Dandong wasn’t just a wader bonanza (17 Nordmann’s Greenshanks roosting with 2 Asian Dowitchers was really something!) but also a celebration of Siberian migrants. We encountered Siberian Rubythroats and both Siberian Blue and Rufous-tailed Robins bobbing along the sea wall, Mugimaki, Red-throated, Blue and White and Yellow-rumped Flycatchers feeding on the leeward side of the hedges and Siberian, Grey-backed and Eyebrowed Thrushes skulking in thickets. Not to mention Eastern Crowned, Arctic (Kamchatka!), Pale-legged, Yellow-browed, Dusky and Radde’s Warblers entertaining us from the boughs and Brown Shrikes seemingly on every perch. Fantastic stuff. So, in a tribute to ‘Sibes’, here are a few images.
Siberian Blue Robin (first summer male), Donggang, 12 May 2012Siberian Blue Robin, Donggang, 12 May 2012. This individual belied the species’ reputation as a skulker and posed beautifully for the camera.Siberian Rubythroat (male), Donggang, 12 May 2012. Imagine this turning up on your local headland in the UK…Siberian Rubythroat (female), Donggang, 12 May 2012.Mugimaki Flycatcher, Donggang, 12 May 2012.Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, Donggang, 13 May 2012Siberian Thrush (female), Donggang, 13 May 2012. This supreme skulker flew right by me after being flushed by a lorry along a main road. I rattled off 6 images and only this one was in focus.Rufous-tailed Robin, Donggang, 11 May 2012. An understated bird but with bags of character.Brown Shrike, Donggang, 12 May 2012
And turning around 180 degrees revealed an interesting backdrop – the border with North Korea. This boat flew the flag of the DPRK.
A North Korean (fishing?) boat heading out to sea on the falling tide. Birding along the North Korean border added extra spice to an already spicy birding trip.
Today was our first full day at Laotieshan and we saw some high quality species. Probably top of the list has to be the White-throated Rock Thrush, a new bird for both of us. The supporting cast included such goodies as Eye-browed Thrush, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Siberian Blue Robin, Rufous-tailed Robin, Blue Rock Thrush, Ashy Minivet, Russet Sparrow, Black-naped Oriole, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Chinese Leaf Warbler, Chestnut Bunting and Japanese White-eye.
We did quite a bit of walking today. As well as the immediate surroundings of the lighthouse garden, we also walked part of the ridge above the lighthouse and a few of the agricultural fields below. Stunning scenery, great birding and not another birder in sight.
One of our first birds was a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler that not only called frequently but also showed well, immediately telling us that the birds we had seen yesterday were Eastern Crowned (we obviously heard Pale-legged while watching Eastern Crowned yesterday). These birds, despite the field guides (which, incidentally, are very poor on Chinese leaf warblers), looked nothing like each other. The Pale-legged is a much browner bird than Eastern Crowned. It is also smaller and lacks any sort of crown stripe. Once seen, it will never be confused again!
In the afternoon we conducted a short count of the Streaked Shearwaters that were, again, streaming past the point (none were seen in the morning). In just 10 minutes we counted 61 passing south – a rate of over 350 per hour.
Tomorrow we plan to cover the point again until lunchtime, after which we are going to join up with Tom in Jinshitan to visit the local fish ponds (Chinese Egret there today) and then drive up the coast on Saturday to some of the prime wader spots. Sunday should see us back at Laotieshan, ready to join up with Jesper Hornskov and his Manchuria team.
A few images from today and full species list below…
The lighthouse at Laotieshan from the ridgeLooking north along the ridgeThe trail below the lighthouse (we saw Siberian Blue Robin, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and Russet Sparrow along here)The same trail looking south (this was a favourite area for Brown Shrike and Tristram's Bunting)Rufous-tailed Robin in the lighthouse gardenThis Radde's Warbler defied its reputation as a skulker..Record image of one of the White-throated Rock Thrushes we found todayThe stunning Yellow-rumped Flycatcher was present in good numbers today at Laotieshan
Species list (in chronological order):
Eye-browed Thrush (11) – including one group of 8 in off sea
Yellow-browed Warbler (18) –
Chinese Grosbeak (2) – singing
Olive-backed Pipit (80 counted but likely many more passing overhead)
Eurasian Sparrowhawk (2)
Siberian Stonechat (12)
Barn Swallow (47)
Yellow Wagtail (6) – early morning over the point
Dusky Warbler (7)
Radde’s Warbler (12) – including one very confiding individual
Grey Wagtail (3)
Brown Shrike (13)
Oriental Turtle Dove (2)
Oriental Greenfinch (8)
Richard’s Pipit (5)
Trsitram’s Bunting (8)
Little Bunting (47) – likely many of the hundreds of the ‘tick-buntings’ overhead early morning were also this species
Black-faced Bunting (10)
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (16) – mostly males
Siberian Rubythroat (2)
Great Tit (6)
Magpie (23)
Red-rumped Swallow (34)
Goshawk (2)
Taiga Flycatcher (11)
Japanese Quail (1) – flushed from path below lighthouse
Common Sandpiper (1) – on rocks offshore
Blue Rock Thrush (4) – including 2 singing males
Little Grebe (1) – on the sea just offshore
Black-tailed Gull (200+) – good numbers around the point
Eastern Crowned Warbler (3)
Siberian Blue Robin (9) – 7 males and 2 females
Brambling (1)
Ashy Minivet (3) – including a pair feeding along the path below the lighthouse
Asian Brown Flycatcher (4)
Red-flanked Bluetail (1)
Coal Tit (1)
Russet Sparrow (2) – in off sea and showed well for around 10 minutes before continuing north
Black-naped Oriole (1)
Amur Falcon (2)
Chinese Bulbul (4)
White Wagtail (ssp leucopsis) (1)
Hoopoe (1)
Oriental Honey Buzzard (6) – in off sea at c1200
Hume’s Warbler (1) – seen and heard
White-throated Rock Thrush (3) – all males
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler (3) – 1 seen very well, the others heard
Yellow-throated Bunting (2)
Vinous-throated Parrotbill (10)
Meadow Bunting (2)
Common Pheasant (2)
Chestnut Bunting (1)
Japanese White-eye (1)
Chinese Leaf Warbler (1) – along the ridge
Chinese Hill Warbler (1) – heard only
Hobby (1)
Streaked Shearwater (61 in 10 minutes) – clearly present in some numbers but so far only seen late afternoon/evening.
