Dalian (Jinshitan) Birding Reports (3 Viewers)

Cool stuff, Tom. Both birding wise and weather wise.

Excellent stuff..!
How often do you see Treecreeper, Tom? It's pretty rare in Beijing with only a handful of records..

Terry, Treecreeper is found in several places very consistently during the winter here. It's not a bird often run into but is possible if being tried for.

I am almost certain I had a Water Pipit here last Sunday morning but didn't have any gear with me. It was very cold (around -15) and the bird was huddled on some ice right beside open running water near a bridge. Non descript, dark legs, weak streaking in its back and chest, greyish overall just like the Blakestoni Water Pipit often seen here in late March. Wasn't Olive-backed or Buff-bellied. Would have been easy to photograph if I had my camera....

The weather has been horrible for motorcycle riding bird watchers lately so not many reports. Saturday's forecast? -16 with 45 km/h wind and blowing snow. No thanks.

Heading to Vietnam next Saturday for 4 weeks.

Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds Feb. 26, 2016

Just back from 3.5 weeks in Vietnam. Excellent family relax time. Did manage to see 139 bird species on several outings, many of them being life birds for me.

Did the rounds today here in Dalian while enjoying +2 degrees with no wind. Traces of snow around and all the main ponds are completely frozen yet. The ponds near the ocean (mostly salt water) had some water holes and contained many ducks. The ocean itself had a lot of Common Shelduck walking around the exposed mudflat area.

The Oystercatcher were a bit of surprise for this time of year but I've recently given up predicting

Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds, Liaoning, CN
26-Feb-2016 15:00 - 17:00
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 kilometer(s)
26 species

Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) 2
Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 1300
Gadwall (Anas strepera) 20
Falcated Duck (Anas falcata) 5
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 200
Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas zonorhyncha) 25
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) 1
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 2
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 20
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 2
Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 1
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) 1
Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) 4
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 100
Mew Gull (Larus canus) 10
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 30 All Mongolian except for 2 Vega
Hill Pigeon (Columba rupestris) 1
Little Owl (Athene noctua) 1
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 3
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 2
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Skylark (Alauda arvensis) 30
Japanese Tit (Parus minor) 20
Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) 1
Meadow Bunting (Emberiza cioides) 1
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10

Dalian Bay and Xiao Yao Wan Feb. 27, 2016

Stephen and I enjoyed excellent winter coastal birding this afternoon for a few hours. We started at Dalian Bay and birded this area very carefully. Highlight at this site were 2 Whooper Swans and the Slavonian Grebe. After this we had a bit of time so stopped at Xiao Yao Wan. This is the site that was completely destroyed years ago for building a new development zone. It is still possible to reach deep water from shore here so the attraction remains for diving ducks. It used to be square kms of mudflat where it was possible to see 100 Chinese Egrets in a day at low tide. I used to bird it a lot before starting this birdforum thread. Highlight here was a single Black-necked Grebe. These two Grebe's, together with the many great-crested and a couple Little Grebes, had us close to getting all of eastern China's grebe species in a day which I have been able to do once before. Just needed Red-necked, which is the most difficult in this area.

Also had some fun digiscoping, see below.

Dalian Bay, Liaoning, CN
27-Feb-2016 13:30 - 15:30
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 kilometer(s)
22 species

Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) 2
Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) 10
Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 18
Falcated Duck (Anas falcata) 75
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 35
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 4
Eurasian/American Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 3
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 200
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 60
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 2
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 72
Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) 3
Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus) 1
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) 86
Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) 1
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 4
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 150
Mew Gull (Larus canus) 60
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 55 all Mongolian except 1 Vega
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) 1
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 1
Coal Tit (Periparus ater) 4


Forest area and coast near Xiao Yao Wan, Liaoning, CN
27-Feb-2016 16:00 - 16:30
Protocol: Stationary
8 species

Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 4
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 4
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 90
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 1
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) 1
Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) 1
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 60
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 6 5 Mongolian, 1 Vega

Forest Area near Xiao Yao Wan Feb. 28, 2016

Stephen was telling me yesterday about recently finding Raccoon Dog tracks high on a ridge in a mountainous region after a fresh snow fall. Intrigued by this, we went together this afternoon to look at the site. The place is accessed by a steep hike up to one of the highest peaks in the Jinshitan area near the hunting club. I will be putting a camera trap in that area in the near future. Bird-wise it was quite slow but we did see some owl pellets and probable raccoon dog scat. I took my dog with us and she enjoyed plenty of off-leash time in the mountains. There was a rather frantic moment when she got caught around her neck in a snare. Fortunately she was on the leash at that time so we noticed right away and the snare was made of wire, not something that couldn't be undone quickly! Anyway, it was a great afternoon hike and I got some photos below of the scenery.

