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

China 2010 (1 Viewer)

Thanks Rockfowl

Okay Mike, if the chap you mention has a thing about Great Tits, then he'll be drooling over the attached (as per the note at the foot of this post ;-)

And if you really want to see the "warts and all shots", I'm also posting a shot of Little Grebe, and a Yellow-bellied Tit (the darkness, rain and bamboo, though, do at least lend a bit of atmosphere to this photo ;-).

Putting the dodgy photo to one side for a monent, it was actually the first time I've seen Yellow-bellied Tit south of the Yangtze River.

And while I'm at it, I'll mention the other birds I saw at Xijiao: c20 Chinese Blackbirds, several White's Thrushes, a Red-flanked Bluetail, a few Spotted Doves, and, not forgetting of course, the Japanese Robin.

1 species photographed that is "new" for the year:

261 Little Grebe

BTW Birds of East Asia maps Southern Great Tit in Shanghai (with Eastern Great Tit, north of the Yangtze), but I'm not so sure (the attached, which should be labelled "southern", looks to me either like ssp artatus (a race of Eastern ie minor?) or a mongrel - too much green on the nape to be a Southern, and not nearly enough black on the breast to be an Eastern. The song was very different to what I normally hear in the north though... maybe they use the Shanghai dialect here ;-).

Anyhow, on the off chance that someone's interested in the complexities of this, I'm attaching a link to Systematic notes on Asian birds. 50 Types of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae by Dickinson et al.

http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/41734

I must admit that the above lost me after the third or fourth page (of its 48 pages).
 

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Great Tit

BTW Birds of East Asia maps Southern Great Tit in Shanghai (with Eastern Great Tit, north of the Yangtze), but I'm not so sure (the attached, which should be labelled "southern", looks to me either like ssp artatus (a race of Eastern ie minor?) or a mongrel - too much green on the nape to be a Southern, and not nearly enough black on the breast to be an Eastern. The song was very different to what I normally hear in the north though... maybe they use the Shanghai dialect here ;-).
Hi Shi Jin.

Brazil 2009 (Birds of East Asia) does indeed seem to map the transition from Parus minor (Eastern/Japanese Great Tit) to P cinereus (Southern/Cinereous Great Tit) rather far to the north.

Eck & Martens 2006 (Systematic notes on Asian birds. 49: A preliminary review of the Aegithalidae, Remizidae and Paridae) maps the 'commixtus' contact/hybridisation zone well to the south of Shanghai (around the Zhejiang/Fujian border), which would indicate that the ssp in Shanghai is P minor artatus, as you suggest.
http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/41716 [see pp31-40]

Richard
 
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Hi Richard and Rockfowl

The Great Tits are indeed a nightmare group (as far as those wishing to put a name to them are concerned). Suffice to say that my suggestion was pure guesswork.

Talking of "known unknowns"... on to Rockfowl's excellent point about Long-tailed Tits:

Again, the literature points to a very different taxa (vis a vis Beijing, Hebei, to name two areas) that's present in Shanghai (among may other places). I did actually see a flock of these in Xijiao, but because of the heavy rain, I decided to keep my camera under wraps.

I really have no idea how The BBBC will assign these taxa. Could need an extra-long session ;-)

Anyhow, the background reading will include:

http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/41716
 
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Great Tit

The Great Tits are indeed a nightmare group (as far as those wishing to put a name to them are concerned).
Concerning names (and aware of the BBBC's fastidious approach to this important matter), I think you need something better than the mind-numbingly boring 'Eastern Great Tit'. Given that the use of 'Japanese Tit' in China would probably result in a custodial sentence (at the very least), I suggest that you give serious consideration to naming Parus [major] minor one of: 'Lesser Great Tit', 'Small Large Tit', or 'Little Big Tit'.

Richard ;)
 
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Thanks Richard, excellent thought!

The subject of Great Tits is indeed a touchy one. The BBBC have spent many-a-session debating the rights and (mostly wrongs) of Eastern Great Tit. The consensus was that the chosen boring name was entirely appropriate for what is an uninspiring bird (for most). At least we consigned the oxymoronic Japanese Great Tit to the dustbin of history.

That's not to say that the decision has been set in stone (On the contrary, The BBBC prides itself on its fluid approach).

We also know a good idea when we see one, and that's why I will be recommending that we embrace Little Big Tit, as well as that we embark on a far-reaching study of the Little Big Tit complex.

Thanks again and best regards from a smoggy Beijing (nothing to do with Icelandic ash).


Shi Jin

On behalf of The BBBC
 
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Saturday 17th April, Beijing

We've all been there before.. You fill up with petrol, and your exit from the filling station is blocked by someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

You wait, think about honking, but instead look around to see if there's anything that can entertain you while the driver who doesn't know what he's doing comes to his senses... and you see a Red-throated Thrush (263) .

I just happened to have my camera at hand, so I wound down the window and fired off the shots you see below. As far as worm-catching goes, this thrush made the White's Thrush I saw a few days ago in Shanghai look like an amateur. In 10 minutes it captured 3 worms, including an extra-long specimen (see photo - as long as you are not eating your breakfast while reading this).

