• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

China observations (1 Viewer)

Cheers Mike! I was wondering what the "whisker" was supposed to indicate! They did have that white stripe to the nape, so they certainly weren't white-winged. I was also pleased to see whiskered terns listed in Brazil as "marsh terns", which seemed quite appropriate for the setting.

By the way, in recounting changes at the reservoir, I failed to mention the small boat landing just behind the dam - not sure it's intended for anything bigger than a rowboat, but I take it they intend some sort of boating. The reservoir does appear a bit deeper than it was previously, but still has sloped edges which should accommodate waders. The reeds are reestablishing themselves with a vengeance too it appears. I also saw two dozen plus ducks, too far in to identify.

Anyone have anything to add about strutting egrets? (little or no wing flapping)
 
I came back from Vietnam and Nonggang in Guangxi Province.South China is much hotter than Vietnam!
Birds in Nonggang are now forming mixed flock as in winter,incl. some Limestone Leaf Warblers(the singing ones.not sure if there's any Sulfur-breasted).But Nonggang Babbler doesnt join in these flocks.Every day I did birding for a short while in early morning and then sat in the woods to sleep,as birds were not active until 10:00 or 10:30.When I heard birds activities again,I woke up but didnt pay much attention to the common birds flocks.I walked to the areas where there seemed to be no birds and then I saw Nonggang Babbler.
This strategy to see Nonggang Babbler is very useful at this time of year.

Then I visited Rudong and lots of shorebirds incl. 8+ Spooner.Garganey is on the way south.
Then in Wuyuan birds also formed mixed flocks and in one of them in the lowland,I was quite surprised to see a male Green Shrike babbler!It lives in mountains in south Zhejiang and North Fujian.I'm not sure if it also lives around Wuyuan and now in a movement to lowland.
In highland in north Wuyuan,small birds liked to follow big birds such as Grey Treepie and Red-billed Blue Magpie. I heard a bird and again surpringly found it to be a Short-tailed Parrotbill,a bird I've been looking for in Wuyuan for years.My friends have seen it in lowland in winter.I guess they're now also in the movement from the high to the low.
 
Hello all,

I have just moved to Beijing for a year. Although I will be working full time, I hope to do a lot of birding while I am here and will report my sightings.

On Sunday 29 August I visited the Ibisbill site north of Beijing with Jesper Hornskov and an Australia-based english birder. It was a productive day with at least two (probably 3) Ibisbills plus a good supporting cast of (in order of appearance):

Crested Kingfisher (2)
Blue Hill Pigeon (30+)
Magpie
Tree Sparrow
Red-billed Blue Magpie
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Large-billed Crow
Stonechat (ssp maura)
Grey Heron
Pere David's Laughing Thrush
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail (ssp leucopsis)
Hobby
Yellow-browed Bunting
Common Kingfisher
Mallard
Black-capped Kingfisher
Grey-streaked Flycatcher
Long-tailed Tit
Songar Tit
Taiga Flycatcher
Mandarin
Common Sandpiper
Grey-headed Woodpecker (heard only)
White-throated Needletail (25+ migrating overhead)
Vineous-throated Parrotbill
Oriental Turtle Dove
Chinese Spot-billed Duck
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Tit
Spotted Dove
Black Drongo
Barn Swallow
Red-rumped Swallow
Yellow-browed Warbler
Brown Dipper

There seems to be quite a bit of development at the site but, apart from one guy wading through the river using electrocution to catch fish, the river itself seemed relatively ok..

Attaching a relatively poor record shot of the Ibisbill.

Best wishes, Terry
 

Attachments

  • 2010-08-29 Ibisbill.jpg
    2010-08-29 Ibisbill.jpg
    294.7 KB · Views: 66
Ritan Park

I visited Ritan Park (central Beijing) this morning. Among the many Azure-winged Magpies were lots of migrant warblers including many Yellow-browed, several Arctic and a probable Eastern Crowned Warbler (didn't see enough to be sure). Also a Taiga Flycatcher, several Spotted Doves and a Rufous-bellied Woodpecker.
 

Attachments

  • 2010-09-06 Arctic Warbler3.jpg
    2010-09-06 Arctic Warbler3.jpg
    145.9 KB · Views: 62
  • 2010-09-06 Rufous-bellied Woodpecker.jpg
    2010-09-06 Rufous-bellied Woodpecker.jpg
    116.6 KB · Views: 58
Last edited:
Birds in Nonggang are now forming mixed flock as in winter,incl. some Limestone Leaf Warblers(the singing ones.not sure if there's any Sulfur-breasted).But Nonggang Babbler doesnt join in these flocks.....I walked to the areas where there seemed to be no birds and then I saw Nonggang Babbler.
This strategy to see Nonggang Babbler is very useful at this time of year.
Great observation!

I guess they're now also in the movement from the high to the low.
Wow, seems early to me for this... have they eaten all the food found higher up? or is it getting too cold?!?

On Sunday 29 August I visited the Ibisbill site north of Beijing with Jesper Hornskov and an Australia-based english birder. It was a productive day with at least two (probably 3) Ibisbills plus a good supporting cast ...

