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Dalian (Jinshitan) Birding Reports (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Dong Bei
- Start date
Sea farming ponds area April 7, 2012
Two-barred Crossbill!! I went to my usual dike along the channel and was met by a guy waiting to tell me that I was no longer allowed in. I put up a bit of a fight and left resolved to talk to the big boss in the future about gaining access. Dejected I was trying to get to another area not owned by the "boss" and went along some forest edge on the way. There are a lot of conifers in that forest patch. I heard something and stopped to see. At first the sound reminded me of Chinese Grey Shrike which I have recorded the sound of before but this was a bit off. (Maybe you're wondering what the similarities are but check out my recording on xeon-canto) I scanned the trees but couldn't locate the bird until I got closer and it flew to a branch just above an old Magpie nest. It continued to call so I recorded it. I couldn't get better photos because it left soon after and I had to as well. This is a record shot attached but does clearly show the two white wing bars.
Needless to say, I'm back to the same spot at first light tomorrow.
List:
Common Pheasant
Common Shelduck
Eurasian Wigeon - 2
Malalrd
Spot-billed Duck
Eurasian Kestrel
Little-ringed Plover - 2
Kentish Plover - close to 100
many gulls but I was not allowed in the check out what they were
Great Tit
Red-flanked Bluetail - 1 gorgeous male
Daurian Redstart - 1
White Wagtail - many
Oriental Greenfinch
Two-barred Crossbill - 1
Black-faced Bunting - 6
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 5
Two-barred Crossbill!! I went to my usual dike along the channel and was met by a guy waiting to tell me that I was no longer allowed in. I put up a bit of a fight and left resolved to talk to the big boss in the future about gaining access. Dejected I was trying to get to another area not owned by the "boss" and went along some forest edge on the way. There are a lot of conifers in that forest patch. I heard something and stopped to see. At first the sound reminded me of Chinese Grey Shrike which I have recorded the sound of before but this was a bit off. (Maybe you're wondering what the similarities are but check out my recording on xeon-canto) I scanned the trees but couldn't locate the bird until I got closer and it flew to a branch just above an old Magpie nest. It continued to call so I recorded it. I couldn't get better photos because it left soon after and I had to as well. This is a record shot attached but does clearly show the two white wing bars.
Needless to say, I'm back to the same spot at first light tomorrow.
List:
Common Pheasant
Common Shelduck
Eurasian Wigeon - 2
Malalrd
Spot-billed Duck
Eurasian Kestrel
Little-ringed Plover - 2
Kentish Plover - close to 100
many gulls but I was not allowed in the check out what they were
Great Tit
Red-flanked Bluetail - 1 gorgeous male
Daurian Redstart - 1
White Wagtail - many
Oriental Greenfinch
Two-barred Crossbill - 1
Black-faced Bunting - 6
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 5
Attachments
Sea farming ponds area April 8 early morning
Two hour visit early today. Relocated the Crossbill which was in the same general area but then flew off around 6:30 am looking like it was moving out of the area. Managed somewhat better pictures and another recording. I didn't get too close. I also thouroughly explored this new area listening and looking for more. It is primarily a coniferous section and quite large. I can't believe I've never been there before. Found a few other things listed below.
Common Pheasant
Mallard
Common Goldeneye - 5
Kentish Plover
Little-ringed Plover - 5
Mongolian Gulls
Hoopoe
Great Tit
Coal Tit - 1
Barn Swallow - 2
Chinese Bulbul - a group of 20 flew over looking like they were migrating
Pallas's Leaf Warbler - 3 FOS
Dusky Thrush - 1
Red-flanked Bluetail - 4
Daurian Redstart - 1
White Wagtail
Olive-backed Pipit - 2 FOS
Brambling
Greenfinch - many eating seeds in pine cones
Two-barred Crossbill - 1
Meadow Bunting - 3
Little Bunting - 15
Black-faced Bunting - 5
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 4
Two hour visit early today. Relocated the Crossbill which was in the same general area but then flew off around 6:30 am looking like it was moving out of the area. Managed somewhat better pictures and another recording. I didn't get too close. I also thouroughly explored this new area listening and looking for more. It is primarily a coniferous section and quite large. I can't believe I've never been there before. Found a few other things listed below.
