Summary

WildWings’ eleventh spring visit to Asia’s best-known migration hotspot was another huge success. Our  group of 30 enjoyed some of the best birding we have had in this far eastern Mecca, with unsettled weather in the middle of the trip producing some spectacular passage. As luck often has it, we managed to arrive on the coast just as the first big arrival of the spring took place, and once riding along on the migration magic carpet, we didn’t step off it until we returned to Beijing for our flight home.

The highlights in 2005 were very wide-ranging. There were no enormous falls, but a huge variety of birds just kept pouring through, day after day. This is a trip where people quickly become blase, expecting new birds daily, and in fact for some this did happen right up to the last morning: 100+ ticks were quite normal for even some well-travelled participants. The species total of 250 was one of the highest we have recorded. Among the most unusual or memorable sightings were 5 Chinese Egrets, drake Mandarin Duck, a flock of 7 Falcated Duck, 5 Koklass Pheasants, an Asian Yellow Rail, a flock of 5 and several single Little Whimbrel, 4 Grey-tailed Tattlers, up to 5 Relict and 6 Saunders’ Gulls in a day, a gathering of 3,000+ White-winged Black Terns, a Lesser Cuckoo, 4 Brown Hawk Owls, 27 White-throated Needletails (in two days), 2 Dollarbirds, 2 Mongolian Larks, 4 Pechora Pipits, 4 Citrine Wagtails, 2 Black-winged Cuckoo-shrikes, 8 Ashy Minivets, 6+ White-bellied Redstarts, 2 Blue Whistling Thrushes, no fewer than 11 Pallas’ Grasshopper Warblers, up to 28 Lanceolated Warblers in a day, 2 Japanese Swamp Warblers, 3 Blue-and-White Flycatchers, 4 Elisae Flycatchers (including an extraordinarily rare male, the first we have ever seen) and 4 male Tiger Shrikes on one day.

To add to this great variety were no fewer than 8 new species, an exceptional number for one trip. Of these, a Greater White-fronted Goose was presumably a delayed wild wintering bird, whereas the four Masked Laughing Thrushes seen on several days in Beidaihe gardens were probably escapes (as was clearly a single Pere David’s seen in the same area - a non-migratory mountain species). However, there were no such problems with the first records of Crested Serpent Eagle, Spotted Nutcracker, Ashy Drongo (of the race leucogenis), and three ace skulkers not previously recorded - Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler, Pleske’s (or Styan’s) Grasshopper Warbler and Chinese Bush Warbler.

These were the major highlights, but of course there were numerous unforgettable memories for everyone on the trip, including perhaps their first male Siberian Rubythroat or male Siberian Blue Robin; Rufous-tailed Robin or Daurian Redstart; White’s Thrush and male Siberian Thrush; Asian Stub-tailed Warbler or Thick-billed Warbler; Blyth’s Leaf or Eastern Crowned Warbler; Yellow-rumped or Mugimaki Flycatcher; Pallas’s or Japanese Reed Bunting; the list could go on and on.

Our annual claim to attract some of Britain’s top birders on our Beidaihe trip is no idle boast. This year the group included one current and one retired member of BBRC (the British Birds Rarities Committee); the Secretary of the Scottish Birds Records Committee; two senior regional RSPB conservation staff and the warden of one of their leading shorebird reserves. Such ornithological talent, together with a number of photographers using the latest digital equipment, assisted the leaders enormously in finding and identifying a wide variety of species.

Development update

Building development in and around Beidaihe continues apace, but the only birding location destroyed since our 2004 visit was Radar Marsh, now filled in with rubble and rubbish. Everywhere else was intact, and although the Hengho Reservoir was disturbed by large numbers of fishermen, some with boats, the birds still appeared there. On a more positive note, we were granted permission to enter the spacious grounds of the aptly-named Friendship Hotel, a mere five minutes’ walk up the road from the top gate of the Jin Shan Hotel. This extensive area includes large trees, some dense ground cover, gullies and ditches, and open grassed areas - a sufficiently varied range of habitats and shelter for almost anything to drop in. The  variety of species we found there confirms its importance as a resting and feeding area for arriving migrants.

Following on from last year’s ominous development of new chairlifts at The Great Wall at Jiaoshan Mountain and at the Wolong reserve at Old Peak, we chose weekdays for our visits which ensured fewer other visitors, and without any more noisy building work going on, birds were undisturbed and thus easier to hear and to see than for several years. The Yang He estuary, pools and small wood were untouched and excellent, and fully repaid the several visits we made to this area just a few miles to the south of Beidaihe.

Further south, there was good news at The Magic Wood, which had survived last year’s partial felling and was as brilliant as ever; but bad news at The Big Wood, a mile up the road, through the centre of which, unbelievably and inexplicably, is being built a four-lane motorway. Happy Island continues to be developed as a tourist attraction, the latest intrusion being a large lake in the centre on which, so we were told, pedaloes or other boats will be appearing soon. We had some concerns about the state of the extensive mudflats around Happy Island, as the tides, always difficult to anticipate, did not seem to drop as much as usual around Liao Yu Jian, the small port from which we sail across to Happy Island. A large bund now links several of the outer islands, themselves being developed for tourism, and we fear that this may now be adversely affecting tidal flows and perhaps the vital  feeding areas for passage shorebirds on their long journey from Australia and South East Asia to Siberia.

