Dalian (Jinshitan) Birding Reports (2 Viewers)

Our usual place Kevin, i have seen few OHB's in various plumages in Yangshan last autumn and atleast 100+ Amurs along the Fengxian coast. All in a single afternoon.

Sea-farming Ponds Sept. 27

I've been crazy busy with work lately but got away today for an hour just before dark. I also led some field trips today and the list contains things seen during the mid-afternoon in a mountain area here in Jinshitan. The picture of the flycatcher below is from last week. The list of raptors from today makes me look forward to my Laotieshan day trip this Saturday.

Common Pheasant - 1
Eurasian Wigeon - 2
Mallard - 150
Spot-billed Duck - 20
Garganey - 24 (a bit of a surprise to have that many there)
Little Grebe - 6
Yellow Bittern - 1
Grey Heron - 4
Great Egret - 6
Intermediate Egret - 2
Chinese Egret - 1
Eurasian Kestrel - 2
Amur Falcon - 8
Northern Hobby - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Osprey - 1
Japanese or Chinese Sparrowhawk - 2
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 1 being chased by two magpies
Grey-faced Buzzard - 1 very low right over my field trip location!
Common Moorhen - 3
Common Coot - 8
Pacific Golden Plover - 12
Grey Plover - 2
Bar-tailed Godwit - 2
Common Greenshank - 2
Green Sandpiper - 3
Common Sandpiper - 1
Black-tailed Gull - 10
Black-heded Gull - 150
Saunders's Gull - 1 juv.
Spotted Dove - 1
Oriental Turtle Dove - 2
Hill Pigeon - several throughout the day
Common Kingfisher - 2
Great Tit - several
Barn Swallow - huge numbers right at dusk 1000?
Dusky Warbler - 1
Crested Myna - 2
Yellow Wagtail - 15
White Wagtail - 25
Pechora Pipit - 2
Red-throated Pipit - 5
Common Rosefinch - at least 10 flying around
Black-faced Bunting - 1

Laoteishan Sept. 29, 2012

Spent half the day (5:30-12:30) at an exceptionally slow Laotieshan. We had a north wind around 50 km/h the entire time we were there and this definitely kept the birds down and, for the most part, impossible to see in trees and bushes. We were hoping for much much more on Sept. 29 but the weather was a factor to say the least! Paul Holt, Terry Townshend, and Per Alstrom had spent time there the previous week and had recorded things like Nutcracker, Hair-crested Drongo, White-throated Rock Thrush, Siberian Thrush, etc. so the bar was a little higher than usual heading in. We only recorded 40 species for the day, probably my record low for any time being there including the dead of winter.


Because Laotieshan was so slow, we made our way back to Jinshitan and did a few more hours in and around the sea-farming ponds there. Two lists below.

Laotieshan:

Japanese Quail - 1
Goose Sp. - 6 (pic attached for anyone to have a go at identifying. Long necked....
Streaked Shearwater - 1 I only looked at the sea for a short time and saw one fly by almost immediately so there was undoubtably many more.
Eurasian Kestrel - 3
Amur Falcon - 5
Northern Hobby - 2
Osprey - 1
Oriental Honey Buzzard - 10 We did see 3 head out over the sea. They were almost gliding sideways trying to move south in a strong north wind.
Black-eared Kite - 3 (and 2 more from my deck today)
Harrier Sp - 1 seen before the sun came up and almost impossible to get any detail on.
Japanese Sparrowhawk - 12 very acrobatic birds in 50 km/h wind! Difficult to distinguish if we saw the same ones over and over but there were at least 12 individuals.
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 8
Northern Goshawk - 2
Eastern Buzzard - 3
Black-tailed Gull - 100
Oriental Turtle Dove - 10
Spotted Dove - 1
Ashy Minivet - 240 including one in the talons of the Hobby picture below.
Great Tit - 4
Barn Swallow - 60
Red-rumped Swallow
Asian house Martin - 11 in one group
Asian Stubtail - 1
Lanceolated Warbler - 1
Thick-billed Warbler - 1
Dusky Warbler - 4
Radde's Warbler - 2
Yellow-browed Warbler - 12
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 large group
White-eyes - 80 (only two identified as Chestnut-flanked)
White-cheeked Starling - 12
Red-flanked Bluetail - 2
Siberian Stonechat - 6
White Wagtail - 20
Olive-backed Pipit - 80
Red-throated Pipit - 2
Oriental Greenfinch - 7
Chestnut Bunting - 1
Black-faced Bunting - 1

Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds list later in the day: Again, seeing small birds in the trees and bushes was all but impossible with the heavy wind.

Falcated Duck - 2 juv.
Mallard - 150
Spot-billed Duck - 40
Tufted Duck - 1
Little Grebe - 5
Yellow Bittern - 1
Striated Heron - 1
Grey Heron - 4
Great Egret - 10
Intermediate Egret - 1
Chinese Egret - 2
Little Egret - 3
Eurasian Kestrel - 2
Amur Falcon - 1
Oriental Honey Buzzard - 4
Japanese Sparrowhawk - 1 very good record for Jinshitan
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 1
Northern Goshawk - 1
Common Moorhen - 1
Common Coot - 7
Common Greenshank - 2
Green Sandpiper - 2
Oriental Turtle Dove - 2
Common Kingfisher - 2
Chinese Hill Warbler - 1
White Wagtail - 3

the

rest

Having just spent the whole weekend in the office I'd take your "quiet day"...any day...bit of a raptor fest going on up north it seems (what with Terry's Short-toed Eagles in Beijing)...send 'em south!

cheers
Mark

Yes, great raptor pics! What a selection!

Another +1 on the raptors !

Jinsihtan Sea-farming Ponds Oct. 1, 2012

Two hours just before dusk.

Common Pheasant - 2
Mallard - 150
Spot-billed Duck - 75
Eurasian Teal - 13
Little Grebe - 30
Yellow Bittern - 1
Striated Heron - 1
Grey Heron - 6
Great Egret - 10
Little Egret - 6
Chinese Egret - 2
Eurasian Kestrel - 2
Japanese Sparrowhawk - 1
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 1
Watercock - 2 separate birds. Seen and photographed last year at the same place around the same time.
Common Moorhen - 12
Common Coot - 18
Pacific Golden Plover - 6
Grey Plover - 2
Snipe Sp. - 3
Bar-tailed Godwit - 1
Eurasian Curlew - 1
Common Greenshank - 1
Green Sandpiper - 2
Black-tailed Gull - 100
Black-headed Gull - 150
Hill Pigeon - 14
Oriental Turtle Dove - 4
Chinese Grey Shrike - 3
Barn Swallow - many
Red-rumped Swallow - many
Sand Martin - 1
Dusky Wabler - 3
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
White Wagtail - 8 leucopsis
Orientall Greenfinch - 3
Black-faced Bunting - many. At least 50.

Jinshitan Sea Farming Ponds Oct. 4, 2012

Loving migration on my three early morning hours at the ponds today. Back tomorrow for more of the same hopefully.

Common Pheasant - 5
Mallard - 300
Spot-billed Duck - 50
Little Grebe - 20
Spoonbill Sp. - 3 (far to high to ID)
Yellow Bittern - 1
Striated Heron - 1
Grey Heron - 10
Purple Heron - 2 (my first multiple Purple Heron day ever)
Great Egret - 10
Intermediate Egret - 1
Little Egret - 15
Chinese Egret - 3
Eurasian Kestrel - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Osprey - 2
Common Moorhen - 4
Common Coot - 20
Pacific Golden Plover - 3
Grey Plover - 2
Green Sandpiper - 3
Black-tailed Gull - 15
Black-headed Gull - 150
Vega/Mongolian Gull - 2
Oriental Turtle Dove - 8
Common Kingfisher - 1
Ashy Minivet - 2 groups
Great Tit
Chinese Penduline Tit - 7
Barn Swallow - 50
Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Black-browed Reed Warbler - 6
Dusky Warbler - 3
Radde's Warbler - 1
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
Siberian Rubythroat - 1
Siberian Stonechat - 2
Red-throated Flycatcher - 1
White Wagtail - 5
Grey Wagtail - 1
Oriental Greenfinch - 6
Meadow Bunting - 1
Black-faced Bunting - everywhere. Checked almost all of them for something else but no such luck... Maybe 100?

