A Few Days in Fujian - June 24-28 (1 Viewer)

I had an opportunity to add a couple of days birding to a business trip in China. This time I chose to head to Fujian, in part to try again for the Chinese crested tern which I’d missed a few years before and also to head to the mountains at Emeifeng to look for “chickens.” I hooked up with Forest Lin who I’d birded with before. He arranged all of the accommodation and did all the driving and guiding.

Of course, the end of June isn’t the best time for birding in southern China, since many of the birds have stopped singing (or do so very early in the day and stop), the trees are not flowering anymore, and it can be a bit rainy, but the timing was not under my control. As it turned out, it was a good trip, with good birds, but a few misses, too.


Day 1 – June 24, 2014

My flight from Shanghai Pudong to Fuzhou was on time – a real surprise for China! Forest met me just outside baggage claim and we were off. My original plan was to go to the Min Jiang estuary to look for the tern on that first day, but Forest said that the tides weren’t right, so we were heading to Fuzhou Forest Park on the first day, and we would try for the tern the next day.

By the time we arrived at the park it was raining a bit. According to Forest it had been raining fairly heavily for the past few days, and judging by the streams that we had to cross, I didn’t doubt it! I found the first oriental turtle doves of the trip on the way to the parking area, and a couple red-billed blue magpies in the parking lot. We walked up a very slippery path paved with large smooth stones for quite a distance past a couple of small pavilions, to a hillside where white necklaced partridge was possible. We checked that area a bit and heard a chestnut-winged cuckoo before the skies opened up, so we walked back to the nearest pavilion to get out of the rain.

While waiting there we had a brief look at a Huet’s fulvetta* and a couple streak-breasted scimitar-babblers*, and heard a fork-tailed sunbird, but with the weather, the birds were mostly quiet and no raptors were soaring. So after the rain let up, we continued down the rest of the loop path where we found the first of several slaty-backed forktails* along the swollen creek. After about a half-hour walk and several ankle-deep stream crossings, we were back at the car. There was a great barbet calling there, but we were already pretty soggy, so we decided not to try to find it in the rain.

We found a couple spotted doves on the way out, then made a quick stop for some noodle soup at a restaurant in town, where we had our first barn swallows of the trip – they’re quite common in Fujian. Then we headed to our hotel in the Jinfeng district of Changle City and called it an early night.

Bird of the day: Slaty-backed forktail


Day 2 – June 25, 2015

I was up early and found an oriental magpie-robin singing outside my window along with the more urban species: Eurasian tree sparrows, light-vented bulbuls, barn swallows, and quite a few flocks of feral rock pigeons.

Forest and I met up at 7 AM because an early start wasn’t necessary for high tide. We stopped at some fields on the way to the estuary and picked up some of the common rural birds – cattle egret, little egret, Chinese pond-heron, black-collared starling, and crested mynah. Then we headed to our boat. After a quick ride through the marsh, with a greater coucal seen, we arrived at the duck farm at the estuary spooking a hoopoe as we climbed to our observation perch.

We scanned what little of the mudflats was above water and while we didn’t have any terns, we found a couple Kentish plovers, a few far-eastern curlews and a great egret among the more expected egrets along with hundreds (thousands?) of domestic ducks, but no terns yet. A couple of oriental greenfinches flew by while we waited. We eventually heard then saw our first great crested terns fly past, so we wandered around the corner to see where they were heading and what else might be around.

We eventually found a mass of shorebirds – mostly lesser sandplovers with a few greater sandplovers and Kentish plovers mixed in. I picked out a common redshank. There were also a few black-tailed gulls, a few hundred little terns, and ten eastern spot-billed ducks with the roosting great crested terns. Oriental reed warblers were everywhere in the marsh grasses, with a few zitting cisticolas and yellow-bellied prinias adding their songs. Eventually the tide came in and the terns moved to their more expected roost so we moved back there.