Climate change

Climate change now appears to be affecting the timing of spring passage of many far eastern migrants. We reported last year that 2004 was an early spring, with a number of regular species appearing a week or even two weeks ahead of their usual arrival dates, and 2005 was just the same. Since our first WildWings trip in 1994, we have usually been able to predict within a day or two when particular species would arrive, but that is now becoming impossible.

Beidaihe International Bird Race

For the second time at Beidaihe, a Bird Race was organised, this year from 1-15 May, and a number of teams of birders staying in the town, from various countries, took part. This year it was organised by China Wildlife Conservation Association, Hebei Province Wildlife Conservation Association, Qinhuangdao Forestry Bureau, Beijing Bird Watching Society and Beidaihe International Bird Watching Society. We are delighted to report that the winning team was of Chinese birdwatchers from Beijing, one of several groups of Chinese entrants this year. WildWings came second and third. We won the first Bird Race, in May 1999, when very few Chinese bird watchers entered. How encouraging it is to see such progress by local people in just a few years. One of this year’s Adjudicators was Martin Williams from Hong Kong, who was one of the members of the Cambridge Expedition in 1985 which rediscovered Beidaihe as a migration watchpoint. It was Martin’s first visit for five years, and the 20th anniversary of his first one. He showed us photographs taken during his first few visits. It really is difficult to believe just how much everywhere, and everything, has changed in the past two decades.

Daily Summary

Friday 6 May

Our overnight KLM flight from Amsterdam touched down early at Beijing, where we were met by our Ground Agent and Tour Guide, Jean Wang. She was accompanied by Mark Andrews, who had been in China for a week checking out some potential new localities. Soon we were at our hotel in the city, from where after lunch we visited the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Few birds were to be seen  (mostly Spotted Doves and Large-billed Crows), but we made up for that by a late afternoon visit to the local Yuyuantan Park which, even on an overcrowded hot afternoon on a public holiday, held a surprising number of migrants. These included a Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, 6 Olive-backed Pipits, a female Siberian Rubythroat, a Dusky Thrush, 10 Yellow-browed Warblers, an Asian Brown and 10 Taiga Flycatchers, a Brown Shrike and a number of buntings - 4 Yellow-throated, a Yellow-browed, 2 Tristram’s and 6 Little.  Presumed resident species included Red-billed Blue and Azure-winged Magpies, White-cheeked Starlings, Crested Mynas, Oriental Greenfinches and Chinese Grosbeaks. New birds were already coming thick and fast.

We rounded off a long day with our first taste of good Chinese food in a local restaurant, arranged by WildWings’ old friends in Beijing, Professor Xu and his wife. After the meal, Tony conducted the completion of the checklist for the day’s birds. He explained that this traditional WildWings ritual was not an exercise in statistical accuracy, but an attempt to involve everyone in the group in contributing to agreed figures for the day’s birds. which is invaluable for compiling the trip report, and in enabling comparisons to be made from year to year.

Saturday 7 May

An early start found us looking over the beautiful lakes of the Summer Palace on a bright, fresh morning. We usually describe this day as a gentle introduction to far-eastern birding, but today it proved to be a bonanza of new birds for everyone. Within just a few minutes of setting up our ‘scopes at the entrance, we found a group of seven Falcated Duck, a party of four Grey-headed Lapwings passed over, and a male Amur Falcon and a drake Mandarin Duck soon after that. Small parties of passerines, mostly buntings and wagtails, were passing overhead, with the occasional wader flock and raptor. Common Terns (here of the black-billed race longipennis) and Whiskered Terns passed over Garganey and Spot-billed Duck on the water, and a handsome (and most unusual inland) adult Black-tailed Gull landed nearby as we headed down the east side of the lakes.

We spent most of the morning along the southern edge of the park, where warblers, buntings, pipits and flycatchers were much in evidence. Yellow-browed and Pallas’s Warblers were singing high in the willow trees, below which skulked Olive-backed Pipits and Black-faced, Little, Chestnut and Yellow-browed Buntings. As the sun emerged and the day warmed up, several more Amur Falcons passed over, with an Osprey, two Eastern Marsh Harriers, three Crested Honey Buzzards and single Japanese and Eurasian Sparrowhawks. An area of trees and dense shrubs and bushes held a surprising amount, and here we found two Oriental Scops Owls (first heard calling), female Siberian Blue Robin and male Siberian Rubythroat, a first-summer male Elisae Flycatcher (only females have been seen on our previous trips), four Vinous-throated Parrotbills, two Yellow-bellied Tits, and a mix of warblers, including Hume’s, Radde’s, Dusky and unusually early Two-barred Greenish and Arctic.

In small reedbeds bordering the lakes, two Oriental Great Reed Warblers were singing their heads off, a smart male Black-faced Bunting was in the trees nearby and a Daurian Jackdaw flew over. Other species seen included Black-crowned Night Herons, Chinese Pond Herons, two White-breasted Waterhens (not seen every year), Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Chinese Bulbuls and Chinese Grosbeaks, Black-naped Orioles and Black Drongos. We returned elated to the coach at the end of the morning, as the wind increased to almost gale-force and threatened to swamp many of the small boats which were by then out on the main lake. The fierce wind plus hordes of visitors meant that it was high time to leave...

