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Birding the coast around Shanghai (1 Viewer)

mjgrunwell

Well-known member
Hello and welcome to a new thread focused on bird migration around Shanghai. In this thread I will always try to give precise and accurate information of sightings and areas so that others can be encouraged to join me in looking for coastal migrants.

After two years based in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, I am now living and working in Shanghai. So far I have explored two green areas of the city and made three trips to the far end of metro line 16 to explore the area known as Nanhui.

See the attached maps

Dishui lake is the last stop on line 16. It takes exactly one hour to travel the 12 stages from Yang Long Road station. It takes 45 minutes to walk clockwise round to the eastern shore of the lake then head due east out to the sea wall. There is a free electric bus that will save the walk round the lake, the walk out to the seawall is another 35 minutes but you are walking surrounded by a vast expanse of phragmite reed-bed.

I first visited on Monday 17th August when it was hot and sunny. My visit on Sunday 23rd August was a complete washout. Yesterday, Saturday 29th August I walked to the seawall but then met a very friendly local photographer who drove me around for the rest of the day.

I discovered that the large area of water inland of the seawall is the site for wintering BF spoonbill known as Dongtan wetland. I was also shown the bushes near the Holiday Inn hotel (marked on attached map) which hold migrants at passage times and brown-eared bulbul in winter. The small car park here is the “Magic Parking Lot”

I hope to be able to get out to Yangshan Island this autumn as I am sure this is the key site for migrants anywhere close to the city.

Like other visitors to the area I was profoundly shocked by the severity and scale of environmental damage both recent, current and planned. I was told that the few remaining square kilometres of reedbed were all to be removed and the wetland where the spoonbill winter had been given a two year reprieve when it too will be filled to create rice paddies. I was told that this was because there is a minimum percentage of agricultural land required in the area and because so much farming land is now urban development in order to keep up an artificial quota pristine reedbed will be destroyed. Utterly crazy and deeply soul-destroying.

The situation off-shore is even worse, an area of 90 square kilometres of mudflats is being enclosed in order to be reclaimed. I struggle to comprehend the sheer stupidity and barbarity of this ecological vandalism.

Anyway, back to birding; I spent most of my first and third visit looking at shorebirds and accumulated an impressive list of 25 species of wader. I discovered that there is no visible migration of passerines in mid August and only a little at the end of August with no warblers yet moving through. On my wet visit on 23 August I spent some time trudging around the Shanghai Binhai forest park, no migrants but plenty of egrets.

Combined bird list for Dishui lake and NanHui coastline, 17 and 29 August 2015 includes 23 August when rained-off.

