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China observations (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Gretchen
- Start date
mcaribou
Migration coming
Every year there are one or two in inland lakes such as Shengjing Lake and Poyang Lake.But most of them gather in coastal Zhejiang,from Hangzhou Bay to Wenzhou Bay.
Another Lianyungang birder went to watch them but only 3 left.So they'll soon arrive in Zhejiang.
I've only once seen one bird in daily migration in Shanghai.Didnt see any on 25/26 when I was in Rudong,but maybe due that I was busy with counting Spooner?
Another Lianyungang birder went to watch them but only 3 left.So they'll soon arrive in Zhejiang.
I've only once seen one bird in daily migration in Shanghai.Didnt see any on 25/26 when I was in Rudong,but maybe due that I was busy with counting Spooner?
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Finally - a crane!
Last Wednesday, zipping by the sandflats of Beidaihe on the way to the train station, I glanced out the window and was astonished to see what looked like a crane. On my way back on Thursday, I looked out again, just in case - and there it was again! (and me on a non-stop express bus...) My husband saw it too and assured me I wasn't hallucinating. My week was crazy and so I had no chance until this morning to get back to the sandflats.
It was a nasty ugly day weather wise (unless you can think of it as "mist" instead of low lying "smog"). I could barely make out the photographers who had crossed into the fenced off area in order to take pictures of the crane with the sun behind them. (Yes, hundreds of people look over that fence each day and wish they were on the other side, and now we have all seen that it is apparently "doable" but I guess that's another story....) However, the crane was closer to me than to them, and I had quite nice views of this solitary Red-crowned Crane. He was apparently around at least 5 days, and seemed to be fishing quite happily in the channel running from the reservoir. Not sure why he was there on his own for so long, but he looked okay. I guess he's just an "early bird"?? I didn't see him in the afternoon, but had no chance to look extensively, so he may have been less visible, or may have moved on.
Last Wednesday, zipping by the sandflats of Beidaihe on the way to the train station, I glanced out the window and was astonished to see what looked like a crane. On my way back on Thursday, I looked out again, just in case - and there it was again! (and me on a non-stop express bus...) My husband saw it too and assured me I wasn't hallucinating. My week was crazy and so I had no chance until this morning to get back to the sandflats.
It was a nasty ugly day weather wise (unless you can think of it as "mist" instead of low lying "smog"). I could barely make out the photographers who had crossed into the fenced off area in order to take pictures of the crane with the sun behind them. (Yes, hundreds of people look over that fence each day and wish they were on the other side, and now we have all seen that it is apparently "doable" but I guess that's another story....) However, the crane was closer to me than to them, and I had quite nice views of this solitary Red-crowned Crane. He was apparently around at least 5 days, and seemed to be fishing quite happily in the channel running from the reservoir. Not sure why he was there on his own for so long, but he looked okay. I guess he's just an "early bird"?? I didn't see him in the afternoon, but had no chance to look extensively, so he may have been less visible, or may have moved on.
rockfowl
Mark Andrews
Great news Gretchen!
One of the reasons that the SF's was fenced off was in the hope that cranes would once again land there during their annual movements along the coast. We've had a few Red-crowned's come down over the years, always solitary but they've never stayed for very long due to the disturbance. Maybe things are changing.
Well we've had Great Bustards flying down the main highway just above the roadsigns so it's just a matter of luck and timing.
One of the reasons that the SF's was fenced off was in the hope that cranes would once again land there during their annual movements along the coast. We've had a few Red-crowned's come down over the years, always solitary but they've never stayed for very long due to the disturbance. Maybe things are changing.
Well we've had Great Bustards flying down the main highway just above the roadsigns so it's just a matter of luck and timing.
Mike, Rockfowl
Thanks - it has taken forever, but I'm glad to have had such a nice view of it. And you're right, I have missed the bustard altogether so far, and will have to keep looking... Thanks too Rockfowl for the context - nice to know that it hanging around like that is a good sign. I hope the photographers weren't too much for it. (I had seen one stalking it the first day too.) People here were clearly excited about it - perhaps a local twitch - and I guess there have been pictures of it posted somewhere.
