Oriental Plover

Yeyahu with Per Alström and Zhao Min

Birding in Beijing is brilliant at any time of year but, during spring migration, it’s hard to beat and there are so many highlights from Sunday’s trip to Yeyahu Nature Reserve with Per Alström and Zhao Min that it’s hard to know where to begin.

Birding with Per has many advantages, one of which is his encyclopaedic knowledge of China’s birds, especially pipits and wagtails. So perhaps it should not be a surprise that an encounter with a mixed flock of more than 70 pipits and wagtails at Ma Chang produced Beijing’s second ever MEADOW PIPIT (草地鹨). Initially found by Min and identified by Per, this bird was the undoubted rarity highlight but there were so many other great moments – the 21 ORIENTAL PLOVERS (东方鴴), displaying EASTERN MARSH HARRIERS (白腹鹞), GREATER SPOTTED (乌雕) and SHORT-TOED EAGLES (短趾雕), SAKER (猎隼), a flock of 90+ BAIKAL TEAL (花脸鸭), displaying ASIAN SHORT-TOED LARK ((亚洲) 短趾百灵), a flock of 52 WHITE WAGTAILS (白鹡鸰) that included 3 subspecies – leucopsis, ocularis and baicalensis – and a flock of ‘eastern’ ROOKS (秃鼻乌鸦) – a possible future new species?

WHITE WAGTAIL ssp baicalensis, Ma Chang, 6 April 2014 — WHITE WAGTAIL (白鹡鸰) ssp baicalensis, Ma Chang, 6 April 2014

We started at Ma Chang, a reliable spot for ORIENTAL PLOVER (东方鴴) in early April. It’s important to arrive here early as this site is extremely popular with horse-riders, motorised buggies and even people driving imitation tanks, so it’s hopeless as a birding destination at the weekend after around 0800. We were fortunate to find a single ORIENTAL PLOVER (东方鴴) with a flock of 30+ KENTISH PLOVERS (环颈鴴) and, later, we found a flock of 21 OPs in agricultural fields just east of the main site. These birds – that winter in Australia – are special and one of the signs that Spring has arrived in Beijing.

ORIENTAL PLOVERS at Ma Chang, 6 April 2014 — ORIENTAL PLOVERS (东方鴴) at Ma Chang, 6 April 2014

After enjoying the pipits, wagtails and plovers, as well as a beautiful male MERLIN (灰背隼) that buzzed us before sitting up on a stand of maize, we headed off to Yeyahu Nature Reserve.

This adult male MERLIN was a nice sighting at Ma Chang. — This adult male Merlin (灰背隼) was a nice sighting at Ma Chang.

At Yeyahu we enjoyed the spectacular sight of displaying EASTERN MARSH HARRIERS (白腹鹞), newly arrived and preparing to breed. These are stunning raptors, the males in particular, and this adult male made a close pass when were in one of the tower hides.. awesome!

EASTERN MARSH HARRIER, Yeyahu, 6 April 2014. Is there a more spectacular raptor anywhere? — EASTERN MARSH HARRIER (白腹鹞), Yeyahu, 6 April 2014. Is there a more spectacular raptor anywhere?

EASTERN MARSH HARRIER 'buzzing' us at Yeyahu. — EASTERN MARSH HARRIER (白腹鹞) ‘buzzing’ us at Yeyahu.

Two GREATER SPOTTED EAGLES (乌雕) added to our raptor list which, by the end of the day, had reached 10 species and bizarrely missing COMMON KESTREL (红隼)!

GREATER SPOTTED EAGLE, Yeyahu NR, 6 April 2014 — GREATER SPOTTED EAGLE (乌雕), Yeyahu NR, 6 April 2014

In stunning spring weather (and clean air!) we enjoyed so many other highlights on a day that produced a total of 81 species. Just before dusk we were treated to a magnificent flight of ducks that included MALLARD (綠頭鴨), SPOT-BILLED DUCK (斑嘴鴨), PINTAIL (针尾鸭), COMMON POCHARD (红头潜鸭), FERRUGINOUS DUCK (白眼潜鸭), SHOVELER (琵嘴鸭), GARGANEY (白眉鸭), COMMON TEAL (绿翅鸭) and, just as we had hoped, BAIKAL TEAL (花脸鸭). A flock of at least 90 of the latter wheeled around in the fading light – a magnificent sight and a fitting end to a wonderful day at this world-class birding site.

BAIKAL TEAL. Part of a 90+ strong flock that wheeled around just before dusk. — BAIKAL TEAL (花脸鸭). Part of a 90+ strong flock that wheeled around just before dusk.

Big thanks to Per and Min for their company on a day that will live long in the memory…!

Per and Zhao Min at one of the hides at Yeyahu NR, 6 April 2014. — Per and Min (being careful not to ‘stride’) at one of the hides at Yeyahu NR, 6 April 2014.

Full species list below:

JAPANESE QUAIL Coturnix japonica 鵪鶉 1

COMMON PHEASANT Phasianus colchicus 雉雞 4

SWAN GOOSE Anser cygnoides VU 鴻雁 1

GREYLAG GOOSE Anser anser 3

RUDDY SHELDUCK Tadorna ferruginea 赤麻鴨 6

MANDARIN DUCK Aix galericulata 鴛鴦 9

GADWALL Anas strepera 赤膀鴨 94

FALCATED DUCK Anas falcata 罗纹鸭 14

MALLARD Anas platyrhynchos 綠頭鴨 500

CHINESE SPOT-BILLED DUCK Anas zonorhyncha 斑嘴鴨 38

NORTHERN SHOVELER Anas clypeata 琵嘴鸭 13

NORTHERN PINTAIL Anas acuta 针尾鸭 6

GARGANEY Anas querquedula 白眉鸭 4

BAIKAL TEAL Anas formosa 花脸鸭 a flock of 90 plus a separate flock of 70, which could have been different birds.