After a couple of hours rest back at the hotel, most of the group returned to Yuyuantan Park for another visit. The strong wind had driven away most of the visitors, and more migrants were in evidence. In addition to yesterday’s species, we saw a stunning male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, two Wrynecks, a Bluethroat, our first male Blue Robin, an elusive White’s Thrush, plus Dusky, Naumann’s and Eye-browed Thrushes. Not bad for a small city centre park! We celebrated this very successful day in our private room in the local restaurant with a range of delicious dishes, including Peking Duck. With a total of 62 bottles of the excellent local Tsingtao beer between the 30 of us, the bill came to under £3 a head. Really, these city prices are such a rip-off...

Sunday 8 May

An even earlier start was necessary today for the four-hour coach trip to Beidaihe and the coast. Soon after 0900 we were in the Jin Shan Hotel restaurant enjoying a hearty English breakfast, before checking into our rooms and then rejoining the coach for a day’s introduction to the best local birding spots. We spent the rest of the morning at the Sandflats and Reservoir area, and returned to the hotel late in the afternoon to visit Lighthouse Point. It was a lovely sunny, warm day, and the birding was good.

At the Sandflats we immediately found an egret among the Littles which had yellow feet and a yellowish bill - a Chinese Egret, one of the rarest and most threatened species we were to see. Further out along the tideline we identified an  Eastern Mew Gull, five Vega and five Heuglin’s Gulls and 18 Black-tailed Gulls. Single Gull-billed and Caspian Terns were also present. There were plenty of  waders feeding along the main channel and in the various creeks, including Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers, six Lesser Sandplovers, a Pacific Golden and several Grey Plovers, a Sanderling, 15 Red-necked and one Long-toed Stint, three Sharp-tailed and two Curlew Sandpipers, two Dunlin, two Bar-tailed Godwits (of the large eastern race baueri), 40 Common Whimbrel, a Eurasian and two Far-eastern Curlew, five Marsh Sandpipers and 16 Common Greenshank. On the nearby freshwater wader pools were Common Redshanks and Green, Wood and Common Sandpipers.

It was another day for raptors, with five Eastern Marsh Harriers, a Japanese and five Eurasian Sparrowhawks, two Ospreys, a Common Kestrel, 15 Amur Falcons and seven Eurasian Hobbies passing over. At the Reservoir the first Japanese Quail of the trip was seen, two Baillon’s Crakes and five Oriental Turtle Doves, while three Oriental Pratincoles and eight Pacific Swifts passed overhead. Around the Sandflats area small numbers of pipits (two Richard’s and six Olive-backed) and wagtails (28 Yellow, three Grey and 12 White) were in evidence. The Yellows included birds of the races simillima and either macronyx or plexa; the Whites were ten of the race ocularis and two leucopsis. One of the group had found  the first-ever leucopsis in Britain, in Co. Durham, just a month before leaving for this trip! There was a mixture of other species in the area, including a Pintail Snipe, 20 Siberian Stonechats, 20 Chinese Penduline Tits, a Common Rosefinch, and three Pallas’s Reed Buntings.

Lighthouse Point was visited in the late afternoon, but was fairly quiet. An elusive White’s Thrush was seen by some observers and four Oriental Greenfinches. We gathered in the Jin Shan Restaurant in the evening for the first of many very tasty yet inexpensive dinners, followed by the ritual of the daily checklist.

Monday 9 May

The tour leaders had announced at dinner last night that they would meet people at 0500 at the front door of the hotel’s No.4 Building where we were staying , for a pre-breakfast conducted walk around the area. Ten minutes later we were on the elevated flat area near the hotel’s north entrance, known as the Jin Shan Field, which provides a good all-round view of passing migrants and, being one of the largest areas of open ground nearest to the sea, attracts many birds to make their first landfall. Just fifteen minutes later a group of five Little Whimbrel flew low over the nine observers present. They were calling as they went, and a few minutes earlier had been seen passing over the shore by other members of the group . This reinforced the point that it is essential to be out at first light here, as although inevitably there will be quieter early mornings, often good birds are seen between dawn and breakfast at 0730. This morning was a good case in point, for although the sky was clear, there was a brisk north-easterly wind, and a lot of birds were on the move. Over 100 buntings passed north, three Black-naped Orioles, 12 Hobbies and a female Amur Falcon, seven Oriental Turtle Doves, 10 Pacific Swifts and 4 Green Sandpipers inter alia.  Down on the Jin Shan Field were 3 Little and a male Chestnut-eared Bunting, a male Blue Robin, 10 Siberian Stonechats, five Brown Shrikes, a Dusky Warbler and a female Blue Rock Thrush (the race here being philippensis, the male with a red belly).

Meanwhile others from our group were at Lighthouse Point where they had found another mega - a Mongolian Lark, which had appeared from the direction of the beach and flown off north. As well as more  of the species seen on the Jin Shan Field, there were Yellow-browed, Pallas’s and Radde’s Warblers; a female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher; three Japanese Quail, and flying over, 11 Purple Herons and a Striated Heron. Later two Grey-headed Lapwings flew over the hotel.

After breakfast the coach was again available to explore two new areas. Firstly we drove along the coast to the Lotus Hills, where a lack of passing raptors or swifts from the top of the hills was compensated for by some good birds in the extensive parkland below. Here we found two Oriental Scops Owls (calling only), Rufous-bellied and Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers, a superb and very photographable Daurian Redstart, a female Red-flanked Bluetail, male Blue Rock Thrush, the first Lanceolated Warbler (always recognisable from a distance as the birders are usually staring down near their feet!),and four Yellow-rumped and one (early) Grey-streaked Flycatcher.

