South-east China - 24th April (Day 4)

We were up at 05:00 and after packing our bags commenced the short drive to the Dongtai sandflats area for our final birding session at this superb site. After breakfast of bread, bananas and sweet coffee we walked the kilometre or so across the sandflats to the waters edge. The main goal was to try to improve on our views of Spoon-billed Sandpiper. At the waters edge we walked southwards closely following the waters edge and scanning the vast flocks of superb summer plumaged Red-necked Stint as they busily fed on unseen morsels. Close investigation of the sand surface revealed many tidy polychaete worm trails, molluscs and crustaceans which fuel the birds on their north bound journey and make this site of major importance. Amongst the stint were lesser numbers of Greater Sandplover, Lesser Sandplover, Great Knot, Red Knot, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Dunlin and Curlew Sandpiper all resplendent in their summer finery and all with the same aim of feeding and moving northbound to the Siberian tundra to breed. Alas, after two hours of searching there was no sign of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and we decided to head to the seawall scrub to search for passerine migrants. We worked our way westwards but the strong winds hampered our efforts and we saw relatively little, new species that we had not seen here yesterday were Oriental Reed-warbler, Chinese Grosbeak and Green-backed Flycatcher. On the lagoons were Pintail, Garganey and Shoveler as well as Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Black-faced Spoonbill and Saunder’s Gull.

Boarding the bus we headed one hour to the south to Yankou and the fabled Magic Wood which I had last visited on 9th November 2016. This rather unattractive area with bird park, modern hotels, golf courses, imposing wind turbines and littered with waste plastic and polystyrene makes one wonder why it is evidently such a popular spot for Chinese tourists. We birded the avenue of trees that is the Magic Wood seeing relatively little, the highlights being a cracking White’s Thrush, two Dusky Thrush, Silver-throated Tit, Yellow-browed Bunting and at least six Chinese Grosbeak. After a superb lunch of various Chinese dishes which included sweet and sour pork, liver in a black bean sauce, spicy cauliflower, sweet and sour aubergine and pork strips we began the five-hour drive south to Minjiang.

We arrived at Nanhui just as it was getting dark and birded the area around the hotel but it was probably a little late and we saw little but for a few common species such as Barn Swallow, Long-tailed Shrike, Dusky Warbler and Crested Myna.

Mixed flock of Red Knot, Great Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit and Grey Plover - Dongtai, Yancheng

Mixed flock of Red Knot, Great Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit - Dongtai, Yancheng

Lesser Black-backed Gull of subspecies heuglini - Dongtai, Yancheng

Lesser Black-backed Gull of subspecies heuglini - Dongtai, Yancheng

Red-necked Stint - Dongtai, Yancheng

Red-necked Stint - Dongtai, Yancheng

Gull-billed Tern - Dongtai, Yancheng

Olive-backed Pipit - Dongtai, Yancheng

Saunder's Gull - Dongtai, Yancheng

Saunder's Gull - Dongtai, Yancheng

Female Green-backed Flycatcher - Dongtai, Yancheng

Birding the Magic Wood, Yankhou

Landscape just outside the Magic Wood, Yankhou

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)
Day 1 and 2 – International flight and Dongtai.
Day 3 - Dongtai.
Day 5 - Nanhui then fly to Fuzhou.
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.

