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WildWings, 577 Fishponds Road, Fishponds, Bristol. BS16 3AF.UK
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Summary
This was the 13th WildWings spring trip to the migration hotspot of Beidaihe on the coast of China, east of Beijing on the Gulf of Bohai, and after a total of 14 visits since 1993, it was Tony Marr’s last. (NB one trip was cancelled on account of the SARS epidemic) The 2007 trip produced a total of some 246 species, a little below average, but as always including some unusual ones and impressive numbers of some of the more regular species.
Highlights included a pair of Amur Falcons apparently starting to breed in a Black-billed Magpie’s nest at Beidaihe, a Ruddy Crake, five White-breasted Waterhens, 20 Oriental Pratincoles and 13 Grey-headed Lapwings (all higher totals than in recent years). Furthermore, a flock of 11 Little Whimbrel passing low over our Beidaihe hotel one afternoon, four Grey-tailed Tattlers, two Relict and nine Saunders’ Gulls, three Mongolian Gulls, two Lesser Cuckoos and our first-ever Asian Koel. In addition, 25 White-throated Needletails, a Mongolian Lark, an Asian House Martin, at least six Pechora Pipits on one day; 11 Forest Wagtails (an often elusive bird), 18 Ashy Minivets (more than usual) and two Long-tailed Minivets (very unusual). We also saw a Japanese Waxwing and a Japanese Robin on the same day, but in different places (and in an easterly wind!), up to six White’s Thrushes and five Siberian Thrushes in a day and small numbers of nine other species of thrush. We had exceptionally good views of usually skulking Asian Stub-tailed and Chinese Bush Warblers, at least 15 Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers, (our largest total yet - with several much earlier than usual); a Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler; three charismatic Grey-crowned Warblers (a split from Golden Spectacled, and now seen in most years), two handsome male Tiger Shrikes in the same garden on the same day and only 500 metres apart and finally, the usual variety of colourful buntings of no fewer than eleven species!
A pair of Siberian Meadow Buntings were always to be seen at Lighthouse Point, Beidaihe, the male often singing, appeared to be breeding and would be the first to do so for many years. However a mystery surrounds some Greater-necklaced Laughing Thrushes at Lotus Hills, Beidaihe. Two birds, and a few days later four, were seen foraging in the woods near the large aviary there, but behaving like wild birds. We noted a large wire-mesh trap door set in the side of the aviary at ground level, ready to be sprung with a rope attached to a stick holding it open. During a visit some days later, we observed three birds of this species inside the aviary. The state of the aviary and its other residents did not suggest that any birds escaping would ever wish to return, and it is conceivable that they were wild birds attracted by the other birds inside, and caught in the trap deliberately by the aviary staff.
There were some good falls of passerines, including 500 Pallas’s Leaf Warblers on the 10th and 200 Yellow-browed Warblers on the 11th. On 14th May there was a total of 60 Radde’s and 110 Dusky Warblers, 85 Brown and 30 Taiga Flycatchers along with 225 Brown Shrikes. Our annual visit to the forested mountains at Old Peak was very successful, with all the specialities found, including White-bellied Redstarts, Bull-headed Shrikes, Chinese Nuthatches, Chinese Leaf Warblers, Yellow-streaked, Blunt-winged and Manchurian Bush Warblers, Grey-sided Thrushes, Indian, Oriental, Common and Large Hawk Cuckoos, Hair-crested Drongos, and two lovely male Blue-and-White Flycatchers. Koklass Pheasants proved to be really difficult (they have never been easy!) and few were calling, let alone showing. Noisy road works and yet more construction may have been the reason.
Lower numbers than in earlier years of Great Knot (244 in all) and Asian Dowitcher (only 17) are a continuing concern, with the building of embankments between islands near Happy Island, possibly contributing to changes in the tidal regime and affecting food supplies. However, numbers of other waders in these extensive mudflats appear to be normal, so the reason may lie elsewhere. Expected species usually found but not seen on this trip were Chinese Egret (a disturbingly rare bird now) and Yellow-browed Bunting (after a milder winter than usual, many such species had returned north earlier than usual, we were told). An innovation this year was to visit a site near Beijing for Ibisbills, where not only were a pair with chicks found, but Mandarin Ducks, Long-billed Plovers, Grey-headed Lapwings and an unexpected variety of passage raptors and passerines, were seen.
Daily accounts
Sunday 6 May
On arrival in Beijing, we were met by Tony Marr and Jean Wang, our very experienced ground operator and guide, who was to travel with us and look after us throughout the tour, as she has now done for WildWings for a number of years. Our coach and driver for many years, Mr Liu, quickly organised the luggage and we were off on the hour trip into the city, and our accommodation for the next couple of nights, though not before adding White-cheeked Starling and Blue Rock Thrush to the first page of our Chinese notebooks. After settling into our comfortable hotel rooms and, after a flurry of buying and consuming Chinese pot noodles and other instant snacks, we were again ready for action. After ‘lunch’ we traditionally visit the immense Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City - a bit of cultural perhaps iconic sightseeing. Normally we find the odd migrant species taking refuge in the small groves of trees within the Forbidden City itself. This time however, we ourselves were ‘forbidden’ to enter these sites and so had to make do with the resident Azure-winged Magpies and Large-billed Crows perched up on various temples.
Later in the afternoon most walked from our hotel to the local Yuan Yan Tan Park, where despite crowds of people out enjoying themselves in the warm weather on a public holiday, we found a nice variety of migrants. Our first White’s Thrush, skulking along the lower edge of the main ridge was in the same spot as the previous two years - first records. Yellow-throated Bunting is also often present in this area and did not disappoint whilst a male Siberian Rubythroat is always an exciting find, especially your first one. Also present were our first Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers, Olive-backed Pipits, Yellow-browed Warblers (easier heard than seen), Taiga Flycatchers, Tristram’s and Little Buntings and surprisingly, a Woodcock. All this in the middle of Beijing!
In the evening we had our first taste of authentic Chinese cuisine with an excellent meal at our now traditional local restaurant.
