North Norfolk - 7th-10th February

Sarah had brought for me, at Christmas, a photography course with David Tipling and so we all headed up to North Norfolk for the weekend. David is a recent convert from Nikon to Olympus and is now an ambassador for Olympus. The main aim for me was to glean some of his knowledge in using the Olympus set-up for bird photography, particularly in low light. Since switching from Canon to the Olympus OMD MK-1 Mark II, I had been struggling to get the results that I had been achieving with the Canon and so felt that I needed some guidance. David's website can be viewed here, he runs a range of courses and I would throughly recommend booking with him if you are new to Olympus.

We travelled up on 7th arriving in North Norfolk at 15:00, to stretch the legs after a 4.5 hour drive we headed to Titchwell and walked out to the beach. There were large numbers of Brent Goose on the reserve but water levels were high and bird numbers low. On the beach I scanned the sea and picked up Red-necked Grebe, three Slavonian Grebe and a few Common Eider. On the beach were large numbers of Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot and Sanderling. At 16:30 with Sarah cold and Tobias tired it was time to head for the hotel and a much needed beer.

On Friday 8th I met David at 07:30 in dark, windy and fairly wet conditions and we drove to his woodland hide where we spent the first few hours of the day. Despite the poor weather conditions there were good numbers of birds coming into his pool and feeders and over the morning we had good views of many common woodland birds - unfortunately, the Marsh Tit which were so vocal around the hide only dropped down for brief visits. We spent much of our time working through the camera settings and becoming familiar with the menu's and learning to shoot in the low light conditions.

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Eurasian Blackbird

Great Tit

Common Pheasant

Coal Tit

European Robin

We then went onto Cley where the wind was blowing a gale and, at times, the rain was almost horizontal. We spent some time studying the flock of several hundred Brent Goose along the Beach Road. At the beach we walked east along the shingle to see if we could see a Glaucous Gull that had been present feeding on a dead seal but unfortunately the bird was distant and roosting on the marsh. A flock of around 30 Snow Bunting gave some consolation but it was very difficult to photograph them in the high wind.

Brent Geese - Cley-Next-The-Sea

Brent Geese - Cley-Next-The-Sea

Brent Geese - Cley-Next-The-Sea

Snow Bunting - Cley-Next-The-Sea

Snow Bunting - Cley-Next-The-Sea

We had a brief lunch stop at Morston Quay where we were hoping for an obliging Spotted Redshank but instead there was an obliging Common Redshank. We headed in-land scanning the fields and eventually found a covee of 16 Grey Partridge at fairly close range

Common Redshank - Morston Quay

Grey Partridge 

Grey Partridge

We then went onto a small stream where David had been feeding a Water Rail, it wasn't long before the bird appeared at close range but unfortunately the bird did not show for long, presumably due to the high winds. We finished the day at Holme Marshes Reserve hoping for a Bittern or a Barn Owl but saw neither. Despite the windy and occasionally wet day we had seen a few nice species and I had definitely found a new confidence with my Olympus set-up; now time to practice.

Water Rail

Water Rail - I quite like the sharp head and the movement shown in the legs and body in this shot

On Saturday we woke to a sunny day but the wind was even stronger. After a leisurely breakfast I convinced Sarah and Tobias that a short walk along the shingle at Cley to see the Glaucous Gull feeding on a dead seal was a good idea but when we arrived, not only was it nearly impossible to stand, but once again the gull was off on the marsh and was far too distant. I think even Tobias was upset at dipping seeing the gull feed on a dead seal. On the return walk a flock of some 70 Snow Bunting was some conciliation. We then headed inland to the road between Wiveton and Langham where up to four 'Tundra' Bean Goose have been present with c.3,000 Pink-footed Geese since 5th February. We stopped route to watch boxing Hare's which are always enthralling to watch. On arrival at the sugar-beet field where the geese were frequenting, there were a few birders present and I was soon onto a couple of Bean Goose. They were very easy to pick-out of the masses of Pink-footed Goose by way of their bright orange legs.

