Birds of Nanchang and Poyang Hu, Jiangxi Province (2 Viewers)

[mjgrunwell]

Aixi Lake again, Thursday 3 April

Thank you for your comments re Lt minivet and WS starling. The issue is data-deficiency, we simply have no idea of what passes through Jiangxi province at passage times. We have a good handle on Poyang Hu in winter and several well studied forest areas plus the Wuyuan area but otherwise very little.
At times I feel like the the only birder in Jiangxi, this cannot be true but where are the keen birders who go all weak-kneed at the thought of spring passage?

Anyway, back at the northern end of Aixi lake, glorious weather but less birds overall than last Sunday. Highlights were (probably the same) spring male Tristram's bunting, 20+ pallas's warbler, a very sweet songster.

The best for me was a single eastern crowned warbler, my first of the spring.

Out again birding tomorrow.

 

[MKinHK]

Terra incognita - the chance for fame, if not fortune, by bulking up the provincial list

Cheers
Mike

 

[mjgrunwell]

Around Nanchang, Fri 5 April

Today I did a short hike up the hill at Wanli with my children, little birding done but did see chestnut bulbul, many yellow-bellied and black-throated tit.

This afternoon a stroll along the river at dredger park and south of Sheng mi bridge yielded:
Pair of grey-headed lapwing, views down to 30m, noticed the wonderful red eye for the first time.
10 White-cheeked starling
5 Chinese grosbeak
Flock of 20+ Japanese white-eye

Tomorrow a full day planned out at Nanji.

 

[mjgrunwell]

Sat 5 April, Nanchang

Never made it to Nanji, just a few hours at northern end of Aixi.
Migrants just not moving yet

Best were
2 Brown Crake
5+ YB warbler
15+ Pallas's warbler
2 Brambling

 

[mjgrunwell]

Sat 12 April at Nanchang

Weather getting hot and humid this week, yesterday evening I had a very nice yellow-browed bunting showing a lot of white on the rear crown stripe at Elephant lake but not much else.

Today, Saturday, a two hour stroll at the northern end of Aixi lake produced three species clearly on the move:

Waves of chinese bulbul flying north, many hundreds over.
YB warbler calling at the top of most trees, quite difficult to see but their calls and rather simple song, based on the call, always present.
Several large flocks of Japanese white-eye, always together in tight groups, usually disappearing into a single treetop.

In addition I saw singles of smart chinese pond heron, white-breasted waterhen and a fleeting view of my very first raptor in Nanchang city: a smallish sparrowhawk zipping by, probably chinese.

Weather now getting cool cloudy with rain, out again tomorrow.

 

[MKinHK]

Male Yellow-bowed Buntings are terrific birds.

Very little passage of Chinese Goshawk through HK so far this year.

Cheers
Mike

 

[mjgrunwell]

Sunday 13 April, Elephant lake, Nanchang

I spent 5 hours today birding most of Elephant lake. The southern area has a mixture of neat parkland, old commercial fishponds and good scrubby areas. Today I discovered that some of the best scrubby areas had been bulldozed flat, just a muddy expanse. I think they are trying to turn the whole area into manicured parkland. I found the trees along the ridge line with the pagoda holding good numbers of migrants. Later I worked the monastery island in the central part of the lake, this has some nice wooded areas suitable for migrants.
The weather was cool and cloudy all day but I did see two “proper” spring migrants which gave me hope that passage is finally starting; asian brown and mugimaki flycatcher.