Monday 7 May
An early, misty start for Mark and 25 of the participants who had opted to take the risk and join WildWings first visit to a known Ibisbill site about two hours north of Beijing. As we were armed only with the previous years information and had no updates, in Chinese terms, we were taking a risk. Despite warnings of potential road pitfalls, we were soon snaking our way up into the mountains amidst magnificent scenery, and a wonderful first view of the Great Wall. As we followed the Bahia River into the mountains, things initially did not look promising. As with so much of China these days, building works, dams, pollution and water extraction gave the impression that we may be lucky in finding suitable habitat. Mark had seen Ibisbill here in the past but that site had seemingly gone, as had one of the areas from a few years ago. As we approached the site of last year's sightings, things were beginning to look rather ominous, there just was not enough water to provide suitable habitat conditions. We continued on a little further and discovered a rather limited but good-looking stretch of river between a dam and some ongoing workings. There was a good spot to park the coach, the habitat the most promising we had seen, and it was nice and sunny with birds clearly on the move. We stopped!
The first bird, a majestic Crested Kingfisher sat up on the roadside wires for the group to absorb, the second, a fleeting glimpse of an Ibisbill running along the rocky shoreline further downstream set the pulses racing. We quickly and silently moved on foot, following the inside edge so as not to disturb the bird we presumed was feeding close to the bend of the track and river. Despite all the efforts of two hooting motorcyclists to give our stealth away and disturb the bird, we had no worries. There were a pair of Ibisbills on the small island in front of us, and despite our calling they seemed reticent to move. The reason for this became apparent as one by one, four relatively small but independent chicks were observed, at first hiding before running around feeding for everyone to enjoy. Birding does not really get much better than this, wonderful birds, close proximity and in great light. But it did! A flyby Grey-headed Lapwing quickly became a pair of birds on the next small rocky island along, again allowing prolonged scope views. A little further downstream and another superb find with a pair of Long-billed Plovers, a rarely recorded species, which appeared to be nesting on the next island. Three great wader species on a quarter mile stretch of river!
It was not just waders either, as the area literally buzzed with migrant birds drawn to this watered oasis. A White-breasted Waterhen initially seemed a very odd find considering the mountain habitat. The ten Daurian Redstart were perhaps more expected as were the 12 Siberian Stonechat which certainly did not look out of place perched on various vantage points. A nice flock of Yellow Wagtails including two of the rather gorgeous Siberian race taivana, together with a fine Citrine Wagtail was great to see, as were the small groups of Vinous-throated Parrotbills flitting amongst the waterside vegetation. Also recorded along the watercourse and bordering the hillside were three Chough, various tit species including Long-tailed, Marsh and Yellow-bellied, a brief Pere David’s Laughing Thrush and Yellow-streaked Warbler, plus a few Yellow-browed and Dusky Warblers. A pair of Mandarin Ducks flew upstream and then back again, remaining elusive on the distant rivers edge. Overhead, small flocks of buntings flew north, most too high to be identified but at least three Yellow-throated, five Tristram’s and ten Little Bunting did drop in long enough to be identified. Also overhead a steady flow of migrating birds of prey including great views of five Oriental Honey Buzzard, three Common and two Grey-faced Buzzard passing close enough to clearly see the throat stripe. Also passing through were three or more Eurasian Sparrowhawk, five Common Kestrel, four Amur Falcon’s, five Hobbies and a solitary Black Stork. As the temperatures increased and the migration petered out, we journeyed slowly back down the mountain, stopping briefly en route for some passing raptors, before continuing back to Beijing, tired but elated.
The second group of six participants with Tony had gone early morning to visit Beijing’s Summer Palace, a site we normally find very productive, with an ability to hold large numbers of migrant birds. Today however was relatively quiet, probably due to good weather, birds did not need to necessarily stop off. Nevertheless, a pair of Mandarins, always a bonus as this species is never easy to see anywhere else, and a Crested Kingfisher at least ensured one group could not be gripped off by the other! Also on site was an eastern Cattle Egret, 50+ Black-crowned Night Herons, scores of Azure-winged Magpies, two Black Drongos, but very few other passerine migrants, and astonishingly, only two Pallas’s Warblers.
In the late afternoon, with both groups having rested, we once again walked down to the local park. Although relatively quiet, we still managed to find a nice variety of species. There was a White’s Thrush, this time joined by a rather elusive Dusky Thrush in the same area. An Oriental Honey Buzzard circled obligingly over the site. Both resident Grey-headed and a migrant Rufous-bellied Woodpeckers were seen. Around the mound area five Olive-backed Pipits, another Siberian Rubythroat, six Yellow-browed and a Radde’s Warbler, seven Taiga Flycatchers, a Black-faced, female Yellow-throated and five Tristram's Buntings, to round off the days birds. We had another excellent meal in the local restaurant with authentic Peking Duck and copious amounts of the local Tsingtao beer before retiring in preparation for the following day's dawn departure.
Tuesday 8 May
We made an early start this morning for the four hour coach journey to Beidaihe, along the relatively quiet motorway east, with a brief comfort stop midway. The route is traditionally very quiet in avian activity but today's journey totalled six Oriental Honey Buzzards, an Amur Falcon, two Oriental Pratincoles, a Crested Kingfisher, two Black Drongos and 12 White-cheeked Starlings, which was rather impressive.
We arrived in Beidaihe just after 9.40 am on a dull day but with fresh NW wind to be welcomed at the Jin Shan Hotel with an excellent English buffet breakfast. Soon, after we had booked into our rooms, we were back on the coach for the short journey to the Lotus Hills as a NW wind often brings a little bit of magic! We were not disappointed, discovering lots of fresh migrants in the gullies and trees on the way up to the watch point. An Osprey over the car park on arrival was a good omen. It is always difficult to ignore the first birds of a trip, like the old saying, “never leave a good bird to see another” has a solid ring of truth. North westerly winds however offer prime raptor and needeltail conditions, and really cannot be ignored as they maybe the only opportunity of the trip. There were lots of birds, the expected Olive Backed Pipits strutting around the leaf litter, four Ashy Minivet, a Bluethroat and our first Siberian Blue Robins, six in total, and difficult to ignore!
