First for Beijing: White Wagtail ssp personata

On Saturday I visited Wild Duck Lake (Ma Chang and Yeyahu) with Jesper Hornskov, Hui Ying (James) and his friend ‘Leila’.  We enjoyed another fantastic spring day and recorded some excellent species including 31 Oriental Plovers, single Short-toed and Greater Spotted Eagles and some spectacular views of Baikal Teal.  But the star of the show for me was a White Wagtail of the subspecies ‘personata‘ which spent some time around the yurts to the west of Ma Chang.  As far as I am aware, this is the first record of this subspecies in Beijing and, indeed, anywhere in north-east China.  According to Alstrom and Mild (authors of “Pipits and Wagtails”) the ‘personata’ subspecies breeds in Central Asia from the Russian Altay, Kuznetsk Ala Tau and Western Sayan Mountains, southwest through east &  south Kazakhstan, the Tian Shan Mountains, west Mongolia, northwest and western Xinjiang, parts of northwest Kashmir, north Pakistan, Afghanistan, northern Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It is a rare vagrant to Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Bahrain, N Burma & Hong Kong.

White Wagtail ssp personata. The first record of this subspecies in Beijing.

The subspecies of White Wagtail we usually see in Beijing are ‘leucopsis‘ and ‘ocularis‘.  Some recent images of males of these subspecies are below for comparison.

White Wagtail ssp leucopsis (adult male), Beijing, 15 April 2012. Note black back and nape and 'clean' white face.
White Wagtail ssp ocularis (adult male), Beijing, 15 April 2012. Note grey back, black nape and black eyestripe on white face.

As well as the wagtail there were plenty of other birds to enjoy all day: the flocks of Greater Short-toed Larks, the small party of Relict Gulls, the Oriental Plovers (which unfortunately flew off strongly north before we saw them on the ground), the fantastic late afternoon display of Baikal Teal (easily my best ever views), the first Oriental Pratincoles of the year,  displaying Eastern Marsh Harriers, the newly arrived Chinese Penduline Tits, the list goes on.  Fantastic birding….

Eastern Marsh Harrier (male), Yeyahu, 14 April 2012
Eastern Marsh Harrier (male), Yeyahu, 14 April 2012
Eastern Marsh Harrier (male), Yeyahu, 14 April 2012
Oriental Pratincole, Ma Chang, 14 April 2012
Baikal Teal, Yeyahu. We enjoyed spectacular views of this special duck in the later afternoon sun as they were repeatedly spooked by the patrolling Eastern Marsh Harriers.
Eurasian Spoonbills, Ma Chang, 14 April 2012

A big thanks to Hui Ying, Leila and Jesper for their company – a thoroughly enjoyable day!

Hui Ying (James) and Leila at the viewing tower, Yeyahu.
Leila checking out an Eastern Marsh Harrier, Yeyahu, 14 April 2012

Full species list (courtesy of Jesper):

Common Pheasant  Phasanius colchicus  – nine

Swan Goose  Anser cygnoides  – two

Bewick’s Swan  Cygnus columbianus  – nine

Ruddy Shelduck  Tadorna ferruginea  – 63

Gadwall  Anas strepera  – 200

Falcated Duck  Anas falcate  – 70

Eurasian Wigeon  Anas Penelope  – three

Mallard  Anas platyrhynchos  – 100+

Chinese Spotbill  Anas zonorhyncha  – 13+ 

Northern Shoveler  Anas clypeata  – six

Garganey  Anas querquedula  – one male

Baikal Teal  Anas Formosa  – 85+ (at most 100)

Common Teal  Anas crecca  – 20

Red-crested Pochard  Netta rufina  – one pair

Common Pochard  Aythya ferina  – five

Ferruginous Duck  Aythya nyroca  – two in flight over River at YYH

Tufted Duck  Aythya fuligula  – four

Common Goldeneye  Bucephala clangula  – three

Smew  Mergellus albellus  – 11+

Goosander  Mergus merganser  – six

Little Grebe  Tachybaptus ruficollis  – 20+

Great Crested Grebe  Podiceps cristatus  – 38+

Eurasian Spoonbill  Platalea leucorodia  – seven (one strictly speaking a Spoonbill sp, heading off W     determinedly over the the main body of water, and six migr right by us)

Eurasian Bittern  Botaurus stellaris  – 4+

Grey Heron  Ardea cinerea  – one

Purple Heron  Ardea purpurea  – three

Great Egret   Ardea alba  – two

Great Cormorant  Phalacrocorax carbo  – three

Common Kestrel  Falco tinnunculus  – three (incl two on ground in newly ploughed ‘field’)

