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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

China 2010 (1 Viewer)

More than I expected of the day! Four new birds on a bad day - sure you'll do better today too.

I haven't seen a Brown Shrike yet this season, so would be pleased with that and am quite interested in the Russet Sparrow, which I've never seen. You did catch the sharp-tailed at a great moment too.
 
Monday, 10th May

Hebei, Beidaihe


Sunny all day, but with a blustery east to north-easterly wind. Started the day at the Dai river from 6.15am. A Black-capped Kingfisher belted through without stopping; as did a Hobby (not in pursuit in case you were wondering). Managed a better shot of Chestnut Bunting, compared with yesterday, but still not good enough to publish. I had better luck with a Black Drongo (306), but even then it took me about 20 minutes of chasing before I got an okay shot. The Citrine Wagtail (307) should have been so much better, but my attempts to get really close to it failed at the very last moment.

On to the Magic Wood at Nandaihe with fingers well and truly crossed. But, other than a female Siberian Rubythroat, there was nothing of interest there (not even a phyllosc). Just as I was leaving, I noticed 4 Pacific Swifts (308) really high, and flying into the wind.

To the Da Po River, where a Purple Heron (309) gave reasonable views. Also, a Marsh Harrier floated over the reeds for 10 minutes before deciding to continue its northward migration. Several Chinese Penduline Tits and a few Fan-tailed Warblers here too.

The Lotus Hills was quiet, very quiet. Although a pair of Tristram's Buntings were a nice find; as was a Brown Shrike near to the south gate.

The wader numbers at the Sandflats were vastly down compared with a week ago. Greenshanks were the most numerous, with a flock of about 40 or so. Two Lesser Sand Plovers with a Greater Sand Plover (310) were noteworthy. As were a Gull-billed Tern (311) and a Hobby (312), which flew in off the sea.
 

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Part 2
 

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Just back from a two night stay on Happy Island...

It certainly lived up to its name ;-)

Here's a taster...


Also, I'm attaching a photo of the Long-toed Stint (313) I saw on the 10th May at Nandaihe.
 

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Tuesday, 11th May

Hebei, Beidaihe to Happy Island


The plan - or so I had thought - was to go down to Happy Island as early as possible. But things didn't quite work out that way, and the Magic Birding Bus didn't leave Beidaihe until much later than I had hoped.

I don't see many Ashy Minivets (314), so it was nice to find one singing away in the trees opposite the International Club at Beidaihe - my first bird of the day at 5.50am. Here, also, was a very out of range Pere David's Laughingthrush... the first time I've actually seen one in Beidaihe. Alas, its tail looked like it had been through a shredder, indicating that it had spent quite some time in someone's cage.

c40 Pacific Swifts performed an aerial ballet above the hotel, offering far better photo opportunities than yesterday.

A Fan-tailed Warbler (315) sat out to have its photo taken - quite a rare thing for this camera-shy bird to do (in my experience).

3 Sanderling (316), in various stages of moult, landed on the beach. A Hobby flew in off the sea. Also 2 Avocets here and a Shelduck.

Two birds within a few minutes of each other were new for the year - a Japanese Sparrowhawk and a Rufous-bellied Woodpecker. But my lens could get nowhere near either of them.

The Magic Wood in Nandaihe held a female Siberian Rubythroat, but not a lot else.

The photo of the Richard's Pipit (317) just scapes in to the gallery, even though its a long way away and blurred by the heat haze, because a) I like the impressionist painting feel of it and b) I've spent far too long trying to get a shot of this super-wary species and crawling through tall grass is not my idea of a fun day out.

The Kestrel (318) is included on the basis that it's carrying its lunch in its claws.. a bunting perhaps. Which reminds me of the story of the Kestrel that flew off with Britain's first Blyth's Pipit many years ago (at Languard in Suffolk I seem to recall)... one wag remarked that it had... er... "dropped in for a Chinese takeaway".

On to the paddyfields in Laoting county (btw did you know that there used to be an Irish pub in Beijing called "Paddy Fields"). I cycled there one day for a pint or two of Guinness only to find that they'd run out of the stuff (not a clever thing for an Irish pub to do). In despair, I SMSed a mate to say: "Paddy Fields dried up".