We did eventually make it up to the watch point, a little later than expected, but seemingly perfectly timed for an incoming missile in the form of a magnificent White-throated Needletail. This was surely too easy, the bird even stalled and banked to show off its best bits. It was one of eight birds recorded today with some very good views - in some years eight would be a trip total. Unusually, very few raptors were moving so a slow descent and more searching deemed a sensible option. There were two good finds around the aviary, an area known to be good for attracting migrants. The first, an Elisae or Green-backed Flycatcher often poses an identification problem, as the book illustrations are poor. The second find, a pair Greater-necklaced Laughing Thrushes posed another problem, one of origin, as mentioned in the summary. The trees in the lower parts held many migrant warblers including four Eastern Crowned, three Pale-legged Leaf, two Pallas’s Leaf, 30+ Yellow-browed and five5 Dusky Flycatchers. Ten Taiga, six Asian Brown, six Yellow-rumped and two Mugimaki were also evident. Buntings are rarely settled in the lower hills but the group still managed to record four Black-faced, two Tristram’s, three Chestnut and female Yellow-breasted.
Back to Beidaihe around 5 pm after a slight problem with our coach, which was temporarily geographically attached (stuck!) after we ran out of fuel. There was however enough time to quickly cover the Friendship, Jin Shan Field and Lighthouse Point with a Japanese Quail, four Siberian Rubythroats, ten Siberian Blue Robins, two+ White’s, Chinese Blackbird, two Eye-browed and Chinese Song Thrush plus another two Yellow-rumped Flycatchers.
It had been quite a day, but as we were going to discover, it was by no means unusual. Exhausted but happy, we celebrated in the evening with the first of our excellent Jin Shan dinners, plenty of good local beer and all for about £2.30!
Wednesday 9 May
An excellent day, with a remarkable variety of migrants indicative of Beidaihe at its best. We started soon after first light with a ‘guided walk’ at 5 am to the Jin Shan Field and Lighthouse Point, and along to the Friendship again. After breakfast most took the coach to sandflats and reservoir in the morning, and then down to the Yang He Estuary, wood and pools for an afternoon session. Highlights for the day though not if you were a certain thrush, were as follows:
In the Jin Shan Hotel: a recently dead White’s Thrush, eaten by raptor.
Around the Jin Shan Field, Lighthouse Point and Friendship: an Eastern Marsh Harrier, two Pied Harriers, 18 Eurasian Hobbies, 120 Pacific Golden Plovers heading north, a Caspian Tern and a Large Hawk Cuckoo at Lighthouse Point. Richard’s Pipit, 35 Chinese Bulbuls, four Ashy Minivets, a male Siberian Rubythroat, four Grey-backed, two Dusky and a Chinese Song Thrush all in the Friendship. Also present at this great site were 15 Penduline Tits, 30 Chestnut-flanked and four Japanese White-eyes, three Chinese Grosbeaks, a Grey-crowned Warbler, found the afternoon which was fortunately still present on the 10th, two Yellow-bellied Tits, 24 Pallas’s Leaf, 50 Yellow-browed, three Radde’s Warblers, seven Asian Brown and a female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher.
On the sandflats and around the reservoir: five Black-crowned Night Heron, 17 Great White Egret,eight Grey and five Purple Herons, two Eastern Marsh Harrier, a female Amur Falcon , two Japanese Quail, nine Pied Avocet,a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, six Common and a Pintail Snipe. Also seen here, one Black-tailed, 40 Heuglin’s and one Vega Gull, 12 Pacific Swifts, a Black-capped Kingfisher, two Rufous-bellied and two Grey-crowned Woodpeckers, 20 Olive-backed, five Red-throated and three Pechora Pipits , seven Siberian Blue Robins, and three female Pallas’ Reed Buntings, a male Eyebrowed Thrush and two Vinous-throated Parrotbills.
Finally, those adventurous spirits who worked the Yang He Estuary, wood and pools found two Purple Heron, two Eurasian Hobby, two Japanese Quail, a Baillon’s Crake, Lesser Sandplover, 43 Grey Plover, a Red Knot, a Grey-headed Lapwing, Pintail Snipe, Eurasian Woodcock, 29 Common Whimbrel, 53 Common Greenshank, one Terek Sandpiper, six Richard’s, a Red-throated and another three Pechora Pipits (six in one day - an exceptional total), two Bluethroats, ten Siberian Stonechats, one Dusky Thrush and two pairs of the rather stunning Yellow-breasted Bunting. Not a bad day!
We retired in the evening to another very good meal watered down with plenty of beer at the Jin Shan.
Thursday 10 May
Another very good day at Beidaihe, consolidating now that the group have been introduced to all good birding areas, our sightings included: two Garganey, two White-winged Scoter, an Eastern Marsh Harrier, two Japanese Sparrowhawks, five Hobbies, two Japanese Quail, a Moorhen in the Jin Shan Hotel gardens and 15 at the reservoir (obviously migrants arriving as later a maximum of 105 seen at the reservoir on the 22nd). Thirty one Pacific Golden Plovers, three Red Knot on the Sandflats, a Pintail Snipe, a Eurasian Woodcock, 30 Common Whimbrel, 40 Common Greenshank, 12 Black-tailed Gulls, two Caspian Terns (much to Welsh Di’s delight!), six Common Terns, six Oriental Turtle Dove, a Lesser Cuckoo, ten Pacific Swifts, two Eurasian Wrynecks, two Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, ten Richard’s, ten Olive-backed, another Pechora and two Red-throated Pipits, ten Grey-headed Yellow Wagtails, two Amur Falcons, five Rubythroats, two Bluethroats, ten Blue Robins, 150 Siberian Stonechats (a big day), a female White-throated Rock Thrush , two Blue Rock Thrushes and four White’s in Friendship, with amazingly, three others found dead in various places (ouch!).
A typically elusive male Siberian with two Grey-backed and four Eye-browed Thrush in the rather magnetic Friendship Hotel created a few headaches for some. The bird-of-the-day was the superb Grey-crowned Warbler, again in the Friendship, that was seen and photographed well by all. The first Two-barred Greenish and a trip peak of 500 Pallas’s Leaf together with 100+ Yellow-browed, a single Hume’s , five Radde’s and 30 Dusky Warblers was heaven for the phylloscopus junkies. The four stunning male Mugimaki and two Yellow-rumped Flycatchers added a touch of glamour to the proceedings. Add to this 50+ Brown Shrikes, five Pallas’s Reed Buntings and two Chestnut-eared Buntings, and everybody had something good to find and look at, especially Euan’s fine Red-flanked Bluetail at Lotus Hills.
