[thirudevaram]

No black-faced bunting in Century park? That's very strange. The west side of the park should be filled with plenty of them, starting from the reeds infront of gate 7(Usually Park maintenance crew will clear the reeds every winter). Glad to hear about the white-eyes, i din't see them in the park recently but there is always a flock in my old apartment compound.

[Frogfish]

Originally Posted by thirudevaram

I don't know whether the ongoing destruction going in your area resulted in the absence of the buntings, mainly the most common of all, the Black-faced Bunting.

I would have thought Jeff saw enough BF Buntings in Poyang to last him a lifetime

[Jeff hopkins]

Originally Posted by Frogfish

I would have thought Jeff saw enough BF Buntings in Poyang to last him a lifetime

Well, I'd only seen one before (in Taiwan), so seeing the ones in Poyang wasn't a hardship.

And Dev, since I only had a couple hours, I spent most of my time on the east side of the park (closer to my hotel). The reeds on that side of the park were cleared as you expected.

JH

[thirudevaram]

Jeff's search for Buntings reminds me of the Christmas day @ the urban park in City Outskirts (Binjiang Forest Park). I got my first Rustic Bunting in the city, first one came from Chongming Island an year before but the Rustics in the park are an entertaining pair.

No Rustic Bunting pics for now but presenting the most "Common Man" of winter.

[MKinHK]

Woof! (nb Exhalation of breath, not a dog's bark!)

That first shot is superb Dev and I love the cocked head pose in the second shot too.

Cheers
Mike

[thirudevaram]

Thanks Mike! It was a working day in Shanghai and fortunately i got bailed myself out of the office, it was a very quite day in the park, hardly i came across 10 visitors.

Here is a rustic bunting from the same day. I'm still lacking the Oriental Greenfinches, which were abundant in the park last year.

[Gretchen]

I haven't really been out very many times this winter. Last week I traveled down to the Stone Park in Beidaihe to look for thrushes and took along a friend who is just getting interested in birds.

We may have been a little too early (8:15), because it was fairly quiet, except for the noisy flock of Chinese Bulbuls. We did see a Great Tit, Blue Winged Red Billed Magpies (which was a hit with my friend), and a Spotted Dove. We also had poor views of a few Grosbeaks, and I think some Hawfinches (first for me). Unfortunately these birds were all seen up against the sky or into the sun, and we were nearly frozen by the time we saw them, so I couldn't really do better. Three Blackbirds drinking at the stream were all the thrushes we saw I had been counting on better. (Though it was my first time to see that many blackbirds.)

Today on campus there was a mixed flock of tits - well actually one Coal Tit and one Great Tit together - really a small "flock" I found a new drip this winter - a nice place to look for birds, and amidst the bulbuls, I got a quick look at what I think was another first time bird - a Siberian Accentor. It was smaller than I expected (I saw it next to a bulbul and it was definitely smaller), but I saw the face pattern fairly well. The rest of my walk wasn't too productive except coming across a few more isolated Coal Tits and lots of Magpies; I'm pretty sure I heard Red-Billed Magpies, but didn't see them. Getting good views of a Great Spot was the only other excitement. I do love to listen to them too, and he was really hacking away at a tree looking for something. No thrushes at all, but okay for a quick hour.

The problem with being out of practice for winter birding is forgetting how to dress warmly enough!

[MKinHK]

Congratulations on the Siberian Accentor Gretchen!

They were one of my favourite winter birds from my time in Beijing.

A same you couldn't get to grips with the grosbeaks/hawfinches - if you only get silhouettes it's worth remembering that Hawfinch is rather short-tailed.



Cheers
Mike

[Gretchen]

Thanks Mike. I've been looking forward to the accentor for some time - very good looking birds - and was sorry not to have longer views of this one. It goes on "the list" as another nice bird which appeared once on campus. I'm sure I saw Grosbeaks - managed to see the distinctive head pattern on a male or two. Then I saw a smaller finch-y bird with them in another location, but that was looking sunwards and with frozen fingers. Just a "probable", but next time I'll pay more attention to tail length.

[thirudevaram]

That's a nice winter day Gretchen with a Siberian Accentor.

Winter in Shanghai is settling now. Made my usual trip to Binjiang Park. Varied Tits are everywhere in the park. Not sure if its the same flock which is moving around. At one point, i left counting them. I encountered the flock of 5-6 birds all the time.
Picked up the regular thrushes just right infront of the parking lot. Pale Thrushes are the majority followed by the Naumann's, Dusky's and Grey-backed. One Eyebrowed Thrush got flushed by an annoying Long-tailed Shrike.
Elegant Buntings as usual skulked and flew away on a slight presence of human. The usual pair of Rustic Buntings were missing this time, their territory was occupied by Chinese Grosbeaks, Yellow-bellied Tits, Olive-backed Pipits n Bramblings.
The flock of White-Cheeked Starlings were disturbed by the Common Buzzard and a female Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Hawfinches were as usual flew to the canopies whenever there is a human presence.
Oriental Turtle Doves congregated in huge no's. Never seen a flock of 150 idle throughout the day.

Should be having a break after this following a working weekend and the Chinese New year on the brink, i don't even think about travelling during that period.

Happy new year to my fellow birders in the Forbidden Kingdom(新年快乐)

[Shi Jin]

Took the public bus from Shanghai to Yancheng last Wednesday.

