-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
China 2010 (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Shi Jin
- Start date
Wednesday, 10th March, 9.30am to 1.30pm
Beijing, Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
Sorry to keep moaning about the weather in Beijing. Freezing temperatures? Smog? Cruel, penetrating wind? I have but a distant memory of such things.
Today was glorious. Spring-like even. Blue sky, no wind. And several degrees above freezing.
At times like this it's time to head for the aptly named Summer Palace (I only have fond memories of this place, because I only go when the sun is shining).
Most of the lake - and it's a big lake - was still frozen of course, but there were quite large ice-free areas. And, what's more, there were hundreds of duck of 8 species. Among these, standing out by a mile in more ways than one - a party of 6 Whooper Swan.
The swans were directly opposite from where I entered, so it took about 40 minutes or so of fast walking to get to within a reasonable distance of them.
A pair of Falcated Duck appeared alongside (far too far to photograph normally, but with light this good, I thought I'd give it a whirl). The swans were surrounded by rafts of more than a hundred Goosander, as well as a sprinkling of c40 Smew (half males).
It was a delight to watch the various plots and sub-plots develop: A single male Pochard had "paired' with a female Goosander (not really of course, but inexplicably they were following each other from one side of the lake to the other); 30 Pintail - one of my favourite ducks - couldn't decide whether to go swimming or ice-skating; 2 Goldeneye did their best to hide among the 100 or so Mallard; a pair of Ruddy Shelduck stared lovingly at each other; and, last but by no means least, a male Red-crested Pochard appeared from nowhere.
This is only the second time I've seen this species in China (the first was on the Tibetan plateau of all places). According to Mark Brazil's Birds of East Asia it's a rare winter visitor to these parts.
As nice as it was, it's the swans that really stole the show.
Photographs of 7 species (all "new" for 2010)
192 Ruddy Shelduck
193 Goosander (ssp orientalis)
194 Pochard
195 Falcated Duck
196 Whooper Swan
197 Pintail
198 Red-crested Pochard
Photos at: www.ChineseCurrents.com/2010birds25.html
Beijing, Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
Sorry to keep moaning about the weather in Beijing. Freezing temperatures? Smog? Cruel, penetrating wind? I have but a distant memory of such things.
Today was glorious. Spring-like even. Blue sky, no wind. And several degrees above freezing.
At times like this it's time to head for the aptly named Summer Palace (I only have fond memories of this place, because I only go when the sun is shining).
Most of the lake - and it's a big lake - was still frozen of course, but there were quite large ice-free areas. And, what's more, there were hundreds of duck of 8 species. Among these, standing out by a mile in more ways than one - a party of 6 Whooper Swan.
The swans were directly opposite from where I entered, so it took about 40 minutes or so of fast walking to get to within a reasonable distance of them.
A pair of Falcated Duck appeared alongside (far too far to photograph normally, but with light this good, I thought I'd give it a whirl). The swans were surrounded by rafts of more than a hundred Goosander, as well as a sprinkling of c40 Smew (half males).
It was a delight to watch the various plots and sub-plots develop: A single male Pochard had "paired' with a female Goosander (not really of course, but inexplicably they were following each other from one side of the lake to the other); 30 Pintail - one of my favourite ducks - couldn't decide whether to go swimming or ice-skating; 2 Goldeneye did their best to hide among the 100 or so Mallard; a pair of Ruddy Shelduck stared lovingly at each other; and, last but by no means least, a male Red-crested Pochard appeared from nowhere.
This is only the second time I've seen this species in China (the first was on the Tibetan plateau of all places). According to Mark Brazil's Birds of East Asia it's a rare winter visitor to these parts.
As nice as it was, it's the swans that really stole the show.
