China observations (4 Viewers)

[Terry Townshend]

Good advice blancheliu! just be sure that that train stops in Beidaihe! (not as many do as used to, I think)

Thanks again Blancheliu and Gretchen - excellent advice. I am staying at one of the larger hotels in Beijing so hopefully the concierge will be able to point me in the right direction re tickets. It's good to know there are several trains per day. Looking forward to it!

 

[firstreesjohn]

Beidaihe

Getting around: hail a taxi. Sometimes, you’ll have to walk to a road where there is more traffic, to find one. Not expensive- insist on metered fare.

If the Jin Shan is closed (?too early in season?), use Beidaihe International Club Hotel, which is convenient for Sandflats and Reservoir. Check flocks of ducks just offshore, between here and Qinghuangdao- I’ve had Falcated in April.

If you wish to PM me your email address, I can send you scans of two useful pages of Mandarin characters, specifically for Beidaihe and taxis.

 

[rockfowl]

I think the Jinshan should be open, just! though things might be a bit slow. The International is good (better for Autumn on position) but remember there is currently a lot of work and disturbance around the reservoir area and edge of the sandflats. Getting around by taxi is easy and generally costs 10 yuan from say Lighthouse to the Sandflats. You'll have a good time!

If you have time in Beijing, I'd visit the Summer Palace, your timing could produce a very interesting list of birds.

 

[Terry Townshend]

I think the Jinshan should be open, just! though things might be a bit slow. The International is good (better for Autumn on position) but remember there is currently a lot of work and disturbance around the reservoir area and edge of the sandflats. Getting around by taxi is easy and generally costs 10 yuan from say Lighthouse to the Sandflats. You'll have a good time!

If you have time in Beijing, I'd visit the Summer Palace, your timing could produce a very interesting list of birds.

Thanks guys.. I have just heard that my trip has been put back to next week. In many ways I guess that will be better... Will PM re the mandarin characters - they sound extremely helpful.

I have been to the Summer Palace before on a previous trip, although that was in late summer, and I didn't see an awful lot. If I have time I will definitely try to visit early one morning...

Best wishes,

Terry

 

[johnallcock]

Speaking of residents, I've wondering about our Chinese bulbuls. Though they are quite numerous, I've not seen anything that looks like their nests, which I've read are messy/loose cups in trees. Would they be hidden in some dense conifers? I can't see anything in the still leafless trees.

Most Chinese Bulbul nests I've found (or at least seen adults visiting) are actually fairly low down in dense shrubbery, usually about 1-1.5 m from the ground. They build a cup nest, similar to thrushes. I don't think they would nest in leafless trees, but conifers may be suitable.

 

[Gretchen]

Most Chinese Bulbul nests I've found (or at least seen adults visiting) are actually fairly low down in dense shrubbery, usually about 1-1.5 m from the ground. They build a cup nest, similar to thrushes. I don't think they would nest in leafless trees, but conifers may be suitable.

Johnallcock, thanks for this! I guess no birds (except the magpies?) like leafless trees. However, in the US, some of our birds (cardinals, if I recall) build first nests in shrubs with leaves, and build later nests higher in trees once they have leafed out. Here though in winter, I really have seen few possible former nests in our deciduous trees ...

In the fall/winter, I'll have to get really dusty by knocking through some of those dense conifers to see if I can find if someone was nesting there. Of course, if I make a bit more time, I should just watch the adults (as you were) and see where they go - so far I haven't seen them anywhere but treetops ... Yes, needs more time!

 

[Gretchen]

Warblers have come!

Today the first warblers on campus. (I can't say I've been conscientiously looking daily though, just noted today.) Which you ask? Clearly unknown! Some little phyllos doing their constant flitty thing and a little singing. Next time I'll try to be more patient and take notes :-O

 

[Gretchen]

I got out for a smallish, earlyish outing yesterday. We're finally hitting decent temps here, but it was very quiet in the woods. I saw lots of little moths, so there was insect life, but not much bird movement (besides the two types of magpies) until after 8:30. Then suddenly there was lots of bird song, and I eventually saw a few of the singers.

A group which I assumed to all be warblers included a brambling male still coming into breeding colors, and a pygmy gray-capped woodpecker was in the same area too. But those pygmies seem much more flitty than the great spots and so I'm still waiting for a very satisfactory view.

