The Deskbound Birder: China Wetlands (Birdquest) Tour

Wednesday 9 November 2016

China Wetlands (Birdquest) Tour - 9th November (Day 6)

We were up at the usual 05:00 for a 06:00 breakfast and then back out to the area of the Yancheng Crane Nature Reserve known as Reed Factory. It was another overcast and rather gloomy day and as we drove to site it began to drizzle. As we approached the parking area we could see good numbers of Red-crowned Crane on the cut rice paddies. We approached the birds as close as we dare in the bus and enjoyed good views of a superb flock of 24 Red-crowned Crane and we spent some time taking photographs of these birds. We then birded the fields from the now familiar tracks seeing much the same as on the 7th November, highlights being Black-faced Bunting (three), Reed Parrotbill (six), Chinese Penduline Tit (one), Red-throated Pipit (one), Tundra Bean Goose (40), Merlin (three) and Hen Harrier (three). It was fairly quiet compared to our visit on the 7th and so we headed back to where the bus was parked. During the morning we had noticed large numbers of crane dropping into the fields by the bus and by the time we had returned we had counted a total of 62 Red-crowned Crane. Back at the bus there were several 100 Common Crane and 44 Red-crowned Crane and we enjoyed the spectacle for a while – Red-crowned Crane really is a stunning species.

Red-crowned Crane - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Around 20 Red-crowned Crane are shown in this photograph, roughly 1% of the world population - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Red-crowned Crane - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Red-crowned Crane and Common Crane - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Red-crowned Crane - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Common Crane - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Black-faced Bunting - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Tundra Bean Goose - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Reed Parrotbill - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Visitor Centre at Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng - I guess its meant to look like a crane?

It was time to head south to Dongtai, a journey of around 110km. We passed through an industrial landscape of turbines and pylons over arable land and scattered fishponds – not an entirely appealing landscape and one that appeared largely devoid of wildlife and wild areas. We arrived at Dongtai at 11:15, the tide was low and a vast expanse of sandflats extended before us and the birds were no more than distant specks. We birded the saltpans and sandflats seeing Black-faced Spoonbill (two), Dalmatian Pelican (43) and many hundreds of wader including Curlew, Dunlin, Kentish Plover, Lesser Sand-plover (two), Grey Plover, Oystercatcher and Avocet (50). Gulls included small numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gull of the race heuglini or Heuglin’s Gull and Arctic Herring Gull of the race mongolicus or Mongolian Herring Gull. The flock of Dalmatian Pelican were fishing in a channel in the mudflats, frequently disappearing from view entirely only giving themselves away when their wings were raised so that they appeared over the top of the banks of the channel. They were clearly catching good numbers of fish as they hunted in synchronization. As the tide was so low we decided to return tomorrow morning when the incoming tide would bring the birds nearer.

Hen Harrier - Dongtai, Yanghou

Eurasian Spoonbill, Black-faced Spoonbill, Grey Heron, Heuglin's Gull, Mongolian Gull, Kentish Plover, Lesser Sand-plover and Dunlin - Dongtai, Yanghou

Dalmatian Pelican - Dongtai, Yanghou

Heading south, Hannu spotted an Amur Falcon perched on roadside power lines so a quick stop on the dual carriage way allowed us good views as it repeatedly dropped from its perch into the grass. This was a juvenile bird with distinctly rufous fringed upperparts and quite a surprise to see, I believe that it has only been recorded once on this Birdquest tour previously. Arriving in the town of Yangkou, we had a quick pit stop to gather some snacks before heading to a long strip of woodland growing atop a sea defence. This area of woodland is known by birders as the ‘Magic Wood’ due to it being an excellent location for seeing migrant passerines, mainly in the Spring (see Mike Buckland's superb account of birding here in the spring to gain an understanding of why it is called Magic Wood - Travels with Birds). We arrived here at Magic Wood at 14:00 and birded it until around 17:00. The woodland is around 2km long and no more than 50m wide following the length of the sea defence. The birding here was excellent and we recorded at least four Red-flanked Bluetail, six Pale Thrush, four Naumann’s Thrush, ten Dusky Thrush, six Chinese Grosbeak, two Rustic Bunting, ten Yellow-throated Bunting and two Olive-backed Pipit. But the highlights were a cracking 1st winter male Japanese Thrush and even better, two White’s Thrush, one of which gave good views as it perched in the trees – a dream bird. We left for our hotel pleased with the days birding and looking forward to a couple of beers - albeit rather watery Chinese beer.