[Dong Bei]

After arriving back in Jinshitan last night we attempted to head out at a decent time this morning to bird Laotieshan all day. We had a slight issue with an ATM eating a bank card and after a decent amount of time and 7 different workers in the bank working our case, we retrieved the card and were on our way... Despite this, we hit most of the Laotieshan areas today. The weather was a factor starting at -15 warming to around -10 and then cooling off again as darkness set in. There was also a 40 km/h wind on top. We were prepared for it and were dressed well. We left with a new appreciation of the phrase "Dalian wind". Laotieshan is located on the very southern tip of the Liaodong Penninsula and is the place where all the raptors and passerines migrate through during spring and fall migration times. In the winter there can be surprises there with some individuals of migratory species not willing to make the jump across the ocean to Shandong Province.

List:
Common Pheasant - 2
Common Merganser - 2
Red-breated Merganser - 8
Great Crested Grebe - 1
Eurasian Kestrel - 1
Buzzard Sp. - 1
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 2
Black-tailed Gull - 50
Mongolian Gull - 15
Hill Pigeon - 3
Oriental Turtle Dove - 2
Bull-headed Shrike - 2
Bohemian Waxwing - 2
Great Tit - 30
Coal Tit - 15
Chinese Hill Warbler - 2
Chinese Bulbul - 3
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
Goldcrest - 1
Eurasian Nuthatch - 1 (first Dalian record for me)
Chinese Nuthatch - 1
Naumann's Thrush - 25
Daurian Redstart - 2
Siberian Accentor - 12
Brambling - 30
Pallas's Rosefinch - 25
Hawfinch - 4
Yellow-throated Bunting - 75
Pallas's Bunting - 1

Marine Mammals:
Fin-less Porpoise - over 50
Seal Sp. - 1

[Frogfish]

I would be more than happy with that fine list Tom. Congrats on the mammals and Euro-Nut too ! I was just saying to McMadd and Dev last week that I haven't seen a Nuthatch around Shanghai (or Hangzhou, Wu Yuan, Po Yang. Yang Shan etc.) since I've been birding here (just over a year) despite finding what looked to be very suitable habitat.

[Dong Bei]

I took my wife and two children down to the beach today because the weather had warmed up to around zero. The kids played on the giant ice chunks piled up in a shallow bay. On the way home we decided to swing by the Little Owl place and see if it was out and we were rewared with good looks. After this we saw a lot of species very quickly so decided to take the long way home and do a bit of birding.

Common Pheasant - 1
Ruddy Shelduck - 1
Mallard - 2
Little Grebe - 1
Eurasian Kestrel - 2
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Hen Harrier - 1
Rough-legged Buzzard - 1
Upland Buzzard - 1
Little Owl - 1
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Great Tit - 5
Eurasian Skylark - 50
Vinous-throated Parrotbill - 1 group
Siberian Accentor - 1
Oriental Greenfinch - 50
Meadow Bunting - 2
Yellow-throated Bunting - 5
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 5

[Dong Bei]

Went for a drive for around 3 hours this afternoon with my son. I covered a lot of areas but never really went far from the car. The list includes a short drive yesterday as well.

Common Pheasant
Common Shelduck - 75
Gadwall - 2
Falcated Duck - 50
Mallard - many
Spot-billed Duck - 3
Common Goldeneye - 1
Red-breasted Merganser - 2
Little Grebe - 1
Pelagic Cormorant - 2
Eurasian Kestrel - 7
Hen Harrier - 2
Eastern Buzzard - 2
Rough-legged Buzzard - 1
Black-tailed Gull - 25
Common Gull - 10
Mongolian Gull - 5
Little Owl - 1
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Great Tit - 5
Coal Tit - 3
Eurasian Skylark - 20
Chinese Bulbul - 2
Crested Myna - 1
Naumann's Thrush - 2
Siberian Accentor - 1
Long-tailed Rosefinch - 1
Meadow Bunting - 5
Yellow-throated Bunting - 2
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 10

[Dong Bei]

I walked around my housing complex for an hour this morning. Temperature was right around zero but with a warm wind bringing in warmer air. I can whistle the Chinese Hill Warbler call so after hearing one in some scrub I had it out and dancing in front of me for a minute or so. See the picture to see how extensive their tails are. The wind was fanning it out nicely. The Naumann's Thrushes are also more tame right around my house and I was able to get a shot in habitat with the winter berries all around. Three variations of the Chinese Hill Warbler call also below.