Full list for Sunday 13 April 2014, Elephant lake, Nanchang
Spotbill, few pairs
GC grebe, 1 pair
Dabchick few
BC Night heron, I imm
Little egret few
Moorhen, few
LRP 1
Spotshank few
Common sand few
Spotted dove, common
LT shrike few
Eastern great tit, common, the majority of great tits in the city are of this form
Barn swallow 10+
Plain prinia common
Yellow-bellied prinia, 2 singing birds
Chinese bulbul, large flocks flying around
Cettia fortipes, prefer the scientific name to the clumsy brown-flanked bush-warbler, 2 seen, none singing today
Pallas’s warbler 10+
YB warbler 30+
Masked LT several groups
WB LT, common
Hwamei, good views of one bird, but I am very suspicious of the provenance of all records in urban areas.
Japanese white-eye, 100+ at least 5 flocks
Crested myna few
Silky starling 20+
Grey-backed thrush, 3
Blackbird few
Daurian redstart 1
Asian brown flycatcher 1
Mugimaki flycatcher 1 dull male
Tree sparrow few flocks
Scaly-breasted munia 1
White wags, few flying past
Olive-backed pipit, 8+
Grey-capped greenfinch 2
Yellow-browed bunting, 10+ the males are looking very black on the face with a striking white rear coronal stripe and an amazingly yellow front super. A very smart bird
Black-faced bunting 15+
Has spring finally arrived? Hope so.

 

[mjgrunwell]

Small accipiter in Nanchang, YB buntings

Dear Mike
Thank you for your comments, so perhaps less likely to have been chinese.
Such a brief view, looked quite small, could have been chinese, japanese, european male or besra.

Clueless, leave as Accipiter sp.

With respect to YB bunting I think Brazil may be wrong? The very black faced male on plate 229 should perhaps be annotated spring or summer male as I have never seen such a bird in winter.

 

[mjgrunwell]

Sat 19 April, day out at Ji Island

A full day out at Nanji Wetlands NR, got off the bus at the junction (see earlier posts) at 9.30 and walked towards Ji. I was heartened by finding a Swinhoe’s robin hopping along the road, it started to rain heavily but I had rain gear and a brolley. I reached the island in a little over an hour’s walk, the rain then stopped and I was able to spend a pleasant 4 hours carefully checking out sheltered wooded areas. When I reached the far eastern corner I walked up a track to the top of the bluff, the strong breeze was not promising, just as I was about to turn back I had two ashy minivets perched close but briefly, my only tick of the day. A nice day list but many birds still to move through; still waiting for an acro, for example.

Full list for Nanji Wetlands, Sat 19 April 2014

Common pheasant 1
Japanese Quail 3
Spotbill 10+
GC grebe 20+
Dabchick common
Chinese Pond Heron 12+
(CT) Purple heron, 1+, no grey heron today
Moorhen common, no coot seen today
Green sand 2
Spotshank, flock of 60+ over
Snipe sp. On walking back I flushed a snipe, immediately looked interesting, no obvious white trailing edge, bigger winged look, stronger chestnut feel. I have seen hundreds of common snipe this winter but never once did I get itchy for a second look. This bird called with a rather weak call then flopped into inaccessible grassland less than 30m away, it looked very tired. I could see its head well, it fitted Swinhoe’s on head but I could not see the body, and it refused to fly again despite some deeply unethical behavior on my part. I was forced to leave it as (strongly) possible Swinhoe’s.
Whiskered tern, always around, 80+
Spotted dove common
Pied kingfisher, breed on Ji
(WT) Ashy minivet, two on Ji, male plus another, did not have time to check second bird before they were off.
LT shrike common
Black drongo, clearly back from the winter hols, at least 10 birds today
Eastern Great tit, few
Barn swallow, common
Red-rumped swallow 8+
Oriental skylark, common
Zitting cisticola, common
Locustella pryeri, few seen in song flight though weather not suitable.
Plain prinia, common
Chinese bulbul, very common
Chestnut bulbul, one on Ji island, a very interesting record as they are typically a bird of higher forest in Jiangxi.
Cettia fortipes, 20+ singing on Ji
Radde’s warbler one in song
Pallas’s warbler, just one seen today
YB warbler, very common, 200+ on Ji
Eastern crowned warbler, 2+ on Ji. Am I alone in thinking red-eyed vireo on first seeing this species?
No laughers seen today
Japanese white-eye at least one tight flock of 25+ birds
Crested myna, common
BC starling common, no other starlings today
Swinhoe’s robin, 2 seen well today, one of my favourite birds.
Stejneger’s stonechat 1
Asian brown flycatcher 3
Mugimaki flycatcher 2
Tree sparrow few
White wag few
OB pipit 15+
Chinese grosbeak, a pair
Tristram’s bunting a fine male on Ji
Chestnut-eared bunting, one male on the road on the walk back, this species is by far the wariest and most difficult to approach of the buntings.
Yellow-browed bunting, 1 on Ji
Black-faced bunting, common today