Common Pheasant
Mallard
Common Goldeneye - 5
Kentish Plover
Little-ringed Plover - 5
Mongolian Gulls
Hoopoe
Great Tit
Coal Tit - 1
Barn Swallow - 2
Chinese Bulbul - a group of 20 flew over looking like they were migrating
Pallas's Leaf Warbler - 3 FOS
Dusky Thrush - 1
Red-flanked Bluetail - 4
Daurian Redstart - 1
White Wagtail
Olive-backed Pipit - 2 FOS
Brambling
Greenfinch - many eating seeds in pine cones
Two-barred Crossbill - 1
Meadow Bunting - 3
Little Bunting - 15
Black-faced Bunting - 5
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 4
Attachments
Terry Townshend
Regular vagrant
Hi Tom,
Excellent record! The call is the 'trumpet' call of Two-barred. There are historical winter records of this species in Beijing but none for at least 25 years... I am sure it is more frequent in Liaoning Province, given its more northerly location, but I bet it's very scarce there too. Two-barred Crossbill is an irruption species so maybe there are more records to come....!?
Terry
Excellent record! The call is the 'trumpet' call of Two-barred. There are historical winter records of this species in Beijing but none for at least 25 years... I am sure it is more frequent in Liaoning Province, given its more northerly location, but I bet it's very scarce there too. Two-barred Crossbill is an irruption species so maybe there are more records to come....!?
Terry
Two-barred Crossbill
Tom: Superb record. Congratulations. I agree with Terry that they are probably overlooked as they sometimes mix with other Crossbills but they are no doubt generally very scarce.
Tom: Superb record. Congratulations. I agree with Terry that they are probably overlooked as they sometimes mix with other Crossbills but they are no doubt generally very scarce.
coniferous forest April 8 afternoon
Family outing to the forest. We happened to have our outing right where the crossbill had been seen yesterday and this morning
. No sign of it. I did go on a few walks and the place is very good for passage migrants. It's right on the ocean and sticks out a bit from the main coastline. A huge mudflat can be viewed from the area but it's very distant. I need to invest in some of the white boots the fishermen wear around here to check it out. In May I just where sandals but it's too cold for that yet.
Common Pheasant
Common Shelduck
Mallard
Grey Heron -- check out the photo for a different angle than most!
Far Eastern Curlew - 1
Mongolian Gull
Black-tailed Gull
Common Gull
Oriental Turtle Dove - 10
Hill Pigeon - 4
Hoopoe - 1
Barn Swallow - 3
Great Tit - 5
Dusky Thrush - 15
Red-flanked Bluetail - 3
White Wagtail - 10
Olive-backed Pipit - 25 at least
Brambling - 50
Greenfinch - 25
Little Bunting - around 30
Black-faced Bunting - 2
Family outing to the forest. We happened to have our outing right where the crossbill had been seen yesterday and this morning
. No sign of it. I did go on a few walks and the place is very good for passage migrants. It's right on the ocean and sticks out a bit from the main coastline. A huge mudflat can be viewed from the area but it's very distant. I need to invest in some of the white boots the fishermen wear around here to check it out. In May I just where sandals but it's too cold for that yet.Common Pheasant
Common Shelduck
Mallard
Grey Heron -- check out the photo for a different angle than most!
Far Eastern Curlew - 1
Mongolian Gull
Black-tailed Gull
Common Gull
Oriental Turtle Dove - 10
Hill Pigeon - 4
Hoopoe - 1
Barn Swallow - 3
Great Tit - 5
Dusky Thrush - 15
Red-flanked Bluetail - 3
White Wagtail - 10
Olive-backed Pipit - 25 at least
Brambling - 50
Greenfinch - 25
Little Bunting - around 30
Black-faced Bunting - 2
Attachments
Congrats on the two barred! (the two toots? I suppose "trumpet"...) Great to have found a new site too...
I'm enjoying the recordings - thanks for posting them. (Have you said what equipment you're using? It sounds good.)
New view on Grey Heron for me - I really haven't identified one flying yet, so this is interesting.
PS meant to say beautiful Greenfinch picture - great looking bird!
I'm enjoying the recordings - thanks for posting them. (Have you said what equipment you're using? It sounds good.)
New view on Grey Heron for me - I really haven't identified one flying yet, so this is interesting.
PS meant to say beautiful Greenfinch picture - great looking bird!