Next destination was the Yang He Estuary, about three miles south of Beidaihe. Here there is a small estuary, numerous freshwater pools and ponds, and an isolated small wood which attracts many migrants. The sun had gone in behind the clouds, and there was a cold south-easterly wind blowing. The whole area was just full of birds. On the estuary were two Chinese Egrets, and among the waders we found 11 Lesser Sandplovers and two very handsome Grey-tailed Tattlers, one giving us close views. As we were leaving, a Thick-billed Warbler flew across the scrapyard where the coach was parked (another unusually early record)!  In the small wood were 15 Blue Robins, 30 Radde’s and 15 Dusky Warblers, two Pale-legged Leaf Warblers, an Eastern Crowned and a Two-barred Greenish, and several thrushes (a male Siberian, an Eye-browed and a Chinese Song Thrush) and flycatchers (single Mugimaki and Yellow-rumped). Most extraordinary of all was a (very early) Yellow-legged Buttonquail on the edge of the wood, which was hiding in some low vegetation and which provided almost everyone with remarkable views of its bright yellow legs. Flying over the area were a Great Bittern (probably two), a Striated Heron, three Purple Herons and, over the sea in the distance, at least 500 White-winged Scoter (race stejnegeri).  Around the pools were six Grey-headed Lapwings, two Pintail Snipe, a Pechora and two Red-throated Pipits, 500+ Yellow Wagtails, three Black-browed Reed Warblers, six Yellow-breasted and ten Pallas’s Reed Buntings. Quite a respectable afternoon’s work...and a thoroughly satisfying day.

Tuesday 10 May

By now everyone knew the main birding areas, and broke up into smaller groups and fanned out to cover the whole Beidaihe area, including the Yang He area again. The day started with a bang when, again soon after dawn on the Jin Shan Field, we found a Mongolian Lark. Thanks to our effective mobile ‘phone texting arrangements, word got round quickly and everyone got to see the bird before breakfast.  The Friendship Hotel grounds began to produce good birds, especially thrushes - two White’s, three Grey-backed, a Grey-sided, three Eye-browed, two Dusky Thrushes, two Chinese Song and a superb male White-throated Rock Thrush were all seen there. Star bird was a Brown Hawk Owl, dark chocolate brown with piercing yellow eyes and extraordinary bulging eyeballs. A male Daurian Starling was also found there. A Pere David’s Laughing Thrush seen singing was presumably an escape, as this is a non-migratory mountain species (seen later at the Great Wall and at Old Peak). Everywhere was good today as a wave of migrants arrived and moved relentlessly northwards. At Lighthouse Point 60 White-winged Scoter were offshore and two Black-capped Kingfishers in the trees. At the Reservoir were a Cinnamon Bittern, a Yellow-legged Buttonquail,  two Baillon’s Crakes, and three Forest Wagtails (an elusive species which managed to evade some of the group throughout the trip), while nearby on the Sandflats the first Greater Sandplover and Japanese Reed Buntings were found. It was a good day for flycatchers, with totals of ten Asian Brown, six Taiga, six Grey-streaked and three Yellow-rumped. Finally, flocks of Chinese Penduline Tits totalling 320, and Chestnut-flanked White-eyes, 39 in all, passed northwards through the area. Heavy rain fell for an hour in the afternoon, followed by cold, dull and gloomy weather into the evening, but there were no obvious new arrivals during that period.

Wednesday 11 May

The day started cloudy and cold with a brisk easterly wind, and with plenty of birds arriving on Lighthouse Point and around the Jin Shan Hotel. Grey Nightjar, two Oriental Scops Owls, Japanese Sparrowhawk, a loose flock of 1000+ Barn Swallows, Siberian Flycatcher, Forest Wagtail and various thrushes, including 30 Eyebrowed, all appeared before breakfast, when the sun came out. Two Blue Robins hit windows at the Jin Shan and were stunned, later to recover, but a White’s Thrush at the Friendship Hotel had been less fortunate, found dead below some windows. Our theory to account for these regular occurrences each spring is that when disturbed, these deep-forest-loving species fly straight  towards the nearest ‘black hole’, which if they are lucky is a dark hollow below trees or bushes , and if they are not, is a window (many of which are tinted).

The Friendship Hotel grounds produced a delightful female Red-flanked Bluetail, three Mugimaki Flycatchers and Pale-legged Leaf and Blyth’s Leaf Warblers. At the Reservoir were a Cinnamon Bittern again, an ultra-rare Asian Yellow Rail, three Water Rails, two Forest Wagtails, Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, and Yellow-browed Bunting. On the nearby Sandflats were found a Chinese Egret again, ten Red-necked Stints, two Terek Sandpipers, a Mongolian Lark (a different one from the Jin Shan Field one, which was seen again today), and a Zitting Cisticola (here they are of the race tinnabulans which has a completely different song from the nominate race in Europe). The Yang He area was again very good, two Japanese Swamp Warblers beside one of the pools being the best species (not seen every year), plus an adult Greater Whitefronted Goose (with a noticeable yellow eyering, but structurally far too large and long-necked to be a Lesser). There were also 19 Pacific Golden Plover, 20 White-winged Black Terns, six Sharp-tailed and one Terek Sandpiper. The day saw the highest totals of the trip for two Siberian species - Blue Robin at 52 and Stonechat at 76.