Photographs of 7 species (all "new" for 2010)
192 Ruddy Shelduck
193 Goosander (ssp orientalis)
194 Pochard
195 Falcated Duck
196 Whooper Swan
197 Pintail
198 Red-crested Pochard
Photos at: www.ChineseCurrents.com/2010birds25.html
Friday, 19th March, 10.30am to 3.30pm
Beijing, Summer Palaces (Yuanmingyuan & Yiheyuan)
The weather continues to misbehave. The end of last week was relatively mild but then, just as people began to talk about the winter being over at last, three inches of snow arrived on Sunday. This had mostly gone by Wednesday, with the wind turning to the south for the first time in ages. The forecast is for yet another cold front to arrive tomorrow, with strong winds, so I thought I would check out the largest expanses of open water in central Beijing before the weather changes for the worse.
Yuanmingyuan, the "old" Summer Palace was relatively birdless, with just a Great Crested Grebe, 2 Little Egrets, and 2 Goosander on and around the main lake. But, just as I was leaving, I was delighted to find a passage migrant that is quite scarce in central Beijing: a Long-billed Plover.
I made the short trip over to the "new" Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), where the main "Kunming" Lake was teeming with bird life. I was amazed to see a large flock of Bewick's Swan feeding in the shallows, very close to where thousands of people were walking past. Numerous lenses, from pinhole camera phones to the largest telephotos were pointed at the swans, who seemed to be totally unconcerned by their star status.
"Swan Lake" held no fewer than 133 Bewick's, 10 Whooper and, by far the rarest of the three species present, a party of four adult Mute Swan - a very scarce bird in Beijing.
The supporting cast comprised 10 species of duck, including presumably the same male Red-crested Pochard that I had found last week.
8 species photographed, 7 of which (numbered) are "new" for 2010
199 Great Crested Grebe (nom. ssp cristatus), 2
200 Long-billed Plover (monotypic), 1
201 Large-billed Crow (ssp mandschuricus?), few
202 Bewick's Swan (ssp bewicki), 133
203 "Oriental" Magpie (sp/ssp sericea), many
204 Mute Swan (monotypic), 4
205 Taiga Bean Goose (ssp middendorffii), 7
Whooper Swan, 10
20 photographs at www.ChineseCurrents.com/2010birds26.html
Other birds seen but not photographed:
Shelduck, 5
Ruddy Shelduck, 3
Falcated Duck, 2
Mallard, c50
Eastern Spot-billed Duck, few
Pintail, c15
Eurasian Teal, c20
Red-crested Pochard, male
Tufted Duck, few
Goosander, c30
Heron, 1
Little Egret, 2
Buzzard sp, 1
Coot, 1
Black-headed Gull, sev
Gull sp, 2
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Grey-headed Woodpecker, 1
Oriental Crow, sev
Daurian Jackdaw, 2
Eurasian Skylark, 1
White-cheeked Starling, few
Brambling, c50
Beijing, Summer Palaces (Yuanmingyuan & Yiheyuan)
The weather continues to misbehave. The end of last week was relatively mild but then, just as people began to talk about the winter being over at last, three inches of snow arrived on Sunday. This had mostly gone by Wednesday, with the wind turning to the south for the first time in ages. The forecast is for yet another cold front to arrive tomorrow, with strong winds, so I thought I would check out the largest expanses of open water in central Beijing before the weather changes for the worse.
Yuanmingyuan, the "old" Summer Palace was relatively birdless, with just a Great Crested Grebe, 2 Little Egrets, and 2 Goosander on and around the main lake. But, just as I was leaving, I was delighted to find a passage migrant that is quite scarce in central Beijing: a Long-billed Plover.
I made the short trip over to the "new" Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), where the main "Kunming" Lake was teeming with bird life. I was amazed to see a large flock of Bewick's Swan feeding in the shallows, very close to where thousands of people were walking past. Numerous lenses, from pinhole camera phones to the largest telephotos were pointed at the swans, who seemed to be totally unconcerned by their star status.
"Swan Lake" held no fewer than 133 Bewick's, 10 Whooper and, by far the rarest of the three species present, a party of four adult Mute Swan - a very scarce bird in Beijing.
The supporting cast comprised 10 species of duck, including presumably the same male Red-crested Pochard that I had found last week.