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On Tuesday I had the privilege of being invited to Faku County just north of Shenyang for a Siberian Crane festival and conference. The aim of the day was to raise awareness to try to get one wetland area protected. Thanks to Professor Zhou from Shenyang University for the invite and to Leighton (a Beijing birder based in Dalian) for his translation services and company during the trip. Terry Townshend was also invited and it was nice to spend a day with him again also. It was a miracle in itself that I was able to get the day off work and go. The trip was all expenses paid too so that was a treat and made it more possible. One fantastic part of the day was being able to speak directly to the government of the area about the importance of the site. Terry and I both had the opportunity to speak as well as do several interviews with Xinhua, CCTV, Tianjin news (now covering the Siberian Crane journey after a wounded one was injured near Tianjin and released where we were) and other local news. Terry summarized our trip well on his blog at http://birdingbeijing.wordpress.com/ and I won't add to that other than post the list of birds we saw at the wetlands including 2 Siberian Cranes. We had a bit of time before the ceremony and following round table discussion for some birding. If we had more time for birding I'm sure there were some other goodies there as well. It's a fantastic birding site for the Cranes but for many other species as well. There is said to be as much as 2000 Siberian Cranes that use this place as a migratory stop over site on their way to Siberia. Next year there is talk of doing the festival again a few weeks earlier when more of the cranes are present.
The list: much of this was not carefully documented as we had plenty of other things going on while we were birding. This is a brief summary of some of the birds that were there.
Common Pheasant
Swan Goose -- quite a few fly overs on the way to the site. Maybe 50 confirmed?
Bean Goose - in the hundreds
Greater White-fronted Goose - also in the hundreds
Lesser White-fronted Goose - one group flew over that were confirmed but there could have been more
Whooper Swan - around 20
Ruddy Shelduck - 3
Gadwall - many
Eurasian Wigeon - 5?
Mallard
Spot-billed Ducks
Northern Shoveler - 6
Garganey - a few
Baikal Teal - hundreds of Teal present and when they flew I was able to see some Baikal but no idea about the number - quite a distance
Eurasian Teal - in the hundreds
Common Pochard - also in the hundreds and we were sure there must have been a Baer's in there but couldn't sneek away to sort through the hundreds of Pochard present.
Tufted Duck - a few
Common Goldeneye - a few
Smew - maybe 15?
Common Merganser - 20?
Great-crested Grebe - 30
Litte Grebe - 10
Grey Heron - 10
Little Egret - 1 my first for the year.
Osprey - 1 actively fishing
Eastern Marsh Harrier - 2 my first for the year
Eastern Buzzard - 1
Coot - 2 large groups and some singles, maybe 60?
Siberian Crane - 2 but we supposedly arrived just too late to see the hundreds that roosted there the night before.
Stilt - 15
Grey-headed Lapwing - 1
Northern Lapwing - 15
Kentish plover - 3
Dunlin - 2
Mongolian Gull - 10?
Black-headed Gull - 25
Eurasian turtle Dove - 10
Common Kingfisher - 1
Hoopoe - 4
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Rook - 10
Barn Swallow - 5
White-cheeked Starling - 10
Common Starling - 2 My second record for Liaoning and first in 3 years.
The list: much of this was not carefully documented as we had plenty of other things going on while we were birding. This is a brief summary of some of the birds that were there.
Common Pheasant
Swan Goose -- quite a few fly overs on the way to the site. Maybe 50 confirmed?
Bean Goose - in the hundreds
Greater White-fronted Goose - also in the hundreds
Lesser White-fronted Goose - one group flew over that were confirmed but there could have been more
Whooper Swan - around 20
Ruddy Shelduck - 3
Gadwall - many
Eurasian Wigeon - 5?
Mallard
Spot-billed Ducks
Northern Shoveler - 6
Garganey - a few
Baikal Teal - hundreds of Teal present and when they flew I was able to see some Baikal but no idea about the number - quite a distance
Eurasian Teal - in the hundreds
Common Pochard - also in the hundreds and we were sure there must have been a Baer's in there but couldn't sneek away to sort through the hundreds of Pochard present.
Tufted Duck - a few
Common Goldeneye - a few
Smew - maybe 15?
Common Merganser - 20?
Great-crested Grebe - 30
Litte Grebe - 10
Grey Heron - 10
Little Egret - 1 my first for the year.
Osprey - 1 actively fishing
Eastern Marsh Harrier - 2 my first for the year
Eastern Buzzard - 1
Coot - 2 large groups and some singles, maybe 60?