Forest area and coast near Xiao Yao Wan, Liaoning, CN
28-Feb-2016 13:30 - 16:30
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 kilometer(s)
18 species

Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 20
Falcated Duck (Anas falcata) 80
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 10
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 15
Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 1
Eastern Buzzard (Buteo japonicus) 1
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 35
Oriental Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis) 1
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 1
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Coal Tit (Periparus ater) 2
Japanese Tit (Parus minor) 5
Brown-eared Bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis) 1
Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana) 7
Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) 1
Siberian Accentor (Prunella montanella) 5
Yellow-throated Bunting (Emberiza elegans) 6
Long-tailed Rosefinch (Uragus sibiricus) 1

Exciting to think of capturing a raccoon dog on your trap! Hope that works out. That owl pellet is too big to be from one of your many Little Owls, right?

Congrats too on the many-grebe day!

Your sightings are getting my hopes up for some increased numbers here in the Panjin area soon! I am hoping that the predicted warming trend will melt off the ice in the next couple of weeks and attract some of those migrating waterbirds.

Gretchen, yes we'll see what happens. I'm really hoping. My wife saw what she described almost perfectly as a raccoon dog running across a road in that area one night. I think the owl pellet was from a Scops Owl there last fall but not sure.

Owen, all the ducks here now would most likely be wintering here on the ice-free ocean bays, maybe the Shoveler excluded. The Yellow Sea coast generally remains ice-free for the winter (because it gets deep very quickly) and that is where most ducks can be found during the winter. The Bohai Bay side usually freezes completely as far as can be seen off shore. I flew out of Dalian in late January and it was amazing how far the ice actually goes offshore and even then there are many large areas of floating ice further out. I have not seen any signs of migration yet but it will come one day! It is supposed to reach 8 degrees here by midweek but then cold again the following week. Wind chill of -10 here today. March is the month that always is the most frustrating bird-wise because it always takes so long for migration to start.

Two hours at the sea-farming ponds with my parents this afternoon. Highlight was probably the 2 Merlin, a bird I don't see much of in Jinshitan. I watched as one of them chased a Skylark and eventually killed it. Merlin move with amazing speed a agility! In the photo below showing the second before the kill, you can see how small the Merlin are in comparison to its prey. Male Smew are also always nice.

The report is in a different format because all vpns are shut down currently in China because of some political meetings in Beijing we were told....I'm thankful ebird and birdforum are still working for me without a vpn.

Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:00 PM

Protocol:Traveling
Party Size:3
Duration:1 hour(s), 45 minute(s)
Distance:3.0 kilometer(s)

23 species total

800 Common Shelduck
7 Gadwall
3 Falcated Duck
40 Mallard
12 Eastern Spot-billed Duck
2 Eurasian Teal
45 Common Pochard
80 Common Goldeneye
1 Smew
8 Common Merganser
3 Red-breasted Merganser
1 Grey Heron
1 Northern Harrier
2 Eurasian Oystercatcher
500 Black-tailed Gull
15 Mew Gull
10 Herring Gull - 8 Mongolian, 2 Vega
1 Common Kestrel
2 Merlin
10 Common Magpie
15 Skylark
2 Daurian Redstart
10 Tree Sparrow

Merlin

Pictures

Nice shot of Merlin on the turn

Cheers
Mike

Geopark Platform area March 7, 2016

Had a small amount of free time and had to go get gas over that way anyway....

Jinshitan Geopark Platform area, Liaoning, CN
07-Mar-2016 13:00 - 14:00
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 kilometer(s)
17 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 1
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 10
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 25
Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 2
Japanese Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus) 2
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 20
Oriental Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis) 1
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Coal Tit (Periparus ater) 15
Japanese Tit (Parus minor) 15
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 2
Beijing Babbler (Rhopophilus pekinensis) 1
Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana) 10
Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) 2
Siberian Accentor (Prunella montanella) 2
Oriental Greenfinch (Chloris sinica) 5
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10

Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds March 9, 2016

My bird-watching nephew is in town for a little over a week and we've been out many times so far working on his China list :t:

Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds, Liaoning, CN
09-Mar-2016 09:30 - 10:30
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 kilometer(s)
19 species

Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 900
Gadwall (Anas strepera) 15
Falcated Duck (Anas falcata) 4
Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope) 6
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 200
Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas zonorhyncha) 6
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) 3
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 40
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) 1
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 20
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 100
Mew Gull (Larus canus) 20
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 4 all Mongolian
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 1
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Skylark (Alauda arvensis) 1
Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana) 2
Oriental Greenfinch (Chloris sinica) 2
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10

Dalian and Jinzhou Bays March 10, 2016

More birding with my nephew. We had all of 15 minutes at Jinzhou Bay, clearly more there than we were able to identify in that short amount of time.