The names and order as used by Brazil, Birds of East Asia

Eastern Spot-billed duck 1 on the big lake at Dongtan
Little grebe, few
GC grebe, 5+ on Dongtan
Yellow bittern, several seen flying over the reeds near Dishui on 17 Aug, one seen on 29 Aug
Schrenck’s bittern One seen well flying over the shoreline saltmarsh, about 1 km south of the Holiday Inn. Only my second-ever record, the first being one in very similar circumstances at Yangkou in early October.
BC Night Heron, common overhead as dusk approaches
Chinese Pond Heron, particularly common at SB forest park
Eastern cattle egret, common at SB forest park and around Dongtan
Grey Heron, 5+ seen on 17 Aug, 20+ on 29 Aug
GW egret, 1 on coast on 29 Aug
Intermediate egret, 5+ on coast on 29 Aug
Little egret, hundreds along the coast
(CT) Dalmatian pelican, One adult at great distance in the middle of Dishui lake, 2.30 pm, 17 August, it then flew around for 5 minutes before heading off north. Diagnostic wing pattern noted in flight. My first sighting of this species since a few in Deep Bay, Hong Kong way back in 1988. (The Chinese tick status is because my Chinese list is since 01 August 2013)
Eurasian Kestrel, a few seen along the coast.
Moorhen, fairly common at SB forest park
BW Stilt, few noted on 17 Aug
Lesser sand plover, a common shoreline species, many in strong colours on 17 Aug, all much plainer on 29 Aug. Splitting into races will have to wait until next spring.
Common snipe, one at the sewall on 17 Aug. Several distant flying Snipe sp.
Eastern black-tailed godwit, a fairly common bird here, 50+ on 29 Aug
Bar-tailed godwit, 4+ on 29 Aug
Whimbrel, the commonest of the curlew at this time, several flocks seen. 50+ on 17 Aug, 30+ on 29 Aug
Eurasian curlew, 5 on 29 Aug
Common redshank, fairly common shoreline species
Spotted redshank, only a few seen on 29 Aug, much commoner on 17 Aug
Marsh sandpiper, uncommon, a few seen on both dates
Common Greenshank, 20+ on 17 Aug, 10+ on 29 Aug
Green sandpiper, a few seen on 17 Aug
Wood sandpiper, surprisingly common on the shoreline for a fresh water species.
Grey-tailed tattler, a species with an identity crisis; it really wants to be a green sandpiper and lurk in grassy areas near the sea wall. Always close to the upper shoreline. 4 on 17 August, one on 29 Aug
Terek sandpiper, much commoner on 29 Aug, 50+
Common sand, always a few around
Ruddy turnstone, one on 29 Aug
Great Knot, a remarkably odd bird, for a European birder it has a very strange jizz which reminds one of several other species but just ends up confusing you until you realize that it is just a great knot. 20+ on 17 Aug but none seen on 29 Aug. I wonder if they are bit like red knot in England and first move through rather early?
Red-necked stint, commoner on 17 Aug when many still showing strong colour
Temminck’stint a few inland on 17 Aug
Long-toed stint One in a muddy pool below the seawall on 29 Aug.
Sharp-tailed sand, at least 3 on 29 Aug. Not a bird I am very familiar with, need more practice.
Dunlin, plenty around but not yet common
Broad-billed sandpiper, a few seen on both dates. Close views of grey adult and browner juvenile on 29 Aug.
Oriental pratincole, I had this species in early September at Poyang Hu, at least 10 birds drifting through on 29 Aug. Maybe late Aug/early Sep is peak passage time?
Black-tailed gull, 8 birds seen well on 17 Aug only, the first years remind me of sooty gull.
(CT) Little tern One seen on 17 Aug
Gull-billed tern, 20+ on 17 Aug, common on 29 Aug, 100+
Whiskered tern, none seen on 17 Aug, large flocks on 29 Aug, 100+
White-winged tern, 40+ on 17 Aug, very common on 29 Aug, 300+
Red turtle dove, I seen in SB forest park on 23 Aug, 2 pairs along seawall on 29 Aug
Spotted dove, common in SF Forest park
Cuckoo sp a young bird in the reeds on 17 Aug, at least two seen, probably lesser, on 29 Aug.
Pacific swift, 4+ along seawall on 29 Aug
Common kingfisher, few at Dongtan
Black-winged cuckoo-shrike, one male on 29 Aug on walk out to seawall
Brown Shrike, fairly common, not sure if these are local breeders or migrants
LT Shrike, common
Sand martin, aware of the possibility of Pale martin, spent time looking at some obligingly close birds, all looked good for Sand to me, 30+
Barn swallow, by far the commonest aerial feeder, hundreds on 29 Aug
Plain prinia, common in the reeds
Chinese bulbul, common at SF forest park
Crested myna, fairly common
Blackbird, few in SB forest park
Tree sparrow, by far the commonest resident bird
Eastern yellow wagtail, 10+ birds on 29 Aug all looking very dark and probably young “eastern”, need much more study on this.
White wagtail, all seen were Amur, leucopsis, 10+
Chinese grosbeak, 10+ in SF forest park

No buntings, warblers or flycatchers yet, roll on Autumn!
 

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Day out at Nanhui

Thursday 3rd September 2015 was a national holiday commemorating 70 years since the end of WW2.

I took the train down to Dishui Lake, arriving at 10.20 just in time to catch the electric courtesy bus which circumnavigates the lake. I got on the far side and walked the 35 minutes out to the sea wall. The tide was a high spring so water came right up to the base of the seawall. Not much wader watching today, no scope today as well.

