Shanghai Perambulations (4 Viewers)

Yesterday I decided to try the island Dev & I missed out due to time constraints last week so a 06.00 start had me through Shanghai and onto the bridge crossing the mighty Yangtze via two islands. Coming down at the Changxing Island exit I traversed the small island to board the car ferry to Hengsha Island and arrived at my destination around 07.30.

I drove across the island, stopping to check out some orchards having a few trees with fruiting berries, and a few drainage ditches, on the way to the coast and the incredible land reclamation job that sees me miles of the coast of Hengsha .. according to Google Maps. My, unbeknownst to me, amphibious vehicle doing a splendid job until supposedly regaining dry land though it was tough going trying to navigate when Google Maps' Blue Navigation Dot is 'waterlogged'

I'm going to put the post up without pics for the moment - in case my connection goes down again ! Besides the Loon, there are 3 other birds to be confirmed, the Mergansers, a wader and a mystery bird at about 70-80m away that I initially thought was a raptor from the way it was flying low and unhurried over the marsh until it dropped into reeds all of sudden (making a kill ?) but from the photos I'm not sure at all what it is.

48 Species

Bluetail, Red-Flanked (1) (Hengsha)
Bulbul, Light Vented (Chinese) (<20) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Bunting, Black Faced (1+ another 20 or so in the bushes judging from the tutting !) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Coot (ca.50) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Cormorant, Great (ca. 50) (Hengsha)
Dove, Spotted (5) (Hengsha)
Duck, Spot-Billed (>30) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Egret, Great (5) (Nanhui)
Egret, Intermediate (5) (Nanhui)
Egret, Little (100+) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Grebe, Great Crested (3) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Grebe, Little (200+) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Gull, Black Tailed (ca. 5) (Hengsha)
Gull, Mongolian/Vega (3) (Hengsha)
Harrier, Hen (1 female) (Nanhui)
Heron, Black-Crowned Night (5) (Nanhui)
Heron, Chinese Pond (1) (Hengsha)
Heron, Grey (250+) (flock of ca. 150 at Nanhui - see photo attached)
Kestrel, Common (1) (Hengsha)
Lapwing, Northern (ca. 50) (Nanhui)
Loon, Red or Black Throated, (ID TBC) (11) (Hengsha)
Merganser, Common (TBC - see photo attached) (Hengsha)
Moorhen (numerous) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Myna, Crested (Hengsha)
Parrotbill, Vinous Throated (small flock) (Hengsha)
Pipit, Olive Backed (>50) (Hengsha)
Pipit, (Buff-bellied) (>20) (Hengsha)
Pochard, Common (ca. 20) (Hengsha)
Prinia, Plain (2) (Hengsha)
Redshank, Spotted (9) (Nanhui)
Redstart, Daurian (1) (Hengsha)
Sandpiper, Marsh (ID check required)(Hengsha & Nanhui)
Shrike, Long Tailed (>20) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Skylark, Oriental (lots) (Hengsha)(discerned by call by Mr Shen)
Skylark, Eurasian (lots) (Hengsha)(discerned by call by Mr Shen)
Skylark, Short Toed (a few) - I came across Mr Shen (of the 'Airport' site fame) and he ID'd this one, not me (Hengsha)
Sparrow, Tree (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Starling, Eurasian Common (>30) Interesting because according to MacKinnon this is well out of their range but Cy. also posted a week or so ago that he had them in Century Park. (Hengsha)
Starling, White Cheeked (>30) (Hengsha)
Tern (spp)(ca. 10) (Hengsha)(awaiting ID)
Thrush, Dusky (ca. 8) (Hengsha)
Thrush, Pale (1 - Nanhui)
Thrush, Naumann's (2) (Hengsha)
Tit, Chinese Penduline (>50) (Hengsha)
Waders, Flock of 100+ fast flying small waders (guessing Common Sandpiper from the size and strong delta wings).
Wagtail, White (ca. 20) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Wader, (To be ID'd from photo) Stout, Solitary in a drainage ditch on Hengsha.
A.N.Other - (To be ID'd from photo)

Sounds like a great trip! Look forward to the photos. o

Frogfish said:

1. Bukit Ular (though any can produce)
2. Read my trip report here on Bird Forum - all in there !
3. The canopy walkway is very hit and miss. One morning it was easily the best we have ever had anywhere in Sabah .. other days/times it was dead !
5. I haven't had it yet
5. The river trips on the Kinabatangan are always a bit hit and miss too - but far more hit than miss. I saw Storm's Stork on 3 occasions so I think you would be unlucky to miss out. The mammal and reptilian life is also a big feature of those trips.
6. Bulbuls. They are far more shy than ours over here ! Some of the swifts you just need to go to the right location - not easy if you are with your family since they are scattered around Sabah.

