Panjin Birding by the Old Fat Man (6 Viewers)

The Helm book, "Gulls" I find to be a lot less helpful than I was hoping for when I purchased it. I personally find it chaotically organized and poorly indexed. But maybe that is just my own lack of knowledge showing through.
Maybe more of a treatise than a guide.

Mar-27

A walk about the neighborhood this afternoon. Some promising signs as the numbers of Passerines looks to be sharply up from last year. A low hurdle as last year many types were totally or nearly absent.

Did get some good photos of the Red-Flanked Bluetail and some Chinese Bulbul posed cooperatively in amongst the spring buds. Even managed to get some decent shots of the very shy Olive-Backed Pipit.

Panjin, Dawa County, Liaoning, CN, Liaoning, CN
Mar 27, 2019 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 kilometer(s)
7 species

Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) 1
Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) 25
Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis) 6
Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus) 15
Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) 6
Yellow-throated Bunting (Emberiza elegans) 3
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 40

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54267925

It is getting close enough to my departure date that I am not sure if I will get another report in or not, so I'll take the time to mention again that I will be leaving for America on April 3rd. I plan to be back in Panjin in late August or early September. Too many things needing my attention accumulating back in the States including a couple that require me to make an appearance in person. My brothers and a couple of cousins have been bugging me about a family reunion this summer anyway.

One of my Chinese associates here has challenged me to see how many new species I can pick up while back in the States, which suits me just fine. Therefore I will be opening another thread for that. Haven't decided yet where I will post that, but I will let you all know when I get started.

You nailed that Pipit Owen. Safe travels and have a great time home for a bit. I'll miss your accounts of spring migration in Liaoning on this forum.

In terms of the Vega vs. Mongolian ID topic, I found this incredibly tricky. During late spring, most Mongolians should technically be on their breeding grounds in and around Mongolia. In winter, I just used the degree of streaking on their nape (the shawl) for Mongolian and the entire head streaked for Vega. I hesitated to separate them during the summer. I guided a gull expert from Switzerland along the coast from Dalian to Zhuanghe some years ago who could separate them based on body shape but I was not trained enough for it. Then there are the Herring types with yellow legs that, if dark mantled enough, I called Heughlin's. But there are also herring types similarly mantled to Vega and Mongolian but with yellow legs that could be tamyrensis. But maybe tamyrensis is part of Heughlin's , but, but, but....|8||

My thoughts exactly, Tom B

I have arrived in America and have started posting at https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=3835712#post3835712 Rainy weather with leaden skies for my first couple of days, but that should start to improve soon.

Managed to pick up a couple of new species and a sub-species already between the rain showers.

Return to Panjin

I made it back to Panjin, Liaoning just three days ago, arriving in the wee hours of the morning. I am finally starting to readjust to the time zone, but the cold that I of course promptly caught isn't helping.

A morning outing to try out my new camera outfit rewarded me with one new tic in the form of some White-Cheeked Starling that were skulking in the foliage and the dark understory of a wooded area. The first thing to be spotted though were my regular escorts, a family of about 20 Azure-Winged Magpie that quickly took an interest in what I was doing and accompanied me until I left their territory.

A few Oriental Magpie were scattered about but I did see that the AWMagpie had stolen the OMagpie's nest that they have used for several years! Apparently a new acquisition as the OM were still nearby scolding and making an occasional flyby.

The AWM were in a generally aggressive mood as they were even chasing off the Grey-Headed Woodpecker which are usually the ones being aggressive towards everyone else. The flock numbers apparently was giving them courage.

Small numbers of Chinese Bulbul and Coal Tit were about as well as some tiny probable Goldcrest also flitted about in the gloom but I wasn't able to ID for certain on them.

Five Dusky Thrush were more cooperative though not actually coming out in the open they did stay in place buried in the foliage long enough to be able to figure them out with the binoculars.

Overhead were a few straggling Barn Swallow still migrating through.

Today is heavily overcast and Sundays bring out herds of people scaring everything away, so I plan to try some of the wetland areas tomorrow.

