The Deskbound Birder: Pallas's Bunting

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Tuesday, 8 November 2016

China Wetlands (Birdquest) Tour - 8th November (Day 5)

After heavy rain for much of the night we woke to a dry but very windy morning, after a 06:00 breakfast we headed out into the field to the fish ponds south of Qingyanggang, Yancheng from 07:00-11:20. The weather was bitterly cold and I had certainly underdressed for the conditions. We spent all morning scanning from various locations around the fish ponds. The site was an expansive area of reedbeds, fish rearing saline lagoons and canals and in places was a little reminiscent of the North Norfolk coastal areas – but with a far more industrial feel. There were incredibly numbers of duck present. Commonest were Mallard, Gadwall, Chinese Spot-billed Duck and Falcated Duck with probably over one thousand of each present, with hundreds of Pintail and Wigeon. There were also tens each of Tufted Duck, Pochard, Goosander, Eurasian Teal, Mandarin Duck, Shoveler and Red-breasted Merganser. But the prize amongst this spectacle was Baikal Teal and we eventually found around 50 distant birds mixed with a vast flock of mainly Mallard and Pintail and then, nearby, a much closer male with Chinese Spot-billed Duck, Mallard and Pintail. Other highlights of the morning included Eastern Marsh Harrier, Osprey, a roost of at least 150 Black-crowned Night-heron in the reedbeds, Oriental Stork (five), Red-crowned Crane (two), Purple Heron, Tundra Bean Goose (40) and Caspian Tern. Gull watching produced around 30 Arctic Herring Gull of the race mongolicus which is sometimes split as Mongolian Herring Gull plus a single 1st winter Black-tailed Gull. While the birding was great, I was pleased to return to the hotel for lunch just so I could put a few more layers on!

Pallas's Bunting, male - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

White Wagtail of subspecies leucopsis (1st winter male) - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Arctic Herring Gull of race mongolicus (from left to right, adult winter 2nd winter and first winter) - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Arctic Herring Gull of race mongolicus (first winter) - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Mixed ducks, mainly Gadwall and Falcated Duck - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Eurasian Tree Sparrow - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Mixed duck, mainly Mallard and Pintail with Eurasian Teal and Baikal Teal

- Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Baikal Teal - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Daurian Redstart - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Common Crane (two adult and two juvenile) - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Eurasian Spoonbill - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

White-cheeked Starling - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Oriental Story - Qingyanggang Fish Ponds, Yancheng

Fish Market - Qingyanggang, Yancheng

After lunch we birded the gardens of the Agricultural Institute and some forest on the edge of Qingyanggang until around 17:00. The gardens were thickly vegetated and while a little slow going provided some nice birding and shelter from the biting winds. Here, Light-vented Bulbul were abundant and we found a nice fruiting tree with numerous Light-vented Bulbul, stunning Chinese Grosbeak and a single female Hawfinch. A short way along the path a pair of Red-flanked Bluetail and a pair of Mugimaki Flycatcher entertained us in close proximity for some time. Other birds here included Yellow-browed Warbler (four), Pallas’s Warbler (two) and Goldcrest (two). A small flock of thrush contained three Dusky Thrush, six Naumann’s Thrush and a single Chinese Thrush but these quickly departed before allowing prolonged views.

Chinese Grosbeak, female - Grounds of Agricultural Institute, Qingyanggang, Yancheng

Chinese Grosbeak, male - Grounds of Agricultural Institute, Qingyanggang, Yancheng

Red-flanked Bluetail, male - Grounds of Agricultural Institute, Qingyanggang, Yancheng

Mugimaki Flycatcher - Grounds of Agricultural Institute, Qingyanggang, Yancheng

Light-vented Bulbul- Grounds of Agricultural Institute, Qingyanggang, Yancheng

We then headed a few hundred metres back towards town to another small forest patch on the north side of the Nanyao River. This patch was fairly birdy and here the highlights were Red-flanked Bluetail (two), Yellow-throated Bunting (ten), Rustic Bunting (two), Black-faced Bunting (three), Olive-backed Pipit (four), Pale Thrush (two), Chinese Thrush (one), Vinous-throated Parrotbill (15), Grey-capped Woodpecker (two) and Grey-headed Woodpecker (one). After birding in this patch of woodland for around 1.5 hours it was time to head for dinner and after another feast of Chinese fare we crashed at around 21:00.