Pink-footed Goose - Between Wiveton and Langham 

'Tundra' Bean Goose with Pink-footed Goose - Between Wiveton and Langham 

Pink-footed Goose, note the Barnacle Goose at the top of the image, I failed to notice this bird and my images show two birds to be present - Between Wiveton and Langham 

We then headed to Holkham where a flock of c.30 Horned Lark have been wintering, we parked on Lady Anne Drive, which is like a zoo now that the new visitor centre has been constructed. Sarah and Tobias wanted to stay in the car due to the wind so I walked swiftly to Holkham Gap through the crowds and quickly came across a small group of birders watching the Shore Lark. The birds were moderately close, maybe 20m away, feeding in the saltmarsh vegetation. Always great to see these stunning little birds. I watched them for around 15 minutes until the flock took off and flew north much further away from the path, in flight I counted 29 birds, the largest flock I had seen in the UK.

Horned Lark - Holkham Gap

Horned Lark - Holkham Gap

Egyptian Goose - Lady Annes Drive, Holkham

After dropping Sarah back at the hotel for a spa treatment, Tobias and I set-out to look for Barn Owl, he was really keen to see Barn Owl. We drove from Burnham Market and out to the coast road and fairly quickly I spotted a distant Barn Owl hunting the meadows to the north of the coast road at Burnham Overy Mill. The bird headed north-west and we followed it along the main road to Norton Hall Farm where we eventually had great views. Tobias was made up with this and wanted a toy Barn Owl to celebrate so we popped to Titchwell where we obtained said toy and also got good views of a Woodcock in the car park. We spent the last hour of the day driving the fields inland trying to get photos and more looks of Hare but despite seeing many we never found one close enough for decent photos. The highlight was a fantastic flock of around 5,000 Pink-footed Goose that we came across in fields north of Stanhoe, as we parked on the verge next to the fields the flock took flight and passed overhead, an amazing site and sound.

Barn Owl - Norton Hall Farm, Burnham Norton

Barn Owl - Norton Hall Farm, Burnham Norton

Barn Owl - Norton Hall Farm, Burnham Norton

Eurasian Woodcock - Titchwell RSPB Car Park

On Sunday we woke to heavy rain and so afterbreakfast we headed back and were home by 14:30 just in time to watch England thrash France in the Six Nations, a fine end to a highly enjoyable weekend.

North-west China (Xinjiang) - 7th and 8th May (Day 17 and 18)

Awaking at 05:30 on 7th May I looked out of the hotel window to a scene of torrential rain, flooding and high winds. This did not bode well for our only day to Nanshan in the Tien Shan mountains – our only day here and my last day of the trip. Loading the bus at 06:00 we headed south from the city into the foothills and the rain turned to snow and as we approached our first birding site at around 1,500m this snow had reached near blizzard conditions. Our first target was Red-headed Bunting and I had seen images of this bird singing at this site in alpine meadows in beautiful sunny conditions – the weather we faced was a different kettle of fish altogether. Hopping out of the bus we were blasted by snow and a cold wind and optics quickly fogged. We birded this stretch of road for around an hour seeing small groups of finches and pipits moving south evidently trying to escape the conditions. Unperturbed were singing Sky Lark plus Water Pipit, Richard’s Pipit, Tawny Pipit and Northern Wheatear but I dipped the only tick that the group saw, a pair of Red-fronted Serin. We decided that the conditions were too grim to bird so retired to the bus for breakfast – the usual fair of bread and sweet coffee – before heading to a different area to bird. Passing along a minor road flocks of birds were in abundance but we didn’t really stop as we were heading to a key birding area. We did stop for a flock of Plain Mountain-finch beside the road and saw species such as Mistle Thrush and a possible Black-throated Thrush from the bus. Arriving at the main site some 30 minutes later conditions were so bad that we didn’t even get out of the bus to walk the trail and decided to leave for a slightly lower and more sheltered elevation. As we descended Barry spotted a redstart from the bus which he swiftly identified as an Eversmann’s Redstart, one of our key targets, but we could not relocate it after we had disembarked the bus. Driving further down the road I spotted another redstart from the bus we stopped and all piled out and there was a stunning male Blue-capped Redstart and then a male Eversmann’s Redstart quickly followed by a Black-throated Accentor all in the same clump of trees – three of our key tragets within a few minutes were seen. It soon became apparent that there were multiple birds of these species in a stretch of road of approximately 50m, these birds are normally higher in the woodlands at the site and far more difficult to see and it was clear that these birds had dropped to avoid the snow. We birded up and down the road and the numbers of these birds was incredible with 50+ of each being seen, at one point I watched 12 Black-throated Accentor feeding on the road together – Tang Jun says he normally only sees one or two of this species at the site and often struggles to see the two Redstart species. Along the road and passing overhead were also numerous Water Pipit, Tree Pipit and Godlewski’s Bunting while the bushes also held Hume’s Warbler. It was difficult to tear ourselves away from the number of birds that the scrub aloing the road held but we still had two further targets. Having seen large numbers of birds along the roadside as we headed to this area we decided to descend further and birded a village area on the way back to the Red-headed Bunting site. This produced hundreds of Pine Bunting around the village and in the fields with similar numbers of Plain Mountain-finch. Also here we recorded Red-tailed Rock-thrush, Red-tailed Shrike, Hoopoe, Horned Lark, Water Pipit, Northern Wheater and Common Stonechat of the subspecies maura. It was evident that we had dropped out of the area where the redstarts and accentors were frequenting as we saw none of these species here. Another brief look for the Red-headed Bunting drew a blank and we decided that the birds had probably descended lower to escape the snow.