The little warblers were doing their best to evade identification, and just when I thought I had collected all the relevant features I'd become uncertain if they really all belonged to one bird! Generally saw lots of yellow, including yellow rump, yellow supercillium (strong black eyeline, didn't notice white), a little yellow on the flank (? or was it blurring in my view?), and coronal stripes. I think there were some similar sized whiter ones, but didn't have time to spend with them. I'm thinking Pallas' leaf and/or Chinese leaf warblers, plus possibly some others.

I was pleased with a few more sightings as I really pushed to get myself home for other stuff. A great spot made his (almost mandatory) appearance. Very nice was seeing the oriental collared doves, which I'd seen flying about, come back to their nest (in a leafless tree) I thought I had figured out which nest type was theirs and was glad for that confirmation - couldn't see any signs of chicks....

Then I finally saw a tree sparrow doing a most unusual thing - it was investigating, and exploring a hole in a tree :eek!: You know, for me, tree sparrows are such an urban bird, and their name almost an accident (I do sometimes think of them as "house" sparrows - they nest in our buildings here!) This little guy was investigating one hole and popped into a larger one, disappearing and then finally sticking out his head. Was it a nest? No signs that I could tell that it was, but he was very cute peering out, and I want to remember the image so that I can recall they really are tree sparrows.

 

[Gretchen]

Terry, BZRing - just wondering if you guys saw anything? Let us know!

 

[Terry Townshend]

Terry, BZRing - just wondering if you guys saw anything? Let us know!

Hi Gretchen,

My trip was put back at the last minute (it is primarily a work trip) to mid-May. Arguably better for birds so I am not too disappointed. I don't yet have specific dates but I am still planning a few days to visit Beidaihe and, ideally, Happy Island so the information you and others have given me will be put to very good use. Will report back what I see as soon as I am back.

Best wishes

Terry

 

[Gretchen]

After the rain

My post rain trip look around campus last Tuesday was not really totally inspiring. There were a number of warblers about, and some I was even able to see at eye-level. I felt pleased to be able to say there were 3 kinds, one of which was the Pallas's leaf (Chinese leaf?) warbler - the two others I'll say more about below.

That day did bring a Siberian stonechat, which I've never seen in that part of campus before (high up in a tree! think I id-ed it correctly). I also saw my first flycatcher of the season, a small plain Asian Brown which patrolled the area for a few minutes before taking off for another area. I also got good views of the Spotted Dove - my big accomplishment last week was learning how to tell them apart from Oriental Collared Doves (ok, yeah, I know that's kind of basic, but it's progress )

On today's even briefer after the rain stroll I was quite excited to see for my first time ever Chestnut-flanked White-eyes - a little flock of about 6. I like a bird that you know what you've seen when you see it :-O Really, they were quite beautiful though and were quietly and quickly feeding on (insects in?) the flowers (or drinking water there?). Since they were trying for nearly every flower in the tree it seemed, I got to watch for about 10 minutes before they moved on. I noted at least one female in the group I believe.

I also found a smallish flock of 2 barred warblers, which I could watch from above - a great opportunity. I think I saw the two kinds from the other day: both appeared quite similar coloring wise - very little yellow at all, no coronal stripe (I could see well!) and coloring on the back seemed very solid (I wasn't really seeing fringes on the tertials), but I couldn't make any call on that "covert shadow" (was it?). They were quite similar in coloring (shape is hard for me), but behavior was quite different. The smaller one was in constant motion, whereas the larger ones actually moved much more slowly (relatively speaking ). Today, I saw the smaller ones doing hover-feeding. The flock was moving quickly and I saw them on the grass as well as in bushes - even one perched briefly on the tire of a parked bike - wish I had a picture of that! If anyone thinks there's enough info here to say something on their identities, I'd be glad to hear your thoughts!

I also was very pleased to finally manage to identify some Red-rumped Swallows among our soaring swallows. I was focusing on their rumps and forgot about underside differences, and I didn't really get a good sense of the whole group. Is it likely that the whole group are red-rumped, or is there a high likelihood that it's a mixed group?

 

[Dong Bei]

Gretchen

I won't comment on the warblers other than saying that some Yellow-browed can look very different from others. I don't know what is common by you and what is not. I have seen Yellow-browed on the ground many times as well as Pale-legged.