High tide came and went. The curlews were joined by a lone whimbrel. A yellow bittern flew across the mud into the reeds. Eventually we walked out onto the now-exposed mudflats to get a closer look at the terns that were there. We waited for a couple hours as more great crested terns came in along with some black-bellied plovers and a sanderling joined the sandplovers, but and still no star tern, By about one PM I was getting totally cooked, so I suggested to Forest that we give up and head for the mountains. He reluctantly agreed.

After a half-hour slog through the (sometimes shin-deep) mud, we eventually came to a dike between the fish farms. Forest left me to rest in the shade, went to get the car, and after a half-hour he returned. We made a quick stop at the hotel to wash up and check out, then began the 5 hour drive to Emeifeng. With a stop in Taining for dinner, we arrived at the Emeifeng Forest Home at the top of the mountain at about 9 PM. It was misty and foggy. We checked into our cabin and collapsed.

Bird of the day: No show

Day 3 – June 26, 2014

The day dawned grey and cloudy, supposedly a good omen for chicken hunting, but it was very windy. I heard a few things singing and found a few white wagtails including a fledgeling around the cabins, but that was about it. At 5:30 we started the first of our many runs down and then back up the mountain.

The first bird we heard well was a pygmy cupwing. I tried with a tape to coax him into a spot where I could see him, but no matter how I tried and where I moved, he stayed hidden. After about a half-hour of trying we gave up. A little further down we heard a white-necklaced partridge, and while we were trying to see him, Forest found a female chestnut bellied rock-thrush. As we turned our attention back to the partridge, Forest excitedly whispered “Tragopan! Tragopan!” There, no further than 3 meters from us was a male Cabot’s tragopan*, slowly walking along the rocks! We watched him until he walked out of sight, and celebrated our good luck.

We continued downhill finding a “bird wave” which consisted of yellow-cheeked tits*, Indochinese yuhinas*, a lone fire-breasted flowerpecker, and a few gray-chinned minivets. Forest commented that the song of the yuhina in Chinese was “Shi shei?” (Who’s there?) Further down we found a gorgeous male chestnut bellied rock-thrush and heard a bay woodpecker. As we progressed down, Huet’s fulvettas were common along with more yuhinas and tits, one of which was a sultan tit, a bird which got Forest excited. But with no more pheasants seen, we made it down to about the 7 km point where we did a U-turn and headed back up.

On the way back up we found our first black-chinned yuhina*. Forest would stop at every stream to listen for forktails. Eventually we found our first of several white-crowned forktails along the road. They were the most common of the forktails on the mountain. We also had a couple blue magpies and gray treepies. They must have been on territory because we found them at the same place every day.

Forest had arranged for someone to bring up a jerry-can of gas, so while he gassed up, I took a quick walk along the boardwalk at the top of the mountain. Unfortunately there was nothing to see – probably too much construction. So we headed back down, hoping for chickens, and stopping when we heard something interesting, although often any strange sound we heard turned out to be a black bulbul – both the black-headed and white headed versions were present there. We also had an orange-bellied leafbird flying away from us – better view desired – and heard a calling Chinese bamboo partridge.

It was now lunch time, so we went to a small restaurant in the town of Xinqiaoxiang (New Bridge Town) at the bottom of the mountain. In town we had some of the common lowland species – light-vented bulbul, Eurasian tree-sparrow, collared finchbill, crested mynah, and barn swallow. We stocked up on snacks and drinks and headed back up the mountain.

This time we spotted a soaring crested serpent-eagle, and while watching that, I spotted a swift among the barn swallows. It was probably a pacific swift. Further up we heard a familiar song which forest said was lesser cuckoo – an uncommon bird for the area. We tried several times to coax him into view, but he would just move away. Then a second cuckoo started calling. But neither would come out. Forest said he was playing us. While trying for the cuckoos, a great barbet*started calling. This guy was more responsive and flew over the road several times.

