When the male PRZEWALSKI’S REDSTART turned up at Lingshan last winter, it was only the third occurrence in Beijing and the first for 20 years… Given the lack of observer coverage in winter, we speculated whether it might be a more regular visitor than the records suggested… and this speculation gained credibility when a female was found nearby soon after. The only way we would know the true status of this star bird was to monitor the site over the following winters to see whether they returned…
So far this November I have already made three visits to the site and, despite seeing plenty of the other high-altitude loving redstart – Guldenstadt’s – I have not seen any Przewalski’s. Was it a late migrant? Or was the occurrence of the pair last winter really a one-off? I was beginning to wonder….
Fast forward to late on Thursday evening when I received a message from Breght Vandenberghe, a Belgian birder, to say that he had just visited Lingshan and seen a male PRZEWALSKI’S! My heart leapt.. and a voice inside my head whispered:
“It’s Back!!!”
Here is a photo from last year as a reminder of just how stunning is this spectacular species. Big congratulations to Breght for finding the Przewalski’s and huge thanks for passing on the news.