the

rest

Jinsitan Sea Farming Ponds Oct. 5, 2012

3.5 hours this morning beginning before light. Any day with both Bluethroat and Siberian Rubythroat is good day :t: Spent a lot of time sitting in one place just watching. On the recordings below I had a Chinese Grey Shrike that was sounding like everything from a Black-naped Oriole to a Hobby! I have other recordings of its vocalizations from this morning. I think it was trying out some new sounds for next Spring?! You can also hear Dusky Warbler, Black-faced Bunting, etc... in the backdrop of the recordings.

Common Pheasant - 5
Eurasian Wigeon - 1
Mallard - around 300
Spot-billed Duck - around 100
Little Grebe - 30
Grey Heron - 7
Purple Heron - 2 again
Great Egret - 8
Little Egret - 5
Chinese Egret - 3
Eurasian Kestrel - 2
Amur Falcon - 1
Northern Hobby - 2
Osprey - 1 with breakfast -- see photo
Oriental Honey Buzzard - 8
Northern Goshawk - 1
Common Moorhen - 2
Common Coot - 22
Pacific Golden Plover - 5
Common Snipe - 2
Common Greenshank - 2
Green Sandpiper - 3
Black-tailed Gull - 40
Black-headed Gull - 100
Hill Pigeon - 2
Oriental Turtle Dove - 5
Common Kingfisher - 1
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1
Ashy Minivet - 1 group
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Great Tit - a few
Chinese Penduline Tit - 25 many moving early at dusk
Barn Swallow - 50
Eurasian Skylark - 4 (a little early?) Clearly them though.
Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - 1 almost got a photo......landed right on the path in front of me. Another half a second....
Black-browed Reed Warbler - 3
Dusky Warbler - 7
Radde's Warbler - 1 (very very cinnamom undertail coverts!)
Yellow-browed Warbler - 3
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
White-cheeked Starling - 1
Bluethroat - 1 my first ever photos of any kind of this one.
Siberian Rubythroat - 2 (1 adult male who wouldn't pose and 1 female)
Grey Wagtail - 3
White Wagtail - 3
Olive-backed Pipit - 6
Oriental Greenfinch - 15
Black-faced Bunting - 50

recordings

Here is the very vocal Chinese Grey Shrike.

Nice recordings! And your Rubythroats seem to pose more often than in Beijing! Skylarks are on the move here in the capital; I counted over 200 in an hour at Wild Duck Lake last weekend. No sign of a Mongolian YET.

"Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler - 1 almost got a photo......landed right on the path in front of me. Another half a second...."

LOL, I've never managed it either, gets me every time... one day!

Sea farming Ponds Oct. 5 pm

I went back to the ponds with a colleague and our children in the afternoon and enjoyed a small movement of raptors. The pond area breaks up a mountain range and the raptors, following the ridge, cross the valley always in one spot. As our kids played, we enjoyed good views of the list below. We watched the area for approx. 3 hours.

Osprey - 2 (one single bird caught 4 fish right in front of us in a 2 hour span. It kept going off tho eat only to appear again a half hour later each time)
Oriental Honey Buzzard - 3
Kite - 6
Japanese Sparrowhawk - 4
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 5
Northern Goshawk - 1
Grey-faced Buzzard - 4
Eastern Buzzard - 1
Common Kestrel - 2
Amur Falcon - 4
Northern Hobby - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1

Pictures coming tomorrow, off to bed now.

