For the first time in several months, I visited my old haunt at Nanhui, to finally pin down an old nemesis, plot out several new future migratory hotspots, and behold the beauty of this wetland whilst it was still standing- for the tall, empty glass husks of the city were beginning to slither closer, and there were at least two new roads through the preserve. I mean, what's the point of most of the stuff that they're building there right now? There are next to no residents in the neighbouring city, next to no tourists, and the large building hotel has sat mostly empty for as long as I've visited the wetland. What would be the point of renovating the wetland into a park (or whatever it is they're trying to build) if they can't even attract people to their (admittedly quite good-looking) city residential area?
But of course, I was supposed to talk about the birds. Right. Well, today actually went a lot better than expected. I went thinking maybe to find a new leaf warbler or something along those lines- nothing very interesting, just checking up on what this current season may have to offer. Of course, expectations exist to be exceeded, and I managed to score several species I hadn't seen in a long time, as well as gain some updates on the status of the habitat in the area.
Entering through the main road area, a quick scan to the left and right revealed little- I'd had Reed Parrotbill from this road in the past, but the only things moving in the reeds here were Long-tailed Shrikes. Rounding a curve and heading into the Holiday Inn parking lot, we were interrupted by a Chinese Bulbul flashing across the road, holding what appeared to be nesting material in its mouth. Maybe this 'delayed' summer has something to do with that? With bulbul gone, we rolled into the parking lot, where I did manage to pick up a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, a brownish bird with a pale wing bar and a distinctive manner of flicking its tail and wings. Also in the parking lot were the local Long-tailed Shrikes (which I imagine must have good eating this time of year, with all the exhausted small passerines passing through their territory. A Spotted Dove fluttering around in the bushes, some Barn Swallows passing over, and a Brown Shrike were the only other things in the lot. An unusual-looking shrike with strange patterning briefly brought to mind Tiger Shrike, but it disappeared and was not refound. After a quick scan that brought in 2-3 more Pale-legged Leaf Warblers, we headed south, passing the old 'wader ponds' that were now filled with water, presumably for raising Greasyback Shrimp (Metapenaeus ensis), a significant commercial species in Shanghai. Arrival at the southern mudflats didn't bring in much- the tide was at its peak and the waders had largely scattered to shallow areas up the coast. Amongst those that remained were a Common Sandpiper, two Grey-tailed Tattlers, and several Little Egrets. An odd croak betrayed a landing Purple Heron, a bird I hadn't seen in Shanghai for quite some time. Out to sea, a dozen or so terns spiralled about in the air, and around 7 Black-tailed Gulls went powering past. A White Wagtail sauntered about on the rocks, and farther off, a flock of Whimbrel rested on the rocks, a flock of Common Greenshank made a noisy passby. A quick scan of the landward side before leaving revealed only another Long-tailed Shrike, which let forth its odd, jarring, half-shriek half-croak cry.
Heading back, my dad and I talked about the changes to this area since we had arrived here for the first time, some 5 years ago. To both of us, Nanhui had always had a strong degree of significance- it was the calm away from the storm, the quiet location apart of the bustling city life. It had also long been tradition for us to visit at least 2-3 times a year- thus, we had seen many of the changes that were now battering at this refuge's gates.
Passing the mangled remains of a roadkilled shrike, we passed over the watergate bridge and rounded Holiday Inn. The dark and empty walls of the adjacent building were puzzling- what was this, exactly? Some sort of recreational location? In any case, it had never been used in all our visits. Today, several Barn Swallows swooped low over it, sieving midges out of the air. Nearby, a strolling couple gave us an odd sort of look- perhaps wondering what on earth some people did with their spare time.
Pushing north, we flushed several Brown Shrikes from the seawall. They were passing through in some number, and appeared perfectly fine with staying on the concrete structure. As we watched, one pinned some sort of a flying insect to the baking cement, and swallowed it with great gusto- recharging after a long and exhausting flight. A brief spot to check the tideline- no, nothing -interrupted an otherwise uneventful drive to the area near the signage road (another 'interruption' was in the looming form of a massive building smack-dab in the middle of the reedbed. The pointlessness of such a construction project was simply stunning. You've already built roads, you've already built a big hotel, you've already built a damned city, and its all amounted to more or less nothing in the way of gaining anything in the area. Do you honestly think that if you keep building big buildings, things will all work out?). Within sight of the signage road, a quick scan of a large lake warranted a stop. A fishing net draped across the lake was covered with a liberal coating of terns- primarily Whiskered, but with a few White-winged thrown in for good measure. A Little Tern also made a brief passby- a diminutive little thing amongst its more hulking brethren. Also present on the net was a Common Kingfisher, a Black-crowned Night Heron, and one of the ubuquitous Long-tailed Shrike. A pair of Great Crested Grebe also made a brief apperance in the same lake, no longer decked out in their summer finery. A final look around revealed a flash of dark ginger in the grass, and a beautiful Siberian Weasel bounded off into the shrubbery.
Making one final sweep to check if I had missed anything (an appearance by a Plain Prinia was appreciated, but not much else came by), and my dad made a steep turn down the signage road. Passing a dog rolling about in the dust, and several rather confused-looking goats that appeared to have stranded themselves on a boat, we rolled onto the road that was now...surrounded virtually completely by water..? What on earth? No shorebird was going to be foraging in this water. The once-marsh once-farm once-pasture was now a deep lake. Asking my friends at the guard station, I was told that they had been farming shrimp in the area, and that in a month or so, some water would be drained, and that it may become quite suitable for ducks. The ranger I asked said this with a sort of almost nonchalant helplessness- their control over the area they protected was very far from guaranteed, and they could do nothing to prevent it from being turned into a commercial farm for marine invertebrates.