The swallows will mix. Usually a group contains some Barn and some Red-rumped. I also had a group that contained one Asian House Martin last week. Red-rumped are noticeably bigger and many times have longer tails if they are too high to see the red patch.

White-eyes are beautiful, especially on the blossoming trees right now.

Tom

 

[MKinHK]

Its good to hear of you getting some migrants on campus Gretchen.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Gretchen]

White-eyes are beautiful, especially on the blossoming trees right now.

Yes, Tom that was what I was thinking - just beautiful at that moment. Thanks for the word on the swallows - I'll keep looking more carefully (and for a martin in the group too!)

About the warbler, I had something in my memory that China folk had been talking about ones which did hover feeding - do you recall which?

Its good to hear of you getting some migrants on campus.

Yeah, it's nice the "seen once" on campus list is growing a good bit - quite amazing what can be seen here. I think that they are kind of freak stopovers but some may be here more often than I think and I just don't get out enough. But there's not a lot of habitat to sustain birds over time here. It's interesting that last year a little flock of wagtails occupied some bamboo and flycaught off the roof of the building next door for a few weeks - but no sign of any this year.

 

[MKinHK]

The great thing about migrants is that they can fall out of the sky - especially in poor weather - and appear just about anywhere, even if its just for a few minutes. Qinhuangdao is bang on the flightpath, so sooner or later you're going to find a Siberian Blue Robin, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Japanese Waxwing or Oriental Scops Owl or something even more exciting!

Cheers
Mike

 

[Gretchen]

Beautiful weather yesterday - could see forever! Just a clear lovely morning - great day to be out enjoying birds.

I saw my first Chinese Penduline Tit! yes, common but it was quite interesting to watch. I read that they are often in reed beds, but this one seemed to be gleaning leaves at the tops of trees. At the reservoir I also enjoyed watching Great Egret and Little Egret side by side in the water fishing and good views of Great Tits, which I hadn't actually seen for a while (these decidedly do not hang out on campus).

I also saw and identified Pacific Swifts, which was new for me - I'm happy to be learning to tell some of those fast flyers apart. Wondered if I might have seen a Martin among the swallows, but never got a good enough look to be sure. Waders included a pair of Black winged Stilts, and apparently a curlew sand but honestly never saw it well enough - just taking someone else's word on that.

There were as many birders as birds out and about (more or less), and on the sandflats one kind one helped me to find and get some very nice views of Pacific Golden Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, and Terek Sandpiper (the last was surely a new bird for me to see well!). All allowed us good long views. There were as well, the more usual Kentish plovers, Greenshanks, Whimbrels, Eurasian Curlews, and one Shelduck. There was also a large flock (@30) of Wood sands. A Common Snipe was hiding in the reeds and flushed when we looked for buntings.

Just a beautiful day. Others were probably hoping for some more dramatic birds, but I enjoyed the morning out.

A word for anyone interested and who's not currently in Beidaihe right now (there must be a few out there ), the work on the reservoir area is "progressing". Actually, for the most part it looks better and it's clear that they are rebuilding the dam - there is a lovely illustration, and much of the earlier mess is getting cleared up. Of course, I don't know what the final ecological appropriateness of it will be, but they are clearly not starting a development or doing something completely dreadful.

On the other hand, there seems to still be a good bit of work going on further inside the hotel grounds, and they were being pretty strict at the gate. I don't have the approach or height to push my way through though others have gotten inside, and could say more about whether it is just more along the lines of cleaning up/making minor changes or more major work.

Across the road, the "progress" on the new boardwalk is in full swing - a grand mess, and surely confusing the water movement and birds, though the flock of wood sands were wading in the general vicinity of the machinery looking unconcerned. Long-term, they are doing some strange work on the road (between BDH and QHD) itself, which may or may not be related to the boardwalk but which looks to me like it will result in less safe for non-car traffic/pedestrians.

Hopefully here or somewhere else others will comment on the particulars...

 

[MKinHK]

Some good shorebirds Gretchen - and Pacific Swifts are always great to see.

I'm in Xian for a conference this week and had Common Swift this evening, plus a few bits and pieces of which Hoopoe and Red-rumped Swallow were the highlights.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Gretchen]

Very little birding these days - focused on lots of written output (of the non-bird type). I've never written up the very nice time a week and a half ago when I got out to a little reed pond on our nearby beach. I had a nice chance to sit for over an hour and a half to watch the warblers in the reeds. With Shi Jin's heads-up, I was expecting them to be acros... I though initially there might be two kinds in the reeds, but as I watched, I decided there were only Black-browed reed warblers - at least I couldn't make out that any of them were oriental reed or even dusky warblers (don't know if they would hang out in the reeds, but for a warbler beginner who sees color much better than shape, they are a possible confusion species).

