Common Kingfisher – Wild Beijing 北京自然

Illegal Mist Nets in China

Sadly, it is still relatively common to find illegal mist nets in China. Most appear to be erected by poor people who will likely either eat the birds caught or sell them as cagebirds, if they are popular species. For me, it is always with a heavy heart that I try to render the nets unusable, knowing on the one hand that they are illegal under Chinese law but, at the same time, that for some people, bird trapping may form an important part of their income.

Encouragingly, the practice of trapping birds seems to be declining, with the market for cagebirds predominantly being driven by a slowly shrinking older generation, so hopefully in the not too distant future illegal mist nets will be a thing of the past in China.

Whilst at Laotieshan for several days last week we bumped into a few members of the Panjin Birdwatching Society (from northern Liaoning). The group, led by the famous Mr Zhang Ming (a very talented photographer) was predominantly interested in bird photography and were visiting to take advantage of the raptor migration at Laotieshan. Mr Zhang told us about the sighting of a Band-bellied Crake on a very small pool near to Dalian city.. Having never seen this species, Mr Zhang and his friends offered to take us there.. so off we went in a small convoy of 4x4s for the short journey to the site. After stopping for a delicious lunch, during which Mr Zhang showed us some stunning images of rare and difficult to see Chinese birds, including Jankowski’s Bunting, we arrived at the site and began to look for the specific pond. It wasn’t long before we found it but, despite observing the weedy fringes for close on 2 hours, there were no signs of any crakes and we were forced to assume that the bird had moved on. Whilst exploring the site we came across several illegal mist nets, some of which held live birds. It was pleasing to see the Panjin Birdwatching Society members rescue the birds, take down the nets and destroy them. And much better that they were taken down by Chinese birders and not ‘interfering foreigners’..!

2012-09-22 panjin line up — Members of the Panjin Birdwatching Society proudly displaying their society’s flag, alongside Paul Holt and Wang Qingyu, Dalian, Liaoning Province.

2012-09-22 Mr Zhang — Mr Zhang, who must be one of China’s most talented bird photographers (and a very nice guy).

2012-09-22 kingfisher saved from nets — Mr Zhang junior saved this Common Kingfisher from one of the illegal mist nets

2012-09-22 brown shrike saved from nets — This Brown Shrike was also released from the illegal mist nets.

2012-09-22 yellow-browed warbler from net — This Yellow-browed Warbler, although released, was very poorly and, sadly, probably didn’t make it.

Parklife

It’s been a strange winter so far.. not so cold and no snow to speak of. It’s been the same up north in Liaoning Province. No Waxwings at all (contrasting strongly with last winter’s invasion of both Bohemian and Japanese Waxwings), very few Rosefinches (Long-tailed or Pallas’s) and a few so-called summer visitors have been lingering in the capital.

This week I have made short visits to both the Olympic Forest Park and the Summer Palace to see what was around.

2012-02-08 Summer Palace, Beijing — The Summer Palace, Beijing.. not so crowded on a cold February day.

I was surprised to see several Pallas’s Warblers, double figures of Red-flanked Bluetails, three Red-crested Pochard and singles of Black-faced Bunting and Ferruginous Duck (the duck were together on a tiny patch of open water at the summer palace). All of these birds should really be further south in the middle of winter but all seemed in good shape.

2012-02-07 RFBluetail — Red-flanked Bluetail, Olympic Forest Park, Beijing. This bird was feeding on berries.

2012-02-07 RFBluetail2 — Red-flanked Bluetail, Olympic Forest Park, Beijing

2012-02-07 Pallas's Warbler — Pallas's Warbler, Olympic Forest Park, Beijing

2012-02-08 Ferruginous Duck — Ferruginous Duck, Summer Palace, Beijing

2012-02-08 Ferruginous Duck fluffed — This Fudge Duck is on a small patch of open water and, consequently, gives exceptionally good views.

2012-02-08 Red-crested Pochard — Red-crested Pochard, Summer Palace, Beijing

2012-02-08 beijing bird photographers — Some of Beijing's bird photographers taking advantage of the excellent photo-opportunities presented by the Ferruginous Duck, Red-crested Pochards and Smew at the Summer Palace.

2012-02-07 Black-faced Bunting — This Black-faced Bunting was eking out a living among the reeds at the Olympic Forest Park.

This Common Kingfisher looked much healthier than the last one I saw at Wild Duck Lake (which expired as we were watching it in late November).

2012-02-07 Common Kingfisher — Common Kingfisher exploiting one of the few ice-free areas at the Olympic Forest Park.

Several Smew were accompanying the Ferruginous Duck and the Red-crested Pochard, adding a reassuring feel to the winter. I managed this image of one in flight.

2012-02-08 Smew in flight — A 'redhead' Smew, Summer Palace, Beijing

Wet Wet Wet

Apologies to those of you expecting a post about the 80s pop sensation led by Marti Pello (whatever happened to him?).

Anyway, yesterday afternoon, in the midst of some of the worst smog, I mean mist (you don’t get smog in Beijing, cough) since I have been in Beijing, I decided to spend a couple of hours at the Olympic Forest Park… it was a decision I regretted almost as soon as I arrived on site.. Within about 15 minutes, and just as I had reached the more open area of the park, the skies darkened and the rumble of thunder began to reverberate all around.. The brief highlight, as I rounded the first lake, was this Kingfisher atop a pink lotus flower as it scanned for vulnerable fish below…

2011-07-24 Kingfisher on lily portrait — Common Kingfisher, Olympic Forest Park, Beijing

I rattled off a few images before the heavens opened.. and boy did they open. Two hours later I was still sheltering under the overhang of a roof of a refreshments kiosk watching the floodwater rush by and Wishing I was Lucky. As dusk approached there was no sign of any respite, so I made a run for the metro.. Needless to say, by the time I got to the station, I was soaked to the skin…! At least the rain has cleared away much of the smog.. today is classified as “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” rather than yesterday’s “Hazardous” by the US Embassy’s air quality Twitter feed (@BeijingAir)….

Yuanmingyuan Park

A brisk 2 hours at Yuanmingyuan Park (the Old Summer Palace) this morning in beautiful but cold weather produced a single Dusky Thrush, 5 Naumann’s Thrushes, 1 intergrade Dusky/Naumann’s, a Eurasian Sparrowhawk, a single Common Kingfisher, one Grey-headed Woodpecker, 8 White-cheeked Starlings, 14 Willow Tits, 2 Great Tits, 18 Bramblings, 12 Goldcrests and, best of all, 4 late Pallas’s Warblers.

Edit: thanks to Spike Millington and Jesper Hornskov, it seems that my ‘Williow Tits’ were more likely Marsh Tits! Even in the UK, I have never been confident about separating these two in the field, given the variability and capacity to mimic each other. Forever learning!