still...and in the village...still...

[McMadd]

Last ones before breakfast...

[MKinHK]

Glorious Wuyuan!

The frog is Paddy Frog - the dividing line down the body is diagnostic.

Cheers
Mike

[Colin Clark]

Hey Mark (or Zhang Lin).... I am still planning a trip to the Fairy Pitta temple site. Just a quick question - Would I be able to pick up a taxi back in NJ from there easily enough or should I plan to get my outbound taxi to wait or return for me? Thanks - Colin

[McMadd]

Hi Colin

We initially hired a cab to take us there and wait but as he nearly fell asleep at the wheel on the 10km journey to the site he was dismissed and the plan evolved to "worry about it later..."

It seems a fairly well visited site and we were able to pick up a taxi that had just dropped other folk off.

It may be more sensible to have a number to call for one as back up but I can't help with that I'm afraid...when you thinking of going?

br
Mark