I walked north towards the two small clumps by the roadside overlooking the main lake (see attached map) just before I got there a Dalmatian pelican flapped past. I assume this was the same individual that I saw on Dishui lake two weeks earlier (see photo). I think it is a very tatty adult, perhaps indicative of a captive origin?
I walked as far as the northern of the two clumps, nothing except a probable YBW, then spent time in the bottom gully of the southern clump. Superb views of adult male and female Siberian blue robin. I then walked south all the way down to the Holiday Inn. On the way I had a good view of a swiftlet flying around over the reeds, I also saw pacific and house swift that day so was certain this was no house swift, small, very fast wingbeats, this was a swiftlet. The obvious dark orangey-brown rump matched Himalayan swiftlet, a species I am familiar with from Yunnan.
On reaching the hotel I refueled on pot noodle at the shop then spent time searching the parking area. I had another sibe blue robin, this time a first winter male. Not much else so I left at 4pm.

Rain forecast for Saturday so hope to return on Sunday

Complete list, Thursday 3rd September 2015, Nanhui coast
No ducks noted
Dabchick, few
GC Grebe, few on Dishui lake
Shrenck’s bittern, 2 both seen well in flight, much darker overall than yellow, darker neck and striking dark mantle in flight, not difficult if you can see the mantle.
BC Night Heron few
Chinese pond heron, few
Eastern cattle egret, 20+
Grey Heron, few
GW egret, 3
Little egret, 100+
Dalmatian pelican, one tatty adult, see photo
Moorhen, few
BW stilt 1
Eastern BT godwit, 40+
Whimbrel, 30+
Greenshank, few
Green sand, 1
Common sand, few
Ruddy turnstone, 1
Dunlin, few
BT gull, 10+ very distant
Gull-billed tern, few
Little tern, 3
Whiskered tern, common around the FW lakes, 100+
White-winged tern, very common along the shoreline, 150+
Spotted dove, few
Cuckoo sp, probably lesser, distant flying around
Himalayan swiftlet, One, over the reeds, there have been other records in the area.
Pacific swift, some great views today, 5+
House swift, 4
Common kingfisher, 1
BW Cuckoo shrike, 2 at the Holiday Inn
Brown Shrike 8+
LT Shrike, common
Sand martin, few
Barn swallow, common
Red-rumped swallow, 2
Zitting cisticola, 2
Plain prinia, common
Chinese bulbul, few at Holiday Inn
Phylloscopus sp, a small active bird in the northern clump, poor views but had well marked tertials so almost certainly a very early YBW. No other Phylloscs today
Vinous-throated parrotbill, one small flock in the reeds
Siberian blue robin, 3, cracking views, for a British birder adult male sibe blue robin is as good as it gets.
Grey-streaked flycatcher, 1 at HI
Asian brown flycatcher, one by the seawall
Tree sparrow, few
Eastern yellow wagtail, 15+
White wagtail, few, all leucopsis

Hoping for a good fall on Sunday
 

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Hi Michael
I lam enjoying your reports and I look forward to reading more. I have just arrived in Hangzhou, just to the south of Shanghai, but I have not yet had time to explore much other than the gardens around where i live. Once I can figure out how to get around (I don't have a car) I hope to explore the coastal migration spots and write a few reports of my own. If you ever fancy heading down to Hangzhou we could meet up for some birding. Its only an hour on the train (plus an hour each end in traffic!).

Tom
 
mjgrunwell,

Thank you for posting this information about Nanhui. I missed getting out there on my last trip to Shanghai due to family commitments, but want to go there on my upcoming trip in November. Have you (or anyone reading this) stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express? Seems at less than 200 RMB a night, it might be worth it to have an earlier morning available to bird there.

Also, any thoughts on scope or no scope for this area? (I will be on foot while there, as I plan to take the subway)

Thanks again,
Bruce
 
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Answers to recent queries

1. Going to Hangzhou: Thanks but birds I need will be found at the coast, not around Hangzhou, please send me a private message and come out to the coast with me.

2. Staying at the Holiday Inn, a great idea, you would be able to bird at dawn.

3. Use of scope, if you do not have a car carrying a scope is a pain. If you want to spend time scanning waders then it is very useful but if you are looking for migrants in the bushes then it is just weight.