Hope to return next weekend

 

[mjgrunwell]

Grey-headed lapwing breeding in Jiangxi

Today, Sat 26 April, after being quite unwell for a few days, took a walk along the river at Dredger park. A few weeks ago I had GH lapwing behaving like it was defending territory near the Mengshi bridge. Today, I had a pair in a similar area harassing a walker, intrigued I walked over and got brief views of a baby chick, no more than a few days old. GH lapwing are recorded in all months in Jiangxi but this may be the first proof of breeding.

Came across two very nice ladies who were preparing a release ceremony for a crate of silky starling they had bought in the market. I was quite moved. An hour later I found a dense flock of silky on the ground nearby. Clearly you simply cannot trust some birds you find in parks, especially close views of flocks of Leiothrix, Hwamei and silky starling.

Other highlights were a taiga flycatcher and a large acro, probably oriental reed but I could not rule out thick-billed. Plenty of YB warbler.

Tomorrow Ji Island.

 

[mjgrunwell]

Day on Ji Island, Sunday 27 April

Another great day out at Ji Island. Off the bus at 9.30 to start the long walk to the island. Before I reached the bridge I had seen Japanese quail on the road, little and chestnut-eared bunting and best of all, a flock of 5 Amur falcon, sitting on wires, diving into the grass and hawking the early dragonflies. Lots of migrants in the sheltered areas, the best were Swinhoe’s minivet, black-winged cuckoo-shrike, eyebrowed thrush and my only world tick of the day; yellow-rumped flycatcher.

Looking forward to returning next weekend

Full day list, Sunday 27 April 2014, Nanji wetlands NR and Ji Island

Common pheasant few
Japanese quail, 3, good deck view, rather a grey face
Spotbill a few
Dabchick, few
GC grebe 20+
Eastern cattle egret 2
Purple heron 6+, all the greys have gone
(CT) Amur falcon, at least 5 birds, some cracking males
Eastern marsh harrier one female or imm
Coot 10+ Are they breeding?
GH lapwing, suspect 2 breeding pairs
Green sand 1
Greenshank 1
Whiskered tern, very common, 200+
(CT) White-winged tern a few distant cracking adults in with the whiskered
Spotted dove few
Common kingfisher 1
Pied kingfisher, several pairs on Ji
Black-winged cuckoo-shrike 1 adult male on Ji
Swinhoe’s minivet a flock of 4 birds on Ji
Brown shrike 3 birds seen well, all male lucionensis
LT shrike common
Black drongo few
Eastern great tit 2
Yellow-bellied tit small flock on Ji
Chinese penduline tit 5 + in the reeds, are they late to leave or staying to breed?
Barn swallow common
Red-rumped swallow, a few, much more common in town
Oriental skylark common
Zitting cisticola common
Plain prinia common
Yellow-bellied prinia few heard
Chinese bulbul common
Locustella pryeri still singing widely but nowhere close to the intensity of mid march
Cettia fortipes 20+ singing on Ji
Acro sp, a reedtype warbler sang briefly but no further sign
Warbler sp, very interesting song coming from thick cover, prolonged (2-3 secs), pleasant, slightly descending trill any ideas? Not a good day to forget my recorder.
YB warbler common on Ji, no Pallas’s today
Eastern crowned warbler 3+
Japanese white-eye several small flocks
Crested myna common
BC starling common
Silky starling few
Blackbird few
(CT) Eyebrowed thrush, one smart male in a tree on Ji, my first since a vagrant on Scilly 30 years ago
Stonechat, several pairs in the reeds, some very smart males, the white does not go fully round the back of the neck
Asian brown flycatcher 4+
(WT) Yellow-rumped flycatcher, one female on Ji. This must be the very easiest female Muscicapa to ID; a fabulous vivid lemon rump.
Taiga Flycatcher, 6+ some nice males
Tree sparrow few
White wag a few leucopsis
OB pipit, very common today 50+
Tristram’s bunting, some close prolonged views of both sexes today, at least 5 birds on the Island
Chestnut-eared bunting, presumed the same male on the road as last week
Yellow-browed bunting, just one today
Little bunting, a nice male on the road
Black-faced bunting, common, got to start considering whether they are breeding here?