Osprey  Pandion haliaetus  – one at Machang (& possibly the same again at YYH, carrying a freshly     caught fish & mobbed by two 2nd c-y mongolicus)

Black Kite  Milvus migrans lineatus  – two

Short-toed Eagle  Circaetus gallicus  – one ‘soared up, turned to hover a couple of times, then ->N 15h01

Eastern Marsh Harrier  Circus spilonotus  – 11+

Eurasian Sparrowhawk  Accipiter nisus  – three

Common Buzzard  Buteo buteo japonicus  – 7+ (incl at least one not migr)

Greater Spotted Eagle  Aquila clanga  – one 3rd+ c-y migr at 11h30

***Eagle sp   – one ‘coming down’ 17h15 at YYH (probably Greater Spotted, but Eastern Imp ‘not eliminated’)

Common Coot  Fulica atra  – 90

Black-winged Stilt  Himantopus himantopus  – 40+

Northern Lapwing  Vanellus vanellus – 35+

Little Ringed Plover  Charadrius dubius  – c10

Kentish Plover  Charadrius alexandrinus  – 35+

Oriental Plover  Charadrius veredus  – 31 flew off (of their own volition!) before we found them on the     ground but decent views in flight as they passed @ overhead after a few turns orientating.

Temminck’s Stint  Calidris temminckii  – three

Oriental Pratincole  Glareola maldivarum  – four

‘Yellow-legged’ Gull  Larus (cachinnans) mongolicus – eight (single adult & 3rd c-y, and six 2nd c-y)

Common Black-headed Gull  Larus ridibundus  – 170+

Relict Gull  Larus relictus  – c5 on main body of water ‘disappeared’

Oriental Turtle Dove  Streptopelia orientalis  – one

Eurasian Collared Dove  Streptopelia decaocto  – 6+

Common Kingfisher  Alcedo atthis  – six

Hoopoe  Upupa epops  – one

Great Spotted Woodpecker  Dendrocopos major  – two

Grey-headed Woodpecker  Picus canus  – one

Azure-winged Magpie  Cyanopica cyanus  – ten

Common Magpie  Pica pica  – too many

Carrion Crow  Corvus corone  – one

Large-billed Crow  Corvus macrorhynchos  – one

Eastern Great Tit  Parus minor  – one

Marsh Tit  Parus palustris  – one w/ nest material at YYH

Chinese Penduline Tit  Remiz (pendulinus) consobrinus  – ten

Sand Martin  Riparia riparia  – one at YYH

Barn Swallow  Hirundo rustica  – 20

Greater Short-toed Lark  Calandrella brachydactyla  – 230+

Asian Short-toed Lark  Calandrella cheleensis  – eight

Eurasian Skylark  Alauda arvensis  – ten

Fan-tailed Warbler  Cisticola juncidis  – one heard

Chinese Hill Warbler  Rhopophilus pekinensis  – three at YYH

Vinous-throated Parrotbill  Paradoxornis webbianus  – 30+

White-cheeked Starling  Sturnus cineraceus  – 15

Black-throated Thrush  Turdus atrogularis  – one female-type ‘scoped

Red-throated Thrush  Turdus ruficollis  – 2+ (‘scope views of a yawning, confiding bird)

Naumann’s Thrush  Turdus naumanni   – 4+ en route S of Badaling

Daurian Redstart  Phoenicurus auroreus  – four

Eurasian Tree Sparrow  Passer montanus  – lots

Citrine Wagtail  Motacilla citreola  – one male

White Wagtail  Motacilla alba  – 10+ (incl 2+ ocularis, three baicalensis & one personata – last of     particular interest*: seen repeatedly on ground at Yurts & photographed)

Buff-bellied Pipit  Anthus rubescens japonicus  – 22+

Water Pipit  Anthus spinoletta blakistoni  – 8+

Oriental Greenfinch  Carduelis sinica  – one (+ one en route N of Badaling)

Little Bunting  Emberiza pusilla  – three

Yellow-throated Bunting  Emberiza elegans  – one male

Pallas’s Reed Bunting  Emberiza pallasi  – 55+ (many superb looks…)  

Mammals

Hare sp  – one ‘scoped (should be Tolai Hare but ears looked short, @ length of head only)  


Wallcreeper

Just back from my second trip to Shidu.  Highlight has to be the Wallcreeper.

