China - 27th March to 7th April

Sarah had always wanted to visit China and during this big Birthday year we had a number of trips planned including a two week long family holiday to see some of the 'big' sites of China. There was no real birding scheduled for the trip as I was soon to be back to the country for a birding trip. This is a brief summary of what we did with a few images of the sites we visited.

The trip was booked and organised by Audley Travel who were a little pricey but who did an excellent job of booking our internal travel arrangements, hotels and activities. The map below shows  the places visited, starting in Beijing then to the Great Wall, then Xi'an, then Yangshuo and onto Longsheng then Shanghai and finishing in Beijing.

27th March

After our international flight with British Airways to Beijing we had a short walk around the Temple of Heaven where we enjoyed the grounds, architecture and the activities of local people. A few birds were seen including Azure-winged Magpie and Light-vented Bulbul.

Azure-winged Magpie - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

I think this is Chinese Checkers - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Chinese Man - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Card Player - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Dragon Design - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Magpie - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Yo-yo'ing Man - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Yo-yo'ing Man - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Tobias has a go  - Temple of Heaven, Beijing

28th March

After a much needed sleep we spent much of the day on the Great Wall at Mutianyu. In the forest here we saw a few birds including Silver-breasted Tit, Daurian Redstart, Grey-faced Woodpecker, Oriental Greenfinch, Vinous-throated Parrotbill and Black-throated Tit. This section of the wall was relatively uncrowded and we enjoyed a pleasant few hours here. In the evening we visited the Chaoyang Theatre for the Beijing Acrobatics show.

Cable car to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall

Mutianyu section of the Great Wall

Mutianyu section of the Great Wall

Daurian Redstart - Mutianyu section of the Great Wall

29th March

This was largely a travel day and we caught the high-speed train from Beijing to Xi'an. A journey of around five hours on part of the longest high-speed network on the planet. It was clean, slick and very comfortable. We arrived in Xi'an in the late afternoon and headed to our hotel for some relaxation and a swim.

30th March

After a short walk around the Muslin Quarter in Xi'an we spent the afternoon at the site of the Terracotta Army. Often regarded as the greatest archaeological discovery of the twentieth century, seeing the Terracotta Army first hand was an unforgettable experience. Built by the first emperor of a unified China, Qin Huangdi, over 2000 years ago, the army was designed to protect him in his afterlife. We then headed for the airport for our early evening flight to Guilin in the southern province of Guangxi. We arrived late in our hotel after a drive through the vibrant streets of Guilin.

Muslin Quarter Xi'an

Muslin Quarter Xi'an

Battered Crab and Squid - Muslin Quarter Xi'an

Muslin Quarter Xi'an

Terracotta Warriors - Xi'an

Terracotta Warriors - Xi'an

Terracotta Warriors - Xi'an

Terracotta Warriors - Xi'an

Terracotta Warriors - Xi'an

Chariot at the Terracotta Warriors - Xi'an

March 31st
We were up at 07:00 for a superb buffet breakfast which included just about every food imaginable. At 10:00 we boarded our boat travelling south along the Li River to Yangshuo. We spent the next five hours relaxing watching the spectacular limestone karst scenery pass us by. I even had two ticks, Collared Crow and Fork-tailed Sunbird as well as seeing species such as Peregrine, Red-billed Blue Magpie. White-breasted Kingfisher, Plumbeous Water Redstart and Slaty-backed Forktail.

Li River

Li River

Li River

Li River

Li River

1st April
I was up early and birding the road from the hotel in Yangshuo through the forest for around a mile. It was thick with fog for much of my couple of hours and I saw relatively little. Highlights were Masked Laughingthrush, Chinese Hwamei, Black-throated Tit, Verditer Flycatcher, Streak-breasted Laughingthrush and Blue Whistling-thrush. Then the later part of the morning and the early afternoon was spent relaxing at the hotel, enjoying a superb lunch and swimming in the pool. In the evening we went into Yangshuo and soaked up the nightlife before watching a show performed on the river and directed by Liu Sanjie of Beijing Olympics opening ceremony fame.

I didn't get any photos during my birding session due to the fog but here are a few sound recordings:

Rufous-capped Babbler - Yangshuo

Masked Laughingthrush - Yangshuo

Yangshuo

Yangshuo

Yangshuo

2nd April
Today we drove to the Longsheng rice terraces and after checking into the hotel walked for around 5km through the spectacular terraces. Naturally, I spent some time birding and saw a few species such as Little Bunting, Olive-backed Pipit, Russet Sparrow, White-crowned Forktail, Grey Bushchat, Vineous-breasted Parrotbill, Rufous-crowned Babbler, Grey-cheeked Fulvetta, Rufous-faced Warbler, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Pallas's Warbler, Hill Prinia, Long-tailed Shrike and Red-rumped Swallow.

