The Deskbound Birder: Yellow-throated Bunting

Showing posts with label Yellow-throated Bunting. Show all posts

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

Sunday, 6 November 2016

China Wetlands (Birdquest) Tour - 6th November (Day 3)

We were up for a 06:00 departure and headed for the Dingling area of the Ming Tombs outside of Beijing, and were early enough to avoid the traffic horrors of the city. Here we birded an area of persimmon orchard at the back (south-west) of the tombs in very grey and gloomy weather conditions. The orchards are traditionally managed with extensive areas of scrub and weed and with the distinctive bright orange fruit of the persimmon vivid against the bare trees and grey skies. The fruit are clearly highly attractive to many of the thrush, finch and bunting that winter here. We birded the orchards until 15:00 with an hour break for lunch. The birding was fantastic with large flocks of 100’s of Brambling and smaller flocks of Naumann’s Thrush. Amongst the Naumann’s Thrush were small numbers of Rufous-throated Thrush and Dusky Thrush giving us the opportunity to study the plumage variation amongst these species. Small flocks of bunting consisted of Little Bunting, Rustic Bunting, Yellow-throated Bunting, Meadow Bunting, Pallas’s Reed Bunting and a single male Godlewski’s Bunting. Amongst the scrub Siberian Accentor was moderately common with around ten birds seen, it was great to see this species after missing all those in the UK this year. Other birds in this area included Chinese Nuthatch, the rather wacky Chinese Bush-dweller, Grey-capped Woodpecker, Grey-faced Woodpecker, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Tit, Plain Laughingthrush and Oriental Greenfinch. But one of the highlights was a male Chaffinch, a China tick for our guide Hannu and a vagrant to the area.

Siberian Accentor - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Red Squirrel of subspecies orientis - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Brambling - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Chaffinch, a vagrant to the area - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Naumann's Thrush - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Naumann's Thrush (adult) - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Naumann's Thrush - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Rufous-throated Thrush was far less common than Naumann's and

we only saw around three individuals - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Dusky Thrush - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Rustic Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Little Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Meadow Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Godlewski's Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Yellow-throated Bunting, with two in Norway this November this is surely

a potential addition to the British List - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Yellow-throated Bunting - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Plain Laughingthrush - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Chinese Bush-dweller - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Persimmon fruit, striking despite the very gloomy weather conditions- Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Yellow-bellied Tit - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Chinese Nuthatch - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Silver-throated Tit - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Vinous-throated Parrotbill - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Magpie, of the race serica is similar to European races but is

genetically distinct - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

Asian Azure-winged Magpie - Dingling Tombs, Beijing

The orchards at Dingling Tombs, Beijing, the roof of the tombs building can be seen in the centre

Orchads at Dingling Tombs, Beijing

We finished our birding at the orchard at 15:00 and battled through the congested streets of Beijing to a restaurant where we had the now familiar Chinese fare. We then headed to Beijing Railway Station for a 17:20 train south to Yendu arriving at 06:01 on the morning of the 7th November. We ‘slept’ in a very snug but not too bad sleeper cabin which accommodated four people in rather stuffy conditions. We were pleased to arrive at Yendu.

Life Birds;