8 species photographed, 7 of which (numbered) are "new" for 2010
199 Great Crested Grebe (nom. ssp cristatus), 2
200 Long-billed Plover (monotypic), 1
201 Large-billed Crow (ssp mandschuricus?), few
202 Bewick's Swan (ssp bewicki), 133
203 "Oriental" Magpie (sp/ssp sericea), many
204 Mute Swan (monotypic), 4
205 Taiga Bean Goose (ssp middendorffii), 7
Whooper Swan, 10
20 photographs at www.ChineseCurrents.com/2010birds26.html
Other birds seen but not photographed:
Shelduck, 5
Ruddy Shelduck, 3
Falcated Duck, 2
Mallard, c50
Eastern Spot-billed Duck, few
Pintail, c15
Eurasian Teal, c20
Red-crested Pochard, male
Tufted Duck, few
Goosander, c30
Heron, 1
Little Egret, 2
Buzzard sp, 1
Coot, 1
Black-headed Gull, sev
Gull sp, 2
Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Grey-headed Woodpecker, 1
Oriental Crow, sev
Daurian Jackdaw, 2
Eurasian Skylark, 1
White-cheeked Starling, few
Brambling, c50
Sounds like a good outing! Interesting to have such different numbers of birds at the two places (not far apart!). Were the non-water birds found mostly in one park or the other (or split between the two)?. I haven't been to the old summer palace for birding yet, but I get the impression that at both parks timing is everything...
(Did you have a dust storm today - Saturday? The skies were yellow here! First time ever for me to see dust and fog simultaneously.)
(Did you have a dust storm today - Saturday? The skies were yellow here! First time ever for me to see dust and fog simultaneously.)
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
I lost track of this terrific thread for a few days - knocks spots off my Summer Palace birding in 1990/91 when studying in Beijing, but I did have a flock of 800 Daurian Jackdaws overhead on one day, and as for the swans, and especially the Mute Swans - MEGA!!
Great stuff!
Cheers
Mike
Great stuff!
Cheers
Mike
Sunday, 21st March, 2pm to 5.30pm
Beijing, Chaoyang Park
Chaoyang Park is the biggest public park in China. On this mild, spring Sunday afternoon tens of thousands of Beijingers were enjoying the park's many amenities: There were boaters, kite-flyers, dancers, roller-coaster-riders, merry-go-rounders, footballers, basketballers, tennis players, picnicers, and a birder.
Despite the multitude of people, there were still many areas that were quiet enough to attract some interesting birds. The conifers near to the North Gate that have been planted on raised ground proved to be popular with a party of three Siberian Accentors and three species of bunting: 30 Rustic, one Siberian Meadow, as well as two improbably-beautiful male Elegant Buntings were grazing in this one area.
I always tend to think that the 21st March is the real start of spring in northerly latitudes (in Beijing and Norfolk at least), and my determination to find a real spring migrant on this date (the accentor and three bunting species can sometimes be found in winter here) paid off handsomely thanks to a resplendent male Daurian Redstart, which took the "first-returning-passerine" prize for the umpteenth time. Although not unexpected, it's always an exciting moment to find such a stunning bird. Second prize went to a female Red-flanked Bluetail. The biggest surprise, though, appeared over the lake at about 4pm... And when you see a Swallow in Beijing, you know that spring is, at long last, here. Yes!!
Photos of 6 species (3 new for 2010 are numbered) can be seen at:
www.ChineseCurrents.com/2010birds27.html
Daurian Redstart (206)
Siberian Accentor
Siberian Meadow Bunting
Rustic Bunting
Elegant Bunting (207)
Red-flanked Bluetail (208)
Beijing, Chaoyang Park
Chaoyang Park is the biggest public park in China. On this mild, spring Sunday afternoon tens of thousands of Beijingers were enjoying the park's many amenities: There were boaters, kite-flyers, dancers, roller-coaster-riders, merry-go-rounders, footballers, basketballers, tennis players, picnicers, and a birder.
Despite the multitude of people, there were still many areas that were quiet enough to attract some interesting birds. The conifers near to the North Gate that have been planted on raised ground proved to be popular with a party of three Siberian Accentors and three species of bunting: 30 Rustic, one Siberian Meadow, as well as two improbably-beautiful male Elegant Buntings were grazing in this one area.
