Jeff Hopkins
Just another...observer
While it's not on the typical birders circuit, I did see a few birds while sightseeing in Qufu this morning. Nothing particularly unusual, but I figure I'll at least add to the "database" for China.
At the Confucius Temple (Kong Miao), azure-winged magpies and tree sparrows were abundant. Along one stream I found a large flock of yellow-billed grosbeaks and what I believe was a fly-by hoopoe along with a few feral pigeons. I also had a common kingfisher fly-by while I was watching the gate-opening ceremony.
There was more variety at the Confucian Forest (Kong Lin). There were a few Eurasian magpies mixed in with the even larger number of Azure-wings. First thing in the morning I had a few oriental greenfinches, but I didn't find them when I went back later in the morning. I also found a large flock of tits. Most seemed to be silver-throated (long-tailed) tits but I found one varied tit mixed in with them. A few yellow-browed warblers also seemed to be travelling with the tit flock. Sacttered Japanese (great) tits were found in the forest. I also had a woodpecker that based on coloring could only have been a rufous-bellied. And of course, there were tree sparrows.
Near my hotel, the Shangri-la, there's a small river with a half-dozen little grebes and a small flock of light-vented bulbuls in the riverside trees. The bulbuls sound different from the ones in Shanghai. According to Clements, they should be the same subspecies, but it seems curious that they sound so different.
At the Confucius Temple (Kong Miao), azure-winged magpies and tree sparrows were abundant. Along one stream I found a large flock of yellow-billed grosbeaks and what I believe was a fly-by hoopoe along with a few feral pigeons. I also had a common kingfisher fly-by while I was watching the gate-opening ceremony.
There was more variety at the Confucian Forest (Kong Lin). There were a few Eurasian magpies mixed in with the even larger number of Azure-wings. First thing in the morning I had a few oriental greenfinches, but I didn't find them when I went back later in the morning. I also found a large flock of tits. Most seemed to be silver-throated (long-tailed) tits but I found one varied tit mixed in with them. A few yellow-browed warblers also seemed to be travelling with the tit flock. Sacttered Japanese (great) tits were found in the forest. I also had a woodpecker that based on coloring could only have been a rufous-bellied. And of course, there were tree sparrows.
Near my hotel, the Shangri-la, there's a small river with a half-dozen little grebes and a small flock of light-vented bulbuls in the riverside trees. The bulbuls sound different from the ones in Shanghai. According to Clements, they should be the same subspecies, but it seems curious that they sound so different.
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