I was just about to drive off when I noticed that there was another thrush, about thirty yards behind the one I had been watching. I could see through the camera that it was a black-throated! (as opposed to Black Throated ;-(

... My initial thought - that I had managed to bag both species (if species they are) at the same petrol station - proved to be, on closer inspection of the image, wishful thinking. The second bird shows far too much red in the throat, and is presumably a Black-throated x Red-throated hybrid.

Still, when it comes to the birding potential of Beijing petrol stations... I shouldn't complain too much ;-)
 

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We've all been there before.. You fill up with petrol, and your exit from the filling station is blocked by someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

You wait, think about honking, but instead look around to see if there's anything that can entertain you while the driver who doesn't know what he's doing comes to his senses... and you see a Red-throated Thrush (263) .

LOL - yeah happens every other week or so, probably for most of us reading :-O
Excellent making use of the time/opportunity, and great action shot in the third pic!
 
Don't knock filling-station birdwatching - last autumn we were scrambling around a covered forecourt after we spotted a Bush Warbler that was madly trying to find a way out to freedom through all the girder work.
In the end we decided it was just a Brownish-flanked - but never found out why it decided to stop-off with Sinopec - or if was tanking up with 93 or 97 octane!!!!!
 
No, I don't knock watching at filling stations (though that's a "joy" I don't experience these days)
You wait... and yousee a Red-throated Thrush (263) .

I just guessed that not everyone saw red-throated thrushes when they did it. ;) But that's the joy of birdwatching, eh? Something different every time.

(Though of course you both give good reminders - it's always worth looking.)
 
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Thanks Gretchen and China Guy

Certainly beats green shield stamps (whoops.. showing my age), or free cheap glasses.

I can see the ad campaign for Sinopec now: "Free Red-throated Thrush for every 200 yuan spent".

I spent 300, so got one and a half ;-)
 
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We've all been there before.. You fill up with petrol, and your exit from the filling station is blocked by someone who doesn't know what they are doing.
...just like Hamilton and Vettel during a pit-stop at the F1GP China in Shanghai today (except they don't bother with the filling these days). But I think one (or both) will get a ticking-off rather than a tick!

Richard
 
Tuesday, 20th April;

Beijing, Wild Duck Lake


Wild Duck Lake, Beijing's premier birding location, is about 70km north-west of the city centre.

But, if you fancy a trip there, you'd better not follow signs to the "new" Wild Duck Lake, which is actually a much smaller lake, to the south-east of the main lake. Out of curiosity, I decided to check this out, and was both pleasantly surprised and disappointed in equal measure. Pleasantly surprised that most of the habitat is actually very good - good enough in fact to attract Purple Heron, a booming Eurasian Bittern, a few Eastern Marsh Harriers, and 3 Ruddy Shelducks on their way north.

But disappointed that, judging by the just-finished large car park, visitor centre (stuffed birds being a feature), and restaurants, this place is destined to be put on the tourist map in a big way. The most depressing sight, however, was seeing a dozen or so Bewick's Swans in a netted compound on the east side of the lake (the billboard on the way in promises ducks and swans aplenty - and I suppose not many of the visitors will be worrying about the provenance of the wing-clipped swans and ducks).

To me though, it was a depressing sight. Wild Duck Lake (the real one) is famed as a stopover for wild swans and cranes in spring and autumn and I dread to think how and from where this soon-to-be theme park sourced its "star attraction". The thought upset me enough for me to re-christen this site as "Plastic Duck Lake".

The site of several officers from the People's Liberation Army, driving their Mitsubishi 4x4s around it, after finishing their fishing trip, didn't improve my view of the place needless to say.

With that, I moved on to Wild Duck Lake. I decided to walk the three miles to the lake side - rather than messing up the car tyres. On the way, I was hounded by a new visitor attraction for this area. The area is well known for equestrian centres (it even has a polo club), but there is now something far noisier... a sand-buggy centre. These beasts, with their large tyres and spluttering engines, are not usually associated with prime bird habitat and the perfect birding experience.

Nevertheless, the area is vast enough for the birds (and birders) to still find undisturbed areas. Near to the reed-fringed lake, I saw several species that made the trip well worthwhile: a Temminck's Stint (263); 2 Oriental Pratincoles (264), c30 Northern Lapwing, and 3 Eastern Marsh Harrier (265) including a superbly marked male that I managed to photograph.

The status of this area as one of the best migration stop-off points in China could have been secured for years... if only the money that has been wasted on the Plastic Duck Lake tourist attraction had been used sensibly.

Another missed opportunity.
 

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At a so-called wetland reserve close to Tengchong in Yunnan - you can hire row-boats - to go and scare the birds up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But at least they aren't converting these areas into cement factories or rubbish dumps - so one day when the spark of good sense takes hold in the minds of those who are supposed to protect the environment - there will be few areas that could be converted back to prime habitat!!!!!!!!
 
... and my favourite shots of the day...

Not new for the year, but so what ;-)
 

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... and my favourite shots of the day...

Not new for the year, but so what ;-)

I think I first met Common Kingfisher in some Chinese paintings, and thought it a beautiful bird. The first kingfisher (maybe common??) I saw in person was in India and I thought it's hovering and diving was like magic. Since then I've seen the Belted Kingfisher which is the common one in the US, but it just doesn't have the pizazz for me of the "Common Kingfisher" which is a fabulous bird - no such thing as too many pictures of it.
 
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