Friday 11 May
A horrible wet day with fog and very poor visibility for our visit to the Great Wall at Jiaoshan Mountain to the north of the rapidly developing Qinhuangdao. We left after breakfast at 9am and returned back to Beidaihe at around four in the afternoon. The rain stopped soon after we arrived but frustratingly visibility did not improve all day and we could not see the top of the wall from the bottom, or the bottom from the top! All the expected/desired species were there, but most were heard and not seen, which can be incredibly annoying, but that's birding. Some people saw some species. Chinese Goshawk, Large Hawk Cuckoo, three Oriental Scops calling, Chinese Song Thrush, four Chinese Hill Warblers, two Yellow-streaked Warblers, six Vinous-throated Parrotbills close by, four Pere David’s Laughing Thrushes, Long-tailed and Yellow-bellied Tits, four Large-billed Crows, two Godlewski’s and four Siberian Meadow Buntings.
At Beidaihe there was less than expected considering the weather conditions. Six Oriental Honey Buzzards at the Lotus Hills were a bonus. On the sandflats, six Common Shelduck , five Lesser and two Greater Sand Plovers, eight Red-necked Stints, Terek Sandpiper, seven Turnstone, 54 Heuglin’s Gulls and a White-winged Black Tern. Two flocks involving 42 Chinese Grosbeaks around the Jin Shan area was an exceptional count. Also probably newly arrived were six White’s Thrush, two Brambling, two Black-necked Orioles and an early Grey-streaked Flycatcher at the reservoir. There was also very good numbers of warblers amounting to 50+Dusky, ten Radde’s, 200 Yellow-browed, 55 Pallas’ Leaf, one Pale-legged Leaf, two Black-browed Reed, two Pallas’ Grasshopper and one Lanceolated, together with 25 Little and one Japanese Reed Bunting.
Saturday 12 May
This is our last day in Beidaihe for several days, as we leave for the south tomorrow morning. All of the areas were covered, with a small group visiting the Lotus Hills. It was another very good day, with more first arrivals, particularly good for the variety of thrushes, warblers and flycatchers. Over the Lotus Hills – 3 Grey-faced, 12 Oriental Honey and 2 Common Buzzards, 16 Eurasian Hobbies, 1 Oriental Pratincole and a White-throated Needletail. In the woods below the watchpoint an Oriental Scops, a Grey Nightjar, an Eastern Crowned Warbler , 4 Eurasian Jays and 4 of the suspect Greater-necklaced Laughing Thrushes. Around Beidaihe, a remarkable Azure-winged Magpie (very rare in Beidaihe), Striated Heron, Eurasian Spoonbill, 3 Japanese Sparrowhawks, Osprey, Common Kestrel, 3 Amur Falcons, 4 Hobbies, 5 Japanese Quail, 2 Baillon’s Crakes and 2 White-breasted Waterhens at the reservoir, 2 Red-necked Stints, 2 Pintail Snipe, 5 Eurasian Curlew, 1 Terek and 22 Common Sandpipers, 31 Black-tailed and 17 Heuglin’s Gulls, 1 Whiskered Tern, 1 Needletail over Jin Shan field, 14 Pacific Swifts, Black-capped Kingfisher, 100+ Sand Martins flew NW, 2 Richards, 20 Red-throated Pipit, 2 Forest Wagtail and 4 Grey Wagtails, 2 Ashy Minivets, 30 Chinese Bulbuls, 9 Rubythroats, 4 Bluethroats, 4 Blue Robins, 5 Siberian Stonechats; thrushes incl. 3 White’s, male Siberian , 2 Grey-sided, 5 Eye-browed and a Chinese Song; warblers incl. Pallas’ Grasshopper, Lanceolated, 3 Black-browed Reed, Oriental Great Reed, a dead Eastern Crowned, 40 Pallas’ Leaf, a fleeting Chinese Leaf, 100+ Yellow-browed, 1 Hume’s, 15 Radde’s and 50 Dusky; flycatchers included. 1 Grey-streaked, 6 Asian Brown, 20+ Taiga, female Mugimaki, and 6 Yellow-rumped; there was also 10 Pallas’s and 1 Japanese Reed together with 12 Tristram’s Buntings and 5 Common Rosefinches. All in all, classic Beidaihe diversity!
Sunday 13 May
At last, the long awaited trip to the south for five days to visit Happy Island and the woods, mudflats and wetlands some 50 miles from Beidaihe. The early morning at Beidaihe produced some very good birds including three Grey-headed Lapwing, two Caspian Terns, Large Hawk Cuckoo, Blyth’s Pipit, a male White-throated Rock Thrush, a confiding male Yellow-breasted Bunting on the Jin Shan Field, and best of all, a Brown Hawk Owl. On a hazy, hot sunny day, our coach left after breakfast and the first stop was unscheduled, a brief look for the Brown Hawk Owl. Sadly it had moved and we had no time to look further, especially given the density of available habitat on this side of Beidaihe.
Our first port of call was the extensive wet grassland and isolated woods at Da Pu He. On arrival we were greeted by yet another bizarre new build, which once again seemed to have stopped as soon as it had been started. An extensive three sided fortress of a wall around our traditional entry point at the top wood. As the wall was not complete, we were soon birding the favoured area for wonderfully cryptic Forest Wagtail that initially frustrated, but eventually two birds gave excellent views. We spent over three hours here as the birding was very good and the visible migration whetted the appetite. The highlights were eight Intermediate Egrets, three Oriental Honey Buzzards overhead, six Pied Hariers (sadly no males), three Oriental Pratincoles; a Yellow-legged Button Quail, 2 Grey-headed Lapwing (a good year), two Pintail Snipe, Wryneck, a flock of 120+ Yellow Wagtails, Ashy Minivet, three Siberian Rubythroats, four Bluethroats and an Arctic Warbler.
Our next stop, the Blue Sea Beach River, has a name far better than the site deserves, and once again appeared to be suffering as the river had been damaged by the extensive earthworks. There was however the usual good numbers and variety of waders and other water birds, and thankfully everybody got to scope the four Long-toed Stints which was the only record of the trip. Other birds of note were: Ruddy Shelduck, ten Oriental Pratincoles, 40 Sharp-tailed, 60 Marsh and three Curlew Sandpipers, 30 Spotted Redshanks, nine Black-tailed Godwits, ten White-winged Black Terns and two Asian St Larks.