EURASIAN TEAL Anas crecca 绿翅鸭 350

RED-CRESTED POCHARD Netta rufina 赤嘴潜鸭 1

COMMON POCHARD Aythya ferina 红头潜鸭 3

FERRUGINOUS POCHARD Aythya nyroca NT 白眼潜鸭 8

TUFTED DUCK Aythya fuligula 凤头潜鸭 4

COMMON GOLDENEYE Bucephala clangula 鹊鸭 6

SMEW Mergellus albellus 白秋沙鸭 24

LITTLE GREBE Tachybaptus ruficollis 小鸊鷉 4

GREAT CRESTED GREBE Podiceps cristatus 凤头鸊鷉 8

GREAT BITTERN Botaurus stellaris 大麻鳽 1

GREY HERON Ardea cinerea 苍鹭 16

PURPLE HERON Ardea purpurea 草鹭 2

EASTERN GREAT EGRET Ardea modesta 大白鹭 1

GREAT CORMORANT Phalacrocorax carbo 普通鸬鹚 12

SHORT-TOED SNAKE EAGLE Circaetus gallicus 短趾雕 1

EASTERN MARSH HARRIER Circus spilonotus 白腹鹞 7

HEN HARRIER Circus cyaneus 白尾鹞 1 adult female

EURASIAN SPARROWHAWK Accipiter nisus 雀鹰 2

NORTHERN GOSHAWK Accipiter gentilis 苍鹰 2

EASTERN BUZZARD Buteo japonicus 普通鵟 19

GREATER SPOTTED EAGLE Aquila clanga VU 乌雕 2

MERLIN Falco columbarius 灰背隼 1

SAKER FALCON Falco cherrug EN 猎隼 1

PEREGRINE FALCON Falco peregrinus 游隼 1

COMMON COOT Fulica atra 骨顶鸡(白骨顶) 44

BLACK-WINGED STILT Himantopus himantopus 黑翅长脚鹬 4

NORTHERN LAPWING Vanellus vanellus 凤头麦鸡 33

GREY-HEADED LAPWING Vanellus cinereus 灰头麦鸡 1

LITTLE RINGED PLOVER Charadrius dubius 金眶鴴 2

KENTISH PLOVER Charadrius alexandrinus 环颈鴴 48

ORIENTAL PLOVER Charadrius veredus 东方鴴 21

COMMON SNIPE Gallinago gallinago 扇尾沙锥 9

BLACK-HEADED GULL Chroicocephalus ridibundus 红嘴鸥 39

ORIENTAL TURTLE DOVE Streptopelia orientalis 山斑鸠 4

EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE Streptopelia decaocto 灰斑鸠 6

COMMON KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis 普通翠鸟 2

EURASIAN HOOPOE Upupa epops 戴胜 2

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER Dendrocopos major 大斑啄木鸟 1

GREY-HEADED WOODPECKER Picus canus 灰头绿啄木鸟 1

AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE Cyanopica cyanus 灰喜鹊 1

COMMON MAGPIE Pica pica 喜鹊 30

DAURIAN JACKDAW Coloeus dauuricus 达乌里寒鸦 400+

ROOK Corvus frugilegus 秃鼻乌鸦 33

CARRION CROW Corvus corone 小嘴乌鸦 2

MARSH TIT Poecile palustris 沼泽山雀 1

JAPANESE TIT Parus minor 大山雀 2

CHINESE PENDULINE TIT Remiz consobrinus 中华攀雀 15

GREATER SHORT-TOED LARK Calandrella brachydactyla (大) 短趾百灵 8

ASIAN SHORT-TOED LARK Calandrella cheleensis (亚洲) 短趾百灵 1

EURASIAN SKYLARK Alauda arvensis 云雀 14

BARN SWALLOW Hirundo rustica 家燕 8

VINOUS-THROATED PARROTBILL Sinosuthora webbianus 棕头鸦雀 40

WHITE-CHEEKED STARLING Spodiopsar cineraceus 灰椋鸟 26

COMMON STARLING Sturnus vulgaris 紫翅椋鸟 1

RED-THROATED THRUSH Turdus ruficollis 赤颈鸫 1

DAURIAN REDSTART Phoenicurus auroreus 北红尾鸲 1

EURASIAN TREE SPARROW Passer montanus (树) 麻雀 150

CITRINE WAGTAIL Motacilla citreola 黄头鹡鸰 1

WHITE WAGTAIL Motacilla alba 白鹡鸰 63

RED-THROATED PIPIT Anthus cervinus 红喉鹨 1

BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT Anthus rubescens japonicus 黄腹鹨 18

WATER PIPIT Anthus spinoletta 水鹨 20

MEADOW PIPIT Anthus pratensis 1 *** the 2nd record for Beijing***

GREY-CAPPED GREENFINCH Carduelis sinica 金翅 (雀) 4

LITTLE BUNTING Emberiza pusilla 小鹀 1

PALLAS’S BUNTING Emberiza pallasi 苇鹀 22

REED BUNTING Emberiza schoeniclus 芦鹀 1

TOTAL NUMBER OF SPECIES 81

Seeing Double

On Friday I visited Ma Chang with Global Times journalist Jiang Yuxia (writing an article about birding in Beijing) and Jennifer Leung. After a few days of cold and windy weather, the forecast was for a change in the wind from a cold northerly to a light southerly and for temperatures to soar from the recent chilly highs of 10-12 degrees Celsius to over 20 degrees C.

After a 0500 start we reached Ma Chang at around 0630. It was a stunning morning with good visibility, clear skies and almost no wind, disguising the -2 early morning temperature. Along the entrance track we encountered Jesper Hornskov with a couple of clients. They were watching a party of Bohemian Waxwings feeding on the buds of some large trees – a nice start to the day. At Ma Chang, as expected at this time of year, we soon spotted a group of ORIENTAL PLOVERS and a count revealed over 60 birds present – a fantastic total.

Oriental Plover, Ma Chang. The flock now exceeds 60 birds. — Oriental Plover, Ma Chang. Getting bored of these yet?? The flock now exceeds 60 birds.

We moved on to the spit and settled in alongside the local fishing folk for a little visible migration.

Yuxia speaks to the local fishermen about life at Ma Chang... — Yuxia speaks to the local fishermen about life at Ma Chang…

A few Buff-bellied and Water Pipits, with the odd White Wagtail, flew overhead and a couple of tightly packed flocks of Greater Short-toed Larks wheeled around the remnants of last year’s maize stubble. A Black (eared) Kite lumbered past and two female Eastern Marsh Harriers caused havoc among the flocks of Eurasian Teal.

With not much happening we decided to move on and, after a short stop at a flooded field to admire two stunning BAIKAL TEAL, we headed to the ‘island’ to the north of the desert area to look for duck… Jesper and his clients were already in situ and, although quite distant, it was clear that there were lots of duck present. Two relatively close (but distant to photograph!) Red-breasted Mergansers represented bird species number 299 for me in Beijing… result!

Red-breasted Mergansers, Ma Chang. A scarce bird in the capital. Looks as if this pair has had a quarrel…

With the duck distant, I knew that moving to the location from where I had seen the Baer’s Pochard last Sunday would again be a good vantage point. We headed to the spot and, sure enough, we were treated to stunning views of a large mixed raft of duck with the sun behind us and no wind… perfect, and very unusual, conditions at Wild Duck Lake.

