Binjiang Forest Park & Gongching Park
As the weather was better yesterday (no rain), and I was birding alone, I decided to try out a couple of Shanghai's parks located in the North of the city.
After arriving at the lovely Binjiang Forest Park at 06.30 I was dismayed to find out that the gates don't open until 08.00 - despite there being a supervisor and guards on duty, this really seems contrary to most parks in Shanghai (China ?) which open up for local residents to use for early morning activities.
A quick 20 mins drive down to Gongching Park though and at 07.00 I was walking around the very crowded park. There were 200-300 people practicing Tai Chi in one square and all over the park there were people ballroom dancing to music blaring from loudspeakers or radio cassettes or dancing to latin music or beating drums for rhythm, sword dancing, fan dancing, strumming violins or playing flutes, maybe a hunded people were fishing and others taking photos of flowers and/or each other with flowers, teams of park employees were cleaning algae off of the (dirty looking) water .. and Tai Chi 'masters' were everywhere teaching their students in small groups. I counted at least 1,000 people in the park !
It didn't take long to decide this park wasn't for me and after a couple of hours it was back up to Binjiang Forest Park (via a detour of an hour and a couple of trips across the river as Shanghai's signposting lived up to it's reputation - nothing to do with my navigating you understand)
Binjiang Forest Park is really lovely, meticulously maintained (as most parks are in Shanghai) there are more flowers, a wider variety of trees and shrubs and far more (and much cleaner) water in the form of ponds of varying sizes. The Eastern side of the park also has you walking along the breakwater at the mouth of the Yangtze.
The highlights were following the calls of, and finding, an Indian Cuckoo high up, I closed to within 30m but then having an open space to cross, the cuckoo took flight. I could hear at least 3 Indian Cuckoos for the whole time I was in the park. I took a couple of recordings to go with the photos.
I aslo sat and watched a Siberian Yellow Weasel running across the path and jumping up and down in the grass ... a Bulbul in the path attracted it's attention but it didn't get near !
However 3 hours was enough, bird life was sparse (though I saw only about 20-30 people in those 3 hrs) and to satisfy my craving I drove the hour down to Nan Hui (avoiding the horrendously pitted G15-01, which is intent on destroying the suspension of as many vehicles as possible, and taking the excellent S2 instead, though adding 15kms to the journey) to check out the favoured massive reed beds and the Magic Car Park.
At one time, sitting in my car on one of the small tracks, I could hear a Eurasian Cuckoo calling but couldn't figure out where the calls were coming from, until I drove forward 10 metres and sent TWO cuckoos, both perched on signposts on either side of the track (about 10m apart) and not 20m in front of me, in flight and away.
The Great Crested Grebes were out in force, I counted 7 adults and 4 chicks.
It was a day for Drongos though with first an Ashy Drongo doing it's finest impression of a Flycatcher and then a pair of Black Drongos sat posing for shots from the car. Finally as my ISO headed north to 8,000 at 1/320 and wide open at f2.8 I 'chased' a Spangled Drongo slowly around the car park as he objected to my car getting 'too' close (within 15m).
The species list below covers both parks and Nan Hui (BFP, GP & NH) no designation means seen in all locations.
35 species.
Azure Winged Magpie (GP)
Barn Swallow
Black Crowned Night Heron
Blackbirds (GP & BFP)
Chinese Bulbul
Chinese Grosbeak (GP)
Coot (BFP and NH)
Crested Myna
Cuckoo (at least 4 of which 2 x Eurasian were seen & heard clearly) (NH)
Cuckoo (Indian - seen and call recorded) (BFP)
Drongo - Black (pair) (NH)
Drongo - Ashy (1) (NH)
Drongo - Spangled (1) (NH)
Great Crested Grebe (7 adults and 4 large chicks) (NH)
Great Tit (Eastern) (BFP & GP)
Grey Heron (NH)
Grey Streaked Flycatcher (NH)
Intermediate Egret (NH)
Little Egret
Little Grebe
Long Tailed Shrike
Manchurian Bush Warbler (BFP & NH)
Moorhen
Oriental Reed Warbler (numerous) (NH)
Plain Prinia (NH)
Red Billed Blue Magpie (GP & BFP)
Red Billed Starling (GP)
Spotted Dove
Tern (spp) (large, white & black below and black above) (NH)
Tree Sparrow
Vinous Throated Parrotbills (NH)
White Cheeked Starling (GP)
White Wagtail (NH)
Yellow Bittern (NH & BFP flying up the river)
Zitting Cisticola (numerous)