[Dong Bei]

recordings

[MKinHK]

Love the first and last pix - wonderful to have them in your compound!

Cheers
Mike

[Gretchen]

Originally Posted by MKinHK

Love the first and last pix - wonderful to have them in your compound!

Cheers
Mike

AGREE!!

[Dong Bei]

Enjoy! Thanks to Cyril and Raphael from Switzerland for an excellent trip!

[Dong Bei]

I was asked to put something together about birding in Liaoning by Nial Moores for the Birds of Korea web site. Thanks to them for organizing everything and posting it here.

http://www.birdskoreablog.org/?p=7509

[AndrewHeath]

Originally Posted by Dong Bei

I was asked to put something together about birding in Liaoning by Nial Moores for the Birds of Korea web site. Thanks to them for organizing everything and posting it here.

http://www.birdskoreablog.org/?p=7509

Lovely little post, Tom! Some quick feedback:

1) There's a typo just above the first photo: During spring migration, the birding is also excellent but the numbers aren’t nearly as high as they are in the spring.

2) The photo of the birders cowering behind the roadside wall is hilarious!

3) I am more determined than ever to visit you at least once this year on our new high-speed rail link!

4) I wish you had included a small map of the peninsula with flags marking the spots you introduced.

5) I will continue to fart in your general direction until you start recording more checklists on eBird. You're sitting on a gold mine of scientific data!

6) How's your book coming? :-D

[Dong Bei]

Andrew and others,

1. sorry
2. thanks
3. c'mon down!
4. sorry
5. fart away!
6. I was going to make a post about this at some point so now seems like a good time. I have finished the second edition of the Birds of Dalian a few nights ago. Of course a project like this is never finished and I will continue to update it as I find and photograph stuff but I'm at a point now where I feel I have a good second edition. I am tempted to throw every first edition into the Yellow Sea. Let's just say that the second edition is something that I'm happy with. It includes around 275 species. It has 3 photos of each bird with a short write up that includes a description, status in Dalian, and size. There are also maps in the front highlighting several of the hot spots in the area and a 5 page section that introduces several types of habitat. I have a front and back cover finished and the index is also done. I also have an ISBN number. My goal was to have this all finished and available online by the end of my holiday (I go back to work on Monday) and everything was on track. I was going to upload it using smashwords and it was going to be available as an ebook on ibooks, amazon's kindle, and all the rest. This all came to a halt late last night when I was informed that it is too big for smashwords (and other organizations that help authors publish ebooks). The book has 971 images and this makes the size so big. If I shrink it down to acceptable size, I'm worried I will lose picture quality. I made it in microsoft publisher and can convert it to an .epub, PDF, or other formats.

I am not good at this stage of the process and got quite frustrated last night. I would be happy to pay someone to take care of it. I found a guy online who would take care of formatting to fit the online format for $40. He was the one who informed me that the file was too big. I have an e-mail out to him asking what he would recommend. When shrunk to an .epub file it is still 50.5 mb. In microsoft publisher it is around 350 mb in size.

I want to publish this second edition in any way. I funded the first edition and have got all of my money back plus some profit but don't have the liquid funds to do that for the second. I have tried several organizations to see if they would be willing to do it but all of them have responded they don't have the cash at the moment but like the product and the idea. The book is rather narrow focused and so it would be best to have an organization in Dalian do it but I can't find any. It would sell very well in Dalian especially if it was translated into Chinese. There is nothing even close to a nature guide in print or online here in this city of 6 million. My goal would be to have it as both a printed book (maybe as a print-on-demand) and also available online as an ebook in English and Chinese.

