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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

China 2010 (2 Viewers)

Set 4 of 4

14 more photos from 22 May on previous page
 

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Thanks Rockfowl

Wrong image??

You are far too kind.

More like a careless piece of after-the-event labelling.

Stupid of me.

My Thick-billed shots are too poor to post.
 
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Don't be too hard on yourself, sign of the times, 'through the camera lens birding' is becoming rather a force I fear with many forgetting to actually look at what they're shooting. Thick-billed do appear to be very difficult to photograph, a remarkably elusive beast once you point something at them :smoke:
 
Believe it or not, I usually go to extraordinary efforts to make sure I put the right label on the photos I post. So far, to my knowledge, I've got it wrong three times... each with something quite common that I thought... wrongly.. I didn't need to think too hard about. And each time I had made up my mind what it was without looking with fresh eyes at the subject. So, the mistakes were made not because I "forgot" to see the birds through bins, but because of my complacency at the editing stage.

That said... The "game" here is to get the photo first... so inevitably there are many photos of birds that appear here that I didn't see through my binoculars.

Take the Manchurian Reed Warbler for example, it was in view for one and a bit seconds (in which time I shot 4 frames). But, again, it's not a matter of "forgetting", it's simply that I've decided to re-order my priortities as far as this 365 challenge goes.

Talking of which, I've only got a few more to go before I post "number 365" and with it make my last posting on this thread.

And that will be that.

Two things matter to me

1 I really hope that people have enjoyed the photographs and the story behind them.

2 Viewers are that bit more likely to come to China to see the birds for themselves (or, in the case of the many who have already been, they are more likely to come again)
 
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I always feel a bit frustrated that not so many birds give you a chance at a leisurely examination through binoculars, with enough time leftover for taking a decent photo - and especially your small passerines! So I guess it is a tough trade-off. However, the photos you put up, Shi Jin, are very helpful for getting a good look at the birds, so the rest of us benefit from your loss of time looking through the bins.
 
Thanks Gretchen!

The only reason I'm actually enjoying this project is that I had birded in China for 20 years without a camera.

And, funnily enough, I'm looking forward to getting back to more watching and less photographing.
 
Sunday, 23nd May

Hebei, Beidaihe area


A 4.30 start.. and in the Nandaihe Magic Wood at 5.00.

Soon afterwards, an accipiter flew low over the woods... but which one? Looking at the images on Oriental Birding, it certainly looks to be a dead ringer for a sub-adult Chinese Sparrowhawk. But I've seen so few of this species that I really can't be sure. Perhaps someone who knows about these things can help. [btw sorry for the poor quality photo... my camera was set for shooting in a dark wood when it flew over... and the post-adjustment D-lighting needed to show the detail is off the scale].

What I am sure about is that for about an hour (5.30am to 6.30am), the little wood came alive with a host of stuff that included a male Siberian Blue Robin; a Swinhoe's Robin, a Siberian Rubythroat, 3 Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, several Siberian Flycatchers, a few Taiga and Brown flycactchers; five species of phyllosc.; a flock of Chestnut-flanked White-eyes, and a rather splendid Ashy Minivet.

(The photo of Wood Sandpiper and Long-toed Stint was taken a few days ago.)

Also, I managed to grab my best ever photo of a male Elegant Bunting. But still nothing new for the 365 challenge (not that this matters that much to be honest... it was just nice to be out on what was such a lovely morning with birds literally dropping in).

Just when I thought that I had been spared the task of entering something on to my "365" Excel sheet, a Forest Wagtail (349) began to sing from an exposed branch. It was a long way away, and my camera was on completely the wrong setting - hand-held at the equivalent of 750mm, 1/90th second at about 80 metres doesn't usually make for the best shot - but I'll include it on the basis that it's not every day you can find a Forest Wagtail in Beidaihe ;-)


PS>>>

Thanks to Rockfowl, Chinese Sparrowhawk (355) takes its rightful place on the list
 

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Three more shots...
 

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Monday, 24th May

Beijing, The Summer Palace


Another gloriously sunny day tempted me out.

Once I had managed to escape the thousands of people that were swarming around the east side of the Summer Palace, things started looking up.

Two male Mandarins (350) flew in, had a look around, and flew out again.

Dozens of Swifts 351 (Beijing ssp) entertained near one of the temples (they seemed to be nesting in the roof).