As we continued up, a forktail was calling at a stream crossing. I walked a little way up a path along the stream and saw a long-tailed, immature brown-headed forktail before it flew off. I had to check online, since the field guides don’t show immatures, but eventually decided it was an immature spotted forktail*. After that, we headed back to the lodge to let Forest take a break from all the driving.

I walked down to the locked gate at the end of the road, decided not to climb through the barbed wire fence, but found a path that led up through the woods beside it. There I found another mixed flock of tits, mostly yellow-cheeked with a black-throated tit mixed in, and a couple of Huet’s fulvettas. The path eventually came to an open meadow where I heard another white-necklaced partridge calling. But it was getting late, and the bird was far off, so I headed back to the cabins for a rest.

Another quick run down the mountain took us to the restaurant in Xinqiaoxiang. I was able to check the internet there where I found out some details about the road heading north from Xinqiaoxiang to the Jiangxi border. Then we drove back up in the dark seeing plenty of toads and a greater green snake on the road to find a beautiful starry sky waiting for us at the lodge.

Bird of the day: Cabot’s Tragopan


Day 4 – June 27, 2014

Another gray, cloudy, windy morning with only the white wagtails singing around the lodge. However, the pygmy cupwing had been replaced by a spotted-wren babbler*. This guy was more responsive and eventually perched where I could see him. We spent a little more time this morning walking along the road – I think Forest was getting tired from driving so much. One stop produced a flock of tits followed by a huge flock of minivets. They were mostly gray-chins, but there were a few scarlet minivets mixed in. While watching them, they were joined by a chestnut bulbul.

After a couple more runs up and down, and several walks down some logging trails, we’d added a bay woodpecker* to the “seen” list, and a grey-sided scimitar-babbler to the “heard” list, but still no more chickens. I began to think that June was just a bad time for chicken-spotting, but Forest assured me they were there. Eventually we ended up in Xinqiaoxiang for lunch, at which point Forest and I agreed that we’d explore the road north of Xinqiaoxiang to the Jiangxi border, just to see what we might find.

As it turned out, the species there are quite different than those on the Emeifeng road. The first surprise was a blue-throated bee-eater on the wires at Shuibu reservoir and then a second further along the shore. We found a white-crowned forktail foraging in the drainage ditch on the side of the road and while watching him, heard a Chinese hwamei. The inlet stream to the reservoir held a pair of plumbeous water-redstarts. A small town along the road had a red-rumped swallow building a nest on the front of a house and we even found a Japanese tit in the tress along the road.

We picked out a likely spot for pheasants along the way, but decided to go straight to the top, although we noted even more bee-eaters on the wires along the way. We arrived at the top of the ridge where the pavement ended to find a black eagle soaring right at eye level on the far side of the ridge, but it disappeared before we could get out to look at it better. Forest then bravely drove down the dirt road a bit until we reached a point that was unpassable and we turned around and headed back down the paved road.

We walked a bit down one of the side roads near the top (also paved) and turned up a couple of rufous-capped babblers and more bee-eaters. Then we came back to the car just as it began to pour. This prevented us from getting out and looking for pheasants, so we simply headed back to Xinqiaoxiang and back up to Emeifeng. On the way up, we had a good look at a great barbet* and heard the lesser cuckoos again (still playing us!). A noisy bird turned out to be a mountain bulbul, but besides those, the climb was uneventful until we got to the top where we found a female orange-bellied leafbird* perched on the roof of the lodge’s main building. And during our afternoon siesta, I may have heard a Hartert’s leaf-warbler, but couldn’t bring him in to confirm.

At about 5 PM we headed back down the road for one last pass. This turned out to be a lucky choice because we had another Cabot’s tragopan shoot across the road a few kilometers down from the top. About halfway down we found a flock of greater necklaced laughingthrushes*. After a quick U-turn we headed back to the lodge for a quick dinner. As we walked to the dining room, Forest pointed out the call of a buffy laughingthrush. But while we were eating, a major thunderstorm rolled in, so we called it an early night.