Sounds quite good! Nice to hear what you've been seeing Terry.

I finally got out on Sunday, but largely watching the water birds in the reservoir.... I was really pleased to finally get very good looks at the Black-capped Kingfisher and was happy to see the Common K as well (but the Crested K still evades me). I also saw lots of youngish Moorhens and Little Grebes - interesting to see them in all their varying plumages. Of course the Little Egrets and a few Pond Herons were about, and Barn Swallows. I noticed a big increase in Great Egrets around. Unfortunately I wasn't well positioned to see either warblers or waders particularly well.

I wondered if I might have seen a water cock (distantly) because it seemed quite large for a moorhen, but then I read they are largely nocturnal, so it seems unlikely I saw them at 9 a.m. - does that seem right?
 
in Rudong,besides Garganey,Teal is also on the way south on 13 Sep.
After the typhoon coming thru land in Fujian/Zhejiang on 12 Sep,many birds left and many other arrived.Woodland birds on 13 were totally different from the ones on 12.
Still a lot of cuckoos in which Northern Hawk Cuckoo really cheated us as a hawk species again and again until we saw a real Japanese Sparrow Hawk with a frog in the claws.
 
I've gotten out the last 3 Sundays, but largely examined pretty ordinary birds (moorhens, grebes, stonechats) trying to ascertain that they were what I thought ;) The Common Moorhens must breed over a long period I guess, because I seemed to be seeing lots of different ages: little black chicks and large pale juveniles all in September. Does that seem right?

This week I took a bike so I could explore some local out of the way spots. I didn't have any amazing finds, but did see some nice birds. A medium sized flock of tits and little phyllos came upon me - interesting to see those species together - don't know if that was an unusual occurrence or common. At the same time I caught a brief glimpse of a Brown Shrike in the area. Could he have been traveling with the flock? (He wasn't hunting them, right?)

I also saw an exceedingly handsome pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Looking at the pictures in Brazil I began to wonder which subspecies we have here in QHD - I thought the ones I saw looked like japonicus, but it says that brevirostris might also be in this area (looks like that has a larger white area on wing).

Of warblers, I'm still wondering... (out of practice not having seen them in 3+ months). I definitely saw the two major families (?): acros hiding in the grass and ticking loudly and the phyllos popping around tree tops. I got good views of a few acros which looked to me like they had the dark brows and wide white supercilliums of Black-browed Reeds. Hope that jibes with finding them in light woods. I saw another which ticked less and worked an area pretty thoroughly, and flicked its tail a lot - but never saw well enough to decide if it was the same or different. I got to watch one little phyllo a good bit and decided Yellow-browed for it's build, slight yellow coloring, lack of coronal stripe, slightly darkish legs, and bi-colored beak (can't remember if that's a correct feature for YB or not). It was also hover feeding a bit, and seemed to be fairly methodical (for one of these little guys) in searching insects. If anyone has alternatives I should consider - let me know!

My most exciting sighting wasn't a bird though, I saw my first ever weasel (I think anywhere)! It was completely a nice medium yellow color - though I didn't see it's belly, it certainly didn't have a bib of a contrasting color. I think there was a little color change around the mouth, but no dramatic mask effect. The tail was about 2/3 it's body length (maybe the whole thing around 40 cm long?) and not particularly fluffy. I've looked around and guessed at "Siberian Weasel" (Huang Shulang) - anyone have any idea if this is possible? I found an article on them living in Beijing (if I have the right name...).
 
Gretchen,

Some birds will try for a second batch if they can squeeze it in. I'm attaching a pic of a Little grebe family taken Oct. 1, 2008. Moorhen might do this also (not enough of them around here for me to find out:C)

Brown Shrikes eat insects. Maybe a Chinese Grey Shrike could take a small bird.

If you pishhhhh at those little warblers in the reeds they will pop out to investigate. I suggest having a camera ready as you will only get a second or two! You can always examine photos later. The one you described sounds like Black-browed Reed Warbler. Could also be Dusky.

Awesome with the weasel sighting. I have a friend in Beijing who photographed a Leapord Cat near Wild Duck Lake last weekend. Amazing stuff for a generally mammal-less area.

Tom
 
Tom, thanks for your comments. I'm sorry I can't send our surplus (to my thinking) of moorhens your way.... It seems to me the grebes here also had some pretty young looking chicks mid-Sept - like the ones in your pic. I hope that's a good sign for them.

Thanks for the idea of Dusky which I forgot about, maybe some of them were that - I guess I need to listen to the recordings (and pics) more... The pishing I tried seemed to help with the tits some but not the guys hiding in grass, but I'll try again next time. Some day I hope to have a decent camera and the ability to juggle it with bins so as to get some sort of pics, but not yet....
 
I'm just in the process of (thinking about) organising my 3rd Crane watching trip to Beidaihe - first two weeks of November would be my likely dates if I get there. It sounds like there is a lot going on there at the moment judging by Gretchen's posts. Can you still get to the windmill on the sandflats? A good spot to watch cranes overhead. Also it would be a real shame if you can't get onto the flats at the southermost end - just beyong the small group of trees there.