I did a little sketching to try to pay more attention to the details of the markings, and that was just possible because as I sat there for all that time, they did eventually come quite close. It was interesting to watch them not only sliding up and down reeds but also doing a bit of foraging in the sand and the foot of some of the grass. Though the morning would get a low rating for quantity of species or wow factor birds, it was very enjoyable to watch all the activity in their small neighborhood and become a little more familiar with them.

Bonus was two decent views of some of the frogs I hear sometimes. Frogs were one of my favorite animals as a youngster, and I rarely see them around here these days. Still have no ideas about Chinese frog species though....

 

[Gretchen]

At the reservoir

Well, managed to get out for a couple of hours - very nice to be outside and to enjoy the birds even though the weather was quite overcast and visibility rather low.

I went down to the Beidaihe reservoir to see what was up, and was glad to see how things are. The dam is finished and one can hardly imagine that there were trucks driving through the middle of the reservoir 2 months ago - all looks quite tranquil and pristine. Just a smallish building going up, but all other signs of construction are finished. They're being strict at the gate again ("nature preserve, only leaders are allowed to enter...") which is disappointing. Still hanging out in the entryway, I could enjoy myself.

Also the work in the sandflats area is shaping up (getting close to completion) - the new boardwalk is accompanied by a 2 meter fence! It isn't completely sealed off yet, but my impression is that there will be no one walking on the sandflats pretty soon. Hard to know how to regard that ... good for birds and okay for birders with excellent scopes, not so nice for me At this point, it certainly looks like the birds will be well preserved, but I will be seeing less of them.

Anyway, I enjoyed seeing quite a few Black-crowned Night Herons, which I hadn't seen there this year - they were the most common heron. I saw a juvenile up in a tree - he was perched there for an hour or more! I enjoyed watching one dive off the bridge to fish (and catch an 8 inch one!) - I didn't know they dove for fish like that. There were of course some Chinese Pond Herons about and several Little Egrets too.

Two little egrets spent 15 minutes or so promenading on the new dam - I really can't figure out what they were doing! They had their bills slightly up-turned (not looking down for fish), and seemed to be basically ignoring each other, though occasionally might have been coordinating steps. I'm thinking this is the wrong time of year for any display activity, but don't know what else they might have been doing - anyone have any ideas?

I was pleased to see a family of magpies... seeing as how they are most common bird, I've been looking for juveniles, and think this was a family of 5. The young ones had shorter tails and seemed to be largely on the ground and taking short flights. I think this isn't too late for this stage...

I think I also saw two juvenile wagtails. They had distinctly brown caps and backs, but facial markings were not distinct at all, very soft white and tan, so I'm sure they weren't adult forest wagtails. I'm not really sure if they were juvenile white wags, since the OBC pics didn't match exactly, but I guess that's most likely. It was interesting that there were two keeping company. I guess they must be this years fledglings?

I tried to identify some long winged black and white birds flying over the reservoir and finally decided they were probably Whiskered Terns, but since they never landed I had to try and see them flying, which I'm never very confident about. I did see the deep orange/red beaks, and very dark bellies, so I guess that must have been it... They might have been skimming the water a few times but mostly were flying back and forth. (These birds don't hawk insects do they??)

Last of all, I saw two Little Grebes - it had been so long since I'd seen any that it really took me a while to convince myself that that's what they had to be :eek!: (I guess that's what happens when I'm locked inside too long!)

In all, things looked nice and settled back at the reservoir, and I was glad to see some young birds today - so a very nice day.

 

[MKinHK]

A nice outing Gretchen, and good to hear that the reservoir restoration has been completed.

Young White Wagtails come in a range of splotchy variations of "A blander shade of pale". I think you're right about those.

I also think you're right about Whiskered Tern. They have a distinctive white "whisker" which makes the belly stand out as distinctively dark. The only one to eliminate is White-winged Tern - which is a boldly black and white bird with a complete black head and underparts.

Plunge-diving Night Herons sound very cool!

Cheers
Mike