After an hours lunchstop I was itching to get back into the field and with only two hours left I still wanted to see two target species. So we headed back to the main birding site and stopped in a layby. Here there were multiple Blue-capped Redstart, Eversmann’s Redstart, Black-throated Accentor and Godlewski’s Bunting which we enjoyed but our remaining target birds were not here. We headed to the main car park area, and as we approached Tang-Jun spotted a Red-mantled Rosefinch on the roadside so we leapt out of the car and quickly located two females and a male, as we watched these birds I heard a flock of serin calling and a scan produced a flock of around 25 Red-fronted Serin flying up the valley, fortunately they landed and we enjoyed reasonable, although a little distant views of these stunning little finches with their fire red foreheads. These were our two remaining targets and we had seen them within the space of a few minutes. Martin called a Rubythroat and I was amazed when I saw that it was a Himalayan Rubythroat, another new bird in the space of a few minutes and one that was not on my radar to see. There were two of these stunning birds feeding in the roadside scrub and ditches and we enjoyed good views. I had an hour before my taxi arrived to take me back to Urumqi and so we birded this area seeing more Eversmann’s Redstart, Blue-fronted Redstart and Black-throated Accentor - we were simply stunned at the number of birds present and it reminded me of a similar fall of birds that we experienced in Mongolia, see here.

At 17:00 my taxi arrived and I said goodbye to Barry, Martin, Ian, Andy D, Andy B and Volkert and drove the short distance to the airport with my local driver. We dropped out of the snow zone into rain and I arrived at the airport at just gone 18:00 for my 21:15 flight to Beijing. The lady at the check in desk informed me that the 21:15 flight had been delayed and instead managed to get me onto the 19:15 flight and by 23:00 I was in Beijing. My bags took an age to arrive and it was almost midnight by the time I left the airport. I transferred to the Eastern Airline Hotel arriving at 00:45 and enjoyed a very plush apartment room while repacking ready for my international flight tomorrow, I eventually crashed at around 02:00.

Male Eversmann's Redstart - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Male Blue-capped Redstart  - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Male Blue-capped Redstart - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Black-throated Accentor - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Pine Bunting - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Red-tailed Shrike - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Red-tailed Shrike - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Red-tailed Shrike - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Red-tailed Shrike (differenet bird to above) - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Eurasian Sparrowhawk - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

 Common Stonechat of subspecies maura - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Horned Lark of subspecies brandti - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Eurasian Hoopoe - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Rufous-tailed Rock-thrush - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Rufous-tailed Rock-thrush - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Isabelline Wheatear - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Godlewski's Bunting - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Black-throated Accentor - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Tree Pipit - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Red-mantled Rosefinch - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Eversmann's Redstart - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Himalayan Rubythroat - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Hamalayan Rubythroat - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Black-throated Accentor - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Black-throated Accentor - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Black Kite - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Andy B, Martin and Andy D enjoying the snow - Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

 Nanshan, Tien Shan Mountains

Conditions were blizzard like

Leaving Nanshan and heading back to the aiport at Urumqi

Rather sterile city scape of the new Urumqi. Most of the older buildings are being flattened to make way for these apartment blocks across the city

After a short sleep I was up at 06:00 on the 8th May and after a quick repack I was on the shuttlebus from the Eastern Airline Hotel in Beijing to the International Airport. I checked in then relaxed after some duty free shopping. My flight was delayed and we eventually departed at 11:45, 30 minutes late. Flying north-west we passed over Xinjiang and I thought of the Ground-jay’s below and then over Ullan Bataar where I had visited a little later this time last year. We headed over Russia and the Baltic before landing at Heathrow 15:15.