We quickly found a drake BAER’S and, almost immediately, spotted another drake. There were two!

The two BAER'S POCHARDS at Ma Chang on Friday — The two BAER’S POCHARDS at Ma Chang on Friday. With Ferruginous Duck, Gadwall and Common Pochard.

As on Sunday with the single drake, the two Baer’s were consorting with Ferruginous Duck and both were seen displaying… fabulous! It was from here that we also enjoyed some stunning views of Falcated Duck (including one very unusually marked male which sported a yellow mark on its lower cheek), Tufted Duck, Common Pochard, Smew, Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, Common Teal, Spot-billed Duck, Coot and Little and Great Crested Grebes. It was a great morning’s birding!

The gang at Ma Chang after seeing the two Baer's Pochards... — The gang at Ma Chang after seeing the two Baer’s Pochards…

A short time later, a couple of Black Kites appeared and, as our eyes began to be distracted from the duck to the skies, it wasn’t long before I spotted an aquila eagle some distance away… My instinct was that it was probably a Greater Spotted Eagle, the most common aquila eagle at this site at this time of year. However, as it soared, Jesper immediately suspected it was an IMPERIAL EAGLE… and he was right!

It circled distantly and was soon joined by a second, but smaller, eagle.. This second bird had a notably square tail, pale markings on the upperwing coverts and mantle and, as it turned, it was even possible to glimpse the ‘landing lights’… wow.. A BOOTED EAGLE! Two very good eagle records for Beijing in the same scope view!

Both appeared to drift away and were lost from view without allowing me to capture any photographic record. However, fortunately, the Imperial soon re-appeared, this time closer, and I grabbed the camera to capture a few record images before it drifted into the mountains to the north. The bulging secondaries, typical of immature Imperial Eagle, can be seen very well, as well as the pale markings on the under- and upperwing. The ‘jizz’ was slightly different to Greater Spotted, too. A useful lesson for me (I have only ever seen one Eastern Imperial Eagle before).

Immature Eastern Imperial Eagle, Ma Chang.

Unfortunately the BOOTED EAGLE didn’t return but maybe it will linger in the area.. it’s a fabulous Beijing record with only a handful of previous sightings in eastern China. It also represented my 300th species in Beijing [NB Stop Press: Booted Eagle seen at Miyun Reservoir on Saturday by Jan-Erik Nilsen – the same bird?] It’s hard for me to see new birds in the capital now, so to see two new species in one day was pretty special..

The infamous NW Wild Duck Lake wind suddenly got up at around 1130 and Jesper and his clients decided to head off to check Yeyahu NR. We decided to stay and enjoy the Baer’s Pochards a little longer. We gave it another hour or so before calling it a day and heading back to Beijing.. another cracking day at this world class site.

Full Species List (71 species):

Common Pheasant – 2
Swan Goose – 14
Bean Goose – 12
Ruddy Shelduck – 36
Gadwall – 30
Falcated Duck – 100+
Eurasian Wigeon – 10
Mallard – 32
Spot-billed Duck – 8
Shoveler – 12
Garganey – 2
Baikal Teal – 2
Eurasian Teal – 87
Common Pochard – 78
Baer’s Pochard – 2 drakes
Ferruginous Duck – 18
Tufted Duck – 15
Common Goldeneye – 6
Smew – 20
Goosander – 2
Red-breasted Merganser – 2
Little Grebe – 13
Great Crested Grebe – 14
Great Bittern – 2
Grey Heron – 8
Little Egret – 1
Great Cormorant –
Eurasian Kestrel – 1
Osprey – 3
Black-eared Kite – 3
Eastern Marsh Harrier – 5
Eurasian Sparrowhawk – 1
(Common) Eastern Buzzard – 2
Eastern Imperial Eagle – 1 immature
Booted Eagle – 1
Coot – 39
Common Crane – 70+
Black-winged Stilt – 14
Grey-headed Lapwing – 3
Northern Lapwing – 48
Little Ringed Plover – 18
Kentish Plover – 35
Oriental Plover – 62
Common Gull – 4
Mongolian Gull – 7
Black-headed Gull – 27
Oriental Turtle Dove – 3
Collared Dove – 2
Fork-tailed Swift – 3
Common Kingfisher – 1
Hoopoe – 10
Grey-headed Woodpecker – 2
Chinese Grey Shrike – 1
Azure-winged Magpie – 6
Red-billed Blue Magpie – 2
Common Magpie – lots
Daurian Jackdaw – c85
Carrion Crow – 2
Large-billed Crow – 2
Bohemian Waxwing – 11
Barn Swallow – 3
Red-rumped Swallow – 1
Greater Short-toed Lark – 110
Asian Short-toed Lark – 2
Eurasian Skylark – 2
White-cheeked Starling – 2
Tree Sparrow – lots
White Wagtail – 12 (11 leucopsis, 2 ocularis)
Buff-bellied Pipit – 18
Water Pipit – 6
Pallas’s Bunting – 12

Baer’s Pochard at Ma Chang

On Sunday I visited Ma Chang, Wild Duck Lake. April and May are superb months to visit this special Beijing site. With migration in full swing, it’s fascinating to see the departure of the winter visitors, the arrival of summer visitors and the passage of migrants on their way to breeding grounds further north… Already many of the winter birds have departed – I didn’t see a single crane of any species on Sunday – but many others are just beginning to arrive. Oriental Plovers – a Ma Chang speciality – are coming through in good numbers now and it’s a great time, too, for wildfowl and some of the early raptors.

The excitement of my visit on Sunday was heightened by the news that a BAER’S POCHARD was found on Friday by local birders Zhu Lei and Zhang Shen (thanks guys!). This bird is classified as “Critically Endangered” and, I understand, a survey of its traditional wintering grounds in China produced fewer than 50 birds this winter. Look out for a forthcoming article in Birding Asia about the dramatic decline of this species.

On arrival I was delighted to see some ORIENTAL PLOVERS on site. I counted 14 and, after watching them briefly, I made my way to the first site for checking duck. Viewing wildfowl is not straightforward at Ma Chang; there are many areas that are not viewable and the precise location of the birds depends on many factors, such as the wind direction and speed and the activity on the lake of the local fishermen. I have two favourite locations – one at the spit by some yurts (also a good place for visible migration) and one on the ‘island’ to the north. On Sunday, both sites were notably empty of duck. I was beginning to think that it wasn’t going to be my day and that the duck must be hiding somewhere out of sight. Then I saw a small flock of Tufted Duck (not a common bird in Beijing) fly in and go down behind some reeds. I could see that there was a track that ran close by, so I made my way to the general area and found a good place to view the duck.