4. Chinese egret, Stephen I am fairly sure I scored today, awaiting photos and expert confirmation.

5. Pelicans, cypselurus92, the photo shows a tatty pelican but it is Dal not white.

More on today's adventures soon
 
@Mjgrunwell: I'm not stating that the pelican in your photos is a Great White; I'm far from an expert on Pelicans, and I've never seen any in China. I'm merely supporting your theory that it could be an escapee, as the local zoological institutions often have turned out pairs or small groups of escaped waterbirds in the past: we had Red-crowned Cranes several years ago, and Greater Flamingos earlier on this summer. If there's one pelican that's gotten out recently, it's possible it's not the only one. Hope there's no misunderstanding.

Good work on the possible Chinese Egret btw, reminds me that I need to get out and see that species sometime this year..
 
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Hi Michael,
really enjoyed today's trip to Nanhui and Xiaoyangshan - migration is finally getting into full swing.
With all the waders and herons around, challenge is still to ID attached pic of our today's special favourite - neither Brazil nor MacKinnon has given us convincing evidence whether it is a Chinese Egret or the Pacific Reef Egret (white morph).
Pics of the swiftlet are too blurry, sorry. Guess we need to get down to Nanhui once again with a much faster focussing lens to make it a Himalayan Swiftlet as suggested.
Stephan and Xueping
 

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My first visit to Yangshan, and finally getting Chinese egret?

Today, Sunday 6th September, I took the train as usual down to Dishui lake then a cab out to the Holiday Inn. Because of the National holiday last Thursday most people had to go to work today so the metro was packed like a weekday. My first stop was the car park and my first bird was a cracking male Japanese Paradise fly, I assume a first year as it was sans tail extensions. A few minute later I met up with Stephan and Xueping. I suggested we drive over to check out Yangshan island. It is an incredible drive over 30 km of elevated causeway (the Donghai bridge) across the sea to the small islands which have all been joined by landfill to create one of the largest container ports in the world. The two scrubby hillsides we tried had some promising cover but very few birds. However we had a total of 5 egrets which must have been Chinese, however Brazil is very poor on this species. Basically little egret size but longer yellowish bill, greenish legs and peculiar active darting feeding action with the bill held out like preparing to come in for a diagonal attack. Simply nothing like Brazil. I was worried about pale phase pacific reef heron, but 5? All pale and no greyish ones? Stephan took some pictures which are posted above, grateful for confirmation from those familiar with the species.
We drove back to the mainland, seeing and photographing another Himalayan swiftlet. The tide was now high but we had some nice views of waders close to the sea wall. We checked out the car park again then drove north to the two clumps at Dongtan, more JPFs, few warblers and the same sibe blue robins as last Thursday. Another 3 wader species brought up an incredible 28 species here in the last three weeks!
A great day out, my thanks to Stephan for the lift.

Complete list, Sunday 6th September 2015, Nanhui coast and Yangshan island

Dabchick, few on pools
Striated heron, one on Yangshan
BC night heron, few
Cattle egret, few
Grey heron 10+
Little egret, 100+
(WT- pending) Chinese egret, 5 on Yangshan, awaiting confirmation on photos
BW stilt, few
LRP, 10+
Kentish plover, 30+
Lesser sand plover, 40+
Greater sand plover, 4+
Common snipe, 2
Whimbrel, 30+
Greenshank 10+
Grey-tailed tattler, one
Sanderling, 40+
RN stint, few
Dunlin, few
Black tailed gull, 2 imms past
No time spent on terns today
Spotted dove 2
Cuckoo sp, at least one prob lesser
Himalayan swiftlet, prolonged views of at least 1 flying over reeds about 2km south of HI. I also briefly saw one over the HI in the morning. Photographed, see above. Definitely not Germain’s. Guess they are regular through here at this time?
Pacific swift, 2+
Brown shrike, 2
LT shrike, common
(WT) Japanese Paradise flycatcher. A total of at least 5 birds today; 1 imm male, 2 females at HI, imm male and female at Dongtan clump. Really cracking birds, they clearly move through in good numbers early September.
Sand martin, few
Barn swallow, very common today
Chinese bulbul, few
Arctic warbler, 4+
(Presumed) pale-legged leaf warbler, 8+ today, it may of course be possible that they were all Sakhalin leaf? We need to get more data on date of main movement of these species down the coast.
Eastern crowned warbler, 4+
Blue rock thrush, at least one on Yangshan
Siberian blue robin, at least 3 today, presumed same imm male as Thursday at HI. Presumed same pair at Dongtan clump.
Brown fly, 1
Eastern yellow wagtail, 10+ (presumed his species, need to do more work on this)
White wag, few leucopsis

Again, grateful for comments re the putative Chinese egret.
 