I always tend to think that the 21st March is the real start of spring in northerly latitudes (in Beijing and Norfolk at least), and my determination to find a real spring migrant on this date (the accentor and three bunting species can sometimes be found in winter here) paid off handsomely thanks to a resplendent male Daurian Redstart, which took the "first-returning-passerine" prize for the umpteenth time. Although not unexpected, it's always an exciting moment to find such a stunning bird. Second prize went to a female Red-flanked Bluetail. The biggest surprise, though, appeared over the lake at about 4pm... And when you see a Swallow in Beijing, you know that spring is, at long last, here. Yes!!
Photos of 6 species (3 new for 2010 are numbered) can be seen at:
www.ChineseCurrents.com/2010birds27.html
Daurian Redstart (206)
Siberian Accentor
Siberian Meadow Bunting
Rustic Bunting
Elegant Bunting (207)
Red-flanked Bluetail (208)
Last edited:
Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
Drat! We ended up walking down to chaoyang park today. but only made it to the southern end. Didn't realise it was the park where you'd seen the Meadow Bunting Shi Jin! We managed a nice group of Bramblings, but nowt else.
Thursday, 25th March, 11.30am to 1.45pm
Beijing, Huairou
One of the joys of living in Beijing is the wonderful weather... only joking of course ;-) The actual top three joys would be: 1) great people; 2) draught Guinness, imported from Dublin; and 3) many mountains within easy reach.
The mountains north-east of the city (on the road to inner Mongolia) are a particular favourite.
Last night's rain had thankfully slipped south and the day was bright, although the chilly wind from the north made it feel less than spring-like at times. Despite this, there were birds-a-plenty, many of which were marking their territories.
The most spectacular of the territorial displays was performed by an Ibisbill, which was flying around in big circles while raucously signalling "this is mine!". Its mate wasn't the slightest bit interested in the show, preferring instead to look for snacks.
The next performance on the programme came from a Crested Kingfisher, whose mate at least bothered to watch it flying up and down the river. After five circuits, it flopped down on to a rock for a rest.
Following this, a pair of Long-billed Plovers began to strut their stuff on the banks of the river.
Even the corvids were getting into the swing of things. More than 50 Red-billed Choughs performed an aerial ballet and Oriental Crows chased each other harem-scarem from tree to tree, as a pair of Red-billed Blue Magpies squawked appreciatively. The raven just sat there impassively, as if it had seen it all before.
The pair of Pere David's Laughingthrushes and Chinese Hill Warblers were also active and in fine voice.
Up the mountain, the buntings were back. More than 60 Siberian Meadow and a dozen Godlewski's were far too busy looking for food to bother about giving any kind of show. While watching a Godlewski's, I noticed something moving to its left. I put my bins down just as the something popped up on to a close bush and immediately saw that it was a bright-pink male rosefinch. But which one? By the time I had picked up my bins again it had vanished into thin air. In these parts, it could realistically be one of only two species: long-tailed or pallas's. Alas, it was the one that got away.
But mustn't complain ;-)
7 species photographed (5 new for 2010 are highlighted)
Can be seen at www.ChineseCurrents.com/2010birds28.html
209 Ibisbill (monotypic)
Long-billed Plover
210 Crested Kingfisher (ssp guttulatus)
211 Red-billed Chough (ssp brachypus)
212 Raven (ssp ?)
Siberian Meadow Bunting
213 Godlewski's Bunting (ssp omissa)
Beijing, Huairou
One of the joys of living in Beijing is the wonderful weather... only joking of course ;-) The actual top three joys would be: 1) great people; 2) draught Guinness, imported from Dublin; and 3) many mountains within easy reach.
The mountains north-east of the city (on the road to inner Mongolia) are a particular favourite.
Last night's rain had thankfully slipped south and the day was bright, although the chilly wind from the north made it feel less than spring-like at times. Despite this, there were birds-a-plenty, many of which were marking their territories.
The most spectacular of the territorial displays was performed by an Ibisbill, which was flying around in big circles while raucously signalling "this is mine!". Its mate wasn't the slightest bit interested in the show, preferring instead to look for snacks.