Bird of the day: Black eagle

Day 5 – June 28, 2014

I took a walk around the grounds at first light, and found a hwamei mixed in with a flock of black-chinned yuhinas. I also heard a distance white-spectacled warbler. Then it was back down the mountain - last chance for chickens!

This time, the pygmy cupwing was back in his spot, but like the last time, he refused to come out and play. Right near there, we got a look at a couple of buffy laughingthrushes. A little further on we had another Cabot’s tragopan. This one walked along the road a bit then went into the brush, but we were able to get out and re-find him briefly. Just after that two forktails flew off the side of the road. I thought they were little forktails, but Forest didn’t see them to confirm. The male chestnut-bellied rock-thrush was on the same perch as two days before. Next up was a small flock of laughingthrushes, who flew off but then came back to give us good looks and identify them as lesser necklaced laughingthrushes*.

A few kilometers from there, Forest stopped the car and pointed out a male koklass pheasant* right beside the road. As he walked away, I was able to get out of the car, and watch him walk downhill into the brush. I even was able to get a record photo of him. Finally some variety. After a u-turn, we discovered a pair of silver pheasants* at about the 11 km mark – a little lower than expected but welcome nonetheless. And we finally connected with a few white-spectacled warblers. They’re supposed to be fairly common at the top, but we only had the one small group a few kilometers down.

After that, we collected our bags, paid our bills and headed back to Fuzhou. But on the way down, we found a definite little forktail*. That gave us all of the fortails for this trip. As we came down to the inhabited areas, I pointed out a bird on the wires in the rice fields. We stopped and discovered a Chinese sparrowhawk. We tried to get closer for pictures, but he flew off. As we got down to near Xinqiaoxiang, we heard masked laughingthrushes but didn’t stop to see them.

We arrived back in Fuzhou at about 3:30. My flight wasn’t until 7, so we went to a place near the airport called Wenwu Sha to kill some time. This was a mix of fish farms and marshy areas. Forest said it’s good in the winter, especially for shorebirds, but it was worth a stop in the summer to see what was around. We added a couple common moorhens and a red-whiskered bulbul, saw a couple Kentish plovers, and had great looks at zitting cisticola and yellow-bellied prinias. We also had the expected little and cattle egrets, oriental magpie-robin, long-tailed shrike, light-vented bulbuls, and a few barn swallows.

After a bit of a scare getting stuck in the mud, we made it back to the airport, where Forest dropped me off and we said our farewells.

Of course, my return flight to Shanghai was late. That’s more like the China I know.