Siberian Crane - 2 but we supposedly arrived just too late to see the hundreds that roosted there the night before.
Stilt - 15
Grey-headed Lapwing - 1
Northern Lapwing - 15
Kentish plover - 3
Dunlin - 2
Mongolian Gull - 10?
Black-headed Gull - 25
Eurasian turtle Dove - 10
Common Kingfisher - 1
Hoopoe - 4
Great-spotted Woodpecker - 1
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Rook - 10
Barn Swallow - 5
White-cheeked Starling - 10
Common Starling - 2 My second record for Liaoning and first in 3 years.
Attachments
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Terry Townshend
Regular vagrant
It was a fun day, despite the awful sandstorm! And hopefully we did some good.. I'll keep in touch with Wetlands International and the Forestry Administration guys to see whether the promises are backed up with actions. On the way home they told me that the Party Secretary has only been in power 3 years and is likely to serve two terms (10 years in total) so he may take a longer term view than would perhaps many people in his position. The toast to the Party Secretary at lunch from the Wetlands International guy - "If you do as you say, I will respect you" was heartfelt.
Jinshitan April 13, 2012
Went to the Country Club and Sea-farming Ponds today for about an hour each but the tide was completely up so the main mudflats weren't exposed for shorebirds. The internet said the temperature was 14 degrees today but, as is usual here, the warm air that moved in last night was cooled by the surrounding oceans which resulted in dense fog. As a result, fog covered almost everywhere for most of the day and the temperature was around 5-6 degrees.
Common Pheasant
Common Shelduck - 4
Gadwall - 7
Falcated Duck - 2
Mallard
Spot-billed Duck
Northern Shoveler - 3
Eurasian Teal - 30
Tufted Duck - 2
Little Grebe - 6
Eurasian Kestrel - 1
Common Coot - 3
Grey Plover - 1
Little-ringed Plover - 13
Kentish Plover - approx 125
Bar-tailed Godwit - 2
Green Sandpiper - 1 (FOS)
Wood Sandpiper - 2 (FOS)
Terek Sandpiper - 1 (FOS)
Common Sandpiper - 2 (FOS)
Black-tailed Gull - several hundred
Common Gull - 2
Mongolian Gull - 10
Hill Pigeon - 5
Oriental Turtle Dove - 1
Common Kingfisher (FOS for Jinshitan)
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit - 3
Pallas's Leaf Warbler - 9
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
White-cheeked Starling - 2 (FOS for Jinshitan)
Crested Myna - back in town and breeding in the area now.
Naumann's Thrush - 2
Dusky Thrush - 10
Dusky x Naumann's - 20
Red-flanked Bluetail - 2
White Wagtail - 20
Grey Wagtail - 2
Olive-backed Pipit - 3
Brambling - a group of 20
Oriental Greenfinch - saw 2 but heard more in the fog.
Little Bunting - 8
Yellow-throated Bunting - 1 probably the last one I will see until Oct.
Pallas's Reed Bunting - heard in the fog
Went to the Country Club and Sea-farming Ponds today for about an hour each but the tide was completely up so the main mudflats weren't exposed for shorebirds. The internet said the temperature was 14 degrees today but, as is usual here, the warm air that moved in last night was cooled by the surrounding oceans which resulted in dense fog. As a result, fog covered almost everywhere for most of the day and the temperature was around 5-6 degrees.
Common Pheasant
Common Shelduck - 4
Gadwall - 7
Falcated Duck - 2
Mallard
Spot-billed Duck
Northern Shoveler - 3
Eurasian Teal - 30
Tufted Duck - 2
Little Grebe - 6
Eurasian Kestrel - 1
Common Coot - 3
Grey Plover - 1
Little-ringed Plover - 13
Kentish Plover - approx 125
Bar-tailed Godwit - 2
Green Sandpiper - 1 (FOS)
Wood Sandpiper - 2 (FOS)
Terek Sandpiper - 1 (FOS)
Common Sandpiper - 2 (FOS)
Black-tailed Gull - several hundred
Common Gull - 2
Mongolian Gull - 10
Hill Pigeon - 5
Oriental Turtle Dove - 1
Common Kingfisher (FOS for Jinshitan)
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit - 3
Pallas's Leaf Warbler - 9
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
White-cheeked Starling - 2 (FOS for Jinshitan)
Crested Myna - back in town and breeding in the area now.
