Panjin Birding by the Old Fat Man (2 Viewers)

Sep-18

A walk around the neighborhood parks yesterday found a large group of Azure-Winged Magpie mobbing a Eurasian Kestrel. Possibly the same Kestrel that woke me up at sunrise with it's loud "keeee - keeee". A worried Hoopoe trying to stay out of sight in the middle of all the commotion.

Most of my time was taken up with trying to get a good look at what turned out to be a good size group of Two-Barred Warbler. I had absent mindedly left my binoculars at home of course and wasn't sure if I was looking at Pallas's Leaf Warbler or Two-Barred. They were very actively chasing each other around and very shy, which didn't help.

Panjin, Dawa County, Liaoning, CN, Liaoning, CN
Sep 18, 2018 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 kilometer(s)
6 species

Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) 2
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) 2
Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 1
Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) 20
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 4
Two-barred Warbler (Phylloscopus plumbeitarsus) 10

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48600255

What you really see

From yesterdays warblers I got some entries for the What You Really See field guide. 8-P

For those who don't know already, my idea of a tongue-in-cheek field guide with photos that we all discard and pretend that we got that perfect shot with no effort. Showing what we often really see through our bins or when you chimp the camera. A field guide to make the novice birder feel better about their observations.

I have actually started keeping an album of these. 3

Green Warblers

Hi Owen,

The warbler you labelled Two-barred Warbler (2) in your post above is a Yellow-browed or Pallas's Leaf Warbler I believe. Someone taught me a while ago about the second wing bar shadow which works pretty good with Asian green warblers if you are able to get a good photo of them. Your photo is perfect for this. The second wing bar has a clear or slight shadow of black/dark just behind it on Yellow-browed and Pallas's Leaf Warblers. See the attached photo of your photo with the blue arrows. This was a massive aid in identifying these warblers to me if I could get a good pic of them, particularly in the fall when they aren't always calling. It might not be 100% fool proof but it's close.

There is also a lot of white on the tertials of your bird which points towards Yellow-browed. I have included some other Yellow-browed photos from NE China in the fall time that also all show a clear or slight wing bar shadow and white on the tertials.

I have also attached a two-barred form the fall in Liaoning to show that there is no shadow or white on the tertials. My two-barred photo doesn't win any competitions but clearly shows the absence of these two features.

The green warblers of Asia are notoriously difficult when they aren't calling. I've only seen a handful of Two-barred in Liaoning so I believe them to be much rarer than Yellow-browed and Pallas'.

ps. do you have any other photos of the one behind the tree with only the bill and tail showing? It reminds me of Eastern-crowned based on the width of the base of the bill when viewed from the under side and the long projection it seems to have. Need a better photo to be sure. Maybe it's the same bird as the other photo but just in a much different posture?


Can't seem to upload to this post so will try again in another.

Green Warblers

Worked this time

While I'm at it, let me add that this works in NE China because there are only a handful of green warblers possible. I don't even want to begin to wade into the mess of green warblers in the central/southern part of China!

Hey, thanks Tom! The markings you have highlighted are exactly what I spent quite a bit of time worrying about, going through the references making comparisons. That is some really useful criticism! My initial ID, in the field, even before I actually saw any of them, was Yellow-Browed, just based on the calls I was hearing. However, my lack of any musical ability and too many years in the machine shops make me put any such call ID's on the bottom of the stack. Also, YB, here at least, don't usually have such dark clean patterning. My second thought, in the field, from the very quick and non-stop movement was Pallas's but I was able to visually and with photos determine that there were no crown stripes. Also PLW are normally much brighter. Unfortunately, no better shots of the bird hiding behind the branch. I can restore the 33 pics from that flock that I had already deleted and there were three more I am sure were the same bird, but out of focus. I have checked on my old Two-Barred IDs and they still look good.

You are correct in that the Two-Barred are either in fractionally lower numbers or better at staying hidden. PLW are more common, but are not seen in flocks like this. Usually singular or in pairs, occasionally three or four.

I just ran across this short piece on YouTube and thought it would be of interest to some here. Gives some real insight into our effect on the environment using the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon.

https://youtu.be/b8BPANZzsyU

Sep-22

I decided to do some more exploring yesterday and am glad I did despite it turning out to be a poor choice of days to be mucking about. Just north of the Panjin Wetland Park is an island formed by an old oxbow of the Shuangtaizi River. I forgot to take any pics of the signage yesterday but the main feature used to be the Panjin Zoo, so, for my purposes, I have dubbed it the Panjin Zoo Island. Easy to remember and I'll immediately know where it is.