Unusually, there was no northwesterly wind blowing into my face, so the conditions were good. I soon realised that it wasn’t just the Tufted Duck present. There were some Ferruginous Duck (a species with which BAER’S POCHARD often associates), Shoveler, Common Pochard, Smew, Falcated Duck, Gadwall, Wigeon and Mallard all present. A careful scan revealed no sign of the Baer’s but I knew there were some duck asleep in the reeds, including some Ferruginous Duck and some others that were obscured.. I settled in, hoping that one of the sleeping duck out of sight might be the Baer’s.

After 45 minutes of enjoyable birding, including a nice flock of passing Swan Geese, a small passage of Buff-bellied Pipits and an early male Citrine Wagtail, I began another scan and, sure enough, in amongst the Ferruginous Duck was a stunning drake BAER’S POCHARD.

I watched the BAER’S for the next hour as it proceeded to display. Unfortunately there were no female BAER’S but that didn’t seem to matter.. this lonely male threw its head back, stretched its neck high and bowed to several female Ferruginous Ducks and a slightly startled-looking female Common Pochard… I guess when your situation is as desperate as the Baer’s Pochard, you can’t afford to be fussy!

The drake BAER'S POCHARD (left) with Falcated Duck, Coot, Gadwall and Tufted Duck — The drake BAER’S POCHARD (left) with Falcated Duck, Coot, Gadwall and Tufted Duck

It was heartening to see this bird but, at the same time, sobering to think that it is likely to make its way north alone and, when it arrives at its favoured lake, there may be no females with which to breed. The situation for this bird is precarious. Encouragingly I have heard of two separate sightings from Liaoning Province in the last few days – one male and one female. Let’s hope it’s a good breeding season for this species.

After an hour or so, I reluctantly pulled myself away to explore the rest of Ma Chang. The Oriental Plover flock had increased to an astonishing 55 birds, with 4-5 adult males sporting gleaming white heads.

Flocks of Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers were mixed in, many of which were displaying and calling frequently.

At one point, as I was watching the flock, all of the birds suddenly took flight. I suspected a raptor and, sure enough, a quick scan with the binoculars revealed a superb male LESSER KESTREL.. wow! A nice way to end a brilliant birding session at Ma Chang.

Full Species List (62 species):

Japanese Quail – 2
Common Pheasant – 12
Swan Goose – 28
Bean Goose – 6
Ruddy Shelduck – 42
Gadwall – 78
Falcated Duck – 225
Eurasian Wigeon – 19
Mallard – 67
Spot-billed Duck – 6
Northern Shoveler – 4
Eurasian Teal – 18
Common Pochard – 12
BAER’S POCHARD – 1 drake displaying to both female Ferruginous Duck and Common Pochard. Employed three ‘displays’ – one involved stretching the neck high, the second throwing the head back and the third leaning the head forward and ‘puffing up’ the back of the neck.
Ferruginous Duck – 17
Tufted Duck – 7
Goldeneye – 5
Smew – 12
Goosander – 4
Little Grebe – 8
Great Crested Grebe – 14
Great Bittern – 1 booming
Grey Heron – 7
Great Cormorant – 1
LESSER KESTREL – 1 male drifted northwest with occasional hovering spells (flushed the Oriental Plovers at one point)
Eurasian Kestrel – 1
Eastern Marsh Harrier – 3 (one adult male and two adult females)
Eurasian Sparrowhawk – 1
Northern Goshawk – 3
Common (Eastern) Buzzard – 2
Common Coot – 32
Black-winged Stilt – 16
Northern Lapwing – 63
Little Ringed Plover – 14
Kentish Plover – 33
Oriental Plover – 55 – the number seemed to increase as the day wore on with just 14 present early morning. Some disturbance from bird photographers and horses but they were not unduly perturbed.
Common Snipe – 1
Common Gull – 11
Mongolian Gull – 2 adults flew high west calling
Black-headed Gull – 18
Oriental Turtle Dove – 4
Collared Dove – 3
Common Kingfisher – 2
Hoopoe – 4
Grey-headed Woodpecker – 1
Chinese Grey Shrike – 2
Azure-winged Magpie – 6
Common Magpie – lots
Daurian Jackdaw – 10
Corvid sp – 15
Carrion Crow – 3
Bohemian Waxwing – 4 flew south
Asian Short-toed Lark – 5
Eurasian Skylark – 4
White-cheeked Starling – 5
Daurian Redstart – 4
Tree Sparrow – lots
Citrine Wagtail – one male
White Wagtail – 4
Buff-bellied Pipit – 26
Water Pipit – 9
Pallas’s Bunting – 28
Mammals:

Tolai Hare – 1

Oriental Plovers – they’re back!

Oriental Plover, Ma Chang, Friday 29 March 2013. The arrival of these birds symobolises the beginning of Spring at Wild Duck Lake.

On Good Friday, I visited Wild Duck Lake (Ma Chang and Yeyahu NR) with visiting Ed Drewitt and Beijing-based student Alice Carfrae. The weather was good, if a little cold, and the birding a superb example of an early Spring day in Beijing. The highlights for me were the 6 stunning Oriental Plovers at Ma Chang early morning and the excellent views of Baikal Teal at Yeyahu NR.

I collected Ed and Alice around 0530 for the drive to Ma Chang. After a clear run we were on site and birding by 0720 and, within just a few minutes, a hopeful scan of the ‘desert area’ at Ma Chang produced 6 beautiful Oriental Plovers. Ma Chang is THE place in Beijing to see this species in early Spring and, for me, these birds are the symbol of the beginning of Spring in the capital. We enjoyed these birds for around 20 minutes, watching them preen and, occasionally, feed in the early morning light. After seeing them this time I think this bird is my personal favourite, among so many other great species to be found here.

These birds are well on their way from their wintering grounds in Australia to their breeding grounds in Manchuria and Siberia.

Oriental Plover, Ma Chang, 29 March 2013. I don't know anything about ageing or sexing OPs. Do the pale fringes to the feathers on the upperparts and the buffy face indicate immaturity? Or is this an adult female? — Oriental Plover, Ma Chang, 29 March 2013. I don’t know anything about ageing or sexing OPs. Do the pale fringes to the feathers on the upperparts and the buffy face indicate immaturity? Or is this an adult female?