The next performance on the programme came from a Crested Kingfisher, whose mate at least bothered to watch it flying up and down the river. After five circuits, it flopped down on to a rock for a rest.
Following this, a pair of Long-billed Plovers began to strut their stuff on the banks of the river.
Even the corvids were getting into the swing of things. More than 50 Red-billed Choughs performed an aerial ballet and Oriental Crows chased each other harem-scarem from tree to tree, as a pair of Red-billed Blue Magpies squawked appreciatively. The raven just sat there impassively, as if it had seen it all before.
The pair of Pere David's Laughingthrushes and Chinese Hill Warblers were also active and in fine voice.
Up the mountain, the buntings were back. More than 60 Siberian Meadow and a dozen Godlewski's were far too busy looking for food to bother about giving any kind of show. While watching a Godlewski's, I noticed something moving to its left. I put my bins down just as the something popped up on to a close bush and immediately saw that it was a bright-pink male rosefinch. But which one? By the time I had picked up my bins again it had vanished into thin air. In these parts, it could realistically be one of only two species: long-tailed or pallas's. Alas, it was the one that got away.
But mustn't complain ;-)
7 species photographed (5 new for 2010 are highlighted)
Can be seen at www.ChineseCurrents.com/2010birds28.html
209 Ibisbill (monotypic)
Long-billed Plover
210 Crested Kingfisher (ssp guttulatus)
211 Red-billed Chough (ssp brachypus)
212 Raven (ssp ?)
Siberian Meadow Bunting
213 Godlewski's Bunting (ssp omissa)
Last edited:
Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
Fantastic photos Shi Jin. Looking forward to the potential imminent collision of our trip reports at Beidaihe :t: If I can get to see a Meadow Bunting like in your photo it'll make my day.
Thanks Larry and Peter.
Yes Larry, the collision is imminent.
Maybe we should do a live webcast... linking, also, our friends and relatives in Bristol and Beijing as they gather around the cities' countdown clocks.
Let's hope that the cranes turn up in their thousands to watch the live event. In fact, "Collision Tuesday" is such a hot ticket that the other days are likely to be unattended.
Which explains why I didn't see a single crane today. Either that, or the wind was too strong (the forecast was for a 4, but at times it felt more like a 6).
The only movement of big birds I saw was a flock of about 20 Bean Geese, flying high over the sea, near the Sandflats... heading north-east.
Star billing among the Sandflats' notables has to go to the flock of six Great Knot - a couple of which were in fairly advanced breeding plumage. One went a bit too far, though, in having a fashion-victim yellow pendant pinned to its upper left leg.
As you can see from the photo, the branding is "AAH", or maybe that's "HAA". I'm a big fan of ringing projects normally, but I must admit to thinking that there has to be a better way of tracking big waders than sticking day-glow yellow flags to their legs (sort of spoils the aesthetics).
On a serious note, if anyone knows how to get the news to whoever, that one of their beacons has been spotted in Beidaihe, then please feel free to make their day. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to find out they've been tracking it on Google Earth.
Other returning waders here were c40 Kentish Plovers, several Dunlin, and an odd couple of curlews... a Eurasian Curlew and a Far Eastern Curlew (that very kindly allowed me to get a shot of its underwing as it flew past me... not a wing tag in sight I'm happy to say).
There were also more than 1000 gulls on the Sandflats. Or maybe more than 2,000 (Don't tell anyone but counting gulls has the same effect on me as counting sheep... I never get past 100 before losing concentration or falling asleep). Most were Black-headed, but there were also a few hundred Kamchatka and 30 or 40 Vega/Mongolian. Despite trying (but not that hard to be honest), I couldn't find a Saunders or a Relict, or even a Black-tailed (but who knows what I may find when I go through the photos ;-).
Here's the list of birds I saw from midday to 6pm in the order I saw them (birds I photographed are highlighted; the 8 new for the year are numbered).
But please forgive me for not posting the photos to my website tonight.. far too tired, not to mention I'm getting up at six tomorrow to try for.... the cranes (which will be futile of course because they all have tickets for Tuesday).