Does anyone have any advise for me or know of an organization I could contact? I would be willing to donate a lot of it to the organization if they wanted to use it as a fundraiser. I think someone or some group could make money on it if they were tech minded and had the time. I would rather be out in the forest than dealing with formatting and being a salesman. I have the book in a drop box and can easily send it to whoever might want to have a look.

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

[AndrewHeath]

Originally Posted by Dong Bei

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

This might seem a bit cliched, but I think your project is a good fit for the Kickstarter model.

My reasoning:

1. In our PM discussion you mentioned a modest goal of printing around 500 copies. That run-scale + the localized scope + the legitimacy of an ISBN makes me believe this would be an instant collector's item.
2. Your book draft is complete. It could probably use some 3rd party editorial criticism (what books don't?) but you're not selling an idea -- you've got a concrete product already.
3. Your funding needs are relatively modest. I dare say that only $10,000 would cover your entire run plus more nebulous costs like time spent finding shops to carry the book.
4. Your Kickstarter "support levels" are obvious... $20 gets you a book, $25 gets you ____ + ebook, $30 gets you ____ + personalized inscription from the handsome author, $100 gets you ____ + a particular number of choice from the print run (say "7 of 500") on a first-paid-first-claimed basis, $200 gets you ____ + a day of birding with the handsome author in the Dalian area.
5. Birdwatchers are by nature a rather idiosyncratic bunch, always looking for that rare or exclusive sighting. What would appeal more than a chance to get one of only 500 guides printed for this area? Second-hand books like that for other parts of the world routinely command $X00 prices on Amazon.
6. You could offer all supporters a mention on a special "Thanks..." page in the book. Nothing gets people more irrationally excited than seeing their name in public!
7. Lastly, if after XX days your funding needs on Kickstarter are not met you just bag the whole thing and explore other options. Apart from the time needed to adequately design your Kickstarter marketing spiel, you lose nothing for trying. The opportunity costs are very low.

So yeah, let's get it rolling!

[Terry Townshend]

Tom,

Many congratulations on finishing your second edition... I know how much time and effort you have put into it and it's a magnificent achievement. A copy of the first edition sits proudly on my bookshelf here in Beijing and I think it's brilliant... I know that the second edition is going to be THE definitive guide to the Birds of Dalian for years to come.

It seems like a no-brainer for a Dalian-based company or an international NGO to fund it. But in the absence of this, Kickstarter is definitely worth a try.

I'll ask around a few Chinese friends to see whether they have ideas... but in the meantime, I wish you the best of luck in finding someone to back this hugely worthwhile project...

Terry

[MKinHK]

Tom

A Chinese version makes an awful lots of sense.Especially as Dalian is a top migration spot that should attract a great many more birders than it does at present.

I'd be interested to know what your expected costs are for translation and production. I have a few ideas about potential funders in HK who may be able to help.

Drop me a PM if you prefer.

Cheers
Mike

[Dong Bei]

Went for the afternoon with my daughter. Beautiful day but too windy for the scope....

List:
Common Shelduck - 3
Ruddy Shelduck - 150
Mallard - 50
Spot-billed Duck - 100
Eurasian Kestrel - 1
White-tailed Sea Eagle - 18!
Eastern Buzzard - 1
Black-tailed Gull - 2
Common Gull - 25
Vega Gull - 5
Mongolian Gull -- could be the most I've ever seen there. Thousands.
Heughlin's Gull - 2
Black-headed Gull - 10
Chinese Grey Shrike - 1
Eurasian Skylark - 3

[McMadd]

Laridaceous! Could keep one out of mischief for hours that lot...

M

[Dong Bei]

I've seen many big Yellow-legged Gulls in this area. What can people make of this? Is this the controversial birulai ssp of the Vega Gull? Taimyrensis Heughlin's Gull? This one is from yesterday.

[MKinHK]

Nailed the curl on the Mallard's butt perfectly!

Cheers
Mike

[Dong Bei]

Went for 2 hours with my son and sat on the sea wall along the main river channel there. We threw rocks in the water, cracked ice in the small puddles, and did a lot of talking about everything! We also happened to be in a spot where the very very early signs of migration can be seen. The three Swans seen there today have come in from somewhere and so the mind begins to dream of migration again! I know its only February but birds are always moving....