 

[MKinHK]

Sounds like a cracking day.

Curiously enough I also saw my first Eye-browed Thrush on Scilly - October 1987. I wonder if we saw the same bird?

Cheers
Mike

 

[thrush]

I'm glad to be looking through your window into Jiangxi. Nice, detailed list; lots of good thoughts and hard work there. My research has Emberiza spodocephala sordida breeding no farther east than western Hunan. Nominate breeds no farther south than Heilongjiang. Are you detecting the ssp. of the E. spodocephala that you're seeing?

 

[mjgrunwell]

eyebrowed thrush and bf bunting

Thanks Mike

I go back a bit further than you, mine was on St Marys in Oct 1984

Thanks Craig

imo they are all nominate race, why are they not nesting? Why are they so common here in late April? No one is looking at this time of year, another few weeks and I should be able to confirm breeding.

 

[Spike Millington]

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher

Mike, you think the female is a cool bird - wait to you see a male !!

 

[thrush]

...

imo they are all nominate race, why are they not nesting? Why are they so common here in late April? No one is looking at this time of year, another few weeks and I should be able to confirm breeding.

You should be able to separate nominate from sordida. The birds you're seeing should be nominate, and they should be on their way north. None of my information shows black-faced bunting breeding in Jiangxi.

 

[jonathmartinez]

Mike Craig,

I was seing numerous Black-faced Bunting quite late in april in Hunan province near Yueyang city, including lot of male singing and yest most of them were sordida but spodocephala may also occur. I never got any evidence of breeding BF Bunting in this area that is quite similar to Poyang and around....
I also had breeding evidence of Grey-headed Plover that was quite new at the time I found them. And I had doubt of breeding Grey-faced buzzard on hillside, that could be an interesting target bird to proove that breeding occur in this region. I had several sighting in end of may and june.

All the best,

Jonathan

 

[mjgrunwell]

Weekend at Xiamen, Fujian

A long weekend in Xiamen with my family. Managed two morning’s birding at the botanical gardens and the Huyuan bay wetlands area.
Very few obvious migrants, April clearly best month this far south? Best were two eye-browed thrush and two Chinese ticks with greater coucal and asian koel

Full list Xiamen, Fujian 2-4 May 2014

Black swan, 15+ highly plastic, though clearly breeding, wetlands, are these cat C tickable? Probably not
Other plastic ducks
Zero seabirds, no gulls or terns
Yellow bittern, 1
Striated heron, 1
BC Night Heron common
Little egret, few
No raptors
Moorhen, few
No waders
Spotted dove, common
(CT) Greater Coucal 2
(CT) Asian Koel, several heard, two seen
Barn swallow common
Common kingfisher few
LT shrike few
RB blue magpie, fairly common
Common magpie, common
Azure-winged magpie, flock of 5 at wetland
Few great tit sp, ID not certain
Plain prinia few
YB prinia, very common
Red-whiskered bulbul, few
Chinese bulbul, very common
Sooty-headed bulbul, fairly common
YB warbler, few heard
Masked LT common
WB LT few
Crested Myna common
BC starling common
Blackbird, fairly common
Eye-browed thrush, 2 at wetlands
No flycatchers, pipits or buntings
Tree sparrow, common
Chinese grosbeak, few
OMR common

Back to Nanji next weekend

 

[AndrewHeath]

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with the term "plastic ducks" and google gives me... lots of plastic ducks. >_>

 

[mjgrunwell]

Plastic ducks

Dear Andrew

Plastic is a British birding term for an individual bird of dubiously wild provenance, such as an escapee, a feral bird or in the case of wildfowl a bird held previously in captivity.

High plasticity means considerable doubt as to tickability, though it is important to note that UK Category C birds are those species whilst originally introduced are now deemed wild and self-sustaining and are a full part of the national list and thereby fully tickable (UK tick = US check).

Hope this clarifies