Thursday 12 May

The day started quietly, which was lucky as we were off to the Great Wall for most of the day. The coach left after breakfast, and an hour later we arrived at Jiaoshan Mountain, where the Wall comes down from the mountains towards the sea. It is an impressive sight, and the area holds some interesting mountain birds to be found at the top of the chairlift. The special ones were Chinese Hill Warbler (six), Pere David’s Laughing Thrush (six), Godlewski’s (or Eastern Rock) Bunting (five) and Siberian Meadow Bunting (four). Two Oriental Scops Owls and two Large Hawk Cuckoos were calling - the latter also known as the ‘Brainfever Bird’ from the frenetic, accelerating, rising nature of its song. In the woods near the Wall were a couple of Eurasian Jays, Long-tailed and Marsh Tits, two Vinous-throated Parrotbills, five Eyebrowed Thrushes and a male White-throated Rock Thrush and three Daurian Redstarts. Over the mountain top passed several raptors - three Crested Honey Buzzards, a Common Buzzard, an Eastern Marsh Harrier, three Amur Falcons, and two female Pied Harriers.

Most of the birds at Beidaihe were on our return in the afternoon, around the Sandflats and the Reservoir. At the Reservoir were two Great Bitterns and a Pintail Snipe, while waders on the Sandflats included a Red Knot, four Red-necked and three Long-toed Stints, which were the last of only four Long-toeds recorded this year, an unusually poor showing. Other species in the Beidaihe area today were Oriental Scops Owl, Grey Nightjar, Richard’s Pipits, Forest Wagtail, a female White-throated Rock Thrush, Eyebrowed Thrushes, two Daurian Starlings, and a Eurasian Siskin. Buntings were well represented, with Black-faced, Chestnut-eared, Yellow-browed, Tristram’s, Chestnut, Little, Pallas’s Reed and Japanese Reed - a total of ten species in the day. Chinese Bulbuls were active today, the total of 25 including a flock of 18 over the Jin Shan Field. Finally, a Masked Laughing Thrush appeared  in the Friendship Hotel grounds, probably an escape as its distribution is well to the south of Hebei Province.

Friday 13 May

Beidaihe was rather quiet again before breakfast, although an Asian Stub-tailed Warbler caused quite a stir. It was flushed from a flowerbed by the Friendship Club and flew straight into a window, stunning itself. It lay panting on the window ledge for some time, and most of the group managed to get there to see it. By then it was lying rather still with its eyes closed. One of the last observers to arrive came round the corner of the building, as a Red-billed Blue Magpie flew past him with some nesting material in its bill. Except that it wasn’t nesting material - it was the Stubbie!  A mega tick missed by no more than three seconds...

After breakfast we all boarded the coach for a five-day trip to the south. This is always a superb experience, with visits to the legendary Happy Island and the equally well-known Magic Wood, as well as to estuarine and wetland habitats. This Friday 13th was going to be a lucky one.

First stop was at the Da Pu He grassland area, which always turns up a great variety of migrants. Here highlights were five lovely summer-plumage Cattle Egrets (of the race coromandus); a noisy and excited flock of 20 Black-winged Stilts arriving from the south and settling into feeding on a pool; 40 Common Whimbrel; a Hobby taking a Japanese Quail (not a highlight for the Quail); an Oriental Cuckoo singing; a male Grey Nightjar perched close in  a tree; a Yellow-legged Buttonquail; six Oriental Turtle Doves; six Richard’s and two Red-throated Pipits; four Bluethroats; five Lanceolated Warblers; two Forest Wagtails showing well (but not for everyone); as well as several other warbler and flycatcher species.

Next stop was the mudflats and harbour at the small port of Lao Yu Jian, the harbour for Happy Island.  Here we immediately found a first-summer Relict Gull and 30 Great Knot, with two Far-eastern Curlew, five Greater and 20 Lesser Sandplovers, six Terek Sandpipers, and a Radde’s Warbler hopping about on open ground near the water! We had to take shelter in a local cafe when a thunderstorm and torrential rain hit the village.

When there was a break in the weather, we again boarded the coach and headed up the road to the famous  Magic Wood, a mile from the sea in open country. As we arrived, the heavens opened and the loudest thunderclaps we had every heard crashed over our heads as we entered the wood. Conditions were so bad, for the birds more than for us, that we stayed for only a short time. But there were plenty of birds, soaked and miserable, to be seen - an Oriental Scops Owl in a tiny bush, two White’s Thrushes, a  Chinese Goshawk and three Japanese Sparrowhawks (easy pickings?), a Pintail Snipe, a cuckoo (species?), four Wrynecks, a partial albino Siberian Flycatcher (a disconcerting sight!), six Blue Robins, three Rubythroats, and  many warblers including 50 Pallas’s, 20 Thick-billed, ten Radde’s, eight Dusky and two Lanceolated.

We left the wood early to head towards the hotel which was to be our home for the next four nights, as the rain continued to pour down. This inclement weather was to provide us with some interesting and exciting birding over the next few days.

Saturday 14 May

We came out of our hotel early to board the coach, and found four birds lying dead under the large, dark windows of a building opposite - a White’s Thrush, a first-summer male Blue Robin and two Two-barred Greenish Warblers. All had presumably perished in the wet weather overnight. We passed 50 feeding White-winged Black Terns over ricefields on our way to the Magic Wood, which was again full of migrants. Apparently new in since yesterday afternoon were nine Pintail Snipe, two Oriental Scops Owls, a White’s and a male Blue Whistling Thrush, two Rufous-tailed Robins, a Grey Nightjar, seven Japanese Quail, and two Yellow-legged Buttonquail. One of the Buttonquail was dead, very recently killed (doubtless by one of the three Japanese Sparrowhawks still in the wood) with just a pair of bright yellow legs attached to a stripped carcase, and a pile of feathers, remaining. Pallas’s Warblers had doubled to 100+, and other warblers included 30 Radde’s, 10 Thick-billed and three Lanceolated.