7. Records - yes, check out EBird (see link below) - you can find bird sightings by location and date for many locations around the world, even Sabah !

http://ebird.org/ebird/eBirdReports?cmd=Start

Take a look at the Borneo forum and Trip Reports too. Lots of good info there.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the info! Very helpful

Note some slight amendments to the review of the Hengsha trip report above :-

51 Species were spotted - The Bird ID Q&A here on BF solving the mysteries above for me

The Common Mergansers have been confirmed, the unknown Pipit has been ID's as a Water Pipit, the waders have now been ID'd as Common Greenshank and Green Sandpiper and the mystery raptor as a Peregrine. The Loon as a Red Throated (as Dev. surmised) and best of all the aberrant Cormorants (3) as Temminck's (Japanese).

Bunting, Reed (1) (Hengsha)
Cormorant, Temminck's (Japanese) (3) (Hengsha) N.B. There is some debate about the ID of this bird now (in a thread in the ID Q&A section), with respected birders both for and against !
Falcon, Peregrine (1) (Hengsha)
Greenshank, Common (ID confirmed on BF)(Hengsha & Nanhui)
Gull, Mongolian/Vega (3) (Hengsha)
Loon, Red Throated(11) (Hengsha)
Merganser, Common (ca. 20) (ID confirmed on BF) (Hengsha)
Tern (spp)(ca. 10) (Hengsha)(no shots)
Common Gull/Kamchatka Gull (1) (Hengsha)

For comparison shots of the two cormorant species are attached here (same place, same day). Also added a shot of part of the flock of 150 Grey herons, the Red Throated Loon and the Common Gull/Kamchatka Gull !

I would definitely say you have racked some monsters and turned the tides in one single day. Can't really comment abt the cormorant, in any case breeding plumage in winter? Temm's cormorant, probable water pipit, kamchatka gull, you are on cloud no 9.

The diver is a great find Kevin - I've been hoping there will be one floating gently in the bay off Pui O, Tai O - or even the airport - one of these days.

Cheers
Mike

thirudevaram said:

I would definitely say you have racked some monsters and turned the tides in one single day. Can't really comment abt the cormorant, in any case breeding plumage in winter? Temm's cormorant, probable water pipit, kamchatka gull, you are on cloud no 9.

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Thanks Dev. I'd be up for another trip over there in the next few days if you are interested / available ?

MKinHK said:

The diver is a great find Kevin - I've been hoping there will be one floating gently in the bay off Pui O, Tai O - or even the airport - one of these days.

Cheers
Mike

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Fingers crossed for you Mike. Actually there were 11, 10 on one lake and the one in the photo on a 100m x 60m pond.

Congratulations on all the good sightings. Nice to see your shot of the Temmicks - I remember trying to see distant cormorants and figure them out. This one certainly does look different from the Great and makes me think I didn't need to worry so much - I never saw anything like this.

Borneo!

So far, the two days I've spent with my parents and little brother in Borneo have been great! (for me at least, my brother seems to be constantly complaining about the lack of 5-star restaurants! :-O )
As of yet, we've actually just been mostly passing by and haven't actually visited any of the main attractions yet, so the fact that I've gotten around 11 lifers so far already is pretty surprising o.o They are, in order of sighting-
1. Peaceful Dove Kota Kinabalu Airport
2. Asian Glossy Starling Hyatt Regency, Kota Kinabalu
3. Pacific Reef-egret Waterfront, Kota Kinabalu
4. Brahminy Kite Hyatt Regency, Kota Kinabalu
5. Collared Kingfisher KK en route Sandakan
6. White-breasted Woodswallow KK en route Sandakan
7. Yellow-vented Bulbul KK en route Sandakan
8. Pacific Swallow KK en route Sandakan
9. Common Hill Myna Sandakan Rainforest Park
10. Olive-winged Bulbul Sandakan Rainforest Park
11. Blue-throated Bee-eater Sandakan Rainforest Park

Hopefully, more species will be picked up in 3-day-2-night at Myne Lodge, Kinabatangan; hopefully one morning at Rainforest Discovery Centre, and one day and night at Manatanani Island.

