South-east China - 25th April (Day 5)

The morning began at the superb reedbeds at Nanhui to the south-east of Shanghai where breakfast of the usual sweet bread, banana, Snickers and sweet coffee overlooking the reeds quickly produced singing, but distant, Marsh Grassbird, Bluethroat of the red spotted form and Reed Parrotbill before we really started birding properly. A Grey-tailed Tattler roosting on a breakwater on the adjacent coastline was a new wader for the trip and we enjoyed great views of Terek Sandpiper and Greater Sandplover. After breakfast we walked the short trail through the centre of the reedbed seeing, in addition, Ochre-rumped Bunting, Oriental Reed-warbler, Bittern, two fly over Pechora Pipit and Black-browed Reed-warbler. We then headed back to the hotel and birded the hotel car park which is a well-known migrant location - rather oddly named the 'Magic Carpark'. Here we recorded a stunning male Narcissus Flycatcher, Sakkalin Leaf-warbler (identified based on its response to playback of song and short burst of song given), Ashy Minivet, Little Bunting and Yellow-browed Warbler.

Reed Parrotbill - Nanhui Reedbeds, Pudong District, Shanghai

Male Ochre-rumped Bunting - Nanhui Reedbeds, Pudong District, Shanghai

Oriental Reed-warbler - Nanhui Reedbeds, Pudong District, Shanghai

Breeding plumaged male Greater Sandplover of subspecies leschenaultii - Nanhui Reedbeds, 

Pudong District, Shanghai

Non-breeding plumaged Greater Sandplover of subspecies leschenaultii - Nanhui Reedbeds, 

Pudong District, Shanghai

White Wagtail of subspecies leucopsis - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Narcissus Flycatcher, 1st summer male - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Long-tailed Shrike with large lizard - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

The rather undistiguished rattle of Marsh Grassbird - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai


Oriental Reed-warbler with Eurasian Bittern and Coot in background - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai


Singing Yellow-browed Warbler - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

After checking out of our hotel and loading the vehicles we headed  a few kilometres northwards along the coast to bird the small patches of mature scrub, known locally as micro-forests. Soon after the hotel we stopped at a large pool within the reeds where seven Falcated Duck were a great bonus. The micro-forests are very small patches of scrub scattered along the north to south orientated coast and surrounded by arable land, they thus attract migrants. In the four hours or so we birded these patches we recorded Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Zappey's Flycatcher, Grey-streaked Flycatcher, Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf-warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Siberian Blue Robin, Red-flanked Bluetail, Little Bunting, Chestnut-eared Bunting, Black-faced Bunting, Richard's Pipit, Olive-backed Pipit, Pechora Pipit, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Grey-backed Thrush, Plain Thrush, Dusky Thrush and Japanese Thrush. It was fantastic birding and it was difficult to tear ourselves away but it was time to head to the airport for our 16:30 flight to Fuzhou. At check in it became apparent that my ticket had been booked in the wrong name with my middle name being incorrect. This caused a great deal of hassle and I was informed that I was not going to be able to board. Fortunately, Tang-Jun managed to call the airline and get a new ticket issued and so we rushed through security and through the airport and boarded the plane within a few minutes of arriving at our gate. The flight was 1.40 hours long and we were out of the airport at Fuzhou by 18:30 and arrived at our hotel in Changle by 19:30.

Little Bunting - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

 Grey-backed Thrush - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Blue-and-white Flycatcher - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Blue-and-white Flycatcher - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Blue-and-white Flycatcher - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Zappey's Flycatcher, until recently considered conspecific with Blue-and-white Flycatcher but note the blue (versus black) throat in the current species - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Zappey's Flycatcher - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Zappey's Flycatcher - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Female Zappey's or Blue-and-white Flycatcher, based on current knowledge the females of these two species are not distinguishable - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Grey-backed Thrush - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Yellow-browed Bunting - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Ashy Minivet - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Grey-streaked Flycatcher - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf-warbler - Nanhui Micro-forests, Pudong District, Shanghai

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)
Day 1 and 2 – International flight and Dongtai.
Day 3 - Dongtai.
Day 4 – Dongtai and Magic Wood.
Day 6 - Shanutan Island and Fuzhou Forest Park.
Day 7 - Fuzhou Forest Park then Emeifeng Mountain.
Day 8 - Emeifeng Mountain.
Day 9 - Emeifeng Mountain.
Day 10 - Emeifeng Mountain then Wuyuan.
Day 11 - Wuyuan.
Day 12 – Drive Wuyuan to Dongzhai.
Day 13 - Dongzhai.
Day 14 – Dongzhai then fly Wuhan to Korlor.
Day 15 – Taklamakan Desert.
Day 16 – Taklamakan Desert then Urumqi.
Day 17 and 18 – Nanshan in the Tien Shan Mountains then fly Beijing. International flight.