We could not stay too long, as we had a boat booked to take us across to Happy Island for the day. A quick look at the harbour revealed now three Relict Gulls, and six Saunders’ Gulls, our first ones, plus similar wader quantity and quality as yesterday but with more than a 100% increase in Great Knot numbers to 64.

Happy Island lived up to its name, and we enjoyed many of the by-now familiar migrants plus some nice new ones. These included Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike, Ashy Minivet, a large male Manchurian Bush Warbler and the only Japanese Grosbeak of the trip. There were no fewer than five Siberian Thrushes on the island, including two males, and they gave us the runaround as we tried (without much success for most of us) to get decent views of these inveterate skulkers. There was a lovely selection of phylloscopus warblers, which gave people good opportunities to distinguish between Blyth’s Leaf, Eastern Crowned, Pale-legged Leaf, Two-barred Greenish, Arctic, Pallas’s Leaf, Hume’s Leaf  and Yellow-browed. The most numerous were Pallas’s, with over 500 estimated, and there were some 60 Radde’s and 20 Dusky Warblers also on the island. A Brown Hawk Owl was constantly on the move through the trees, and was seen by most observers sweeping past at speed and occasionally perched.

It was certainly a group of 30 very happy birders who returned to the hotel that evening, to celebrate yet another memorable day in the field.

Sunday 15 May

Following the pattern of previous trips, we spent today on the coast, visiting the harbour at Lao Yu Jian, the woods and an area of pools and ricefields a few miles inland. The weather was by now back to the more typical warm, sunny conditions of mid-May, quite hot in the afternoon and with a light E-SE wind. The Magic Wood was as ever full of migrants, and rather special today were three species of drongo together: the regular Black Drongo, an unusual Hair-crested Drongo and a vagrant Ashy Drongo. The Ashy, the first of this species recorded on our trips, was of the race leucogenis, and a striking bird. Also new for the trip  were a Blunt-winged Warbler, a female Elisae Flycatcher (more typical than the male seen in the Summer Palace in Beijing), and a female Bull-headed Shrike. The shrike was in the very same group of bushes as a female last year, which was on 14th, and had a larder containing the remains of a Yellow-browed Warbler, just as last year’s bird had - could it have been the same bird? A Blue Whistling Thrush was again seen, probably the same bird as yesterday, and a good variety of other warblers and flycatchers.

At the harbour were now 5 Relict Gulls, but no more Saunders’, which is becoming worryingly scarce each year now. Lesser Sandplovers peaked at 92, all in beautiful summer plumage. We drove inland to an area of pools and ricefields where we had been seeing White-winged Black Terns on our daily journeys to and from the hotel, and were amazed to find huge flocks wheeling and sweeping about, some sitting on the ploughed fields and others on overhead power lines. We estimated more than 3,000 to be present, and just 20 Whiskered among them.

We visited the Big Wood, where we were horrified to find that a four-lane motorway had been cut right through the densest part of the wood, very close to a colony of Black-crowned Night Herons, 100 or more of which were present. The viability of the colony must be threatened when traffic starts to use the road, which is not quite finished. There were few migrants present, but these did include a male and a female Siberian Thrush which proved as elusive to see as all the others so far.

The final thrill towards the end of another excellent day was the finding of a Little Whimbrel on some open ground next to the Magic Wood, feeding quietly on its own, and giving us good views. This was particularly satisfying to the many members of the group who had missed the flock of five seen at Beidaihe earlier on the trip. There were also breeding Kentish Plovers with young, and singing Asian Short-toed Larks, on the same patch of ground, but the Little Whimbrel stole the show.  It was again time to head back to the hotel...

Monday 16 May

On a dull, hazy morning with a light SW-W wind, we stopped briefly at the Magic Wood en route to Happy Island, where two Asian Stub-tailed Warblers provided another ‘catch-up’ or ‘grip-back’ for some people. This time we made an earlier crossing to Happy Island, to try to reach the wader roost at the southern end of the island before the high tide dropped too far. Most of the group joined a fast route march down the island, and before too long we had found our quarry, an Asian Dowitcher, feeding out in the water with its characteristic sewing-machine action. Relief all round! There were nearly 1,000 Dunlin, of the race sakhalina, which is larger, brighter and paler than the nominate alpina of Europe, feeding out on the mudflats, among which we found a Broad-billed Sandpiper, our only one of the trip, along with 58 Terek Sandpipers, three Pied Avocets and three Saunders‘ Gulls. In the wood in the centre of the island were plenty of migrants, new to the list being a Chinese Bush Warbler (seen only by one of our leaders) and a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler. There were once again many warblers and flycatchers, and 20 Common Rosefinches, the largest daily total of the trip. A Forest Wagtail and two male Siberian Thrushes again proved elusive, but a (the?) male Manchurian Bush Warbler showed itself well to a number of lucky people.

It started raining in the early afternoon, and by the time we reached the boat for the return journey, it was pouring heavily.  Once again, we had to make an early return to the hotel, where torrential rain and a strong wind carried on through the night.