Lady at Longsheng

Chillies at Longsheng

Streets at Longsheng

Longsheng houses

Longsheng rice terraces

Longsheng rice terraces

Longsheng rice terraces

Longsheng rice terraces

Longsheng rice terraces

Longsheng rice terraces

Longsheng roof

Longji chilli sauce

3rd April

Today we left Longsheng and headed for our flight from Guilin to Shanghai. On arrival in Shanghai, we caught the fastest train in the world, the Maglev into the city and were transferred to our hotel overlooking the Bund in the centre of the city. After a dip in the pool we relaxed and enjoyed the city-scape.

View of the Shanghai bund from our hotel room

4th April

Today was Tobias's 5th birthday and we spent much of the morning in the magnificent Shanghai Aquarium where for me the highlights were the Sawfish and the jellyfish tanks. After lunch we headed back to the hotel for another swim and, after a short walk on the bund we enjoyed Tobias's birthday dinner where he was spoiled by the hotel staff. The only birds I saw were Black-crowned Night-heron and Mongolian Gull over the river.

Shanghai city-scape

5th April

Today we transferred to the train station and caught the high-speed train back to Beijing, this took five hours or so but once again was extremely clean and efficient. On arrival back in Beijing it was freezing cold, we had been used to temperatures of around 25c and so to arrive to 2c was a shock to the system.

6th April

Today we spent the day in Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City but the very low temperatures meant that the walk was a little unpleasant and we were glad to get to the hotel for a swim and to warm up! 

Tiananmen Square

Forbidden City

Forbidden City

Dragon Forbidden City

7th April
Today we transferred to Beijing Airport and to our British Airways flight back to the UK.

List of Birds Recorded
I recorded 75, fairly uninspiring species, on the trip two of which were ticks for me (shown in bold).

Chinese Spot-billed Duck
Mallard
Great Crested Grebe
Rock Dove
Oriental Turtle-dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Eastern Spotted Dove
Pacific Swift
Common Swift
Greater Coucal
Black-crowned Night-heron
Cattle Egret
Great White Egret
Intermediate Egret
Little Egret
Caspian Gull
Oriental Scops-owl
Black-winged Kite
Crested Serpent-eagle
Besra
Eurasian Buzzard
Common Kingfisher
White-breasted Kingfisher
Grey-faced Woodpecker
Peregrine Falcon
Long-tailed Shrike
Red-billed Blue Magpie
Asian Azure-winged Magpie
Eurasian Magpie
Collared Crow
Large-billed Crow
Willow Tit
Great Tit
Hill Prinia
Common Tailorbird
Red-rumped Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black Bulbul
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Light-vented Bulbul
Red-vented Bulbul
Yellow-browed Warbler
Pallas's Leaf-warbler
Eastern Crowned Warbler
Rufous-faced Warbler
Black-throated Tit
Silver-throated Tit
Vinous-throated Parrotbill
Japanese White-eye
Streak-breasted Scimitar-babbler
Rufous-capped Babbler
Grey-cheeked Fulvetta
Chinese Hwamei
Masked Laughingthrush
Common Starling
Crested Myna
Eurasian Blackbird
Oriental Magpie-robin
Verditer Flycatcher
Slaty-backed Forktail
White-crowned Forktail
Blue Whistling-thrush
Plumbeous Water-redstart
Black Redstart
Grey Bushchat
Fork-tailed Sunbird
White-rumped Munia
Russet Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Olive-backed Pipit
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
Oriental Greenfinch
Eastern Goldfinch
Little Bunting

