Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds Oct. 9, 2013
Probably my best morning there ever. I flushed a
Swinhoe's Rail from right beside a marsh path clearly seeing the white on the upper wing. One wonders how they migrate at all as they are very clumsy in the air and so small. I'm still on a high more than 24 hours later after this sighting and will probably ride that train for the rest of the year! Unfortunately I didn't get any photos - flight shots of Swinhoe's Rail being a little on the rare side....
An interesting note is that I returned after work with Stephen to look for it again and we flushed a Baillon's Crake approx. 100 feet from where the Swinhoe's was. It was also on top of the dike area that separates two ponds. We knew it was a needle in a haystack to try to find the Swinhoe's again but gave it a shot.
I do believe this is the most species seen there in a day. I was there for 3 early morning hours and only made it half way around my first pond! Pishing brought in everything from a wide radius and I was pleased to just stay in one area and take it all in. I'm returning tomorrow morning with my Dad. Early October is probably the best time of year there in terms of total species encountered. I will never have another day with Baillons Crake, Swinhoe's Rail, and Eastern Water Rail again. Sitting Bluethroats, feeding Peregrines, Cisticola's showing tail feathers, crazy morning!
Some of the species below did not come from the 3 early morning hours. I returned with my class from 11:00-12:00 and then again with Stephen from 4:00-5:00.
Jinshitan Sea-farming Ponds, CN-21
09-Oct-2014 05:15 - 08:15
Protocol: Stationary
67 species
Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) 10
Gadwall (Anas strepera) 8
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 50
Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas zonorhyncha) 5
Garganey (Anas querquedula) 1
Eurasian/American Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 25
Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) 1
Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) 5
Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 2
Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) 20
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) 6
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 10
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) 4
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 1
Pied Harrier (Circus melanoleucos) 1
Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) 1
Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) 1
Swinhoe's Rail (Coturnicops exquisitus) 1 seen very well when flushed near wetlands
Brown-cheeked Rail (Rallus indicus) 1
Baillon's Crake (Porzana pusilla) 1
Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) 8
Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) 6
Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) 1
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) 1
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 80
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) 10
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 5
Hill Pigeon (Columba rupestris) 6
Oriental Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis) 3
Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) 2
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 1
Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis) 5
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 2
Ashy Minivet (Pericrocotus divaricatus) 80 not high during migration time
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 10
Skylark (Alauda arvensis) 2
Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) 10
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 350
Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) 100
Yellow-bellied Tit (Periparus venustulus) 6
Japanese Tit (Parus minor) 2
Chinese Penduline-Tit (Remiz consobrinus) 35
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 3
Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus) 20
Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) 15
Black-browed Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps) 8
Lanceolated Warbler (Locustella lanceolata) 1
Fan-tailed Warbler (Cisticola juncidis) 1
Beijing Babbler (Rhopophilus pekinensis) 2
Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana) 10
Chestnut-flanked White-eye (Zosterops erythropleurus) 50
Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) 2
Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus) 2
Crested Myna (Acridotheres cristatellus) 2
White-cheeked Starling (Sturnus cineraceus) 4
Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis) 1
White/Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) 5 3 ocularis, 2 leucopsis
Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) 20
Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus) 2
Meadow Bunting (Emberiza cioides) 12
Chestnut-eared Bunting (Emberiza fucata) 2
Black-faced Bunting (Emberiza spodocephala) 20
Pallas's Reed Bunting (Emberiza pallasi) 40
Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) 4
Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) 2
Oriental Greenfinch (Chloris sinica) 5
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 10