Sunday 28th March, 12pm to 6pm
Hebei, Beidaihe
214 Kentish Plover, c40, Sandflats
215 Great Knot, 6, Sandflats
216 Dunlin, sev, Sandflats
Black-headed Gull, many
Kamchatka Gull, lots (outnumbered by BHG by 8:1), Sandflats
Vega/Mongolian Gull 30-40, Sandflats
Eurasian Curlew, 1, Sandflats
217 Far Eastern Curlew, 1
Bean Geese, c20, over sea
Pochard, 17, on sea
Great Crested Grebe, 1, sea
Goldeneye, c100. on sea
218 Common Redshank, 1
Naumann's Thrush, 1, Reservoir
Elegant Bunting (sev, Reservoir; c30 Lotus Hills)
Water Pipit, 2, Reservoir
Red-flanked Bluetail, c15
219 Great White Egret, sev, Reservoir
Hoopoe, c12
Pallas's Reed Bunting, 1, Sandflats' reedbeds
Oriental Greenfinch, 1
Night Heron (c doz)
Daurain Redstart, 3
220, Hawfinch, 1, Lotus Hills
Rufous Turtle Dove, c20, Lotus Hills
Chinese Bulbul, 2, Lotus Hills
Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1
Grey-headed Woodpecker, 4
221 Collared Dove, 4
Red-throated Thrush x Naumann's Thrush hybrid ??
Yes Larry, the collision is imminent.
Maybe we should do a live webcast... linking, also, our friends and relatives in Bristol and Beijing as they gather around the cities' countdown clocks.
Let's hope that the cranes turn up in their thousands to watch the live event. In fact, "Collision Tuesday" is such a hot ticket that the other days are likely to be unattended.
Which explains why I didn't see a single crane today. Either that, or the wind was too strong (the forecast was for a 4, but at times it felt more like a 6).
The only movement of big birds I saw was a flock of about 20 Bean Geese, flying high over the sea, near the Sandflats... heading north-east.
Star billing among the Sandflats' notables has to go to the flock of six Great Knot - a couple of which were in fairly advanced breeding plumage. One went a bit too far, though, in having a fashion-victim yellow pendant pinned to its upper left leg.
As you can see from the photo, the branding is "AAH", or maybe that's "HAA". I'm a big fan of ringing projects normally, but I must admit to thinking that there has to be a better way of tracking big waders than sticking day-glow yellow flags to their legs (sort of spoils the aesthetics).
On a serious note, if anyone knows how to get the news to whoever, that one of their beacons has been spotted in Beidaihe, then please feel free to make their day. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to find out they've been tracking it on Google Earth.
Other returning waders here were c40 Kentish Plovers, several Dunlin, and an odd couple of curlews... a Eurasian Curlew and a Far Eastern Curlew (that very kindly allowed me to get a shot of its underwing as it flew past me... not a wing tag in sight I'm happy to say).
There were also more than 1000 gulls on the Sandflats. Or maybe more than 2,000 (Don't tell anyone but counting gulls has the same effect on me as counting sheep... I never get past 100 before losing concentration or falling asleep). Most were Black-headed, but there were also a few hundred Kamchatka and 30 or 40 Vega/Mongolian. Despite trying (but not that hard to be honest), I couldn't find a Saunders or a Relict, or even a Black-tailed (but who knows what I may find when I go through the photos ;-).
Here's the list of birds I saw from midday to 6pm in the order I saw them (birds I photographed are highlighted; the 8 new for the year are numbered).
But please forgive me for not posting the photos to my website tonight.. far too tired, not to mention I'm getting up at six tomorrow to try for.... the cranes (which will be futile of course because they all have tickets for Tuesday).