Thanks - it has taken forever, but I'm glad to have had such a nice view of it. And you're right, I have missed the bustard altogether so far, and will have to keep looking... Thanks too Rockfowl for the context - nice to know that it hanging around like that is a good sign. I hope the photographers weren't too much for it. (I had seen one stalking it the first day too.) People here were clearly excited about it - perhaps a local twitch - and I guess there have been pictures of it posted somewhere.
Beautiful weather today - first sun in a week or so, so I couldn't resist going out. We've had some extremely foggy/hazy/smoggy weather of late, and of course the one day we had real rain, I missed going out to look for the birds because I felt lousy. Today, I didn't make it out till mid-late afternoon. And there were almost no birds! (except gulls, which, well... sorry...) I guess the weather was too good? Anyway I saw a beautiful bunting, the description of which is up on the i.d. board if anyone has any thoughts on it...
Huge Eagles!
I only had a little over an hour to spend at Beidaihe sandflats around 8 this morning, and at first I thought it was a quiet day (except possibly for gull lovers with scopes). I did get to watch some diving ducks, which I finally got in decent light and decided were probably Goldeyes (saw a white collar and the peculiar shaped head, some with white on flanks). I noticed a few of them stretching their beaks into the air, as though trying to swallow? I couldn't see any fish or anything protruding from the mouth. It almost looked like a display, but I don't guess this is the right time of year. Any thoughts on this activity?
Then I got to see what (I suppose) had attracted 20+ photographers beyond the fence. Two huge eagles! Most of the time they were standing on the sand in different locations, though when I left they had almost been herded by photographers so that they were together. One seemed injured, or at least had a limp. I only saw one in flight, flying quite low across the sand - I waited to see if it would go after some puny magpie or gull, but it didn't make any attacks, and actually other birds seemed to ignore it. I might have seen a little mobbing action (by birds, lots by people), but for the most part they seemed so uninterested in the eagles that I wondered if they were fishing eagles. The eagles seemed equally nonchalant about the photographers, one of whom came within a meter of it trying to get it to fly - perhaps the eagles weren't well or just don't care about people?
I was so excited - they were so amazingly huge and so unexpected - and at the same time so perturbed by the photographers that my mental notes were a bit weak. (Also, watching most of the birds looking into the sun is one of the biggest disadvantages to being on the "right" side of the fence.) I kept looking for colors, but they were just big brown masses, with maybe a little light coloring around light colored beaks. When they moved a certain way I could see a bright white feather (a few?) in the tail - but really no distinctive marking. When the one flew all I could think was "that is one big dark bird". The only other point was I kept thinking "they have such short tails" (oh, and their legs were fully feathered). I guess they were standing at maybe 60+ cm tall (they so dwarfed other birds that it was hard to compare!).
I was too excited and never expected to be looking at eagles that way, so probably won't know for sure what I saw. Does anyone have any ideas if it would be more likely to be a (juv) white tailed or a steppe (or golden??) from the description here. I never saw them perching on anything but standing on the sand in 4-5 places.
I guess that's the excitement of birding... you never know what you'll see.
I only had a little over an hour to spend at Beidaihe sandflats around 8 this morning, and at first I thought it was a quiet day (except possibly for gull lovers with scopes). I did get to watch some diving ducks, which I finally got in decent light and decided were probably Goldeyes (saw a white collar and the peculiar shaped head, some with white on flanks). I noticed a few of them stretching their beaks into the air, as though trying to swallow? I couldn't see any fish or anything protruding from the mouth. It almost looked like a display, but I don't guess this is the right time of year. Any thoughts on this activity?
Then I got to see what (I suppose) had attracted 20+ photographers beyond the fence. Two huge eagles! Most of the time they were standing on the sand in different locations, though when I left they had almost been herded by photographers so that they were together. One seemed injured, or at least had a limp. I only saw one in flight, flying quite low across the sand - I waited to see if it would go after some puny magpie or gull, but it didn't make any attacks, and actually other birds seemed to ignore it. I might have seen a little mobbing action (by birds, lots by people), but for the most part they seemed so uninterested in the eagles that I wondered if they were fishing eagles. The eagles seemed equally nonchalant about the photographers, one of whom came within a meter of it trying to get it to fly - perhaps the eagles weren't well or just don't care about people?