Our traditional stop at the chimneys to view the wader pools and arable fields was brief as there were few waders and only small numbers of terns, with three Gull-billed, six Whiskered and ten White-winged Blacks. On to the harbour at Lao Yu Jian, and the first attempt for the three rarer species, Asian Dowitcher, Saunder’s and Relict Gull, birds which often require putting many repeat visits and the hours into these days. Sadly not today, but the 100+ Lesser Sandplovers, five Great Knot, 120 Dunlin of the very smart sakhalina race, with 50+ Eurasian Curlew was a good start. And finally, at last, onto the Magic Wood (‘the Magic Wood’) which in just an hour worked its magic with a White’s, a male Siberian and 13 Eye-browed Thrush, a skulking Bull-headed Shrike (third year running in the same part of the wood), a Thick-billed, six Radde’s, and numbers of Pallas’ Leaf and Yellow-browed Warblers, bringing the day’s total up to 50+ Pallas’s and 150+ Yellow-browed.
At end of a very busy and successful day we departed for the forty-minute drive to the Yuan Yang Hotel in the busy development area of Jin Tang. Always entertaining this year’s massive road works, diversions and bizarre delays thankfully failed to dampen the spirits. It is certainly not the Jin Shan, but it is adequate and provided us with comfortable rooms, good showers and an excellent dinner. Log was held in the imposing conference room where the comfortable leather chairs were perhaps too comfortable, and some people fell asleep.
Monday 14 May
A rewarding dawn walk for a handful of enthusiastic stalwarts as many migrants were found in the lines of trees opposite our hotel including Eye-browed Thrush and Grey Nightjar. On the factory pools we observed five Sharp-tailed, six Marsh and 15 Curlew Sandpipers, three Oriental Great Reed Warblers singing in a nearby extensive (but threatened) reed bed and a typically elusive male Siberian Thrush in the next-door garden of the local branch of the Bank of China. Many ran from their breakfasts (some without binoculars) to see this - A female Siberian Blue Robin, which had stunned itself on one of the hotel’s dark windows, was placed under a nearby bush, and later had gone, hopefully of its own accord.
Off in coach at (6.30 am) to the Magic Wood which as usual was utterly amazing. The vegetation was literally hopping with birds, most trying their hardest to remain invisible. The four Eastern Cattle Egrets could hardly attempt it, but the two owls, an Oriental Scops and Brown Hawk frustrated many as they shot about the wood. Two Ashy Minivets were a little easier as they flew calling overhead as were two Japanese Grosbeak, if you were in the right place at the right time that is. Another Grey-crowned Warbler, four Rufous-tailed Robins, and again a White’s and a male Siberian in amongst the seven Eye-browed Thrush. Another Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler teased and as usual was only seen by the finders. Frustratingly there were also two remarkably rare species also present but typically incredibly elusive. A Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler seen briefly in flight and running through vegetation twice could not be relocated whilst a Japanese Robin was seen briefly running up the main ditch as we were leaving. Very hard to tear ourselves away… but a boat awaited us.
A short stop at the harbour again at Lao Yu Jian, but with more than 40 Great Knot and little else, it was then on to boat for an easy 30-minute crossing to legendary Happy Island. This was also ‘coming down with birds’ although sadly not the major rarities the mainland had just hinted at. Best were great views of a Japanese Waxwing, a Large Hawk Cuckoo, two Common Cuckoo, two Oriental Cuckoo, two Grey Nightjars, Hawfinch, eight Daurian Starlings, Daurian Redstart , a pair of White-throated Rock Thrush,, 150+ Brown Shrikes, four Rufous-tailed Robins, ten Blue Robins, an elusive female Red-flanked Bluetail, six Lanceolated, five Black-browed Reed, two Oriental Great Reed and ten Thick-billed Warblers, three Siberian Thrushes (two, male and female) and three Pied Harrier’s, including a male singly performing for our guide Jean Wang!
Most of the group took an unsuccessful trudge in wellies on a hot day, to the wader roost at the southern end of the island. This was sadly disturbed, initially by a Hobby and then by two fishermen, with the birds moving up to the far north west of the island. Most people made their way back, but a few stayed the course, catching up with the main flock and finding an adult summer plumage Saunders’ Gull among the Black-tailed Gulls and terns. Waders were just too far out and in the severe heat haze to even attempt to juggle with tricky identification at this range. Back in centre of island, good numbers of phylloscopus warblers and flycatchers in the wood and ditches, offered fantastic opportunities to identify and compare the various species with four Eastern Crowned, ten Pale-legged Leaf, 80 Two-barred Greenish, six Arctic, 100 Pallas’ Leaf, 100 Yellow-browed, one Hume’s, 40 Radde’s, 60 Dusky Warblers and two Siberian, six Grey-streaked, 70 Asian Brown, 20 Taiga, a male Mugimaki and eight Yellow-rumped Flycatchers.
Unfortunately our boat broke down at start of the return journey and we had to wait half an hour for a replacement and then complete an even slower journey back towing the broken-down one. Sadly there was no time for a quick scout of the Magic Wood to see if the mornings star birds were still present, the failing light was just too poor. Instead it was back to our hotel, exhausted, but exhilarated after another incredible day, and this time more people fell asleep during the log.
Tuesday 15 May
A day spent on the 'mainland' visiting the woods, harbour and wetland areas on the coast. Another good dawn walk from the hotel had few new migrants, but among the waders on the pools were two Broad-billed Sandpipers intermingled with the 11 Sharp-tailed and 19 Curlew Sandpiper, 15 Red-necked Stints and 43 Kentish Plovers. A Dusky Warbler was found in the hotel lobby and had to be caught and released, apparently recovering.
The Magic Wood was again good but with much lower numbers than yesterday. The Gray's Grasshopper Warbler was astonishingly still present and although incredibly skulking, was successfully seen by a number of observers. The Grey-crowned Warbler was also still there, doing a gentle circuit around the wood interior. There were at least two Pallas’s Grasshoppers in amongst at least six Lanceolated Warblers but again it was a struggle to get good views of the former. A superb Mongolian Lark flew over and was seen by several groups independently, and on a nearby open are three Asian Short-toed and three Crested Larks were seen. At a roadside pool a few miles away, a new bird for most in the form of a first-Summer Mongolian Gull, another recent split in the complexity that is large gull taxonomics.