Discouraged by this, I thanked him, said goodbye, and headed west along the road. Everything was underwater- the old bridge that had once acted as a boardwalk was now torn apart, its planks floating in the water as some sort of barrier for the shrimp farms. Its empty shell seemed to me to represent the entirety of this area- a dilapidated and crumbling shadow of its former self.
As if as some brief consolence, a lovely little Common Kingfisher went streaking past, posing only a few meters away. Its plunges into the engorged lake cheered me up somewhat- at least somebody was doing well in the new circumstances. At the same time, several rather confused Little Egrets huddled together on a sign showed all to well that others were, unfortunately, not.
Now we were at the edge of the old reservoir. Having not been up here since several years ago, when I had seen the Oriental White Storks from its brim, I was curious to see what had become of it. Scrambling up to the rim, I startled something from the vegetation near the top. It was a dove, a small, stumpy one a bit too small to be Spotted. Could this be Red Collared? I ran after it, noting a flash of bright colouring(!) before it dropped into the cover of the other side of the rim.
Understandably, many of you may be curious why I would run after a somewhat common migrant in the summer heat. The unfortunate thing is that I had never turned up at the right time for Red Collared- always a week too late, or in the wrong area, or I just didn't see them. To my knowledge, they're not actually terribly uncommon- they're not as common as Spotted Doves, but they weren't exactly Pitta-rare. But still, they had become a sort of nemesis bird to me- one I had managed to miss numerous times, and which I very much wanted to finally put to rest.
So I ran after the dove. I leaped the rim's boundary and clambered down onto a strip of flat land, where the dove had probably landed. My movement flushed a Common Snipe from the marshy vegetable patches below, and it whistled away out of sight. Patiently, I walked along slowly, hoping that the dove would re-emerge somewhere. Along and along I walked, until I reached an especially soggy area at the end of the strip. The dove wasn't there. I'd either managed to scare it off without noticing it, or I'd gone off the completely wrong trail and hadn't notice the dove move off into the vegetation downhill. Either way, I wasn't going to find it.
Hot, irritated, and a bit tired, I sat back down into the air-conditioned coolness of the car, and we were out of the signage area. The only new bird on the way out was a Cattle Egret (there were actually several hundred along the shores of Dishui Lake on the way in, but this was my first one in the reserve itself), picking about diligently after the roving goats. A hot and hurried dash to the micro forests revealed a rather irritated and unfriendly photographer who didn't seem keen on sharing any information (though with the weather, I couldn't blame him). Regardless, I managed to find what I highly suspected was a Tiger Shrike- but managed to lose due to a bad position change. Other birds in the area included a beautiful female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and a juvenile male Blue-and-white Flycatcher. Evidently the migrants were moving, but at least in that area, their numbers were not yet high.
A passover by a Gull-billed Tern interrupted a lull in bird activity, and the next few micro forests turned up little save a large Cuckoo, what may have been a Striated Heron flushed from the vicinity, and a passing flock of Vinous-throated Parrotbill. My dad hollering for me sent me running down to the car, where he described something that sounded a lot like an Oriole. Whatever it was, I never did manage to find it, however, and the sweltering heat and my forgetting to bring a hat were beginning to make my head spin, so I returned to the car.
We drove on silently for a while, flushing a few shrikes (Brown and Long-tailed) along the way, and watching the snapping flight of the Barn Swallows overhead. Somewhere ahead, I caught a glimpse of a kink-necked Great Egret circling low over a particular area, joined later by a tern, several Little Egrets, and a flock of Greenshanks that veered directly downwards. Intrigued, I walked over to the seawall and immediately, a massive flock of shorebirds rose into the air- I had evidently startled them by appearing at the top of the wall. Quickly, I scanned the flock, picking out a large number of Gull-billed Terns, some White-winged Blacks, and an assortment of smaller waders. As they settled back down, I noted more and more species- Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers, Kentish Plovers, Little Ringed Plovers , Black-tailed Godwits, Asian Dowitcher (and a possible Long-billed), Great Knot, Red Knot, Broad-billed Sandpiper, a Ruddy Turnstone off to the side, sifting through the debris washed up by the tide...and even then, the species count was not finished. By the time I'd scanned thoroughly through the flock, I'd picked up several other species, but with the heat beating down on me, I retreated to the car again, and we headed north, dodging the odd Shrike and Swallow.
By now we were almost out of Nanhui. Passing by a long stretch of young planted trees, I caught something flush from near the car and fly off across a channel. Several more followed it, and with a start, I realised that they were Red Collared Dove- finally! My dad stopped the car and I leapt off, following their departing brick-red backs as they pumped their way across the channel, disappearing from sight...
Trip List: 53 species.
Ring-necked Pheasant
Great Crested Grebe
Gray Heron
Little Egret
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
Common Moorhen (h)
Black-winged Stilt
Lesser Sand-plover
Greater Sand-plover
Kentish Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Terek Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Grey-tailed Tattler
Spotted Redshank
Common Greenshank
Common Redshank
Whimbrel
Eastern Black-tailed Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Great Knot
Red Knot
Broad-billed Sandpiper
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Long-toed Stint
Red-necked Stint
Dunlin
Asian Dowitcher
Common Snipe
Little Tern
Whiskered Tern
White-winged Black Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Black-tailed Gull
Feral Rock Dove
Spotted Dove
Red Turtle Dove
Common Cuckoo
Common Kingfisher
Brown Shrike
Long-tailed Shrike
Barn Swallow
Chinese Bulbul
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler
Plain Prinia
Vinous-throated Parrotbill
Blue-and-white Flycatcher
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
White Wagtail
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
)! Lovely little buggers, not as gangly as the Waterhens and the way they wag their lil' tails is adorable.