Sunday 28th March, 12pm to 6pm
Hebei, Beidaihe
214 Kentish Plover, c40, Sandflats
215 Great Knot, 6, Sandflats
216 Dunlin, sev, Sandflats
Black-headed Gull, many
Kamchatka Gull, lots (outnumbered by BHG by 8:1), Sandflats
Vega/Mongolian Gull 30-40, Sandflats
Eurasian Curlew, 1, Sandflats
217 Far Eastern Curlew, 1
Bean Geese, c20, over sea
Pochard, 17, on sea
Great Crested Grebe, 1, sea
Goldeneye, c100. on sea
218 Common Redshank, 1
Naumann's Thrush, 1, Reservoir
Elegant Bunting (sev, Reservoir; c30 Lotus Hills)
Water Pipit, 2, Reservoir
Red-flanked Bluetail, c15
219 Great White Egret, sev, Reservoir
Hoopoe, c12
Pallas's Reed Bunting, 1, Sandflats' reedbeds
Oriental Greenfinch, 1
Night Heron (c doz)
Daurain Redstart, 3
220, Hawfinch, 1, Lotus Hills
Rufous Turtle Dove, c20, Lotus Hills
Chinese Bulbul, 2, Lotus Hills
Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1
Grey-headed Woodpecker, 4
221 Collared Dove, 4
Red-throated Thrush x Naumann's Thrush hybrid ??
Last edited:
Looking forward to having two of my current favourite threads in one posting tomorrow! Good luck Shi Jin and Larry and Nicky, hope the cranes perform as they should, and of course the Meadow Buntings too!
Maybe you should start a new thread Shi Jin, trying to photograph 365 birdforum members in a year
Andrew
Maybe you should start a new thread Shi Jin, trying to photograph 365 birdforum members in a year
Andrew
Thanks Andrew, fingers crossed
I'll be having dinner again with Larry and Nicky tonight, so the sensible thing to do is to post today's notes before I go out ;-)
So, where were we...
Monday 29th March, 6.30am to 5pm
Hebei, Beidaihe
Oh yes... cranes... It's theoretically possible to see 7 (yes, seven) cranes species in a day in Beidaihe: Red-crowned, Siberian, Hooded, White-naped, Demoiselle, Common, and Sandhill.
So how many of them did I see today you may be wondering. Well, er... none to be precise.
No surprises really. As I said yesterday, they'll be here tomorrow.
I thought I'd go on a recce this morning (tracing the route I plan to do with Larry and Nicky tomorrow). So, out at 6.30 and straight down to the Da Pu river (about 40 minutes' drive).
Delighted to see a grey shrike here. One day I'll find a Great Grey, but today I had to make do with a stunning Chinese Grey. It was far too busy hunting large insects to notice me, so I was able to get quite close.
Qilihai didn't disappoint (depite the lack of cranes). A resplendant pair of adult, summer-plumaged Saunder's Gulls kindly plopped down in front of me for 20 minutes or so.
Also at Qiliahai: a flock of 11 Eastern Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Oystercatchers, and 2, yes indeed, Siberian Meadow Buntings (fingers crossed they stick around).
I saw the bird of the day just as I was leaving here, a Great Bustard had somehow managed to get to an altitude of several hundred metres and was heading north. It's the first time I've seen this species in the Beidaihe "recording area".
Here's the list of the birds I saw today (birds photographed appear in bold, species new for the 2010 photograph year book are numbered)
Again, sorry I don't have time to post the photos today.
Chinese Grey Shrike, Da Pu River
Teal, c10
222 Eastern Spot-billed Duck, c20
223 Grey Heron, 1
224 Little Egret, 4
Pallas's Reed Bunting, c20
Pheasant, few
225 Avocet, c12 (1 Dapu River, rest Qilihai)
Black-headed Gull, c3000 (very rough estimate), Qilihai
Vega/Mongolian Gull, c100
Kamtchatka Gull, sev
Great Cormorant, flock of 14 (all with white heads)
Great White Egret, 1
Siberian Meadow Bunting, 2
Hen Harrier, 1 male
226 Saunder's Gull, a pair of adults in summer plumage
Shelduck, c10
227 Eurasian Skylark, c10
228 Easter Black-tailed Godwit, flock of 11
229 Oystercatcher, 1 pair
230 Little Ringed Plover, 1
Goldeneye, c50
Tufted Duck, 6
231 Great Bustard, 1
232 Heuglin's Gull, 3 (2 3rd winter, 1 2nd winter)
Common Snipe, 2 (Nandaihe)
Hoopoe, 4
White-cheeked Starling, 2
Daurian Redstart, sev
Red-flanked Bluetail, c40 (c35 at Lotus Hills)
Reed Bunting, 2
Chinese Bulbul. sev, Stone Garden
Chinese Grosbeak, 4
Naumann's Thrush, c10 (sev at Lotus Hills)
Yellow-bellied Tit, sev
Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 1, Lotus Hills
Red-billed Blue Magpie, c20
Grey-headed Woodpecker, 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker, few
Brambling, sev
Eastern Great Tit, c20
Elegant Bunting, c20
I'll be having dinner again with Larry and Nicky tonight, so the sensible thing to do is to post today's notes before I go out ;-)
So, where were we...
