4 days in Yangkou
Sunday 15th April
Up on time and out ready for action at 0500 we set off in 3 vehicles to accommodate everyone's varied schedules: 2 to leave at 0900, 2 to leave around 1600 and me and Lin remaining for the following 2 days.
The first stop was more mudflats but without the choking spartina of yesterday. A brighter morning had all in good spirits and the “breakfast biscuits” were doing their trick as we gathered our energies for more wader hunting. First birds on arrival at a shellfish harvesting shed was a large pipit flock on the landward side of the seawall that resolved into smart
Red-throated Pipits and later in the morning post-mudflats included several equally smart
Buff-bellied Pipits too...smart birds.
Wellies on and down to the waiting gloop we scrambled...plan was to head towards the incoming tide and sunshine so we got the best light on the already located large wader flocks.
Kentish Plovers were the outriders, patrolling the upper beach and, like all the waders looking smart in their breeding finery.
The distance reduced the scoping of the flocks began in earnest and the same species as the previous day made themselves known albeit in larger numbers:
Dunlin, Grey Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Red-necked Stint, Lesser Sandplover, Terek Sandpiper were all seen in varying numbers and at varying distances. No
Nordmann's Greenshank and no spooner immediately visible but relocating towards a line of fishing nets soon had Lin uttering the magic words again...
”Possible Spooner”. A roosting bird tucked in with some equally snoozy
Dunlin. Eventually a stretch of the wings and some preening revealed the defining field mark...that wonderfully shaped bill in sharp relief against the white breast feathers. Another bird in largely winter plumage.
Our two early leavers and Lin moved off to try to locate that elusive
Nordmann's amongst the larger waders off to our right whilst my Finnish namesake, Markku, and his camera wandered solo looking for the killer shot. Fellow brit John and myself slowly edged forward towards the still sleeping waders...as much a necessity of our settling into the mud as any desire to close the distance...a fresh patch of mud needed every few minutes to level the scope and viewer as we sank at differing rates!
John eventually retired towards the seawall as the borrowed boots took their toll on his feet. Short phone calls with Lin across the mud established that the
Nordmann's was still not playing so...there I was...probably the only 1 in 7 billion watching a
Spoon-billed Sandpiper right here, right now! I could probably have closed the distance more but the thought of flushing a spooner just didn't sit well with me so I settled for a respectable distance to watch the little fella and absorb the general spectacle of estuary birding...memories of umpteen trips over to Hilbre back in the early '70's with the Mid-Cheshire OS surfaced before a call from Lin to suggest an early lunch (well early by the clock but long overdue by the stomach!) followed by an afternoon move to the woods and fish ponds broke the reverie. A gentle reverse to a safe distance then a short walk back to the seawall and the waiting vehicles.
The “woods”...in reality belts of trees lining the roads along the seawall and those heading inland but islands of habitat that tired birds in a hurry to head north to the breeding grounds welcome all the same.
“The 'tic' of rare buntings” greeted us and
Black-faced and
Little Buntings were quickly added to the day's tally.
Manchurian Bush and
Pallas's Warblers; a female
Daurian Redstart; several smart
Red-flanked Bluetails, ubiquitous
Chinese Bulbuls;
Chinese Grosbeaks (who on earth named them “Yellow-billed” then? Go g**gl* Chinese and Japanese and see who has the cleanest, yellowest beak of all...); and flightly
thrushes were all present and
Olive-backed Pipits were buzzing away. No sign of the
Japanese Thrush, Narcissus Flycatcher, male Pied Harrier or Japanese Robin all found by other birders (Hi Jocko, Tong!) the previous day. It was soon time for John and Markku to begin their drive south to Shanghai to prepare for their weeks business.
A late afternoon trip to the fishponds for Lin and I revealed smart
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers (Shotwick '73 ('74?!) continued the reminiscing...) and courting
Saunder's Gulls. No sign of the
Black-faced Spoonbill however. Amongst the gulls we spied an ugly brute that seemed to fit the description of the
Slaty-backed Gull also seen the previous day. In heavy moult it was a bird only a mother could love (see thread in ID forum for more of this beauty (
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=227933) A lone
Whiskered Tern surprised us as we tried to grab shots of this uncommon visitor.
All too soon the light was fading and day 2 rapidly drew to a close. Back to the hotel for the welcoming hot shower and evening meal and a decision to start at 0530 and stop for a delicious al fresco breakfast in the morning...well the high tide was getting later day by day so why not enjoy the lie in?!