I've known of it for a couple of years, but just never got around to checking it out. Therefore I set out with the idea of taking the #30 bus up to the Panjin Wetland Park and then changing to #11 which goes to the Zoo Island. Good plan, but Helmuth von Moltke the Elder was correct, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Unknown to me, Panjin had re-tasked large numbers of buses for a big event out at Honghaitan (Red Beach). The express #30 buses were running much further apart and so overloaded that the drivers would only let passengers off but would not allow anyone to enter. Now that's crowded when you can't cram anymore Chinese aboard! This meant that the taxis were equally busy and refusing to use the meters, charging heavy surcharges. Being stubborn and relatively near the terminus for a much less popular local #4, I went over there and got on at the very beginning of the route and even then almost didn't get a seat. From there I knew how to make a couple of transfers to other locals and end up at #11. All this, however, took a little over two hours.

Finally arriving at my goal in a jam packed #11 I found 8 Back-headed Gull immediately visible as I stepped off the bus. Taking the nice walkway around the outside bank of the oxbow, I spotted a Great Egret working the waters on the inside bank. There was a footbridge to cross over to the island and from that I got close enough for some nice shots of the GE as well as spotting a Little Grebe flushed out of the reeds by the GE.

It turned out the zoo has been shutdown and renovation work is in progress with a lot of brand new walkways/bike paths in evidence. It wasn't clear to me if the zoo is to be reopened or not. Personally, I find Chinese zoos depressing, so I would vote for not. There is a lot of very good woodland and wetland habitat but surprisingly there were almost no birds to be found. Ten Azure-Winged Magpie were working around some newly built empty buildings and 30 or so Tree Sparrow were seen. Five Barn Swallow working over the water and four Chinese Bulbul were all that were seen in a hike of about 4 km. The waters were equally empty, but I did pick up a new lifer, making the trip worthwhile! I spotted a Great Egret which was being chased about by what I at first thought was an unusually aggressive Intermediate Egret. The IE just didn't look quite right though, so I made a point of getting as good a look and photos as I could. When it finally successfully chased off the GE and it landed it became even more obvious as it now looked like a short legged IE. Too thick and bulky for a Little Egret though. Hmmm....Could it be? Indeed it was the elusive Chinese Egret. Unusually good ID photos clearly show the shorter and thicker, blended black and yellow legs and feet as well as the heavier bill.

At this point, being well behind my original planned schedule and knowing the bus rides back would be just as challenging, I decided to forgo the short walk over to the Panjin Wetland Park and just head home. I ended up with much more time in transport than in birding, but at least garnered more knowledge of some bus routes and where to best board as well as first exploration of a new area. However, I think I'll avoid the buses for the rest of the weekend.

Panjin, Shuangtaizi, Zoo Island, Liaoning, CN
Sep 22, 2018 12:30 PM - 2:45 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 kilometer(s)
9 species

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) 1
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 8
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 2
Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia) 1
Chinese Egret (Egretta eulophotes) 1
Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) 10
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 5
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 4
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 30

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48668512

Sep-30

Another day with the trees entirely empty in my immediate neighborhood caused me to decide to try the Panjin Wetlands Park for Passerines. That was pretty much a bust there also, but led to another day expanding my known territory there and finding what should be a productive area for the future.

My first target was to be the south bank of the lake just south of the railway station. It is a very large park and the particular portion was a section which I had not visited since Lancy was here this spring. I was surprised to find that it has apparently been turned over to a private company as it is now surrounded by a brand new fence, complete with concertina wire! Entry is now limited to one gateway, which has a ticket booth and had four security guards making sure no one got in without paying. This portion of the park had been well used but was big enough that it was never overrun like a lot of parks. This time, viewed from the bridge overlooking it, it looked empty, but appeared that it might be set up with new colored lights and such focused on night-time events. Not sure how that is going to work out. It has always been a birdy area for Passerines in particular and had a good size Yellow Ground Squirrel community near where the new stage and lights are set up. Big crowds could quickly ruin what was a very nice and convenient area to get some exposure to nature. One thing that was not a good sign was that it has always been a reliable spot for finding moderate numbers of gulls and terns working near the bridge and this time there was only one Black-Headed Gull working.

Not wanting to pay I decided to walk the kilometer or so across the bridge as the north bank of the lake and the river itself are still open access. Crossing the bridge I did spot a couple of cormorants far out in the middle of the lake. Far enough to not be sure of what I was seeing as the white bill on the nearer one and pale yellow to almost white on the other seemed odd. Heavily cropped pictures and much digging through references made me decide the were just Great Cormorant. Maybe first year. I'm used to seeing cormorant in large flocks rather than singles and pairs like this. A couple of Little Egret along the north bank of the river and large numbers of Oriental Magpie and Azure-Winged Magpie were the only significant numbers for the rest of the day.