Spike and I arrived in Dalian at around 1400 and, following a short taxi ride, checked in to our hotel at Lushun by 1500. After a brief negotiation with a local taxi driver, Spike and I were at the lighthouse at Laotieshan by 1615, giving us about 2 and a half hours before dusk. Weather was warm and sunny, probably around 20 degrees C. Our first surprise was the fact that spring seemed to be a little later here than Beijing. Many of the trees were just beginning to come into leaf, with many still bare – probably a good 10 days/2 weeks behind Beijing.
Our taxi driver dropped us at the small car park at the lighthouse and we paid the 20 Yuan fee to enter (much of the area around the point is accessible free of charge but we wanted to check the point itself around the lighthouse). Within 20-30 metres of the entrance we could hear a thrush turning over leaves and, after a short scan, we got onto a superp Pale Thrush – a new bird for both Spike and me. Brilliant! As we watched the thrush poke around in the leaf litter we were then treated to excellent views of a Rufous-tailed Robin as it constantly wagged its tail a few metres ahead. Not a bad start!
Further along we encountered two superb Brown Shrikes, two Wrynecks, a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers and a stunning spring Pallas’s Warbler. From the lighthouse we could see a good passage of Black-tailed Gulls whilst a mixed flock of Barn and Red-rumped Swallows fed overhead.
We re-traced our steps and then took a path along the cliff to the north on the eastern side. Here we enjoyed two Siberian Blue Robins, a pair of Tristram’s Buntings, another Brown Shrike, two Ashy Minivets and at least 4 Asian Brown Flycatchers.
We then heard what we thought was a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler – a very distinctive high pitched metallic ‘tee tee tee’. After a brief search, we enjoyed good views of at least 3 of these birds but were left slightly confused as they seemed to be very Eastern-crowned-like in appearance – relatively large, a largish bill and sporting at least a partial central crown stripe. My experience of Pale-legged is limited to a couple of autumn passage birds on Happy Island last autumn but these birds looked different. Thoughts turned to Sakhalin Leaf Warbler but on the evidence we saw, we are really not sure. The call was very akin to Pale-legged Leaf, so this must be the likely identification.
At this point the path opened up with a good view of the ocean below. There was a continued good movement of Black-tailed Gulls just offshore and then, just a bit further out, I got onto a shearwater and, soon, we realised that there were several.. in fact lots..! We counted over 100 in about 15-20 minutes.. all moving south. They were relatively large with pale underparts and a pale-ish face.. they had to be Streaked Shearwaters..
By now the light was fading and we turned and made our way back to the car park to rendez-vous with our taxi.. A nice introduction to this peninsula and plenty to keep us interested (and to fuel speculation about what might turn up tomorrow!). We plan to cover the point tomorrow and Friday and then meet up with local birder, Tom Beeke, for a day up the coast to look for shorebirds on Saturday. Tom enjoyed a good day today at the Country Park in Jinshitan and we are planning to keep in close contact over the next few days to compare notes and hopefully tip each other off to any passing megas!
Species list from today (in chronological order):
Tree Sparrow (many)
Common Magpie (9)
Red-rumped Swallow (17)
Barn Swallow (38)
Hoopoe (2)
Chinese Bulbul (4)
Rufous-tailed Robin (2)
Pale Thrush (1)
Common Pheasant (3)
Black-tailed Gull (300+)
Crested Myna (4) – feral
Chinese Grosbeak (8) – a single flock seemingly attempting to migrate south
Vinous-throated Parrotbill (2)
Yellow-browed Warbler (4)
Dusky Warbler (1)
Pallas’s Warbler (1)
Brown Shrike (3)
Wryneck (2)
Tristram’s Bunting (2)
Siberian Blue Robin (2)
Asian Brown Flycatcher (3)
Ashy Minivet (2)
Oriental Greenfinch (2)
Streaked Shearwater (100+ south in 15-20 minutes)
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler or Sakhalin Leaf Warbler (3)
