In April 2015 I moved from the centre of Beijing to an apartment in Shunyi District, close to Beijing Capital International Airport. It’s a new housing development and, very close by, is a small area of scrub with a few trees that I have adopted as my local patch. I suspect that, within a year or two, this patch is likely to be ‘developed’ but in the meantime I am enjoying visiting regularly and recording the bird life that can be found there.
I am writing this introduction on 25 November 2015 and, proving just how good Beijing is for migration I have, up to now, recorded 105 species in this small suburban space. The full list of species is below with the latest additional records posted here as they occur.
16 January 2016
Disheartening. On my first visit of 2016 I encountered 8 earth movers on site with around a third of the site already cleared of scrub. It was, perhaps, inevitable that this area would be turned into some sort of development in due course but I wasn’t expecting it so soon. It remains to be seen how much of the patch will be affected but I expect at least 80% of it to be destroyed in this development. A sad day with the impact on biodiversity brought home by the sight of 2 Hen Harriers gradually gaining height and drifting south. These birds had been wintering here and their apparent move is likely a direct result of this scrub clearance and its impact on their winter food supply.
5 December 2015
Species 107: Five HORNED LARKS overhead.
26 November 2015
Species 106: A single ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD @ 1100 briefly hunting over the scrub before drifting south.
Full list of 105 species as at 25 November 2015
| JAPANESE QUAIL Coturnix japonica | 鵪鶉 |
| COMMON PHEASANT Phasianus colchicus | 雉雞 |
| MALLARD Anas platyrhynchos | 綠頭鴨 |
| BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON Nycticorax nycticorax | 夜鹭 |
| CHINESE POND HERON Ardeola bacchus | 池鹭 |
| ORIENTAL HONEY BUZZARD Pernis ptilorhynchus | 凤头蜂鹰 |
| HEN HARRIER Circus cyaneus | 白尾鹞 |
| PIED HARRIER Circus melanoleucos | 鹊鹞 |
| JAPANESE SPARROWHAWK Accipiter gularis | 日本松雀鹰 |
| EURASIAN SPARROWHAWK Accipiter nisus | 雀鹰 |
| EASTERN BUZZARD Buteo japonicus | 普通鵟 |
| COMMON KESTREL Falco tinnunculus | 红隼 |
| AMUR FALCON Falco amurensis | 阿穆尔隼 |
| EURASIAN HOBBY Falco subbuteo | 燕隼 |
| PEREGRINE FALCON Falco peregrinus | 游隼 |
| GREEN SANDPIPER Tringa ochropus | 白腰草鹬 |
| COMMON SANDPIPER Actitis hypoleucos | 矶鹬 |
| BLACK-HEADED GULL Chroicocephalus ridibundus | 红嘴鸥 |
| MONGOLIAN GULL Larus mongolicus | 黄脚(银)鸥 |
| ORIENTAL TURTLE DOVE Streptopelia orientalis | 山斑鸠 |
| EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE Streptopelia decaocto | 灰斑鸠 |
| SPOTTED DOVE Spilopelia chinensis | 珠颈斑鸠 |
| INDIAN CUCKOO Cuculus micropterus | 四声杜鹃 |
| ORIENTAL SCOPS OWL Otus sunia | 红角鸮 |
| LITTLE OWL Athene noctua | 纵纹腹小鸮 |
| LONG-EARED OWL Asio otus | 长耳鸮 |
| GREY NIGHTJAR Caprimulgus jotaka | 普通夜鹰 |
| COMMON SWIFT Apus apus | 普通楼燕 |
| EURASIAN HOOPOE Upupa epops | 戴胜 |
| EURASIAN WRYNECK Jynx torquilla | 蚁鴷 |
| GREY-CAPPED PYGMY WOODPECKER Dendrocopos canicapillus | 星头啄木鸟 |
| GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER Dendrocopos major | 大斑啄木鸟 |
| BROWN SHRIKE Lanius cristatus | 红尾伯劳 |
| CHINESE GREY SHRIKE Lanius s. sphenocercus | 楔尾伯劳 |
| BLACK DRONGO Dicrurus macrocercus | 黑卷尾 |
| AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE Cyanopica cyanus | 灰喜鹊 |
| COMMON MAGPIE Pica pica | 喜鹊 |
| DAURIAN JACKDAW Coloeus dauuricus | 达乌里寒鸦 |
| ROOK Corvus frugilegus | 秃鼻乌鸦 |
| CARRION CROW Corvus corone | 小嘴乌鸦 |
| YELLOW-BELLIED TIT Periparus venustulus | 黄腹山雀 |
| JAPANESE TIT Parus minor | 大山雀 |
| CHINESE PENDULINE TIT Remiz consobrinus | 中华攀雀 |
| GREATER SHORT-TOED LARK Calandrella brachydactyla | (大) 短趾百灵 |
| EURASIAN SKYLARK Alauda arvensis | 云雀 |
| LIGHT-VENTED BULBUL Pycnonotus sinensis | 白头鹎 |
| BARN SWALLOW Hirundo rustica | 家燕 |
| RED-RUMPED SWALLOW Cecropis daurica | 金腰燕 |
| DUSKY WARBLER Phylloscopus fuscatus | 褐柳莺 |
| YELLOW-STREAKED WARBLER Phylloscopus armandii | 棕眉柳莺 |
| RADDE’S WARBLER Phylloscopus schwarzi | 巨嘴柳莺 |
| PALLAS’S LEAF WARBLER Phylloscopus proregulus | 黄腰柳莺 |
| CHINESE LEAF WARBLER Phylloscopus yunnanensis | 云南柳莺 |
| YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER Phylloscopus inornatus | 黄眉柳莺 |
| ARCTIC WARBLER Phylloscopus borealis | 极北柳莺 |
| TWO-BARRED WARBLER Phylloscopus plumbeitarsus | 双斑绿柳莺 |
| BLACK-BROWED REED WARBLER Acrocephalus bistrigiceps | 黑眉苇莺 |
| THICK-BILLED WARBLER Iduna aedon | 厚嘴苇莺 |
| LANCEOLATED WARBLER Locustella lanceolata | 矛斑蝗莺 |
| PALLAS’S GRASSHOPPER WARBLER Locustella certhiola | 小蝗莺 |
| ZITTING CISTICOLA Cisticola juncidis | 棕扇尾莺 |
| VINOUS-THROATED PARROTBILL Sinosuthora webbianus | 棕头鸦雀 |
| CHESTNUT-FLANKED WHITE-EYE Zosterops erythropleurus | 红胁绣眼鸟 |
| CRESTED MYNA Acridotheres cristatellus | 八哥 |
| WHITE-CHEEKED STARLING Spodiopsar cineraceus | 灰椋鸟 |
| WHITE’S THRUSH Zoothera aurea | 虎斑地鸫 |
| COMMON [CHINESE] BLACKBIRD Turdus merula mandarinus | 乌鸫 |
| NAUMANN’S THRUSH Turdus naumanni | 红尾鸫 |
| DUSKY THRUSH Turdus eunomus | 斑鸫 |
| BLUETHROAT Luscinia svecica | 蓝喉歌鸲 (蓝点颏) |
| SIBERIAN RUBYTHROAT Luscinia calliope | 红喉歌鸲 (红点颏) |
| SIBERIAN BLUE ROBIN Luscinia cyane | 蓝歌鸲 |
| ORANGE-FLANKED BLUETAIL Tarsiger cyanurus | 红胁蓝尾鸲 |
| DAURIAN REDSTART Phoenicurus auroreus | 北红尾鸲 |
| COMMON STONECHAT Saxicola maurus | 黑喉石唧 |
| WHITE-THROATED ROCK THRUSH Monticola gularis | 白喉矶鸫 |
| GREY-STREAKED FLYCATCHER Muscicapa griseisticta | 灰纹鹟 |
| TAIGA FLYCATCHER Ficedula albicilla | 红喉姬鹟 |
| EURASIAN TREE SPARROW Passer montanus | (树) 麻雀 |
| SIBERIAN ACCENTOR Prunella montanella | 棕眉山岩鹨 |
| EASTERN YELLOW WAGTAIL Motacilla tschutschensis | 黄鹡鸰 |
| GREY WAGTAIL Motacilla cinerea | 灰鹡鸰 |
| WHITE WAGTAIL Motacilla alba | 白鹡鸰 |
| RICHARD’S PIPIT Anthus richardi | 理氏鹨 |
| BLYTH’S PIPIT Anthus godlewskii | 布莱氏鹨 |
| OLIVE-BACKED PIPIT Anthus hodgsoni | 树鹨 |
| PECHORA PIPIT Anthus gustavi | 北鹨 |
| RED-THROATED PIPIT Anthus cervinus | 红喉鹨 |
| BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT Anthus rubescens japonicus | 黄腹鹨 |
| BRAMBLING Fringilla montifringilla | 燕雀 |
| GREY-CAPPED GREENFINCH Carduelis sinica | 金翅 (雀) |
| COMMON REDPOLL Carduelis flammea | 白腰朱顶雀 |
| COMMON ROSEFINCH Carpodacus erythrinus | 普通朱雀 |
| PINE BUNTING Emberiza leucocephalos | 白头鹀 |
| TRISTRAM’S BUNTING Emberiza tristrami | 白眉鹀 |
| CHESTNUT-EARED BUNTING Emberiza fucata | 栗耳鵐 |
| LITTLE BUNTING Emberiza pusilla | 小鹀 |
| YELLOW-THROATED BUNTING Emberiza elegans | 黄喉鹀 |
| BLACK-FACED BUNTING Emberiza spodocephala | 灰头鹀 |
| PALLAS’S BUNTING Emberiza pallasi | 苇鹀 |
| OCHRE-RUMPED BUNTING Emberiza yessoensis NT | 红颈苇鹀 |
| LAPLAND LONGSPUR Calcarius lapponicus | 铁爪鹀 |