We moved on to the spit by the yurts, where the local fisherman have already returned to set their nets for the summer season. This location proved to be a good one for visible migration with White Wagtails (ssp leucopsis) dropping in, a stunning close fly-by from a male Goshawk, a couple of Eastern Marsh Harriers, a steady trickle of Eurasian Skylarks and several flocks of cranes, including a few small groups of White-naped in amongst the more numerous Common.

At the next site we secured views, albeit distantly, of some of the duck present, including Falcated Duck, Common Pochard, Pintail, Ferruginous Duck, Mallard, Spot-billed Duck, Gadwall and Common Teal. A very distant group of swans were probably Whoopers but we couldn’t be sure.

As the day began to warm up from a chilly -4 first thing to about 3-4 degrees C, some raptors began to move, beginning with a few Common (Eastern) Buzzards of the ssp japonicus, a trickle of Goshawks, a couple of Sparrowhawks and a Kestrel. At about 1030 we were discussing the potential for an eagle and, sure enough, a Greater Spotted Eagle duly appeared against the backdrop of the mountains to the north, followed shortly after by another, then another.. superb!

After enjoying the raptor migration for an hour or so we decided to visit Yeyahu NR to check whether it was open (it usually opens at “the end of March” but an exact date is always difficult to pin down!). Fortunately it was open and we were pleased when we saw a large flock of wild duck on the lake. Scanning through them produced some stunning Baikal Teal, viewable in excellent light, together with good numbers of Common Pochard, Falcated Duck, Pintail, Common Teal, single pairs of Red-crested Pochard and Ferruginous Duck and several groups of Smew. Not bad!

After watching a drumming Grey-headed Woodpecker and a confiding male Daurian Redstart we set off back to Beijing having had a typical early Spring day at Wild Duck Lake.

Many thanks to Alice and Ed for their company.

Full Species List (70 in total):

Common Pheasant – 3

Bean Goose – 67

Whooper/Bewick’s Swan – 27

Ruddy Shelduck – 15

Gadwall – 11

Falcated Duck – 82

Eurasian Wigeon – 2

Mallard – 150+

Chinese Spot-billed Duck – 18

Northern Pintail – 23

Baikal Teal – 14

Eurasian Teal – 80

Red-crested Pochard – 2

Common Pochard – 64

Ferruginous Duck – 7

Common Goldeneye – 26

Smew – 49

Goosander – 12

Little Grebe – 12

Great Crested Grebe – 18

Great Bittern – at least 1 booming

Grey Heron – 16

Great Cormorant – 17

Eurasian Kestrel – 3

Saker – 1

Black-eared Kite – 13

Eastern Marsh Harrier – 3 (1 ad male, 2 ad fems)

Hen Harrier – 1 imm male

Eurasian Sparrowhawk – 2

Northern Goshawk – 7, including a fly-past by a stunning adult male

Common (Eastern) Buzzard – 47; good passage between 1030-1300

Greater Spotted Eagle – 3

Common Coot – 9

White-naped Crane – 41

Common Crane – 130

Black-winged Stilt – 12

Grey-headed Lapwing – 2 distant birds in flight

Northern Lapwing – 46

Little Ringed Plover – 8

Kentish Plover – 47

ORIENTAL PLOVER – 6 – superb views early morning; always a star bird!

Dunlin – 4

Black-headed Gull – 18

Oriental Turtle Dove – 1

Spotted Dove – 1

Collared Dove – 4

Fork-tailed Swift – 10 flying south (!)

Common Kingfisher – 1

Hoopoe – 5

Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker – 1

Great Spotted Woodpecker – 1

Grey-headed Woodpecker – 3

Chinese Grey Shrike – at least 1, possibly 2

Azure-winged Magpie – 8

Common Magpie – lots

Carrion Crow – 6

Large-billed Crow – 2

Eastern Great (Japanese) Tit – 1

Barn Swallow – 1

Asian Short-toed Lark – 18

Skylark – 39

Vinous-throated Parrotbill – 40+

White-cheeked Starling – 4

Common Starling – 46; a good number

Daurian Redstart – 2 (1 male, 1 female)

Thrush sp – 4 flew across the road on the way to Ma Chang.

Tree Sparrow – lots

White Wagtail – 17 (all ssp leucopsis)

Brambling – 1

Oriental Greenfinch – 2

Pallas’s Reed Bunting – 9

Mammals:

Tolai Hare – 1

Bull-headed Shrike!

Yesterday I accompanied visiting British birder John Gerson and Dutch birder Ben Wielstra to Wild Duck Lake. We started at Ma Chang where we were lucky enough to find 2 Oriental Plovers, 5 Greater Sand Plovers and a Mongolian Lark before the Genghis Khan wannabees began to gallop all over the area. A flyover Merlin was a nice bonus.

2012-04-27 Greater Sand Plover — Greater Sand Plover, Ma Chang, 27 April 2012. This bird showed a hint of a black border to the upper breast band, a feature more associated with Lesser Sand Plover, but structurally (especially the bill shape) it fitted Greater. Also, I believe the rusty markings on the mantle/scapulars are a good feature of Greater.

2012-04-27 OP — Oriental Plover (presumed female), Ma Chang, 27 April 2012

After enjoying these birds we moved to the edge of the reservoir and, alongside the track, we enjoyed spectacular views of Citrine and ‘Eastern’ Yellow Wagtails, Buff-belled Pipits and Pallas’s Buntings. One of the ‘Eastern’ Yellow Wags looked to me like it might have been of the ssp tschutschensis. What do you think?

2012-04-27 Citrine Wagtail — Citrine Wagtail, Ma Chang, 27 April 2012. Males of this species are simply stunning.

2012-04-27 Yellow Wagtail ssp tschutschensis? — 'Eastern' Yellow Wagtail... is this of the ssp tschutschensis? I really need to invest in that "Pipits and Wagtails" book!

Fly-by Pied Harriers and Oriental Pratincoles were nice additions to our day list before we headed to the ‘island’ to check out the wildfowl that was sheltering from the increasingly strong wind. Keeping the telescope steady was a challenge but, with perseverance, we made out some Falcated Duck bobbing up and down.

Some passing Fork-tailed (Pacific) Swifts, a group of 5 Spoonbills (probably Eurasian) and our first Purple Heron added to our tally before we headed off to Yeyahu, as much to find a little shelter from the dust clouds than anything else!

At Yeyahu we were treated to sensational views of Eastern Marsh Harrier and enjoyed prolonged views of a Greater Spotted Eagle as it hung in the air over the southern boundary of the reserve. A Black-eared Kite flushed the heron-infested reedbed in the south-west corner to reveal at least 17 Purple Herons with a sprinkling of Greys mixed in. A lunch stop here also produced a Chinese Penduline Tit (heard only), Zitting Cisticola and a few Siberian Stonechats as well as a now almost expected Short-toed Eagle hunting over the scrubby area between Ma Chang and Yeyahu.