Pennington Marsh - 23rd March

With a couple of hours to spare after dropping Tobias at school I had a wander around Pennington Marsh taking in Jetty, Butts, Fishtail and Keyhaven Lagoons. It was a bright spring like day but with a strong NW wind it was deceptively cold. Numbers of wader and wildfowl had shown a noticeable and decrease since my last visit with numbers of species such as Wigeon, Pintail and Black-tailed Godwit now into the low hundreds while I only saw 12 Pintail and no more than 50 Golden Plover. The Red-necked Grebe off the seawall is now entering summer plumage but there was no sign of the Slavonian Grebe that have wintered here. There were six Great-crested Grebe and ten Eider off shore but little else. On Jetty Lagoon there was a single Spotted Redshank still in winter plumage and two adult and a juvenile Spoonbill. As I walked along the seawall I flushed my first Wheatear of the season but only managed to obtain an arse-end view as it flew east and out of sight. At the point beside Butts Lagoon the semi-resident pair of Peregrine which seem to spend much time sitting on the shingle bar were harassing the waders. On the mudflats were around 150 Knot, 500 Dunlin and 75 Bar-tailed Godwit while a flock of around 200 Brent Goose fed in the saltmarsh on the rising tide. Keyhaven Lagoon was fairly devoid of birds but for around 40 Shelduck and two Avocet. Turning inland two Bearded Reedling were showing well in the reedbed in Butts Lagoon where they bred last year and two Chiffchaff sung from the old dump. Two Adder showed well on the south facing embankment adjacent to Butts Lagoon and there was a single crisp male along the Ancient Highway.

Bearded Reedling - Butts Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

 Peregrine - Off Butts Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

 Dunlin - Off Butts Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

 Brent Goose - Off Butts Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Mistle Thrush - The Old Dump, Pennington Marsh

 Adder - Ancient Highway, Pennington Marsh

Spoonbill (adult left and juvenile) - Jetty Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

 Spoonbill (juvenile) - Jetty Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Peregrine - Over Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Brent Goose - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Brent Goose - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Brent Goose, this is one of the few juveniles that I have seen this winter, they seemed to have had a poor breeding season in 2017 - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Coot - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Redshank - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Redshank - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Ross's Gull, Ferrybridge, Dorset - 6th March

On 21st February I was birding at Pennington Marsh when news broke, mid-morning, of an adult Ross's Gull that had been seen at Ferrybridge flying up the Fleet. I toyed with abandoning Pennington and driving straight to the bird but as the bird appeared to have disappeared I abstained. Later that afternoon the bird was relocated at Lodmoor RSPB and stunning photographs then emerged on the various social media outlets. I was well and truly gripped, I am a great fan of gulls and consider the smaller gulls (Ross's Gull, Little Gull and Sabine's Gull) as some of our most beautiful and enigmatic species. So, I checked my diary and with dismay realised I had no availability to go for this bird, a mere one hour 15 minutes from home, for at least a week due to work and family commitments. The bird lingered and my diary stayed packed until a slot, the 2nd March, became available in my diary. But, on 1st March the 'Beast from the East' struck a low pressure system, Storm Emma, that approached from the south and southern England was gripped by heavy snow and the roads were gridlocked so I had to cancel my plans - unsurprisingly the bird was not seen that day. I then reviewed my diary and the next slot that I could create was on the 6th March and so that was the plan.

I checked the weather and the bird news on the 5th and all was looking positive. The bird was rather unpredictable in occurrence moving between Ferrybridge, Radipole RSPB, Lodmoor RSPB and occasionally disappearing, presumably to sea for extended periods.  But I headed to bed early, set my alarm for 04:00 and was on the road by 05:00 arriving at Ferrybridge at 06:30. Setting up my scope by the Chesil Beach Cafe I scanned The Fleet but there were few gulls, but I picked up a small gull in flight and which I could see had a wedged shaped tail and broad white trailing edge to the secondaries and inner primaries - that was it, the Ross's Gull but it was distant and the bird soon headed inland, seemingly towards Radipole Lake RSPB. My views were brief, distant and quite unsatisfactory. It was then a waiting game, I scanned the gulls but there were only a handful of Black-headed Gull and Herring Gull. There were around 300 Brent Goose and I soon picked out a Pale-bellied Brent, waterbirds included a handful of Red-breasted Merganser, Great-crested Grebe and Little Grebe and waders included Dunlin, Oystercatcher and Redshank. By around 08:00 a few more Black-headed Gull arrived and a total of 13 lovely summer plumaged Mediterranean Gull showed well and were calling away. There was quite a traffic queue on the approach to Weymouth and as the Ross's Gull had been showing at Radipole RSPB during the late mornings I decided to hedge my bets and join the traffic to get to Radipole. It took around 30 minutes to get to the reserve car park and there were around 15 birders there so I joined the ranks and began to scan the island and lake in front of the visitor centre. There were a dozen or so Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and a few Common Gull but no sign of the Ross's Gull. I decided to stick it out for a couple of hours but other than 45 Snipe and good views of Tufted Duck giving their rather odd wheezing calls there was little to be seen.