I did want to share one photo of what was the marshy area where I found the Water Pipit three years ago. Amazing what changes can happen in less than a year in China.

That picture is soooo China, Owen.

That is what impressed me too, Jeff and why I snapped it. The new lens was so sharp it looked like one of the artists renditions that you commonly see in advertising here.

Great to see that you are back Owen! Looking forward to following this thread again.

Should get a report up, probably two, later today when I get things organized better. Had a couple of nice outings, though noting like the numbers you get in BC, Tom.

Right now the holiday is over, so it is off to the PSB to re-register. Unfortunately, probably due to the Hong Kong problems, the Chicago consulate wouldn't issue a long term Q-1 visa as requested instead going with a 120 day Q-2. Local PSB have already said they would adjust it here though.

Panjin Wetland Park, OCT-7

I made it up to one of my favorite areas, the Panjin Wetland Park and did the aprox. 6 km walk around the east end of the lakes.

The real star of the day was a pair of male Daurian Redstart that were busy chasing each other about. In the same cover were what I thought to be Red-Flanked Bluetail as I could make out the tiny flashes of blue dodging from one hiding spot to another.

A Eurasian Kestrel zipped by and I got just a quick glimpse of what I think was a Hen Harrier, as it flew between the trees, but not a good enough look to count it.

A smaller number of gulls than I expected were about, but at least one interesting find is included here. I've never seen a wing pattern like this one was showing. I managed one not great shot of the three species together showing a large, medium and small gull. My ID would be Mongolian (or possibly Vega), Black-Tailed and Black-Headed, but I would appreciate any help on that.

There seemed to be more Grey Heron than usual and definitely more Great Cormorant than are usually seen there. A single Great White Egret was spotted, which was a little surprising in that they usually are fairly common there. Several Intermediate Egret and a single Little Egret which I observed closely through the binoculars hoping for a Chinese Egret, but no luck.

Azure-Winged Magpie tagged along in a family group on the south side of the lake as usual and a few Oriental Magpie were along the north side, again as usual and a few Chinese Bulbul were being their usual noisy selves up in the tops of the trees.

I spent quite some time working on verifying what sounded like Yellow-Browed Warbler to finally get a quick look at one as he popped out right next to me and quickly retreated back to cover.

I also got some nice shots of a couple of insects as they were sunning themselves. One I don't know the name of but it was a weird looking thing. The Asian Longhorn Beetle was quite large and impressive, but the surprising thing was when it made a short flight and just as it took off it emitted a clearly audible EEK! My wife was along for the exercise and mostly engrossed in her phone until then. She then decided to get it to do it again by poking at it with a stick. Apparently deciding that the best defense was a good offense it started directly toward her at a very purposeful pace. She retreated and it kept coming so she dodged to one side. It turned and continued to pursue. At that point she decided to leave it be and quickly retreated while hurling abuse at me in Chinese for laughing at her and not helping. 8-P

As we passed between the lake and the Shuangtaizi River it was obvious that there had been some really serious recent flooding of the river. The channel had been well scoured out and the banks had heavy mud deposits. In fact when we reached the more typical city park where I usually exit mud had been deposited on the foot bridge a good three meters or more above the current river level which is in itself slightly higher than what has been normal in the past few years. Sections on the park had been buried in a good half a meter of mud which was still wet in some areas. I'm sure about that depth as the bricked pavement had just recently been dug out and it is now that deep below the ground level.

More photos

Some more photos

Hey, Tom,

Cranefan from London has posted a request for any tips on birding in the Dalian area later this month and I figured you could help more than anyone I know.

"A last minute request for any help possible! I'm expecting to be travelling to China next week, and should have a couple of days free in Dalian (21-22 October) and Hainan (27-28 October). I would love to fit in some birding in these places if possible!

"I wondered if anyone knows any local birders or bird guides in either of these locations? I speak Chinese so that's not a problem. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!"

https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=382109

Thanks Owen, I replied to him in the other thread.

