The Deskbound Birder: Stejneger's Stonechat

Showing posts with label Stejneger's Stonechat. Show all posts

Sunday, 21 May 2017

Mongolia - 21st May (Day 14) - Terelj National Park and Gachuurt

After a great nights sleep in a bed at the Ulaanbaatar Hotel 2 in Terej National Park we were up at 05:00 to a very cold and frosty morning. Birding the woodlands near to the hotel it was quickly evident that most of the migrants from yesterday had departed and largely we were left with the breeding species. A quick check of the bushes near the rubbish dump produced no Siberian Rubythroat unlike yesterday but a single male Common Redstart showed well. Waking into the forest a pair of Goosander fed along the river. A bit of pishing near to some willow scrub produced a few Willow Tit and then a call which I knew immediately was an Azure Tit, I called Barry and Jon over and we were soon getting great views of this fantastic bird. The rest of the morning produced a range of nice species but no hoped for White-backed Woodpecker, we saw Grey-faced Woodpecker, Lesser spotted Woodpecker, Wryneck, Lesser Whitethroat and Brown Shrike.

After breakfast at 08:00 we birded an area of Birch forest a short way up the road but it was fairly slow going and we saw only Two-barred Greenish Warbler, Pine Bunting, Taiga Flycatcher and a singing Red-flanked Bluetail.

Azure Tit - Terej National Park

Great Tit - Terej National Park

Willow Tit - Terej National Park

Grey-faced Woodpecker - Terej National Park

Wryneck singing from the top of an Ash tree - Terej National Park

Wryneck - Terej National Park

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - Terej National Park

Brown Shrike - Terej National Park

Goosander - Terej National Park

Red Squirrel - Terej National Park

Carrion Crow of race orientalis - Terej National Park

Chough - Terej National Park

Redstart - Terej National Park

Birch forest at Terej National Park

Bird's-eye Primrose Primula farinosa, or a species similar to this - Terej National Park

Siberian Chipmunk - Terej National Park

We then drove back towards Ulaanbataar and up the valley to Gachuurt where we visited earlier in the trip for a final look for Siberian Jay. As we drove through the valley we stopped for Rook which here is of the subspecies pastinator and a potential split as Eastern Rook, other than a feathered face in Eastern Rook the differences between the two appear very marginal. A short way up the road a pair of Stonechat were eventually identified as Stejneger's Stonechat but they were not especially obliging.

Rook of subspecies pastinator - Gachuurt

Stejneger's Stonechat - Gachuurt

We arrived at our campsite and found the tents already erected and after dropping our bags to the tents we spent a little time birding the clearing and the adjacent area of damp scrub. Here were a few Black-faced Bunting, Yellow-browed Warbler and Two-barred Greenish Warbler plus a rather spectacular dark Red Squirrel.

Campsite at Gachuurt

Pasqueflower Campsite - Gachuurt

Pansy - Gachuurt

Red Squirrel - Gachuurt

Our optimism that we may see Siberian Jay due to a GPS reference that Tumen had obtained soon dwindled as we realised that the positioning was from last year! Regardless, we drove up through the forest to the conifers and slogged up the hill to the GPS reference and there were no jays. In fact, it was extremely slow going with just Siberian Chipmunk, Pallas's Pika and Willow Tit to keep us interested - our enthusiasm soon wained. We decided to cut our losses and head back to the campsite, a jay-like call as we defended produced some excitement but lead us to a stunning Nutcracker which showed extremely well in the evening light.

Siberian Chipmunk - Gachuurt

Pallas's Pica - Gachuurt

Nutcracker - Gachuurt

Pine Forest - Gachuurt

Rod enjoying the view at Gachuurt

Back at the campsite a beer was very welcome as was a stunning Ural Owl which showed well at dusk around the clearing. The temperature dropped and a session on the vodka warmed the body and facilitated sleep in the now freezing temperatures.

Ural Owl around our campsite at Gachuurt

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)
Day 1 and 2 – International flight then Ulaanbaatar to Mungum Sum
Day 3 - Mungunmorit and Gachuurt area
Day 4 - Drive to Dalanzadgad
Day 5 – Gurvan Saikhan National Park
Day 6 - Gurvan Saikhan National Park
Day 7 - Gobi Desert and Khongor Sand Dunes
Day 8 – Gobi Desert to Bogd
Day 9 - Baga Bogd Mountain and Kholboolj Lake
Day 10 - Kholboolj Lake and Barig Mountain
Day 11 - Barig Mountain and Sangiin Lake
Day 12 (Part 1) - Sangiin Lake and Bayan Lake
Day 12 (Part 2) - Sangiin Lake and Bayan Lake
Day 13 - Hustai National Park and Terelj National Park
Day 15 and 16 - Gachuurt Area, Tuul River and International flight

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;