Perhaps the star bird of the day revealed itself on the walk down to the observation tower at Yeyahu. As we walked the sheltered side of the treeline we encountered a large flock of Little Buntings – at least 70 birds – and, as were checking them for any other buntings, we caught sight of a larger bird flit ahead of us and land in a dense thicket. After a little maneovering, we were able to see it was a shrike and, a very striking one at that. It sported a beautifully rich orange cap and showed a dark grey tail without any rufous at all. It also showed some nice scaling on the breast. It could only be one species – Bull-headed Shrike. This was a new bird for John and Ben and also my first record of this species in Beijing (I have seen it in Liaoning, at Laotieshan, and also at Rudong, near Shanghai). We enjoyed prolonged, if partly obscured views, and I was able to capture a couple of record images before we left it to resume its presumed hunting of the Little Buntings.. Very nice!

2012-04-27 Bull-headed Shrike — Bull-headed Shrike, Yeyahu NR, 27 April 2012

2012-04-27 Bull-headed Shrike2 — Bull-headed Shrike, Yeyahu NR. It's a mean, lean Little Bunting hunting machine...

Ben recorded this cool video of the shrike using a compact camera through my telescope!

After frustratingly tantalising views of a Chinese Hill Warbler (a bird that Ben, in particular, wanted to see), and contrastingly stunning views of an Osprey, we headed to the small reedy pools to try for Baikal Teal. Unfortunately they seemed to have moved on but we did see nice groups of Garganey and added Red-crested Pochard to our species list for the day.

2012-04-27 Garganey and Eurasian Teal — Garganey and Eurasian Teal, Yeyahu NR, 27 April 2012

Big thanks to John and Ben for their excellent company throughout the day. It was a lot of fun to be in the field with these guys.

A humourous interlude at the end was provided by one of the reserve staff who was rounding up domesticated ducks using his motorcyle. He was soon joined by another local on his bicycle and, after a few mishaps that saw a few stragglers make a break for it across the next field, they eventually managed to herd them all onto a freshly dug lake…

2012-04-27 duck chase2 — Rounding up ducks.. with a motorbike.

2012-04-27 duck chase — It's not often one's progress is held up by crossing ducks!

Full species list (not including domestic duck):
Common Pheasant – 7

Bean Goose – 6

Common Shelduck – 6

Ruddy Shelduck – 23

Mandarin – 3

Gadwall – 18

Falcated Duck – 4

Eurasian Wigeon – 4

Mallard – 14

Chinese Spot-billed Duck – 16

Shoveler – 2

Pintail – 4

Garganey – 11

Eurasian Teal – 16

Red-crested Pochard – 2

Common Pochard – 8

Ferruginous Duck – 2

Tufted Duck – 9

Smew – 16

Goosander – 4

Little Grebe – 18

Great Crested Grebe – 16

Spoonbill sp – 6

Eurasian Bittern – 1 seen plus 2-3 heard

Grey Heron – 12

Purple Heron – 19

Great Egret – 2

Eurasian Kestrel – 2

Merlin – 1

Hobby – 2 (plus one on the drive home)

Osprey – 2

Black-eared Kite – 4 to 6

Short-toed Eagle – 1

Eastern Marsh Harrier – 5

Pied Harrier – 3

Common (Eastern) Buzzard – 3

Greater Spotted Eagle – 1 (poss 2)

Common Moorhen – 1 (heard)

Common Coot – 12

Black-winged Stilt – 47

Lapwing – 14

Little Ringed Plover – 9

Kentish Plover – 6

Greater Sand Plover – 5

Oriental Plover – 2

Common Greenshank – 2

Common Sandpiper – 3

Oriental Pratincole – 19

Black-headed Gull – 69

Common Tern – 12

Little Tern – 2

Oriental Turtle Dove – 2

Eurasian Collared Dove – 4 (from car)

Fork-tailed (Pacific) Swift – 10

Common Swift – 1

Common Kingfisher – 8

Hoopoe – 2

Bull-headed Shrike – 1

Azure-winged Magpie – 8

Common Magpie – too many

Rook – 1 (from car)

Large-billed Crow – 1 (from car)

Great Tit – 2

Marsh Tit – 2

Chinese Penduline Tit – 1 (heard)

Sand Martin – 3

Barn Swallow – 22

Red-rumped Swallow – 5

Mongolian Lark – 1

Greater Short-toed Lark – 63

Asian Short-toed Lark – 10

Eurasian Skylark – 1

Zitting Cisticola – 3

Chinese Hill Warbler – 1

Vinous-thraoted Parrotbill – c50

White-cheeked Starling – 6

Daurian Redstart – 1

Siberian Stonechat – 7

Tree Sparrow – lots

Eastern Yellow Wagtail – 12 (including ssp taivana and tschutschensis)

Citrine Wagtail – 14

White Wagtail – 1

Red-throated Pipit – 1

Buff-bellied Pipit – 28

Water Pipit – 2

Oriental Greenfinch – 1 heard

Little Bunting – c75

Pallas’s Reed Bunting – 16

This Spring I have been fortunate enough to enjoy two encounters with Oriental Plovers, surely one of the best looking birds in China..! These charismatic waders breed in north eastern China and south eastern Russia with the majority of the population wintering in north-west Australia. The population is estimated to be around 160,000 individuals.

These birds pass through the Beijing area on passage at the end of March and early April and Wild Duck Lake (Ma Chang in particular) is a regular site. They can be very confiding and, this year, I have been able to capture some pleasing images and a short video. On 5 April I counted 19 of these stunning birds at Ma Chang in a variety of plumages.

OP group Ma Chang — Part of the flock of 19 Oriental Plovers at Ma Chang, 5 April 2012

OP white face with other — One of the white-faced birds.

OP moult landscape — A bird still in moult.

OP presumed young female — Presumed female.

OP close — A very smart-plumaged individual but lacking white head (still moulting?).

OP curious close — This individual was very curious!

OP dust standing — The same individual facing into a dust storm..

OP on knees — Same individual sheltering from the wind by 'kneeling'..

I took this video handholding my Canon EOS7D with 400mm f5.6 lens. Image has been ‘stabilised’ using iMovie.

Desert Wheatear

This morning I found what I believe is the 2nd Beijing record of Desert Wheatear. It was the highlight on a special day that included 19 stunning Oriental Plovers, 12 Relict Gulls and a Mongolian Lark.

