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China observations (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Gretchen
- Start date
mcaribou
Migration coming
lucionensis is a summer breeder around Shanghai.The other three are said to pass this area but I've never been confident to id them esp. juv in autumn.
The coming juv I think are cristatus.
Yesterday the Swedish Jocko visited Yangshan Is. near Shanghai.He saw load of Brown Shrikes also.
The coming juv I think are cristatus.
Yesterday the Swedish Jocko visited Yangshan Is. near Shanghai.He saw load of Brown Shrikes also.
mcaribou
Migration coming
Similar pattern of migration also occur on Hoopoe and Eurasion Cuckoo in Rudong I think.
Local breeders finish their breeding and u see many of them incl. juv.Then the numbers decrease very quick when they leave here.Then the numbers increase very quick again when northern migrants arrive.
Local breeders finish their breeding and u see many of them incl. juv.Then the numbers decrease very quick when they leave here.Then the numbers increase very quick again when northern migrants arrive.
Wfp?
Need some input on a plover I found in Nanhai, Pudong on Saturday.
Among the kentish there was one individual standing out from the crowd. Substantially lighter greyish, sandy colour. Paler legs. Almost completely white lores. Very tiny breast patch. Furthermore it was hanging around by itself and did not seem to be very interested in the 20+ normal kentish that were there.
Is this what a White-faced Plover looks like in reality? Plovers can have a fair bit of individual variation, and since I am not yet familiar with this species, I am not certain and would be grateful for some clever advice.
As far as I am aware, WFP is not regular this far north.
Pls excuse the rainy crappy shots...
Saludos,
jocko
Need some input on a plover I found in Nanhai, Pudong on Saturday.
Among the kentish there was one individual standing out from the crowd. Substantially lighter greyish, sandy colour. Paler legs. Almost completely white lores. Very tiny breast patch. Furthermore it was hanging around by itself and did not seem to be very interested in the 20+ normal kentish that were there.
Is this what a White-faced Plover looks like in reality? Plovers can have a fair bit of individual variation, and since I am not yet familiar with this species, I am not certain and would be grateful for some clever advice.
As far as I am aware, WFP is not regular this far north.
Pls excuse the rainy crappy shots...
Saludos,
jocko
Attachments
Jocko,
Hope you get some replies on this, I think there may be some people around who could comment. (You could also try the ID forum...)
Sandflats
Had a great afternoon out on Sunday in Beidaihe - perfect weather, and a fairly good tide level.
At the entrance to the reservoir I was amused to see as many kingfisher photographers as kingfishers! There seemed to be a good number of Common Kingfishers about - I guess it was a successful nesting for them, otherwise I'm not sure if the 4-5 which seemed to be about would tolerate one another's presence in a relatively small section of stream. There was also distant views (for me) of a Black-capped Kingfisher, which I don't see too often. There were 5 tiny camouflage tent/hides with long lenses visible, as well and lots of natural and placed locations for kingfishers to perch. I love watching these birds and can't blame those so interested in capturing them on film. Two times they landed quite close to me for excellent views.
I also saw more clearly, what I'd seen on my last trip - a myna. It wasn't in "fine feather", but the lack of yellow around the eyes make me think it was Javan Myna - but I'm not sure which species is a common cage bird here.
A good number of Chinese Pond Herons in evidence on both sides of the highway (not to mention ubiquitous Great Egrets and Little Egrets). I guess the pond herons are just more visible now that nesting is through. Just saw one Little Grebe and two unidentified distant ducks on the reservoir itself. Thought that I saw a Bull-headed Shrike, which if correctly identified is a first for me.
On the sandflats' side I believe we had both Purple and Grey Herons (in addition to the other herons/egrets), though they were at such a distance that I can't be certain of telling the two types apart. Stonechats had arrived in numbers (none seen on a trip 5 days earlier) and were calling a good bit. There was a flock of perhaps 40+ Black-winged Stilts which did some nice formation flying. A few individual waders were distant and hard to identify (sandpiper? tringa?).
I was surprised to see what looked like a distant group of cormorants sitting on a shore with some gulls. I couldn't figure what else they might be, and when they decided to fly off around 6 pm, I felt more sure that they were Great Cormorants, including some light chested juveniles - total group was 15.
I then got better views of single Whimbrel, and Far Eastern Curlew (though I didn't see it flying). Two kinds of peeps were doing what we expect: peeping. With the help of Dongbei's recent pictures (and their large numbers which point to a common bird) I guess they were mostly Little-Ringed Plovers, and Red-necked Stints - definitely not in breeding colors, but the two species about the same size. I was happy to finally see a couple of White Wagtails which I've largely missed this summer; they were leucopsis, so I guess they were local not migratory.
I know there was more on the sandflats which I just didn't have the optics to see and work out, but it was a very pleasant day and lots of birds (and bird photographers on both sides of the road).
Working on my own here to figure out what's what, so feel free to comment if any of my deductions seem questionable.
Hope you get some replies on this, I think there may be some people around who could comment. (You could also try the ID forum...)