Sorry, the sleep depravation of the past couple of days is causing me to digress. Where was I? Yes, the Laoting paddyfields. A dozen brick red Curlew Sandpipers there. As well as 8 Little Whimbrels cartwheeling in the sky way off in the distance.

The Magic Birding Bus stopped at a restaurant for lunch. I was very kindly invited to join the group who'd given me a lift down. But, with respect to people who stop for things like food, I would much rather have a Snickers bar and a few biscuits on the hoof. And my reward for this hardcore approach... an "Eastern" Common Tern (319) and a jet black Spotted Redshank no less.

Then, at last, we arrived on Happy Island. A place that I first visited 16 years ago (to the very day!). And, goodness me, what a change in that time. I spotted the blue and yellow wooden boat that used to ferry people to the island, rotting away in the far corner of the shiny-new marina. I then looked in astonishment at what has replaced it. A fleet of more than a dozen large, luxury passenger boats. And what boats they are: Leather (sort of) seats, videos, stewardesses, captains with epaulettes, and... get this... life jackets. I was half expecting to be served a welcome on board gin and tonic.

In twenty minutes we were on the island. In the old days, the voyage took the best part of an hour... on a good day. And, more often than not, the boat wouldn't be able to land because of a super-low tide (which seem to occur randomly in this part of the world).

There is something significant about 11th May and Happy Island... As well as 16 years ago to the day I first set foot here it is exactly 8 years ago to the day I saw a Spoon-billed Sandpiper here.

The Spooner was the first for the island in 7 years and, remarkably, I had been on the island in 1995 when a pair was found but I had refused to twitch them because I had decided that, when in China, I would stick to only finding my own stuff. So what about the 2002 bird you may well ask. Well, I was doing a round-island walk when I bumped into people performing cartwheels on the beach, punching the air, twirling their shirts above their heads, and hugging each other. I tried to avoid them of course, and told them not to tell me what they had seen. But, someone I had known for many years, insisted on sharing the joy and, while twisting my arm behind my back, forced me to look through his scope. On the basis that I was walking that way and would have undoubtedly ;) found the bird myself, I begrugingly opened an eye.;)

So, what did 11th May 2010 have in store?

Well... er... not a lot as it happened:

Grey-streaked Flycatcher (320) and... a Sand Martin (321).
 
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11th May Photos

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11th May photos

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Wednesday, 12th May

Hebei, Happy Island


Sunny, warm, and a light south-westerly wind all day - ideal conditions for migration. The contrast between yesterday's paltry offerings could not have been more marked...

There were several hundred birds of more than 80 species - most had arrived during the night and some continued to arrive during the day.

One of the best day's birding I've ever experienced.

Here are the highlights in more or less the order I saw them (with totals for the day):

(Birds I photographed are highlighted. Birds that are numbered were photographed for the first time this year.)

Grey-streaked Flycatcher c20
Brown Shrike, c50
Siberian Blue Robin (322), c20
Eurasian Cuckoo (323), 2
Chinese Grosbeak 1
Daurian Starling 2, but not a single okay photo
Japanese Grosbeak (324), 1 in good voice
Arctic Warbler (325), 1 in full song (the first of 8 species of phylloscopus warblers photographed today)
Eye-browed Thrush (326), a flock of c50
Hobby, several
Swinhoe's Robin, 1 (poor photo of it, not published)
Dusky Thrush, c25
Yellow-breasted Bunting (327), 3
Tristram's Bunting, c10
Little Bunting, few
White-throated Rock Thrush (328), 2 males and 1 female
Taiga Flycatcher, c100
Eastern Stonechat, c200
Elegant Bunting, 3 (group of 2 males and 1 female)
Black-faced Bunting, several
Northern Hawk Cuckoo (329), 1
Oriental Cuckoo (330), 1
Yellow-browed Warbler, c10
Pallas's Warbler, few
Radde's Warbler, several
Dusky Warbler (331), several
Brown Flycatcher (332), c50
Rufous-bellied Woodpecker (333), 2
Mugimaki Flycatcher (334), 3 males and 1 female
Two-barred Greenish Warbler (335), 2
White's Thrush, 2
Siberian Thrush, 2 males (skulking and flight views)
Eastern Crowned Warbler, 2
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, several males
Claudia's Warbler, 2 including a confiding bird in West Wood
Little Tern, c10
Common Tern, several
Grey Plover, c15... with a very distant, long-billed mystery wader nearby
Redshank, several
Greenshank, c30
Great Knot, a flock of c40
Whimbrel, c30
Curlew, 20
Far Eastern Curlew, 2
Avocet, 2
Dunlin, c40
Stint sp., 1
Bar-tailed Godwit, c50 (most in full summer plumage)
Richard's Pipit, 2
Eastern Marsh Harrier, several (including two full-on males)
Chinese Bulbul, c30
Common Sandpipier, few
Pacific Swift, c20