I was so excited - they were so amazingly huge and so unexpected - and at the same time so perturbed by the photographers that my mental notes were a bit weak. (Also, watching most of the birds looking into the sun is one of the biggest disadvantages to being on the "right" side of the fence.) I kept looking for colors, but they were just big brown masses, with maybe a little light coloring around light colored beaks. When they moved a certain way I could see a bright white feather (a few?) in the tail - but really no distinctive marking. When the one flew all I could think was "that is one big dark bird". The only other point was I kept thinking "they have such short tails" (oh, and their legs were fully feathered). I guess they were standing at maybe 60+ cm tall (they so dwarfed other birds that it was hard to compare!).
I was too excited and never expected to be looking at eagles that way, so probably won't know for sure what I saw. Does anyone have any ideas if it would be more likely to be a (juv) white tailed or a steppe (or golden??) from the description here. I never saw them perching on anything but standing on the sand in 4-5 places.
I guess that's the excitement of birding... you never know what you'll see.
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Terry Townshend
Regular vagrant
Hi Gretchen,
From your description of plumage, size and behaviour, I think your eagles are very likely to be White-tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla). They are very large birds, mostly dark brown with a pale yellow bill and a white tail (in adults). They will often sit on the ground (on ice in winter), from where they pose little threat to other birds - hence the nonchalant behaviour you described. They tend to attack from the air (I would not want to be a water bird underneath a White-tailed Eagle - then I would be scared!).
White-tailed Eagles are generally winter visitors to this part of China, and they often spend the winter on the coast or at large inland lakes. So the timing fits, too.
Terry
Hi Terry,
Thanks for the reply! I thought others would have some general info which would help to sort this, and you certainly did.
I also started thinking of the number of photographers and how many people would be putting their pics on line... this led me to several photos of what must be the same eagles. I haven't figured out the whole story, but they must have been here for a bit (over a week?) - seems something about two eagles being released after a rescue perhaps? (" 两只白尾海雕在救助站的帮助下回归大自然，在北戴河海滨湿地演绎了一幕秋天里的童话。。" - http://bbs.01ny.cn/thread-1032791-1-1.html). Here is another site with a few pictures from a few days ago. It's hard to say which photogs were reasonable and which weren't and I'm cautious to advertise their work, but if you want you can have a look and see if you agree with the Chinese photogs that this is a White-tailed.
This does bring up how much I miss by not being in on the local news (see repository thread)!
PS. This google translate link made my husband ask, well, is that why the crane was there a few weeks ago... hmm... well perhaps so...
Thanks for the reply! I thought others would have some general info which would help to sort this, and you certainly did.
I also started thinking of the number of photographers and how many people would be putting their pics on line... this led me to several photos of what must be the same eagles. I haven't figured out the whole story, but they must have been here for a bit (over a week?) - seems something about two eagles being released after a rescue perhaps? (" 两只白尾海雕在救助站的帮助下回归大自然，在北戴河海滨湿地演绎了一幕秋天里的童话。。" - http://bbs.01ny.cn/thread-1032791-1-1.html). Here is another site with a few pictures from a few days ago. It's hard to say which photogs were reasonable and which weren't and I'm cautious to advertise their work, but if you want you can have a look and see if you agree with the Chinese photogs that this is a White-tailed.
This does bring up how much I miss by not being in on the local news (see repository thread)!
PS. This google translate link made my husband ask, well, is that why the crane was there a few weeks ago... hmm... well perhaps so...
Terry Townshend
Regular vagrant
Wow - fantastic images of an adult White-tailed Eagle. I noticed that there is a metal ring on the bird's right leg. I wonder if the photographers have any images that, with the help of a bit of zoom, enable the ring to be read. It would be very interesting to know from where it has originated! If they were rescued and released, maybe that explains the ring (and the fact they are so confiding!).
I heard on another thread that this is likely display behavior for males. Also I began to think that I guess the Goldeyes could be wintering here, so starting on pair formation now would make sense. Is it true that they could be wintering on the sea here?
The other duck that my list mentions wintering here is White-Winged Scoter. Would they possibly be seen together? The ducks are often pretty far out for my binoculars to see - but I can keep my eyes open and see if I can tell them apart.