I sometimes sit on that wall area just to see what is moving (flying) in or out of the river channel. I was following the Red-breasted Merganser with my camera getting some close flight shots when suddenly I couldn't find it through my view finder. I lowered my camera to see where it went and heard a huge splash at the same time. Turns out a Peregrine was chasing it and the Merganser hit the water hard to escape. I was taking around 8 pictures per second so checked back on my camera and sure enough I had captured the moment! It shows you how fast these things actually happen. I had observed the 2 Peregrines hunting Mallards further up the channel but hadn't noticed the one chasing the Merganser as I photograhed it. The picture of the incident below is out of focus and was barely in the bottom corner of the frame. The Peregrine pulled up and waited around a bit before leaving. The Merganser stayed safely on the deck right in front of us, not wanting to be too close to me, but also not wanting to get back into the air any time soon. This made for some close observation and my son had that look in his eye of a future birder throughout the entire sequence of events. Natural dramas like this happen all the time, we just aren't around the observe them. You don't have to go to the Serengeti in Africa to see it.......just have to be sitting on a sea wall looking around enjoying the day. We rode out on my motorbike today (first in a very long time) and almost stood around without gloves. Temperature was right around zero but with a strong wind. A Peregrine going after a Merganser? Opportunists I guess.

List:

Whooper Swan - 3
Common Shelduck - 100
Gadwall - 4
Falcated Duck - 10
Mallard - 100
Common Goldeneye - 3
Common Merganser - 1 male
Red-breasted Merganser - 1 scared female
Eurasian Kestrel - 3
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Eastern Buzzard - 1
Black-tailed Gull - 5
Common Gull - 15
Mongolian Gull - 10
Chinese Bulbul - 4 flyovers
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 10 in the scrub along the sea wall.

[Dong Bei]

Headed out today again for a few hours at the same place but got chased home by a very cold and strong wind. My fingers are still not completely back and I'm having to type this slowly because of it...

When I arrived, my motorcycle (not me of coarse) scared two Red-breasted Mergansers from a small area of open water near the trail. As they proceeded to cross the dike and drop into the adjacent pond, the same Peregrines as yesterday came onto the scene and one actually hit the male quite hard. It wasn't hard enough, however. Again I had a Red-breasted Merganser right beside me and not wanting to get back into the air. He was so close that I could apologize for almost ending its life. He accepted and moved on after a minute or so.

I'm sick of COLD!!!!!!!!!! (and it's not even March yet....)

List:

Whooper Swan - 3
Common Shelduck - 15
Gadwall - 1
Eurasian Wigeon - 2
Mallard - many
Spot-billed Duck - 1
Common Goldeneye - 20
Common Merganser - 15
Red-breasted Merganser - 4
Peregrine Falcon - 2
Rough-legged Buzzard - 3 hunting near each other along the road on the way back. Would have tried for a photo but my hands were done at that point.
Eurasian Sparrowhawk - 1 sitting on the mud near a group of ducks?
Black-tailed Gull - 2
Common gull - 20
Mongolian Gull - 10
Varied Tit - several in my housing complex this morning.
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 15

[Dong Bei]

from today

[Dong Bei]

Getting some quality votes for taimyrensis Heuglin's Gull from the post above (#793).

[Dong Bei]

Been quite busy back to work in the last week and a half. I did get out for an hour just before dark yesterday. The fresh water ponds are all still frozen solid but the salt water channel is ice-free. I went and sat where this flows into the ocean and just waited for things to fly past.

List includes:

Common Goldeneye - 15
Common Merganser - 10
Red-breasted Merganser - 10
Eurasian Wigeon - 8
Garganey - 4
Mallard - many
Falcated Duck - 2
Gadwall - 3
Eurasian Skylark - 1
Oriental Greenfinch - 2
Pallas's Reed Bunting - 15

[MKinHK]

Lovely set of pix - envious on all counts - and bring on the Scaly-sided!

Cheers
Mike