Monday 29th March, 6.30am to 5pm
Hebei, Beidaihe
Oh yes... cranes... It's theoretically possible to see 7 (yes, seven) cranes species in a day in Beidaihe: Red-crowned, Siberian, Hooded, White-naped, Demoiselle, Common, and Sandhill.
So how many of them did I see today you may be wondering. Well, er... none to be precise.
No surprises really. As I said yesterday, they'll be here tomorrow.
I thought I'd go on a recce this morning (tracing the route I plan to do with Larry and Nicky tomorrow). So, out at 6.30 and straight down to the Da Pu river (about 40 minutes' drive).
Delighted to see a grey shrike here. One day I'll find a Great Grey, but today I had to make do with a stunning Chinese Grey. It was far too busy hunting large insects to notice me, so I was able to get quite close.
Qilihai didn't disappoint (depite the lack of cranes). A resplendant pair of adult, summer-plumaged Saunder's Gulls kindly plopped down in front of me for 20 minutes or so.
Also at Qiliahai: a flock of 11 Eastern Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Oystercatchers, and 2, yes indeed, Siberian Meadow Buntings (fingers crossed they stick around).
I saw the bird of the day just as I was leaving here, a Great Bustard had somehow managed to get to an altitude of several hundred metres and was heading north. It's the first time I've seen this species in the Beidaihe "recording area".
Here's the list of the birds I saw today (birds photographed appear in bold, species new for the 2010 photograph year book are numbered)
Again, sorry I don't have time to post the photos today.
Chinese Grey Shrike, Da Pu River
Teal, c10
222 Eastern Spot-billed Duck, c20
223 Grey Heron, 1
224 Little Egret, 4
Pallas's Reed Bunting, c20
Pheasant, few
225 Avocet, c12 (1 Dapu River, rest Qilihai)
Black-headed Gull, c3000 (very rough estimate), Qilihai
Vega/Mongolian Gull, c100
Kamtchatka Gull, sev
Great Cormorant, flock of 14 (all with white heads)
Great White Egret, 1
Siberian Meadow Bunting, 2
Hen Harrier, 1 male
226 Saunder's Gull, a pair of adults in summer plumage
Shelduck, c10
227 Eurasian Skylark, c10
228 Easter Black-tailed Godwit, flock of 11
229 Oystercatcher, 1 pair
230 Little Ringed Plover, 1
Goldeneye, c50
Tufted Duck, 6
231 Great Bustard, 1
232 Heuglin's Gull, 3 (2 3rd winter, 1 2nd winter)
Common Snipe, 2 (Nandaihe)
Hoopoe, 4
White-cheeked Starling, 2
Daurian Redstart, sev
Red-flanked Bluetail, c40 (c35 at Lotus Hills)
Reed Bunting, 2
Chinese Bulbul. sev, Stone Garden
Chinese Grosbeak, 4
Naumann's Thrush, c10 (sev at Lotus Hills)
Yellow-bellied Tit, sev
Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 1, Lotus Hills
Red-billed Blue Magpie, c20
Grey-headed Woodpecker, 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker, few
Brambling, sev
Eastern Great Tit, c20
Elegant Bunting, c20
Last edited:
A lot of times the weather has been less than ideal for viewing too - you know how it can be a bit foggy/hazy
I'm impressed that anyone saw something high up in the last few days (though yesterday, Tuesday was better), though I guess some parts of the day have been better than others.