A singing Oriental Reed Warbler (352) flew from the reed bed on to the lower branch of a tall tree to continue his recital.

An Indian Cuckoo (353) did something Indian Cuckoos don't do very often. It broke cover. The fact that the song stopped (in the area it had flown from) and started again in the area it flew to is good enough for me to count it. After all, if "beyond reasonable doubt" can send someone to prison, I don't feel too bad adding a bird to the 365-challenge list with the same burden of proof.

Two Oriental Honey Buzzards (354) flew high, east. Thank goodness for long lenses and computer-editing, because I could make out none of the details through my binoculars.

And then something amazing happened.

I saw a bird that I had never seen before. A bird that does not appear in any book (that I've seen), and a bird that I can find no photo of.

Now, I know that the odds of finding a new species for science in downtown Beijing are a bit on the high side (Nonggang Babbler, discovered on a mountain in Guangxi a couple of years ago, was amazing enough), but one can always dream.

I won't add it to the list just yet of course... species new to science tend to take quite a bit of time to gain acceptance. But I will put down a marker... just in case.. Here, then, is Apus jessicae...

or Jessica's Swift (named after my eldest daughter who has always hated birding ;-).

I'm looking forward to hearing what her mates at Manchester University say ;-)
 

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And photos of some birds not new to science...
 

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Talking of which, I've only got a few more to go before I post "number 365" and with it make my last posting on this thread.

And that will be that.

Two things matter to me

1 I really hope that people have enjoyed the photographs and the story behind them.

2 Viewers are that bit more likely to come to China to see the birds for themselves (or, in the case of the many who have already been, they are more likely to come again)

I hope that the message wasn't taken too personally. I have witnessed with increasing regularity in recent times with the increase of photography - shoot first, ask later, so the parameters have changed slightly! I'm not against this, I take pictures myself but have to be slightly bemused, when for example asking what sex, folk checking their screens for the answer. Each to their own I guess, whichever way the passion goes.
I didn't mean that this was the case with you, having spent so long actually watching the birds anyway - in fact I don't remember seeing you with a camera.

I think you have done a wonderful job at promoting Chinese birding and have enjoyed your images and tales throughout, your achievement is admirable. Why stop now? Raise the bar a little, you've more than half a year to go and there is some special stuff in Autumn.

I hope more folk come to China too. There has been some interesting development along the coast, some as you know, incredibly destructive but some very optimistic projects. The battle has just begun !

Mark
 
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Tuesday, 25th May

Beijing, Chaoyang, Wenyu River


It was so hot in Beijing last night that I had trouble sleeping. At 5am a shaft of bright light managed to find a way through a gap in the curtains and put pay to any hope I had of getting back to sleep.

And what a lucky bounce that was, because I enjoyed a couple of hours (5.30am to 8am) of the best birding I've ever experienced in Beijing.

The paddy fields next to the Wenyu River held a wonderful collection of birds... Some of the highlights appear below.

Nothing new for the 365 challenge, but some very pleasing shots of some hard-to-photograph species.

Not least the photos of one of two male Red-crested Pochards that had presumably spent the night on the paddyfields. This is a very scarce visitor to eastern China (the Tibetan plateau is usually the place to go to see them), so seeing two males in what is technically "central" Beijing was a very pleasant surprise.

Still 10 species to go then... ;-)
 

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And a few more from this morning's walk by the river...
 

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OK Shi Jin, so how many signatures do we have to get to encourage you to continue with this thread, and not dump it when you get to 365? Would be a shame to kill it off so early in the year!

Andrew
 
Still 10 species to go then... ;-)

I'm sorry to say how many people you could have pulling against your finding those 10! ;) (Though we do want you to enjoy your birding, of course.)
And what a lucky bounce that was, because I enjoyed a couple of hours (5.30am to 8am) of the best birding I've ever experienced in Beijing.

See, lots of good birds without any "new" ones - we're all enjoying it :king:
This is a very scarce visitor to eastern China (the Tibetan plateau is usually the place to go to see them), so seeing two males in what is technically "central" Beijing was a very pleasant surprise.

Nice news!
 
Even though I've just started digiscoping, I made the decision to put birding ahead of photography back in the mid '80s and have not regretted it.

Its been a tremendous pleasure to see some great birds from all over China, but I'm definitely a believer in doing the birding you want to do.

Cheers
Mike
 
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