So on to the Big Wood along a very muddy road due to huge earthworks between there and the Magic Wood. At one sight and in a moment of sadness we counted 27 diggers and one bulldozer working, presumably building a new reservoir to supply water to another new complex? In the Big Wood and despite the amazing amount of disturbance over the last few years we had a record 200+ Black-crowned Night Herons over the colony. A fine Forest Wagtail gave excellent views in a sheltered ditch, as did the Black-capped Kingfisher in a tree a little further on.
On our return to the Magic Wood we dropped off half a dozen people and continued to the harbour at Lao Yu Jian. We hit this just right, on a high tide which was just turning, allowing very close views of the waders and gulls. Star birds were the five Saunders’ Gulls (two adults) but the 34 Great Knot, 51 Red Knot, 50 Kentish Plover, 21 Lesser Sandplover, 252 Bar-tailed Godwit, three Grey-tailed Tattlers and 40 Red-necked Stints were all good counts.
A very unsettling incident occurred when a local man threw a shopping bag on the ground in front of us full of dead and dying birds, including a dead Rufous-tailed Robin. Alive and kicking were two Brown Shrikes which flew off strongly, a Spotted Dove and an Oriental Cuckoo were both weak and flew off eventually, but a Grey Nightjar was in poor condition. We took the Nightjar back to the Magic Wood and released it. Initially it did not look like it was going to make it but eventually flew with a trailing, clearly damaged leg (the bird was seen two days later flying around – alive but with the leg still dangling down and obviously broken). In the Magic Wood itself, Mark had found many cunningly designed traps with trips and mesh netting set in the forks of the biggest trees. These were obviously intended to catch raptors, particularly it appeared, accipiters, on incoming hunting sorties! We destroyed most of the traps we could reach and armed with much evidence sent Jean off to report and investigate. Saddened by this last period we returned back to the hotel to be greeted by a huge electrical storm in evening with torrential rain for hours into the night. What will the morning bring?
Wednesday 16 May
Nothing startling in numbers or new species was the answer, but undoubtedly another excellent day. Around the hotel and pools we saw an Oriental Scops Owl, eight Siberian Blue Robins, three Yellow-rumped Flycatchers and a visible increase in waders, with 50 Sharp-tailed and 44 Curlew Sandpipers - not bad for a pre-breakfast amble. Then it was off to the Magic Wood where quality rather than quantity of birds were found. Highlights really involved a rather showy Oriental Scops Owl, Forest Wagtail, Rufous-tailed Robin, a very jumpy thrush flock including at least three Siberian, six Eye-browed, one Dusky and one Naumann’s. An Asian Stubby put in a brief appearance only to disappear as if by magic, as did the three Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers, doing pretty much the same thing. There were however at least 15+ Lanceolated, four Oriental Great Reed, a Thick-billed and five Arctic Warblers to keep us occupied, and five Siberian Flycatchers gave everyone a good opportunity to study this confusion species. An always productive northerly wind had increased meanwhile, which was to provide some interesting raptor passage later on in the day.
We were soon over on Happy Island again, full of anticipation and with a certain knowledge that we were going to have to work hard for certain desired species. It was in fact rather similar to Magic Wood with no big numbers but a good variety of species despite the wood and ditches being relatively quiet. An elusive but huge Large Hawk Cuckoo gave people the run-around as did the two Forest Wagtails, the female Siberian Thrush and the Hair-crested Drongo,. Another Grey-crowned Warbler underlining the fact that it was a very good year for this species. The only other birds in the woods appeared to be a flock 15 Common Rosefinches, ten Black-necked Orioles, ten Pale-legged Leaf and five Arctic Warblers. A flock of 15 Daurian Starlings and 20 Chinese Grosbeaks around the temple on and off, allowed many a catch up on previously missed birds . Meanwhile in the northerly wind, visible migration overhead passed 18 Oriental Honey Buzzards, five Pied Harriers, two Oriental Pratincoles, and 13 White-throated Needletails! Another attempt was made to see the high tide wader roost which was heading toward disaster, as there were no birds at the south end.
Several of us tramped (still in our wellies) up to NW corner and remarkably found everything we desired there. Amongst the 400 Bar-tailed Godwits, 120 Great Knot and 400+ Eurasian Curlew were 17 Asian Dowitchers, a first-Summer Saunders’ and (at last) two Relict Gulls, both typically first-Summer. By a remarkable coincidence, the two Relict Gulls and a flock of 11 of the 17 Dowitchers flew over the Temple in the centre of the island and were thus seen by several other observers on visible migration stints from the higher ground. The afternoon’s passage of raptors had been very good with at least six Grey-faced Buzzard, Pied and Eastern Marsh Harriers and good numbers of Hobby and Sparrowhawk. Several marsh terns were seen flying over, bringing the day’s total to 27 Whiskered and 100+ WWBTs.
We stopped off in the Magic Wood on the way back and saw some of this morning’s birds again but there appeared to be nothing new so it was back to the hotel for our fourth and last night there.
Thursday 17 May
The northerly wind continued this morning, increasing by early afternoon to near gale force with some torrential downpours. The pre-breakfast walk around the hotel and pools produced 17 Sharp-tailed and 45 Curlew Sandpiper, four Blue Robins, three Yellow-rumped Flycatchers and a Daurian Starling.
Then on to Magic Wood which at first appeared to be relatively quiet, before slowly revealing five Eastern Cattle Egrets, two Japanese Quail, a Yellow-legged Button Quail, Forest Wagtail, 20 Asian Brown Flycatchers and an impressive fall of 15 Rufous-tailed Robins. A relatively showy pair of Siberian Thrush offered ample opportunities to finally get to grips with this elusive species. An Asian Stub-tailed Warbler finally performed and allowed everyone to finally see this magic little ‘clockwork’ gem. A bird far better in life than the field guides, portrayed with some very good photographs taken. Find of the day however has to go to the rarely recorded Chinese Bush Warbler that was teased out of cover and sat too close for observers to focus. It was teased in the genuine sense, as Paul’s impression of a cat stretching claws on straw was admirable! Another elusive Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler frustrated many of those still hoping to catch up with this enigmatic locustella. A steady northerly passage of Pacific Swifts totalled 85 by the time we left around (1400) as the weather finally deteriorated. We made a brief visit to the Harbour at Lao Yu Jian in mid-morning, where we found 45 Great and 21 Red Knot, 17 R-necked Stints, four Terek Sandpipers, a Grey-tailed Tattler and another fine Saunders’ Gull.