30 Photos to follow SOON
 
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12th May Photos

1st of 6 postings

5.55am to 7.07am
 

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12th May Photos

2nd of 6 postings

8.01am to 9.11am
 

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12th May Photos

3rd of 6 postings

9.33am to 12.05pm
 

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Sorry, I can't seem to upload the next in the series (Uploading can be a pain at times here in Beijing).

Let me make use of this interlude by doing some reader research if I may..

Please tick one of the boxes:

A) I prefer to see the photos right here on Bird Forum

B) I prefer to click on a link to another website
and view all the photos on one stream

C) I don't bother looking at photos, particularly not when they are as crap as the ones you take.

Cheers!

Shi Jin
 
12th May Photos

4th of 6 postings

1.07pm to 4.47pm
 

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12th May Photos

5th of 6 postings

4.58pm to 5.28pm
 

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12th May Photos

6th of 6 sets (The other 25 photos from the day are on the PREVIOUS PAGE)

5.40pm to 6.49pm
 

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What a stunner the Mugi is - fantastic!

That was my first comment on seeing just the last posting - and then I realised that there were masses more pix - an absolutely stupendous day! I also liked the view of the Radde's Wabler from underneath - not a usual view - certainly here in HK, and the Rufous-bellied Woodie is one I'd love to see in HK.

I think your mystery wader may be the long-billed race of Bar-tailed Godwit.

The 365 is looking a bit too much of an easy target - I know you've decided to stick with it, but please do keep counting and all those who enjoy the thread can have a guess at how many you end up with. I'll go for 450 and hope that you have trips planned for Xinjiang, Sichuan, Qinghai, HK (it would be great to meet up!) and even Taiwan - who have just had a Hooded Pitta!

However many you do end up with it should also throw down the gauntlet for other photographers in the future and give us lots more armchair birding.

Cheers
Mike
 
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Lovely photos!
Put my vote down for option A.
It's much better to get the photos with the narrative rather than needing to go to a different thread.
Of course, that does not preclude posting the to Opus as well.
 
Glad you had such a great day and thanks for taking time to share with us! I know it is work to do all the uploading.

I think your previous publishing to Chinesecurrents was fine, and this is nice too. It's a little more convenient if posted here, but all pics are easy to see at the other site too - whichever is easier for you. (Though its possible more people will look if they don't have to go elsewhere.)
 
Thanks Mike, that's very kind of you. 365 is still the target though. Although I may indeed go to Tibet in June, the plan is cycle there... so lugging a large lens over 5000 masl would be a challenge to say the least. As far as Hong Kong is concerned, yes indeed it would be great to meet up... Likewise, if you find yourself in Beijing, please do let me know.

BTW Thanks for your comment on the wader. I'm sure you are right. I'm afraid that the perfectly straight bill threw me (don't tell anyone, but I was trying to kid myself that it may be a L-bD, despite the proportions being all wrong). Talking of Godwits, did you see my close-up pic of a Black-tailed that looks (to me) more like a Western than Eastern?

Thanks Etudiant and Gretchen. That's fine, I'm happy to post here as long as people find it's convenient (and enjoy the photos of course).

Cheers

Shi Jin
 
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