Bird of the day: Koklass pheasant

Taxonomic List of Birds Seen

Eastern Spot-billed Duck - Anas zonorhyncha - A few at the Minjiang Estuary
White-necklaced Partridge - Arborophila gingica – Heard only at top of Emeifeng Road
Chinese Bamboo-Partridge - Bambusicola thoracicus - Heard a couple times at Emeifeng
Cabot's Tragopan - Tragopan caboti – Three males seen, one per day, above km 12 at Emeifeng
Koklass Pheasant - Pucrasia macrolopha – One male seen at about km 9 at Emeifeng
Silver Pheasant - Lophura nycthemera – A pair seen at about km 11at Emeifeng
Yellow Bittern - Ixobrychus sinensis - One at the Minjiang Estuary
Great Egret - Ardea alba - A few at the Minjiang Estuary
Little Egret - Egretta garzetta – Abundant in wet habitats in lowlands
Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis – Common in wet habitats in lowlands
Chinese Pond-Heron - Ardeola bacchus – Fairly common in wet habitats in lowlands
Crested Serpent-Eagle - Spilornis cheela – One flying above the Emeifeng Road.
Black Eagle - Ictinaetus malayensis – One flying at the top of the Xinqiaoxiang Road.
Chinese Sparrowhawk - Accipiter soloensis – One on the wires above Xinqiaoxiang
Eurasian Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus – A couple at WenWuSha
Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola – Several at the Minjiang Estuary
Lesser Sand-Plover - Charadrius mongolus – Abundant at the Minjiang Estuary
Greater Sand-Plover - Charadrius leschenaultii – A few mixed in with the lessers at the Minjiang Estuary
Kentish Plover - Charadrius alexandrinus – A few at the Minjiang Estuary and WenWuSha
Common Redshank - Tringa totanus – One at the Minjiang Estuary
Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus – One at the Minjiang Estuary
Far Eastern Curlew - Numenius madagascariensis – Several at the Minjiang Estuary
Sanderling - Calidris alba – One at the Minjiang Estuary
Black-tailed Gull - Larus crassirostris – Several at the Minjiang Estuary
Little Tern - Sternula albifrons – Abundant at the Minjiang Estuary
Gull-billed Tern - Gelochelidon nilotica – Three at the Minjiang Estuary
Great Crested Tern - Thalasseus bergii – 30-40 at the Minjiang Estuary
Rock Pigeon - Columba livia – Common in urban areas
Oriental Turtle-Dove - Streptopelia orientalis – Fairly common at Fuzhou Forest Park
Spotted Dove - Streptopelia chinensis – More likely in settled areas than the previous species. Also possibly seen at Emeifeng.
Chestnut-winged Cuckoo - Clamator coromandus – One heard only at Fuzhou Forest Park
Lesser Cuckoo - Cuculus poliocephalus – Several heard at Emeifeng, but they all refused to show themselves.
Greater Coucal - Centropus sinensis – One at the Minjiang estuary, and another on the road from Xinqiaoxiang to Taining
Pacific Swift - Apus pacificus – A few swifts at Emeifeng were probably this species
Blue-throated Bee-eater - Merops viridis – Surprisingly common along the Xinqiaoxiang Road.
Eurasian Hoopoe - Upupa epops – One at the Minjiang Estuary
Great Barbet - Megalaima virens – One heard at Fuzhou Forest Park. A few seen and many heard at Emeifeng.
Bay Woodpecker - Blythipicus pyrrhotis – A couple seen and several more heard at Emeifeng
Gray-chinned Minivet - Pericrocotus solaris – The common minivet at Emeifeng
Scarlet Minivet - Pericrocotus speciosus – A few mixed in a large flock of gray-chins at Emeifeng
Long-tailed Shrike - Lanius schach – Common in the lowlands
Red-billed Blue-Magpie - Urocissa erythrorhyncha – Fairly common in wooded habitats
Gray Treepie - Dendrocitta formosae – A few at Emeifeng
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica – The common swallow in all locations
Red-rumped Swallow - Cecropis daurica – One bird building a nest in a small town along the Xinqiaoxiang Road.
Japanese Tit - Parus minor – Scattered sightings at Emeifeng.
Yellow-cheeked Tit - Parus spilonotus – The most common tit at Emeifeng. Often in mixed flocks
Sultan Tit - Melanochlora sultanea – One seen at Emeifeng was an unusual sighting
Black-throated Tit - Aegithalos concinnus – One in a mixed flock at the top of Emeifeng
Collared Finchbill - Spizixos semitorques – Fairly common in lower areas.
Red-whiskered Bulbul - Pycnonotus jocosus – One seen at WenWuSha
Light-vented Bulbul - Pycnonotus sinensis – Common in lowland areas.