Not finding much, I decided to explore further west than I have gone before and was surprised to find a large developed park area that has been abandoned. The overgrown trees, grass, weeds and reeds should be productive if visited at the right times. The only thing of interest this time though was an Eurasian Kestrel being harassed by a mob of Oriental Magpie. I did catch a very quick look at a bunting size bird as it crossed the heavily overgrown walkway and disappeared into the weeds on the other side. The dark coloration was obvious enough that it looked very much to match a Grey Bunting. It then made very soft scolds from the cover, but I never got a good enough view to be certain and it would be out of the ranges shown, so I had to let that one go.

At that point I was within 500 meters of the Panjin Zoo Island, so decided to see if I could get a better look at the Chinese Egret from the other day. No CE in evidence, but I did find a very cooperative Great Egret that let me get close enough for some nice shots.

At that point, I was getting tired and hungry and I was not very familiar with the bus routes in that area, so I decided to head home. Foolishly, I decided to forgo the #11 bus that I am familiar with and set out to find a "better" one. I proceeded to get off the bus routes and ended up having to walk probably a couple more kilometers out to where I did know my way around. I had wandered into some of the more rundown and shady looking parts of the city, but that is the good thing about being China, I never felt like there was anything to be concerned about. I could have hailed one of the numerous taxis at anytime, but being thrifty and actually liking to explore, it actually made the day more interesting.

Panjin Wetland Park, Liaoning, CN
Sep 30, 2018 10:30 AM - 2:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 kilometer(s)
12 species

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 6
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) 2
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 4
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) 3
Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) 2
Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 1
Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) 41
Oriental Magpie (Pica serica) 15
Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) 5
Daurian Starling (Agropsar sturninus) 2
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 150

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48857320

Oct-6

The weather was great, other than a bit more wind than ideal, so I spent the day out. I had thought of trying a way into viewing along the Lao River that is easily accessible from the bus, but since wind speeds usually increase as one approaches the BoHai Gulf, I decided to put it off. I might try that even yet this afternoon as the predicted force 4 is actually dead calm.

As it was, I worked on exploring the far east end of the Panjin Wetlands Park and in the process discovered that two city buses actually connect my favorites up there of the west end of the park, the Panjin Zoo Island and the middle of the park. I managed the east side and the Zoo Island in one day and could have made some of the west end of the PWP if I had started just a little earlier.

The east end of the park wasn't real busy, but it was a great day to be out and almost nobody else is ever out there. I did find a maybe half km wide area where what were surely migratory Barn Swallow were streaming through. Easily 300 streamed overhead within sight as I walked through. All headed north to south. I could have stood there in one spot and used the bins to sight high flyers and gotten some huge numbers. Also spotted one small group of 5 Red-Rumped Swallow on the edge of the main body.

Still trying to get a better viewing spot for the bar in the middle of the river that always holds a number of birds, I decided to try the small pay park that I had spotted before. The pedestrian gate was open but forces one up to the window where various prices were listed. Deciding to try the tactic of acting like you know what your doing that I learned to successfully use when doing export inspections in the past, I strode through confidently, displayed the camera with the impressive looking telephoto lens, made eye contact with my best authoritative look, and pointed that I was going in. That and the confusion of a white person where they never see one worked. The attendant jumped up out of his chair and gaped, looked confused and then gave me a wane smile while bobbing a yes and looking very uncomfortable. I kept going and had the nice little park all to myself. It was close enough to be sure of what I was seeing out in the river, but that day nothing but Black-Headed Gull. I did also spot a couple of Grey Heron and a very cooperative Spotted Dove as well as an Oriental Magpie that both posed nicely. There was a large flock of Azure-Winged Magpie cavorting about and a couple of squirrel gathering mushrooms. One had a mushroom bigger than it's head that it toted up and down trees, across building roofs and most of the length of the park!

I then took the newly found bus route over to the Zoo Park and again found little bird activity other than a large flock of Chinese Bulbul. This park has a lot of people traffic though, so not surprising.

Panjin Wetland Park, Liaoning, CN
Oct 6, 2018 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 kilometer(s)
9 species

Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) 1
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 12
Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea) 2
Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) 20
Oriental Magpie (Pica serica) 4
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 300
Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) 5
Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) 8
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 60

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48969181

Panjin, Shuangtaizi, Zoo Island, Liaoning, CN
Oct 6, 2018 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 kilometer(s)
6 species

Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas zonorhyncha) 1
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 3
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 42 Mostly in one large flock
Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) 5
Pallas's Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) 3
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 30

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48969225

Nice capture of the Spotbill in flight Owen

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK said:

Nice capture of the Spotbill in flight Owen

Cheers
Mike

Click to expand...