Naumann's Thrush - 2
Dusky Thrush - 10
Dusky x Naumann's - 20
Red-flanked Bluetail - 2
White Wagtail - 20
Grey Wagtail - 2
Olive-backed Pipit - 3
Brambling - a group of 20
Oriental Greenfinch - saw 2 but heard more in the fog.
Little Bunting - 8
Yellow-throated Bunting - 1 probably the last one I will see until Oct.
Pallas's Reed Bunting - heard in the fog
Attachments
Conference
Tom: Made very good reading. I am sure all of us hope that your words of advice have not fallen on deaf ears. Change is happening so rapidly in China that it is a race against time to make sure that vital coastal and inland migration staging posts are not built over or reclaimed.
Tom: Made very good reading. I am sure all of us hope that your words of advice have not fallen on deaf ears. Change is happening so rapidly in China that it is a race against time to make sure that vital coastal and inland migration staging posts are not built over or reclaimed.
Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds April 16, 2012
Went first to the mudflat areas but the tide wasn't right to see very much. I ended up in the ponds that are at least 1km or more back from the ocean but still part of the river system and tidal area. Found a White-fronted Goose that I can't decide if it is Lesser or Greater. Some photos show steep sloping forehead, others don't. I want to say Greater but when compared to the surorunding ducks it looks too small. I can even get a hint of a white eye-ring in one of the photos if I stare at it long enough! Comments please......
The one pic shows a snared pheasant. This is the first successful capture that I've come across. I have stepped into spring loaded snares (using a young bent over tree) setting them off and even snared myself on occasion (see previous post from last winter!) but have never seen a successful capture until today.
Common Pheasant
Japanese Quail -- 1, my first photo!
White-fronted Goose Sp - 1
Gadwall - 15
Falcated Duck - 2
Eurasian Wigeon - 1
Mallard - 15
Spot-billed Duck - 10
Northern Shoveler - 5
Garganey - 11
Eurasian Teal - 30
Tufted Duck - 2
Little Grebe - 7
Grey Heron - 3
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 1
Common Coot - 4
Little-ringed PLover - 6
Kentish Plover - 4
Far-eastern Curlew - 1
Common Greenshank - 1 (FOS)
Black-tailed Gull - 100
Common Gull - 40
Black-headed Gull - 11
Common Kingfisher - 2
Chinese Penduline Tit - 2
Barn Swallow - 50
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
Naumann's Thrush - 1
White Wagtail - 10 all leucopsis
Buff-bellied Pipit - 15
Black-faced Bunting - 2
Japanese Reed Bunting - 1 (not usually seen in April here)
Went first to the mudflat areas but the tide wasn't right to see very much. I ended up in the ponds that are at least 1km or more back from the ocean but still part of the river system and tidal area. Found a White-fronted Goose that I can't decide if it is Lesser or Greater. Some photos show steep sloping forehead, others don't. I want to say Greater but when compared to the surorunding ducks it looks too small. I can even get a hint of a white eye-ring in one of the photos if I stare at it long enough! Comments please......
The one pic shows a snared pheasant. This is the first successful capture that I've come across. I have stepped into spring loaded snares (using a young bent over tree) setting them off and even snared myself on occasion (see previous post from last winter!) but have never seen a successful capture until today.
Common Pheasant
Japanese Quail -- 1, my first photo!
White-fronted Goose Sp - 1
Gadwall - 15
Falcated Duck - 2
Eurasian Wigeon - 1
Mallard - 15
Spot-billed Duck - 10
Northern Shoveler - 5
Garganey - 11
Eurasian Teal - 30
Tufted Duck - 2
Little Grebe - 7
Grey Heron - 3
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 1
Common Coot - 4
Little-ringed PLover - 6
Kentish Plover - 4
Far-eastern Curlew - 1
Common Greenshank - 1 (FOS)
Black-tailed Gull - 100
Common Gull - 40
Black-headed Gull - 11
Common Kingfisher - 2
Chinese Penduline Tit - 2
Barn Swallow - 50
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
Naumann's Thrush - 1
White Wagtail - 10 all leucopsis
Buff-bellied Pipit - 15
Black-faced Bunting - 2
Japanese Reed Bunting - 1 (not usually seen in April here)
Attachments
Terry Townshend
Regular vagrant
Tom, that is a superb photo of the Japanese Quail.. a species that is an absolute nightmare to photograph.. congratulations!