Black Bulbul - Hypsipetes leucocephalus – Annoyingly common at Emeifeng. Both black headed and white headed types present.
Chestnut Bulbul - Hemixos castanonotus – A few sightings at Emeifeng (often heard singing)
Mountain Bulbul - Ixos mcclellandii – A few sightings at Emeifeng.
Pygmy Cupwing - Pnoepyga pusilla – Heard everyday near the top of Emeifeng, but this little skulker refused to respond to tape.
Rufous-faced Warbler - Abroscopus albogularis – One seen and many heard at Emeifeng
Hartert's Leaf-Warbler - Phylloscopus goodsoni – One bird heard at the top of Emeifeng sounded like this species.
White-spectacled Warbler - Seicercus affinis – A few seen and heard near the top of Emeifeng.
Oriental Reed-Warbler - Acrocephalus orientalis – Abundant at the Minjiang Estuary
Zitting Cisticola - Cisticola juncidis – Common in wetland habitats
Yellow-bellied Prinia - Prinia flaviventris – Common in wetland habitats
Indochinese Yuhina - Yuhina torqueola – Found in large and mixed flocks at Emeifeng
Black-chinned Yuhina - Yuhina nigrimenta – Less common than the previous species. Tended to be in single species flocks.
Rufous-capped Babbler - Cyanoderma ruficeps – Two seen at the top of the Xinqiaoxiang Road.
Spotted Wren-Babbler - Spelaeornis formosus – Only seen on one of the three days at Emeifeng, but was responsive to tape.
Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler - Pomatorhinus ruficollis – A couple seen at Fuzhou Forest Park
Gray-sided Scimitar-Babbler - Megapomatorhinus swinhoei – Heard only at Emeifeng
Huet's Fulvetta - Alcippe hueti – Commonly heard and often seen at Emeifeng. Also at Fuzhou Forest Park.
Masked Laughingthrush - Garrulax perspicillatus – Heard in the lowlands near Taining.
Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush - Garrulax monileger – A flock seen at Emeifeng
Chinese Hwamei - Garrulax canorus – One heard on the Xinqiaoxiang Road and one seen at the top of Emeifeng
Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush - Ianthocincla pectoralis – A flock seen at Emeifeng
Buffy Laughingthrush - Ianthocincla berthemyi – A few seen near the top of Emeifeng
Oriental Magpie-Robin - Copsychus saularis – Common in the lowlands
Little Forktail - Enicurus scouleri – Three seen on the upper levels at Emeifeng
White-crowned Forktail - Enicurus leschenaulti – The most common forktail at Emeifeng and along the Xinqiaoxiang Road. Several seen daily.
Spotted Forktail - Enicurus maculatus – One immature bird seen at Emeifeng
Slaty-backed Forktail - Enicurus schistaceus – Several seen at Fuzhou Forest Park
Plumbeous Redstart - Phoenicurus fuliginosus – Seen along the Xinqiaoxiang Road.
Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush - Monticola rufiventris – A few seen daily on the upper levels at Emeifeng
Crested Myna - Acridotheres cristatellus – Common in the lowlands
Black-collared Starling - Gracupica nigricollis – A couple seen in the lowlands
Orange-bellied Leafbird - Chloropsis hardwickii – One seen at the top of Emeifeng and another flying away further down
Fire-breasted Flowerpecker - Dicaeum ignipectus – A few seen near the top of Emeifeng
Fork-tailed Sunbird - Aethopyga christinae – One at Fuzhou Forest Park and another near the bottom of Emeifeng
White Wagtail - Motacilla alba – Breeding at the cabins at the top of Emeifeng
Oriental Greenfinch - Chloris sinica – A couple at the Minjiang Estuary
Eurasian Tree Sparrow - Passer montanus – Common in towns and cities

Some Wildlife Photos

And some scenery...yes, that's the boat we took to get to the estuary.

The road with the lanterns is the entrance road to Emeifeng.

Good stuff Jeff!

No need to say how jealous I am over the chooks and the Bay Woody. Sorry you dipped the CCT...third time lucky is it to be?

Cheers
Mark

THanks for the report Jeff ! Glad to hear you connected with more than a few Lifers !!

McMadd said:

Good stuff Jeff!

No need to say how jealous I am over the chooks and the Bay Woody. Sorry you dipped the CCT...third time lucky is it to be?

Cheers
Mark

Click to expand...

From your mouth to God's ears!

According to Forest I better do it soon though. There aren't many left.

Lots of quality there Jeff.
I still need the tern too - and the Spotted Wren Babbler would also be a lifer - nice to hear it's not too difficult.

Cheers
Mike