Thanks Mike. That was literally a snap shot. I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye and just had time to react without thinking and swing the camera up. Luckily, I happened to still have 1/2000 sec set and the autofocus actually locked in immediately.

Oct-8

Another exploration trip, this time down to the mouth of the Lao River. I had been thinking of trying it for some time. It turned out to be a mix of a 'ghost' area with many buildings that have never been occupied and there long enough that they are starting to deteriorate and some nice patches of reed marsh when you get close to the river. For China, the area was mostly deserted which is good for birding.

The only things of note were a fairly abundant, but rarely actually seen female Ring-Necked Pheasant, which broke from cover about 20 meters behind me after I passed it, a very colorful Grey-Headed Woodpecker and a large flock of Chinese Penduline Tit noisily cracking seeds while hidden down in the reeds. Fortunately, a juvenile popped up into the clear long enough to get a good shot and I managed to find a hole through which I could photo some adults feeding. I actually caught glimpses of at least 50, but that was just right along the edges so I expect there were actually over 500 buried in the reeds. The Barn Swallow and Black-Headed Gull were also soaring over the reeds. The BHG were circling, skimming just over the tops of the reeds. Not sure what they were so interested in.

Panjin, Dawa County, Liaoning, CN, Liaoning, CN
Oct 8, 2018 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 kilometer(s)
Comments: Reed marsh & Lao River
10 species

Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 1
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 50
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 2
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 1
Gray-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus) 1
Oriental Magpie (Pica serica) 10
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 100
Chinese Penduline-Tit (Remiz consobrinus) 100 Very large flock feeding heavily on seeds in reed marsh. Probably many times more deeper in the reeds and hence not observable.
Pallas's Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) 2
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 20

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49072233

Oct-12

An outing to the woods along a local canal didn't produce a lot, but was really nice as there were fewer people out than normal and the weather was beautiful. After deciding it wasn't worth the 3km walk back, I caught a bus but let my mind drift and missed my connection stop. I therefore stayed on to the closest stop to home and as I got off heard Magpies making a commotion and decided to check it out.

That made the outing well worth while! I reentered the woods along the same canal and as I stood on the walkway trying to see what had them riled up, I saw what looked to be a couple of very large Azure-Winged Magpie flying up the canal. Then I noticed the very distinctive large red bill. Red-Billed Blue Magpie, with four Azure-Winged Magpie in hot pursuit!! I started to swing the camera up but I had already shut it off and mounted the lens cap! I followed the procession hoping to get a picture, but they stayed up high in the canopy, well hidden in the foliage, as an Oriental Magpie arrived to join in the party. I did manage to get a not too great recording of them. Unfortunately, the main road is immediately adjacent right there.

Panjin, Dawa County, Liaoning, CN, Liaoning, CN
Oct 12, 2018 10:45 AM - 1:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 kilometer(s)
8 species (+1 other taxa)

Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) 4
Red-billed Blue-Magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha) 2
Oriental Magpie (Pica serica) 2
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 2
Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) 10
Pallas's Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) 11
Dusky/Naumann's Thrush (Turdus eunomus/naumanni) 2
Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) 3
Yellow-billed Grosbeak (Eophona migratoria) 2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49132297

all magpies are noisy, but all three magpies must have made a terrific racket!

Cheers
Mike

Another Corvidae, but a flock of Crows is called a murder, which is what is sounded like was going on!

They had all flown off together and a few minutes later only the Red-Billed returned for a few minutes, which is when I got the brief recording. You wouldn't have been able to tell who was who in the cacophony when they were all together.

I tried to find them to get a picture yesterday, but though I could hear them in the distance, I never managed to get a look.

Oct-18

A few minor outings in the last few days, but today I made a visit to Gedalou Reservoir, which, as usual, provided a few surprises.

Unfortunately, my failing computer corrupted some files including a nice shot of a White-Winged Tern coming up off the lake with a small fish. Another was a long range shot of four Red-Breasted Merganser. Several others, but they were mundane anyway, so didn't hurt so much.

I was greeted as soon as I entered through the small fish pond village with a large flock of at least 30 Chinese Bulbul noisily active in a small orchard. Before I got 20 meters I had Mongolian Gull and Black-Headed Gull and was being scolded by the Oriental Magpie. The locals recognized me and came over to tell me, as usual, just yesterday there were very many "lu" their general term for Egret and Heron.