Back at Beidaihe, returning to the Jin Shan Hotel was like coming home. There is always a strange sense of well being, back on home turf. Settling back in, we covered as much of the area as possible in the two hours before dark with 26 Pacific Swifts, a few of the by-now regular thrushes, a Hume’s Warbler and 20 Asian Brown Flycatchers being the highlights.
Friday 18 May
A full day at Beidaihe with groups visiting the Yang He, the Lotus Hills, and in fine, sunny, clear weather, the Great Wall again. Generally a day of low numbers, but with several new species found. The smaller herons and crakes were clearly now coming in with the four Chinese Yellow and two Von Shrenk’s, Bitterns, a Ruddy Crake and two White-br Waterhens, together with ten Night Herons and three Intermediate Egrets being found at the reservoir. On the Lotus Hills, a fine male Chinese Goshawk displaying over the hill, where also Oriental Pratincole and Asian House Martin powered north. In the woods, a male Siberian Thrush, and four Greater-necklaced Laughing Thrushes were observed inside the aviary – were they caught in the trap seen set on a previous visit? Were they wild, or did they come out and go back in?
Waders on sandflats and nearby lagoon included a Greater Sandplover and Grey-headed Lapwing, whilst at the reservoir, a Dollarbird was found by those watching the bitterns. A Lesser Cuckoo flew through the Jin Shan Field and whilst 500+ Pacific Swifts also flew past, the Blyth’s Pipit on Jin Shan was only the second and last of trip, despite several others suspected but not seen well enough to clinch. The first Claudia’s (Blyth’s) Leaf Warbler was found right opposite Jeans office, this species being much scarcer than usual. Small numbers of ‘regular’ migrants such as the chats, thrushes, warblers and buntings but 15 Black Drongo was the peak of trip, and the Hair-crested Drongo was re-found in the Friendship. At the Great Wall it was a more enjoyable experience than the last visit, but birds were still hard to find with only a single Chinese Hill Warbler, Blue Rock Thrush, and Yellow-streaked Warbler, plus five Vinous-Throated Parrotbill, four Pere David’s Laughing Thrush and two Godlewski’s Buntings
Saturday 19 May
A final full day’s birding at Beidaihe, with all the local areas being covered thoroughly. Highlights for many were to be found at the reservoir, which was again good for bitterns, egrets, herons, and crakes. Today up to nine Chinese Yellow, again two Von Schrenk’s performed intermittently together with six Intermediate Egret, three Purple Heron, two Baillon’s, and once again an elusive Ruddy Crake and two White-breasted Waterhens. In the late morning a good arrival of migrants at Lighthouse Point meant many eyes were concentrating there, with a fine female Red-flanked Bluetail performing well to those missing the species earlier. There were also many acrocephalus warblers arriving with the day’s totals of 80 Black-browed Reed (a trip peak), 11 Great Reed (also peak count), seven Thick-billed, one Manchurian Reed, plus locustellas - two Pallas’s Grasshopper and one Lanceolated . There was a nice assembly of thrushes, mostly in the Friendship with a fine male White-throated Rock, two White’s, three Siberian, a Chinese Song, six Eye-browed and a fine Pale Thrush, a major rarity in recent times. Chats included seven Rufous-tailed Robins, five Siberian Rubythroats, a peak of 15 Bluethroats, a Daurian Redstart and ten Siberian Blue Robins. Siberian Flycatchers peaked at 14, with 20 Asian Brown, a female Mugimaki and seven Yellow-rumped Flycatchers. A significant observation were the 80 White-winged Scoter seen off Lighthouse Point as these have been very scarce in recent years, a male Amur Falcon at a Magpie’s nest by the reservoir barrier, with a female on wires nearby looked promising.
Waders included a peak of 177 Common Whimbrel and 44 Common Sandpipers and 32 Black-tailed Gulls. At Lighthouse Point, an adult Mongolian Gull, a trip peak of 15 Oriental Turtle Doves, a Grey Nightjar in the Friendship, a Dollarbird at the reservoir, another three Ashy Minivets, two Vinous-throated Parrotbills, two Penduline Tits, 60 Chestnut-flanked White-eyes, a peak of 30 Black-naped Orioles and the second-highest count for Brown Shrikes at 100+. Also eight Daurian Starlings, a Japanese Grosbeak in the Friendship, and small numbers of the more regular nine spp of buntings. An Asian Koel, seen only by Chris at the reservoir would be a regional first if a genuine, although perhaps unlikely vagrant.
Sunday 20 May
The pre-breakfast birding period had produced a relatively steady flow of birds. At Lighthouse Point, the usual team of optimists produced a Great Cormorant, nine White-winged Scoter, an Oriental Pratincole, four Grey-headed Lapwing and 24 White-winged Black Terns. Group members down at the reservoir for an early stint found 5+ Yellow Bittern, Baillon’s Crake, two Indian and single Common and Oriental Cuckoos.
After another excellent breakfast we departed Beidaihe around 9am for Old Peak via a short 30 minute stop en route at the Sandflats Bridge. The reason was to watch a displaying male Amur Falcon, which had seemingly, successfully taken over a Magpie’s nest. It was spectacular to watch the male circling with trembling wings followed by the female, and at one stage, a second male!
The initial part of the journey to Old Peak was largely uneventful. We changed vehicles to the much smaller minibuses for the final ascent in the usual spot and set off in two groups. Unfortunately, the rear
minibus overheated and broke down on approach to the forest reserve which held up proceedings for a short while. It was generally a difficult afternoon with many birds either vocally quiet or just too skulking. We still arrived at our hotel with plenty of time for an afternoon foray. The site was unfortunately very noisy with construction and concreting the final section of road to the top of the valley. The endless small diesel dumper trucks, with their "boombox" exhausts rattling up and down must affect singing birds trying to hold territory. One of the specialities of the area, the tiny Chinese Leaf Warbler surely struggles to advertise its presence and attract a mate with noise pollution like this. There was actually only one bird seen and heard today. Koklass Pheasant, another species probably affected, certainly by the disturbance as only one was seen and two heard distantly during Mark’s evening search. The other anticipated species were present in reasonably good numbers with four Large Hawk Cuckoo, two Indian and three Oriental Cuckoos, two Chinese Nuthatch, White-bellied Redstart, three Blue Rock Thrush, four Grey-sided Thrush, six Chinese Song Thrush, two Grey-backed Thrush, two Blunt-winged, ten Claudia’s Leaf (split from Blyth’s Leaf) and two Yellow-streaked Warblers, along with Yellow-bellied Tit; Eurasian Jay, three Hair-crested Drongos, five Goldlewski’s and five Siberian Meadow Buntings. Despite being only a few years old, our hotel left a few things to be desired, like shower curtains, flushing toilets, hot water maybe, but the food was very good and the beds comfortable.