Tuesday 17 May

The wind and rain were as bad as ever at dawn on this last morning in the south, so over breakfast we agreed to cut our losses and head straight for Beidaihe. It was a long and tiring journey through flooded roads and several diversions were necessary, so we did not reach the Jin Shan Hotel until 11.00. The news that greeted us was that a Black-faced Spoonbill had been seen the day before at Chi Li Hi, a tidal lagoon we had just passed fairly close to on our journey back! Two-thirds of the group decided to have a crack at it, so the coach, and Jean, were quickly organised and set off south again. They were unlucky with the Spoonbill, but compensations included another Asian Dowitcher and two Chinese Egrets at Chi Li Hi, and a dramatic afternoon at the Yang He area, where the little wood was full of birds, including a male Siberian Thrush. Most exciting there was a passage of low-flying White-throated Needletails heading north up the coast, many very close, and totalling 20 in all. Over 500 White-winged Black and 60+ Whiskered Terns passed northwards, with small flocks of several wader species. Around the pools was a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, and eight Lanceolated Warblers were in the area.

The ten who stayed at Beidaihe were well rewarded, for when the rain eventually stopped in mid-afternoon,

many birds began to arrive from the sea at Lighthouse Point - small groups of Pale-legged Leaf Warblers (30 at Beidaihe altogether), two Rufous-tailed Robins together (eight altogether at Beidaihe in the afternoon),  Blue Robins and Rubythroats, flycatchers and other warblers. Elsewhere at Beidaihe four Needletails powered northwards and 75 Chestnut-flanked White-eyes passed through, and there were two Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers, one on the Jin Shan Field and the other in the Friendship Hotel grounds. Also at the Friendship were  two White’s and two male Siberian Thrushes, a male Blue-and-White Flycatcher, and, seen by four people, a Pleske’s (or Styan’s) Grasshopper Warbler, another WildWings first. Masked Laughing Thrushes there were now up to a suspicious four. Overall it had been a remarkable day, wherever one had been watching.

Wednesday 18 May

This was our last full day at Beidaihe, and an opportunity to try to catch up with species missed so far. The Jin Shan Field starred again in the early morning, when two separate Needletails passed northwards before breakfast, and there was a (the?) Mongolian Lark there. All areas were covered today, the Reservoir and Sandflats producing many of the best birds. Particularly interesting were the first Yellow and Schrenk’s Bitterns (seven and two respectively), an Intermediate Egret, three Crested Honey Buzzards and three Pied Harriers (including the only male Pied of the trip), two White-breasted Waterhens, five Greater Sandplovers, single Relict and Saunders’ Gulls, a Brown Hawk Owl, two Dollarbirds, two Ashy Minivets, six White-throated Rock Thrushes and six Siberian Thrushes, the male Blue-and-White Flycatcher still in Friendship, a trip maximum of 30 Black-naped Orioles, and a Spotted Nutcracker (yet another write-in for the checklist). Sadly a male Siberian Thrush was found dead, but it did give us an opportunity to study this beautiful bird closely. It was surprisingly small in the hand, and the subtleties of its plumage were surprising in a bird which is just black and white. All in all it was a very satisfying day...

Thursday 19 May

The morning was spent at Beidaihe, with two observers visiting the Yang He, and then after lunch we boarded two minibuses to drive up to Old Peak in the mountains, for a two-day stay. The early morning produced   good visible migration over the town, with Grey and Purple Herons, an Oriental Pratincole and several Daurian Starlings. Other species included a Crested Serpent Eagle over the Reservoir (another write-in), Brown Hawk Owl again, Pechora Pipit, no fewer than 20 Rufous-tailed Robins, ten Siberian Thrushes, (by now everyone should have seen one), a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, 20 Arctic Warblers (daily maximum), a female Blue-and-White Flycatcher, a Spotted Nutcracker again at Friendship and the Masked Laughing Thrushes now up to eight!

On the journey to Old Peak, we saw a Grey-faced Buzzard and several Siberian Meadow Buntings. We arrived at the entrance to the park in the late afternoon, and managed to find some of the special birds before we drove up the last stretch of the mountain road to our hotel - Large Hawk Cuckoo, Yellow-streaked Warbler, Hair-crested Drongo and  Godlewski’s (Eastern Rock) Buntings,

Friday 20 May - Saturday 21 May

These two days at Old Peak proved to be outstandingly successful, in good weather and spectacular scenery. Jagged and pointed mountains rise steeply out of misty valleys far below, and long sections of the Great Wall stretch away into the distant haze. The forest of mixed deciduous and conifer trees echoes to the songs and calls of cuckoos, thrushes, flycatchers and warblers. A zig-zagging vehicle track, surfaced for about half its length, allows easy access to the top of the main valley, and a series of steps runs through its centre and provides a faster, though steeper, route to and from the top. The height of Old Peak is 1,348 metres, or 4,422 feet. During our visit, the new chairlift was working for some of the time, but we saw no passengers. There was no building work in progress, after several years of constant noise and disturbance, and the reserve was blissfully peaceful, adding to the pleasure of hearing and seeing its beautiful birds.