Well, lots of interesting stuff! Very interesting to hear your shrike - I had no idea they could make that range of sounds.

I'm quite jealous of the lovely pics of the purple herons. I still haven't really confidently picked one out on our mudflats (usually a bit far away).

Your first picture of the rubythroat was quite helpful in solving a little i.d. problem I had had. I had seen on campus a mysterious plain brown bird with a prominent eyebrow, which I saw in profile. It wasn't a warbler, and I just couldn't place what would be so plain and yet not drab - a very attractive bird. Now I see it must have been a first year (or female?) rubythroat.

Thanks for all your postings :t:

Love the Chinese Grey Shrike - and still have delusions about finding Hk's first every cold snap . . .

PS Watch out for Varied Tits!

Migration watching from the ridge beside the sea-farming Ponds - Jinshitan Oct. 6

I had a fantastic morning (5:30-12:00). I scrambled up a mountain beside the sea-farming ponds where I saw most of the raptors heading yesterday. On the top I found an excellent rock that came complete with a perfect chair-shape, foot and arm rests, and even a cup holder! There are great views of the ponds from there and some of the photos below are zoomed in sections of my regular birding site. Good news was that I saw many things I otherwise wouldn't have, bad news is that I couldn't see the Ruby and Bluethroats from the top of the mountain. Many things passed over that went unidentified because I don't know all the flight calls yet. Other people whose last name end with Holt would have had an even better list than below.....

Common Pheasant - 15 (many flying around today)
Mandarin Duck - 10 flew over together
Mallard - a few hundred flying around below
Spot-billed Duck - around 100 flying around below
Little Grebe - many below
Grey Heron - counted 14
Great Egret - many, but hard to distinguish from other egrets from the ridge.
Little Egret - same as Great above.
Eurasian Kestrel - 5
Amur Falcon - 3
Northern Hobby - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Osprey - 2 (one catching more fish in addition to yesterday)
Black-eared Kite - 3
Japanese Sparrowhawk - 6 (good year for them)
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 7
Northern Goshawk - 2
Grey-faced Buzzard - 4
Eastern Buzzard - 3
Upland Buzzard - 1 (first of the season)
Greater Spotted Eagle - 1 (first Jinshitan record for me but many last year at Laotieshan)
Common Coot - several below
Black-tailed Gull - 50
Mongolian/Vega Gull - 3
Black-headed Gull - 100
Hill Pigeon - 5
Oriental Turtle Dove - 30
Common Kingfisher - 1
Ashy Minivet - around 50
Great Tit - 25
Yellow-bellied Tit - 4 (always a good record in Jinshitan but regular at Laotieshan)
Coal Tit - 1
Varied Tit - 4 landed right beside me in a dense tree, I pished once and they all came storming out right at me and dropped over the ridge behind. I saw them later in another place as well. Many people have been telling me to look out for them but they are quite regular now here in most years. I don't know if my sighting today falls into the eruption that is happening over other areas in China as I've seen them in the same place also in Ocotber a few times before over several years. They are very regular in Dandong, about 300 kms north of Dalian.
Barn Swallow - 300
Red-rumped Swallow - 150
Eurasian Skylark - 50
Chinese Hill Warbler - 4
Dusky Warbler - 1
Yellow-browed Warbler - 1
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
Chestnut-flanked White-eye - 100
Japanese White-eye - at least 2 are confirmed of this species using photos.
Dusky or Naumann's Thrush - 3 (first of the season)
Red-flanked Bluetail - 2
Red-throated Flycatcher - 1
White Wagtail - 2
Olive-backed Pipit - 10
Oriental Greenfinch - 30
Meadow Bunting - 3
Chestnut-eared Bunting - 8
Chestnut Bunting - 1 huge group of 40 or more.
Black-faced Bunting - many many flyovers. At least 100 or more.

some

more

the

last