Happy birding, y'all!

Well done Cy. Sabah is fabulous isn't it. I suggest you start your own thread here in the China forum (so you can put whatever you like in there) Especially since you are so active in Shanghai ! You might also want to post your Sabah spots in the Borneo forum, others going to Sabah would appreciate it.

Hengsha Island and Nanhui

Saturday Dev & I decided to go back to Hengsha since last week when I was there was pretty good birding for mid-Winter ! So a 06.15 pickup (Dev. from the metro) had us arrive at the car ferry to Hengsha Island in really quick time around 07.15 (empty roads in Shanghai during major holidays) however there was a long queue of cars as I heard a woman say the ferry didn't start until 07.30, but it in fact it was 08.00 before the first ferry left and past 09.00 when we managed to get on the next one ! We arrived at our true destination around 09.30. On the return we got very lucky and drove straight on, leaving 10 mins later when it was full (the ferries weren't scheduled during the holiday and wouldn't depart until they were actually full) !

We again drove across the island, stopping to check out some orchards having a few trees with fruiting berries (which found us a huge flock of hundreds of mixed Starlings and Thrushes, mainly White Cheeked Starlings but with some Common, Dusky and Naumann's too), and a few drainage ditches, on the way to the coast. One sad sight being a mist net strung up over a pond (too difficult for us to get to to dismantle) next to some houses that had caught a Turtle Dove and some Duskies.

This time we checked the distance out to sea of the incredible land reclamation job and amazingly it turned out to be 18+kms with another ca. 5 kms we didn't bother to drive. So roughly 23kms (and 2.3kms wide) in a dead straight line straight out into the sea !
This ca. 50km2 of land is currently mixed pools and marshes and is distinct from the reed beds, pools and marshy ground of the area adjacent to this reclamation area.

Again Hengsha didn't disappoint with 4 species of raptors, including a pair of Kestrels and 3 Marsh Harriers hunting together, 2 Peregrines (separate) and a Common Buzzard. Add to that the fine views of 2 Great Bitterns sitting out on fishing traps (too far for pics though), a flock of 75+ Eurasian Spoonbills that flew in (again too far for photos), a Slaty Backed Gull, 4 x Pipit species and a yellow Wagtail (Taiga) - Dev has the shots of that one.

Nanhui was much quieter but had it's own treasures with Swan Geese, Reed Parrotbills and another 14 Spoonbills. A fine day indeed and with temperatures reaching 22C (25C the next day !) after a cold start it felt like Spring ! We are however back down to 10C today

There is an interesting shot below of a 'gull' (?), possible Black Tailed but can anyone add here to the ID thread currently running in the ID Q&A and confirm ? Sorry about the quality - it is a very heavy crop as the bird was a long way out chasing a fishing vessel.

Also seen very early (first light) in my back garden (in the bamboo grove) darting in and out (off the ground) like a flycatcher, a small robin, upright stance, almost uniformly brown or grey (difficult to tell in the light) and with a white flash or V on the breast. Any ideas anyone ? Sorry no photos though I did get the bins on it

More pics to follow. Thanks for looking / commenting. Cheers, Kevin.