Early April is a great time in Beijing with migration stepping up a gear as the winter visitors (e.g. cranes, geese etc) begin to move on and birds from further south take their place. Swan Geese are now moving through in good numbers and I counted 67 first thing. An over-eager bird photographer in his 4×4 saw I was looking at this group, drove directly to the water’s edge at pace and, not surprisingly, the birds took flight. The silver lining was that I was able to capture this image of the flock rising against the mountains in the early morning sun..

2012-04-05 Swan Geese — Swan Geese, Ma Chang, 5 April 2012

A check of the ‘desert’ area for Oriental Plover initially drew a blank but, as I was watching a group of Little Ringed Plovers, 9 Oriental Plovers dropped in, closely followed by 2 more, then another 4 and then, amazingly, another 4, totalling 19 birds… Wow! The birds were in a variety of plumages with most in full breeding attire. Oriental Plover is a jewel among waders and its inaccessible breeding and wintering sites make it a difficult bird to see. I will post some more images and video of the Oriental Plovers separately but here is a portrait of one of the smarter birds in the group.

2012-04-05 Oriental Plover portrait — Oriental Plover, Ma Chang, 5 April 2012. A wonderful bird.

I watched these birds for about 20 minutes before heading towards the yurts on the edge of the reservoir to the west. It was on the way that I caught sight of a small bird perching on a stone. Through the binoculars I could see it was a Wheatear. Any wheatear is scarce in eastern China, so I knew it was a good record. I walked around so that I had the sun behind me and slowly edged closer. It was very confiding and, after grabbing a few images, I was pretty happy that it must be a Desert Wheatear. I knew one had been seen at the same site in 2010 (the first Beijing record). But then I began to have doubts.. I had never seen Pied or Isabelline (the other two possibilities).. and unfortunately I didn’t see the tail pattern well at all.. which I knew would be very instructive. Shortly after I took the images below, the wheatear was flushed by a Merlin and flew high west until out of view. On returning home, I checked images on Oriental Bird Club image database and worked out that it could only be a Desert. Jesper Hornskov kindly confirmed the id.

2012-04-05 Desert Wheatear — Desert Wheatear (female), Wild Duck Lake, Beijing, 5 April 2012. Thought to be only the 2nd record of this species in Beijing.

2012-04-05 Desert Wheatear2 — Desert Wheatear, Wild Duck Lake, Beijing, 5 April 2012. The only other Beijing record I am aware of is of a male at the same site in April 2010.

I had only been on site a couple of hours and already I had seen some special birds.. it was one of those mornings that makes you so happy to be alive!

Just a few metres from the Desert Wheatear I stumbled across a Mongolian Lark, a regular but scarce passage migrant.

2012-04-05 Mongolian Lark — Mongolian Lark, Ma Chang, 5 April 2012

After enjoying 2 Avocets (my first in Beijing) on the edge of the reservoir, I headed to the ‘island’ to scan the duck.. Here there was a good selection of wildfowl but the highlights were a flock of 10 Relict Gulls in stunning breeding plumage, soon joined by a further 2 birds, and a single Red-billed Starling that flew in from the east, settled briefly on a nearby tree and then headed off west again.. another first for me in Beijing.

It was about this time that the wind began to increase and, within a few minutes, there were some large dust clouds being whipped up, making Ma Chang an uncomfortable place to be… These winds are quite common at this time of year and, after the very dry winter, the ground is very dusty, making dust storms fairly frequent occurrences in Spring.

Yeyahu didn’t produce any major surprises and it wasn’t long before I headed home having had another great day at Wild Duck Lake.

2012-04-05 Grey-headed Lapwings at Yeyahu — Grey-headed Lapwings at Yeyahu NR, 5 April 2012.

Full Species List:

Common Pheasant – 3

Swan Goose – 67

Bean Goose – 13

Whooper Swan – 30

Bewick’s Swan – 27

Common Shelduck – 5

Ruddy Shelduck – 38

Gadwall – 10

Falcated Duck – 146

Eurasian Wigeon – 4

Mallard – 290

Spot-billed Duck – 8

Northern Pintail – 21

Garganey – 2

Baikal Teal – 16

Eurasian Teal – 12

Red-crested Pochard – 7

Common Pochard – 1

Ferruginous Duck – 4

Common Goldeneye – 67

Goosander – 44

Little Grebe – 5

Great Crested Grebe – 71

Black Stork – 2

Bittern – 2 (heard booming at 2 different sites)

Grey Heron – 13

Little Egret – 1

Great Cormorant – 75

Kestrel – 1

Merlin – 1

Black-eared Kite – 1

Eastern Marsh Harrier – 3

Hen Harrier – 1

Eurasian Sparrowhawk – 1

Goshawk – 1

Common (Eastern) Buzzard – 4

Common Coot – 38

Common Crane – 6

Black-winged Stilt – 15

Pied Avocet – 2 at Ma Chang; my first record of this species at Wild Duck Lake

Grey-headed Lapwing – 5

Northern Lapwing – 18

Little Ringed Plover – 21

Kentish Plover – 8

Oriental Plover – at least 19 (another flock of 10+ plovers in flight could have been this species)

Mongolian Gull – 31 at Yeyahu, including 3 immatures

Relict Gull – 12

Black-headed Gull – 88

Oriental Turtle Dove – 1

Eurasian Collared Dove – 3

Common Swift – 1

Fork-tailed Swift – 32

Hoopoe – 2

Grey-headed Woodpecker – 1

Chinese Grey Shrike – 1

Common Magpie – too many

Daurian Jackdaw – 26

Rook – 2

Carrion Crow – 4

Great Tit – 4

Barn Swallow – 11

Red-rumped Swallow – 1

Mongolian Lark – 1; within a few metres of the Desert Wheatear

Asian Short-toed Lark – 28

Eurasian Skylark – 18

Vinous-throated Parrotbill – 8

Red-billed Starling – 1; my first record at Wild Duck Lake; flew in from the east, rested briefly on the island to the north of Ma Chang and then continued West.

White-cheeked Starling – 2

Red-throated Thrush – 1

Red-flanked Bluetail – 2

Daurian Redstart – 2

Desert Wheatear – 1 (fem); very confiding until spooked by a Merlin and then flew high west and lost to view. Had not returned an hour later when I re-scanned.

