thrush
Craig Brelsford (大山雀)
Stunning news. The photo was taken 6 weeks ago. Who was the sharp-eyed birder who understood the importance of that record?
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Spoon-billed Sandpipers in China (10 Viewers)
- Thread starter rockfowl
- Start date
Stunning news. The photo was taken 6 weeks ago. Who was the sharp-eyed birder who understood the importance of that record?
Terry Townshend
Regular vagrant
jonathmartinez
Well-known member
Hi All,
Visit Fucheng near Leizhou in Guangdong province this morning and got a count of 6 SBS, including 1 juvenil, other were too distant to be affirmative on their age even to check if they were flagged.
Also to be noted that the entire area has been hit twice this summer by strong typhoon, and the entire fishponds area has been covered by the sea, all the small ponds house has been blown away and all the ponds were drained or dry following that. It seems that the loss for the ponds owner are really hugge, it is a all year work that has gone to the sea....
Just to said that even there was a big batch of bird in one of the ponds, there were many birds a bit everywhere on different ponds... also the lock where the 6 birds were, was a bit distant with a lot of haze and many birds sleeping in dense group so that I could have easily miss a lot of them inside... There is a possibility that 7 birds could have been present but due to the situation of this morning I can be affirmative....there was an un identified danger that make the flock flew away and come back several time...there was also 4 Asian Dowitcher amongst a nice diversity of shorebirds....
I've planed to visit the site again this week so hopefully now that I know where the birds roost, I could be more efficient and arrive at the same time as the bird before they start be sleepy...
All the best,
Jonathan
Visit Fucheng near Leizhou in Guangdong province this morning and got a count of 6 SBS, including 1 juvenil, other were too distant to be affirmative on their age even to check if they were flagged.
Also to be noted that the entire area has been hit twice this summer by strong typhoon, and the entire fishponds area has been covered by the sea, all the small ponds house has been blown away and all the ponds were drained or dry following that. It seems that the loss for the ponds owner are really hugge, it is a all year work that has gone to the sea....
Just to said that even there was a big batch of bird in one of the ponds, there were many birds a bit everywhere on different ponds... also the lock where the 6 birds were, was a bit distant with a lot of haze and many birds sleeping in dense group so that I could have easily miss a lot of them inside... There is a possibility that 7 birds could have been present but due to the situation of this morning I can be affirmative....there was an un identified danger that make the flock flew away and come back several time...there was also 4 Asian Dowitcher amongst a nice diversity of shorebirds....
I've planed to visit the site again this week so hopefully now that I know where the birds roost, I could be more efficient and arrive at the same time as the bird before they start be sleepy...
All the best,
Jonathan
thrush
Craig Brelsford (大山雀)
Congratulations! Good luck on that next visit!
jonathmartinez
Well-known member
thanks Craig and Ken for your message...I've been there again today and got the 7 birds together for about 2 minutes, so no more ambiguity on how much they are...
Since the dam of the ponds get opened, they also become tidal, that add some difficulties today as I get much less shorebirds on the roost and the SBS was'nt there when I first arrive...
Wind was quite strong today, there was a Grey Phalarope, only the 3rd Guangdong record outside HK, and a very impressive arrival of Wiskered Tern that I counted systematically and reach 1535 birds, I've got only 50 pf them two days ago, also impressive quantity of Little Egret with an estimation (low) at 700 birds...
All the best,
Jonathan
Since the dam of the ponds get opened, they also become tidal, that add some difficulties today as I get much less shorebirds on the roost and the SBS was'nt there when I first arrive...
Wind was quite strong today, there was a Grey Phalarope, only the 3rd Guangdong record outside HK, and a very impressive arrival of Wiskered Tern that I counted systematically and reach 1535 birds, I've got only 50 pf them two days ago, also impressive quantity of Little Egret with an estimation (low) at 700 birds...
All the best,
Jonathan
thrush
Craig Brelsford (大山雀)
Congratulations on your quality time with SBS, and that Grey Phalarope is an impressive record. The Whiskered Terns must have been quite a sight!
jonathmartinez
Well-known member
Hi All,
Today 12 Spoonies were present on the same ponds as last time, there was first the group of 7 birds wich I suspect were the same birds as before and then another group of mostly Dunlin arrived wich contained 5 more Spoonies... none were flagged and a good part of them were juvenil, but the weather was awfull and I need to check my digicopy to age them more accuratly...
To be noted amongst about 800 shorebirds on the ponds, there was more SBS than Red-necked Stint....
