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Beidaihe - Awaiting The Birds Of Heaven II
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<blockquote data-quote="FXM" data-source="post: 1642634" data-attributes="member: 48286"><p>Hi Folks,</p><p></p><p>Headed off to <strong>Tian Ma Hu</strong> early this morning. Weather was sunny, winds were no more F2-3 NE so picked a nice day. Still cold though with many frozen areas. But much nicer to bird in. Took us about 60 mins to get there using the old Beijing road which is poor in places but still carries a lot of traffic.</p><p></p><p>Got a shock when I saw the scale of the place. It's a pretty vast area with a large reservoir surrounded by mountains. There are wet grasslands sandwiched between the res. and the maize crops which the villagers obviously work. The hillsides are degraded but have lots of scrubby vegetation,small trees and bushes. The river(s)/streams has been worked to death, like most rivers I've seen in China, for its sand and gravel, but is still good in places. If ever a place is likely to get cranes surely this is one. Today there were none but the locals said there had been some there just a few days earlier. How many and what species I couldn't find out.</p><p></p><p>I got a surprise as we parked up and I scoured the hillsides. It was teeming with birds, particularly <strong>Pine Buntings</strong>, of which I estimated at least 50 in one small area. There were also numerous <strong>Godlewski's Buntings</strong>, <strong>Oriental Greenfinch</strong>, <strong>Vinous-throated Parrotbill</strong> - two parties, <strong>Siberian Accentors</strong> and several <strong>Chinese Hill Warblers</strong>.</p><p></p><p>The water margins were jumping with <strong>Water Pipits</strong> and several <strong>Pallas's Buntings</strong>. <strong>Skylarks </strong>were in the harvested Maize crops as was a <strong>Chinese Shrike</strong>. A distant <strong>Upland Buzzard</strong> may have disturbed the immature (1st winter) <strong>White-tailed Eagle</strong> that had been resting in the grasslands adjacent to the res. Two rather grey-looking <strong>Peregrines </strong>harassed the Eagle and a <strong>Common Kestrel </strong>moved through. A couple of <strong>Daurian Jackdaws</strong> went over.</p><p></p><p>The res. itself is so large that to do it justice you would need to work your way around it and thus would need to spend the best part of a day there at least. The wind, although not that strong still whipped up the water enough to hinder viewing considerably. The following were noted in just a very small part of the res. It held good numbers of <strong>Goldeneye </strong>and <strong>Smew</strong>, probably both 100+, <strong>Goosander</strong>, <strong>Mallard</strong>, <strong>Chinese Spotbill</strong>, 25+ <strong>Ruddy Shelduck</strong>, <strong>Little Grebe</strong>, <strong>Common Teal</strong>, a <strong>Grey Heron</strong> and seven <strong>Whooper Swans</strong>.</p><p></p><p>This is a seriously good place and well worth a visit in all seasons I would have thought. Thanks very much for the tip-off Martin.</p><p></p><p>A quich coffee and a bite to eat at 1230 and time to head back to Beidaihe, this time via the expressway toll road. Took 20 mins off the time. Basically from Beidaihe you can be there in no more than 40 mins.</p><p></p><p>Back at the windmill on the sandflats for just over three hours. Viewing pretty good, particularly over the west side of Qinhuangdao, and the face carved out of the Mountain side was clearly visible for the first time this trip. No cranes, storks, geese or bustards but did get more views of a 1st winter <strong>Saunder's Gull</strong> plus a 1st winter <strong>Relict Gull</strong> - my only one of the trip. Thought it was getting just a little late but there are usually stragglers.</p><p></p><p>And so just tomorrow morning to try for an early bustard or crane and then off to Beijing for my flight back to the UK around lunchtime on Friday.</p><p></p><p>Cheers for now.</p><p></p><p>Frank<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FXM, post: 1642634, member: 48286"] Hi Folks, Headed off to [B]Tian Ma Hu[/B] early this morning. Weather was sunny, winds were no more F2-3 NE so picked a nice day. Still cold though with many frozen areas. But much nicer to bird in. Took us about 60 mins to get there using the old Beijing road which is poor in places but still carries a lot of traffic. Got a shock when I saw the scale of the place. It's a pretty vast area with a large reservoir surrounded by mountains. There are wet grasslands sandwiched between the res. and the maize crops which the villagers obviously work. The hillsides are degraded but have lots of scrubby vegetation,small trees and bushes. The river(s)/streams has been worked to death, like most rivers I've seen in China, for its sand and gravel, but is still good in places. If ever a place is likely to get cranes surely this is one. Today there were none but the locals said there had been some there just a few days earlier. How many and what species I couldn't find out. I got a surprise as we parked up and I scoured the hillsides. It was teeming with birds, particularly [B]Pine Buntings[/B], of which I estimated at least 50 in one small area. There were also numerous [B]Godlewski's Buntings[/B], [B]Oriental Greenfinch[/B], [B]Vinous-throated Parrotbill[/B] - two parties, [B]Siberian Accentors[/B] and several [B]Chinese Hill Warblers[/B]. The water margins were jumping with [B]Water Pipits[/B] and several [B]Pallas's Buntings[/B]. [B]Skylarks [/B]were in the harvested Maize crops as was a [B]Chinese Shrike[/B]. A distant [B]Upland Buzzard[/B] may have disturbed the immature (1st winter) [B]White-tailed Eagle[/B] that had been resting in the grasslands adjacent to the res. Two rather grey-looking [B]Peregrines [/B]harassed the Eagle and a [B]Common Kestrel [/B]moved through. A couple of [B]Daurian Jackdaws[/B] went over. The res. itself is so large that to do it justice you would need to work your way around it and thus would need to spend the best part of a day there at least. The wind, although not that strong still whipped up the water enough to hinder viewing considerably. The following were noted in just a very small part of the res. It held good numbers of [B]Goldeneye [/B]and [B]Smew[/B], probably both 100+, [B]Goosander[/B], [B]Mallard[/B], [B]Chinese Spotbill[/B], 25+ [B]Ruddy Shelduck[/B], [B]Little Grebe[/B], [B]Common Teal[/B], a [B]Grey Heron[/B] and seven [B]Whooper Swans[/B]. This is a seriously good place and well worth a visit in all seasons I would have thought. Thanks very much for the tip-off Martin. A quich coffee and a bite to eat at 1230 and time to head back to Beidaihe, this time via the expressway toll road. Took 20 mins off the time. Basically from Beidaihe you can be there in no more than 40 mins. Back at the windmill on the sandflats for just over three hours. Viewing pretty good, particularly over the west side of Qinhuangdao, and the face carved out of the Mountain side was clearly visible for the first time this trip. No cranes, storks, geese or bustards but did get more views of a 1st winter [B]Saunder's Gull[/B] plus a 1st winter [B]Relict Gull[/B] - my only one of the trip. Thought it was getting just a little late but there are usually stragglers. And so just tomorrow morning to try for an early bustard or crane and then off to Beijing for my flight back to the UK around lunchtime on Friday. Cheers for now. Frank;) [/QUOTE]
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