Sandflats
Had a great afternoon out on Sunday in Beidaihe - perfect weather, and a fairly good tide level.
At the entrance to the reservoir I was amused to see as many kingfisher photographers as kingfishers! There seemed to be a good number of Common Kingfishers about - I guess it was a successful nesting for them, otherwise I'm not sure if the 4-5 which seemed to be about would tolerate one another's presence in a relatively small section of stream. There was also distant views (for me) of a Black-capped Kingfisher, which I don't see too often. There were 5 tiny camouflage tent/hides with long lenses visible, as well and lots of natural and placed locations for kingfishers to perch. I love watching these birds and can't blame those so interested in capturing them on film. Two times they landed quite close to me for excellent views.
I also saw more clearly, what I'd seen on my last trip - a myna. It wasn't in "fine feather", but the lack of yellow around the eyes make me think it was Javan Myna - but I'm not sure which species is a common cage bird here.
A good number of Chinese Pond Herons in evidence on both sides of the highway (not to mention ubiquitous Great Egrets and Little Egrets). I guess the pond herons are just more visible now that nesting is through. Just saw one Little Grebe and two unidentified distant ducks on the reservoir itself. Thought that I saw a Bull-headed Shrike, which if correctly identified is a first for me.
On the sandflats' side I believe we had both Purple and Grey Herons (in addition to the other herons/egrets), though they were at such a distance that I can't be certain of telling the two types apart. Stonechats had arrived in numbers (none seen on a trip 5 days earlier) and were calling a good bit. There was a flock of perhaps 40+ Black-winged Stilts which did some nice formation flying. A few individual waders were distant and hard to identify (sandpiper? tringa?).
I was surprised to see what looked like a distant group of cormorants sitting on a shore with some gulls. I couldn't figure what else they might be, and when they decided to fly off around 6 pm, I felt more sure that they were Great Cormorants, including some light chested juveniles - total group was 15.
I then got better views of single Whimbrel, and Far Eastern Curlew (though I didn't see it flying). Two kinds of peeps were doing what we expect: peeping. With the help of Dongbei's recent pictures (and their large numbers which point to a common bird) I guess they were mostly Little-Ringed Plovers, and Red-necked Stints - definitely not in breeding colors, but the two species about the same size. I was happy to finally see a couple of White Wagtails which I've largely missed this summer; they were leucopsis, so I guess they were local not migratory.
I know there was more on the sandflats which I just didn't have the optics to see and work out, but it was a very pleasant day and lots of birds (and bird photographers on both sides of the road).
Working on my own here to figure out what's what, so feel free to comment if any of my deductions seem questionable.
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mcaribou
Migration coming
Interesting that in this first week of Sep Tiger Shrike is passing Rudong.
Some other common migrants and uncommon ones such as all species of grasshopper warblers.
Surprisingly on 5 Sep I saw a non-br Long-billed Dowitcher in Rudong and then today,6 Sep in Shanghai I saw another.At sunset,3000 Yellow Wagtails,300 OPratincoles,1000 small waders and a few Garganeys came from the north to roost.
mcaribou
Migration coming
The next morning around 8:00 OPratincoles left the roosting place and flew to the west.
Then on Yangshan Island near Shanghai,at first it was quiet and around 11:00,a lot of warblers came in to feed actively-80 ECrowned,10 Arctic,5 Yellow-browed.Flycatchers also joined in this fiesta which lasted after 12:30 when we dicided to leave.
ECrowned likes to feed near the crown of trees,feeding on food without wings under leaves and branches,while Arctic feeds near/on the ground on food with wings.Once we saw an ECrowned chasing a small blue butterfly in the air which Arctic feeds on very often but the ECrowned failed.I guess it's not so good at these kinds of food as Arctic
Then on Yangshan Island near Shanghai,at first it was quiet and around 11:00,a lot of warblers came in to feed actively-80 ECrowned,10 Arctic,5 Yellow-browed.Flycatchers also joined in this fiesta which lasted after 12:30 when we dicided to leave.
ECrowned likes to feed near the crown of trees,feeding on food without wings under leaves and branches,while Arctic feeds near/on the ground on food with wings.Once we saw an ECrowned chasing a small blue butterfly in the air which Arctic feeds on very often but the ECrowned failed.I guess it's not so good at these kinds of food as Arctic
Actually I was really impressed with the 3000 Yellow Wagtails - I just haven't managed to see passerines in those numbers yet...
ECrowned likes to feed near the crown of trees,feeding on food without wings under leaves and branches,while Arctic feeds near/on the ground on food with wings.Once we saw an ECrowned chasing a small blue butterfly in the air which Arctic feeds on very often but the ECrowned failed.I guess it's not so good at these kinds of food as Arctic
Thanks for sharing this Mcaribou - this is a very useful observation for me!
Had a pretty excellent morning at Xiao Yangshan today.
Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike 1
Jap Paradise Fc 1 male
Sib Blue-robin 1 male
Grey-streaked Fc 1
Dark-sided Fc 1
Taiga Fc 1
Grays / Sakhalin Warbler 1 juv
Lanceolated w 2
Pallass ghw 1
Pale-legged / Sakhalin lw 4-5
Eastern Crowned lw 50
Arctic w 20
Yb w 10
Buff-throated w 1 (!)
Chestnut bunting 1
Rustic b 2
Any advice on how to separate juv l fasciolata and l amnicola as well as p tenellipes and p borealoides in reality will be more than welcome...
Saludos
jocko
Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike 1
Jap Paradise Fc 1 male
Sib Blue-robin 1 male
Grey-streaked Fc 1
Dark-sided Fc 1
Taiga Fc 1
Grays / Sakhalin Warbler 1 juv
Lanceolated w 2
Pallass ghw 1
Pale-legged / Sakhalin lw 4-5
Eastern Crowned lw 50
Arctic w 20
Yb w 10
Buff-throated w 1 (!)
Chestnut bunting 1
Rustic b 2
Any advice on how to separate juv l fasciolata and l amnicola as well as p tenellipes and p borealoides in reality will be more than welcome...
Saludos
jocko
thirudevaram
Trapped in mist ***s
I had a black Winged Cuckooshrike in Hengsha yesterday morning.
I haven't gotten out much to see the birds lately, so they seem to be coming to me....
I had a chance to see a warbler up close today when one flew into my friend's apartment (open window in the hall?). It was a tiny rather dark one, but I was so concerned with helping it escape that I got neither pictures nor a really careful look. Maybe Pale-legged? It was fairly calm despite 4 of us trying to help it escape through screens which proved nearly impossible to remove. It flew away well, so seemed unharmed and not traumatized. I wonder if this is more likely to happen to migrants than locals...
I had a chance to see a warbler up close today when one flew into my friend's apartment (open window in the hall?). It was a tiny rather dark one, but I was so concerned with helping it escape that I got neither pictures nor a really careful look. Maybe Pale-legged? It was fairly calm despite 4 of us trying to help it escape through screens which proved nearly impossible to remove. It flew away well, so seemed unharmed and not traumatized. I wonder if this is more likely to happen to migrants than locals...
Jeff Hopkins
Just another...observer
Greetings from Wuhu!
I had a chance to do some brief birding in the wet brushy field beside our plant on the north end of town.
A lunchtime walk into the brush turned up a brown shrike, an oriental skylark, and a couple white wagtails (plus a warbler too distant to identify). I heard a greenshank calling from the creek nearby and saw a snipe (I think common) that flushed. There were also flyover great and little egrets, a black drongo, and a couple crested mynas. And the plant itself is full of tree sparrows.
A second session in the late afternoon was even more fruitful. Black drongos were everywhere. There was another brown shrike and a long-tailed shrike which took a couple passes at some smaller birds. The little birds included (Siberian) stonechat, daurian redstart, and my first lifer of the trip, a gray bushchat female. Flyovers included a couple of Chinese pond herons and a large flock of birds in a loose V that flew overhead when I didn't have my bins - probably cattle egrets.
I had a chance to do some brief birding in the wet brushy field beside our plant on the north end of town.
A lunchtime walk into the brush turned up a brown shrike, an oriental skylark, and a couple white wagtails (plus a warbler too distant to identify). I heard a greenshank calling from the creek nearby and saw a snipe (I think common) that flushed. There were also flyover great and little egrets, a black drongo, and a couple crested mynas. And the plant itself is full of tree sparrows.
A second session in the late afternoon was even more fruitful. Black drongos were everywhere. There was another brown shrike and a long-tailed shrike which took a couple passes at some smaller birds. The little birds included (Siberian) stonechat, daurian redstart, and my first lifer of the trip, a gray bushchat female. Flyovers included a couple of Chinese pond herons and a large flock of birds in a loose V that flew overhead when I didn't have my bins - probably cattle egrets.
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Hi there, in Wuhu (our friends who used to work there loved to say "woohoo!)!
Though you're not expecting to make it up here this fall, it should be a nice time to be down south and sounds like you're seeing a good variety already. (I'm still waiting to get a good look at a drongo in China, only really seen them in Thailand.) Congratulations on the bushchat too.
Hope that you have some more good opportunities.
Though you're not expecting to make it up here this fall, it should be a nice time to be down south and sounds like you're seeing a good variety already. (I'm still waiting to get a good look at a drongo in China, only really seen them in Thailand.) Congratulations on the bushchat too.
Hope that you have some more good opportunities.
Jeff Hopkins
Just another...observer
I have a hard time not saying that myself. :t:
And Gretchen, this is definitely the place for drongos. I had another half-dozen this morning, including a white-bellied immature. Also lots of long-tailed shrikes. They're everywhere and they're incredibly vocal.
At lunch today I picked up a few new species: oriental pratincole, Eurasian kestrel, zitting cisticola, and marsh sandpiper. Repeats from yesterday were little egret and a group of oriental skylarks.