Lodmoor RSPB and Portland - 16th September

Sarah was in London with a friend today and so I used the opportunity to spend the day birding. With a Stilt Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper at Lodmoor and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Portland it was an easy decision to make. Unfortunately, the 15th bought news that both the Stilt Sandpiper and the Buff-breasted had departed but Least was a British tick so I decided to go for it. I was up at 04:30 and on the road by 05:15 after a few coffees. Arriving at Lodmoor at 06:45 I walked east along the path to the shelter where after a short scan I found the Least Sandpiper crouching on the mud around 100m away. After a while the bird started to feed showing its features, this was a subtle bird and I can easily see why the finder passed the bird off as a Little Stint. The pale legs were admittedly readily visible but the bird was as bright as a Little Stint with lovely rich buff edges to the mantle feathers, the pale mantle tramlines were perhaps a little less obvious than a Little Stint and with close inspection the virtual lack of a primary projection beyond the tertials could just be seen. The bill appears to be slightly longer and more decurved than Little Stint. After 10 minutes or so a Grey Heron flew over and flushed the bird to the far south-eastern corner of the reserve and after walking along the track the bird showed marginally better feeding with Dunlin. It was remarkably agressive towards the Dunlin and despite its smaller size always seemed to get the better.

Least Sandpiper - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Least Sandpiper - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Least Sandpiper - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

After getting my fill of the Least Sandpiper I spent 30 minutes or so birding the southern area of Lodmoor recording Great Egret, seven Yellow Wagtail, 20 Black-tailed Godwit, four Bar-tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper, 20 Dunlin, three Common Sandpiper, Marsh Harrier and a first-winter Mediterranean Gull. 

Yellow Wagtail - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Black-tailed Godwit (juvenile) - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

Bar-tailed Godwit - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset

At just gone 10:00 I headed to Portland and parked in the main carpark at the Bill. After stomping around in the grassland to the west of the Pulpit Inn I decided to head for the Observatory Quarry where a Wryneck had been present since 6th September. When I arrived the bird was grubbing around  in the grass feeding on ants and I was hoping that it would hop up onto the brambles but it remained very hidden as it fed mouse-like in the grass. After an hour or so I decided to go for a walk and wandered up over Top Fields and down to the main road via Sweet Hill. It was hot and slow-going, I recorded around 25 Wheatear, a Sedge Warbler, three Yellow Wagtail and a handful of Chiffchaff. Good numbers of Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin were feeding over the Crown Fields. Just as I got back to the Observatory the heavens opened and I took shelter in the bookshop. Once the rains had ceased I decided to head back for another look at the Wryneck and after a short wait it popped up into an Elder and showed brilliantly for 10 minutes as it dried itself in the sun. It was 15:00 and time to head for home after a good day in the field.

Wryneck feeding in the grassland where it was very inconspicuous - Observatory Quarry, Portland

Wryneck  - Observatory Quarry, Portland

Wryneck  - Observatory Quarry, Portland

Wryneck  - Observatory Quarry, Portland

Wryneck  - Observatory Quarry, Portland

Wryneck  - Observatory Quarry, Portland

Hurst Seawatch - 30th April

A Force 5 to 6 south-east wind on 30th April over the bank holiday weekend and I was up at 05:00 and heading with great anticipation to the seawatch point at Cut Bridge at the base of Hurst Spit. On arrival Simon Boswell was already entrenched and as I walked along the shingle Whimbrel passed by offshore and three Little Gull were overhead. Over the next 5.5 hours the seawatching was pretty exceptional by Hampshire standards with good numbers of birds and some fantastic views. At Hurst east moving birds fly into Christchurch Bay and pass parallel with Hurst Spit to the mouth of the Solent - in a strong east to south-easterly such as today these birds are pushed closer to shore meaning that views can be very good, some birds even passing overhead. The highlights of the morning were the strong Little Tern passage, Black Tern, a good diversity of wader and excellent numbers of Arctic Skua. Birds of the morning were undoubtedly the Pomarine Skua, the first bird settled on the sea briefly before crossing the spit and heading high up the Solent passing over the village of Keyhaven. The second sighting was of a flock of seven birds on the water which drifted east to the mouth of the Solent before lifting up and heading back west to land once more only to be drifted back to the mouth of the Solent with the tide - when I left these birds were still present.  I left at 12:15 and thanks to Simon Boswell for providing the following totals from 06:30 to 14:30 most of which passed during the time I was present:

• Brent Goose - 11
• Eider - 10 offshore
• Velvet Scoter - 4 possibly more with below
• Common Scoter - Many offshore but with no visible migration, c.400-500
• Shelduck - 1
• Shoveler - 2
• Teal - 3
• Red-throated Diver - 3
• Grey Plover - 20
• Ringed Plover - 12
• Whimbrel - 86
• Bar-tailed Godwit - 32
• Sanderling - 38
• Little Gull - 12
• Common Gull - 3
• Little Tern - 87
• Black Tern - 6
• Commic Tern - 386
• Sandwich Tern - 103
• Arctic Skua - 26 (13LP+13DP) (LP- 05:42, LP - 06:02, DP - 06:45, DP+LP 07:20, DP 07:31, DP 07:45, DP+LP 07:52, 1LP+4DP 07:55, 4LP+2DP 08:00, LP+DP 08:22, 2LP 09:29, LP 12:30, DP 12:46)
• Pomarine Skua - 8 (LP 07:20, 2DP+5LP 11:55)
• Great Skua - 1 (11:08)

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Whimbrel (2) and Bar-tailed Godwit (6)

Arctic Skua - Intermediate

Arctic Skua - Intermediate (same bird as above)

Arctic Skua - Light and dark phase

Arctic Skua - Dark phase

Arctic Skua - Dark phase (same as above)

Arctic Skua - Dark phase (same as above)

Arctic Skua - 2 dark phase and 4 light phase. The third bird from the left is particularly pale with a very white collar.

Arctic Skua - 2 dark phase and 3 light phase. The third bird from the left is particularly pale with a very white collar (same birds as above)

Arctic Skua - 1 dark phase and 3 light phase. The upper bird is particularly pale with a very white collar (same birds as above)

Pomarine Skua (light phase) with the Needles in the background

Pomarine Skua (light phase) - Same bird as above

Pomarine Skua (5 light phase and 2 dark phase) 

Common Tern and Black tern

Black Tern

Black Tern over the base of Hurst Spit

Little Gull - 1st summer

Little Gull - 1st summer (same bird as above)

Little Gull (adult summer)

Little Gull (adult summer) - same bird as above

Brent Goose

Weather conditions on 30th May at 06:00 showing south to south-east airflow from Biscay with an east moving front which arrived at Hurst at around 11:00 and which birds moved ahead of

The totals for other seawatching sites along the south coast make for some interesting reading (although consideration needs to be given that these sites were watched for different periods of time through the day). The totals below, for selected species, were all taken from available sources on the internet and show some interesting patterns. The totals are shown with sites positioned from the most westerly to the left and the most easterly to the right of the table. 

Firstly, St. Catherine's Point was disappointing with low numbers of most species with the exception of Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit, it would appear likely that the wind was of such strength/direction (Force 5-6, south-east) that birds were forced closer to shore and hence passed along the Solent rather than around the Isle of Wight. As is typical, numbers of birds built as one progresses eastwards with Dungeness scoring most heavily on most species with the exception of Whimbrel, Little Tern and Sandwich Tern. Commic Tern patterns are interesting, why are the totals higher for Portland than for Hurst, where did the missing 500 odd birds go to, they certainly have not gone around the Isle of Wight (unless they were too far out to see from land), numbers then are high for Selsey after seemingly having bypassed Hurst - are they moving high up the Solent and thus unrecorded at Hurst? Numbers of Little Tern passing Hurst and Selsey are consistent but then there is a drop-off in numbers at Dungeness, are these birds passing further out to sea by the time they reach Dungeness or is the drop-off due to birds have stopped over en-route? Pomarine Skua numbers are dramatically higher at Dungeness than any other point along the coast, this is presumably due to the build up in numbers as birds cross the Channel in a broad front in a north-east direction before coasting eastwards. The 30th April was the fourth best ever day total for Pomarine Skua at Dungeness but this was certainly not the case for the rest of the south coast but I was very pleased with the eight I had seen at Hurst - one of my favourite species.