Moving on up to the lake itself there were steady numbers of Little Grebe in groups of 8-12 and a thinner but consistent scattering of Great Crested Grebe, mostly juveniles. Every time I report from Gedalou e-bird insists on details saying that there wouldn't be that many. Truth is with some concentrated effort I am certain I could have doubled those numbers. I was tired and I have to admit that I got a bit snippy with them this time.

The only waders I found were a couple of Grey Heron. I have to say that their rather plain looking camouflage works well, as I have several times walked right up on one standing in plain sight and not seen it until it flew.

I was leaning over the rock wall around the reservoir to get a shot of a White Wagtail when a couple of Ashy Minivet photo bombed right through the frame. It was instincts only that I managed to snap a somewhat blurry picture as they shot through. Six more followed close on their heels and I spent quite a bit of time trying to track them down but they were moving fast and low and bobbing and weaving and I didn't find them again.

Nothing of importance beyond that just four Common Shelduck far out and four Gadwall that flew off from the shore as I peeked over the wall.

Gedalou Reservoir, Panjin, Dawa County, Liaoning, CN, Liaoning, CN
Oct 18, 2018 8:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 kilometer(s)
14 species

Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 4
Gadwall (Mareca strepera) 4
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 4 Mixed in with 50 Eurasian Coot on the lake.
Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) 80
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) 37 Despite your opinion, expressed through questioning each report form there, Great Crested Grebe do breed on Gedalou Reservoir and are present in numbers from as soon as the shore ice is gone until it forms again. Mostly juv. at this time. Actual counts. Avoiding over counts is not difficult as they defend territories along the lake shoreline and hence don't mix much.
Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) 50
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 10
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 20
White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) 2 Unfortunately usable photos lost to corrupted files. Dark bodied, small tern. I agree as to being only in small numbers in the summer and that I was surprised to see them at this date.
Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea) 2
Ashy Minivet (Pericrocotus divaricatus) 8
Oriental Magpie (Pica serica) 35
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 36
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49266768

More pics October 18 Gedalou Reservoir

A theme started to develop. Shortly after the Ashy Minivet photo bombed, I was going for a shot of some Little Grebe along the shoreline when there was a flash of ginger hair in my viewfinder. Astutely figuring that it was unlikely that any of the British Royal Family was mucking around the shoreline, I forgot about the birds and investigated further. :king: I ended up spending at least half an hour setting up several ambushes for a photogenic Siberian Weasel before one finally paid off. The reservoir is rock lined and it was searching in the cracks between the rocks. Probably for fish dropped by birds or the occasional mouse or rat.

Not a bird, but still pretty nifty. I've seen four of them this fall but this is the first time I've ever managed to get a usable photography of one.

Nice photos of the weasel Owen! Nice to get one in the open like that.

Oct-19

On a whim this morning, I changed my plans and decided to go Red-Billed Blue Magpie hunting. I had not gotten any photos in my initial sighting so it didn't really count as a full tick to me.

I first tried the initial observation area again. The Azure-Winged Magpie were out in force and even seemed to have called in reinforcements as the family group usually runs 12-15 birds, but today was at least 20 and they were noisily patrolling the area. Maybe still worked up from their finding the two Red-Billed Magpie intruders the other day. A lot of Chinese Bulbul were also quite noisy except for quieting down when the Azure-Winged Magpie bullies would come through and chase them out of their perches.

I decided to try moving on to the north for no other reason than I had north or south to choose from for best habitat and I hadn't checked out that area for quite some time. I did get distracted for a little while when some locals pointed out a Eurasian Red Squirrel (Squirrel! 8-P). Shortly after getting back on task I found a second family group of Azure-Winged Magpie about 2 kilometers north of the first group. This was an even larger group of at least 30 individuals, but they were making very little noise and not bothering anyone else. It was then that I caught my first glimpse of a Red-Billed Blue Magpie moving with the flock. Apparently my pair had managed to find a flock of Azure-Winged that would tolerate their tagging along. After almost losing them I moved to the other side of the canal and BINGO I finally got my photos!

The AWM were staying up in the trees but the two Red-Billed were mostly working down along the water's edge. It appeared they were snatching tidbits out of the shallow water. One photo showed what looked to be a possible dragonfly nymph. When the AWM moved the Red-Billed would move to stay close to the group and the flock just ignored them. I did a couple of time think that I could hear at least one other back in the village adjacent to the canal, but couldn't verify that.

Panjin, Liaoning, China, Liaoning, CN
Oct 19, 2018 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.5 kilometer(s)
7 species

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) 1
Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) 50
Red-billed Blue-Magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha) 2
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 35
Pallas's Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) 1
Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus) 4
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 70

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49285708