At 10:40 news broke of the Ross's Gull back at Ferrybridge but, knowing that the bird was pretty mobile and often didn't stay at one spot for long, the assembled birders stayed put on the assumption that it would probably show at Radipole. At 11:30 news broke again that the bird was still at Ferrybridge and a mad dash through Weymouth ensued with all lights seemingly on red. It took around 25 minutes to get to Ferrybridge and on setting up my scope I soon picked up the Ross's Gull and put other birders onto it. Walking along the pavement adjacent to the A354 we edged nearer and obtained some fairly good views of this stunning little pink-tinged Arctic gull with its silvery primaries and distinctive neck-ring. The Ross's Gull was with a flock of Mediterranean Gull which must have numbered around 500 birds and far out numbered the Black-headed Gull. This was quite an amazing sight in itself. The Ross's Gull flew and headed over Chesil Beach to the sea showing its broad white trailing edge and diamond shaped tail but it soon returned and again settled with the Mediterranean Gull's . At around 13:00 the bird took flight and headed out to sea once more and I decided it was time to head for home having obtained good views of the target bird. My photos are not as good as others online but my views were all at a moderate distance. The bird has shown particularly well especially when it appears at Radipole where it occasionally sits in the car park - still I was very happy with my views and I headed home satisfied.

There have been 97 accepted British records of Ross's Gull to the end of 2016, with an additional 22 Irish records to the end of 2014. The prime counties being Shetland with 17 records followed by Yorkshire with 13 records. The peak month of occurrence is January with over 40 records and adults make up over 75% of all occurrences. I have previously seen two Ross's Gull in the UK, the first a superb pink adult at Blackstone Meadow on the Plym Estuary in January 2002 and the second a rather tatty looking 1st summer bird that summered at  Bowling Green Marsh RSPB, Exeter in 2014, see here. Britain is the only country in the world that I have seen this species but I would love to visit Barrow in October where a regular passage of thousands of birds occurs, see here.

Ross's Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull with Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull with Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Ross's Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull (2nd summer) - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

1st winter and adult Mediterranean Gull plus Shoveler and Avocet - Radipole RSPB, 

Weymouth, Dorset

Colour-ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull - Radipole RSPB, Weymouth, Dorset

Juvenile Herring Gull - Radipole RSPB, Weymouth, Dorset

Brent Goose with Mediterranean Gull - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Brent Goose - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Brent Goose - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Pale-bellied Brent Goose and Dark-bellied Brent Goose - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Pale-bellied Brent Goose and Dark-bellied Brent Goose - Ferrybridge, Weymouth, Dorset

Pennington Marsh - 5th and 9th March

I visited Pennington Marsh on 5th and 9th March and on both days saw much the same. Its a pretty static time of year with winter birds steadily but barely noticeably declining and very few migrants appearing. The Lapwing are now in regular display and are busy making nesting scrapes on the marsh while Black-tailed Godwit are coming into plumage and are at varying stages of turning rusty. Up to eight Ruff were present on the marshes off Lower Pennington Lane and there remain good numbers of Wigeon, Pintail, Teal and Brent Goose as well as the usual waders. There were around 400 Golden Plover on Pennington Marsh on both days, an increase in previous numbers perhaps as a result of the recent cold weather movement. On 5th I counted 34 Bar-tailed Godwit off Butts Lagoon, a higher number than usual, all were still in winter plumage. On 5th a single Spoonbill flew high to the east.

Black-tailed Godwit with summer plumage beginning to appear on head, neck and scapulars - Pennington Marsh

Black-tailed Godwit with summer plumage beginning to appear on head, neck, wing coverts, tertials and scapulars - Pennington Marsh

Black-tailed Godwit with summer plumage beginning to appear on tertials - Pennington Marsh

Black-tailed Godwit with summer plumage beginning to appear on head, neck and scapulars - Pennington Marsh

Black-tailed Godwit with very little sign of moult to summer plumage - Pennington Marsh

Ruff - Pennington Marsh

Golden Plover - Pennington Marsh

Rock Pipit - Pennington Marsh

The Mute Swan were very feisty at the marsh today with marsh territorial aggression - Pennington Marsh

I added a number of sound recordings to this post linked to uploads at the Internet Bird Collection (IBC). With the subsequent transfer of data from IBC to the Macaulay Library the links to these became broken. I have therefore subsequently uploaded these sound files to eBird and the recordings can be viewed here and here.