Heng Sha Island (46 species plus another 6 species only in Pudong)

Bittern, Great (2) (Hengsha)
Bulbul, Chinese (>50) (Hengsha)
Bunting, Black Faced (numerous) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Bunting, Elegant (1) (Hengsha)
Bunting, Pallas' Reed (2) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Buzzard, Common (1) (Hengsha)
Coot (<20) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Cormorant, Great (<50) (Hengsha)
Dove, Spotted (<20) (Hengsha)
Dove, Oriental Turtle (ca. 8) (Hengsha)
Duck, Tufted (est. 150 + 50) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Egret, Great (<10) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Egret, Little (>30) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Falcon, Peregrine (2) (Hengsha)
Garganey (1) (Nanhui)
Goose, Swan (4) (Nanhui)
Grebe, Little (ca. 50+) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Greenshank, Common (6) (Hengsha)
Gull, Black Tailed (Hengsha)
Gull, Mongolian / Vega (Hengsha)
Gull, Slaty Backed (1) (Hengsha)
Gull (spp) (4-5) (Hengsha)
Harrier, Marsh Eastern (3) (Hengsha)
Heron, Black Capped Night (>20) (Nanhui)
Heron, Grey (est. 100+) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Kestrel, Common (4) (Hengsha)
Lark, (spp TBC from photos) (<10) (Hengsha)
Magpie, Eurasian (<10) (Hengsha)
Moorhen (numerous) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Myna, Common (est. >10) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Parrotbill, Reed (>10) (Nanhui)
Parrotbill, Vinous Throated (>20) (Nanhui)
Pipit, Buff-Bellied (Hengsha)
Pipit, Olive Backed (est. 100+) (Hengsha)
Pipit, Richard's (Hengsha)
Pipit, Water (Hengsha)
Pochard, Common, (est. >30) (Hengsha)
Prinia, Plain (>5) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Redshank, Spotted (2) (Hengsha)
Redstart, Daurian (3) (Hengsha)
Shrike, Long Tailed (<20) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Sparrow, Tree (numerous) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Spoonbill, Eurasian (ca. 75 Hengsha & 14 Nanhui)
Starling, Common (est. 50+) (Hengsha)
Starling, White Cheeked (250+) (Hengsha)
Teal, Common (ca. 12) (Nanhui)
Thrush, Dusky (est. <10) (Hengsha)
Thrush, Naumann's (est. <10) (Hengsha)
Tit, Chinese Penduline (numerous) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Wagtail, White (Occularis & Leucopsis) (>15) (Hengsha & Nanhui)
Wagtail, Yellow (Taiga) (1) (Hengsha)
Waterhen, White Breasted (1) (Hengsha)

The Yellow Wagtail ssp is taivana, Kevin. Sorry, if my Indian accent was very heavy ;-)

Also, there were bunch of retards burning the reeds near the sea wall. When Kevin inquired them they said it's for Chinese new year but when i tried to get a shot of those people, everyone tried to escape the scene. I know people burn the fake money on the new years day for their deceased family members but what made a dozen people come to a remote island and burn the reeds.

Kevin,

where did you get the swan geese at Nanhui? I was there on Sun but did not see much at all...

Cheers
jocko

jlhammar said:

Kevin,

where did you get the swan geese at Nanhui? I was there on Sun but did not see much at all...

Cheers
jocko

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Hi Jocko - they were on the lake opposite the Holiday Inn. We saw them at dusk on the far side of the lake from us (we drove up the small lane opposite the car park). Maybe they had recently flown in for the night.

jlhammar said:

Kevin,

where did you get the swan geese at Nanhui? I was there on Sun but did not see much at all...

Cheers
jocko

Click to expand...

You dipper ;D

McM

Hey guys, glad to see you have had some great birding lately! Bit tired from Borneo (highlights included Rhinoceros Hornbill, Storm's Stork, Lesser Adjutant, both Wallace's and Blyth's Hawk-eagles, closeup views of a hunting Serpent-eagle, as well as some endemics like Bornean Blackeye and Black-sided Flowerpecker) and so will focus mainly on schoolwork now, but will definitely go out a few times when migration season begins.

Concerning the Swan Geese, I haven't actually seen those yet, but the first records of them were at Dishuihu Lake. Perhaps they alternate between the two areas?

These are some shots of the White Rumped Munia taken when McMadd & I visited Wu Wuan early December 2013.

holy hell, fantastic close-ups Kevin.:t:

Short-eared Sighted at Nanhui

Note: This is not my own record.

Shanghai birder 梦清园 has sighted a confiding Short-eared Owl at Nanhui- its apparently at either the Magic Carpark or the Northern tree-clusters. Have any of you seen this one yet? If not, I advise going out to find it! It is an extraordinarily beautiful bird.

http://www.shwbs.org/swb/read.php?tid=8135&page=e#a