When times are quiet or too cold it's also nice to visit the reservoir for a change of scenery and some shelter - and plenty of good birds. I noted Gretchen said the work at the reservoir was now completed but it didn't sound as though you could walk around like you used to be able to. Any further update on the situation there please?

If you can't walk the reservoir that would be a real shame. Presumably you could get to the windmill via Pigeon Nest Park.

Any info would be great.

Many Thanks.

Frank
 
Reservoir

I noted Gretchen said the work at the reservoir was now completed but it didn't sound as though you could walk around like you used to be able to. Any further update on the situation there please?

If you can't walk the reservoir that would be a real shame. Presumably you could get to the windmill via Pigeon Nest Park.

Hi Frank, I was in Beidaihe early this year and there was lot of construction going on at that time. I was in Beidaihe for a week and tried to get into the reservoir area couple of times. First I was not allowed in, next day I pleaded the guard at the entrance and he allowed me in just little bit in so that I can photograph some egrets right by the entrance. I really wanted to get in there and have look, but they wont allow. Finally, I got in touch with my hotel reception and got hold of a local birding travel company. On third day, my guide came in and the first place she took me was in the reservoir. She had some "official" pass and she flashed them for me and my wife and we were welcomed in with a smile. I dont recall how much she charged us - i think it was 80RMB each for me and my wife and 100RMB as her fees for the day. It is worth to check out the reservoir once. Let me know if you need my guide contacts - I have her email & cell phone. Next day she took me to a beautiful forested place an hour drive from Beidaihe - was able to find Chinese Nuthatch there. Hope this helps. Cheers,
 
Yeah, no amount of smiling, chatting or looking pitiful have gotten me past the gate guards, so I was going to suggest someone with a pass. (Asif, was this Jean or someone else?) One can hope that in Nov. the guards will be less vigilent, but I wouldn't put money on it.

In terms of the sand flats, I haven't fully explored all the options, and will look around more in a few days (hopefully). They seem to have cut off all human access from the main road with fairly tall fences - I've not seen a person there,and if you were you'd be quite noticeable! You can of course set up on the new boardwalk (running just in front of the bridge) to see the area, and with a scope you might actually see something (unlike me ;) ). I'm not sure what it's like out the back of the bird museum, but I'm guessing there is no public access along there. I've never really accessed the flats from Pigeon's Nest, and assume that what was possible there before is still possible, but they look pretty serious about keeping people off the flats in general.

It does seem like there are a few more plants growing on the sand, and I'm wondering if the habitat will change a bit (be enhanced?!?) if they really keep everyone off. I also haven't seen a really high tide on the flats, that is one coming anywhere near the bridge, and am wondering if this has to do with different water flow from the reservoir area - anyone else noticed anything on this?

I'll let you know if I see anything else, but in the mean time, some bolder folks may have tales of how they are "finding their way into" the desirable habitats at the sandflats/reservoir area.
 
Yeah, no amount of smiling, chatting or looking pitiful have gotten me past the gate guards, so I was going to suggest someone with a pass. (Asif, was this Jean or someone else?) One can hope that in Nov. the guards will be less vigilent, but I wouldn't put money on it.

Hi Gretchen, Carol Lu was the person who helped got me in. Just want to make sure that we all are talking about the same reservoir. The one I am referring to is the one right near the Beidaihe International Club hotel across the beach and is restricted for access to "china party officials" for pleasure/birding etc. Cheers, Asif
 
Thanks to both Asif and Gretchen for their updates.

Much appreciated.

Yep same place Asif. The boardwalk on the sand flats will certainly increase the chances of cranes touching down there. I've seen the occasional landing but more often than not they 'look but don't touch'. That may well be due to human interference. Time will tell.

Does anyone know why you can't access the reservoir area? Maybe they're worried about something untoward happening.

Cheers

Frank
 
Hi Frank, I dont have much knowledge, but here is my thinking. Beidaihe got its importance given its development as a summer retreat for China Communist Party officials. One of their main retreat area touches Lianfengshan. I was shooting with my 600mm in camo right at the border of lianfengshan pointing my lens right into a tree with Tits in retreat area and I was shooed away by the security guards there. Not a pleasant experience. The reservoir similarly has few luxurious guest houses built right at the main lake where china officials can enjoy their time and have some meetings.

I guess this turns many areas in Beidaihe and the reservoir little bit of political importance for china and hence the restriction. Its like birding around white house or pentagon ;) ! not exactly similar, but close to it.

Others may have a better realistic understanding..above are just my thoughts/inference.

Cheers
Asif
 
They've always been a bit sensitive about an enclosed area adjacent to the northern edge of the res. I believe the army use it. The summer houses at the res. have been there for some time now and there has never been an issue. Perhaps, as you suggest Asif, officials have started to use the place more frequently. Would be a shame to lose it as a birding spot.

Thanks

Frank
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top