Tree Sparrow – lots

White Wagtail – 22

Buff-bellied Pipit – 12

Oriental Greenfinch – 4

Godlewski’s Bunting – 1

Little Bunting – 2

Yellow-throated Bunting – 1

Pallas’s Reed Bunting – 18 (some males now coming into breeding plumage)

Oriental Plover and Pallas’s Gulls

This weekend has been something of a bonanza for me in Beijing. The weather had been very windy on Friday which cleared away all the smog and set up the weekend to be sunny, clear and (on Sunday at least) warm. I had planned to visit Wild Duck Lake for the first time in a while and was looking forward to seeing the cranes and anything else that might be about. In the back of my mind I knew that it was the beginning of the Oriental Plover season in Beijing and so I hoped, with a bit of luck, I might see one. I did, which was special in itself, but the day, and the weekend, just got better and better. I will limit this post to Saturday’s events and then follow up with another one about today (Sunday).

I hired a car for the weekend with Avis and set off early saturday morning to be at Wild Duck Lake around dawn. I went to Ma Chang first as, later in the day, this area is disturbed by horse-riders and motorised buggies, so if an Oriental Plover does happen to drop in, it probably won’t stay there for long. Along the entrance track I could see a huge flock of cranes, so I stopped to scan them with the telescope. Soon I picked up a single Hooded Crane in the group but despite searching through over a thousand Common Cranes, there were no other species there.. I had expected a few White-naped, having seen over 250 at Miyun last week, but I didn’t see a single one all day. This was all the more surprising when I received a SMS from Jan-erik Nilsen (who was at Miyun) to say that he had counted over 900 White-naped Cranes! Incredible.. That count easily smashes the highest known count in Beijing of 500 and eclipses the count of 256 by Paul Holt and me last week. There must be something about Miyun that attracts White-napes…

2012-03-24 Common Cranes at dawn — Common Cranes at dawn, Wild Duck Lake, 24 March 2012

2012-03-24 Common Cranes against mountain — Common Cranes against the mountains north of Wild Duck Lake, Beijing, 24 March 2012

I moved on from the cranes and scanned the ‘desert’ area, the usual favoured place for Oriental Plover, but turned up a blank. I then walked to the lake edge and scanned the wildfowl. There were lots of duck, geese and swans but, frustratingly, they were very distant. Most of the ice had melted but there remained a few patches on the reservoir. Of course, of all the large areas of open water, the birds had chosen the one most difficult to view! Nevertheless, I counted 217 Swan Geese (a very good count), 224 Whooper Swans, 128 Ruddy Shelduck and good numbers of diving duck, including 83 Common Pochard.

The only real visible migration consisted of some corvids, including only my second record of Rook at Wild Duck Lake, and larks (mostly Skylarks).

I walked back to the car across the desert area just as the budding horsemen and women were starting to gallop around.. suddenly, I spotted what looked like a largish plover.. it had to be! And yes, it was one – an Oriental Plover! With patience and care, and despite being disturbed by curious horseriders a couple of times, I was able to get reasonably close to take a few photographs of this special bird.

2012-03-24 OP — Oriental Plover, Ma Chang, Wild Duck Lake, Beijing, 24 March 2012

2012-03-24 Oriental Plover — Oriental Plover.. a stunner.

2012-03-24 Oriental Plover in flight — Oriental Plover after being disturbed by a horserider.. It was not seen in the afternoon by some Beijing birders who looked for it.. the disturbance at this site after early morning is too much for most birds to take.

I spent around an hour with the bird, watching it feed and, occasionally, interact with some nearby Lapwings. The wind was still gusty and, at times, it crouched down to shelter from the dust blowing across Ma Chang. Some of the horseriders felt the full force!

2012-03-24 dust storm — A dust storm at Ma Chang..

It was late morning when I decided to head off to Yeyahu and, instead of walking as I usually do, I took the hire car and drove to the reserve. Here I walked around the southern perimeter for the first time and, when I reached the far end of the lake, I scanned the group of large gulls that was assembled in the middle of the water. Large gulls are scarce at Wild Duck Lake for most of the year, so I was interested to see which species were involved. Mongolian Gull is by far the most common large gull on passage as they migrate from their coastal wintering grounds to their breeding grounds in Mongolia and Russia. Sure enough, the vast majority were Mongolian Gulls and I counted 85 adults and 2 immatures. The scan through the flock also revealed two interlopers – stunning breeding-plumaged Pallas’s Gulls! Wow.. Pallas’s Gull was a bird I was hoping to see when I moved to China and I saw my first at Jinzhou Bay in Dalian last winter.. but that bird was in winter plumage. These two beauties were something else.. Most of the time they sat on the water about as far away from any viewing point as was possible. But occasionally they would take off, do a circuit of the lake, and then land again.. it was during these flights that it was possible to gain some pretty special views..

2012-03-24 Pallas's Gull Yeyahu — Pallas's Gull, Yeyahu, Beijing, 24 March 2012

2012-03-24 Pallas's Gull — Pallas's Gull, Yeyahu, Beijing, 24 March 2012.. surely the King of Gulls...!

It was cool to watch one of the birds as it circled with the Great Wall in the background!

2012-03-24 Pallas's Gull Great Wall — Pallas's Gull with the Great Wall in the background, Yeyahu, Beijing, 24 March 2012

The walk down to the reservoir viewing tower was uneventful and did not produce any unusual raptors.. however, Merlin, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine and (Eastern) Buzzard were all appreciated. I returned to the lake to see the gulls again and I enjoyed these birds for my last half an hour on site before I began the drive back home, elated.

What a day! Little did I know what I was to find the following day….

The Best Looking Bird in China?

Ok, so I deliberately chose the title of this post to get a few extra ‘hits’ on the blog… 🙂 but I think you’ll agree that an Oriental Plover in breeding plumage is one smart bird.

2011-04-05 Oriental Plover close up — Oriental Plover - one of China's finest

Oriental Plover (or OP) has been one of the birds I had been hoping to see at Wild Duck Lake and late March and early April is the prime time for this enigmatic wader. OP (Charadrius veredus), sometimes also known as Oriental Dotterel (or, perhaps, OD!), breeds in Mongolia, eastern Russia and Manchuria and winters in Indonesia and Australia. It is a migrant through the Beijing area and is annual in small numbers at Wild Duck Lake. Given its large range and population estimate of around 70,000 mature individuals, the species is listed as “Least Concern” by Birdlife International. However, its population is declining and that status may change in the near future. Spike and I picked up this individual, cohorting with a few LRPs (Little Ringed Plovers) and KPs (Kentish Plovers) about 5 minutes after arriving on site and about 5 minutes before the area was taken over by motorised buggies and horse riders enjoying national “tomb-sweeping day”…