Red-flanked Bluetail - Woodland to north of Nanyao River, Qingyanggang, Yancheng

Yellow-throated Bunting - Woodland to north of Nanyao River, Qingyanggang, Yancheng

Pale Thrush - Woodland to north of Nanyao River, Qingyanggang, Yancheng

Grey-capped Woodpecker - Woodland to north of Nanyao River,

Qingyanggang, Yancheng

Life Birds;

Baikal Teal
Black-tailed Gull
Chinese Grosbeak

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)

Day 1 and 2 - Travel and Beijing Area

Day 3 - Ming Tombs

Day 4 - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yengdu

Day 6 - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yengdu and Dongtai, Yancheng

Day 7 - Dongtai, Yancheng

Day 8 - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Day 9 - Nanjishan Wetland Reserve, Nancheng

Day 10 - Poyang Hu Reserve, Wu Cheng

Day 11 - Poyang Hu Reserve, Wu Cheng and Emei Feng, Taining

Day 12 - Emei Feng, Taining

Day 13 - Emei Feng, Taining and Changle

Day 14 - Changle, Fuzhou

Day 15 - Nanshan Park, Changle and travel

Monday, 7 November 2016

China Wetlands (Birdquest) Tour - 7th November (Day 4)

After a rather sleepless night in sleeper train from Beijing to Yendu we finally arrived at our station at 06:00 where we quickly met our guide/translator Simon and then headed to our hotel the Qing Shan Hotel in Qingyanggang arriving at 07:30. After a breakfast of rather nice spicy spinach and noodle soup we headed out into the field to the Yancheng Nature Reserve. The landscape here was one of extensive, flat rice paddies broken by treelines and ditches – rather like East Anglia in some respects. We stopped at an area known as Reed Farm and birded here from 09:00 until 12:30 walking reed filled ditch-lines and scanning across the rice paddies some of which had been harvested, others still with a near ripe crop of rice. Apparently, the harvest has been delayed this year due to a continuous period of heavy rain and therefore the dominance of uncut rice was less favourable to the cranes found in the area. Regardless, it was not long before we had located a group of stunning Red-crowned Crane, one of the main targets of the trip. The group was a family party consisting of two adults and a single juvenile of the year. This species is listed as Endangered and has two populations, one breeding and wintering in Japan the other breeding in northern China and wintering in three areas of China and Korea. The main threat to the species is loss and disturbance of its wetland habitats, its population in 2009 being around 2,750 individuals.

Also here was a flock of around 300 Common Crane which contained a single Hooded Crane and at least two Sandhill Crane. Nearby another flock of 18 Red-crowned Crane. Four species of crane within an area consisting of two, relatively small fields, was remarkable. The ditches were alive with buntings and we recorded Little Bunting, Chestnut-eared Bunting (six), Yellow-breasted Bunting (one), Yellow-throated Bunting (one), Rustic Bunting (four), Black-faced Bunting (two) and Pallas’s Bunting (10’s). Other highlights here included Siberian (Stejneger’s) Stonechat, Daurian Redstart (five), Grey-backed Thrush (one), White-cheeked Starling (four), Hoopoe (three), Red-throated Pipit (four), Merlin (1), Hen Harrier (three) and Black-shouldered Kite (one). While overhead were Tundra Bean Goose (50), two rather distant Oriental Stork and a brief Grey-backed Thrush. A short drive back down the road produced more buntings of the same species including another two Yellow-breasted Bunting and four more Yellow-throated Bunting and a single Pale Thrush. It started to spit with rain and so we decided to head for lunch, this was a ridiculous banquet with enough food to feed a group three times the size. It included some rather disgusting dishes including 1000-year-old eggs which tasted just how I would imagine licking a urinal would taste, raw crabs, dried and shredded octopus and pickled peanuts – really quite disgusting!

Red-crowned Crane, two adult and a juvenile - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Common Crane - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Flock of Common Crane - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Tundra Bean Goose - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Pallas's Bunting - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Pallas's Bunting (female) - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Pallas's Bunting (male) - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Chestnut-eared Bunting - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Little Bunting - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Stejneger's Stonechat - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Long-tailed Shrike - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Reed Parrotbill - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Hen Harrier - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Spotted Redshank - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Chinese Spot-billed Duck - Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

Greylag Goose of race rubrirostris- Yancheng Nature Reserve, Yancheng

After lunch we headed for the Yancheng Crane Nature Reserve visitor centre and wetland area, it was raining more steadily by now and we opted to hire an electric vehicle to take us around the reserve. These were like mini electric single decker buses and were excellent birding hides. This turned out to be a good move as the rain became more and more steady and the wind picked up. The reserve consists of extensive reedbeds and pools many of which were still under construction. Highlights of the birding included four Swan Goose, 50 Falcated Duck, Eurasian Bittern (2), 100’s of Chinese Spot-billed Duck, 30 Mandarin Duck and White Wagtail of the races ocularis and leucopsis. The rain was now heavy and so we headed back to our hotel for 16:00 and relaxed until dinner at 18:30.

Life Birds;