Wallcreeper, Shidu, Beijing, 11 February 2012

Shidu looks made for Wallcreepers and I am sure there are more of these incredible gravity-defying birds along the gorge.  But this individual is a bit of a star of the Beijing birding scene.  It comes down to eye level, encouraged by the meal worms put out for it by bird photographers.  Consequently it shows extremely well, albeit intermittently.

On Saturday I took friends Nick Douse, John Gallagher and Hui Ying, a Beijing-based birder I met at the AGM of the Beijing Birdwatching Society, to Shidu.  Shidu literally means “10 river crossings” and this site, along the Juma river, is a good winter birding destination as, in addition to Wallcreeper, it hosts wintering Black Storks, Black Vultures, Crested Kingfishers and, occasionally, Long-billed Plover and Ibisbill.  We didn’t see the last two but we had a great day in cold but still conditions.

The bridges across the Juma river are numbered from south-east to north-west.  We arrived at the southern end of the gorge just under 2 hours after leaving Beijing and made our way slowly to the north-west, stopping occasionally to scan.  Our first stop, between bridges 2 and 3, produced over 100 Mallard on an ice-free section of the river plus a handful of Common Merganser (Goosander) and, our first surprise, a drake Mandarin.  Just as we were about to leave, 4 Black Storks came flying along the river and almost overhead, providing us with a great chance to study these majestic birds as they made their way downstream.

Black Stork, Shidu, Beijing

 

Black Stork coming in to land against the backdrop of Shidu gorge.

Our next stop was at Bridge number 6, a well-known ‘hot-spot’.  We immediately saw a line of bird photographers on the eastern side of the gorge with their heavy artillery trained on an area of rock face.  This had to be the Wallcreeper site.  After parking the car and taking a short walk, we were greeted by the big lens boys and began the wait for the Wallcreeper to show.  In just a few minutes it appeared and gradually made its way down the face of the rock to an area immediately in front of the photographers to feed on the meal worms.  Its stay here probably amounted to no more than 2 minutes but in that time I suspect the number of times a shutter was fired was several thousand..!

Some of the bird photographers waiting for the Wallcreeper. Check out those lenses!

After about half an hour at this site, during which time we also recorded Marsh Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Daurian Redstart, Red-billed Blue Magpie and Dusky Thrush, we moved on to bridge number 10.  This was an excellent site.  Two male Plumbeous Redstarts were singing and displaying, clearly establishing territories for the forthcoming breeding season, but the real stars were the Crested Kingfishers that made several passes, calling loudly.

Crested Kingfisher, Shidu, Beijing, 11 February 2012

Bizarrely, two Crested Kingfishers flew up to a new house on the edge of the river and perched on the balconies.. one upstairs and one downstairs..

Upstairs Downstairs. These Crested Kingfishers seemed to like looking at their reflection in the window of this new house on the banks of the river Juma.

A drive further north produced a Hen Harrier, several Godlewski’s Buntings, 1 Little Bunting, 8 Hill Pigeons, 18 Daurian Jackdaws and a Wren.

The journey back down the gorge produced 2 Common Kingfishers side by side near bridge 6 and, after enjoying these 2 birds we headed off back to Beijing in time for dinner.

Friends Nick Douse, John Gallagher and Hui Ying at bridge number 10, Shidu.

Full Species list (37 in total):

Mandarin (1)
Mallard (120)
Goosander (65)
Little Grebe (12)
Black Stork (10)
Grey Heron (2)
Great Cormorant (1)
Kestrel (1)
White-tailed Eagle (1) – sub-adult
Black Vulture (1)
Hen Harrier (1) – ringtail
Sparrowhawk (1)
Hill Pigeon (8)
Spotted Dove (2)
Common Kingfisher (2)
Crested Kingfisher (2)
Red-billed Blue Magpie (7)
Common Magpie (34)
Daurian Jackdaw (18) – 2 adults, 16 immatures
Carrion Crow (12)
Large-billed Crow (6)
Marsh Tit (1)
Long-tailed Tit (3)

Chinese Hill Warbler (1)
Wren (1)
Wallcreeper (1)
Naumann’s Thrush (5)
Dusky Thrush (2)
Eurasian Blackbird (1)
Daurian Redstart (2)
Plumbeous Redstart (4)
Tree Sparrow – lots
Water Pipit (5)
Oriental Greenfinch (6)
Godlewski’s Bunting (5)
Little Bunting (1)
Yellow-throated Bunting (12)