Your white egret

I do not know which egret you've photographed, but I've written down some information from A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia and from The Birds of China for you, just in case you do not have copies. The first has a chart that I reproduced that might be of some help. Attached as PDF.

Also, found this in A Field Guide to the Waterbirds of Asia (1993):
Chinese Egret:
Non-breeding: no crest or plumes; lores greenish-grey, legs yellow-brown. Bill black with pale pinkish base to lower mandible. Difficult to distinguish from non-breeding white morph of Reef Egret; but latter's bill is thick until near tip, then narrows sharply; in flight legs project less; less exposed skin on tibia; soles of toes yellowish.
 

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The egret above is Chinese. I see hundreds like this here in Dalian. 100% Chinese. Good job! You are right about there not being much literature about juv./non-breeding birds. Chinese Egret breed here in high numbers and the mudflats are covered with Egrets identical to what you have photographed.

Loving your reports,
Tom
 
ID of Chinese egret

Firstly thanks to Stephan and Xueping for the great photos of the Chinese egret and Himalayan swiftlet. Thanks to Tom for confirming the ID. And thanks to Bruce for summarizing the literature.

I have done some research, mainly looking at the photos of Chinese egret on orientalbirdimages.
It is clear that Brazil is simply wrong and misleading on Chinese egret in both the text and the ghastly illustration

In my view, here is what the text should say.

About the same size as little egret, perhaps thicker, slightly shorter neck. Behaviour distinctive, very alert when feeding, often holding head forward and to one side. Often darts forward whilst crouched.

Bill shape distinctive, about as long as little egret but thicker and more dagger-like, clear slight droop to bill about 2/3 to tip. Overall impression is a large, long bill with a slightly drooping tip.
Breeding plumage: legs are black with orangey toes, long crest and some streaks on breast and warmer colour on back. Bill at peak breeding is intense orange with area of blue on lores. Outside peak breeding the bill is a less intense orange.
Non-breeding plumage: Bill turns to blackish with yellowish base and proximal cutting edges. Crest retained but can be less obvious. Can maintain warmer tones on back and slight brownish streaking on belly. Legs become pale greenish-grey or greenish-yellow.

With respect to Pacific reef heron:
1. What is the status of this species on the coast around Shanghai?
2. What is the percentage split of dark/light morphs?
It would be nice to find a pale morph to be able to make a detailed comparison.
 
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The Reef Heron has never been recorded in Shanghai. It is found in small and localised numbers further down the coast in Fujian.

I'm not sure about the percentage split along the south Chinese coast...maybe MKinHK (whose haunts do have some Reef Herons) may have some information there?
 
Eastern Reef Egret distribution paper

This attached 1991 paper on white/dark morph distribution says that, during this study, no white morph were found above the 30th parallel in Japan:

"Takara Island in the Tokara Archipelago (57) was the northern limit of white Eastern Reef Herons (Fig. 2). All 50 birds were the dark morph in the north of the Watase Line, a biogeographic boundary that runs through the Tokara Straits at the latitude of 3O”N,..."

I would note that Shanghai is at 31.2 degrees north latitude. Hangzhou is at 30.25 degrees.

Just one study, but interesting none-the-less.

*Edited to include this link for separating Chinese from Pacific Reef:
http://orientalbirdclub.org/chinese-egret/
 

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... I've written down some information from A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia and from The Birds of China for you, just in case you do not have copies. The first has a chart that I reproduced that might be of some help. Attached as PDF.

Hey, thanks from me! A useful little guide to Egret identification.
 
Birding Asia # 23 June 2015: 88-91: Lamont, A.R: "Chinese Egret Egretta eulophotes breeds in suburban Shanghai, China"
 
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