Spent two days in the reserve area, and then caught the train to Nanjing, where I birded Purple Mountain for two days.

My trip report and photos are here:

http://www.chinesecurrents.com/wild_side.html

[Gretchen]

Originally Posted by Shi Jin

My trip report and photos are here: http://www.chinesecurrents.com/wild_side.html

Wonderful picture of the Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes! (As well as the very handsome Berthemy’s )

[MKinHK]

The BBBC continues to rise my esteem for the wisdom and unasahamed subjectivity of its decision-making.

I have aspirations that the Lam Tsuen Records Committee might one day aspire to such dizzy heights of august erudition!

Cheers
Mike

[thirudevaram]

Originally Posted by Shi Jin

Took the public bus from Shanghai to Yancheng last Wednesday.

Spent two days in the reserve area, and then caught the train to Nanjing, where I birded Purple Mountain for two days.

My trip report and photos are here:

http://www.chinesecurrents.com/wild_side.html

The woodland species definitely says you had a great time @ the Purple Mountain. The female Japanese Robin is less attractive than the male but who cares when it comes to the full frame shots.

Wonderful trip report Shi Jin.

[mcaribou]

Last Sun the friends in Lianyungang did the pelagic trip and saw all the typical birds again---2 Yellow-billed Loon and more Long-billed than Ancient Murrelet

[mcaribou]

Originally Posted by Shi Jin

Took the public bus from Shanghai to Yancheng last Wednesday.

Spent two days in the reserve area, and then caught the train to Nanjing, where I birded Purple Mountain for two days.

My trip report and photos are here:

http://www.chinesecurrents.com/wild_side.html

Before u went there,I travelled from Rudong to the border of Yancheng&Lianyungang for the survey of Baer's Pochard.Along the coast there's almost no good place for ducks except Yancheng NR.The one or two BP in Yancheng in Nov/Dec were not seen again.
Even in Yancheng NR,Red-crowned Crane declines fast every year.

[Gretchen]

A quick walk through a local park, a loud descending flute-like whistle caught my attention. I really had to think about if it was a bird because it was so loud and clear and just 3 descending notes. I finally saw the bird - a Grey-headed woodpecker. I watched it cling to the trunk of a tree and give out occasional short song bits (I notice now in comparing with Xeno-canto songs that this was a rather brief one). I think I have heard these guys singing before, but it's been a long time.

Then as I looked around, I saw another one just 3-4 meters away in another tree, at about the same height. The interesting thing was that their backs were to each other and both just sitting fairly motionless. I didn't clearly see a red crown on either, so I'm not sure about the sexes, but as the two were so close for at least 5 minutes, I guess they must not have been competitors.

Is this the right time for them to start singing for breeding? (It was an unusually warm day.) Would it be first winter birds starting to get tuned up early? I didn't really see enough of the singing to see if both were doing it or just one.

[mcaribou]

Chinese New Year in my new apartment at Fengxian coast,southern Shanghai.Saw a diving bird from my window and then drove down to check--2 female Goldeneyes,rare bird for Shanghai.

[McMadd]

Originally Posted by mcaribou

Chinese New Year in my new apartment at Fengxian coast,southern Shanghai.Saw a diving bird from my window and then drove down to check--2 female Goldeneyes,rare bird for Shanghai.

Happy New Year!!

McM

[mcaribou]

Originally Posted by McMadd

Happy New Year!!

McM

Thanks!
A pair of RBMerganser and a Shelduck.
Will inform u if there comes SCMerganser

[Shi Jin]

A flock of 8 Common Pochard, Wenyu River, Beijing, this afternoon (6 males)

A PB count for my local patch.

[Terry Townshend]

At least 28 Guldenstadt's Redstarts at Lingshan at the weekend... plus more than 60 Pallas's Rosefinches, Cinereous Vultures and a Brown Accentor nearby.

See blog for more details! Meanwhile, there were 11 Great Bustards at Miyun this weekend (Jan-Erik Nilsen). Great winter birding this year...

[thirudevaram]

Never had a full day's birding since the Chinese New year. There were two reasons i wanted to go out.

1. Jeff's report on lack of buntings in Century Park
2. Mike's report on disappearance of Thrushes in HK.

Thursday being early to office and early to leave. I found myself in Gate no.2 of Century Park. I was hoping to enjoy a good birding afternoon in a work day but that mood was spoiled by a huge crowd. Camps were setup everywhere and park was as noisy as a weekend.

I strolled through my usual trails and satisfied that the winter residents haven't left yet. Red-flanked Bluetail(female) were paired up and hunting together. Came across four such pairs

Black-faced Bunting and Elegant Buntings were asusual feeding among the bamboo thickets.

Target 1 achieved.

I moved to the banks of the bird island and saw a black-bird with a white wing patch. There is a sudden rush of excitement, was that a Grey-winged Blackbird? I started to trace the bird and finally found it was leucaustic individual.

Pale, Dusky, Naumann's Thrushes as usual perched on the canopy of the bird island.

Target 2 achieved.

Winter residents are still hanging around and the weather is changing steadily.

[Jeff hopkins]

Good to hear about the buntings, Dev. All's well with the world.

[mcaribou]

DPelican passing Yancheng.Yesterday 3,today 15.