List of Birds Recorded in the South-east and North-west China

We recorded 322 species 34 of which were ticks for me (shown in bold). Bird of the trip for me was Cabot's Tragopan with Reeve's Pheasant, Chinese Crested Tern, Xingjiang ground-jay, Siberian Thrush, Himalayan Rubythroat, Eversmann’s Redstart and Blue-capped Redstart being up there.

Collared Partridge

Chinese Bamboo-partridge

Cabot's Tragopan

Koklass Pheasant

Elliot's Pheasant

Reeves's Pheasant

Common Pheasant

Silver Pheasant

White-headed Duck

Ruddy Shelduck

Mandarin Duck

Red-crested Pochard

Common Pochard

Tufted Duck

Garganey

Northern Shoveler

Falcated Duck

Gadwall

Eurasian Wigeon

Chinese Spot-billed Duck

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Common Teal

Little Grebe

Great Crested Grebe

Black-necked Grebe

Rock Dove

Hill Pigeon

Stock Dove

Oriental Turtle-dove

Eurasian Collared-dove

Eastern Spotted Dove

Laughing Dove

Grey Nightjar

White-throated Needletail

Edible-nest Swiftlet

Pacific Swift

House Swift

Common Swift

Greater Coucal

Lesser Coucal

Western Koel

Large Hawk-cuckoo

Oriental Cuckoo

Brown Crake

White-breasted Waterhen

Common Moorhen

Common Coot

Eurasian Spoonbill

Black-faced Spoonbill

Asian Crested Ibis

Eurasian Bittern

Black-crowned Night-heron

Green-backed Heron

Chinese Pond-heron

Cattle Egret

Grey Heron

Great White Egret

Little Egret

Chinese Egret

Great Cormorant

Pied Avocet

Black-winged Stilt

Grey Plover

Pacific Golden Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Kentish Plover

White-faced Plover

Lesser Sandplover

Greater Sandplover

Grey-headed Lapwing

Whimbrel

Little Curlew

Eurasian Curlew

Far Eastern Curlew

Bar-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit

Ruddy Turnstone

Great Knot

Red Knot

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper

Long-toed Stint

Spoon-billed Sandpiper

Red-necked Stint

Sanderling

Dunlin

Asian Dowitcher

Common Snipe

Terek Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Grey-tailed Tattler

Spotted Redshank

Common Greenshank

Common Redshank

Wood Sandpiper

Marsh Sandpiper

Saunders's Gull

Black-headed Gull

Black-tailed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Arctic Herring Gull