Dalian Bay, Liaoning, CN
10-Mar-2016 06:00 - 07:30
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 kilometer(s)
23 species

Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) 2
Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 40
Falcated Duck (Anas falcata) 100
Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope) 5
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 100
Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas zonorhyncha) 30
Eurasian/American Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 10
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 80
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 25
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 2
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 20
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) 80
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 4
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 75
Mew Gull (Larus canus) 20
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 4 all Mongolian
Feral Pigeon (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon)) 1
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 2
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Skylark (Alauda arvensis) 1
Japanese Tit (Parus minor) 1
Oriental Greenfinch (Chloris sinica) 2
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10


Jinzhou Bay Dump, Liaoning, CN
10-Mar-2016 08:00 - 08:20
Protocol: Stationary
12 species

Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) 10
Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 10
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 20
Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas zonorhyncha) 15
Eurasian/American Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 4
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 5
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 1200
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 100
Mew Gull (Larus canus) 25
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 600 all Mongolian except 1 Vega
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10

Jinshi Golf Club March 11, 2016

Jinshi Golf Club, Liaoning, CN
11-Mar-2016 15:00 - 17:00
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 kilometer(s)
24 species

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 2
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 2
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 2
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 5
Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 20
Japanese Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus) 1
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) 1
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 30
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) 1
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Coal Tit (Periparus ater) 15
Willow Tit (Poecile montanus) 1
Japanese Tit (Parus minor) 35
Brown-eared Bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis) 2
Beijing Babbler (Rhopophilus pekinensis) 2
Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana) 20
Naumann's Thrush (Turdus naumanni) 1
Siberian Accentor (Prunella montanella) 2
Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica) 2
Yellow-throated Bunting (Emberiza elegans) 35
Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) 20
Long-tailed Rosefinch (Uragus sibiricus) 2
Oriental Greenfinch (Chloris sinica) 1
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10

Dandong Trip March 12, 2016

Went to Dandong and back with visiting family. We anticipated a lot of geese 3/4 of the ways to Dandong along the toll highway and we weren't disappointed. We also recorded a number neck-banded Whooper Swan. I have sent some emails out but if anyone knows who bands Whooper Swan in this part of the world, let me know. Photo of the number banded swan below. There is very good birding around the great wall site in Dandong. The list below was from the way up to and around Dandong. It was predominantly a family style trip so the list would have been longer if birding was the only activity.

Also, there is a photo of a leucistic Spot-billed Duck from Jinzhou Bay last week. It appeared to be the exact body shape and associated with other Spot-bills in the area.

Dandong areas including Feng Huang Shan, Liaoning, CN
12-Mar-2016 08:00 - 17:30
Protocol: Traveling
300.0 kilometer(s)
34 species

Taiga Bean-Goose (Anser fabalis) 1100
Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) 300
Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) 9
Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) 150
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 250
Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas zonorhyncha) 160
Eurasian/American Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 123
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 97
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 10
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 4
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 2
Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 2
Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) 7
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) 6
Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) 2
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 120
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 10
Mew Gull (Larus canus) 35
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 32 all Mongolian
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) 2
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 2
Chinese Grey Shrike (Lanius sphenocercus) 1
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris) 5
Japanese Tit (Parus minor) 5
Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) 4
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 2
Brown-eared Bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis) 12
Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) 2
White/Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) 10 all leucopsis
Yellow-throated Bunting (Emberiza elegans) 10
Oriental Greenfinch (Chloris sinica) 4
Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) 1
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10

second

batch

Jinshitan Bay boat tour March 13, 2016

Took the camera along on a boat tour around the Jinshitan Geopark area of the local bay this afternoon.

Jinshitan Geopark Platform area, Liaoning, CN
13-Mar-2016 15:00 - 16:00
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 kilometer(s)
15 species

Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides) 17
Taiga Bean-Goose (Anser fabalis) 3
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 6
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 5
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 2
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 10
Japanese Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus) 1
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) 7
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) 1 photographed
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 60
Mew Gull (Larus canus) 2
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 5 all Mongolian
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 5
Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) 2
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10

Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds March 13, 2016

After the boat tour, my nephew was keen to check Little Owl off his China list. A trip that was supposed to be only for owls became longer and more productive than expected. I've only seen Lapland Bunting once before in Jinshitan. Early Northern Lapwing and Common Redshank also were nice additions after spotting an early Common Sandpiper earlier in the harbour when getting on the boat.

Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds, Liaoning, CN
13-Mar-2016 16:00 - 17:45
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 kilometer(s)
19 species

Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 300
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 10
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 3
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 2
Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 1
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) 1
Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) 1
Common Redshank (Tringa totanus) 1
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 50
Mew Gull (Larus canus) 10
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 10 all Mongolian
Little Owl (Athene noctua) 3
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 1
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Skylark (Alauda arvensis) 2
Lapland Bunting (Calcarius lapponicus) 1
Pallas's Reed Bunting (Emberiza pallasi) 1
Oriental Greenfinch (Chloris sinica) 3
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10