Longfeng Lake, Hebei Province, P.R. China (1 Viewer)

I went to Longfeng Lake today, a wintering area for White-winged Redstart, to see if any had yet arrived. Answer: no. Other birds were of interest, though. The small lake itself attracts very little, too many people in pedal-boats, bank fishermen, etc. The neighboring "mountain" (a "big hill" where I come from!) is covered with scrub growth, rather like chapparal, and often has some good birds, especially various bunting species. But not today! Things started off rather badly: while balancing on some loose talus covered with slick grass, I spotted a small flock of tits, the bins went up, the feet also went up, and I ended up quite cut and scratched. The tits, of course, were long gone, with no hope of an ID. Then, no birds for the next hour! I was planning to write a report for BF with the title "God, I Hate Birding!"

At about noon I got into a nice grove of ornamental trees near the lake, mostly weeping willow, poplar, and sycamore, and the birding improved drastically:

Common Hoopoe 2
Spotted Dove 6
Amur Falcon 1 female
Red-billed Blue Magpie 5
Black-billed Magpie ~15
White-cheeked Starling ~10
Light-vented Bulbul ~15
Eurasian Tree Sparrow ~50

The bulbuls were a great treat! According to the MacKinnon and Phillipps Field Guide, these birds are more southern in distribution -- but they add, "now regularly reported in Hebei (Beidaihe)." Nice to see them here in the Shijiazhuang area, too! They were taking a lot of insects: some were hawking from the treetops, like flycatchers, while others were working over twigs and branches for late-season caterpillars. A very fine bird, and a lifer for me!

RCarter