The gull in post #792 is Black-headed.
The gulls in post #793 are Black-headed on the left, Mongolian/Vega in the middle and the far right one is the same I think. It's not dark-mantled enough to be Black-tailed in my opinion. It also looks to be the same size as the one in flight. Not sure about the one second from the right with its head turned but probably Black-headed also.

Hope this helps and looking forward to more posts.
Tom

Thanks Tom. You gave Cranefan some very detailed hints on birding your old area. He should do fine with them.

It is always harder to judge in photos, but the bird on the far right was definitely smaller than the Mongolian/Vega. The lake was displaying about three each of the large (M/V) and medium sized gulls. At the time I tried to come up with a medium sized gull to fit and BT was as good as I came up with, though I was still doubtful. Finishing the photo processing produced some good shots of what I see as the Mongolian type.

In the end, I revert to my field notes with Mongolian, Black-Headed and and three unknown gulls as those three were mostly airborne and at enough distance to not yield anymore useful photos.

Just a quick one to somewhat at least catch up.


I've been limited to checking things out within a couple of km of home due to some activities keeping me busy. Nothing special to report other than that numbers do seem to be significantly up from the widespread dearth of birds I noticed last fall. Long-Tailed Tit and Hoopoe are both back, which I am glad of as they are two of my favorites. Along that line, I spotted a Hoopoe at a considerable distance putting on quite a display the other day while out for a walk. It was enough to catch my interest but, unfortunately, I didn't detour the 500m or so through the slowly dying village to get a closer look. I did snap a couple of quick shots with the Canon SX-70 that tend to carry with me when just out and about not expecting any serious birding. After I got home and did some cropping I regretted not detouring as I found that there was a Little Owl that was the focus of the Hoopoe's attention.

Not an actual bird, but on my return I found that there was a little plastic duck, complete with a beanie helmet, sunglasses and a gold neck chain setting on top of our milk delivery box. Nobody owns up to knowing where it came from, but I kind of liked it and have left it setting there.

Eating up much of my time have been meetings with businessmen who are wanting to take advantage of the government stressing environmentalism. They are aiming for the eco tourism market for now in Panjin but wanting to eventually include tourism overseas as well. Hoping to attract some of the birding market to the CN052 Important Bird Area and that is where I come in as they saw some of my photos online and contacted me. At least it is now down to one person who says they have the money and are willing to make the investment if the government cooperates. Still in the planning stage, so I'll keep everyone updated as it goes along.

The bigger time consumption and effort has gone to dealing with the world's oldest and biggest bureaucracy. When I finish with that adventure I can make a post just on that if anyone is interested. Let us just say it requires more hoops to jump through than it did just a year ago. Local PSB are familiar with me by now though and are being helpful.

Hi Owen,

Talking to a friend in BJ about Hoopoes - do they leave your area in the winter, or stay throughout? Wondering what you've noticed about how hardy they are and how much/when they migrate. I've just seen a few here, and trying to figure out why that is...

Love that hoopoe shot! Not an angle I’ve ever seen befoee.

The dick rocks!

Cheers
Mike

Thanks for the little pokes. I've been so busy lately that I have let this thread slip. Rain moving in later today, so I'll use that down time to get something out later.

Hi Gretchen, been awhile since we spoke. The Hoopoes (Hoopoe? What is the plural for that anyway?) are pretty common here during the summer and though numbers do decrease in the winter, there are usually a few that stick around. I've had to supply photos to ebird, like this one of a Hoopoe amongst the snow banks in February, as they regularly question my IDs saying that there wouldn't be any Hoopoe here during the winter months. The Hoopoe will migrate out if it gets too cold though as I have seen one winter with none in the area and a couple more years with very few. The attraction of Panjin, other than that many of the Wang clan live here, was that it located just right to have a somewhat milder climate than expected for this far north. Compared to the Heilongjiang where my wife grew up and where we got married, it is downright warm!

My daughter, whom we live with, finally owned up to she was the one that put the rocking duck up. She saw it at a store and thought it fit me and installed it as a gag. It is a permanent feature now!

Owen