Monday 21 May
A glorious morning at Old Peak began unusually sunny, fresh, still and remarkably clear - perfect for our task of cleaning up on the breeding species. Most people walked to the top by following the road and returned down the steps. Spectacular views of the Great Wall as we have never seen it before, snaking into the distance across the mountains with 48 forts visible from one of our favoured watch points. As a group, we started out at 5am and the mountain’s workmen unfortunately began their racket with vehicles an hour later! Despite the disturbance, we did very well in terms of objectives, as one by one the species fell. Only Koklass Pheasant disappointed, with only one heard and none seen. The cuckoos sang well; thrushes were much in evidence, with the best being four singing Grey-sided, one individual sitting out close by singing his head off for many minutes, warblers were more in evidence than yesterday, with 30 Claudia’s, three Yellow-streaked, two Asian Stub-tailed and a Hume’s Leaf noted, although only two Chinese Leaf could be found. Five Chinese Nuthatches, ten Daurian Redstarts, and a lovely confiding pair of Bull-headed Shrikes were seen well. Perhaps more unexpected were two Long-tailed Minivets, a Wren, two stunning male Blue-and White Flycatchers, a singing Elisae Flycatcher and a second male White-bellied Redstart challenging the territory holder. Passing over the mountains were two Black Storks, five Oriental Honey Buzzards, a Pied Harrier, a Grey-faced Buzzard and two Amur Falcon. As we left, a Manchurian Bush Warbler was seen and heard well just by the entrance gate before we started the two-hour drive back to Beidaihe.
People spread out to cover most of Beidaihe in the remaining four hours before dark. Numbers were low but the quality very high, the best birds being two stunning male Tiger Shrikes, only 500 metres apart in the Friendship, a Brown Shrike of the race luciensis among the 20 seen, a flock of 11 Little Whimbrel passing low over the Jin Shan Hotel gardens, another Asian Stub-tailed Warbler in the Friendship; and a Striated Heron at Lighthouse Point. We enjoyed our last sumptuous 10-dish dinner in the Jin Shan in the evening.
Tuesday 22 May
Our last morning as the coach was to leave promptly at 2 pm. It was a dull misty day with an E/SE wind, which augured well for a mega, or at least a mega-fall. Rather surprisingly and sadly, this was not to be. Everyone worked hard to find something special with which to end the trip, and there were some very memorable birds – a drake Mandarin at the Reservoir (where also record counts of 19 Little Grebes and 104 Common Moorhens!), the 15th Pallas’ Grasshopper of the trip; and the last three Lanceolated Warblers, but generally numbers were low and the mega never came. Perhaps it was the ideal time to leave?
We endured a long and arduous coach journey back to Beijing, in increasingly heavy rain and a ridiculous grid locked traffic system. The usual four hours dragged on into five and a half, and we were mightily relieved to eventually reach our hotel, have a quick shower and make our way quickly to the usual restaurant where Prof Hsu and Jean oversaw our final dinner.
Wednesday 23 May
It was an early start for the coach journey to the airport and sad farewells to Jean for her tireless work on our behalf. After an efficient and prompt check in and emigration arrangements and before too long we were on our KLM daylight flight back to Amsterdam and home. It had been another great trip.
Conclusion
Over the 15 years since Tony Marr’s first visit in 1993 there have been dramatic changes to the way of life in China, and as an inevitable consequence, major and undesirable impacts on the environment. The current fast-moving industrial revolution, fuelled by the demand from the West for cheap labour is resulting in a seemingly endless development and rebuilding programme in China. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Beijing, where the advent of the 2008 Olympic Games is lending urgency to this.
But despite these changes, bringing increasing pollution, population shifts and breathtaking increases in road traffic, particularly in private car ownership, the birds are so far proving to be remarkably resilient. The breeding birds around Beidaihe may be suffering more than many, but the migrants still pour through in the variety and volume we have come to accept over the past fifteen years. Ironically, the most noticeable change to the pattern of migration has come apparently from the recent steady increase in global warming, in that the previously fairly predictable arrival dates of migrants no longer hold true. Birds travelling from their wintering areas in South East Asia to their breeding grounds in Manchuria and Siberia are now showing as much variation in dates of arrival in Beidaihe as migrants in other parts of the world.
The future for the environment in the areas we visit is an uncertain one. Increasing affluence will doubtless lead to further degrading of the coastal areas, which are more vulnerable to development, and the Olympics will no doubt focus more attention on China generally, leading to an increase in tourism from abroad as well as from within. The few species of local breeding birds (said to be only a dozen or so) will be most at risk, but there are also threats to many long-distance migrants, particularly wildfowl and waders, which need the traditional staging posts provided by the tidal mudflats in the various estuaries, bays and harbours up and down the Chinese coast to enable them to rest and feed on their long journeys from their wintering areas to their breeding grounds (and on their return, accompanied by the new crop of young birds). Global warming will also have an increasing impact on the breeding season and on the journeys of all the migrants passing through Beidaihe.
However, despite all these changes, we have little doubt that for the foreseeable future, this small corner of the Chinese coastline will continue to be one of the world’s great migration watch points. Let’s enjoy it while we, and the birds, still can.
Favourite Bird Species 2007
An astonishing 83 species were voted for indicating the sheer diversity of species seen and the diversity of observers watching them. Three species voted for were new to science indicating birding fatigue!
This years winning top ten bird species, collecting the most participant votes were as follows:
- Ibisbill
- Siberian Rubythroat
- Blue and White Flycatcher
- Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
- Siberian Blue Robin
- Siberian Thrush
- Tiger Shrike
- White-throated Needletail
- Amur Falcon
- White-bellied Blue Redstart