All the best,
Jonathan
Today 12 Spoonies were present on the same ponds as last time, there was first the group of 7 birds wich I suspect were the same birds as before and then another group of mostly Dunlin arrived wich contained 5 more Spoonies... none were flagged and a good part of them were juvenil, but the weather was awfull and I need to check my digicopy to age them more accuratly...
To be noted amongst about 800 shorebirds on the ponds, there was more SBS than Red-necked Stint....
All the best,
Jonathan
Terry Townshend
Regular vagrant
Superb, Jonathan! Fingers crossed they avoid the "wall of death" along the Guangdong coast.
KFC
Ken Tucker
Great news. Would be lovely to see some of your photos - always good to see SBS photos and juveniles are less frequently encountered and photographed. Thanks for keeping us posted!
Ken
jonathmartinez
Well-known member
Thanks all for the messages...
Terry, luckily this year the death wall was much less impressive than last years with much fewer nets and fewer sites, I still haven't made the final count but it will be far fewer than last year. The other good news is that the entire Leizhou area was free of nets, I haven't seen a single nets there, all the villagers I've been given to talk to, were knowing that it is illegal to catch birds, and I even found some notice concerning protected species in China in a restaurant at Leizhou...I think it is the result of the last year reportage o the CCTV13 team at Leizhou, wich lead to the previous Forestry dpt of Leizhou to be suspended... I guess that the new one has a lot of pressure on its shoulder concerning birds protection and it has to be said that they've made incredible good work there...It is really great to think that these Spoonies are resting at a very safe place...and also very glad to see that it is possible to eradicated illegal mistnetting... just matter of willing and energy put on it...
The second fact is that Leizhou has been hitted twice by Typhoon in september and many area has been really devasted...just make the Sponnies and other shorebirds happy as they're having plenty of drained ponds for roosting...but it gives a lot of works of local people there to rebuilt everything...
Ken, well noted, I'm still in the field for two more days, but will post some of the pics here when back home...
Terry, luckily this year the death wall was much less impressive than last years with much fewer nets and fewer sites, I still haven't made the final count but it will be far fewer than last year. The other good news is that the entire Leizhou area was free of nets, I haven't seen a single nets there, all the villagers I've been given to talk to, were knowing that it is illegal to catch birds, and I even found some notice concerning protected species in China in a restaurant at Leizhou...I think it is the result of the last year reportage o the CCTV13 team at Leizhou, wich lead to the previous Forestry dpt of Leizhou to be suspended... I guess that the new one has a lot of pressure on its shoulder concerning birds protection and it has to be said that they've made incredible good work there...It is really great to think that these Spoonies are resting at a very safe place...and also very glad to see that it is possible to eradicated illegal mistnetting... just matter of willing and energy put on it...
The second fact is that Leizhou has been hitted twice by Typhoon in september and many area has been really devasted...just make the Sponnies and other shorebirds happy as they're having plenty of drained ponds for roosting...but it gives a lot of works of local people there to rebuilt everything...
Ken, well noted, I'm still in the field for two more days, but will post some of the pics here when back home...
Terry Townshend
Regular vagrant
Jonathan,
That is brilliant news and much credit to you and local friends for your efforts down there.. your persistence, hard work and diplomacy has paid off. Now the challenge is to replicate that along the rest of coastal China. There have been some horrific stories from Tianjin this autumn and in Beijing I have recently heard about a new wild bird market that has been selling buntings, finches and even birds of prey (usually considered too risky to sell). So, although you have won a very important battle - which we must celebrate - the war is far from over...
Terry
That is brilliant news and much credit to you and local friends for your efforts down there.. your persistence, hard work and diplomacy has paid off. Now the challenge is to replicate that along the rest of coastal China. There have been some horrific stories from Tianjin this autumn and in Beijing I have recently heard about a new wild bird market that has been selling buntings, finches and even birds of prey (usually considered too risky to sell). So, although you have won a very important battle - which we must celebrate - the war is far from over...
Terry
rockfowl
Mark Andrews
Really Terry? It seems commonly targeted on the Hebei coast in Autumn and using some ingenious techniques with Goshawk and Saker the main prizes it seems.
Terry Townshend
Regular vagrant
My understanding is that, although some birds of prey (juvenile Goshawks in particular) continue to be trapped by hunters, selling them in markets is not common practice. This stems from the tendency by police/state forestry officials to be more likely to close down markets and punish the sellers when raptors are involved. Identifying passerines to establish whether or not they are on the "protected species list" is obviously more work and the sale of these birds often goes unchallenged. The fact that taking ANY bird from the wild without a permit is illegal seems lost on some of the officials...!