Little Tern

Common Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Whiskered Tern

White-winged Tern

Common Tern

Chinese Crested Tern

Greater Crested Tern

Northern Boobook

Collared Owlet

Little Owl

Oriental Scops-owl

Osprey

Black Baza

Black Eagle

Booted Eagle

Eastern Marsh-harrier

Crested Goshawk

Chinese Sparrowhawk

Eurasian Sparrowhawk

Black Kite

Grey-faced Buzzard

Eurasian Buzzard

Long-legged Buzzard

Red-headed Trogon

Common Hoopoe

Oriental Dollarbird

Common Kingfisher

Black-capped Kingfisher

Great Barbet

Eurasian Wryneck

Speckled Piculet

Grey-capped Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

White-winged Woodpecker

Pied Falconet

Common Kestrel

Red-footed Falcon

Merlin

Peregrine Falcon

Black-naped Oriole

White-browed Shrike-babbler

White-bellied Erpornis

Grey-chinned Minivet

Scarlet Minivet

Ashy Minivet

Brown-rumped Minivet

Black-winged Cuckooshrike

Black Drongo

Ashy Drongo

Hair-crested Drongo

Brown Shrike

Red-tailed Shrike

Isabelline Shrike

Long-tailed Shrike

Grey Treepie

Red-billed Blue Magpie

Asian Azure-winged Magpie

Plain-crowned Jay

Xinjiang Ground-jay

Eurasian Magpie

Common Raven

Carrion Crow

Collared Crow

Large-billed Crow

Sultan Tit

Yellow-bellied Tit

Azure Tit

Great Tit

Yellow-cheeked Tit

Chinese Penduline-tit

Hume's Lark

Horned Lark

Eurasian Skylark

Oriental Skylark

Crested Lark

Bearded Reedling

Zitting Cisticola

Yellow-bellied Prinia

Plain Prinia

Common Tailorbird

Sykes's Warbler

Black-browed Reed-warbler

Oriental Reed-warbler

Marsh Grassbird

Red-rumped Swallow

Barn Swallow

Collared Sand Martin

Chestnut Bulbul

Mountain Bulbul

Black Bulbul

Collared Finchbill

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Brown-breasted Bulbul

Light-vented Bulbul

Yellow-browed Warbler

Hume's Leaf-warbler

Pallas's Leaf-warbler

Dusky Warbler

White-spectacled Warbler

Alström's Warbler

Eastern Crowned Warbler

Chestnut-crowned Warbler

Pale-legged Leaf-warbler

Sakkalin Leaf-warbler

Hartert's Leaf-warbler

Rufous-faced Warbler

Brownish-flanked Bush-warbler

Korean Bush-warbler

Black-throated Tit

Silver-throated Tit

Lesser Whitethroat

Tarim Hill-warbler

Reed Parrotbill

Grey-headed Parrotbill

Short-tailed Parrotbill

Vinous-throated Parrotbill

Indochinese Yuhina

Black-chinned Yuhina

Japanese White-eye

Streak-breasted Scimitar-babbler

Grey-sided Scimitar-babbler

Rufous-capped Babbler

Dusky Fulvetta

Grey-cheeked Fulvetta

Chinese Hwamei

Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush

Grey Laughingthrush

White-browed Laughingthrush

Masked Laughingthrush

Black-throated Laughingthrush

Blue-crowned Laughingthrush

Brown Dipper

Common Starling

Purple-backed Starling

Black-collared Starling

White-shouldered Starling

Red-billed Starling

White-cheeked Starling

Crested Myna

White's Thrush

Siberian Thrush

Chinese Thrush

Mistle Thrush

Eurasian Blackbird

Chinese Blackbird

Japanese Thrush

Grey-backed Thrush

Pale Thrush

Dusky Thrush

Black-throated Thrush

Oriental Magpie-robin

Grey-streaked Flycatcher

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Small Niltava

Zappey's Flycatcher

Blue-and-white Flycatcher

Siberian Blue Robin

Rufous-tailed Robin

Bluethroat

Siberian Rubythroat

Himalayan Rubythroat

White-crowned Forktail

Spotted Forktail

Blue Whistling-thrush

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher

Green-backed Flycatcher

Narcissus Flycatcher

Mugimaki Flycatcher

Eversmann’s Redstart

Blue-capped Redstart

Plumbeous Water-redstart

Daurian Redstart

Chestnut-bellied Rock-thrush

Rufous-tailed Rock-thrush

Common Stonechat

Northern Wheatear

Desert Wheatear

Spotted Elachura

Fork-tailed Sunbird

Black-throated Accentor

White-rumped Munia

Scaly-breasted Munia

Saxaul Sparrow

House Sparrow

Russet Sparrow

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Pechora Pipit

Tree Pipit

Olive-backed Pipit

Water Pipit

Richard's Pipit

Tawny Pipit

Grey Wagtail

Citrine Wagtail

Eastern Yellow Wagtail

White Wagtail

Chinese Grosbeak

Red-mantled Rosefinch

Plain Mountain-finch

Desert Finch

European Greenfinch

Oriental Greenfinch

Common Linnet

Red Crossbill

Red-fronted Serin

Eurasian Siskin

Chestnut-eared Bunting

Godlewski's Bunting

Pine Bunting

Ochre-rumped Bunting

Pallas’s Bunting

Yellow-breasted Bunting

Little Bunting

Black-faced Bunting

Yellow-browed Bunting

Tristram’s Bunting

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 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.