On both mornings we were up at 0330 to make an 0400 start for our walks up the valley. Main target was the elusive Koklass Pheasant, seen on previous trips by only a handful of people in our groups. On the first morning we found ourselves just a few feet from a male calling loudly right by the track, and some ten people managed to discern it in the dense cover. Other birds were calling across the valley but were not seen. At the top of the pass we heard a Chinese Leaf Warbler singing, and watched it using a treetop as a song perch; this species was only separated from Pallas’s Leaf Warbler and described as new to science in 1992. Nearby we had excellent views of a Yellow-streaked Warbler in full song, soon to be silenced by the arrival of a pair of Bull-headed Shrikes. Shortly afterwards the remains of a Yellow-streaked were found in a larder, perhaps its mate, as the male was heard singing again later. Around us were calling Common, Oriental, Indian and Large Hawk Cuckoos, and by the end of our visit most people had seen most of these satisfactorily. Thrushes singing, and some seen, were White-throated and Blue Rock Thrushes, White’s, Chinese Song and Grey-sided, aka Fea’s, with a tiny range restricted to this mountainous area of China only.

The warblers were spectacular. In addition to the Chinese Leaf and Yellow-streaked already mentioned were Blyth’s Leaf (with their endearing alternate wing-flicking display), Two-barred Greenish, Pallas’s Leaf and Hume’s Leaf, all singing vigorously from the trees, and down on the ground below, in dense cover, squeaking like an insect, were Asian Stub-tailed Bush Warblers. Flycatchers seen were Asian Brown, Mugimaki, Yellow-rumped and three Elisae. Half a dozen Siberian Blue Robins were singing very loudly from dense cover, a beautiful rich melody of notes which echoed through the valley.  Some 20 Yellow-bellied Tits and the occasional Yellow-throated Bunting were encountered.

Two other very special species were a complete contrast to each other. Chinese Nuthatches were much in evidence around the hotel area, and one was watched excavating a nest hole in a tree, oblivious of the birders watching it. At the opposite end of the spectrum were White-bellied Redstarts, of which we had about six. These stunning-looking birds, dark blue above with a long tail and a white belly, had a loud and vigorous song, but were almost impossible to see as they stuck to deep cover.

We stopped again at the entrance gate when we left the park, where in an hour or so we added Lesser Cuckoo to the list, and had excellent views of a Blunt-winged Warbler singing. Manchurian Bush Warblers and a Yellow-streaked Warbler were singing but could not be seen. Eastern Rock and Siberian Meadow Buntings again gave great views.

We returned to Beidaihe on the afternoon of 21st to check the Sandflats and Reservoir particularly, and with sufficient time for some people to visit the Yang He. With just tomorrow morning remaining to catch up on any remaining dips, there was some urgency in making the most of the remaining 24 hours or so. Eight Yellow and a male Schrenk’s Bittern were very welcome, and a surprising number of Swifts were on the move, with totals of 500 Common and 300 Pacific. A male Citrine Wagtail graced the Sandflats, and many people saw their last numbers of Rufous-tailed Robins (8), Siberian Rubythroats (5), Bluethroats (2) and Siberian Blue Robin (5). The Yang He contingent found themselves a Chinese Bush Warbler and a Spotted Bush Warbler, there was a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler on the Sandflats. and the day’s total of Lanceolated Warblers came to 17. Typically these species occur more at the end of a trip, as do the acros, and there were totals of 20 Black-browed Reed Warblers, 14 Thick-billed, three Oriental Reed and the first Manchurian Reed Warbler. The pattern of previous years was being repeated, with many new species arriving in the last day or two.

Sunday 22 May

There was a very early start today, to make the most of the morning as the coach back to Beijing was leaving in the early afternoon. A lovely male Tiger Shrike seen from the Jin Shan Field before breakfast stayed around long enough to be seen by many people, and bizarrely three males were seen together at the end of Lighthouse Point later in the morning, with a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, one of three at Beidaihe and two at the Yang He. Many of yesterday’s species and birds were seen again, but apparently newly arrived were 150 White-winged Black and 20 Whiskered Terns, a Collared Scops Owl, two Pechora Pipits, two Spotted Bush Warblers (both in the Friendship Hotel grounds), trip peaks of 28 Lanceolated Warblers, 70 Black-browed Reeds and 60 Thick-billed, and, yet another WildWings first, a Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler at Yang He. At 1410 the coach departed for the four-hour journey back to Beijing, full of tired yet jubilant birders. We enjoyed our final meal out, an overnight stay in Beijing, an early coach ride to the International Airport next morning, and  then we were off on our ten-hour flight back to Amsterdam.

Conclusion

Once again we had enjoyed a very successful trip, with more species than on most previous ones. The total of eight species not previously recorded was exceptional, and doubtless reflects the high quality of our group, plus the effect of the poor weather we experienced at certain times. Despite our grave concerns in recent years about building developments, these seemed to have slowed down, and we even found some very good new areas. Overall, as every year since our first WildWings trip in 1994, the birds still come pouring through every spring. Beidaihe continues to merit its reputation as one of the best migration watchpoints in the world.

Acknowledgements

The success of any foreign birding trip depends on having a good ground agent. In our case, Jean Wang from the Beidaihe International Travel Centre not only ensures that everything is efficiently arranged well in advance, but accompanies us daily on our travels to personally confirm that the whole trip runs smoothly. We are very grateful to her for her tireless work to make the trip so successful and enjoyable.

The Top Ten species

Each year, we ask everybody at the end of the trip to list their ‘Top Ten’ species. This is the result this year (with thanks to Roy Taylor for doing the sums):-

1.  Siberian Thrush

2.  White-throated Needletail

3.  Little Whimbrel

4. Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler

5.  Mongolian Lark

6.  Yellow-rumped Flycatcher

7.  Lanceolated Warbler

8.  Siberian Rubythroat

9. Siberian Blue Robin

10.Mugimaki Flycatcher